So�This Is Montana� Ch. 27
Peace and quiet reigned over the ranch house and the majority of its occupants. It was well after midnight and Selma had retired to her bedroom a few hours earlier, while, unknown to her, four out of five of the young men also staying there were still awake.
A few hours earlier, Lance had awakened from his several hour-long stupor, much to the group�s relief. Earlier in the day, Lance and Chris had gone out with Pete, Mitch and Charlie Reynolds, the local veterinarian, to examine Skitty�s body so that insurance claims could be filed. During the examination, Lance, after having drank from a bottle of water, had collapsed and become violently ill before losing consciousness. The veterinarian had declared that Lance was probably not only feeling the effects of the previous day�s fall from his horse�his concussion and broken wrist, but he was also more than likely tired from their long ride to the site of his fall and overly upset at seeing the horse�s dead body. The doctor had also voiced suspicions that Lance may have taken too much of his pain medications, but Lance himself had told his friends after awakening that he had purposely taken only one of his pain pills in order to remain alert during the long horseback ride to Skitty�s body.
With suspicions beginning to awaken, the rest of the group quietly decided to take turns staying up in order to watch over Lance who, after a hot meal and relaxing shower, had returned to his bed complaining of some weakness and dizziness. Chris had taken the first watch and, much to everyone�s relief, Lance had slept peacefully.
�He didn�t even move a muscle the entire three hours,� Chris said as he watched Joey gather his things together, placing them in a backpack, for his turn to watch over Lance.
�I swear�I finally had to get up and go over there to his bed and put my hand over his face just to make sure he was still breathing,� he added with a tired laugh as he ran his hands through his hair before yawning widely.
�Well�if we�re lucky, that�s the way it�ll be all night,� JC said as he leaned back against the pillows on his bed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Before him, spread out over the bed, were several of the files that Joey had retrieved from Mr. Benson�s office that he and Lance had been going over the previous evening. He, Joey and Justin had been reading through the files, trying to find any clues as to why there were so many inconsistencies between purchase the prices of the animals on the ranch and the outrageously high insurance policies that had been placed on them, but so far, they were coming up empty handed in that department and were just as mystified and confused as they had been in the very beginning.
�Who�s turn will it be after Joey�s watch?� Justin asked as he stood up from his seat on the floor and stretched before pulling his arms down and rubbed his left shoulder, wincing at the deep pain that he was feeling.
�Man�I told you to be careful,� Joey said hearing Justin�s quiet moan and seeing his pained expression. He stood up from his stooped position over his backpack then reached over and gave Justin�s good shoulder a pat.
�You gonna be okay, Curly?� Chris asked with a small smile as he stepped over to stand on Justin�s other side.
�Yeah�I just need to remember not to do that,� Justin answered sheepishly with his own small smile before sitting down at the end of JC�s bed. It had been several days since the truck accident that had caused his injuries, along with Joey and JC�s. He thought for sure that he would be getting over the discomfort and pain in his shoulder and chest by now, but then again, with all the tension in the air, he couldn�t really be surprised that he was still not at 100% yet. His muscles felt like tightly coiled springs in need of release.
�I�ll go next, Justin,� JC said quickly, moving back to Justin�s unanswered question. �You probably need to get some rest before your turn, J�maybe take something for the pain?�
�Nah�if I take something, I won�t be worth anything when it comes time to take my turn,� Justin replied tiredly as he lay back on the end of the bed then covered his eyes with his right arm while keeping his left arm close to his chest.
Silence reigned in the room for several moments�each young man was lost in his own thoughts before Joey cleared his throat.
�Well�I guess I need to get on in there. I�ll see you in about two or three hours, Jace.�
�Yeah,� JC answered as he turned his attention back to the files on his bed. �If you need anything, man�just let us know.�
Joey nodded his head and picked his backpack off the floor then walked through the bathroom that connected the bedroom that he shared with Lance to JC�s bedroom.
Joey quietly entered the dimly lit bedroom and set his bag on the floor beside a chair that sat by the large bay window lining the far wall. A lamp by the chair provided the warm, mellow light in the room. Shadows fell softly about the expansive area covering everything in their paths with gentle darkness.
Silently, Joey crossed the room to stand by the bed where Lance lay on his left side, hidden under a mound of covers. Joey bent over the figure and very carefully, with light fingers, pulled a portion of the covers away to reveal his friend�s lax, peaceful features.
�How are you doing, Poofoo?� Joey whispered in tones that went unheard by the deeply slumbering form he was bent over. �You sure did give us a scare tonight.�
With slow, cautious movements, Joey reached out and brushed his fingertips over Lance�s forehead in an effort to gauge whether or not the younger man was suffering from a fever�something that the rest of the group had agreed to look for in the wake of the events of the last 48 hours. With a sigh of relief, Joey found that Lance did not appear to be running a temperature and, gently, he readjusted his friend�s covers before making his way back over to the chair. Joey sat down, grabbed his backpack and placed it in his lap. After quietly sifting through the bag�s contents, he settled back into the chair with a journal that he had been meaning to write in for sometime. Before opening the book to begin writing, he placed his headphones over his ears to listen to a CD that he had taken out of Chris�s bag and set the volume low enough that he could hear Lance if he happened to awaken. With one last glance at the shapeless mound lying on the bed across the room, Joey opened his journal and began to make a long delayed entry.
�I�m going to go get a few more files, Jace,� Chris said quietly, about 30 minutes after Joey had begun his watch. He tossed the files in his hands to the floor while JC simply nodded his head and mumbled, not looking up from the papers in his hands while Justin didn�t respond at all from the position that he had moved to on the floor. Some time earlier, Justin had moved from the end of JC�s bed to lie on the floor beside the bed when the number of files that the older man was looking through took up too much room.
Chris stepped closer to Justin�s still figure and glanced down to find that the young man was fast asleep on his right side, his head propped up on a pillow and held loosely in his hands were several papers. Chris shook his head as he bent over and gently pried the pages from Justin�s lax grasp without the young man even stirring. He then dropped the papers into an opened folder lying on the floor at the young man�s side and looked about the room for something to cover him with, but found that there was nothing lying around.
�Looks like it�s just you and me, C,� Chris quietly commented with a smile as he stood up then pointed at the sleeping figure lying at his feet.
�Humph�didn�t think he�d last this long,� JC commented as he glanced down at Justin from his seated position on the bed and smiled, shaking his head before looking back at the papers in his hands.
Chris stepped over to the bedroom�s walk-in closet and pulled out a thin blanket from one of the many shelves lining one wall before moving back over to Justin�s side. Very carefully, he squatted down and covered the sleeping figure with the blanket then stood back up to look over at JC.
�I�m gonna go to Mr. Benson�s office now�be back in a few minutes.�
JC simply waved at the older man without even looking up from the papers in his hands. Chris left the room and headed down the hallway into the large living room, then down another corridor to Mr. Benson�s office, never realizing that he was being watched as he entered the expansive office area. As he passed by the desk, he flipped on the reading lamp resting on its surface then walked to the far end of the room where two tall filing cabinets stood against the wall and chose the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet that he and JC had been steadily working through. With a tired sigh, he squatted down and pulled the drawer open then glanced at the long length of files contained within. He shook his head at the seemingly insurmountable job that still lay ahead then with a slight grown he bent over the files.
�Okay�we�ve looked through the altruistic a�s�the ballistic b�s�casually creative c�s�and the demonstrative d�s I think so�that means the elegantly expressive, yet eternally elusive e�s are next,� Chris said quietly with a small chuckle of satisfaction at his little joke as he thumbed through the manila folders in the drawer, trying to decide where he needed to start his new search. He slightly cocked his head to the side in thoughtful contemplation and began to quietly hum to himself as he continued to peruse through the titles found on the tile folders�never knowing that he was being carefully watched from the doorway.
�Edelweiss�Eden�Edwards, Ethan�hmm�I wonder who he is?� Chris said quietly as he pulled the file from the drawer and began to sift through the papers.
At the sound of Ethan Edwards�s name, Selma felt a cold shudder coarse its way down her spine. Ethan was one of the many business associates that Ralph Benson dealt with on an annual basis. Although his dealings with Edwards were honest, her son�s dealings with the man were not. In fact, Edwards provided a trading outlet for the many heads of cattle that her son had, through the years, stolen from his employer. She knew, that very instant, that she had to act�the young man kneeling on the floor, reading through the file had to be stopped. She could apologize later to her son for her rashness�he would understand her actions. With her mind made up, Selma soundlessly crept toward the unsuspecting young man at the far end of the dimly lit office. As she passed by Ralph Benson�s desk, she picked up a heavy bookend and carefully hefted it in her hands.
�Yes�this will do the trick,� she said determinedly to herself as she continued to sneak up behind the bent figure, all the while counting quietly to herself in her mind.
��one�two�THREE!� her mind screamed as she lifted the bookend overhead before bringing it down heavily onto the back of Chris�s head and neck.
In an instant, Chris faintly heard himself groan above the sudden roaring sound in his ears. He saw a painfully brilliant burst of colors flash before his eyes�then�nothing. His body slumped lifelessly over to the side of the opened drawer, the files in his hands spilling onto the carpet.
Selma grimly stepped back from Chris�s lax figure in a mixture of horror and relief�horror that she had actually hit the young man and relief that he was not getting up. Although she had been the one to drug Lance�s drinking water, she had never raised a hand against any individual and she was shocked that she had been able to perform such a violent act.
�I need to call Johnny,� she said quietly as she continued to gaze at the figure lying, sprawled out on the floor. Shakily, she walked back over to Benson�s desk and reached for the phone. After two or three attempts to dial the correct numbers in sequence, she was finally able to reach her son.
The ringing of John�s cell phone punctuated the stillness about him. He had walked down into the pastures behind the ranch house in an effort to clear his head. He pulled the phone from his shirt pocket and glanced at it before answering.
�Hello?�
�Johnny�I think you need to come up to the house,� Selma whispered into the phone.
�What happened? Are you okay, Mama?� he asked as he removed his hat from his head and scratched at his forehead. He turned to gaze behind him at the home at the top of the hill in an effort to find out where his mother might be, but for the most part, only darkened windows glared back at him.
�Yes�but�I just hit Mr. Kirkpatrick over the head,� she replied as she glanced back at the figure on the floor.
�Why?� John asked as he briskly began walking back toward the bunkhouse to get Steven to go with him.
�He was looking through the files in the bottom drawer of the black filing cabinet. He found Ethan�s file�he was beginning to look through it.�
John stopped dead in his tracks. That was the drawer that he and Steven did not want the young men looking through and Ethan�s files was the worst file that could have been found.
�Tie him up, Mama�with anything�tie him tight�gag him too and close the door�lock it,� he ordered as his steps quickened.
�Steve and I will be up there in a minute�we�ll come through the back way.�
�Fine,� Selma said before hanging up.
John closed his cell phone while at the same time glancing about him. Almost immediately he got a glimpse of Steven�s darkened figure leaving the barn and he gave a sharp whistle, gaining his attention. The two men quickly walked toward each other. Seconds later, John was explaining the situation to Steven as they walked toward the ranch house.
Selma immediately went to Benson�s desk and quickly rifled through the desks and found nothing that would do the job that her son had ordered her to do so she trotted out of the room and went to her bedroom, heading straight for her closet. She quickly grabbed several belts from various robes then opened a dresser in the closet and pulled out a handful of scarves before rushing back to Benson�s office. She entered the room and shut the door behind, locking it. She walked over to Chris�s slumped form and wrestled with his sprawled figure in an effort to straighten him enough to begin the task of tying his arms behind him. Several minutes later, Selma was breathing hard as she finished the task by shoving one of her scarves into Chris�s mouth then wrapped one of the remaining robe belts several times about his head, covering his mouth completely. She tied off the ends of the belt behind his head and anxiously scooted back on her knees a foot or two away to survey her handy work. As she gazed at the young man, she heard a tiny knock on the office door and she startled badly.
�Mama�it�s me�let me in,� John hissed from the other side of the door.
Selma clutched her hands to her breast in an effort to steady her rapidly beating heart as she shakily raised herself from the floor. As she moved across the room, she could hear tiny, muted noises coming from Chris. She turned to look behind her and saw that he was slowly moving about on his stomach�his bound legs slightly shifting about. Selma turned around just long enough to unlock the door. Immediately it opened allowing John and Steven to quickly push their way into the office before swiftly closing the door behind them.
In Steven�s hands were several coils of rope and he headed straight over to Chris to check Selma�s handy work while John spoke with his mother.
�Where are the rest of them?� he asked as he guided his mother over to Benson�s desk chair.
�Back in their bedrooms,� she answered as she sat down heavily in the chair and looked up at her son.
�Okay�this is what I need you to do, Mama,� John said as he knelt before her chair. �I want you to call Charlie. Have him come on out here and bring that ketamine with him.�
�Ketamine�ketamine,� Selma said quietly as she reached for the phone sitting nearby on the desk.
�Have him bring Mike, Kevin, Hank, Bruce and Lawson, too,� he added. �We�ll need lots of help in getting all of these boys out to the far western pasture.�
Selma quickly wrote the names down before picking up the phone and dialing Charlie Reynolds� phone number.
As she began speaking to the veterinarian, John stood up and walked over to see how Steven was doing with Chris, who was slowly showing signs of waking.
�Your Mama did a great job with these knots,� Steven said with a slight grin as he pulled at the ties binding Chris�s hands behind his back.
In response to the tug, Chris moved his head and glared at the men�his eyes narrowed in both anger and pain.
�Since he�s pretty well taken care of, we need to go take care of the others,� John said.
At the sound of those words, Chris�s eyes suddenly opened wide with fear and he mutely grunted his protests into his thick gag, shaking his head at the men, but the pair ignored him and stood up.
�I think Bass is probably feeling a little under the weather,� Selma commented, covering the phone�s receiver with her hand as she temporarily interrupted her conversation with Charlie Reynolds.
�I put a little something extra in his tea this evening at dinner time.�
John and Steven chuckled at the woman�s words and she quietly smiled before returning to her conversation on the phone. In the meantime, Chris began to angrily curse into his gag while at the same time jerking wildly against the bindings holding him virtually immobile.
John glanced down at the writhing young man and kicked out at him in anger. Chris clinched his eyes tightly shut and moaned in pain�John�s boot had harshly hit him in his right hip and Chris struggled to roll away from the man as he watched him raise his foot again. Selma continued with her phone conversation, turning her back to what her son was doing all the while hearing his harsh, exerted breathing and Chris�s muted screams of pain as John kicked at the young man ruthlessly.
Minutes later, John stood back, his chest heaving and he spat out harsh words at the young man now lying motionless on the floor before him.
�That�ll teach you to speak like that about my mother. Don�t you ever�ever do that again.�
Steven, with wide eyes, turned his back to the site and walked toward the pile of ropes that he had brought into the room. He had left a moment before John had dealt out his discipline to retrieve the bindings to use on the other young men.
Bending over, Steven picked up the items then grabbed the scarves that Selma had discarded.
�Ready, John?� he asked as he watched the older man pick up his hat that had fallen to the floor and brush it off before putting it on his head.
�Yeah�but I think we might want to wait for the Kevin and the rest to get here.�
�No�you shouldn�t,� Selma said as she stood up from the desk. �The others are bound to wonder what has happened to him,� she said pointing at the bruised and battered figure lying on the floor. �It would be best if you two went back there and took them by surprise.�
�You�re right,� John said crossing over to a closet door in the room. He opened the door revealing a glassed gun cabinet. Quickly, he produced the key that would unlock the cabinet�s door and seconds later, he and Steven were armed with loaded handguns.
�We�ll be back once we take care of the others�by then Charlie and the rest of the guys should be here and we can head out to the western pasture. It looks like it might rain tonight and there are plenty of deep gullies out there that we can put them in. Let Mother Nature take care of the problem for us�let the rain drown them.�
�Yeah�even if the rain doesn�t get them, the rattlers and coyotes or wolves are bound to get them,� Steven said emotionlessly before slowly unlocking and opening the office door.
�Mix up the rest of their medicines, Mama,� John said. �We might need something to knock them out until Charlie gets here with his ketamine.�
�Oh, dear�Johnny�Charlie doesn�t have any ketamine on hand, but he does have some chloroform and is going to bring that,� Selma said, her voice full of regret.
John nodded his head then followed Steven out the office door then closed it behind him.
Lance quietly mumbled in his sleep as he turned from his side to his back, kicking his covers nearly off his bed. From the corner of the bedroom, Joey laid his journal and pen on the floor and pulled his headphones from his head after turning off his CD player. He then quietly stood up from his seat and walked over to Lance�s bed. He bent over the still moving figure and carefully pulled the discarded covers back up then gently sat down on the edge of the bed�all done without the other showing any signs of waking from his apparent dreamlike state.
�Shh�go back to sleep, Lance,� Joey murmured as he ran his hand over the younger man�s hair. He continued to murmur words of comfort to the figure until the movements and quiet mumbling ceased and was replaced by relaxed, even breaths of deep sleep.
Silently, Joey returned to his seat in the chair on the other side of the room.
�Knock�knock,� a quiet voice stated from the other side of the bedroom door and Joey dropped his CD player back to the floor.
�Come in, Jace,� Joey replied quietly as he once again stood up and met JC at the foot of Lance�s bed.
�How�s he doing?� JC asked as he stared down at Lance�s still form.
�He�s having some bad dreams I guess,� Joey answered wearily as he raked his hands through his hair, causing it to stand up in odd directions. �He�s been talking and moving around more than Justin normally does.�
Both young men quietly laughed at the comparison. Justin was well known for his ability to hold complete conversations with anyone in his sleep as well as his occasional sleepwalking episodes. On more than one occasion, through the years, each of the other four members of the group had carried on conversations with Justin as he slept, causing him great embarrassment the next morning when he had no memory of the conversations or of what he had possibly said in his sleep.
�Well�I guess that might be from his pain pills,� JC said quietly, trying to come up with some sort of reasonable explanation for the unusual behavior. He moved up to the head of Lance�s bed and gently ran his hand over the younger man�s head before looking back at Joey.
�Yeah�you�re probably right, but he hasn�t taken one in quite awhile,� Joey replied with a slight frown.
�Well�okay�he�s exhausted on top of that,� JC said with a slight smile and shake of his head. �Listen�the reason I�m here is to give you a break if you want it and, besides that, Chris hasn�t come back from the office yet and you might want to go find out what�s taking him so long�give you a chance to stretch your legs.�
�Okay�um�sure,� Joey replied with a nod of his head. �Thanks for the break. Let me know if you need me for anything.�
�Sure�I�ll be fine,� JC said as he patted Joey on the back.
�Where�s Baby J?� Joey asked as he stretched his arms above his head then lifted his shirt to scratch absent-mindedly at his stomach.
JC chuckled at the question before answering.
�He fell asleep awhile ago on the floor on the other side of the bed.�
Joey chuckled and shook his head at the image then sobered up as he gazed at the bed across the room.
�He�s going to be okay, Joey,� JC said as he squeezed the younger man�s shoulder. �We�ll call Johnny in the morning and Mr. Benson�get this all sorted out�maybe head on home.�
�That might be the best thing to do, but you know Scoop isn�t going to go for that,� Joey said cocking his head at JC who quickly nodded his head in agreement.
�I know, but Lance just might get out voted on this one,� JC said. �Things are just getting stranger and stranger by the minute.�
�Yeah�I completely agree with you,� Joey said as he walked over to Lance�s bed and gently ran his hand over the blonde�s head without him so much as stirring then quietly walked out the bedroom door and headed down the hall toward the office while JC pulled the chair that Joey had been sitting in closer to Lances bed before sitting down. He reached down and grabbed Joey�s headphones and CD player.
�Hmmm�good choice,� he said glancing at the CD case lying on the floor. He put the headphones over his ears and closed his eyes as the music began to play.
�Sh�here comes one of the them now,� John said as he motioned for Steven to move into the shadows of the kitchen while he knelt down behind one of the couches in the living room without the approaching young man even noticing. Carefully, John pulled one of the small throw pillows from the couch and lightly tossed it onto the floor just a few feet away, noting that Joey still had not realized the situation that was fast approaching�it simply appeared that he was so totally lost in his own thoughts that, for one fleeting moment, John was sure that the young man might even miss the cushion and step over it completely. Just as Joey was about to pass by the cushion he happened to glance down and noticed it.
�Geez�why did Crazy do that?� he quietly asked aloud, thinking for sure that Chris had misplaced the cushion.
Joey bent over the cushion and reached down for it. Just as his fingertips brushed the material, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled and he quickly stood back up and turned to see John�s tall figure standing in the shadows, his hand raised overhead.
Joey barely had time to raise his arms in defense before John brought the butt of his gun down in a giant arch at Joey�s head. With a panicked yelp, Joey sidestepped the movement and ducked, barely avoiding being hit by the gun. Just as he was about to turn and run, he felt a strong arm encircling his chest, forcing his arms to remain at his side. Joey fought against the arm at the same time that he tried to regain his balance since it was thrown off by the powerful figure behind him.
�Hey�no�wha�mmmph�mmmph�� Joey managed to get out before a hand clamped itself over his mouth. From the corner of his eye, Joey saw John bringing the gun down toward his head again and he clinched his eyes just as the butt made contact with the side of his head.
Steven staggered as the young man�s 6-foot frame suddenly crumpled in his arms, becoming a heavy and limp burden. Both older men quickly looked down the hall as they lowered Joey�s frame to the floor unsure as to whether or not the commotion had been heard and, after several tense seconds, the men breathed a sigh of relief before tending to the figure lying on the floor at their feet.
�Here�use these,� John said, shoving a length of rope into Steven�s hands. He then moved down to Joey�s feet and busied himself with binding his ankles together while Steven pulled the young man�s limp arms behind his back and began to tightly bind his wrists together. A few moments later, John shoved a wadded scarf into Joey�s mouth before wrapping another over the young man�s parted lips.
�We�ll just leave this one here,� John said as he glanced about, all the while tying the ends of the scarf behind Joey�s head using tight knots.
�Selma said that Bass won�t be a problem�that skinny one won�t be either, but that tall one�Timberlake, just might be,� Steven said as he glanced down the hallway at the closed bedroom doors.
�Well�we�ll just find a different use for these guns then,� John said as he turned clicked off the safety on his gun. Steven did the same and both men stood up and stepped over Joey�s prone figure. Quietly, the pair moved down the dimly lit hallway, stopping at each doorway to listen.
John shook his head after listening at the first door and waved Steven onto the next one.
Steven tilted his head toward the next closed door and listened carefully. He then turned and nodded his head at John while he held up one finger indicating that he heard one of the young men moving about.
John nodded his head in response and quietly walked over to Steven�s side and listened. There was quiet humming and singling coming from the other side of the door.
John then raised his gun, cocked the hammer and pointed at the doorknob. Steven raised his gun, cocked its hammer and lightly grasped the doorknob. John mouthed one, two, three and at three Steven pushed the door open.
JC startled at the sudden opening of the door and pushed the headphones off his ears while at the same time standing up from his chair.
�What�s�oh geez,� he stammered at the sight of John and Steven entering the bedroom with guns drawn and pointing in his direction. JC quickly glanced at Lance and saw that he had not stirred, but when his gaze flew back to John and Steven, he was horrified to see that John was now standing at Lance�s bedside, his gun pointing at Lance�s head.
�If you know what�s best for your friend, you will do exactly what we tell you to do, Mr. Chasez. Now�lay down on the floor�put your hands behind your back.�
Justin crouched inside the bathroom behind the door that connected the bedroom that he shared with JC to the bedroom that Joey and Lance shared. He had awakened from his nap only moments earlier and, after finding himself to be alone in the room, had gotten up to find the other, knowing that more than likely they were with Lance. He was just stepping into the bathroom and had reached for the connecting door�s knob when he heard the commotion.
�Oh�my�gosh,� Justin whispered as his thoughts swirled so tumultuously inside his head, that he was sure that he would become ill. With small, quiet steps, he backtracked into his bedroom and quietly pushed the door closed then locked it for good measure. He then raced to the bedroom door and locked it, before turning out the room�s lights. He crossed the room once again, and with shaking hands, pushed open one of the bedroom�s windows. Frantically, he glanced about for his shoes, but found that in the darkness it was impossible to see much of anything. Giving up on his search he carefully crawled through the opened window then pulled it closed. He knelt down beneath the window and took several deep breaths in order to clear his spinning thoughts.
�Okay�okay�gotta find help�gotta find help,� he whispered as he glanced wildly about at the darkened shadows around him. In his panic state he did not even consider heading toward the ranch house where, unknown to him, Mitch and Troy were sleeping. In his mind, he needed to leave the ranch completely and head for help down the road�he was sure that someone would see him on the road and notify the authorities. With his mind made up, Justin pushed himself off the side of the house, taking care to stay within its shadows, his mind so focused on the task at hand, that he didn�t feel the twigs, sticks and rocks under his bare feet as he raced into the darkness.
JC nodded slowly at the men in front of him as he knelt down on the floor. Before he had a chance to lie down, Steven stepped forward then lifted his foot and stepped down onto JC�s back, pushing him harshly to the floor.
JC groaned at the contact and shuddered when Steven knelt down and rested his left knee on the back of his neck, immobilizing him.
As Steven busily bound JC, John pulled Lance�s covers from his body, revealing that the young man was sleeping in a pair of sweatpants, t-shirt and socks. Harshly, John flipped Lance�s still figure from his side to his stomach then jerked the young man�s arm�s behind him.
Lance startled awake and, in great confusion, struggled slightly against the arms holding him down then, much to his horror, his face was pressed into his pillow. Suddenly, he was unable to breathe and his struggles increased two fold.
At the same time, JC could see Lance�s thrashing body and he mutely yelled into the gag that Steven was tying over his mouth at what was going on. As seconds ticked by, the only sounds that could be heard in the room were those of JC�s muted shouts, Lance�s slowing movements and John and Steven�s harsh breathing as they worked hard to hold down the young men.
JC�s eyes filled with tears of horror as he watched Lance�s movements become slower and more sluggish until there was no movement at all.
John let go of the young man�s limp form and turned him. He was not wishing to kill Lance�not yet at least and he felt a small flutter of relief at the sight and sound of desperate gasps of air being drawn in by the barely conscious figure. In order to make sure Lance remained stunned, John reared back and struck him across the chin with his fist, rendering the young man unconscious.
JC choked back sobs of horror and relief, not even noticing that his hands were now tightly bound behind him, as well as his ankles. He looked on as John once again turned Lance onto his stomach before drawing his arms behind him. The knots and ties that he used in tying Lance were rather awkward due to the young man�s cast on his wrist, but they were effective. Soon, Lance was tightly trussed up and tossed onto the floor beside JC�s bound form.
�Let�s go find the last one,� John whispered as he neared the bathroom door. He pulled out his gun as he reached for the doorknob while Steven joined him.
Desperately, JC began grunting into his gag in an effort to warn Justin while Lance continued to struggle against the darkness that held him within its relentless grasp.