A/N Hello all! Sorry for the long gap in updates, however I have been away at college which is as it turns out both extremely difficult and extremely time consuming which has sucked away my update time. Anyway, now that I am on break I am trying to update as much as I can.
Thanks to all Reviewers!
Dedication: to lights aura858 for their lovely review. :)
Disclaimer: I own nada.
It had taken some time, but after half an hour of careful google-searching, they had managed to come up with a website that they were pretty sure was linked to the people who had taken Frank and evidently Nancy as well, if they were to be believed.
"Listen to this: 'The Union is committed to the preservation and restoration of our planet to its former glory, human beings have been a blight upon our precious Earth, for all time, only through sacrifice can we hope to restore the natural equilibrium, and heal the scars of our Earth.'" Joe read off to Phil. "Sacrifice, Phil." Joe emphasized.
"They could just mean a carbon tax, or taking shorter showers or something." Phil pointed out.
Joe gave him an incredulous look. "This webpage sounds exactly like the note that Frank was left, this cannot be a coincidence, we need to figure out where they are keeping Frank, and we need to do so pronto. Because I'm thinking they are going to want a little bit more from him than promising to recycle or something."
"There's another part to the website but it appears to be locked," Phil muttered thoughtfully.
"Can you hack it?" Joe asked hopefully.
"Maybe," Phil mused. "Give me a couple minutes."
They sat in silence for slightly less than a half an hour while Phil did a series of complicated computer related things which Joe could not even begin to comprehend.
"I've got it." Phil said triumphantly.
"What does it say?" Joe demanded.
"Union Members, the time is upon us; we shall finally bring resolution for the Earth's pain, through the sacrifice of Frank Hardy, the current chosen one, concurrently with the sacrifice of Nancy Drew, descendent of the original chosen one. At precisely midnight we shall commence with this operation. Come to the place where the Earth finds its peace in this small town where the chosen one calls home." Phil said his brow furrowing as he read it.
"Come to the Earth where the Earth finds its peace in the small town where the chosen one calls home," Joe repeated. "So, they're still in Bayport, but where is it that you think that the 'earth finds its peace?'"
"Well, it can't be in the main part of the city, because I doubt these guys think houses, or restaurants, or any kind of development brings peace to the Earth." Phil replied.
"They would also want to be somewhere somewhat remote where they would be unlikely to be caught, which rules out anywhere close to houses or the like, making it unlikely that they are in a forest preserve, or a park, plus this strikes me as fairly gloomy affair…" Joe trailed off. "They're in a cave!"
"But which one?" Phil inquired. "Do you know how many caves there are on the cliffs over by the bay?" He continued.
"They'll want a fairly large one, and if I'm correct they will chose one high up," Joe mused. "What time is it?" He asked suddenly.
"Eight o'clock," Phil replied.
"Fuck." Joe said eloquently. "We need to get out of her quickly, there's not much time left before they decide that it's time to off Frank and Nancy."
-Story Break-
"It is time for the ceremonial bath," Johansson announced walking back into the cavern where Frank and Nancy were being held followed by a group of black cloaked individuals.
"No thanks." Frank replied.
"It was not a choice." His former teacher remarked. "The bath is for purification, you, Chosen One, will be escorted by several Union members to one room, while you, Descendent of The Original One, will be escorted in the same way to a separate room, you will bathe under the supervision, and you will do so with proper respect for the purification rites, if you do not do it properly, they will be more than happy to do it for you."
Frank and Nancy both shuddered at the thought.
Johansson gestured to several of the cloaked members to untie them. They both were immediately surrounded, and forcibly escorted out of what they could now see was a cave, or rather a series of caves, Frank was led to a room directly to the right of their original holding place, while Nancy was taken to a room on the left.
An old metal tub had been provided for his use as well as some obviously homemade soaps. He was directed to strip and begin thoroughly purifying himself. Frank did so only to avoid being forced to do so by his captors. After he finished to their satisfaction, he was given a white tunic, and plain white pants to wear.
They escorted him back his original holding place, and forced him to lie back down on the alter, Nancy was already there and similarly clad. Frank was once more tied down.
Johansson was still present in the room; he had evidently been awaiting their return. "You have three hours remaining until the ritual begins, your sacrifice concludes at midnight. The Union thanks you for your noble contribution to the Earth's welfare."
-Story Break-
"We need to rescue Frank." Joe repeated.
"Normally, I'd be with you on this one hundred percent," Phil replied. "But at the moment we are not exactly in the position to do that, you are not up to full strength, and my arm is broken, and most of our group is horribly out of commission, I know you want to rescue Frank yourself, but I think this time we need to call your dad and the police and let them rescue him." Phil had found that in their group of friends he was often the one called on to be the voice of reason and this was one such situation.
Joe looked stubborn for a moment, but only a moment. "I hate it when you're right." He said finally. "Pass me my cell phone, will you?"
A/N Review! Update will be out very soon assuming that you review, of course.