In Hot Water
Chapter Two: "Abducted"
Saturday May 21st, 1966
When Pony first woke up, his head hurt and he didn't know where he was. He didn't even remember how he had gotten there. He tried to get up, but found out that his hands were tied behind him on a pole.
Then he remembered everything; Shane, the opened window, the chloroform rag, the struggling, the gun, it all made sense now. Shane had came back for him. Shane had kidnapped him once again and soon Ponyboy would probably be dead.
Pony pulled on his restraints but they wouldn't break, and he wasn't able to untie the knot. He just wasn't able to free himself. The last time this had happened, Shane's "friends" were nice enough to him to let him be free for a little bit, but they weren't here this time, and Pony was afraid if Shane got any new people to help him out, they weren't going to be those Socs.
Ponyboy leaned his head back against the pole. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that this time he wasn't going to be so lucky. This time he wasn't going to survive. He couldn't escape, and heck, he didn't even know how long he was unconscious. There were no windows or clocks, it could have been days ago since he blacked out and he would never know. But Pony was only out for a couple of hours.
The fourteen year old jumped when he heard a door creak opened and someone had begun to descend down the stairs. Pony had closed his eyes listening to each thud that came when the shoe hit the wooden stair. Thud. Thud. Thud.
"Why am I still alive?" Pony asked with his eyes still closed shut. "If you want me dead, you wasted a million opportunities to kill me."
Thud. Thud. Thud. There was no reply, but the footsteps were getting closer. Thud.
Then the footsteps stopped and the room went back to dead silence. Ponyboy opened his eyes for a moment, and tried to turn his head around as far as he could. Shane Whitfield shot him a cunning smile. He still said nothing, but his smile said everything.
Pony gulped. "So ya gonna do it now, or are you going to wait and pass up another opportunity?"
Shane walked across the room and faced Ponyboy. After another few more short moments of silence, Shane wiped the grin off his face. Pony silently thought to himself that he never did recall seeing Shane smile, and he wasn't sure if he should be concerned about that or not. Considering the fact that Shane had escaped from jail and had him tied to a pole at God knows where, Pony decided to go with concerned.
"So are you going to say something, or just keep staring at me?"
Shane shook his head. "It just amazes me how everything that's happened to you, you always seem to make it. You never die."
Shane crossed his arms. "Here's what's gonna happen. I'm not gonna kill you… yet. We're still in Tulsa but we're hidden in the woods, no one but me and someone else knows the location. You will be checked on three times a day. Once in the morning, once at noon, and once at night, meaning you get three bathroom breaks and will be fed at least once a day. For now it will only be me and my friend who will be checking up on you but that might change in a few weeks. If you try to run, well… good luck, you're gonna end up lost. There's only one way out of this place and you don't know it. If you follow the rules, I'll make sure it's a quick, painless death, but if you don't... well, you know how it will end, got that?"
Pony nodded even though he wasn't quite sure why Shane was being so nice about this. Being kidnapped isn't nice, but the things he was doing was as generous as Shane Whitfield could get. Why Shane was doing this, Ponyboy was desperate to know.
Shane walked up close to Pony, and he shut his eyes tight, afraid of what was going to happen. Pony was stunned when Shane gently untied the ropes on Pony's hands, then pulled up his shirt to show him the gun tucked into his waistband.
"Your hands may be free Ponyboy, but if you do anything stupid, well… you know what will happen. Bathroom's that door right there. You got three minutes starting now."
oOoOo
Darry and Soda had been up all night. Darry immediately called the police this time and requested to speak the cops that investigated last case. Even though it was late, the two detectives had went to visit the prison Shane was being held at to make sure this wasn't just some teenage runaway case minus what had happened in his past. Shane Whitfield wasn't there, and the two detectives came by after the visit at the jail.
Steve and Two-Bit were over as soon as they were called, which was immediately after Darry phoned the police. If Ponyboy was missing, they had every right to know the moment they knew. Pony was family to them even if Steve could never admit to it, it was true.
"Man, I thought this was all gonna be over once that son-of-a-bitch was behind bars," Two-Bit shoved his head into his hands. "This ain't ever gonna end. First your parents, then Johnny dies, then Dally went and got himself killed just minutes afterwards. After that, Shane started harassing your brother and won't stop until he's dead! This ain't right! It ain't fair!"
Two-Bit got up and stormed out of the house almost in tears, and nobody commented on his outburst. Truth is nobody wanted to admit what Two-Bit said was true. Pony was as good as dead now, and probably was already. Shane would not hesitate to kill him. He'd do it before you could even blink.
oOoOo
Two-Bit leaned his back against a wall and slid down it into a sitting position. He wiped his eyes, and then lit up a cigarette. When he finished it, he lit up another one, and then another one. Without even finishing his pack, he crushed the box up and throw it against a wall he was facing. Cigarettes weren't the medicine he was looking for. It wasn't going to bring Ponyboy back. The eighteen, almost nineteen year old thought deeply about getting very drunk even though that it wasn't even ten thirty in the morning yet, but alcohol wasn't going to bring Ponyboy back either.
Nothing was going to bring Pony back.
"Goddamnit Ponyboy!" Two-Bit banged his fist against the wall. His hand throbbed but he did not care. "Why did this have to happen to you? Why does this happen to all of us?"
Two-Bit forgot how to cry at an early age, but the dam broke, and now they couldn't stop falling.
"Two-Bit?"
Two-Bit jumped when he heard the familiar voice. He looked up to meet Steve's eyes. They were filled with both hatred, and sadness. Which only reminded him why he was sitting here in some alley. He wanted to be alone.
"What'd ya want?" he groaned.
Steve crouched down next to his friend and sighed. "It's true what you said back there. It ain't fair, but that's the way life is. It's a game filled with cheaters. Everyone cheats, but they always get caught."
"Shane broke out of jail Steve! Not only that but he abducted Ponyboy and now Pony's dead!"
Steve shoved Two-Bit in the shoulder before screaming, "He ain't dead! Don't say that, don't ever say that until we know for sure! I swear to God Two-Bit if I hear you ever say that again, especially in front of Darry and Soda, I'll make sure you'll regret it!"
Two-Bit stood while rubbing his shoulder. "How do you know that though? Steve, Ponyboy was taken by a killer. Killers don't take people if they aren't going to kill them. If Pony's not dead now, then he will be!"
"We're gonna find him Two-Bit." Steve looked down at the ground. "We will find him."
"I know we will, but we're gonna be late."
Two-Bit walked away, and Steve didn't bother chasing him down this time.
oOoOo
Steve went to work later that day even though he really didn't want to. He was tired, and scared. Steve knew Two-Bit was right, but he couldn't lose hope. Pony wasn't his favorite person in the world, but he was his favorite person's little brother. If he didn't have hope then Soda wouldn't, and if Soda didn't have it, Darry wouldn't. Two-Bit might have rubbed off on him, but he wasn't going to allow this to turn into a game of dominoes where they all end up collapsing one after one. Steve wasn't going to allow it.
He flipped through a magazine as he sat behind the counter. He usually worked out in the garage, but today wasn't a usual day. The bell rang and he looked up to see a familiar face.
"Hey Steve, is Soda around?"
It was Soda's girlfriend, Shannon. She had sandy blond hair with her bangs clipped to the side, light pink lips and sparkling blue eyes. It was the typical kind of girl Soda usually went out with.
"Uh, no. Sorry Shannon." The greaser bit his lip. "Look Shannon, I'd leave Soda alone for a little bit. He's dealing with some family problems right now and I think it's best if you just stay out of the way until it all clears up."
The blond nodded. "I heard. It's all over the news that he escape Steve. I'd just thought I come to see how he's doing with all this. I've only met Ponyboy once, he's a good kid, and he doesn't deserve this. Soda doesn't either."
"You're right. He hasn't spoken a word since we knew it was Shane for sure."
Shannon shook her head. "That poor family. It's like God's doin' everything he can to tear it to shreds, huh?"
Steve looked down at the ground and everything got quiet for a moment until the bell rang and someone walked through the doors.
"I gotta get back to work. I'll tell Soda you said stopped by."
"Thanks Steve."
oOoOo
Convict Escaped From Prison
By Linda James
TULSA- Late last night, a prisoner escaped from jail. It is unknown how he actually escaped, but it is said that the prison guards were "sleeping on the job." Eighteen year old Shane Whitfield, was sentence to twenty years in prison last March after murdering seventeen year old Derek Sanders, and the kidnapping and attempted murder of fourteen year old Ponyboy Curtis. Around the time Whitfield fled from the prison, Curtis had disappeared. His brother, Darrel Curtis, claimed to hear rustling coming from his room last night around the time, but thought it was his other brother coming home. When his brother actually got home, they found an open window and a white rag on the floor which had chloroform residue left on it. It is assumed that fourteen year old, Ponyboy Curtis has been kidnapped again by the escaped convict.
I hope this was a good chapter. Chapter three will kind of focus more on Darry and Soda. Also just a little thing to remember, most of the characters in this story will be important-John Hodgins, Sharon, Shannon, and maybe a few more people along the way. I'm just saying this just to let you now that you shouldn't forget about them. Also I'm going to be pulling the rug out from under your feet more than I did in On Thin Ice. I have a couple surprises up my sleeve for this story. An just a little spoiler for you the first surprise is going to be in chapter four, what it is, maybe if you read chapter one very closely and then this chapter and this littler author's note you maybe be able to put it together but if you can't you'll find out soon.
Anyway, please review. I love to hear what people think of my writing and what you think is going to happen next. Thank you to everyone who did review the last chapter. I really appreciate it, and thanks for all the favorites and follows.
-MLC99