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Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.
Out to get me
It was finally winter break, those few weeks of no school and holiday's filled with joy. Christmas was coming fast, only five days away, and we just got our tree from the local tree farm. It was huge and it almost didn't fit in our living room. Castle helped us bring it in and it seems like they're patching up whatever's going on between them, but it still felt like there was an elephant in the room.
Why are grown up problems so confusing? Sometimes I feel like they're acting like children, not expressing their true feelings to each other, but who am I to get between my adult counterparts. Maybe I should sneak some mistletoe into the house or the precinct and get my aunt and Castle to kiss. Hmm… not a bad idea, I'll put that on my to-do list.
I was wrapping a present I bought my aunt since she was at the precinct. I was going to wait, but in case she gets a day off and I don't have the time, it'll be all done. Castle helped me pick it out and he paid for half of it too. I bought my aunt a small silver bracelet that had my name engraved on it, so she'll always have me with her.
Once I finished my sloppy wrapping job, I stuck on a label with our names on it, and put it under the brightly lit tree. My aunt said she probably won't be home until tomorrow, so for dinner I had some soup, and then afterwards, I turned on the TV when breaking news cut into the programing.
The news anchor started reading from the prompt with complete seriousness, "Good evening everyone, we have breaking news coming from the local maximum security prison, where three inmates have just escaped. We go to Dan Hound with the latest."
Dan came on at the local prison and started speaking, "Thank you, Steven. Police just confirmed that three high security inmates have broken out of this facility. We do not know all the escapees names at this time, but one is said to be Paul Langton who was arrested four years ago for armed robbery and one count of manslaughter. When more information comes to us we'll let you know."
"Thank you Dan. As they gather more information, we have a picture to show you of the inmate Paul Langton, he's approximately 5'9, brown hair, green eyes, and has a scar on his left temple. Please stay alert and call authorities if you spot this man or anyone who appears to be an escapee," Steven said.
They showed the picture of Paul along with the number to the authorities. They also showed some basic information about where he may be and to stay indoors. I couldn't believe some people broke out of prison, it's very scary, yet kind of exciting. I wonder if my aunt and the precinct are helping out.
The phone started ringing and I quickly answered it with a simple, "Hello."
"Emily, you okay?" my aunt asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.
"Good, make sure you lock everything up. Your window, my window, and the door. Okay, Em?"
"Yeah, I got it. Is it because of the prisoners who escaped?"
"Yeah, it is. They may not be in our area, but I still want you to take precautions."
"I will, I'll stay on alert and lock everything."
"Good, stay safe Em."
"Okay, you too. Do they know the other prisoners yet?"
"I will. They don't know the other two yet. They're still running things over at the prison."
"Okay, I'll see you later Aunt Kate."
"See you later Emily."
I hung up and put the phone back in its cradle. I did as my aunt asked of me and made sure everything was secure and locked. I checked my window last and watched the snow fall lazily to the sidewalk below. The street lamp shined brightly on the semi-empty road, making the fresh snow look beautiful. Winter was always my second favorite season because of the fluffy white snow. The only things bad about it was traveling to school in ankle too knee deep snow, or the freezing cold, chilling you to the bones.
Other than that, it sure was a pretty time of the year, if you're into that sort of thing. I continued to look out the window for a few more minutes, but I started to get sleepy. I got ready for bed in my smiley face pajamas and quickly fell into a comfortable slumber in my comfy bed.
I was sleeping soundly until I could have sworn I heard something out my window. I rubbed my drowsy eyes and looked over to my window which was icy and foggy. I didn't see anything, so I just thought it was in my dreams. I closed my heavy eyes and started drifting off to sleep when a loud crash made me bolt upright.
I turned on my bedside lamp and saw the glass of my window scattered into pieces on my floor, with a medium sized rock in the middle of the mess. There was a dark shadowy figure in the corner of my room and all the blood drained from my body. I was terrified to the bone, I was quite possibly in a whole lot of trouble.
The figure stepped forward and I recognized him immediately, Tony, the second in command alongside Roman. He was still in his orange jump suit and he had a deadly scowl on his face. He looked even scarier from the last time I saw him, I guess prison toughened him up even more so.
"Get out," I said shakily.
"Now, now, that's not how you treat an old friend," he said wickedly.
"You're not a friend. You're a criminal who was a part of my kidnapping."
"We had fun though. Even though Roman did most of the work."
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to kill the kid who took everything away from me. They took away my boss, my son, and my life. Now I'm going to take away theirs."
"Oh, well, I think they're a few doors down. I'll see you around."
He grabbed me roughly by the collar of my PJ's and said, "Roman was right, you are a little shit, you know that? You're gonna pay for what you've done, and your aunt is gonna be devastated."
I tried to struggle out of his grasp, but it was no use, he was too strong.
"You're going to pay for this," I said.
"We'll see," he said and threw a large hand over my mouth.
He tried to drag me out of bed, but I kept up a fight, biting his hand and twisting in his arms. I knocked over my lamp and my comforter was knocked off my bed. He fought hard with me, his manly strength keeping me from getting away completely. He threw me up against the wall and I felt something collide with my head, making everything go black.
3rd person POV
"I can't believe that creep broke out of prison?" Esposito said.
"I know, me either. Do we know Tony's whereabouts?" Kate asked.
"No, we're still trying to gather information from witnesses, surveillance cameras, and traffic cams. So far no luck," Ryan said.
"Great, how about you Esposito? Did any inmates give you anything?" Kate asked.
"No, no one wants to be a snitch. There was nothing in his cell either," Esposito said.
Castle came in at a quick pace and said, "Hey, I heard what happened. Did Tony really break out?"
"Yeah, he's our last convict on the loose, but he's MIA," Kate said.
"Yeah, he could be anywhere?" Ryan sighed.
"Yeah, but he should still be in at least a hundred mile radius. We'll track him down," Esposito said.
"You don't think he'd go after mini Beckett?" Castle asked.
"I'm trying to squash that fear Castle," Kate said.
"I know, but you have to consider it," Castle stated.
"I don't know," Kate sighed.
"I think Castle's got a point, it's definitely an option," Esposito said.
"Yeah, and as much as we'd hate for mini you to be mixed up in this. We have to stay on the lookout for the possibility of him going after her," Ryan said.
"Yeah, I'm going to give Em a call and make sure she's okay," Kate said and picked up the phone.
She dialed the number and the phone rang and rang and rang. Soon enough it went to voicemail and Kate hung up. She dialed it again and got the same results.
"Is she asleep?" Castle asked.
"I hope so," Kate said looking nervous.
"Let's go check it out," Castle said.
Kate and Castle quickly headed to her apartment to make sure Emily was all right. When they arrived everything looked fine and normal. The Christmas tree illuminated the peaceful living room and Kate went to Emily's room with a slight ease, until she opened the door.
Panic flooded through Kate's veins as she took in the sight of her niece's room. It was a mess and it looked like a huge struggle was put on.
"Hey is she…" Castle stopped as he took in the scene.
He noticed the broken window, the scattered sheets, and knocked over lamp. They both knew that this was not a good sight to see.
"Castle, he has her," she said.
"We'll get her back, I promise."
Emily's POV
I awoke with a major headache, freezing body parts, and blood on the side of my head. I was laying on cold tiled floor with my wrists and ankles bound tight with thick rope. Since my hands were tied behind my back, I couldn't really move much. I rolled myself over and looked at the crappy ceiling above me. Tony's face came into my view and he grinned wickedly at me.
"Nice to see you awake. I'm trying to determine who your most like, your druggie whore of a mother or your douche bag stealing father. It's a toss-up, but I think you resemble your bitchy aunt a bit too," he said, looking me over.
"I hate you," I said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're gonna hate me a lot more, once my friend gets here."
"Your friend?"
"Yeah, Nico. He owns a truck and is gonna take us to a large spot of land my uncle used to own, now its abandoned and shitty."
"What are you going to do to me?"
"It's a surprise. Don't want to spoil all the fun."
"You can't do this."
"Oh I think I can. You deserve this kid, you should have been dead a long time ago."
I heard a rumble of a truck coming close to the building we were in and Tony smiled manically, "Looks like my friend is here. Don't go anywhere, I need to talk to him."
He walked away from my field of view and I looked around for something to help me get out of these ropes. There was nothing in sight, and I was slowly losing hope that I won't get out of this situation alive. I've already had so many close calls, I think my luck is just about up. I hope my aunt knows how much I love her, and how much I care about Castle.
I heard two voices entering the room and I knew the one voice was Tony, so the other had to be the guy named Nico.
"This is the little girl. You know I'm down with revenge and everything, but she's just a kid," Nico said.
"Look Nico, don't become a pansy on me now. I need you to toughen up and help me out," Tony said with anger.
"All right, I'm fine. I'll help," he said.
"Good I'm glad you're pulling yourself together. Now, I'll take her and you go start the car, got it?" Tony said.
"Yeah, got it," Nico said.
Tony came into view and he threw me over his shoulder and I tried to wiggle out, but it was no use. He brought me outside where the freezing cold overtook me again and I was shivering like mad. The engine roared to life and I was thrown into the bed of the truck. I heard Tony get in and I felt the wheels turning soon after.
I was facing up to the sky and since we were on a dark road somewhere, the stars were shining brightly in the sky. I could see my breath float out of my mouth and float lazily in the night air. I could barely feel my toes and fingers because I barely had any clothes to keep me warm. These light pajamas were definitely not fit for this kind of weather.
We drove for what seemed like forever and I pretty much felt numb from my head to my toes. I'm pretty sure I even dosed off a few times while we were on the long stretch of road. I heard the door to the bed of the truck open and I felt the rope that bound my ankles get cut swiftly. The person yanked me by my left ankle and I fell into a hard pile of snow with a thud.
I fell on my hand the wrong way and I wondered if it was broken or just badly sprained. I was yanked onto my feet by my left arm and Tony eyed me sternly, "Don't try anything, or your dead."
"Okay," I whispered.
"Nico get the shovels," he said.
"Yes Tony," I heard Nico say.
Shovels? What were the shovels going to be for? I was now painfully scared and wanted this to be a bad dream, but the way things are going, I don't think this's a dream. Tony pulled me along and my small toes dug into the cold white snow as I kept up with him. We walked for about a mile from the truck and what awaited us was a six foot deep hole, made for a wooden coffin that laid next to it.
"Worth the wait, huh?" Tony asked me.
"No, please don't do this. I'm sorry, I really am," I cried.
"Your pleas aren't gonna help you kid. You ruined my life, you ruined my son's life, and you killed my boss."
"It wasn't my fault you're the one who kidnapped me and held me for ransom."
Tony's hand flew up and he backhanded me right across the face with power. I fell to the icy snow and cried out in pain. My cheek burned badly, but the coldness of the snow calmed it slightly. I was yanked back up to face Tony and he said, "Don't get smart. Now get ready to be buried alive. You have five and a half hours at the most, until you run out of air and are consumed by death."
"No…" I whined.
Nico walked over and said, "I got the shovels,"
Nico handed one over to Tony and Tony looked over at me with a sinister face. Nico opened the coffin and Tony cut the ropes surrounding my wrists, throwing me into the wooden coffin right after. I barely had time to react before they closed it and I was immersed in complete darkness. I heard banging and I figured they were hammering the nails in, so I can't open it.
I felt the box rise and then get lowered into what I assumed was the hole. It jostled a bit, but nothing to serious. I heard dirt and rocks hitting the outside of the coffin and the noise sounded deafening in this enclosed space. The sound started getting fainter and fainter as more and more of the soil was thrown onto my death trap.
I felt lost, scared, alone, and confused. Did I deserve this fate that I was in the midst of right now? Was I ever going to see another light of day again? Would I ever see my aunt again, Castle, his family, the precinct, my friends, and grandpa? What do you think about when you have only five and a half hours to live? As I took shallow breaths in this confined and dark space, I thought to myself, this is quite possibly the end of the road.