Hi. I was sick this week so here comes an early chapter! Just to warn people, Takagi is kind of unconscious right now, so we have a POV change. I hope it doesn't confuse anyone, I know it confused me writing it.
By the way, do you think that if someone was was kidnapped and talking about their kidnapper they would use honorifics? If anyone knows or has a guess please tell me in a comment.
Disclaimer: Same as the first two chapters.
Conan would've gasped when the man struck Takagi had the tape not been in place. He wasn't surprised that Itoumo hit him, Conan's thoughts were much the same as the officer's if not a step ahead, but he was shocked at the man's skill. He'd managed to deliver a blow hard enough to knock the man out without seeming to do any extreme damage, and was facing forward in time to go when the light changed. This confirmed his slight suspicion that the man hadn't truly been losing control of his car earlier.
He seemed to be so perfectly in control that he was incomparable with the driver who easily got distracted earlier. As far as the small sleuth was concerned, there were two likely reasons for the reckless driving, both centered on him wanting the traffic cop to see him. He could either be trying to lead a false trail, or trying to determine if anyone noticed that the two had disappeared. Conan didn't have much time to think about it though. He gulped as he saw the light in front of them change to yellow, his eyes straying to the hand still gripping the gun. The man noticed his look and smirked down at the boy.
"Don't worry brat. Your head's safe." As if just to contradict himself, the man reached over and ruffled Conan's hair. The detective scowled and instinctively rose his hands to smooth it back, but the sweater prevented him. "I don't think I could be as gentle as to hit someone young as you twice without seriously injuring you, or worse. Your tiny head is fragile." He continued in a mocking tone. "Of course, if I have too I won't hesitate to hit you. Whatever the outcome of that is..." He shrugged, "I still have another hostage. It won't make much difference to me. So I know you're gonna behave. Right kid?"
Conan did the only thing he really could at the moment and nodded. His head was still throbbing from when the man had knocked him out earlier, and he didn't know if his little kid body could handle another attack like that. It was just one more complication of that drug. Now, whether or not he could use the situation to his advantage... well that was yet to been seen. The man suddenly pulled into a driveway and made a U- turn, reminding Conan of his earlier 'false trail' theory. In all likelihood however the man had been doing both. It wasn't long before the kidnapper spoke again.
"Alright kid, unless you want to be like your friend back there, you are going to close your eyes. You aren't going to open them until I say it's okay. Not when I stop the car, not when I turn it off. Only when I tell you. Got it?" Conan nodded obediently. Sneaking a look out the window as he did so and noticing a street sigh. Lucky! He knew this area, he couldn't actively escape but perhaps he could... "Then do it."
Conan's eyes snapped shut. but if anything his mind only worked faster. Noting any change in speed and memorizing every turn, Conan had a mental map when the car began to slow. He nearly opened his eyes in reflex when the vehicle stopped and the car turned off. Itoumo was silent for a moment, as if he was checking the area. From behind him Conan could hear the grating of a garage door closing.
"Fine, you can open them."
The pint-sized private eye did so, but if he was expecting to find any clues he was sorely disappointed. The garage they'd arrived at was as empty as the car had been. Itoumo leaned over and checked the ropes tying Conan's legs to the seat, giving them a firm tug then smiling when they refused to loosen. Once he was satisfied that the ropes weren't going anywhere he turned back to the unconscious Takagi. Seeing the man's still closed eyes, Itoumo opened the door and got out of the car. He smirked back at Conan before he shut the door. "I'd tell you to stay here, but you don't have much of a choice in the matter do you?" With a laugh he slammed the door and walked hurriedly into the house the garage was connected to.
Not wasting a moment, Conan bent down until he hung over the seat, his hands coming out of the hoodie pocket as he did so. They were still tied together at the wrists, but his actual hands were free. Quickly he began attempting to untie the knots Itoumo had been checking only moments before, working on freeing himself. He had but a moment though, and he'd barely gotten anywhere when the sound of footsteps neared the garage.
Itoumo entered a second later, coming in just as Conan got in an upright position. Opening the back door of the car, he glanced at the boy in front, but otherwise paid him no mind. He threw off the blanket covering the tan officer and undid the seatbelt that kept him on the seat. He then drug the detective out and threw him over his shoulder, staggering a little as he carried the man. Itoumo wasn't a mild man, but he wasn't extremely big or strong either. Luckily for the man Takagi was rather fit and therefore light despite his height. Still the kidnapper struggled slightly as he carted the detective to the door.
Once again Conan went to work on freeing his feet. This time the man took a slightly longer time, and the boy was nearly freed. Before he'd completely escaped he heard footsteps, but this time he didn't bother to look up or stop. After all, Itoumo was probably coming for him anyway and at that point there was no way that his escape attempt would escape the man's notice. Conan could only hope he was able to get out in time. Well... so much for hope.
The man was there in an instant, running as soon as he entered the garage and saw what his captive was doing. Conan instinctively froze when the door next to him was flung open. With a frightened gulp he looked up to meet the eyes of a man who suddenly seemed much stronger than he had before. Itoumo said nothing; his face raging with fury, he rose his hand. Conan had no time to brace himself before the crushing blow came, smashing into his face. He cried out a muffle yell of pain as the blow knocked him into the space between the passenger's seat and driver's, his loosened bindings coming undone at the man's harsh blow.
The child winced as his kidnapper leaned over and picked him up. In a fruitless escape attempt, Conan struggled slightly in Itoumo's arms. In reply the man simply laid his knuckles against the already forming bruise on the boy's cheek. Conan got the point, knowing he wouldn't gotten far anyway for his legs, though freed from the car, were still tied together. A large hand covered his eyes and the shrunken teen felt the far too familiar feeling of being carried. As they walked into the house Conan suddenly realized he was facing what may be his last chance to escape. He had no clue where he was going or what this man had planned for him. With one hand supporting the child's weight and the other covering his eyes, Itoumo couldn't threaten Conan like he did before. Sure, once he got wherever they were headed the man could do anything, but that was assuming he got there with the child in tow. Conan hoped he'd loosened the rope around his feet when he tried to untie himself from the car earlier, he knew he wouldn't get far otherwise. Still, he was determined to take the chance. Without warning Conan struck out, shooting out all of his limbs at the same time, quickly turning before his captor's hold could re-tighten. Itoumo's grip faltered, but he never lost hold completely.
Suddenly Conan felt the choppy motions of someone walking down stairs, and with a strange twist of the Itoumo's shoulders the young detective heard the click of a door closing. A flood of bright light told of the hand moving off Conan's eyes. The teen-child looked fearfully into the eyes of his captor, and saw the fury there. He gulped as the man spoke.
"Wrong move, brat. I was prepared to forgive you the first time, but a second..." Itoumo stood glaring at the seven year old. He looked down at the falling stairs and leered. "Well kid, consider this a warning. Also, consider it the only one you're going to get."
With one fluid motion the arm that held Conan curled around, bending until it matched the position of a thrower. Conan felt shock as he recognized the man's position from several attacks from Mouri. He looked down the deep concrete stairwell, noting the hard ground far below. With a grunt of exertion the man threw the child, sending him flying over the stairs until, with a clang, the boy collided with a mesh door. Conan lay still, both the shock of the pain and his bindings making it impossible for him to move. Also, there was nowhere to go. The mesh wall at his back and concrete on either side, the only place to go was up the stairwell Itoumo was leisurely walking down. Once the man finally reached the prone boy, he crouched to the child's level before speaking in a low, menacing voice. "Remember brat, that was just a warning." He then shot out a hand and grabbed his captive once again, rising as he did so. Once the child was firmly in his hands he opened the door Conan collided with. As he did so Conan studied the it, for Itoumo had the boy facing in a way that squished his face into the man's chest and Conan could see little other than the man's shirt and the door.
He found it not unlike that of a dog kennel, large diamond shaped rings of metal all conjoined together, except near the lock where much smaller link were place so that ones fingers couldn't get near the lock to pick it. The door reached from the ceiling to the floor and had two locks on it, a normal built-in lock, and a padlock. As he studied the door, Conan's heart quickened, it was a place designed for trapping humans. No mere animal would need half the security the door had. Even the mesh made sense as opposed to a normal door. He didn't look at the time, but at the top of the stairs you could probably see through the door into the entire holding cell. It was no longer a mystery as to why the man seemed so good at capturing them, making up lies, and hiding their bonds from the traffic officer. It could be seen by just the door that he was a professional.
Itoumo walked in, not bothering to lock or even shut the door when he was the only one who could even move. He knelt down and Conan was turned around and set on the floor, the new position allowing him to see the rest of the room. It was bigger than he thought it would be, one wall a continuation of the hallway while the other went out and expanded the room. However, a diagonal wall stretched from the cell door to about the middle of the room, the detective guessed it was to keep anyone from hiding against the wall. It was still fairly small, and very sparse. Containing a bunk bed and a toilet with a sink built into it's tank, the room had little furnishing but a good amount of standing room. In addition to the little furniture, the room itself wasn't much to look out. Made of concrete on all sides and no windows, the only way out came through the double locked door Conan had just been through. It was lit by a single bare bulb, so high that even on Takagi's shoulders Conan couldn't reach it. The switch wasn't in the cell either, glancing over his shoulder Conan thought he could see it at the top of the steps.
Another thing that added to the dreariness of the room were the two support beams in it's center, one of which Itoumo was crouched next to. The rope which tied Conan to the car was still attached to his legs, and Itoumo was using it to tie the child to the beam. Conan shifted slightly, not really struggling though he received a quick glance from his captor, trying to better see the bunk bed behind the man crouched in front of him. Itoumo had laid Takagi out on the bottom bunk and the detective, now awake, was looking worriedly at the boy. It was obvious he wanted to play the part of the brave cop and comfort the child, but bound and gagged he was unable to. Just as said child was unable to show him that he understood.
Finished tying the knots, though Conan noticed they were much more loose than earlier, Itoumo stood and surveyed the room while pulling out his cell phone. After he seemed satisfied he opened the phone, pressing button then staring at the screen intently. After a moment of this he looked to a corner of the room. Following his vision the others in the room saw a camera in the corner, high out of reach and protected by the same chain link mesh as the door. Itoumo walked over to it and stuck his fingers between the holes in the mesh, wiping off the dust covering the lens. Once the dust was gone he once again looked at the device in his hand. Itoumo nodded as he closed the phone and put it in his pocket before taking something else out.
If Conan's blood froze as the man's wrist flicked out, revealing the long, thin blade of a knife, then it was at absolute zero when he turned and started walking to him. The child tried desperately to scoot away as the fiend advanced, the ropes hindering him from any significant movement. The rope bit into his leg as he reached the end of his leash, not nearly far enough away. A sicking grin flashed upon the man's face as he savored the child's fear.
With no where to go, Conan's thought went to hyper drive. The man had seemed professional earlier, not like a person who tortured for fun, but the crazed look he held now ruined that thought. Conan's cheek throbbed and he wondered if this was another way of Itoumo punishing him for trying to escape. He heard a shuffling and saw Takagi moving frantically on the bed, eyes wide with fear for the child. Perhaps it was aimed at scaring Takagi. Maybe he wanted police information, and was showing he was willing to hurt Conan to make the cop squeal.
Not that reason really mattered at that moment, as Itoumo knelt beside the squirming but trapped boy. With the free hand he reached out slowly, his eyes lighting in delight as Conan attempted to squirm away. His large hand grabbed one of the child's arms, tugging at it until two tiny hands emerged from the hoodie pocket. Knowing that struggling was useless, Conan froze in horror as the knife neared his hands. It all made sense now, as punishment for trying to escape the man would wound the fingers that attempted to untie the knots. The boy's mouth dried as the weapon neared his unprotected flesh, only to watch in numb disbelief when it sliced cleanly through the ropes, not even glancing upon his skin.
Itoumo smirked at the child's blank and confused face staring at his freed hands. After a moment of simply staring, the child lowered his hands to his feet and began untying his legs slowly. Itoumo's smirk widened and Conan began to work at a quicker rate. As he watched the boy, Itoumo's smirk continued to deepen until it came out in a short bark of a laugh. "Ha!" The captor turned and leisurely walked out of the room, knowing he had plenty of time before the boy freed himself enough to attempt to follow. Conan inwardly shuddered as the felon locked the door, remembering the look in his eyes as the man stood over him with the knife. He hadn't actually hurt the boy, but his delight at seeing the child's terror was genuine. As he continued to dismantle the knots, Conan couldn't decide if he was dealing with a pro or a psycho. Probably a little of both.