| Chapter 26 Nick, Tara, A.J., and Kevin sat in the diner waiting on Brian. He was late, which wasn't like him not to call and let them know. "Man, what's takin him so long?" Nick said looking out the window for the fiftieth time. "Dunno, did you try his cell?" Kevin asked. "Yeah, all I get is his voice mail," A.J. said. Tara was looking out the window when a sudden feeling of anxiety came over her. The hair on the back of her neck was standing on end, and she got goose bumps. "Baby, you cold or something?" Nick asked, noticing her shiver. Tara looked at him, "No, I've got a bad feeling, something's not right." All three looked at her, "Like what?" Kevin asked. Tara started to answer when they heard the sirens. They all looked out the window to see several fire trucks and a couple ambulances speed by. Nick looked at Kevin, "The studio's in that direction, right?" Kevin nodded his head. "Let's go," Tara said getting up and running to the door, all three close on her heals. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howie and Kira were enjoying a very late breakfast when the noise of the sirens interrupted their conversation. "Man, something bad must have happened," Howie said. "Hang on and I'll find out," Kira said getting up and walking over to the scanner on the kitchen counter. She turned it on and listened to the calls back and forth. "You actually have one of those?" Howie said. "Yeah, everybody has one around here. It's how we keep up with the day to day stuff," she said with a smile. Howie continued to eat when he noticed Kira's face fell. "What's going on?" he asked. She looked at him, "The studio's on fire." Howie's heart jumped in his throat, "Oh God, Brian was suppose to be there today!" Kira grabbed her keys and shoes, "Come on," she said heading for the door. Howie got up and followed her out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone arrived at the studio at the same time. They piled out of their cars and looked around. The studio was completely engulfed in flames. Kevin noticed the producer and some of the techs sitting on the curb. He walked over, "Hey, where's Brian?" The producer looked at him, "He left right before this happened." A.J. looked across the parking lot and spotted Brian's car, "His car's still here." Kevin looked down at the producer. "I thought he left, I was still in the control room, he had to have left," the producer said becoming panicked. "Oh God!" Kevin said running to tell one of the firemen that someone was possibly still in the building. Tara looked at the burning building, Brian, where are you? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian slowly awoke to the sound of someone humming. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was laying down on a mattress, with some kind of TV monitors on the opposite wall. He started to move his arms and realized they were chained to the floor on each side of the mattress. He looked down at his feet, they were also chained. The room was dimly lit, but he could make out someone connecting some wires to the back of the monitors. Gary finished his connections and walked back around to the front of the monitors and turned them all on. Brian was staring at him, "Gary? What the hell is going on?" Gary turned around and faced him, "Oh so you finally decided to wake up." "What am I doing here?" Brian asked. Gary smiled at him, "That is the million dollar question isn't it. Let's see, I'm gonna make sure that you don't hurt Anne anymore, but before I actually do that, we're gonna have a little fun." "What are you talking about?" Brian asked. Gary walked over to the side of the mattress and squatted down, "I've always wondered what someone with a broken spirit would look like, let's find out shall we?" Brian looked over at him, "Gary this isn't funny, now let me go." "Oh no my dear hubby, this isn't meant to be funny. See, you've hurt Anne for the last time, so now I'm gonna hurt you," Gary said. The look in his eyes sent chills down Brian's back, and he knew Gary wasn't joking. "What are you planning on doing?" Brian asked. Gary stood back up and walked over to the monitors, "You see these, each one is a room in the house. You'll be able to see and hear everything that goes on. And why would you want to, you ask? Have you ever wondered where Anne's been staying this entire time? Huh?" Brian looked at him in shock. "Oh yes, right here. See Anne and I have become really close lately, and you're gonna get to see every glorious moment of it," Gary said with a smile. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you," Brian said through clenched teeth. "Oh no, wouldn't dream of it. But you know what the best part is? It's that she chose to be here all on her own, no one made her come here, she chose to. I couldn't have planned things better," Gary said. Gary turned and headed for the door, "Got to go get ready for tonight." As he reached the door he turned back around, "Oh yeah, feel free to scream all you want. No one will hear you. This room is completely sound proof." "They'll be looking for me," Brian said. "No I don't think so. See your studio burnt down, and well, since your wedding ring is going to be found inside, most likely they all think you're dead about now." Brian felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach, "You didn't?!" Gary grinned from ear to ear, "Oh yes, I did." He turned and left the room. Brian stared at the ceiling, "I know one person who wont think I'm dead." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone stayed until the fire was out. The firemen were searching through the charred remains of the building for anything that would tell them if Brian was indeed inside. Tara was standing by Brian's car, she just couldn't watch them sift through the building. Suddenly there was a commotion and one of the firemen came out with something in his hand. Tara walked back over to see the fireman hand a ring to Kevin. Kevin brushed it off and looked at it. "It's Brian's wedding ring," he said. Nick grabbed it out of his hand, it was his, he could just make out the engraving on it. "He never took this off, ever," Nick said in shock. The realization of what that meant finally started to hit everyone. They were all fighting back tears when Tara walked over to Nick. "He's not dead," she said. "How do you know?" Howie asked her. "Because I still feel him, he's not dead," she answered. "Tara, you know he never took this off," Kevin said taking the ring back from Nick. "Kevin I don't care, he's not here, and he's not dead. I know that for a fact," Tara said sternly. "If he's not here, then where is he?" A.J. asked. Everyone looked at her. "I don't know, but I'm gonna find out," Tara said. Chapter 27 |