Hello, everyone. It's been quite a while, but here is the next chapter of JAS. I've been pretty busy with my life, with hardly any time to work on stories. But here I am, and I wanna thank you guys for being patient. Anyways, in this chapter, Theo is running away from Reagan, trying to escape from the villain, and we'll get some back and forth banter between the two of them. Will Theo survive or fall victim to Reagan? Let's find out!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's.

Chapter 29: Run Wild (And Never Look Back)

Theo felt himself panting as he ran down the long hallway. He didn't know just how long he had been running, but he definitely knew that he had to keep going no matter how tired he was right now.

He had to outrun the devil chasing after him.

The eleven-year-old looked over his shoulder and saw Reagan catching up to him, knife in hand, a soft yet sinister look on his place. This man had one objective and one objective alone, and that was the make Theo suffer one way or another. That thought made Theo run faster, though it still felt like the man was still close behind.

As he ran, he looked down at his left arm, still encased in a cast. He then thought back to what Alya said earlier. If he wasn't careful, he was going to end up with more than a cast on his arm. And knowing just how unhinged Reagan is, that's something he didn't want to risk.

So he continued to run.

"I have to say, you're very athletic for a preteen." He heard Reagan say behind him, "You participate in any sports at school?"

Theo was confused at being asked this question. What's it to him anyway? However, fearing the worst if he didn't answer, he spoke, "Um, not really. I guess I'm just... agile?"

Reagan chuckled, "I figured. You must get it from your father. Despite his fat ass, he still knows how to move fast."

The boy grew a little irritated at hearing the villain call his father fat. While it was true, it still felt like a insult coming from Reagan. But he didn't have time to express that irritation as he rounded a corner, darting for a door at the end of the hall. Once again, Reagan was close behind.

"Tell me, Theo. How do you predict that this little game of ours will end?" The man asked with a smirk, chuckling as his prey was desperately trying to open the door, to no avail, "What do you think the outcome will be?"

"Hopefully with me not dying." Was Theo's frustrated reply, still focusing on the door.

Reagan stopped a few feet before the child, who was panting from all the running he just did. He himself was a tired as well, but he wouldn't stop until he did what was needed to be done, "Oh really? That's completely different from what I predict will happen?"

"Does it involve me dying?" Theo dared to ask, despite already knowing the likely answer.

To his surprise, the criminal shook his head, "I don't see you dying, little boy. No, I see you... suffering at my hands..." He looked at the knife in his hand and held it up. Theo could see his reflection in the sharp object, as the man spoke more, "I see you... on the ground, bleeding from the cuts and bruises. And I see your family in anguish at your suffering..."

I don't like anything he's saying... at all... Theo thought. He felt himself trembling. He didn't know what else to do. The door wouldn't open, he had nowhere else to run...

Or so he thought...

"And you wanna know another thing I see...?" Reagan asked, the smirk on his face growing slightly more twisted.

"...What...?" Theo asked, not sure if he wanted to know.

With a chuckle, the man pointed the knife at the boy's throat, "I see... you... being forced to watch as I take sweet little Alya... and give it to her the long, hard, and rough way..."

Theo paled at what he was implying. After what happened last year, he knew exactly what Reagan was talking about. He then felt his fists clench, in an attempt to not get mad. Even as the evil man kept talking, "Yes... because what could be worse than seeing a close friend get deflowered and humiliated. Because I definitely haven't finished with her. She will finally be mine, and Rudolph will finally pay for what he did to me."

"NO! You keep your hands off of her!"

Reagan was slightly caught off guard by the child banging his fists against his chest but was amused since it had little to no effect on him whatsoever, "Aw, look. The boy is concerned about his girlfriend."

Theo blushed deeply as he glared at the man, "She's not my girlfriend... she's just a friend."

"That blushing says otherwise. Face it, Theo. You're in love with her. I knew last year from all the times you kept protecting her from me."

"Of course I was protecting her. That's what a friend does. And I couldn't let her get hurt by a guy like you. You're crazy!"

Said guy just snorted, "I know. But you're just in denial about your feelings."

Theo looked around again before something caught his eye that he didn't notice before.

A ladder right next to the door. Seemingly leading to another room or something.

Now with a new plan in mind, he continued to glare at Reagan, "Well, I'm glad we had this little talk, but I gotta climb." With that, he made a quick jump to the ladder and quickly climbed up. Reagan didn't follow behind closely though. He watched the boy push open the hatch. He waited until the boy was no longer visible before climbing the ladder. He wanted to continue this 'game' a little more before he caught the boy.

Once Theo reached the top of the ladder, he saw that he was in a tunnel of some sort. It was small, so his next guess was an air vent maybe? Whatever it was, he knew he had to crawl through it to continue getting away. So crawl through he did, as fast as he could without stopping or putting pressure on his arm. And it wasn't long before Reagan was once again on his trail...

"And just where do you think you're gonna end up now going through this?" The man asked.

"I dunno, but wherever I go, I hope it's to get away from you." Was the boy's response as he continued to crawl through the vent. As he did, he started to go through some of the things Reagan said to him in his head.

Was he... really in love with Alya?

At first, he tried to shrug it off as just a friendship thing. He barely knew the first thing about love anyways. Yes, he liked her... as a friend... right?

But then he thought about all the interactions they had ever since they met. Him talking to her at her father's dinner. All the times she held his hand. All the times he protected her from danger. Him complimenting her. Even when he tried to impress her a week prior with his (lame) skateboard tricks.

Only a guy who really liked a girl would do all that for her... right?

Just thinking about it was enough to make Theo's cheeks heat up. Maybe Reagan had a point...

But he didn't have time to dwell on that too much. He had to focus on getting away. Even as Reagan interrupted his thoughts again.

"Hmm... maybe I should go after your little sister too. Since what's worse than seeing your closest friend get hurt... seeing your family in that predicament. And I'm sure you aren't ready to become an uncle yet..."

Theo was starting to see red. Did that man really just imply he was going to do Sondra the way he wanted to do to Alya? Now the preteen was getting mad. This villain really had no heart.

"You lay a hand on my sister, my mom and dad will kill you. Especially my mom." He said in response.

"How can your dad kill me? If you recall, he's out of commission right now."

The reminder of his father being knocked out by some drug earlier made Theo worry. Just what was that Reagan jammed him his neck? Was it lethal? Some sort of sleeping medicine? Would Dad even wake up?

He was afraid to ask the evil man chasing him, for fear of the drug being something fatal. He heard chuckling behind him, "Besides, I'm not afraid of that man. Your mother either. I can take angry parents..."

"Really? 'Cause I remember you shaking when my dad picked you up off the ground last year." Theo retorted with a smirk of his own.

Reagan didn't say anything to that, which made Theo wondered if he was embarrassed. But the criminal merely shook his head, "I was caught off guard then... but now... I'm ready for whatever that fatass throws at me? And speaking of fatasses... your mother has quite the-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Theo shouted, "Don't even think about it! You keep threatening to go after the women in my life, then you're gonna have a whole lotta people coming after you."

It was like this villain was trying to rile him up on purpose.

Reagan snorted, "It was a joke, Theo. Thought you could take them."

"Not when the joke involves hurting the people I love!"

"See! Just as I thought, you are in love with Alya!"

"SHUT UP!"

Before another word could be said, Theo felt the floor beneath him disappear, as he fell through a vent cover onto the floor. The eleven-year-old groaned as he landed on his injured arm. Fortunately, thanks to his cast, his arm was protected him from any further damage, but it still sent a shock of pain through his body. As he slowly got up, Reagan jumped through the cover, right behind the boy.

"Pathetic..." The villain shook his head, "Just pathetic. I thought you were taught not to speak out of term with adults... to show some respect for your elders..."

Theo glared at the man, "I have no respect for you. Not after everything you've done. Why should I give respect to a guy who kidnapped me and my friends with plans to sell us, threaten us several times, and then go and kidnap my parents and their parents? In fact, why should anybody give you respect when you can't seem to respect others..."

"My team respects me." Was Reagan's response as his smirk turned into a frown slightly.

"Respected you. Until you revealed that you don't even care one lick about them or what they wanted. They may be bad too, but at least they seem to have morals and limits. You? You're evil."

Theo partially wondered if he should be even saying any of this stuff since he could tell the man was getting irritated, but he found that he couldn't stop himself. He was on a roll. Perhaps he was more like his dad than he thought. Dad often told things to people straight. And that's exactly what Theo was doing right now.

"You have no care for anybody. You have to hurt someone just to get what you want. You've caused so much pain and suffering, that I don't even think you're capable of any love..."

The boy almost gulped when he saw Reagan's fist tighten. Maybe he was going a bit too far... or that last sentence somehow struck a nerve with him. Still, he continued talking, "Speaking of love... have you ever loved anybody in your life? Like ever? Your mom? Dad? Any brothers or sisters? Or grandparents?"

The man growled lowly. Was this boy trying to piss him off...?

"Or perhaps you had a wife at some point? Some kids maybe? Did you ever love them... before you decided to become a criminal and leave them behind-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU LITTLE BASTARD!"

Before Theo knew it, he was on the floor again. His face started to throb with pain, mostly coming from his bottom lip. He touched it lightly and winced when he saw blood. His lip was busted open and bleeding rather heavily. The preteen looked up at Reagan, who was seething with rage.

Yep. Should've kept my mouth shut... Theo thought.

He was then lifted up by his shirt collar until he and Reagan were face to face, "You little shit." The man snarled, "You have no right to tell me about love. Love is for the weak. Hell, you don't know crap about love! You're just a child."

Theo couldn't help but smirk a little despite the pain he was in, "Oh really? Even though you said that I was in love with Alya? Kinda contradicting yourself there, man."

That comment earned him another punch in the face. This time, the villain's fist connected with his nose. He could already feel the blood pooling from his nostrils. Reagan chuckled dryly, "You've got a lotta nerve to sass me, boy. Especially after seeing what I can do."

"Well, what can I say? You're like a target." Theo shrugged.

"A target."

"Yeah. I can hit you in the very center where it hurts."

There was a moment of silence between the two before Reagan threw the child to the floor hard. He pulled out his knife, "I'm starting to get tired of this little game we've been playing, Theodore. How about we end it once and for all?"

He raised his weapon, but Theo was quick to dodge as it came down. Just barely, as while he survived an injury, his red shirt wasn't so lucky, gaining a rip in the front of it. The preteen got up quickly and made a run for it. But this time, Reagan didn't chase after him. Instead, he frowned darkly as he watched the boy go.

"Let him run back to Mommy and Daddy..." He said to himself, "But he still won't escape me. Soon, all of them will fall... especially him..." He looked down at his knife, which was slightly stained with blood from an earlier engagement. Reagan swiped a bit off and brought his finger to his lips, savoring the taste of the iron, "Maybe I'll do more than just torture those fools. Perhaps... they deserve more..."

After a few minutes, Reagan began walking down the hallway. He was through playing games at this point. Now it was time to end this... for good...

Well, it looks like Theo was able to escape Reagan... for now at least. The criminal isn't ready to give up just yet, not to mention he still has some unfinished business. But, you gotta hand it to Theo. The kids got guts for all he said to the man, who seemed to be triggered by a few things. Next chapter, we'll continue to follow him in his journey to get back to his family and friends, but we'll also check in on said family and friends. Until then, I wanna thank you guys for being patient with me. I'll see you guys later. And as always, don't forget to review, please. Thank you.