Arthur trapped Ludwig in a small meeting room, furious and wanting answers.
"You know more about this than you are saying," he accused, glaring. "Tell me what happened to Francis! You know where he is!"
Ludwig took a step away from the incensed man.
"I am not withholding any facts from you," he defended. "I just have a few theories that I have not shared because I haven't investigated them yet."
"And what are these theories?"
"I will tell you as soon as I know if they are true or not."
Slamming his hand down on the top of the table beside him, Arthur yelled, "That is not good enough! We are meant to be investigating together but if you are going to keep secrets from me then I have no choice but to rule you as a suspect as well. You have lost my trust."
With a short spin on his heels, he turned and left Ludwig alone in the room. He quickly hid and waited, determined to find out what the younger was hiding and what he was investigating.
A short time later, the other door opened and Ludwig stepped out. He peered around before heading for the exit.
'Here we go,' Arthur though as he silently followed the man.
Ludwig led him to an old building far in the countryside where people were unlikely to find it. It almost seemed as if a person had to be told where to find it and Ludwig was one of the people who had been told. He watched the other park near the building and sneak inside. Parking his own car father away and covering it so it would not be seen, he followed.
The inside of the building was dark. The corridor in front of him split into three paths and he randomly chose one to follow. It twisted and turned, more corridors branching off, but he persisted. The maze led him past many rooms covered in dust, showing that the building had long been abandoned. Some of the rooms were offices or storerooms while others appeared to be small labs.
A flicker of light caught his attention. It was coming from a corridor to his left. Taking quiet steps, he attempted to figure out where it was. Every so often the light would vanish completely and Arthur had to hold his breath while he waited for it to reappear.
His surroundings slowly grew cleaner and brighter. Dust no longer kept a track of where he had been. For a building so old and seemingly abandoned, why were there working lights? And why was this section so clean? Who had been here recently? Who was still using this decrepit place?
He had found the source of the light.
A long, narrow hallway stretched before him. Hanging from the ceiling were half a dozen flickering lights to illuminate both the hallway and the interiors of the many tiny rooms on either side. Each room contained the same things: a cot bolted to the floor, a filthy toilet, a dripping sink, and a threadbare blanket folded on top of the cot. The doors had small, indestructible viewing windows and a thin slot where food could be passed through.
Why had Ludwig come here?
He stopped at the end of the hall and peered in the last cell. This cell was different. There seemed to be an extra item inside. Under the blanket on the cot was a large lump.
It was moving just slightly.
He pulled his gun out and reached for the door. Then he noticed the complicated lock keeping it closed. Unsure of how to unlock it, he decided to remove it instead and quickly shot it twice.
The door sprang open and the lump began to move more violently. He took a deep breath and yanked the blanket off of the lump.
There, staring at him with wide, terrified eyes, was a boy. A boy he knew very well.
"Francis!" he cried in relief. "I found you!" The boy took a moment to process who was standing in front of him. While he did, Arthur studied him. His clothes were torn and dirty, stained a suspicious red in some places. His bald head was covered in thin marks where a careless pair of scissors had nicked him. Cuts, burns, and bruises littered any skin he could see which made him worry about what he could not. The boy had one of his legs splayed at an awkward angle but upon closer inspection he realized that it was broken. Around his other leg was a chain that was secured to one of the bedposts so he was incapable of escape. "Oh dove," he whispered, furious but not wanting to traumatize Francis any further. "What have they done to you?"
"P-Papa," Francis replied, voice weak and shaky. "Y-You came…th-they said you w-wouldn't…b-but you d-did…y-you c-came…"
"Of course I did, dove. I couldn't leave you here. I missed you so much. I wish I had gotten here sooner." The boy burst into relieved tears. Arthur swiftly broke the chain and pulled Francis into his arms, trying to soothe him. "There there, dove. I've got you. We're going home now."
He lifted Francis into his arms and started back to the door. Pausing in the middle of a corridor, he heard a sound he recognized: approaching footsteps. He held Francis tighter.
"I-It's the bad man," Francis whimpered into his ear.
The footsteps grew closer and Arthur shifted to hold out his gun and Francis securely. Someone stepped out of the shadows at the other end of the hallway.
"Ludwig…?"
AN: Italics- speaking in French or internal thoughts
No Italics- speaking in English