Chapter 9

The next day Rowland and his team questioned the two kids on how they had escaped and what the men looked like. Using their top of the range equipment, they managed to retrace Mokuba's and Serenity's path through the sewers to the warehouse they had been held in. Descriptions of the men were given, along with their names and Rowland had called on a few favours, setting up a search to find out more about them and their employers.

Nothing had come of the search yet. What they had found out about the men was that 'they were dangerous' and nothing more. They still did not know who had employed them to kidnap Mokuba. The search of the warehouse held similar depressing results. The place had been abandoned, but a search of the area found blood on one of the pavements. After DNA testing had been done, it was found that sadly most belonged to Joey, this had lead Serenity to go into another panic about her brother until Mokuba and Rowland managed to calm her down with reassuring words.

Yugi and Yami had been told of the two kids miraculous escape. There had been much celebrating and embracing on Yugi and Serenity's part. Yami had asked about Joey and been told that he was still missing presumed captured, also that they had found his blood and a signs of a struggle. Yugi had started to cry silently and Yami had to look away from Seto to get a grasp on his own emotions.

There had been no contact from the men yet and Yugi and Yami left to tell the others. Seto, Mokuba and Serenity were sitting in the living room once again.

"Serenity?" began Seto "don't you think you should tell your parents about where you're staying and about Joey. I think its bad we've kept this from them. Your mum and dad must be worried."

"My mum and dad are divorced." Was her reply.

"…Oh"

"I haven't spoken to my dad since the divorce and I don't know his number. Mum's on a trip to Tokyo for some reason or another."

"Who are you staying with then?" Mokuba entered the conversation for the first time.

"Some friends of Mums. She wanted to go out, so Joey came and took me out for the day."

"You should phone her then; you've been gone two nights."

"Yeah…I guess I should. Can I use your phone?"

"Of course Serenity…here." Seto stood, took the phone from its cradle and handed it to her.

As Serenity dialled the number, she began to speak again. "Do you want me to tell her about the kidnapping, or not?"

"Well…" Seto uncomfortable look said that he really didn't want people finding out, but he didn't want to stop Serenity from telling her family. Serenity decided that it was best just to keep quiet. On the other end of the phone someone spook.

"Hello."

"Hello Aunt Miko, its Serenity."

"Serenity! Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you."

"Sorry, I've been staying at a friend's." In the living room, both Kaiba's were listening to the conversation with interest.

"For two whole days! Why didn't you call me earlier?"

"Sorry" Serenity said again "it kind of slipped my mind. Have you called mum?"

"No, I haven't called Jane; I was going to if you didn't call soon. Really Serenity, I never thought of you as being so irresponsible. Your brother didn't phone either, but that's to be expected." Serenity's eyes showed great hurt and anger at the statement about her brother. "So, who are you staying with? Do I know them? It's not a shady friend of your brother is it? Jane told me about him. I don't know why I let you go with him." Serenity's grip on the phone tightened

"So, come on, who is it?" Taking a few seconds to get her anger at the women under control, she took a deep breath. Both Kaiba's were slightly scared from the ferocious glare the normally passive girl was sending to the opposite wall as she talked to the receiver.

"No, I don't think you know them, it's not one of my brother's friends either. It's Mokuba Kaiba. I've been staying at his place for a few days."

"Wait, Kaiba? As in Seto Kaiba's little brother?"

"Yes."

"You never told me you knew them! You could ask them for so much, you could ask them for money and you could get into all the high-class parties, I could meet…"

"Look! I'm staying here for the rest of my stay in Domino. Don't worry, I'll tell mum."

"But Serenity…"

"Thanks Aunt Miko." With that Serenity cancelled the call and slammed the phone on the table. Glaring at it, like she could set it alight.

"She…she…that woman is horrid. How dare she say that about my brother, how dare she think she can use you like that. I…I…I hate her." Serenity all but screamed. The two brothers looked on with mild, but well masked, fear as the small girl let out her anger.

"Serenity?" Mokuba cautiously asked.

"I'm fine Mokuba; I just can't stand that women." Serenity turned to face Seto. "I hope you don't mind me saying that I was staying here?"

"Stay as long as you want. There's plenty of room and I'm not going to kick you out with your brother still missing." The girl visibly brightened. "Don't you think you should phone your mum now?"

"No."

"…Excuse me?" Seto asked, not sure he had heard right.

"I'm not phoning her."

"But Serenity…why?" said Mokuba, worried about his friend.

"I'm not phoning her, because she's on a trip and I don't want to disturb her, and if I do, she'll come and get me and either take me to Tokyo or take me home. I won't be here when we find Joey and I won't be able to see him if that happens. So I am not phoning her."

Seto nodded once, understanding her reasoning, his curiosity about Joey's family situation growing. The CEO had always assumed the Mutt had the perfect family life, now he could tell that was far from the truth and it intrigued him. "I see, well you can stay as long as you like Serenity…and don't worry, we'll find your brother. Rowland's a professional."

"Thank you Seto, that means a lot." There was a small silence.

"Serenity, let's go to my room. There's nothing we can do till we get a lead and we might be in the way here." Mokuba stated.

Serenity slowly let a smile come on to her face, though it looked a bit strained.

"Ok." Mokuba led her out the room and up the stairs to his own. Seto sighed, where the hell was the damn Mutt. He had better be ok, and those men better not of hurt him or they were going to regret it.

XXX

Joey didn't know where he was. He thought he was underground, but he couldn't tell as the room he was confined in had no windows. It was a bland concrete box, with nothing furnishing it but a single chair in the corner. Joey's legs were tied and his arms bound behind him. His broken arm should have hurt but his mind had become numb to the pain. There was no one else in the room.

Joey tried to move and shift his legs into a more comfortable position, only to find his hands were shackled tightly to the wall, giving him little room to move. It was cold in the room, colder that it had been in the warehouse. The blonde's skin was covered in goose-bumps as his thin t-shirt and worn jeans did little to fend off the chill. The door was directly opposite him, the dark wood as depressing as the concrete around it. Joey throat was incredibly dry and crying out for water. When he tried to clear it he discovered he was gagged.

His shirt was stiff on his skin, looking at the blue material he found it stained in dried blood. His jeans were also stained in the same rust coloured substance. He remembered the knife wounds to his shoulder and thigh. They burned with pain at the memory of the knives puncturing his skin.

Joey sat like that, in pain, shackled and gagged for awhile before he fell asleep. His exhaustion catching up to him and draining him of whatever energy he had left.

"You let them escape! There capture was essential. Why should I pay you, now that you no longer have the goods?"

"We didn't let all of them escape. The blonde, a friend of the kid's still with us. He's injured and unconscious, but alive. You can still use him."

"NO. We needed the younger Kaiba. We'll have to make more preparations now…and go underground for a while. Kaiba is looking for us and we need to disappear…your right though! The kid can still help…if you do your job correctly."

"I will. Last time was a mistake. What do I need to do? If you are disappearing, I will need orders to give to my men and some payment up front."

"Fine, I will have the cash delivered. Half of what would have been your pay. Keep the kid where you are now. Depending on Kaiba he might be there for a while…no need to treat him nicely. He got the others out and tried to escape himself, show him we don't take kindly to that."

"So the pay will be delivered?"

"Yes."

"And I can tell my men that they have a new toy. Greg and Vince have something to set right with the kid."

"Do what you want, it doesn't concern me. Just keep him alive…in-fact have fun, his willingness to scream at our commend may come in handy. Play with your toy, don't break it."

"Will you contact us?"

"We will if we need to, until we do you can have some fun."

"What if Kaiba finds us, if he does the contracts off. You know how I work, I'll do what you want but I don't get involved in the politics."

"I know, but failure means no pay. I don't expect them to find you though. You're a professional and have your reputation to think of after all."

"Understood, I will be expecting my pay…and thank you for the toy. I always wanted one just like it." with that the 'Boss' hung up the phone, a maniacal grin spreading over his face as he thought of the amusement his new toy could bring.

Joey was in a state between conscious and dreaming. A hazy half state in which his situation was present to him, but the pain that came along with it was not. He was, however, roused from this to full consciousness by the opening of the cell door. Greg and Vince entered, one followed by the other. Vince closed the door and turned on the single hanging bulb from the ceiling. Joey wasn't surprised he missed it before, his only light had come from the gap below the door and that was little. The bulb was not bright and only served to cast a sickly half light in the room, illuminating the centre and leaving the corners in darkness.

The two men expelled threat like a mist; their eyes looked upon Joey with unsuppressed malice and hatred. The fact they were smiling only caused the Joeys skin to crawl. He stared back definitely with his own amber brown eyes, as he simultaneously tried to melt into the wall. Vince took the seat while Greg moved to stand before Joey.

"Boss said we got ourselves a new toy. Play but don't break is what he said. The thing is…" Greg lent down and faced Joey their noses almost touching as he spat his words into Joeys face "…we like to play rough."

He smiled again as he unshackled Joey from the wall, his legs and hands still bound, he was pushed onto his stomach and pressed into the ground. Greg straddled the back of his legs and grabbed a fist full of blond hair. Pulling harshly on Joey's hair and pressing on his back with his other hand, the boys head was yanked painfully upwards.

"Me and Vince got something to settle with you boy. See, we don't like the way you treated us, but don't worry. We'll have you screaming like a school girl by the end of this, and the dept will be repaid." Greg looked to Vince, who chucked him a knife. Greg caught its handle expertly and swiftly sliced and removed Joey's top, tossing the fabric into the shadows of the room.

Joey was deathly frightened. What were they going to do to him? How long was it going to last? His questions were soon answered.

Greg pressed the knife to Joey's back and in one swift movement sliced a shallow neat cut across the expanse of skin.

"Mmmh" Joey slight chocking scream was muffled by the gag. Vince frowned and the small sound.

"Hang on Greg, take the gag of. This won't be as much fun if we can't hear him scream." Greg obliged to Vince's wishes and removed the gag. Once that was done, he sliced several more time across Joey's back. Joey was stubborn however, refusing to scream simply because it would give his tormentors pleasure. He bit his lip to keep the sounds from escaping his mouth; blood ran down his chin as he bit too hard into the skin, causing it to bleed. Still Joey didn't make a sound.

Vince didn't like this; it was just like when he had beaten the blonde. He couldn't see Joey's eyes as his blonde bangs feel over them, but he knew the boy must have been feeling pain. Greg was growing impatient to.

Growling that the blonde youth wasn't screaming already, Greg lost his patients and instead of applying well controlled and neat cuts, he began to draw savage, deep lines on the blonde's crimson back.

Joey's eyes widened at the attack and he bit don even harder on his lip to stop from screaming. Scrunching his eyes shut to try and block out the pain, he knew he was crying. Crisscrossing lines covered his skin and bathed his back in crimson. The dark liquid trickled around his thin frame to the floor.

"Little brat." Spat Greg. His flashed his red knife through the blonde's skin once more. "Scream!"

"Wait here." Vince stood and exited the room, letting bright light fill the concrete box and illuminate the mixing of the blood and tears of the blonde. Greg stopped his torture for a moment to stare curiously at where his companion had just been. This pause came as a great relief to Joey, giving him time to try and push the scorching pain out of his mind.

The relief was short lived though as Vince return quickly. In his hand he held a bucket.

Vince returned and gestured for Greg to move. He did, and grinned wider than before when Vince showed him what he had planned. Vince replaced Greg in straddling the teen's legs. Lifting a handful of white grains from the bucket, he applied the salt to Joeys back and began rubbing it in.

Joey couldn't help it, the moment the salt touched his wounds, he screamed. His voice echoed several times of the concrete room. Joey's tears streamed quicker down his cheeks, and a low sob escaped from his throat. Vince continued to place salt on his back, rubbing it into the wounds, making the pain unbearable. Joey screamed several more times, all the while Vince smiled and Greg laughed. This continued till Joey's throat grew sore and hoarse, stopping him from screaming anymore.

"I told you we'd get you to scream brat." Vince whispered and then licked the shell of Joey's ear. The slimy feeling of his tongue sent shivers down Joey spine. The pain had hurt him, but this made him feel filthy, like his soul was coated and rotting in slime. Greg laughed again as he and Vince stood to leave the room. The former kicked Joey in the side and his stomach a few times for good measure and then left. They turned off the light, leaving a blonde teenage youth, lying in his blood and tears, bound and thrown across the floor. Joey's eyes filled with pain, but also with determination. Determination not to die, determination not to give in, and determination to see Serenity again. He would survive this, for that reason.

They were still searching. It had been two days since the kids had returned and Seto and his team were still working nonstop to find out where Joey was. The captors hadn't contacted again, Rowland believed they had gone underground as their plans had been compromised by the escape of Mokuba. They may believe that Seto didn't care enough about anyone but his brother to follow their demands. Seto found it ironic how, for once, his cold-hearted reputation was coming in handy.

Yugi and Yami had visited every day since the disappearance of Joey. Serenity and Mokuba had become very close friends, but the girl was becoming more withdrawn with every passing day.

"Sir!" Seto looked up from the couch in the living room.

"Yes?"

"We've got a lead on the men holding Mr. Wheeler." Seto stood with all signs of his previous tiredness gone. Finally they had something to find Joey.