Son

Chapter Eight

Jake pulled on the ropes that firmly held him to the heater. Blood was dribbling down his forearms from all his struggles. The skin on his wrists had been rubbed raw. He stopped pulling at the ropes and let out a heavy sigh.

"Who's Bridgette?" Kyle asked to break the silence.

Jake glance over at him, only being able to see his outline in the darkness. "She's my sister." He felt his throat dry up. "Are you Kyle by chance?"

Kyle's body stiffened. How does he know my name?

The older teen let out a small chuckle. "Horatio Caine, your dad, told me. He's looking for you."

"How do you know my dad?"

He thought for a minute. Should he tell him? "He's a friend of the family."

In the darkness, Jake could see Kyle relax a little.

"You know where we are?" It was Jake's turn to ask the questions.

Kyle shook his head. "No. They knocked me out and I woke up here."

The older teen sighed. "What about the people? Do you have any idea who they are?"

Again Kyle shook his head. "They just said they were going to get even with my father."

Before Jake could say anything else, heavy footsteps walked towards the basement door. Both teens stiffened. The door swung open. This time there was no bright light to temporarily blind them. The two teens could just barely make out the figure of the man. They figured it was Jamie. He was carrying something in his arms. Slowly and carefully, Jamie made his way down the stairs, every step creaking from his weight. As he got closer they realized it wasn't Jamie. He was too short and fat to be Jamie.

"Who are you?" Jake's voice was full of bravado.

There was no answer. The man just walked past him and over to the wall where Kyle was. He gently put down whatever he was carrying on another mattress at the foot of Kyle's. When the man moved back Jake saw it was Bridgette he had been carrying. She didn't look like she was moving, let alone breathing. Kyle looked at the man with fear as Jake felt the anger building up in him.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Jake screamed.

"Dan didn't do anything." the man whispered. He looked down at the girl. "Anna did."

"What did she do?"

"Dan promised not to tell."

"Dan? Who's Dan?" Kyle asked.

No reply.

Dan must be his name

. Jake thought. "Dan… what did Anna do to my sister?"

"She hurt her. Made her scream so loud…"

Dan rushed up the stairs and shut the door behind him. Jake focused on Bridgette's unmoving body. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw her chest rising and falling. He looked over at Kyle. He was shaking like crazy.

"You okay, Kyle?"

"They're going to kill us. They're going to kill us slowly and painfully." Kyle whimpered tugging at the chains again.

"Easy. We're going to get out of here in one piece. Okay?"

Kyle nodded.

"You just need to trust me. Horatio will find us in time. He just needs time."