Writer note: I have decided to continue! Get as much done as I can while I'm inspired :D I'm sorry the last chapter was so short. I wasn't sure whether to write anymore until I got some reviews! For those of you who are awaiting a new chapter on "One Eighty", I'll have that out soon! Thank you for all the reviews and helpful comments!!!

Solar Surfer: Lol, I thought it would of been 'pass' instead of 'past'...thanks! You gave me an idea for a later chapter too :)

***

The crash startled Sarah Hawkins awake. She bolted upright in bed, her loose strains of hair brushing against her cheeks. Her room was directly across the hall from her son's. She thought for an instant it was just that rambunctious robot Jim had brought home just breaking another valuable of Delbert's. But it never had happened this late into the night. Another factor was it sounded close, a little too close.

Sarah swung her legs to meet the floor, lit the lamp beside her bed, and made her way to the hall. Jim's door was closed, that wasn't unusual. She knocked once, twice then decided to peek in when there was no answer. Light streamed into the room as the lamp devoured the darkness inside. Sarah slipped in, and immediately found Jim's bed empty - the blankets tossed about all over the place. She found the broken lamp next then the open window.

Sarah knelt to retrieve the fallen blanket, shock penetrating her joints. She felt in her gut something awful had happened here. Her feet were glued to the floor, her mind wanting to move, but her joints refusing to. Clutching the blanket, she gasped and finally was able to move again.

"Delbert" her voice came out in a choked yelp then a scream. "Delbert!"

***

Humming. Jim could hear humming as he regained consciousness. A sharp ache pained the back of his head, making him groan under the gag that still strangled his mouth. The place where he lay was dim, though Jim wouldn't know. The blindfold was intact around his eyes. Hands and feet bound just as they were before. Nothing had changed save his location.

Memories of the attack hit him like a bag of bricks. He groaned again, rolling over on his side. He lay still a few minutes regaining his bearings as his disorient faded. He shifted his hands, finding the cords impossible to loosen. The more he struggled with them the more the cords cut into his skin. Fresh blood seeped from his stripes covering the dry blood on his wrists.

Jim halted in moving any more. It was literally useless unless he desired to hurt himself even further. He lay motionless for an hour or so, waiting for a sudden attack or even hoping a little for a rescue. He wished the blindfold would disappear so to know where he was. From his hearing senses, Jim could tell he might be on a ship from the humming around and under him.

Just then, the creaking opening and closing of a door sounded through the room. Creeping feet pattered forward. Jim perk at the sound, feeling the familiar heated presence. It was above him.

Jim's body tensed. The heat drew closer to him. Three bristly legs struck down upon his back, knocking the air from his lungs. "Jim Hawkinsss, I presume." Jim tried to thrust away from the hissing voice. The presence pressed firmer on his back. "We won't have none of that. You're likely wondering who I am. Recognize my voice? You better, boy. Scroop is my name though I'm not the same Scroop you knew. David Scroop is my name. My brother, Dante Scroop, you flung into the etherium." The heat grew intensely hot on Jim's neck. "You will pay."

The legs lifted, relieving Jim of the suffocating pressure. He pulled in deep breaths, wishing desperately for the gag to be removed. It was soaked from his saliva leaving Jim's mouth desert dry. His mind raged with terrible thoughts, pondering what this insectoid had in store for him. He did not want to find out.

Jim heard the eerie hissing of David Scroop's body creep away then the door opening and closing again - leaving Jim alone in his misery.