Vegas and Pete: the series

A Shout in the Dark

POV Pete

I don't know how long I sleep for. In a room where the light never changes and there is no sky to see it could have been hours, minutes, or a whole day and I wouldn't know the difference. The aches on my body are the only marker of time that I tell anything from. My wrist still aches but they haven't gotten so bad as to have gone completely numb from holding my body weight up. My guess is that several hours have passed. My stomach rumbles and I feel a knaw growing in the empty pit, but I wouldn't change my mind.

Starving myself was about the only thing I had left that I was in control of. My one piece of rebellion I could still play. I'm not sure I could hold out until the very end, but it was worth it to hold onto that last part.

In the meantime I took stock of the room, with my hands tied up above my head there wasn't much within my reach. Besides the bed itself I was too far away to reach either the chest of drawers or the end table and the lamp that was on my right wasn't going to be of any use in getting these damn cuffs off.

I wriggle my hands in the cuffs trying to see if there was any wiggle room at all, but no Vegas knew how to use these well. I remember vaguely that some escape artists get out of handcuffs by dislocating their thumbs, but I had no idea how to do it.

Giving up on that idea I eye the black braided rope that was connected to the pulley above my head. Vegas had let the slack out earlier and I'd been more mobile to move around with. Maybe if I got enough of my weight on it I could dislodge it from the ceiling.

So with that thought in mind I try to jump and get my legs twisted around the rope. My wrist screams at me each time as they take the majority of my weight and in my weakened state I can't seem to get my feet up high enough to wrap them around the rope.

Shit. this is what I get for not eating. Now I don't even have the strength to attempt this. I let my feet stay back on the ground and bring the cuffs down so that they're on level with my face. These stupid damn things, I curse at them.

"Well I'm here." Vegas' voice carries into the room from outside the door. "What am I supposed to do, Pa?" He was arguing with his father. "Do you think I wanna be here?" he yells at him angrily.

Truthfully I'd never thought much about Khun Kan and Vegas relationship. It had never come up. I guess I always supposed that like Khun Korn, Khun Kan treated his sons the same way. Vegas was loyal to his father, I knew that, that was never a question, and he loved his brother dearly, but that day in the cells-

I stop thinking along this line as Vegas bursts into the room. He takes a few breaths just looking at me. "What the hell are you looking at?" He yells at me. I stare at him braicing from some kind of punishment or torture to start again, but nothing happens. He just turns away from me and crouches down next to his little hedgehog's cage.

"Is he crazy?" I wonder aloud.

Vegas makes no response to it; he just tilts his head as he regards his tiny pet. "When you're free," He says softly to the small creature. "Tell him how to be a good pet."

I stand there uncertain, still waiting for something that hasn't happened, and then I run the words Vegas had said over in my mind again. "Was he talking to me or the hedgehog?" I wonder aloud again.

Vegas ignores me entirely until he stands again, but he simply looks at me with an expression that reads he's not in the mood and then simply walks out the room shutting the door behind him.

"Hey little guy." I say to the small hedgehog. It surprisingly shuffles over to the side of the cage and looks at me through the bars. "Why don't you tell him how to be a good owner instead." The little thing makes no other move then to sniff the air, and eye me with its beady yet kinda sweet pitch black eyes. It was a rather cute little thing.

I'd never had a pet before, at least not one that I owned, we hadn't been able to afford it so the closest I'd come were the stray dogs and cats that wandered around the village where my grandmother now lived. I quite liked animals.

"You got a name, little guy?" I ask the hedgehog. Who of course doesn't respond, but still. "I bet he's named you something dumb like Spike, or Thorn." Then a small smile peels onto my face. "It would be funny if he called you something cute, like chichi or lulu." The idea of Vegas cuddling the small animal and cooing in sweet names takes over my mind. The image doesn't fit well at all, but somehow I can still picture it. "I'm not sure whether you're lucky or unlucky to have an owner like him." I say softly to the small animal. I sag against my bonds. I'll just take a small rest, then try to get free again. "Warn me if he's coming." I say to the small creature that now has his tiny face dipped into its feed bowl. My stomach growls incessantly again. Damn I'm hungry.

POV Vegas

I'm sitting in the living room on the fancy wooden backed and upholstered couch with a book in my hand. The cooler night air flows through the curtains and the mosquito repellent candles I've lit keep the annoying things off me as I enjoy the quiet of the night.

Then my phone rings and I grab it off the coffee table beside me. It's my father calling. I quickly answer. "Pa?"

"You, do you know what's been going on since you left? Do you know how much money we've lost." He starts yelling at me. "Two of the casinos have been cleaned out by the staff and they've run off!" I go to open my mouth to offer my father a course of action but he cuts me off. "This is all your fault, I should never have given you any control over that area, now I have to clean up your mess!"

I feel his words dig into me, turning my insides into an acidic punch to the gut. "Well, I'm here." I bite back at him. "What am I supposed to do, Pa? Do you think I wanna be here?" I was powerless in this place.

I could make a few calls, organize things with my subordinates, and send a few people after those who ran away from the money. Maybe figure out where they were most likely to go and track them down, but I couldn't go after them myself. If the main family got my scent there was a good chance I'd either be killed on sight, or dragged over to the main family for whatever the hell kind of torture they wanted to do to me. My Uncle might have a lot of people fooled, but he's not better than my father or me when it comes to cruelty against those that have hurt him. You don't get to sit at the top like that without being a special brand of ruthless.

My father hangs up on me and I growl as I stalk deeper into the house and find myself opening the door to the hedgehog and dogs bedroom. I look up to meet the dog's eyes. He's staring at me like he's bracing for something.

Seeing him hanging there though, for some reason, douses some of the acidic burning within me. "What the hell are you looking at?" I yell at him, feeling a small bit of relief at off loading the last of my anger. Then I turn to crouch down next to my cute little hedgehog. The small delicate creature eases my heart. "When you're free, tell him how to be a good pet." I say to him.

Pete mutters something to himself behind me but I can't hear it distinctly enough and I don't bother to try and figure it out. I smile at the little guy and tickle his nose once and then I stand again, feeling refreshed. I look back over at the dog. He looks docile enough that I don't feel any desire to discipline him. So I simply leave. I take my phone with me, it's a burner but I know enough numbers to make it effective. I send out a few orders and hope it'll be enough. Then I take out the sim card, break it and throw the phone away, and grab another one out from the drawer that's filled with them. Then I go back to my book.