Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me

Chapter 6

Greg woke to the sound of his door opening again. He wiped his eyes to clear his vision, and saw a new person enter the room. He eyed the man, taking in his characteristics, just in case it came down to Greg being able to identify the man or not.

    The man wasn't very tall, maybe 5'6" at the most, with jet black hair, bright white teeth, and striking grey eyes. Greg suppressed the urge to shiver as the man's and his eyes met. The man was wearing a masquerade mask of some kind, so Greg couldn't find any scars, birthmarks, etc. Greg began to sweat when the man didn't say anything, only walking over to the video camera in the far corner of the room. Blocking Greg's view of what he was doing, the man fiddled with the camera a little, pulling something from his pocket and then putting something else in.

    "Say hi to your friends, Greg." The man's voice was hard and cold, sending another batch of shivers up Greg's spine. He was unable to suppress them this time. The man was smirking, making Greg's heartbeat race.

    Adjusting the camera to focus in on Greg's face, the bruise covering the upper left side of his forehead probably being what whomever was watching this was looking at. Greg's headache was gone, though, so he was silently thanking God for answering his prayers for some kind of help.

    "Let's have some fun, shall we?" The man said, and his laugh made Greg's blood run cold. Greg was cowering in fear, though he knew that was exactly what the man wanted. But instead of going for him, he walked to the door. Greg leaned so he could see out the door, but all he could see was Adam holding someone beside him. A gleam of light bounced off a head of shiny, slightly curled blonde hair. Greg almost wanted to cry.

    "Morgan!" Greg yelled jumping off the bed. He tried to run to her, but then remembered the tape around his ankles. He sat on the edge of the bed, using his hands to try and take it off. He glared daggers at the men, who were now carrying said blonde to the middle of the room. Adam silently brought in a red chair, placing it in the middle of the room as well. Then, the stranger brought out a roll of duct tape out of his pocket while Adam adjusted the camera once more, so he could see both Greg and Morgan.

    "You son of a bitch!" Greg yelled. "Let her go!" His previous shyness was washed away by anger at the two, seeing a small bruise on the side of Morgan's temple. He was about to keep yelling profanities at the two, but was cut off by a punch to the jaw. The room was small enough that if Greg was on the edge of the bed, and Morgan in the chair, he could almost reach her knee. He noticed this as he was doubled over on the bed, his head pounding. Greg cradled his head in his hands as he tried not to cry. A few tears dripped down his cheek, but he quickly wiped them away before his attackers could experience any joy from it.

    "One more snide comment from you, and she'll be the one hurting, you hear me, pretty boy?" The stranger grabbed Greg's hair by the roots, and pulled his head so far back you would've thought his neck was broken. Greg only stared at him in contempt, hoping that his team was one step closer to finding them.

    Letting go, the man walked over to Morgan, looking at the camera. "This is a live feed," he announced, almost like he were proposing a toast at a wedding--full of excitement and happiness. It made Greg sick. "So your friends at the Crime Lab are watching this as we speak." He turned to Greg. "You might wanna say your goodbyes into the camera now, before I cut out your tongue."

A HALF HOUR EARLIER

    "You guys need to come with us," Sara said, running up to Nick's window. "An anonymous caller just tipped us off on someone matching Greg's description being taken out of a van and taken into a house down on Stoneridge Boulevard."

    "Hop in," was all Nick said. Once Sara closed the door, Morgan put down her visor, the flashing lights turning on with a flick of Nick's wrist. Soon, they were peeling down the street faster than the car was supposed to. If this was Greg, they had to assume the worst and so the sooner they got there, the better.