Instant Star- Rise Of The Next Generation
Chapter 18: Viciousness
(Author's Note: I hope everyone is still enjoying this! I find the title of this chapter funny- as it is also the title of this weeks eppy- quite an appropriate coincidence! Anyway, once again I have to thank everyone who reviews... I'm sooo happy- almost at 100! Come on, people- let's go there with this chapter... pleeease!)
Chapter 18: Viciousness.
The stars faded from the sky as a new day dawned, it's gray skies a perfect metaphor for the Quincy's situation. All four of them spent the night sleepless and terrified; Ruby in that unknown, extremely uncomfortable destination and Patrick, Tommy and Jude in their always- before safe and cozy home.
Just after dawn, Patrick padded downstairs, still dressed in his faded cotton t-shirt and mismatched flannel pajama bottoms. He greeted his parents, who still sat, faces pale and drawn, exactly where he had left them the night before.
"Morning" he greeted them cautiously.
"Still nothing..." his father informed him.
"I figured..." Patrick replied, disappointed.
"How are you holding up?" Jude asked him.
"Ok" he answered, unable to keep the bleakness from his voice.
'Us, too..." his mother echoed understandingly.
Patrick went back upstairs to change and then re-joined his parents wait in the living room.
A few hours later, the doorbell rang.
"Who could that be?" Jude wondered, as Tommy just shrugged his shoulders.
"I'll get it." Patrick said, quickly springing to his feet.
Opening the door, he easily greeted the visitor.
"Brian. Hey..."
"Hi. How are you guys doing?"
"As well as you might expect..." Patrick said, his voice empty of emotion.
"Spontaneous translation- Lousy!" Brian interpreted.
"Well, yeah" his friend admitted.
"I take it that you haven't heard anything yet."
"No..."
"Anyway... I just wanted to come by and see how you all were... See if there's anything else I can do to help..."
Patrick stared at his sensitive friend, remembering his earlier words to Ruby.
"My family was so torn up when my father died... It's not the same, but I want to help..."
"Thanks" Patrick replied, genuinely grateful for the support.
"No problem... Anyway... I did bring some donuts..."
"Krispy Kreme's and Dunkin's?" Pat replied with surprise.
"Well... I didn't know what you liked... Or what to bring at a time like this... But I figured a sugar rush was always a "sweet" idea..." Brian groaned softly at his own bad joke.
Patrick allowed himself a small smile.
"Ruby would totally agree with you... She would have loved to hear you say that..."
"Then I'll just have to say it again after we find her." Brian said positively.
"Good plan!"
"Patrick? Who's that?" Jude's voice called weakly.
"Just Brian..." her son answered, leading him into the living room.
"How are you, Mrs. Quincy?" the intern greeted her respectfully.
"Hanging in" Jude smiled bravely, but sadly.
"And you?" Brian added, turning to Tommy.
"The same..."
"I'm really sorry this happened to Ruby... She's such a special girl... I can't even imagine what you must be feeling right now..." Brian said to both her parents.
"Thank you." Jude replied, as Tommy nodded.
"Anyway... I brought you guys something..." Brian continued, removing the cardboard boxes from his bag.
"I don't know... maybe it was a silly idea. But I wanted to do something. And Pat just told me Ruby has a sweet tooth..."
"She does. Takes after me like that." Tommy commented, thinking fondly of his missing daughter.
Brian smiled knowingly. Everyone at Q-Records knew that and at some point witnessed Tommy's Twizzler addiction.
"It was really thoughtful of you. Thanks." Jude replied.
"And maybe you two should eat something. You haven't eaten since lunch yesterday..." Patrick said solicitously.
"I don't know..." Jude's voice drifted off.
"Sweetheart, making yourself sick isn't going to help..." Tommy encouraged her.
"That goes for you too. You haven't eaten, either." she reminded him.
"True. You're right" he answered, patting her hand.
"But I really can't eat now. My stomach's too upset...'
"Maybe some peppermint tea? For both of us?" Tommy asked.
"Sounds good." Jude agreed.
"I'll get it." Patrick offered, needing to keep busy.
He walked into the kitchen. Brian followed him.
"They're really messed up..." the intern began, genuinely sympathetic.
"Yeah... I just wish... we knew more..."
A sheepish look appeared on Brian's face.
"Uh..." he sputtered.
"You know something..." Patrick demanded, using his father's most imperious tone.
"Yeah. The detective and my brother questioned me first thing this morning. While we were talking, they got a call from the forensics team, so they asked me about it... I know they are going to be talking to some of the other people at the label and then speaking to your parent's about it...'
"About what?" Patrick exploded, his patience spent.
"They got the phone numbers off the cell phones; they know who the girls talked to yesterday. Well, right before they left, your sister got a call from Justin Blackburn..."
"That little punk... always knew she shouldn't trust him..." Patrick yelled, fists clenched.
"Hey, we don't know he had anything to do with it..."
"No... But it sure wouldn't surprise me!" Pat said, irate.
"Rewind. Explain..." Brian said, confused.
"Knowing my sister, I'd say Ruby left with Stacie to go meet up with him. If he hadn't called, she would have just waited for me. I would have taken her home. None of this would have happened..."
"It's my fault... I never should have agreed to let Stacie drive her... If I hadn't, they'd both be okay. None of this would have happened!" Patrick screamed, finally overcome by the guilt and pain he kept bottled up all night.
"You don't know that..." Brian said, trying to calm him. "Maybe they just would have taken them another time. Or taken you, too..."
"But at least I would have been with her! To protect her!"
"Like I said, you don't know that..."
"No... I don't know anything... And Stacie? Maybe she wouldn't be mixed up in this at all..."
"Or maybe she was the real target and your sister just happened to be there too..."
"That's supposed to make me feel better!" Patrick snapped.
"No. Just stating facts. Besides, I know how you feel about her..."
Patrick just stared at Brian, open-mouthed.
"Don't worry. It's not obvious. Most people wouldn't notice. But you get this look in your eye whenever her name is mentioned."
Patrick shook his head at the irony.
"That's funny... it sounds like what Quest says about the way my father used to be around my mother when she was still a teenager..."
"Yeah... well..." Brian mumbled awkwardly.
"Especially, since I could say the same thing about you and my sister." Patrick continued, turning the tables.
"Ok. So I like her..." Brian said candidly. "I know, she's young. But she's cool... fun, feisty..."
"It's okay." Pat assured him.
"Anyway..." he continued, restlessly. "I can't stand this! I can't just sit here and wait for the cops to talk to Blackburn... Not when I've got a few questions for that jerk-off myself..."
"You want to..." Brian offered.
"Yeah... Lemme just come up with a good excuse for my parents... For some reason, they don't seem inclined to let me leave the house just now... Then we've got an appointment with a certain pop tart... if we can even find him"
"Well, he's supposed to be at the studio today... he's got a session booked."
"Perfect!" Patrick gloated.
"Let's go!"
Fifteen minutes later, Patrick had managed to convince his parents that he had a critical errand to do and they let him leave the house with Brian. Of course, Tommy and Jude were unaware of exactly what their son was up to or even where he was headed.
Brian quickly drove his friend to Q-Records as Patrick checked his watch.
"He'd better be here. Mom and Dad didn't give me much time..."
"He's supposed to be here right now." Brian assured him.
The two young men raced to Studio B.
"Ok... he's in there with Quest."
"Great. We can't wait for them to finish! I need to get him alone! Now!" Patrick worried.
"No problem." Brian grinned, knocking on the door.
"Stay out of sight..." he warned Pat, who promptly moved away.
Quest opened the studio door.
"Brian? What are you doing here?" he asked, completely surprised.
"Sorry to interrupt. But EJ's freaking out! She can't find those new demos she needs for the promoters this afternoon!"
"But we finished those yesterday. Didn't you leave them on her desk like I asked you to?"
"I did. They're gone." Brian replied, carefully keeping an honest face.
"Crap!" Quest moaned.
"Not necessarily. The hard copy's still in the studio. We just need to reprint the CD's... We could do that quickly..."
"Could do that." Quest agreed. "Justin? Take ten."
"No problem" Justin agreed, smiling widely.
As soon as Quest was out of earshot, Patrick stepped out.
"Quincy? What the hell are you doing here!" the pop idol demanded.
"Why shouldn't I be here?" Pat replied cooly.
"Well, your sister... I'm sorry." Justin said, deliberately and instantly changing his tone of voice.
"How do you know about that?" Patrick insisted.
"Everyone does. News travels around here. I figured even you knew that..."
"You found out here, huh?"
"Well, duh! What other way is there?" Justin asked innocently.
"Drop the act! You're not that talented!" Patrick yelled, losing his temper.
"What the hell are you talking about, Screech?"
"You're saying you don't know anything else about it, huh!" Patrick pushed, shoving Justin against the wall.
"How could I? What's your problem, boy?"
"You're the problem, slimeball! Because we know you called her. Right before she dissappeared!"
"Yeah, I did. She was gonna meet me for coffee."
"At Lorenzo's?"
"Yeah. But she never showed up... I have no idea what happened."
"You actually expect me to believe that!"
"Geez, Quincy. You are even lamer than I thought you were. So lemme make it real simple. She's into me. We had a date. Even a sexless loser like you can understand that!"
"But at Lorenzo's?"
"Yeah. It's quiet there... private. Do you get it?"
"No, I don't!" Patrick said, punching Justin's stomach, causing the singer to double over in agonizing pain.
Gasping for breath, Justin spat back at him.
"What's your problem?"
"You lying piece of garbage! You know where she is! I can tell!"
"You're crazy!" Justin replied, now standing upright and coming closer to Patrick.
"Am I?" Pat demanded, looking the superstar straight in the eye.
"Yeah! You wanna take another shot at me! Let's go!" he demanded, roughly shoving Patrick away; Pat wavered, but did not fall.
"You'd better be telling the truth, Blackburn! Cause if anything happens to my sister or to Stacie and I find out you had anything to do with it, I'm personally going to tear you into tiny pieces...'
"Oh, I'm just so worried!" Justin smirked.
"Those girls could both die!" Patrick informed him icily.
Justin stared at him and swallowed.
"I don't want that to happen" he replied.
"I sure hope not!" Pat retorted, still frosty.
Right then, Quest and Brian returned.
"Patrick... hey... I'm surprised to see you here." Quest greeted him.
"Yeah, well... just a quick errand. Find what you were you were looking for?" he asked, quickly changing the topic before his father's friend could question him further.
"We replaced the CD's. Dammed if we know how they got lost in the first place..."
"Hey, these things happen... We took care of it." Brian said, signaling Patrick.
"Yeah..."
"Anyway, we gotta go."
Patrick and Brian quickly hurried to the exit. Outside, they saw a police car pull up.
"Guess we got here right before the cops did." Patrick commented wryly.
"Guess so." Brian agreed.
Back on the road, Patrick asked his friend a question.
"What did happen with those CD's anyway? How did you know EJ didn't have them? We just got there?"
"I accidently walked out with them yesterday. You and I were so busy with the phony CD analysis and then with your robotics project... I just forgot..."
"Convenient" Patrick murmured.
"Yeah, well it worked for us..."
Meanwhile, in that disreputable shack just outside of Toronto, Ruby and Stacie had spent over twelve hours imprisoned in the dank basement.
"How long are they gonna leave us here?" Stacie wondered yet again.
"Till we rot... That is what this place smells like..." Ruby snorted.
"But at least, we've got a plan now..."
Ruby glanced at her skeptically.
"Come on. We'll never get outta here with that attitude!" Stacie encouraged.
"True."
They settled back to continue waiting.
Outside, the man from the wedding pulled up in his rented car. He scoffed at it, as he exited the vehicle.
"Not my kind of ride, that's for sure! But can't mess around now..."
Truthfully, he knew it was risky for him to be there at all. There was no real need for him to be; his men had the situation well under control. However, he couldn't resist. He was so thrilled with his success, that he just had to view it firsthand.
His hired thugs greeted him proudly.
"Got em' penned up downstairs just like you wanted." one of them boasted.
"Excellent... You did real good. You'll get a nice bonus when this thing is over."
"Thanks!"
"Hey, I told you. You take care of me. I take care of you. Now, where's that other thing you guys set up for me..."
"Right in here..."
Downstairs, the girls reviewed their plan.
"Well... it looks like Aunt Sadie's karate lessons may pay off after all..."
"Yeah, and all those self-defense courses my Mom insisted I take..."
"Maybe we can do this." Ruby said. "We don't know who these people are..."
"Yeah. They may be puny..." Stacie allowed herself a small smile.
"Totally helpless." Ruby smirked.
"Don't count on it!" a deep voice suddenly bellowed, from somewhere in the room.
"Huh?"
"We can hear you. Everything..."
"The room's wired... Like my dad's office..." Ruby said, shocked.
"Smart girl..." the voice replied. "So, you'll understand... Don't try anything! We've got guns and we'll use em'! If you two wanna live, you'll do whatever we want! Everything we want..." he leered suggestively
"Do you understand?"
Ruby and Stacie huddled together, shaking with fear. Neither girl could speak.
"Answer, girls. Do you understand?"
"Yes" Ruby managed to squeak.
"Good..."
The man from the wedding clicked off his microphone, and laughed. He wasn't sure yet just what he would do to or with the girls; he needed to decide just how far he wanted to go with them; there were just too many delicious choices. But he relished knowing that he had total control.
"Got those two exactly where I want em'" he gloated. "Just in time... Now, for the next part of the plan"
"24 hours..."