FORTY-EIGHT
Hunter
There
was another woman at the house. Somehow, I never considered more people showing
up to support Jason. He seemed to lead such a solitary life. Where were all
these people coming from? First the FBI friend, then the girl, and now this new
woman, who had the same no-nonsense look as the detective and the FBI agent,
appeared. She was tall, and had the body of a dancer; the T-shirt she wore did
nothing to hide the well-defined muscles in her arms. Her dark hair was pulled
back from her face in a shiny ponytail, which bobbed along with her gestures as
she spoke.
She
was trying to get information, and seemed fully in control. Although, there was
some urgency in her movements as I watched her from outside the house. The dark
haired woman was clearly worried. Was she worried about the boy, or was she
somehow connected to the girl? Either way, I was intrigued by this mysterious
beauty. I wondered if I could somehow make her a part of my game. Maybe seduce
her and use her to follow the investigation? The thought lasted for only a few
moments, until the FBI agent approached her and rested his hand on the small of
her back. Even in the midst of her ranting, she paused to give him a smile, and
my newly formed half-plan died.
For
his part, Jason sat stiffly on the kitchen chair. He was apparently not
responding to the onslaught of anxiety being thrown his way, except to nod, or
say one or two words when given the option. I was once again settled behind the
house near the edge of the woods. My perch had a great view into the kitchen
window. Watching from this close was a risk. Even with my ability to dull the
vibrations left by my passing, there was the chance Jason would be able to tell
I was around. He did seem strangely perceptive of his surroundings, even given
his powers. It seemed unlikely I’d be able to sneak up on him, so perhaps it
wasn’t worth trying.
Watching
from a distance was probably safe enough, but when it came time for the true
hunt… well, it might be time for a full on attack. Tensing in anticipation, I
cringed slightly at the pain in my chest, and knew it was not yet time for such
an attack. Although, from the way he was moving… Jason’s injuries might just be
bad enough to even the odds for a successful attack.
However,
now was still not the right time. There were two additional people in his
house. And, when the woman moved to finally sit at the table with Jason, she
pulled a gun out from a holster on her right side. Which happened to be facing
away from the window. Both of Jason’s house guests were armed, and the only
other person I’d seen at his house was also armed. What were the odds of that?
So, she was either another FBI agent, or a cop. Either way, attacking now would
be ill advised.
My
stomach growled suddenly, reminding me how little I’d eaten that day. At this
point, nothing more would be gained by sitting out in the woods watching
Jason’s house. The sun had now come up enough that I would be visible if any of
them looked closely enough. So with a last look at the tall, dark-haired
beauty, I left.
After
being stuck in the house almost all of the previous day, I had no desire to
return, so I decided to go to the diner in town for breakfast. After eating I
would attempt to discover the identity of the new woman in Jason’s life.
Chances were that Sam and Hannah would know, but they already proved they were
unwilling to share information. Threats of physical harm, and proof I would
carry out those threats, didn’t sway them either. It’s not like the woman was
important. Jason was my prey, so all I needed to do was separate him from the
herd—the gun-wielding, law enforcement herd—and capture him.
Finishing
my solitary meal of pancakes and sausage, I headed back to the woods behind
Jason’s house to plan my next step. Finding out the players involved was
obviously important. But how? My captives had proven their ability to hide
things from me. The boy made me increasingly uncomfortable. His knowing stare
seemed to penetrate to my soul. How was it that he was the captive, yet at this
time I felt like the prey? The brothers were an interesting pair, making me
feel apprehensive and fearful, things I felt only rarely throughout my life.
Discovering
their secrets, and figuring out how they dredged up the anxiety I seldom felt,
became my main priorities. Running my hands through my hair nervously, I
thought about the other man’s allies: all were armed law enforcement who seemed
to know him, and were willing to help him. I considered my options, and for the
first time began to seriously doubt my chances of success. A one-on-one attack
was my best shot. How likely was it that—knowing I was after him—Jason’s
friends would allow him to go anywhere unaccompanied?
Somehow,
I needed to get him by himself. It was obvious how much the other man cared for
his little brother. Perhaps if I sent a message telling him I would reveal to
him where Sam and the girl were hiding, but only if he met me by himself…
probably not. My prey was smart enough not to fall for such an obvious ploy. On
the other hand, sometimes even smart people can fall for a trick if they’re
desperate enough.
There
are times when a bold move can pay off. They don’t know me. I never met any of
them during daylight, and an idea was beginning to form. The only problem was
the anxiety and fear I was plagued with since this whole mess started. A new
feeling of indecisiveness took hold, and I was once again unsure of the success
of any of my plans.
A
new sense of determination fought its way to the forefront of my mind. Being
confident and determined were more familiar to me than the concern and panic,
so I embraced it willingly. Before the random negative feelings could come over
me and stop me, I decided to go ahead with my risky idea.
One
quick trip to a gas station gave me a piece of paper and a pen. After thinking
about how to word my message, I began to write. A few minutes later I read what
was written and hoped it would work as planned, and not completely backfire. I
took a deep breath, brushed the dirt from kneeling in the woods off my pants,
and smoothed my hair.
Jason
and I met face to face before, but it was dark. Still, there was a chance he
would recognize me and call his cop friends to the door. My heart pounded in
anticipation as I approached the front door. I took one more deep breath, and
knocked.
A
stiffly moving Jason answered the door. “Can I help you?” He seemed confused.
“Sorry,” Jason added, his gaze boring into my eyes with intensity that almost
made me falter. “Do I know you?”
Shaking
off my uneasy feeling, I forced myself to sound natural. “I have a letter to
deliver to a…” I made a show of checking the name printed on the folded up
paper. “Jason? Is there someone by that name here?”
He
still seemed a bit suspicious, but he nodded. “That’s me. What’s the message?”
“Here.”
I handed him the letter, and tensed slightly when footsteps approached the
door.
A
woman’s voice called out softly, “Jason? Who is it?”
By
then Jason had opened the note and read it. He looked at me, his eyes wide with
fear and anger in almost equal measure, as he wondered whether he could afford
to call my bluff. A few seconds passed where I was unsure what he would do.
“Just a messenger, Alice. Nothing to worry about.” Narrowing my eyes at him was
all it took to get him to continue. “I’ll be back in a second, okay? I just
need to get some air.”
“Sure,
Jason. Take your time.” The woman, Alice, replied. Her footsteps receded back
to the kitchen, and Jason took a reluctant step out the door. He closed it
behind him with exaggerated care.
Without
a word I turned and walked away.
Jason
had no choice but to follow.
FORTY-NINE
Jason
Following
the man who kidnapped my brother was definitely a stupid thing to do. This
risky move paled in comparison to some other things I’d done for less
compelling reasons. The note was crumpled and dropped as soon as the man turned
away, a smirk on his face as he overconfidently believed he won. It was true I
wouldn’t risk Sam and Hannah’s life to protect my own, but, the minute I saw my
brother, I would fight the man while Sam and Hannah escaped.
When
I didn’t return from ‘getting air’, Alice and Mark would come looking for me. I
also thought calling the man a messenger would make her curious. Hopefully they
would find the crumpled note and understand my reason for going with the
killer. Leaving without the others noticing was easy when they expected me to
go out to the woods anyway. Also, the murderer in front of me seemed able to
blend with the shadows, so he wasn’t noticed. A quick sense of the area told me
he’d been in this section of the woods, right by my house, many times recently.
I shivered slightly. Knowing this deranged lunatic had been watching everything
going on at my house was creepy.
The
killer’s heart was pumping quickly, so he wasn’t as calm as he appeared. I
suspected the quick beat had to do with his excitement at successfully
separating me from my friends. “The woman,” he said, breaking the silence. “Who
is she?”
Glaring,
I responded coldly, “Why? You looking for another person to use as leverage
against me? Forget it. She’s just a cop working the kidnapping case.”
His
eyebrow raised and smirked. “Do all cops just ‘working a case’ give hugs to
their witnesses?”
Still
unwilling to explain who Alice was, I shrugged. “Maybe she’s just really
sympathetic to the victims of crimes. How am I supposed to know?”
Still
smirking, the other man turned away and kept walking. He didn’t believe me, but
he also didn’t ask any more questions about her, choosing instead to ask about
Mark. “How is it you work with the FBI? You don’t seem like the law enforcement
type.”
Narrowing
my eyes angrily, I stomped hard, raising the ground in front of him, making him
trip. “You know nothing about me, and that’s how it’s going to stay. Stop
asking.”
His
response was quick and merciless as he pushed the earth in front of me. The
sudden motion dropped me to my hands and knees, and he raised the dirt to trap
me there. Once I was stuck, and helpless, he grabbed me by the throat and
squeezed. I gasped for air as he spoke. “You forget who’s in charge here,
Jason. I know who you are, and I know you care for Sam and Hannah. If you want
them to survive this, you
will
be
more cooperative.” He let go, and dropped the earth bindings, allowing me to
stand. I rubbed my sore throat gently, and tried to hide how much it hurt to
breathe. My awkward landing jarred the bruised and cracked ribs from our
earlier fight.
“This
can be pleasant, at least for now. Just do what I want.” The man showed no sign
of injury other than a slight stiffness, while I could hardly catch my breath
without feeling sharp pain. “Now, tell me about your friends in law
enforcement, before I decide to take your stubbornness out on baby brother,” he
sneered.
“Fine,”
I snapped breathlessly. “I worked with Alice and Mark on a case involving a man
who ran a child prostitution ring, and ran all the drugs in and out of the
city. They helped me when I got in too deep, and offered to help me again if I
needed anything. So when you took my brother, I called them. Is that good
enough for you?”
“So
how does Alice fit with Hannah?” His voice was only mildly curious.
“Why
do you think she does?”
“It
was pretty obvious when she arrived at your home that she has a personal stake
in what happened. That either makes her a relative of yours, which—from what
I’ve heard—are in short supply, or a relative of Hannah’s. Since she only
showed up after I took Hannah, it made me think there was a connection.”
“Fine,
yes.” The admission came grudgingly. “She’s Hannah’s sister. But she’s still a
cop, working to catch you.”
He
shrugged indifferently. “She’s of no concern or interest to me. I simply wanted
you to realize who’s in charge. You are interesting, Jason. Interesting enough
that I still haven’t completely decided what to do with you. But my decision
can wait until you see your brother. I did promise you, after all, didn’t I?”
He was alluding to the note he used to get me to walk away from my friends
without a fight.
“I
know you aren’t going to just let me take you as my prisoner, so I did pick up
a few things to help keep you in line. Just remember; if you fight me on any of
them, your little brother will pay the price,” the killer warned.
There
was the slightest hitch in his breath, and my lips curved up into a wry smile.
“You’re scared of me.” It was said without a hint of aggression, but he reacted
violently. This time I was able to see it coming.
He
tried to hit me with a hardened spike of earth, but I smoothed it before he
could touch me with it. “Like you said, I’m not just going to let you harm me
or take me prisoner. Why should I pretend to be afraid of a worm like you?” I
asked, tilting my head curiously.
His
fear boosted my confidence, and I kept blocking his attempts to use his earth
moving abilities against me. “You’re a weak little man. You prey on those
you’ve kept barely alive and consider yourself a great hunter. Just take me to
my brother, and let him and my friend go.”
Realizing
he was getting nowhere in his effort to crush me, he drew a gun from a holster
he had hidden under his jacket. At the sight of the weapon, I froze in my
tracks. My earthshaking abilities were working, but my body was still hurting
and I was unable to move quickly. “For that I will punish both the girl and the
boy,” he growled angrily.
He
gestured with the gun for me to move in front of him, letting me lead the way
out of the woods to the edge of town. There was only one car parked on the
quiet road, and I stopped just short of it. “I’m going to get a few things out
of the car, but the gun is still on you. Don’t think I will hesitate to shoot
you, even if that would deprive me of a challenging hunt.” His voice was a low
growl. He was probably trying not to draw attention from the nearby houses.
Not
wanting to lose my chance to get to Sam, I stood quietly, waiting for him to
gather his supplies. The first thing he pulled out wasn’t surprising, but I
still wasn’t pleased to see the handcuffs. He pulled my arms behind my back,
binding my hands together tightly. Then he pulled a thin rope with two
electrodes attached, and I froze as he began to tie it around my neck. The move
nearly sent me into a panic attack.
Breathing
quickly, I tried to hold myself together as I began to grasp how serious an
error I made going with this psycho. The smirk in his voice was obvious when he
commented, “I see you’re familiar with this little contraption.”
My
throat was dry, and my voice weaker than I would have liked when I replied,
“Not this, exactly, but yeah. I get the idea.”
“Good.
Because you still have some punishment in store for your little trick back in
the woods.” He opened the trunk, and gestured at it. “Get in and I’ll take you
to Sam.”
I
hesitated for a few seconds too long and found myself crashing to my knees as
electricity coursed through my body, freezing my vocal cords and locking me in
a strangled scream. The torture lasted several seconds, and tears of pain and
frustration gathered in my eyes. It felt like hours before the shock wore off,
and somehow I was in the trunk with the kidnapper standing over me. The last
thing I saw before the trunk door slammed was the gleeful smile on my
abductor’s face. Then I was left in darkness.
It
was my worst nightmares come to life. My past torments had come around again,
leaving me helpless in the hands of someone who meant me only harm. There was
no way he would allow my brother or Hannah to leave. All I accomplished by
going with him was to sign all of our death warrants. My body was shaking, from
the electricity or fear, or possibly both. No matter what I did, my muscles
wouldn’t stop trembling.
This
is what he was working up to since he took Sam. What was he going to do now
that he had all of us? How far behind me were Alice and Mark? Surely by now
they realized something was wrong, and were following me through the woods. I
hadn’t been able to check for their movements. All my senses were focused on
the immediate threat of the killer. I managed to leave a trail while we were
fighting, but even if they followed it, they would only be able to tell that we
went to the edge of the woods.
My
feeling of panic was beginning to recede, but I had no idea why. The situation hadn’t
improved, but somehow my thoughts were clearer now. This guy was scared enough
of me that, even with his own abilities to pit against mine, he brought a gun.
That thought was enough to make me smile again. Having someone fear me was not
something I was accustomed to, but it sure beat me being afraid of him.
I
closed my eyes. Sam was close. I would be with my brother soon.