CHAPTER SEIS (Six for you English speakers)
--
Ulrich laid in his bed, he couldn't sleep. Jeremie, Odd, and Theo were all panicky. Heather had made it out alright, in the end. She was still in the hospital, but doctors updated Theo every hour on the hour with details of improving health.
The alarm clock closest to him noted 3:07 AM. He turned, looking at the empty bed next to him. He knew he should've chased that bastard. He couldn't choose between Heather and Yumi. Both, they were important to him.
That Mr. Love doesn't have a heart. At all.
/Flashback/
"FREEZE." Ulrich had the suspect at gunpoint. The man looked up, surprised to see a gun in his face, "Put your hands up!" His words were solid, and emotionless. His yelling and the other commotion going on led others to step out into the hallway.
The suspect shot up, throwing his hands in the air, kicking Odd's body off him- whom was on the floor unconscious due to a slam in the back of the head with a potted plant.
"Get on the ground." Ulrich pointed the gun
to the floor, meaning 'right there.'. The man in black didn't
seem to understand for—no- he didn't fall to the ground like
those who give up.
Instead, he hopped over Odd's unmoving body, slammed Jeremie against the wall, and looked wildly for the female in the closet. Ulrich was quick to pursuit, but when he arrived, the man had Yumi- one hand on her mouth and the other holding a pocket-knife.
"Yumi…" The officer murmured, "Don't do anything to her, you understand?" He reeled back this hammer on his pistol, proving it wasn't afraid to use his weapon.
Ulrich might be
brave, but he didn't join the force to kill people. Last resort was
gun. He had only used his gun once- and that was really for show,
just to scare the suspect, and he never really shot anyone. He'd
also like to keep it that way.
The suspect managed a chuckle, "You love this girl, do you?" He put the knife between his pointer finger and his thumb, just to caress Yumi's cheek.
Ulrich didn't speak, afraid any answer would upset him.
"Do you?"
"It's possible."
The suspect chuckled once more, "She's beautiful, I must say." He put his hand on Yumi's thigh, working his way up, "Thin, pretty face, big chest."
Yumi tried to squirm her way out of the man's arms, but he would only crush her mouth her with palm- not that it really hurt, it was just harder to breathe. Which is totally worse.
"Put the knife down." He was worried, scared, but he wouldn't let it show. Any sign of weakness—not only was that not an option for a Police Officer, that was just plainly not Ulrich Stern.
"What'cha gonna do pretty boy?"
/End Flashback/
"ULRICH!" Theo's voice woke him from the blasted memory from just a couple hours ago, "Are you okay, man? C'mon. Heather's fine."
"What about Yumi?"
Theo was lost of words, "What do you mean?" He closed the door.
Oh, right. Theo didn't know yet.
Ulrich glanced up at his partner, almost in tears, "He took her."
"…What do you mean?"
"She's gone."
"Gone?"
Ulrich breathed heavily, "Gone. Not here. He took her. I ran back for Heather. I chose Heather over Yumi. So he took her."
Theo's eyes grew three times as wide, "WHAT? You ran back for Heather? At the hospital?"
"He has a plan, Theo." The heartbroken brunet explained, "And he took Yumi."
"I hope she's okay. Look, I'd love to pursue him, dude. But I'm wiped out. I can barely keep my eyes open."
XxX
"You're a bastard."
He grinned, "Yumi, flattery will get you no where." They were still on the road, driving off past city limits, to more of a country place. Mostly visited for a vacation. Less people. Exactly what a criminal would want.
She faked a laugh, "I'm sure it will. You rape your victims, yes?"
"Not you." He sighed, "You're not worth it."
Well, normally, she'd complain. But- hey- she'd rather escape rape.
"I thought you were married."
"I am."
"So why did you go for me?"
"Because," The man stood up, beaming over Yumi, "You're gorgeous. Bitch isn't divorcing me before I give her something to worry about."
She scoffed, "You're a very caring, husband."
Another grin, "Why, thank you. I'm glad you can see past all this; you should tell Aelita."
"Nicolas- Why, just why?"
He snarled, "I never got appreciated in high school. Just to let you know, Yumi. I had a crush on you in high school. I wanted to prove everything to you; but jackasses Ulrich and William had to take the spotlight."
"I'm flattered."
"You're welcome."
Yumi rolled her eyes. For being kidnapped, she thought she was taking it rather well, "So, what am I? A… distraction for the real deal?"
"No, you're more important. You're a hostage."
She smirked, "You can kill me; yet you can't rape me?"
"… Is it just me, or are you asking to be raped?"
She shrugged, her soft smile stained her face, "I'm just asking."
"I'm not interested in you anymore. I've lost the taste for you." He replied, in case she wanted a real answer, "You were too busy screwing William or making out with Ulrich to realize what I was doing for you."
"You did things for me?"
He looked at her in the backseat from the mirror, "I did a lot of things for you. After Herve committed suicide, I needed somebody, Yumi."
"And you chose me?"
He nodded, "And I chose you."
"Why?"
/Flash Back/
"Sissi, seriously. Maybe—you know- you should… give up?" Nicolas suggested to his 'leader'. Although, there wasn't a pact anymore. 2 people were a couple; not a party.
"Give up? HA." Sissi giggled, "Yumi graduates next year. Ulrich's too shy to make a move; and Yumi's too stubborn to make a move. It'll all be good."
His heart raced- That was right. Was Yumi already a Junior? Time flies way too fast. He had to do something, anything to get her attention. They were like, on opposite sides of the social ladder. She was sweet, innocent (unless stated otherwise), smart, generous, and down right beautiful.
He was geeky, not-so-talkative, shy, and hung around the most hated bitch of the century.
"I hate her." Sissi continued rambling about Yumi, and how Ulrich belonged to her, "She's such a whore. She acts innocent for the boys and the teachers and all, but I know her better than that. She must be screwing both Stern and Dunbar- there's no way they'd still be chasing her for so long without any action."
"Shut up." He replied.
"Excuse me?"
"Just- Shut the fuck up, Sissi." He, finally, had to put his foot down, "Yumi's not a whore. She's pretty. That's why Dunbar and Stern like her. And they're not the only boys in school that do. You know very well that she's an amazing person. You're the whore, Sissi. You need to grow up." A breath, "You just—just grow up." A door slam, "And let nature take its course.
/End Flashback/
"Oh, Nicolas. I'm touched." Yumi answered, hearing the story, "I never knew you felt anything for me. To be honest, I did think you were cute in high school."
"A little too late for sucking up." The car stopped. The Japanese princess looked out of the window- they were in the middle of nowhere. Between a tree and a rock. That was the best description she could've given.
He turned, grabbing her wrists, "Hush," he said when she jumped, "I'm not going to hurt you." He took her hands and took out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket.
"What—Where'd you get those?"
"Ulrich. We fought it out in the hotel." He secured the cuffs on her hands, "This is just so you don't get any ideas." He winked, "Now, sleep. You'll need the energy."
"Why?"
Nicolas smiled, yet again, "We're going to visit a certain someone at the hospital tomorrow morning."
XxX
Ulrich knew that if Aelita and Sam didn't know already, they needed to know now. Maybe not now, since it was so late, but now, like a couple hours.
"Dude, go to bed." Theo almost ordered as he walked in again, catching Ulrich again, "We have work tomorrow, man. You know Yumi will be our case for sure. Kevin and Danielle came in early today, so Clay already got them on it. We're taken it as a kidnapping, until further notice."
The heartbroken brunet looked up to his partner, "Theo, this is a kidnapping. What else could they say it could be?"
Theo didn't spit it out. He turned back, to go to the bathroom and change into his pajamas (sleeping in jeans isn't too comfortable). He looked over his shoulder and muttered, "Murder."
XxX
At breakfast, Ulrich got everyone together (Minus Yumi, of course) and explained the entire situation…
SMACK! "HEY!"
… and received a hard slap from a furious Aelita.
"You bastard!" She screamed, hands waving in the air, "You left to go see this Heather girl? She must mean the world to you, Ulrich! You pretty much left Yumi for dead. Way to go, jackass!"
Sam took it a little more calmly. No, she wasn't happy Yumi was kidnapped- but realized it wasn't really Ulrich's fault. It was bad timing, and it time's like that, the human brain can only handle so much.
But, then it clicked.
"Heather? Heather who?"
Ulrich shrugged, "Heather La-La or something."
Odd squirmed, "Larson. Heather Larson."
"You mean, my sister?" Sam gawked when Odd nodded, "You met my sister?" Another nod, "Did she die?" A shake of the head, "… Damn it."
"Seriously," Odd started, "She's not that bad. I was… talking to her at the station. You guys look almost nothing alike."
Aelita took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for your sister, Sam. But—Yumi!! She's missing! And all we know is that the dude had green eyes." She made her arms fall on the table, and rested her head on top of them, "Damn ski masks."
"I really wish there was more we could do." William added in. Surprised Ulrich had even invited him to a breakfast.
"You," Aelita was back in her totally-pissed off mood, "William. You're Heather's husband."
Odd's head jerked up. HUSBAND?
"Why aren't you ever with her?"
William sighed and rolled his eyes, "We divorced not too long ago. She's a cocky bitch."
"THANK YOU." Sam yelled, "FINALLY. Someone agrees with me!"
William nodded and continued, "Since she and I never had kids, we didn't bother to even really keep in touch. There was a few times when we ran into each other, only for work, though." He sighed, "She flipped out when I brought Yumi with me. She was my boss at the time. I had to bring her."
Heather? Flipping out?
"Wait," Ulrich started, "Heather didn't like Yumi, you say?"
"Not at all." William recognized the glare he was giving, "What's your plan?"
"It can't be Heather." Theo stated out the obvious, "For two reasons: 1. She was at the hospital that night, and 2. You can clearly see the difference between a boy and a girl. You said the kidnapper was a male."
Ulrich confirmed that- yes- it was a male, "But… what if Heather had something to do with it?"
"She's a police officer. C'mon. Seriously." Theo replied, but he knew very well that being an officer didn't give you a slip from the law, "But—She's such…I thought she was a sweetheart."
"She seemed pretty nice to Yumi when we all went to that bar." Jeremie recalled, "I'm not taking her completely out of the equation though."
Sam swirled her spoon around her empty bowl that was once full with breakfast, "What if…. You know, We found Yumi… a little too late?"
The table went silent.
"Don't say that."
"We'll find her."
"Do you know something?"
Sam gasped, "Do you think if I knew something about my friend's disappearance, I'd keep it away from authorities?" She spat at Jeremie.
"Well, I don't know. Something about your sister, maybe?" Jeremie answered, a little scared of Sam, "Anything."
"She and I had a talk about her sister before." Aelita started, another breath, "She wasn't such a fond sister."
"To say the least." Added Sam.
XxX
Yumi woke up to an abrupt stop. Almost falling off her seat in the car.
"Oh, good. You're up." Nicolas smiled sweetly at her as she sat up, "We're at the hospital."
"Um, why?"
"I want to say hello to an old friend, alright?"
Well, being handcuffed in the back of his car; there wasn't much she could argue about.
--
And, you know, being in his car. She would've thought he'd take her in with her.
Wrong-o.
Nicolas walked in, locked the car, and gave a small wave to his astonished and afraid Japanese girl still handcuffed in his backseat.
Maybe she could someone's attention.
She started yelling, kicking the doors, throwing an absolute fit to make enough noise to get someone to pay attention.
After awhile, she realized no one was around, after the ambulance left, sirens loud, she felt disappointment rush in.
And a statement of pure surprise escaped her trembling lips,
"Oh my god, I'm going to die."
--
Heather shifted in the hospital bed, "So, I'm guessing everything's going great?"
Nicolas nodded, "I got Yumi handcuffed in the backseat." With the door open, he heard a stop of shoes- a nurse was suspicious, "You know, she wants it. She told me to buy those things. I haven't tried it with handcuffs." The footsteps started again.
Heather snickered, "Oh boy. She's an interesting one."
"Pretty face, too. She'll be fun. She likes to fight back."
Another evil chuckle from Heather, "Perfect."
"Yeah, so pay up." Nicolas stuck his palm out, "I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with her yet. Maybe rape, but then a fast and painless death. She deserves at least that."
Heather pointed to her purse, "Only three-hundred, like you said."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Have you gotten the money from McClear?"
Nicolas grunted a 'no' as he took out his pay- and another hundred just for the road, "Sure, I took out his daughter, and yet he hasn't paid me. I'll turn him in if I have to."
Heather nodded, "Best go. If anyone sees Yumi in that car; you'll be sent to a jail."
"Yeah, good point. Nice doing business with you." He gave a small wave, and left. Returning to his 'hostage' in the car.
"Oh, nice to see you return." Was her greeting. Small and sarcastic. She seemed to be panting, and her voice sounded different.
"Missed me?"
Yumi glared at him, "Go to hell."