| Chapter 30 Brian watched Gary gather some things and walk through the house. He could tell by the rooms Gary walked through that he was headed back down. Brian particularly didn't want to talk to Gary so he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Gary walked into the room and looked at Brian, "Huh, must have given him more than I thought." Gary bent over Brian checking to make sure the cuffs were still tight. As he did a small key fell out of his pocket and next to Brian's face. Brian moved his head a little and covered it. Gary stood back up and stared at Brian, he reached down and put his hand under Brian's nose, Yep, still breathing, he thought. Gary went over to the cabinet and grabbed a few things and left the room. Brian raised his head and looked at the key, it looked like the key that fit the cuffs. "God, please let this work," he said. He took the key in his mouth and scooted down as far as he could on the mattress. His face was next to the cuff on his right hand. Brian turned the key around in his mouth and tried sticking it in the lock. This was proving to be difficult, Brian's vision was still blurry and he kept missing the key hole. After several minutes he finally got it in. He slowly turned the key, the cuff snapped open. Brian pulled his hand out, grabbed the key and proceeded to free himself. He stood up and looked around. Tiras and Hathath weren't visible in the room, and Brian decided they weren't there, otherwise they would've never let him get this far. He went to the door and inspected it, there was no getting it open from this side. Even the hinges were on the outside. Brian rummaged through the cabinets looking for something he could use to escape. There wasn't much there, Gary must've taken the bottle of ether with him. Brian sat back down and stared at the monitors, Gary was leaving. He decided to wait until Gary came back down, and try to fight his way out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick, Tara, and A.J. had been sitting in the car for several hours now. Finally Tara spotted Leighanne leaving. "OK, don't get to close or she'll see us," she said. "I know," Nick said pulling out of their hiding place. They followed Leighanne out of the city and towards her and Brian's house. "Surely she's not going home," A.J. said. Leighanne passed her drive and kept going. She finally pulled into a drive several miles past her own house. Nick pulled the car over down the road and turned it off. "So what do we do now?" he asked. "Call Kevin and tell him how to get out here," Tara said. "On it," A.J. said pulling out his cell. Nick looked at Tara, "Do you feel anything?" Tara sat there staring at the house for several minutes, "No, I don't." "K, Kev's on his way," A.J. said. "Should we wait on him?" Nick asked. "No, let's go on in," Tara said. Nick and A.J. looked at her, "Are you sure?" Tara looked at them both, "Guys, from now on, whatever I say, don't question me, just do it, alright?" She had that look in her eyes, and they were afraid to argue with her, "Yeah, OK." they both said. Nick started the car and they headed down the drive. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Now how did you get loose?" Tiras asked. Brian jumped, he had been lost in thought and didn't notice when they appeared. "Where you guys been? You always miss the good parts," Brian taunted. "Apparently," Hathath said. "So you're loose, you still can't leave," Tiras said. "Not yet, but soon I will," Brian said. Tiras and Hathath stood there staring at Brian, when Brian's attention went to the monitors. Leighanne was home. Brian moved closer to the monitors and watched her every move through the house. Tiras and Hathath stood back and watched him, they new taunting him would only make him more determined to get out. But what Leighanne was doing to him just by being there, was worth more than anything they could do. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne was headed upstairs to change clothes when the bell rang. She turned around and went to the door. "You forget your key?" she said opening the door to find Nick, Tara, and A.J. "How did you find me?" Leighanne asked angrily. "Lee, that doesn't matter," Nick said stepping in the house. A.J. and Tara followed him and they walked to the living room. "Lee, what exactly is going on here?" Nick asked. "What do you mean?" she asked through clenched teeth. "Lee, you're staying with this guy, when your husband is sick and really needs you right now," Nick said. "Nick, in case Brian failed to inform you, we aren't together anymore," Leighanne said. "But why?" A.J. asked. "Because I don't love him anymore, and he happens to love her," Leighanne said pointing at Tara. Nick looked at Leighanne, "Lee, you have it all wrong." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian was screaming at the monitors. "Tara!!!!" he yelled over and over. "She can't hear you," Hathath said. Brian stared at him almost in a panic, Tara, please hear me, I'm here!!!!, he thought. "She can't hear that either," Tiras said. Brian looked around the room, he had to do something to get their attention. He ran over and picked up the chair and started banging it against the door. "Oh no you don't," Tiras said as he pulled the chair from Brian's hands. Hathath grabbed Brian from behind and threw him across the room. Brian hit the wall hard and fell to the floor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne walked over to the door and opened it, "Leave now, or I'm calling the police." "Lee please just hear us out," Nick said. "Now!" she yelled. Nick looked at her angrily, "Fine, but we'll be back." He and A.J. started toward the door, when they noticed Tara wasn't coming. She was standing in the room with her eyes closed, listening to something. "Tara," Nick said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian slowly got back up off the floor and stared at Tiras and Hathath. "I'm not gonna stop," Brian said. "Yeah, I can see that," Hathath said, "That's why I think it's time we stopped you for good." Fear overtook Brian as Hathath and Tiras closed in. Hathath grabbed Brian by his wrists and held him still, while Tiras took Brian's head in his hands. Tiras looked deep into Brian's eyes, "Say goodbye." Suddenly Brian's head felt like it was going to explode. His vision blurred instantly and he was dizzy. Then came the searing pain. Brian started to scream, it was more then he could take, but he tried with everything he had to fight it. Suddenly something grabbed Tiras and threw him across the room. Hathath let go of Brian and he fell to the floor, grabbing his head. Brian looked up to see a man he had never seen before standing between him and Tiras. "I think you two have done enough," Gideon said. "Well look who's here, you can't fight both of us," Tiras said. "No true," Gideon said. "But we can," Jade said, appearing next to Gideon. Hathath and Tiras backed away, not wanting to fight both of them. "Fine you guys get this one, but it's not over yet," Tiras said. "Oh yes it is," Gideon said as he drew his sword and made quick work of Tiras. Jade drew her sword and started toward Hathath when he disappeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Tara, we need to go," Nick said. She looked up at him, "He's here! I can feel him!" "What are you talking about?" Leighanne asked. Tara started to walk through the house, "Lee, is there a room in the house you haven't been in?" "Yeah, the basement, but there's nothing down there, it's just storage," she answered. "Show me," Tara said. Leighanne led them to the stairs, the door was locked. "Do you have a key?" Nick asked. Leighanne shook her head no. Tara backed up a few steps and took a running kick at the door, the lock broke and the door flew open. She ran down the stairs and looked around. There was a door in the corner of the room. She ran to it, it was pad locked. "Help me find something to break it," Tara said. They searched around for a minute. "Here!" A.J. said holding up a crow bar. Nick grabbed it and stuck in the lock and after a minute broke it. They pulled the door open and walked in. Brian was laying on the floor holding his head. Tara ran over to him, "Brian!" He looked up at her, "Is it really you?" "Yes, now let's get you outta here," Tara said, helping Brian up. Leighanne was in shock, "How could he do this?" A.J. grabbed her and steered her toward the stairs, "I don't know, but lets get the hell outta here before he gets back." Chapter 31 |