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Chapter 17: Reveal
The cries and screams of agony echoed in the small room in the basement for what seemed like an eternity. Until, after one final blow, they stop.
A bound, and bloodied Claudia lied motionless on the floor. While her two assailants, grinned wickedly over their apparent victory. To the un-keen eye, it may to appear that the two men had succeeded in taking the woman's life. But appearances can be oh so deceiving.
'I-I-I c-can't. I have t-to sur-vive. Dave, I ha-ve to h-elp Dave.' Claudia's mind rang. Claudia was still hanging on. She wouldn't allow herself to succumb. Not when there was so much riding on her survival. An innocent child was at stake, and she was his only hope.
Claudia peeked through her matted hair that hung in her face and locked her eyes on the two men that stood before her.
"What do you think, Johnson? Do you think she's dead yet?" James Nickel smirked, wiping his mouth with the back of his bloody hand.
"Heh, she has to be," Austin Johnson said popping his bloody knuckles, "That last blow ought to have done it."
Claudia winced as she heard the two men chuckle. They could have went ahead and got it over with by putting a bullet in her or slitting her throat. But no. They wanted to make it hurt. They wanted her suffering to be prolonged. They wanted to show her what exactly happens when you stand in their way.
"Come on, help me lift her up," James said, pulling on Claudia's arms, "I don't want to get blood all over me. I gotta look nice if I plan on popping that mighty fine cherry upstairs tonight."
"You honestly think that Derrick would let your ugly ass go first? I have a news flash for ya, you'll have to wait your turn," Austin smirked, grabbing ahold of Claudia's legs.
'Just play dead Claudia, just play dead. As soon as the coast is clear, I can go get help.' Claudia thought as she was carried out of the basement and into the garage.
"Here, let's put her in the trunk of her car," James said, taking the keys from Claudia's pocket and popping the trunk.
James and Austin stuff Claudia into the trunk of her own car; but before they close the lid, Austin throws the key ring with the flash drives on it into the trunk with her.
As soon as they shut the lid, Claudia quickly grasped ahold of the key ring.
"Make sure this goes along with her," Austin said.
"Right," James said, "You take her car and I'll take my car."
"Where are we going?" Austin said, getting into Claudia's Jaguar.
"Just follow me. There's a dump by the Docks that hardly anyone goes to. It'll be perfect," James said, hopping into his own car.
With that, the two men drove off to put the final nail in the coffin of their dastardly plan.
"Flight 404 from Houston is now landing," a voice over the intercom at the Toronto International Airport announced.
"Alright Janey, what do we do from here?" Dirk said as he and Jane made it into the terminal.
"Well I don't know Mr. Bring-Eight-Swords-And-Go-On-A-Hunting-Spree, you tell me," Jane still couldn't get over the fact that not only had Dirk Strider taken eight katanas with them, but also somehow managed to get them on the plane.
"Hey, I will knock every door in this city until I find some answers."
Jane just shook her head, "I know you will. So aside from doing that, our best bet would be to go to the U.S. Embassy here. They should be able to help us find them."
"Alrighty, now where's the baggage claim? I plan on putting those puppies to good use," Dirk said, pushing his shades up.
Jane could only sigh, thinking that it would be absolutely pointless to convince her dear friend of anything else. So she quietly lead the way to the baggage claim.
'Don't worry Little Man, Big Bro is coming.' Dirk's eyes shined with fierce determination. He was determined to either leave this city with his baby brother safe in his arms or he was going to be going back to Houston in a wooden box.
"This will be good right here," James said stopping when they reached a good distance inside the abandoned dump.
He go out of his car got a couple of gas cans from his trunk as Austin was getting out of Claudia's car.
"We've gotta torch it, we've gotta make sure that absolutely nothing is left behind," James said.
James and Austin then began to pour both 5 gallon cans all in and over Claudia's car.
Claudia was terrified when she heard a pouring noise over the trunk, she knew that only meant one thing.
'Oh my God! They're going to light me on fire! What am I going to do?!' Claudia was to terrified to utter a word.
After they emptied both cans into and onto the vehicle, Austin lit a match, and set the car ablaze. The watched for a moment as the car was quickly engulfed in flames before speeding off in James's getaway car.
Claudia couldn't feel her impending death, but she could smell it. The smell of smoke and gasoline was over powering. She banged frantically on the trunk's door, trying to get it jar open. But it wouldn't. All she could do was pray to God that help would soon find her.
"I called a cab, it should be out here," Jane said as she and Dirk walked out of the air port after collecting Dirk's bag of death.
"There it is, number 14," she said pointing to the farthest cab to their left.
"Where to?" the cab driver asked as Dirk and Jane got in the back. Dirk having all their bags in hand.
"The U.S. Embassy," Jane says.
"Okay, but we're gonna have to take a detour down by the docks. There was a bad wreck up town and this is the only way around it if you two want to get there anytime soon," the cab driver informs.
"That'll be fine," Jane said.
When the cab gets close to the dock, Jane notices smoke lurking up from. Call it her detective instinct picking up, but Jane could immediately sense that something was wrong.
"Driver, could you go toward's that smoke?" Jane asked.
"Sure thing Miss," the cab driver turned off the road going toward the docks and followed the smoke all the way to the abandoned dump.
"Oh my God! Call the fire department!" Jane said when she saw something, a car, engulfed in flames.
Immediately after the cab stopped, both Dirk and Jane rushed toward the flaming inferno.
It was nearly too hot to do near, but the both heard screaming and pounding in the trunk of the burning car.
Without a second thought, Dirk rushed back to the cab and grabbed one of the swords from his bag. He ran back to the car and thrust the blade under the lid and pried open the lid.
What they saw made both of their jaws drop.
From the smoke raises a pair of bound hands with something clenched in them.
"P-Pl-ease, you, you have to help me!" Claudia coughed.
"Oh my God ma'am! What happened! Who done this to you?!" Dirk immediately pulled Claudia out of her certain death.
Claudia is in a daze, nearly five minutes of sheer smoke inhalation has taken it's tole. She looked up at Dirk. There was something strange about the man that had rescued and was now holding her. He seemed familiar somehow. Like she already knew him. But how? Unless...
"Dave?" Claudia mumbles.
"What?" Dirk looked at Claudia confused.
"You, you look just like Dave. You, you must be Dave's brother," Claudia almost whispers, trying to catch her breath.
"You, you know where Dave is?" Dirk looked wide eyed at the woman, "Please, please tell me where he is!" Dirk frantically begged the woman.
Dirk could hear the paramedics and fire department now approaching.
174 Carswell Ave. Please, you have to hurry. Dave's in trouble. Derrick he, he took pictures," Claudia slowly lifted up her hands that clenched the flash drives, "He's, he's going to do much more," having told all she could muster, Claudia finally slipped into unconsciousness just as the paramedics take her load her onto a gurney.
As soon as the paramedics lift Claudia out of Dirk's arms, Dirk immediately rushes toward Jane.
"Jane! Jane I know where they are! 174 Carswell Ave." Dirk frantically said. Dirk didn't give Jane time to respond before bolting off toward the cab that was still waiting on them and jumped in.
"174 Carswell Ave. Hurry!" Dirk demanded.
'You're not getting away this time Derrick! I will kill you if it's the last thing I ever do!'
Jane saw the cab speed off toward the address. She informed the arriving police officers of what just occurred and accompanied them as they sped off toward the address the woman gave them.
Jane just prayed that Dirk didn't do anything stupid before they got there.
"Ah man, what time is it?" Dave said rubbing his, sitting up on his bed. The mid-morning light filling the room was hurting his eyes.
'Damn sensitive eyes, and damn Dad for taking my shades.' Dave was left no choice but to squint as his eyes adjusted to the light.
"Maybe it'll be darker in the hallway," Dave said trying to shield his eyes.
Dave quietly stepped out of his room and into the hallway when he noticed something strange.
"It's quiet around here, almost too quiet," Dave said taking a few steps down the hallway, "I wonder where everyone is? Maybe I can try to find Claudia now and ask her where a phone is?"
Dave quietly walks down the hall, but stops when he sees a door slightly ajar. Quietly, he pokes his head inside the door.
"Hello?" Dave calls out. He looks around the room and sees a fairly large desk over toward the back of the room with a computer and phone on it.
"This must be Dad's study," Dave said taking a few steps into the room.
'What are you doing man! If Dad finds out you were in here, he's gonna kill you!'
Dave slowly turns around and is fixing to walk out the door when,
'Well, it'll only be for a second.'
Dave quickly tiptoes over toward the phone, when two documents catches his eye.
"What's this?" Dave says unfolding one of them.
It was the custody paper with Dirk's signature on, and just out of curiosity, he picked up the other one.
It was another document with Dirk's real signature on it.
Dave closely examined the signatures and saw that they were exactly the same.
Dave's eyes widen in horror, Dirk's signature was NEVER the same twice, NEVER! Dave finally realized the truth, his father had lied to him the ENTIRE time. He kidnapped him and made both him and his brother suffer for his own personal gain. Dave was so angry he felt like he would explode.
"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" Dave roared.
Instead of exploding, Dave pounded his fists on the desk out of anger and fury; in which disrupted the screensaver on Derrick's computer.
When Dave looked over toward the computer, and was absolutely horrified at what he saw. On the monitor were the cameras from his bedroom and bathroom.
"Oh my God..." Dave put a hand over his mouth. His father had been filming him.
'He, he actually put cameras, IN MY BEDROOM AND BATHROOM! OH MY GOD!'
Dave felt like he was going to be sick he was so disgusted.
Just when he thought he never felt so sick and violated in his entire life, he discovered a minimized link at the bottom of the computer screen.
Dave instinctively clicked on it, and over a thousand images of himself flooded the screen.
Now Dave never felt so sick and violated in his entire life. Dave didn't know what he was more of at that moment, horrified or sickened to his stomach.
Right at that second, it was probably sickened to his stomach. He through his hand over his mouth and was about to empty the contents of his stomach, when he turned his head and saw his father standing in the middle of the room.