One hour, fifteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds.
Thomas Hoff was enjoying his second cup of coffee of the hour just the way he liked it; Strong, dark and with a shot of whiskey. He would admit to be taking his time in extracting the kids from their room so that he may pass them off to Laughing Jack but he had yet to be given Jeff. The deal was that the moment Tom got Jeff, Jack would get the twins.
He let the mug warm his hands as he hummed under his breath as what we would do once he had the serial killer in his possession. He would kill him of coarse. But Hoff had always been a man of planning. If it was not being done delicately and meticulously then it might as well not be done at all. He couldn't fight the sickening grin that spread over his handsome features as he pictured the ways he would torture the man. He would scoop out one of his eyes. They were probably useless after years of being unable to close them. He laughed at the idea of Jeff needing some sort of eye-wear such as glasses.
He would beat him.
Bruise him.
Break. Him.
He would peel back years of murderous tendencies until all that remained was nothing but a shell of who he once was. Jeff was idiotic in his opinion. Everyone knew his MO, knew his game and his tricks. He thrived off attention. Probably got off on it. It seemed like the thing he would do. Tom had a feeling that Jeff didn't know what it meant to feel fear. All those years ago at the birthday party? That incident with the bleach? That was nothing compared to what Hoff was going to do to him.
In Tom's eyes, Jeff had ruined his life. Forced him to go on the run and become a completely different person. His family had believed him dead for years now, yet no one felt remorse. His own mother, who had just been grazing the beginning of middle-age at the time of his supposed murdering had even claimed that, "He had it coming."
If anyone had anything coming, it was Jeff. Jeff was the one who snapped. Jeff was the one who murdered his entire family and then went on to be the world's most infamous serial killer with a victim list longer than every criminal ever put away. That was Jeff who did all those things. Tom once heard that Jeff had raped few of his victims before slicing their throats.
If anything Tom was doing the world a favor by getting rid of him. Was he doing it illegally? Yes. Was he technically sacrificing two kids to a demonic spirit in the form of a clown? Also yes. But it was worth it. The amount of lives he was saving by erasing Jeff from this plain of existance was more valuable than the life of two orphans. No one would miss them and no one would be missing Jeff.
"Nothing but a stain," He said to his coffee cup as he watched video tapes of the twins in their room. "But that stain will soon be gone with you two brats. I hope you enjoyed your miserable lives. They wouldn't have been any better with him. Trust me." He set down his mug once it was empty and leaned back in his chair, feeling smug and powerful and on top of the world. Nothing could stop him. Not Jeff. Not even that cute redhead police chief. He really did like her. If only she didn't have a kid...
"Be an awful shame if something happened to Chris," Tom mused to himself. "Poor Anne, all alone in that house with no husband. No daughter. She'd be grief stricken. She'd need someone to take care of her."
Tom pulled one ball of his desk-top Newton's Cradle and let it go, watching the clacking spheres with a smile. As soon as he was done with Jeff, he would pay little Christian Brown a visit.
His thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing and the number of Anne Brown appearing on the screen. Speak of the Devil and she shall appear. He answered and brought the speaker to his ear.
"Agent Hoff."
"It's Anne."
"Chief Brown, good to hear from you. Anything new on the twins abduction?" He went back to playing with his Newton's Cradle while half listening to Annie on the other line.
"Actually we do," She said. "We have a possible location on them. I'm heading there now with half an army." He stopped his toying when she said that, his high-flying feeling suddenly dropping out of the sky as his face hardened.
"What's the location?"
"What?' Her voice was cutting in and out. Interference from poor cellphone reception in the middle of the woods.
"The location! Where are they supposed to be? Anne!" The line gave out to static before finally dropping and the call ended. Tom stared at the screen as a cold sweat started under his collar. There was the chance that Anne was heading his way right that minute and she was coming to put a bullet in his brain.
Tom knew that everywhere Anne went, Jeff was never far behind. Why would he be? She was leading him straight to the twins. Straight to his children. Why wouldn't he follow her? He could feel his eye twitch as he breathed slow and lift his sleeve to check his watch.
Fifty-five minutes and thirty-two seconds.
Five miles away, Anne Brown stood with her phone in hand and a signal jammer in the hands of one of her collegues. She tipped her cap up highed on her forehead. "Bait's taken. He thinks we're on our way. He's panicking."
"Won't this push him to hurt the kids, Chief?" Annie shook her head as she closed the door to her squad car.
"No. He's waiting for someone. And I know who." Phone still in hand, she scrolled through her contacts and pressed redial, shooing the younger man away and holding the phone close so that she would not have to speak so loud into the receiver. It took three rings before the line was finally picked up. Though it was silent, she knew exactly who was listening.
"I know you're nearby, Woods. But I'm telling you this once; Stay out of the way."
"...you don't really expect me to do that, do you?" Came the criminal's husky voice in her ear followed by a laugh. "You've got guts to call me, Anne. I admire that."
"Quit the fucking act and listen to me. The second you step foot in that building you are putting the lives of your children in danger. Up until this point, you've shown me you're willing to go to great lengths for these kids. So do them a favor and stay away." If there was one thing Anne knew about Jeff, it was that he liked being in control and if he didn't have control then he would take it anyway he can.
He did not have control in this moment and she could tell it was eating away at his ego, able to hear it in his voice as he snarled.
"Stay away? Stay Away?! What the fuck do you think I have been doing for the last fifteen goddamn years?! You think I've just been sitting on my ass, Anne? Is that what you think I do all day?"
"No. I don't know what you do all day and frankly I don't care. You're going to get these kids killed. So, if you really give a damn, if you really want to call yourself a father stay the hell away." He jabbed her thumb into the end call and then turned off her phone so he may not call her big. From somewhere, she did not know where, she could feel his glare on her. It made her skin tingle and the hair on the back of her neck raise and burn like acid. Once again she has done the worse possible thing anyone could think of.
She pissed of a murderer.
She has survived him once. She is sure she can do it again.
Annie pocketed her phone and replaced it with her gun, it's weight a familiar stability as she walked towards the bunker hidden by foliage and greenery. By the end of today, she knew someone was going to die. Whether it be herself, Jeff, Hoff or, God forbid, the twins.
"Do your worst, Jeff. You're going to need it."
Fourty minutes and twenty-seven minutes.
Jeff and Emma sat in their shared room, counting the last few hours till it would be midnight on their birthday. It was late, very late but neither wanted to sleep in fear of what would happen once their eyes closed. The Tall Man's warning had spooked them but given them the drive they needed to want to escape. Erm-to escape more. They were directly in the middle of whatever was going on and they knew they had to escape should they survive.
"You were able to get the scalpel, weren't you?" Emma asked her twin. She watched him dig through his scrub pockets and pull out just the handle of the deadly weapon he had. There were cameras in the room, they were sure. Which was why they spoke in hushed tones so they were not heard on the microphones that were no doubt in the room.
"Don't worry, Em. I won't let anything happen to you." Jeff reached out and took his sister's hand, hoding it tight and squeezing it with a smile. "We'll get out of here. I promise." The girl twin returned the smile with her own as well as the squeeze. She always felt safe whenever with Jeff. He did not get angry often, but when he did it was focused on anyone but her. He always used his anger or strength to protect her.
That was what they did. They protected each other. Stayed by each other's sides. That was the promise they made to each other so many years ago. He never leaves her and she never leaves him.
The door opened and in came one of the nurses who delivered them their medicine. Their hallucination inducing medicine.
"You two. Come with me," She said. There was no room for defiance and they were in no state to defy anyone. Yet. So they stood, still lcutching to each other's hands, and followed the young nurse down the hall. They were unsure where they were going, but Jeff had his scalpel. They were safe.
Hopefully.
"Where are we going?" Jeff asked. The nurse did not answer them, her heels clicking on the tiles being the only sound between them and the empty hall. It was the first time they have been outside their room in days and with it they took the opportunity to tae in as much as possible. There was numerous doors with bolded black lettering painted onto the metal. All of them started with the letters S.C.P. followed by a set of numbers.
There were strange noises coming from some of those doors and many looked as if Freddy Krueger had gone at them with his claws.
"..what is this place?" The nurse once again ignored them, Emma's question hanging in the air unnoticed. They were obviously not getting answers out of her anytime soon. She stopped them at an elevator, swiping her key card and stepping inside once the doors opened for her.
"You two are in for something-very big." She had said it with mock enthusiasm. Something big was going to happen. But it would not be good. Not at all.
The doors shut and she one again swiped her card then pushed a button. The twins squeezed their hands once more, fear beginning to crawl up their spines with chilling fingers. They promised each other they would not be scared, but what else were they to do when they were most likely about to meet death? At least they were not crying.
Half way up, the elevator halted with a sudden jerk, the lights flickering and turning a bright red in warning. The Nurse muttered a swear under her breath as she jammed the button with her thumb, swiping her card uselessly and groaning.
"Come on! Come on come on come on!" She punched the panel and winced in immediate regret, holding her throbbing fist and hissing in pain. "Damnit!"
The shock seemed to work however, the elevator starting again just a moment later. Though the light was still bright red and washing them all in it's eerie glow. The doors dinged and opened up to a lit hallway. Once again she was leading them down to the door at the end, her heels clicking loudly as she walked. This hallway was quiet. Much too quiet for the twins' tastes. She stopped and opened the door for them with a fake, cherry red smile.
"In you go!" They entered. She did not. The only things in the room were two steel slabs like the ones found at a morgue and for a moment they were confused as to what they were doing there.
Then there were hands with rags covering their mouths and strong bodies holding them as they thrashed. The chloroform soaked clothes made it so the struggling was over in seconds. The boy and girl were carried to the slabs, tied down with leather straps, with their weapon removed.
"How awful it would have been if they fought back," Tom shook his head. He tested the straps and nodded at their strength. Good enough. Hopefully Jack did not take his time with harvesting them.
"Watch them. Make sure no one enters this room unless it's me or our guest. And when he comes you leave. You do not ask questions." The guards nodded, gun clutched in their grasp and ready to be used at any moment. Tom turned on his heel and left, adjusting his tie out of nervousness. That was one obstacle taken care of.
He could not help checking his watch one more time.
Thirty-five minutes and seventeen seconds remaining.
