Chapter Ten

Jacob knew it was coming. He could feel it. He reached out for the nearest object, but it wasn't there.

Then suddenly, a strong hand grabbed him before he hit the floor and he looked up, his blurry vision making it unable to see who caught him. "Oh," was all Jacob could say.

"It's okay, boss. I got you," Quinn's low voice replied as he helped Jacob to the bed. "Your nose is bleeding again."

Jacob moaned and fumbled around for a tissue on the nightstand. He had just wiped the blood from his nose when he could feel another unpleasant sensation in his throat. Grabbing as many tissues as he could, he coughed into them, each cough sounding worse than the first. "Quinn, I can't do this anymore," he gasped. "I'm too sick. I wanted revenge, but it looks as if I won't get to live long enough to unleash any more of my wrath."

"Don't talk like that, boss. You just rest and I'll check on the prisoners. If anything fishy goes on, I'll take care of it."

Quinn turned to leave, but Jacob grabbed his arm. "Quinn, whatever you do to them, don't physically hurt Bianca. As much as I detest her, she's still-cough-family. Same goes for the ungrateful old man. I don't care what you do to those other two."

"But boss, why did you kidnap them if you planned no harm to them?" Quinn asked.

"I just want them to be miserable. I have no hope, so neither should they. They separated me from my mother, so it's only fair that I separate them. The foreign guy and Curly know too much. If they tell Bianca about her grandfather being alive, she'll scratch the walls down to get to him. I just want them to be as miserable as-cough-I am right now. I mean it, though, Quinn, You, Alek and Marsy can't attack Henry or Bianca physically."

"You just rest, boss. I'll take care of everything," Quinn assured him before walking away. "Somebody has to take charge around here since you haven't or can't."

Jacob thought he heard Quinn mumble something else after he said he'd take care of everything, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he began another fit of coughing.

Why is this happening to me? he thought miserably as he stared at the brown-stained tissues in his hands.

"Where is she?"

Greg looked up and saw Quinn's ugly scarred face peering through the window. "She's using the bathroom, man. You want me to go in there?" he jerked his thumb behind him.

"I wish you would. She could be trying to escape. Look. Jacob's too sick to function, so it's up to us."

Greg stood up. Jacob was sick? This was news to him, but did the real Marsden know? "Too sick; what's going on with him now?" he asked, hoping there was a 'before' to speak of.

Quinn literally growled. "The nosebleeds and dizzy spells are worse. He's coughing up blood like crazy. Now it's up to us to take charge! I have a feeling that Alek may be going soft on us, so you need to take care of Bianca now!"

"Take care of her? I'm doing the best I can!" Greg scoffed, sticking his head around the corner where the restroom was and letting out a high-pitch scream. "Yeah, see? She's still in there!"

"You know what I mean! If you don't take care of her, I will! Now I'm going to see that insufferable idiot with the curly hair. Jacob is too sick to deal with things, so I'm in charge now!" Quinn shouted before storming off.

"Is he gone?" Balki whispered from where he was hiding.

Greg nodded. "Yes, but he's gone to Larry's cell and he is not in a good mood."

"Oh no! He going to hurt Cousin Larry, too!"

"I'm more worried about what he's going to do when he finds Bianca in Larry's cell! Balki, he wants me to kill her. And if I don't, he will!" Greg cried, panic setting in. He had to figure out a way to warn Bianca-and fast!

Larry slammed the laptop shut for the umpteenth time and pulled Bianca's photo out of his pants pocket. He looked at her beautiful porcelain face smiling back at him, that twinkle in her eye that he loved and missed so much. Would she ever look at him that way again? Would he ever hear her sweet voice say his name or hum some random tune? Would he ever feel her touch his shoulder gently or listen to her bubbly laugh again?

Wow, Appleton; you got it bad, he thought to himself before placing the photo back in his pocket and opening the laptop once more. Sadly, nothing had changed. She was still in chains, her head hung down and her body limp. Wait…was she-? No, no! his brain screamed as he raced to the door and pounded on it wildly. "Jacob! Jacob, what have you done? Somebody help!" he cried out, his voice high and panicked.

Suddenly, he heard a buzzing noise behind him and he dashed to the table, grabbing the chair as a makeshift weapon. For a second, he thought maybe it was Balki when he saw the egg appear, but the person who emerged wasn't Balki.

"Larry! Oh thank God it's you and you're okay!" Bianca's voice cried out before she ran towards him.

Larry held the chair out from his chest as if he were trying to tame a lion and backed away. "Stay away from me; I fell for it once, but I'm not going to fall for it again, Jacob!" he snarled.

'Bianca's' smile left her face and he swore he saw what looked like actual tears forming in her eyes. "Larry, it-it's me. What did Jacob do to you?"

Larry wanted to believe, but he still kept the chair between them. "Jacob, I swear, if you sent another hologram-"

'Bianca' began to literally cry now and Larry wasn't sure what to believe. "Jacob has been tricking you with holograms of me? Oh, Larry; I'm so sorry."

"Bianca?" Larry allowed himself to whisper, slowly putting the chair down and reaching out his hand.

Bianca didn't hesitate before she jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Larry! It's me. I'm here and we're going to get out of this place."

Larry returned the embrace, touching the back of her head, gently stroking her hair. Oh, she felt so good in his arms. After a minute of holding each other tight, Larry pulled apart, grabbing her hands and looking her up and down. She looked so beautiful. Nothing like the woman on the screen-

"Wait a minute; if you're here and you're fine, then why does the laptop show something completely different?" Larry asked before gently pulling her to the table and hitting the enter button on the laptop. Sure enough, the same picture was there of Bianca in chains, crying out for someone to save her.

"What the hell? That's not me! I mean, it's me, but it's a trick! Jacob is showing you doctored footage of me that isn't real," Bianca gasped. "Oh, Larry; he locked you in here and made you believe that I was being tortured?"

Larry nodded, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks.

Suddenly and without warning, Bianca grabbed the laptop, held it high above her head and threw it with a cry of frustration, smashing it against the wall into tiny pieces. "Damn you, Jacob Langley!" she screamed.

Larry touched her shoulder and then grabbed her arms as she turned to face him. "I-I never thought I would see you again. There's something I need to tell you, Bianca. Something important."

Bianca smiled. "Not now, Larry. I need to take you back to where Balki and Greg are so we can go to the cell with my grandfather and Alek. We don't have a lot of time and my machine is almost out of gas."

"But, Bianca, this is really important and I need to tell you-wait; did you say Greg? Who's Greg?"

Bianca smiled. "He's the guy who's been helping you and my grandfather this whole time. I can't wait for you to meet him and my grandfather. Pretty soon, we'll all be out of here and free, Larryyyyyyy….."

In a split second, the floor underneath Bianca opened and she fell, but not before Larry managed to grab her hand. Bianca! Hang on! I've got you!"

"Larry!" she screamed, dangling in the darkness below.

Larry Appleton; if you've never accomplished anything in your life, you have to save Bianca and not let go, he commanded himself, trying not to slip and fall with her. Carefully, he leaned down and ignored the pain in his bad back. "Bianca, give me your other hand and I'll pull you up," he grunted.

Slowly, Bianca cried out as she swung her other hand up and grabbed Larry's wrist. "Larry, hurry! I can't hang on!"

With fierce determination, Larry grunted and cursed as he pulled with all his might, slowly dragging her back up. As soon as she was three-fourths of the way back in the cell with Larry, he fell backwards, taking Bianca with him as they toppled to the floor like two dominoes.

Larry didn't breathe as Bianca lay partially on top of him, tears of relief and gratitude on her face. "Well, that was close," he finally whispered. "I was afraid for a second I was going to-"

Larry didn't get to finish his sentence, however, for Bianca pressed his lips against his, causing all thoughts to leave his brain. So Larry did the only thing he could do. He returned the kiss eagerly.