Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Creeaaakk.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Shawn blinked as he slowly awoke to a collage of various noises, each sounding as if it was right next to his ear. He groaned, just starting to feel the beginnings of a massive headache, which the sounds only worsened.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Crreeeaakkk.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
He winced, discovering that the thumping was the beating of his own heart. Gosh, it sounded like a bass drum. He winced again, finding the creaking above his head to be especially annoying. He looked up, trying to find the source of the noise. A lit up lightbulb covered by an old red lamp shade swung lazily, casting a slight red glow to the cellar he was in. A small ventilation system was also on the ceiling, obviously blowing air in, causing the light to creak. Apparently it was cold air too, Shawn realized as he began to feel a slight chill. He shivered. Or maybe it was just his nerves. He noticed his tied hands and arms had goosebumps and were shaking slightly. He took a deep breath and stilled them. If he wanted to get out of this, he needed to stay focused, which, as everyone knew, wasn't his strong suit. However, he was good at details and making conclusions, and he knew that, based on the set up of the room, Yin had been preparing this room for a while. There was a large desk in the back, and on top was a plastic bag and a large silver case. Surrounding the desk were several pieces of wrinkled paper. And Monster cans. This guy obviously loved his energy drinks.
Shawn looked around some more and noticed a blacked out window to his right, discovering that the dripping noise was coming from water leaking inside. Apparently it had started to rain while he was blacked out. He jumped as he heard a loud clap of thunder. And apparently it was pretty bad too. Resuming his limited exploration of the room, he saw a wooden door in the wall in front of him, possibly leading upstairs to whatever place he was brought to. There was also a table and a chair directly in front of him, a video camera resting in the middle of the table. However, it was the wall to his left that really made his skin crawl. It was filled with photos. Photos of Shawn. Pictures of him at the office, his apartment, his dad's house, the polics department. Heck, there was even one of him at the Del Taco he ate at two days ago. The picture that really caught his eye, though, was the one of him and Yang when he was younger. He blinked. That picture had to be fake, right? He certainly didn't remember it being taken. Yeah, that was it. That picture had to be fake. There was no way it was real. Shawn nodded in satisfaction at his conclusion, but the picture still gnawed at his mind.
He was startled from his thoughts when he heard the clunking of boots coming down a set of stairs. He gulped as the door in front of him creaked open. It was time for him to meet Yin.
Lassiter sighed as he tried to massage away the headache that bombarded him after he woke up. He surveyed the scene in front of him for the tenth time that night, trying to understand how this could have happened.
Two pineapple smoothies were spilled on the ground, apparently dropped when Spencer and Guster were hit with darts. The chair in front of him was empty, except for a gun and a note. The bomb squad had defused the bomb fifteen minutes ago, so the scene was crawling with CSIs gathering evidence, although with the rain, there's wasn't much they could do. Carlton ran over what the note said once more in his head.
At six am precisely
You'll find your first clue.
You'll find it on your doorstep,
A package just for you.
Carlton grunted. They had to wait almost three hours until they got something they could really work with. And by then? Spencer could be dead. Of course no one said that, but everyone was thinking it. They needed a substantial lead before that could happen, but at this point, all they could do was wait.
Thunder clapped overhead, only adding to the drama of the situation. He noticed amongst the noise Henry and Karen in a very heated conversation. He walked over to Henry, who looked more mad and ticked off than ever, yelling at the Chief of Police.
"If you'd just let me stay with my son, none of this would have happened!"
"Henry, that's not true, and you know it! If anything, your presence would have added more danger to the situation!"
"You left him there with a bomb!"
"To go get backup! You of all people should know how important that is! Besides, Shawn was armed, it's not like I left him defenseless! And nothing even happened while I was gone!"
"You should have been with him! You were supposed to protect him! Instead you got him kidnapped!"
"Watch who you're talking to Henry! I know he's your son, but if you aren't going to have a clear head, I'm not letting you do anything even remotely related to this case!"
"I swear Karen, if you don't let me look for him-"
"Guys! Come on! What's done is done! We can't change anything! Now, I know you're both upset, we all are, even me, but if everyone spends the rest of the time fighting, Shawn's dead! And that's when it'd be our fault! And I'll be damned if I let that happen! Now you can either help me find Spencer, or you two can stay here while Yin's doing who knows what to Shawn!" Lassiter huffed, finally ending his rant.
Henry and Karen looked at him, shocked. "You got it, Lassiter." the Chief said, already feeling ashamed of the argument. She was the Chief of Police. She was supposed to help calm people down and have a level head. And there she was, fighting with someone who she considered a good friend.
Henry lowered his head, also ashamed. This was what Yin wanted. Anger, people turning against each other. Chaos. And he had given in. A new fire lit his eyes, no longer angry at the police, but at Yin. He looked up, his eyes blazing. "Let's go find my son."
Shawn was startled by the appearance of the man in front of him. For some reason, he had always imagined Yin to be some creepy looking man in his mid to late forties or fifties. The man in front of him, however, couldn't have been any older than Shawn was. He had stylish black hair (Shawn had to admit, but he still thought his own hair was better) and hazel eyes. Some women would have said he looked handsome (something else Shawn admitted grudgingly). He wore a black tuxedo and blue rubber gloves, which looked out of place compared to the rest of his outfit. "Well," Shawn spoke up, "you're definitely not what I was expecting."
The man grinned. "Surprised? I thought you would be. Most people don't expect someone like me to be, how should I put this-"
"Insane? Crazy? Psycho? You pick."
"-How about, as embrassive, as I am, although your suggestions were excellent too."
Shawn stared at him. "Who are you?" he finally asked, although he had a feeling he already knew.
"Oh, how silly if me not to introduce myself. I'm known to many as Yin, but my friends call me Adam. Call me what you like. It makes no difference to me." He started walking to the back desk and continued speaking. "You see Shawn, my life seems pretty simple. I have a good job. A lovely wife. A child on the way. The average successful American's life. No one would think that I, of all people, would kill someone. I have to much of the classic cookie cutter life. No one would expect me to be the monster I am." He reached the desk, and picked something out of the bag. A roll of duct tape. He teared a piece off, and started walking back towards Shawn, talking the whole time. "But you see Shawn, we're all monsters. Every one of us. They may deny it, but it's true. We all have the capacity to truly be psycho. To be the monster we all fear. And with your help, I can prove it."
"I'm not going to help you do anything. You're sick." Shawn spat.
Yin only grinned. "Oh, you say that now, but later..." Yin started laughing, making Shawn freeze. "Later you will know." He placed the duct tape he had been holding over Shawn's mouth, forcing him to breath through his nose. He went to the back and brought the case and the bag up front, setting them on the table next to the video camera. Once again, he smiled at Shawn, baring his overly whitened teeth. Shawn shivered. This guy was definitely a ten on the creepy scale. He even had the evil laugh down.
Yin stood behind the table and turned on the camera, making a small red light appear. "Well," he said, "it's time to begin."
...5:58am, SBPD...
Everyone in the SBPD that night was anxiously waiting for the next clue to come in. Even officer Boone and his partner were worried. Pacing the hallway, waiting for something to happen.
Gus was the most active of everyone in the department that morning. First, he was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself. Then, as if trying to keep Shawn's lively spirit, attempted to make jokes about everything he saw. It didn't take long for everybody to yell at him to shut up, which he took to heart and waited the rest of the time by the entrance of the station. Gosh did he miss Shawn right then. He just couldn't think about what might be happening to him. Because if he didn't think about it, then maybe it wasn't really happening. Gus knew it was foolish, but it made him feel better, or as better as he could feel in this type of situation.
Gus was startled from his thoughts when he heard the clock tower.
It was six am.
The package should be there any second.
True to Gus's thoughts, a man went up the stairs to the SBPD entrance with a small package in his hands. Gus opened the door and grabbed the young man. "Where's Shawn?" he yelled. "Where is he!" he practically screamed at the man.
"I, I don't know who you're talking about!"
"Come on! Tell me where he is!"
The man held up his hands defensively. "Look man, I d- don't kn- know what you're talking about!" He sputtered nervously.
"Guster! Calm down! He's probably just the delivery guy!" Lassiter ran into the room and pulled Gus away from the quivering man. "McNab, take this man into interrogation. Make sure he really is just the delivery guy."
Buzz nodded, and went to escort the man downstairs.
Juliet picked up the box that had fallen to the floor with shaking hands. She opened it slowly, afraid of the contents that might be inside. What she found surprised her.
It was another note, but there was also a memory card. Huh. Well it sure wasn't the worst case scenario she had imagined.
Everybody else surrounded her, trying to see the box's contents.
"It's a memory card." she said, and handed it to Chief Vick. "There's a note, too." she proceeded to read it allowed, her voice wavering as her words echoed through the station.
An extra something
To help you along.
This card will not
Steer you wrong.
Juliet sighed. "I guess what we need is in that card."
"I'll get my laptop." Lassiter said, and rushed to get it.
It only took five minutes to pop in the memory card. Everyone surrounded the computer, looking to see what the next clue was. There were only three items on the card. Two pictures and a video. They opened the pictures first.
The first one was a bit of a disappointment. "An oak tree? What the heck does an oak tree got to do with anything?" Lassiter exclaimed angrily.
"Well, let's take a look at the second one. Maybe that one could help." Juliet said hopefully, and opened the second picture
The second one didn't do much either. "253. Obviously this number means something." Gus said.
"Yeah, but it isn't exactly anything we can work with. Let's just take a look at that video." Karen sighed as she spoke.
When Lassiter clicked to enlarge the image shown before he pressed play, they did not expect to see the image before them.
Shawn sat, tied to a metal chair. A red lamp hung over him. Tape was over his mouth. At the moment, it didn't look like he had any serious injuries, but he certainly didn't look to happy to be there.
Henry rubbed his hand over his face, trying to hide his emotions for the time being. He needed to stay objective. For Shawn's sake.
They all tried to prepare themselves for what they might see in this video. But when Lassiter clicked the play button, no one could have prepared them for what they saw happen on the screen next.
