Lori: So… yeah. This chapter is pretty disturbing. You've been forewarned.
Jaeh: NOT MY FAULT! Oh… wait. :P
General filler chapter alert.
Every moment that passed was another minute Riley could be dead. Ben, Abigail and Ian had searched in the various rides and booths where they heard the screaming coming from earlier, but found absolutely nothing.
Abigail glanced at Ben. His face was tight, his lips pressed together. She recognized the look in his eyes –he wasn't going to stop looking until he found Riley.
Abigail shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. It was still quiet. Horribly, horribly quiet.
She couldn't let herself think about what may have already happened to her friend. The thought of some sick psychopath hurting him was more than she could bear. He was too…Riley to be hurt.
Ian suddenly motioned to them. "We haven't checked in here yet."
A huge yawning red and yellow circus tent sat silently in front of them.
Ben hurried into the tent, Abigail and Ian close in tow.
"Riley!" he shouted into the silence. "Ri-" He stopped.
It took a few moments for him to process what he was seeing.
A large glass box, filled with water sat in the center of the tent, one an escape artist would use. Chains lay coiled on the bottom. Ben slowly walked forward and examined the steps leading up to it. They were damp, meaning the tank was recently in use.
No one spoke; it was dead silent, save for a small whimper from Abigail.
Ben's heart had nearly stopped. He leaned heavily against the side of the tank putting his fist to his mouth. No… Riley… He can't be…
"Ben." He turned at the sound of his name to see Ian, standing and looking grim, holding up a piece of paper.
Ben took it with trembling fingers. The paper was slightly damp from the water on the ground, and some of the ink was streaked down the page. The other two leaned in to read along with him.
Dear Mr. Gates and Dr. Chase,
It turns out Mr. Poole has a strong will to survive. I was expecting this, but not to the degree he exhibited here. He struggled beautifully, I must say.
It makes this game much more interesting to me. I haven't had this much fun in years, and your friend is such a treat.
I hope you don't mind if I borrow him for a while longer. In fact, I'm having so much fun; I just might not give him back.
Warm Regards,
Devin
Ben's throat was dry and he felt rather lightheaded. Thank heavens Abigail was there, keeping her hand on his arm, or he may have completely lost it.
"He's taunting us," Ian said darkly. Ben looked at him questioningly.
"He may actually want us to try and follow… Devin gets a…thrill of these kinds of things." Ian said quietly. "Before hiring him I did I bit of research. There was a case back in '98 where he purposely left clues for the authorities. But by the time they got there… it was already too late."
"…And you still, hired him?" Abigail whispered in horror. In a sudden movement she drew back her hand and struck him across the face. His head snapped to the side and he seemed stunned. "Ian, don't you realize what you've done?!" she cried. "You've unleashed a monster, and now he has Riley! All because you wanted your damn money! In some ways you're worse than Devin because of that!"
Ian winced but quickly retorted. "I had no idea he would take anything this far. I promised him his share of the money and he assured me it was all he wanted."
"That doesn't matter," Abigail groaned. "Don't you see? He's going to keep doing this, unless he's caught again. You've put people's lives at stake. You've put Riley's life at stake."
Ian rounded on her, his lip curled. "You think I care about the little twerp?" he shouted at her. Ben stepped in front of her and shoved Ian backwards. "It's lucky, for once, that you're so greedy," he growled. "Otherwise if Devin didn't have the money, you'd leave Riley to die. We've wasted enough time arguing. We need to spread out here and look for clues."
Ian clenched his fists together, fuming. Oh, he wanted to beat the self- righteous treasure hunter to a pulp. But something held him back. Maybe it was the desperate nature of the situation, and tempers were flaring. The sooner this was over with, the better.
As he walked near the audience stands, his foot hit on something hollow. He stomped his foot to make sure, and knelt down. His fingers skimmed the side of the board and, he lifted it up. He found the two duffle bags of money underneath. His heart rate sped up. Here was the money he had been determined to get. He could just take it and leave…
"Ian!" Ben called from across the room. "Did you find anything?
"No," Ian responded. He replaced the board. "Nothing here, let's keep searching."
Riley stumbled into another dark corner of the carnival, still shivering and soaked. Different parts of his body ached from being pushed down the stairs. He was pretty sure he had developed bruises.
As Devin shoved him in, the first thing he saw were what looked like used bridles hanging on the wall, and some used tranquilizer darts.
Tranquilizer darts… Oh-hoh no, Riley let us not go there. Riley glanced around, and saw cages of different sizes, and some hay scattered around. The holding pen. Where the animals were kept. We're in the holding pen.
"Well, Riley, this is the place for our next game. Because you've been so good, I'm giving you a little break before the next act. Of course, to have a good, long rest, you're going to need to sit down." Devin pushed Riley into a rickety chair, and tied him down with some ropes.
"Whatever happened to the duct tape?" Riley said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow for emphasis.
Devin laughed, and raised the roll of tape. "What? This? It doesn't go with the atmosphere of this place, don't you think?" He threw it into a bag in the corner, and sat down in front of Riley, smirking. "How are you enjoying our little playtime so far? Fun, isn't it?"
"Not my definition of fun, thanks." Riley said, and looked away.
"Live a little, Mr. Poole. Why are you always so bitter?"
"Live a little Devin. Why are you always so insane?"
Devin stood up, and placed a hand on Riley's head. "Oh little Riley, you have to learn to guard your little tongue. It might get you in trouble someday."
"Why bother, you're going to kill me anyway…"
Devin laughed, and patted Riley. "Why throw away a toy when it isn't broken?"
Riley gulped, and blanched. He's not going to let me go until he's lost interest. I'm nothing but a toy to him… Oh God, where in the world was this man spawned? "What did I ever do to you? Why are you torturing me like this?"
"There's nothing on TV. What do you expect for me to do? Play chess?"
"Well, your hands could use some other recreation other than violence and torture."
Devin smiled, and ruffled Riley's hair. He went back to his seat, and propped up his legs. "Oh Mr. Poole, you don't know my story behind chess." He gestured at the air. "Look at the pawns. They're always the ones you first move. They get the first brunt of the attack, and they could be trampled by knights, crushed by rooks, exorcised by bishops, knifed by kings and queens, even mutilated by their own kind."
Riley's face had taken on a look of disbelief, and he looked a little green. Devin's eyes shined with amusement. "What? You've never heard of that analogy before?"
Riley winced. "You're one sick dude."
"I know. I've been told." Devin stood up again, and leaned towards Riley. "Well, Riley, I'm going to prepare the things we need for our next game. I'll give you a little time for yourself." Devin poked Riley's nose. "Don't run off, alright? I'll be back soon." Devin stood up, and left.
Riley followed Devin with his eyes, and made sure Devin really left him alone. When he was certain, he glanced around the room, looking for something sharp to cut his binds off. I need to get out of here, while he's not looking. Now.
Riley found a piece of sharp glass on a shelf nearby, and started slicing through the ropes with it when he finally got close enough to grab it. His hands were bleeding from cuts on the glass, but he figured it was worth it if he could get out of this place.
He worked at it diligently, despite feeling blood drip from his palm. Riley winced in pain, but kept on working. Then the ropes snapped.
Riley almost whooped for joy, but remembered that Devin might be outside. He started moving his legs toward the exit. "Almost there…" he encouraged himself, A moment after, he was free.
Riley wiped his hand on his pants and grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket, and wrapped it around his cut. He peeked out of the door. No sign of Devin. Now he knew for certain he was home free. Riley ran to the next building, and to the next, looking for a familiar landmark that could lead to the front gate.
His heart was pounding with adrenaline and fear. He wondered briefly if Ben and Abigail were here yet. Quickly, he undid the handkerchief around his palm and dropped in on the ground. It was a long shot, but maybe this way, someone would know he'd been here.
He turned around a corner and slammed into something. Riley looked up, and saw Devin looming over him, a dark look on his face. "After leaving you alone a few hours as a prize, this is what I get. I told you not to escape, not to run off. You're not following the rules, Mr. Poole. You should always follow the rules."
Devin grabbed Riley by the shoulder, and pushed him back towards the holding pen. "No… NO! Let me go!" Riley screamed and flailed, his hands looking for some sort of handhold to grab on to. He found nothing, went off-balance and fell to the ground. Devin stared at him, one hand on Riley's sneaker, ready to drag him off, but apparently thought better of it. He pulled Riley up, pressing a knife on his side and pushed towards the holding pen.
Devin shoved Riley in the chair. The duct tape was suddenly in Devin's hands, and Riley winced as strip after strip tightened around his wrists an ankles. Both of his arms were strapped down to the armrest of the chair.
"I'm sorry it has to come to this, Riley, but…" Devin pulled out his knife, and made a show of wiping it on a piece of cloth. He raised the knife, and it glinted in the dim light. "I have no choice, Mr. Poole. You have to learn what it means to disobey the rules."
Riley shouted, and struggled. He attempted to get away by rocking the chair, trying to move away from Devin. The rickety chair fell, and Riley with it. Riley landed on his shoulder, and he winced in pain.
"You need to learn your place, Mr. Poole." Devin pulled Riley and the chair up. He traced Riley's arm with the back of the knife, and Riley gulped, and eyed the blade.
"Ke-keep that away from me you freak! Get it off me! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP! HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!"
"Don't be silly, Riley. I'm not going to kill you." Devin smirked. Then with one smooth stroke, a cut appeared on Riley's forearm.
Riley screamed in pain, and watched the blood drip down his arm. Devin giggled, and another cut appeared on Riley's arm, just under the first one. Riley's eyes widened, but he bit his lip to keep himself from screaming. No, no,I'm not going to give him the satisfaction!
"Mr. Poole, I want to hear you scream." Devin took his face with his wiry hands, and grinned. "Scream, Riley. Scream."
Riley spat in his face. "G-Go to hell."
Devin smiled and slowly wiped away the spit.
"You may as well already be there," he chuckled. He patted Riley's cheek. "Come on. Scream for me."
Another cut appeared on Riley's other arm, but Riley just squeezed his eyes shut. Devin shook the chair, and shouted into Riley's face. "I TOLD YOU TO SCREAM. OBEY THE RULES, RILEY."
The knife swooped in and a new wound bled, and Riley couldn't help it this time. He screamed at the top of his lungs obediently. Devin pulled back, and laughed gleefully. "That's better, Mr. Poole. You're learning. I think our lesson is over. You may breathe now."
Riley shook his head. He wanted to cry, but wasn't going to in front of Devin. His arms were throbbing with stinging pain; he felt the blood dribble from them. Devin reached for one, and Riley tried to pull away. "Don't touch me," he moaned. But the protest was weak, and he hated that his voice shook so much.
"Relax, I'm going to dress your wounds. I don't want my little pet to get sick before I'm done with him." Devin smiled thoughtfully, and pulled on Riley's arm. Riley howled in pain, and squeezed his eyes shut again. When he opened them, Devin was finishing on the other arm. All his cuts are wrapped in bandages, albeit crudely. Riley bit his lip, and tightly closed his eyes. It was all he could do to keep from crying.
God oh God oh God please help Ben and Abigail find me I can't stand this any longer oh God….
Lori: I'm… disturbed.
Jaeh: I'm... I actually kind of enjoyed that... -twisted-
Lori: Oh, I did too. That's why I'm disturbed.