Family Line

Chapter six: The Lighthouse

JJ groaned as he came around, his head pounding from the blow his Dad had dealt him earlier and causing him way too much pain to even feel slightly comfortable.

He didn't open his eyes, he just lay there, trying to gather himself and figure out what was going on.

He managed to figure that his hands were tied behind him by what felt like rope, but other than that he seemed to be free to move.

The floor he was laying on was rough and hard, and extremely uncomfortable. It was cold, and slightly damp which confused JJ...

Where was he?

In the end he swallowed hard, picking up the courage to open his eyes, blinking a little in the dull light.

And it really was a dull light, coming from above him, not around him, no, it was dark where he lay, but he could see thanks to the light above, which he stared at for ages until he figured out where he was.

A lighthouse.

And going by the damp floor, he figured it wasn't Redfield lighthouse, no - this was the lighthouse in the sea... one people didn't even know you could get out to, so how on earth was he going to get back or people get to him?

Swallowing hard, JJ took a deep breath and forced himself to sit up, leaning against the wall behind him and coughing harshly, groaning when his head protested.

He already knew the door would be locked, and the rope securing his hands behind his back was way too tight to even think about breaking, and it was really quite painful too.

Taking a shaky breath JJ forced back any panic, but his heart was pounding.

His Dad had literally kidnapped him.

Tied him up, and locked him away.

His head shot up when he heard someone coming down the spiral starecaise, the iron stairs creaking at the weight.

He waited until Luke was stood in front of him, before he glared. "What the hell?" He choked out.

Luke sneered back at him. "You gave me no choice Jay." He growled. "I need that money, more than you will ever understand, and if you won't give it to me, I might just have to find ways to persuade you to."

JJ's heart skipped a beat, but he tried his hardest to keep the fear from his face, that would not help the situation. "You seriously have no money?" He muttered.

"Not a single penny." Luke hissed. "And I need to get out of here before I find myself thrown in a prison cell."

"You deserve to be thrown in a cell." JJ spat, but choked a little when Luke walked over and kicked him harshly in the side, causing him to fall onto his side, curling himself into a ball seeming as he couldn't use his hands to protect himself.

"I would keep your smart remarks to yourself boy." Luke warned. "I'm not here to mess about. I'm here to get what I want, no matter what."

JJ swallowed hard, gasping a little. "I already told you," He breathed. "I'm not giving you anything. I'm done with you, you abandoned me without a second thought and you think you deserve my help?" During this he'd managed to sit up slightly, resting on his elbow as he glared up at his Dad. "Give me a break."

Luke looked pissed.

A kick to the stomach caught JJ off guard, and he groaned.

"Trust me when I tell you you don't want to pick the hard way through this." Luke told him. "I can make the next days hell for you if you don't cooperate."

JJ snorted, eyes cracking open from when he'd slammed them shut against the pain. "You've made my entire life hell." He murmured. "I'm sure the next few days won't make much difference."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Luke hissed.

JJ swallowed hard. "Were you ever planning on telling me I was related to Sarah?" He muttered, trying to distract his Dad from what he already knew was coming.

Luke laughed. "What, that stuck up Kook? Not a chance." He spat. "I couldn't anyway, would've ruined your precious mother's life, but turns out I shouldn't of tried so hard, Ward found out eventually didn't he?"

JJ sighed. "You're all sick for keeping something like that from us, from all of us." He told his Dad. "Sarah is my sister! Wheezie is my sister! For goodness sake Rafe is my half brother Dad!"

Luke grinned. "Bet everyone would love to hear that you're related to a psychopath." He hissed, "because I sure don't believe Ward killed Peterkin."

JJ fell silent at this, swallowing hard.

Luke just laughed, before getting back to the point of why they were there in the first place. "Where's the money Jay?" He all but whispered, a dangerous tone to his voice.

JJ stared at him, utterly terrified but trying his hardest not to show it, although he didn't know if he was doing a very good job.

Because he was scared, he had no doubt his Dad could make the next few days the most painful, awful days JJ had ever witnessed, but he couldn't let him win.

His Dad had taken too much from him already, him winning would defeat JJ forever, and he wasn't about to let Luke get away with that, so he took a deep breath, and swallowed hard.

"I'm not giving you anything." He whispered. "You don't deserve a single penny from me."

Luke squared his shoulders and cracked his knuckles, making JJ wince. "Wrong answer." He muttered.

JJ had no choice but to just lay there and take the severe beating that came next, and by the end of it he couldn't breathe.

He lay there, coughing and shuddering as Luke stepped away, tears trickling silently down his cheeks as his whole body shook.

Luke knelt beside him, grabbing a fistful of his hair and yanking his head up so they made eye contact.

JJ tried to focus on him through his blurry vision, but that was near impossible when all he could focus on was the amount of pain he was in... no doubt some of his ribs were broken already.

"I'll be back down in an hour." Luke told him, and JJ could only just hear what he was saying. "I can't exactly go anywhere for fear of being spotted, so I've got all the time in the world, but let me tell you something right now, you most certainly don't, so I'd hurry up and spill the beans, or I promise you I'll make you regret it."

He let go of JJ's hair and headed back up the iron staircase, leaving JJ alone in the dim light, shaking, in pain and with tears still making there way down his cheeks.

What did his Dad mean when he'd said he didn't have all the time in the world? There's no way Luke would kill him, right?

His Dad was capable of many things, but killing his own son could not be of of them, surely.

Some terrible things must've happened in Yucatan for his Dad to be so desperate to get as far away as possible.

JJ's guess was that he probably owed some dangerous people a whole lot of money, but this made him feel guilty.

If that was the case and these people were dangerous, shouldn't he be helping his Dad?

"No." JJ actually spoke out loud, shaking his head, he was sick and tired of his Dad winning every damn time, sick of tired of being pushed around and made to do whatever stupid and reckless thing he wanted him to do.

Luke had gotten himself into this mess, and it was certainly not JJ's job to get him out of it, and he was finally starting to realise that.

He wasn't going to help his Dad, but as he lay there cold, in pain, shaking, alone and scared he couldn't help but wander what would happen if he didn't cooperate and give his Dad the money he wanted, because whatever would happen, it clearly wouldn't be good.

He could only hope his friends found him soon, and as much as he tried to cling onto that hope, he had no idea how they'd even figure out where he was, let alone rescue him from his lunatic of a father who'd gone off the rails more than usual.

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