Alright, so heads up, this is without a doubt a shorter chapter, but I don't think it will disappoint. The reason for the shortened chapter is because as I was editing this chapter, I found that perfectly evil spot to end this chapter and leave you guys with an agonizing cliffhanger! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I also left a question for you guys regarding it to leave in a review, so be sure to take the time to answer it.
So yeah, here we go… Chapter 21!
Chapter 21: Confidence vs. Cockiness
The first syllable that he heard broke Nick to the core of his emotions. It almost felt like he was listening to a ghost. Part of it was due to the fact that he almost didn't believe that Greg was still alive, but the other part was due to the fact that Greg sounded so lifeless on the phone, just empty of a soul. The sorrow that he felt though, he could admit that it was over shadowed by the joy that he felt when he heard Greg. It was the first time that he was able to talk to him since the abduction and through all the emotional turmoil that has occurred, it did offer a glimmer of hope to hear that Greg was still there.
Nick was speechless at first, not exactly knowing what to say to Greg at this point. After a moment of choking on words that he couldn't coherently form in his mind, Nick was finally able to spit out a few words of truth and happiness. "Greggo," he firstly said as a habit, but almost broke to tears as he used his nickname. "I'm so happy to hear your voice man."
"I'm happy to hear your voice too Nick," Greg said just to answer Nick. He was genuinely happy to hear Nick and to talk to him, but never had he been more terrified or intimidated. Calvin's crude words about what Nick really though of him, they had already begun to haunt his mind. Regardless if the words were true, the hurt behind them was real. The fact of it all though was that Nick had watched the video, which meant that he saw what Calvin did to him. As he was attempting to talk to Nick now, he only felt embarrassed and ashamed.
With the lifelessness in Greg's tone and his lack of a response, Nick knew that there was something wrong with Greg, besides the obvious fact. Nick had figured that if Greg was the one to request to talk to him, he assumed that he would show a little more liveliness and joy in getting this opportunity. Instead Greg had just shut down. Nick had a feeling that he knew why this was, and though he wanted to confront if this was the problem, he didn't want to pry into something that he wasn't sure if Greg would be able to handle being brought up. Instead, he decided to ask a simple question. "How you holding up?" he asked with a warm, comforting spirit in his voice.
The question was stupid in Greg's opinion. For one it sounded like a pathetic small-talk conversation starter, but Greg also felt pathetic realizing that there was no way that he could really answer it. He didn't want to be bluntly honest and admit that he really wasn't doing well at all, but he also didn't want Nick to worry. "I'm alright, I guess," he said, respectfully lying to Nick.
As Calvin heard this, he knew that Greg was just trying to protect Nick from really knowing the truth, but instead, he decided to excuse the in depth perception and focus on the general fact that Greg had lied. With another unexpected punch to Greg's beaten stomach which had caused him to double over, Calvin then hissed into Greg's ear, "You know Greg; it's not polite to lie to your friends, especially when you lie to them right in front of me. Might I remind you about the last time that you lied," he said with an evil laugh and a sinful grin as he began to trace his fingers along the burnt letters in his captive's chest.
Hearing Calvin's vile voice was one thing, but it was another thing to hear Greg's fearful whimpers. It had killed him to hear his friend at a point of utter and complete terror and weakness. Nick knew exactly why Greg had lied to him though and he figured that if he was in the same situation, he probably would have done the same thing. But the repercussions obviously proved to be far more painful, physically and mentally, than just blatantly admitting the truth would have been. Nick was silent for a moment, as if waiting for Greg to say the next word, but when he clearly heard his shaky breathing through the phone, it seemed obvious that Greg was too terrified to even speak. Coming to this conclusion, Nick then started to talk into the phone. "Greg, listen man. I don't care what you say alright, I'm not going to judge you or anything, but say what you need to say to keep him happy. Don't piss him off and hurt yourself anymore okay."
With Nick's words, it made him feel completely venerable and helpless which had then made him feel utterly pathetic. Greg was almost beginning to regret asking if he could talk to Nick as right now, with everything feeling as if it was gaining up on him, he couldn't bare the emotional strength needed to continue with the conversation. "I can't… I can't do this," he brokenly admitted as a tear trickled out of the corner of his eyes.
"You can't what, talk to me?" Nick asked, surprised to hear Greg say this.
"Yes," Greg admitted to once again, his voice breaking and his emotions a wreck.
Nick knew that Greg was completely emotionally unstable at this moment, and that is why he feared asking him his next question. Nick knew exactly why Greg was having a hard time talking to him, and that was due to Calvin's falsely accused facts that he had planted to solely fester Greg's mind, which had proved to be a successful tactic on his part. There was only one way to solve this problem, and that was to confront it, which he didn't know if Greg could handle. Regardless though, talking to Greg at this moment could very well be the only moment that he may have to talk to him, and he wasn't going to allow Greg to be the one to bail on this opportunity.
"Greg, why don't you want to talk to me? I mean, I know you asked to talk to me, but now you just want to quit? Look I know this is rough for both of us, but Greg, please; I need you to stay on the phone. Just tell me what's wrong," Nick calmly encouraged.
Having Nick now confront him on his emotional distress, it wasn't something that he really wanted to discuss at this moment. But hearing Nick beg him to stay on the phone, he realized that there wasn't really anything that he could do other then answer him. "Did… did you watch the video?" Greg hesitantly asked.
A heavy sigh left Nick as he heard Greg ask him this question. He knew that this was the problem, and though it was a painful subject, he was at least happy that he now had the chance to clear it up and reveal the truth. "Greg, please don't believe a single god damn word that Calvin said to you. He completely twisted my words. There is one truth and that is the fact that I did watch the video, but I didn't watch the ending. I knew what was going to happen; I don't need to see it." Nick had then stopped for a second. There was more that he wanted to say but he didn't know if his words would be too much for Greg to handle. He already knew how broken Greg was, and he didn't want to potentially damage what remained of it.
"Why did you stop it?" Greg quietly asked.
There was a simple answer to this whole thing, but Nick knew it wouldn't be enough to suffice. Though it could potentially be extremely harsh on the emotions, Nick had concluded that approaching the emotional demon head on was going to be the best way, and with a deep breath, he finally confessed the reality to Greg. "Honestly, I know you're ashamed. There is no defense to that. If Catherine and I, if we watched the whole thing, we know you would be embarrassed around us. You would feel that we would be looking at you as the friend who got violated, and we don't want you looking at us as the friends who watched it happen. I know you were stripped of your dignity, and I refused to diminish what remains of it. That's something that you need to hold on to Greg. That's the fight in you; you can't just give it up." By the end of his speech, what Nick though was going to be a painful confession, he realized that it ended up being rather uplifting.
Greg didn't see the confidence that Nick had in him though. Greg felt the truth within, and it wasn't anywhere near as valiant. "It a lot easier just to give up though," Greg then brokenly admitted, now revealing the true weakness that he felt within.
Nick's heart dropped at Greg's response. It was finally the bluntly stated reality of how lost his friend truly was from himself. Though the comment did fill his own heart with sorrow, it didn't stop Nick from trying to reach out to the small glimmer of hope that he knew Greg still possessed. "Greg, don't say that, please. Listen, what little I know about what's happened to you, what all you've endured, I'll tell you right now that there is now way that I would have been able to hold out for this long, and I don't even know the half of what you've gone through. You have no idea how proud Catherine and I are to know that you're still alive. To know that you haven't given up hope, it's given us hope."
"What if I have given up hope though?"
"I don't believe that," Nick proudly protested, doubting this fact 100%. "Calvin said that you asked to talk to us. I don't think you would have done that if you didn't have hope for at least something. Tell me, why'd you want to talk you us?"
"I wanted to see if you were as lost as I am," Greg first explained. There was more that he wanted to say though but he didn't know if he should. He didn't know if it was best to fully reveal how lost he really was, from hope, from sanity, from even living. As this inner realization finally caught up with his awareness though, his weaknesses gave in and he finally released these very feeling that he was trying to hide. "I'm just hoping you aren't lost though because I feel like I'm completely fucked," Greg hopelessly admitted.
Nick felt Greg's sense of hopelessness when he said this, but he was once again trying to see the hope in the situation. "See, you still have hope, and it's being held in the right place," Nick then assured.
"Then you know where I'm at," Greg brokenly asked, his voice begging for the uplifting answer that he longed to hear.
The subtle grin that was on Nick's face and the hope in his eyes, all at once, it was shattered. It had utterly ripped his heart to shreds when he heard Greg ask this. It was at this point when Nick had begun to question if when Greg had said that he had given up hope, if he was genuinely telling the truth. With his question, he was asking it as if he was taking a gamble with hope again and hoping to receive the answer that was in fact completely far from that truth of the situation. In his heart, he couldn't tell him that though, as the reality was too dismaying. Instead, Nick offered the best answer that he could, though he knew it wasn't going to be good enough for Greg. "We're getting real close, alright Greg. We promise that we're going to find you though. Just keep reminding yourself that we're not going to give up, okay."
Greg had been trying his best not to cry over the phone, but with Nick's answer, all of his emotions gaining up on him, he finally began to let his tears fall once again. It had just completely overwhelmed him to know that they didn't know where he was at and that they weren't on their way to his rescue at this very moment, but at least it did offer some confidence to know that they were at least getting somewhere in finding him. When it came to answering Nick though, he didn't know how to.
Though there weren't any words spoken, Nick could hear Greg's answer regardless as he heard him trying to stifle back his tears. Listening to Greg, he instantly felt as if he was letting him down. It didn't matter how hard he and Catherine were working to try to find him, the fact remained that nothing would be good enough until they had Greg back with them.
"Well, how close are you then?" Greg then ventured to ask, sounding starved for hope.
Once again, Nick found it to be a struggle to answer Greg, but after thinking about his question for a moment, Nick then realized that he could have an opportunity to get some information that could be helpful out of Greg. "Well we have a new lead and it's a pretty solid one right now. Is there anything that you can tell us that you think could possibly help us though?"
Upon Nick's request, Greg's mind just seemed too jumbled and lost at the moment to even consider if there was anything information that he could tell Nick that would help him at this moment. Even if there was anything though, Greg had taken to mind the vicious brute that was holding the phone to his ear and once again questioned himself how he would even be able to give Nick any information without letting Calvin on in anyway. Stuck in a situation and with a lack of an answer in general, Greg simple answered, "I can't."
Greg's answer wasn't a surprise to Nick in the least as he instantly knew why Greg would say this. "Is Calvin right there?" he asked by means of a conformation.
"Sure," Greg casually responded, having it pose as an average answer to Calvin's ear, not one that would alert his attention.
Nick caught on to Greg's passive answer and saw his means behind it. Though with Greg's answer, it had then given Nick an idea. "Well is there anything that you could even try to say that could help us, like something that wouldn't really get Calvin's attention? I mean, don't say anything if you can't Greg; I don't want you to get in trouble. If there is anything though, like seriously, right now, anything could help us," Nick hopefully explained.
Upon Nick's question, Greg began to consider if there was anything that he could tell Nick. Going back to the conversation that he had with Calvin before he had called Nick, he began to go over some of the major moments and comments that Calvin had said. Most of it was a confusing riddle and telling Nick any of it he figured would confuse him just as much as it had confused him, but there was one simple fact that he figured wouldn't be too risky to share.
With a deep breath, he prepared himself to reveal a piece of information that he didn't know how Calvin would respond to it. There wasn't an indirect was that he could inform Nick, so with a hesitant exhale, Greg cautiously said, "I wasn't the original target." It was instantly proven though that his cautious nature was appropriate, as the second after he had told Nick this, the phone was snatched from his ear and the same, strong hand had grasped the sore roots of his hair and ripped his head back. The only thing that he could do was release a stifled gasp and look into Calvin's threatening eyes.
"I thought I told you to be careful about what you said," Calvin hissed as he began to taunt Greg's mind by hovering his thumb over the End button, so to end the phone call. "Why'd you say that?" he then ordered to know.
"Nick asked me a question. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to say anything regarding that," Greg blurted out. The fact didn't escape his mind that he had basically threw Nick under the bus, but right now, Greg figured that it was his life in Calvin's hands, not Nick's. "I promise, I won't say another thing, just please don't hang up," Greg begged once again with honest, pleading eyes.
After scrutinizing Greg and judging him and his word, Calvin had then let go of his hair. "One more chance," he said as he put the phone back next to Greg's ear.
Greg nodded his head, acknowledging Calvin firstly, and then turned his attention back to Nick. "Are you still there?"
"Yeah," Nick fearfully answered. The commotion that he heard through the phone had startled him, but he was at least proud to see that Greg had held strong and wasn't rattled by Calvin's intimidating nature. "Are you okay?" Nick then asked in concern.
"I guess," Greg simply answered, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head.
Nick was happy to hear that Greg was alright, but he felt bad as he felt like he was the one who caused the pain that had happened to Greg. It had dawned on him that the only way that he was going to get any information out of Greg was if he asked the questions, but he figured that it would be enough to suffice. "Well let me ask you this then okay, because I think this is really important."
"Sure," Greg simply answered once again, as it seemed like the safest answer that would be one to cause much of a suspicious from Calvin.
"Has Calvin mentioned anything to you about someone named Aaron?" Nick then asked, crossing his fingers that Greg would have some information, as he figured that if Greg knew something, anything, he could potentially be the biggest key in Greg's kidnapping, and not only that, but possibly being able to figure out where he is. No Nick's despair though, Greg's answer didn't offer much hope.
"Not really," he replied, once again covering his response with a casual one so to continue the seemingly misleading charade from Calvin.
"He hasn't told you anything at all?" Nick asked again, begging for a different answer and with disappointment in his voice.
Greg caught on to Nick's sense of misfortune and was upset that he couldn't offer Nick anything regarding this person named Aaron. "Not a thing?" he confirmed.
Nick let out a heavy sigh as he realized that there wasn't anything that he was going to be able to get out of Greg regarding Aaron, but he figured that maybe he could at least benefit him. If Aaron did have something to do with his kidnapping, then maybe he could give Greg a few answers that could help him begin to piece together a few facts. "You know, that's fine, but listen," Nick started off saying, making sure that he would fully have Greg's attention. "Catherine and I, we're positive that Aaron has something to do with this. We think that he's why Calvin kidnapped you."
With this information being brought up and answers all of a sudden beginning to present themselves, it was beside Greg to not become ecstatic or intrigued with what Nick had to say. With that same spirit of excitement, Greg then asked, "Well whose Aaron?" Asking this question though, it was a careless move on his part. Forgetting to mind what he said in front of Calvin, it had instantly resulted in a consequential action. The phone was removed from his ear and Calvin's strong hand was then forcefully pressed up against his mouth.
Nick wasn't surprised to hear that Greg didn't know anything about Aaron, but what had concerned him were the noises that he was beginning to hear on the other line. It sounded like a muffled scuffle, and right as Nick was about to question the sound, a familiar voice had spoken through the phone, and it wasn't Greg. "Aaron is someone that Greg doesn't need to know about," Calvin boldly stated, and before Nick could even consider questioning him, he heard the dial tone. Hearing this, Nick didn't exactly now how to comprehend what had just happened, so he merely sat there was a blank look of shock across his face.
As Catherine began to notice this very look that was on Nick's face, she was intrigued, but also concerned. From her perspective, the conversation seemed to be going decently well, but once she saw Nick's expression, there was something within her that just knew something was off. "What is it Nick?" she cautiously questioned.
He hung up on me," Nick firstly and blandly answered with the same absent look on his face. After hearing his own words though and fully comprehending what he had just said, it brought him from his dazed mental state of oblivion and returned his mentality to the present. With his state of shock and surprise gone, he wasn't shy to release his anger that he felt upon what had happened. "That son-of-a-bitch hung up on me!" he then exclaimed with a look of both frustration and failure in his eyes.
"Why did he hang up?" Catherine then questioned, hoping that Nick had the answer and it wasn't for just the hell of it that Calvin decided to end the phone call.
Fury was surging through him and that rage was all guided by one person, but in a position where he could lash out his frustration, he had to hold onto the control over his emotions once again. After taking a breath, he looked at Catherine and answered her with his conviction that he felt was exceptionally reasonable. "Well I was trying to see if Greg knew anything about Aaron, and he didn't. He then asked me who Aaron was and I was going to tell him, but then Calvin told me that Aaron wasn't anyone that Greg needed to know about. He then hung up the phone," Nick explained.
With Nick's reply, it was pretty much a justifiable explanation for why Calvin would hang up on him. "So Calvin hung up on you because you were talking about Aaron?" Catherine more so stated for the conformation.
"I don't really see there being any other reason," Nick then announced, agreeing with her.
"Then Aaron must have something to do with Greg's kidnapping," Catherine said, conforming her own thinking.
"If he didn't, I think I would still be talking to Greg."
"Well at this moment, I think it would be hard to deny the fact that we basically have a conformation for the fact that Aaron is involved with Greg's kidnapping. It's where we were headed before Calvin called and it where we need to go now. Aaron's involved, we need to look at his case file right now," ordered Catherine as the two of them got up from their seats and left the A/V lab.
The second after the call was disconnected, the sense of astonishment and confusion had engulfed Greg's mind. The reaction out of Calvin was unexpected, but it dawned on him that there was no way that he would have acted like this if it wasn't for a reason. The clarity of this moment came crashing down on Greg's conscience when he realized that it was because of the name that he said that triggered the reaction. Whoever Aaron was, Nick was obviously right about him having something to do with his kidnapping or else Calvin wouldn't have reacted the way that he did.
When Calvin had finally removed his hand from his mouth, with a turn on his heel and without a second though, he headed toward the door. Instantly realizing that Calvin was leaving the room, it had made Greg's blood boil with both fury and frustration. After his abrupt and questionable actions, to then see him leaving the room without offering an explanation, Greg had denied Calvin the ability to leave and demanded his attention. There wasn't any way that he was going to let Calvin walk out of here without a single answer to this mental chaos.
"Wait, who's Aaron?" Greg asked with a demanding tone.
With his simple yet bold question, Greg knew that it would be enough to get Calvin's attention, and he was correct as he had stopped in his footsteps before he reached the door. When Calvin snapped his head around to look at him though, it was then that Greg became aware of the aggression that Calvin presented in his nature. With menacing eyes and a demented smirk, Calvin viciously retorted, "Didn't you hear me? He's no one that you need to concern yourself with!" Calvin then turned back around and reached for the door knob as he went to leave the room.
With Calvin's passive aggression in his voice, it had confirmed Greg's thoughts. "Nick was right then," he then said to himself, but unfortunately, his voice wasn't quiet enough for it to only reach his ears.
"What did you say?" Calvin forcefully demanded to know after hearing Greg's incoherent, mumbling back-talk.
Greg was surprised to realize that Calvin had indeed heard him, but after seeing the look in Calvin's eyes, he had wished that he just kept his mouth shut. Knowing that he now had to answer Calvin though, he was torn over whether to tell him the truth of what he had said, or challenge him and merely lie by denying the fact that he said anything. "Nothing," Greg cautiously said in a passive voice.
"Don't you lie to me you piece of shit!" Calvin then snapped back in an assertive tone as he approached Greg while pointing at him to emphasize his aggression with his accusatory gesture. "What did Nick say to you?"
With Calvin's intimidating hostility, Greg was once again shaken by him. It was clear that Calvin had heard what he said, but after choosing to play the lying card, it wasn't like he could take it back or anything. Doing that, admitting to his lie, it wasn't anything that was going to benefit him; if anything, it was going to hurt him. Greg figured that at this moment, it would be in his best interest to hold to the lie and play it as the truth. "I swear, Nick didn't tell me anything! Believe me Calv-," he then went on to say to further justify his lie to pose it as the truth, but he didn't get the opportunity to, not after Calvin decided to abruptly cut him off.
"Believe you, I would rather hand you over to Nick at this very god damn moment then believe you! I heard you dumb ass! You said that Nick was right, yet you claim that he didn't tell you anything; it doesn't really add up now does it?" Calvin contradicted while managing to as well as mock Greg's arrogant stupidity. "What did Nick tell you?" Calvin finally asked once again with a look in his eye and a tone in his voice that told Greg to answer him or to expect the worse.
Knowing that he wasn't in a position any longer to carry out a revealed lie, there really was only one other option for Greg. Telling the truth and exposing what little information he got from Nick was the only thing he could do. "Nick told me that he thinks Aaron has something to do with why you kidnapped me," he admitted with a heavy sigh and a shamed look on his face.
"Is there anything else?" Calvin then asked, his voice both skeptical and demanding, as he had a feeling there was more that Greg knew that he wasn't telling him.
While shaking his head, Greg simply and truthfully replied, "No."
With Greg's response, there was a part of Calvin that had immediately doubted his words, especially after realizing that he had pathetically attempted to lie to him yet again. But when Calvin had looked into Greg's eyes, there wasn't a look in them that was trying to convince him that his lie was the truth. There was no effort to vindicate his answer. Greg's answer was nothing more then that, a truthful answer.
Coming to the conclusion that Greg had known nothing more then what he had told him, Calvin had nothing more that he needed to say. Without another word, he back turned around and went to leave the room like he tried to do before. But once again, he was stopped at the doorway.
"Is that why you kidnapped me?" Greg then ventured to ask.
Calvin let out a heavy sigh of frustration when Greg asked him this, as it was annoying to see that he still wasn't letting up on the subject. Without turning his attention to Greg but continuing to face the doorway, he had answered Greg with a threatening tone in his voice. "You don't know a god damn thing about Aaron to be making that accusation Greg."
Greg heard the edge in Calvin's voice, and minded his warning, but he still wanted answers, and was determined to get them. "Well I don't know anything, but Nick does. Why else would tell me that he thinks Aaron has something to do with this?"
"But do you trust that Nick knows what he's talking about?" Calvin intentionally mused with doubt, hoping to bring uncertainty into Greg's sense of confidence. "I mean, maybe he fell for another one of my curveballs, like when he believed that I was the innocent witness," he then suggested with a wicked grin, giving a bold example to support his claim.
Greg sat in silent for a moment, comprehending exactly what Calvin was telling him. At first, he believe that it was a valid argument, which had brought doubt into his spirit, but then after analyzing Nick's intentions, they had began to overpass Calvin's bleak perception. "I highly doubt that," he humbly yet valiantly argued.
The pride that Calvin saw in Greg after he responded to him with confidence, it wasn't the strength that he wanted to see in him. "And why's that?" he then challenged with a skeptical smirk.
"After I simply said Aaron's name, you took the phone back, said that Aaron isn't anyone that I need to know about, and then hung up the phone. I think it's obvious you did that because you didn't want Nick giving me any information, and why wouldn't you want that, because Aaron is involved in this," Greg logically explained.
Regardless of the fact that Greg's thinking was correct, it wasn't something that he was going to give him a sense of satisfaction for. With a crooked smirk and a scoff for a laugh, Calvin's response to Greg was nothing more then a remembrance of the fact that he had the control over what he did and didn't know. "As I said Greg, you don't even know who Aaron is to be making the accusation that he's involved in your kidnapping."
With answers being denied from him and having Calvin mock the control that he had over his sanity, Greg was finally beginning to reach his break point as his level of tolerance for frustration was at its very edge. Having now been informed of a possible explanation for why this is happening to him, and to having that very reason withheld, it was more then what Greg could sensibly take from this mind game. Whoever Aaron was, Greg realized that he didn't need to know anything about him to make one vital assumption.
With the same cocky smirk that Calvin wore so well and the same arrogant tone, Greg looked at Calvin with careless eyes and simply stated, "You know, I don't need to know a damn thing about him to know that if he is involved, like you, he's a sadistic fuckin asshole who can burn in hell."
Alright, so if you guy's have been following the story and everything and understand the relationships of the characters and all… then you understand why that was a cliffhanger :O!
So, here is the question that I have for you readers of Chapter 21: How do you think Calvin is going to respond to what Greg just said? Any guesses as to what he might say or do? Like, for all you know, he could just shrug his shoulders, but come on... Greg said that about Aaron! Please let me know what you guys are thinking!
And thanking my readers:
Thank you StarlitWave10 for alerting my story.
And WOO HOO… 9 Snazztabulous reviews from penguinsfan18, VisionX23, shellygirl34, crimescenelover, WMG, anon1315, Abby, JodsRaine, and StarlitWave10. I really appreciate the comments that you guys left regarding how you liked the accuracy of my dates and events and everything from the previous chapter. It really was a lot of work and I am really happy to see that it paid off.
Thanks again for reading everyone :D!