Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Enjoy! Review, please.
"Wait here." The man said as he left me in a hallway.
I sat down on the bench and waited. I really had no idea what I was going to do when I met the man or what to expect, but I was determined to put an end to this.
The blond haired man came around the corner, "Follow me." I stood and followed him to another dark hallway where he opened the last door. It did not lead into a room, only stairs leading into a dark, unknown abyss.
"The basement? Really? I mean let's just go with every single stereotype, possible." I said.
"He likes the basement. It suits him." Harden said with smile.
I took one last look behind me before starting down the concrete stairs lined with lights. I hit the landing, the sound of paper flipping getting louder, and turned the corner. Women at desks, inserting money into counting machines, lined the wall while shelves lined the other. I stopped dead in my tracks taking in the set-up.
"Never seen an accounting room before?"
"No. Never."
"Pretty great, huh?"
I stayed silent as I followed him down the hall. We passed a white board with dollar amounts written across the board. Two words caught my attention, future forward, the name of my father's political campaign. Harden opened the door and let me in. I stepped inside the office. It was dark and musty, one light hanging from the ceiling. I noticed a dripping sound and looked down to see a drainage pipe stained with blood, heck, the whole floor surrounding it was stained with blood.
"Mr. Bracken, it's a pleasure." A deep voice said, bringing me out of the distraction. He stood with his back to me pouring two glasses of a brown liquid. He turned around. Simmons was wearing a brown suit.
"I wish I could say the same."
"Here." He said handing me the drink.
"No thank you."
"What can I do for you, Mr. Bracken?" He said sitting on the edge of his desk.
"Well, Vulcan, I'm looking for a business opportunity."
"People don't call me Vulcan. They call me Lazarus."
"I don't care what they call you. What kind of operation do you have going here?"
"Drugs. We make the best." He laughed.
"And the money goes to?"
"Me."
"That's a lie. The money is going towards my father's campaign, Future Forward."
"And this interests you because?"
"I need answers."
"And I can't give you any." He said.
"Then I should get going." I said turning. Harden blocked the door.
"Oh, you're not leaving. I have specific instructions from your father himself. He should be here in a while." He said standing and taking off his jacket.
"What were the instructions?" I asked.
"To have a little fun." He said nodding to Harden who grabbed my arms from behind and tying them. I tried to put up a fight, but he must have been ex-military because he took me down easy.
Harden kicked my legs and my knees gave out sending me to the ground. He held my shoulders as Simmons rolled up his sleeves.
"You know he has told me a lot about you. About your life, career, love." He said, his mouth curving into a smile on the last word. "Your girl Alexis. I heard she is pretty. I bet she is a pretty good desert."
"Don't you dare bring her into this. You say another word…" His right fist connected with my cheek.
"She's a red head, right? I never had one of them."
I struggled against Harden's grip as Vulcan's boot kicked my ribs. It became harder to breathe.
"He was right. She is your kryptonite."
I stared him straight in the eye as he grabbed a lead pipe from his desk. He took a straight swing to my gut, knocking the wind out of me. I bent over gasping for air.
"I know…how…this ends. With…me dead." I said, taking a breath after ever word.
"Don't worry. I promise that I will draw this out for as long as possible and then I will make it quick." He said getting into my face. I spat blood onto his face. I took a straight punch to the face after that. "Harden get me the chair and wires."
The grip on my chairs loosened and I fell over in pain. Vulcan kicked me repeatedly until Harden came through the door with a chair and a box. He lifted me up and tied me to the chair while Simmons set up his equipment.
"This is known as the Tucker Telephone. It's a torture technique developed in Alabama. It's when every time I get angry I shock the daylights out of you."
I suffered through the electricity for what seemed like hours but in actuality was only one. My head was slumped over, I could not even make any reaction to the shocks any longer. My body having enough. I heard the door opened and I could hear my father greet Simmons. I could only see the silhouettes of them as they talked, my eyes already starting to swell from the punches.
"You put on quite the show. Everyone looked at me like I was a monster." He said.
"You are." I barely got out.
He ignored it and continued, "You know what I told them. I told them that you have been having a drug and alcohol problem ever since your mother passed. They believed me too. Sometimes, I think that I am way too smart to govern idiots." He looked at me. "Harden, give me your gun." Harden handed him the gun and as soon as it was in his hand he swung at me. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time."
I was starting to feel dizzy and sleepy. The black hole was drawing me in, but I kept fighting it. I was getting tired of fighting it.
"You know what would be ironic. Is if we put his body in the same alley we put Johanna's? And then we have them write it off as random gang violence." He thought out loud.
"Leave him to die, like we did her." Simmons laughed.
The men laughed while Harden answered his phone. He seemed stressed. He hung up quickly.
"We have a problem."
"What?" Simmons asked.