Weeping Lily - 2. Chapter 2

No one was concerned when Jayden didn’t return to the hotel that night, neither did Cal. However they all started to get twitchy as midday approached and there was still no sign, no word. Even Cal had turned up by ten thirty looking dishevelled, stale and somewhat sheepish and Cal was the one who was always late.

A quick call confirmed that there was no one called Siona on the guest list for the party and they began to get seriously concerned. Jayden wasn’t answering his phone and, after a time, it stopped registering their calls.

“This isn’t like Jayden. He’s never late and he’s never let us down.”

“Maybe he went straight to the airport.”

“He would have called.”

It said a lot for what the group felt for Jayden that not one of them even suggested leaving the hotel room without him. After a lot of pacing and frantic telephone calls, when midday had come and gone they were all getting fractious, nervous and, frankly scared.

“I think it’s time we got the police involved.”

“I’m scared Jeff. Something’s happened to him, something bad. I know it.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s nothing. He probably just overslept.”

“We should have known last night at the club.” They all looked at Rik and lowered their eyes, shuffling nervously, not able to look at each other. It seemed as if Rik had hit a spot, voiced something that they had all been thinking. Sometimes it was like this with them, especially when Jayden was involved. It was like they had a secret code or were all tapping in to some kind of pool of common knowledge from which everyone else was excluded. Jeff was puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

“The way he was last night... He could hardly stand. That’s not Jayden. We all know that. We should have suspected something. One of us should have gone with him.”

“You were all hammered last night.”

Rik shook his head. “Not Jayden. He had a few sips of the champagne at the hotel and maybe half a glass in the limo. He a max of three drinks at the club and I know the first one was a coke. Jayden doesn’t get drunk. Jayden never gets drunk... he doesn’t like to lose control and yesterday he was... he wasn’t himself.”

Jeff thought about it and realised he had never seen Jayden get drunk. The others... plenty of times, but Jayden... never. “Then what...?”

“It was that woman. That bitch drugged him.” Cal was raging, practically tearing his hair out. “We so should have known. It was obvious and there is no way he would have gone off with a strange woman.”

“Come on... Jayden’s not made of wood. He likes a pretty face as much as the rest of you.” But even as he said it he realised that this was not entirely true. Jayden liked to talk to the girls, if they had wit and intelligence and were interested in him for more than just the chance of gratuitous sex... but he never disappeared with a woman, never spent the night with them unless it was curled up on the sofa in the living room with a glass of champagne in one hand talking the sky light.

He was not like Cal, not like Ashton, not like any of the others. Jayden, Jeff was beginning to realise, was more of an enigma than he had previously realised. Wordlessly he reached for the telephone. The others watched him in silence as the telephoned the police. They all felt suddenly cold.

***************

The first thing Jayden became aware of was the silence. Living with four exuberant young men there was very rarely true silence. Even in the dead of night there was always someone making a sound; moving, sighing, coughing, snoring.

Something, some innate sense of self preservation cautioned him not to move. He was lying on something. A bed? But he wasn't flat, the head was raised so he was half sitting. It felt as though he was naked, covered with something soft and light. There was no movement anywhere around, no sense that there was anyone in the room with him.

His mind was a complete blank; he had no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered was... was... He could remember singing; remember the excitement, the people, the enormous buzz when they sang back the words of the songs, his songs. He remembered the feeling of closeness with the rest of the band, the sense of friendship, of fulfilment. He drifted for a while buoyed by the sensations that these memories aroused in him. He remembered Cal’s face, his eyes roving over his body, the smile on his face, the incredible blue of his eyes.

Something like a jolt of electricity shocked him back to a greater awareness of his position and he turned back to the business of trying to work out where he was. He remembered the limo ride, the feeling of anticipation, the people outside the club, the noise, the lights. Had he got drunk? Passed out? He didn’t remember drinking much.

There was a girl. Had he gone home with her? Was this her room? Had they slept together? He felt hot and uncomfortable at the thought. He didn’t do this kind of thing and yet... and yet here he was, naked, in a strange bed. But something didn’t feel right. A lot of things didn’t feel right.

His head was pounding but that could be any old hangover, so could the nausea that was nagging at his stomach. But there was a strange feeling, a weird sense of disassociation, an unpleasant lightness, as if he were about to lift off the bed, out of a body that felt like lead, like he couldn’t move even if he wanted to.

Experimentally he tried to move his hand and his fingers twitched, scratching at something soft and silky. His woolly mind formed the ideas... ‘silk’ and ‘duvet’. As the movement hadn’t caused anything to happen he expanded and tried lifting his arm. He couldn’t and it took him a while to work out that it was because it was restrained. This surprised him so much he opened his eyes.

He was alone in a room that looked like a shrine, a shrine to him. From every square inch of wall his own face stared back at him. Every poster, magazine cover, promotional print ever released, even photographs taken at gigs and, worryingly, inside his hotel room. On one side of the room, just under a window covered with heavy black velvet drapes, there was a carved wooden box on which stood two urn like vases of white lilies between which stood a doll about fifteen inches tall, dressed to look just like him.

“Oh fuck.”

He was so shocked by the room around him he barely gave a thought to his own condition until he tried to raise his hand to rub his eyes and was reminded that he couldn’t. He looked down and was shocked again.

The bed on which he was lying was not a normal one. It was more like a hospital bed with shiny chrome bars on either side of the top half. It was raised so he could see the black silk covers pulled up to his chest, the white straps around his wrists binding them to the bed, the plastic tube attached to the needle in his arm.

“Oh fuck.”

He almost panicked then, tried to sit up but found there was another strap around his chest. Minimal investigation found more around his ankles and across his thighs and waist.

It took a lot of self control to keep from screaming and throwing himself around. He was shaking inside and out, panic adding to the drugged confusion and making it impossible to make any sense of what was happening to him.

Nausea swept over him bringing the acid taste of bile to his throat and it was all he could do not to vomit. His head spun and when the darkness closed in again he welcomed it.

The second time he floated back to awareness it was to the sound of someone whispering close to his ear.

“Jayden. Jay...den. Time to wake up Jayden.”

He froze, memories of the last time he’d woken assailing his battered mind. Something touched his face and he flinched despite himself. Fingers stroking his hair shocked his eyes open.

“Hello there. I thought you would never wake up.”

He stared at her. She looked so normal, so harmless. She was smiling pleasantly.

“You must be thirsty. Here, just a sip or you will be sick.”

She held up a plastic beaker pressing the straw it contained against his lips. He was so surprised he obediently sipped. The cold water tasted like nectar, it was so good. He sucked eagerly and she pulled it away.

“No... not too much. I’m not kidding, you will be sick. You must be feeling awful. I’m sorry about that. I had to drug your drink and it was pretty crude. Now you’re here I can look after you much better. Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. I won’t hurt you.” She sounded so calm, so matter of fact.

“Why...?” It was surprisingly hard to speak through a throat constricted by fear and a mouth and lips so dry his tongue actually stuck to the roof of his mouth if he wasn't careful.

“Because I love you.” Again she said it in a completely matter of fact way, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world and explained everything.

“But...”

“Don’t worry, you’ll understand. I know that someone like you would never choose to be with someone like me, at least not until you got to know me. That’s why you’re here, so I can tell you all about me and you can tell me all about you. One we know each other then you’ll love me too. You just wait and see.”

“But... but I did... you didn’t need to do this.”

“Yes, I have to admit that you did... you did choose to be with me and that came as a surprise. I didn’t expect you to do that. But then I always knew you were different to the rest, special.”

“Please let me go.”

“I will. Once we know each other and I’m sure you feel the same way I do, I will let you go. It will be alright Jayden my darling, you’ll see.”

“Please... I... you can’t honestly think that this... this will make me love you.”

“But it will. You’ll see.”

“Stop saying that. You can’t make someone love you, you just can’t.”

“I can make you feel anything I want you to.”

“No you can’t.”

“Oh, but I can. See.”

Turning to a table beside the bed she picked up a large, shallow wooden box filled with small glass bottles, all neatly labelled in the same tiny, clear handwriting. In a tray at the front of the box were a handful of plastic syringes. Jayden’s eyes widened in horror.

“No... no please. Siona, please don’t.”

The girl beamed. “You remembered my name. Of course, it isn’t my real name but it means such a lot that you remembered.”

“Please don’t do this to me.”

“You have no idea what I am going to do to you. Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you. I promise I won’t hurt you. Hush now, don’t plead with me, that’s so weak and I don’t want you to be weak Jayden, I want you to be strong and brave like you always have been inside my head.”

“Siona, I... this... this is crazy. You can’t...”

“I said Sssh.” She pressed her finger against his lips and then allowed all of her fingers to rest on his face stroking his cheek. He flinched away; she only smiled.

“Tonight we are going to talk, get to know each other. You can tell me all about Jayden McConnell, not the superstar, the person. You can tell me things that no one else knows, secrets that will make you mine.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Don’t say that.” Her eyes flashed dangerously but then softened as she smiled. “You don’t know me Jayden... but you will... soon you will and I will know you. I wish that I could stay and talk now but I have things to do.”

Picking up the box she put it back on the table and picked up one of the syringes flicking off the plastic cover.

“No... please... don’t do that.”

“Hush now. I told you. Don’t be weak Jayden.”

“Please... I promise I won’t do anything. I’m not going anywhere, I can’t.”

“I know that but it’s not part of the plan. You need this.”

She picked out one of the bottles and filled the syringe.

“Need? What do you mean need it? I...”

“You’ll see. Just relax. I told you I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“But...”

“Don’t worry so much Jayden. Just accept. It’ll be alright, you’ll see.”

“No! Look... I... I’ll do anything you want, anything. Just don’t... please don’t do that.”

“What are you so afraid of? I’m not going to poison you or anything.”

She held up the syringe, tapping the glass gently so the tiny bubbles rose to the top and Jayden watched in horrified fascination as a fine spray erupted from the needle tip, evaporating in the air before it touched anything.

“Don’t speak.”

“I...”

“I said don’t speak.” Her voice was as sharp as the needle that she pushed into a plastic connection on the tube in his arm. Jayden opened his lips to speak but by then it was too late so he closed them again and sighed, closing his eyes.

“That’s better. Hush now. Rest and be ready for tonight. I’ll wear my best dress and make myself look pretty for you.”

“Don’t bother.”

“Now, now dear one. Don’t you go getting grumpy with me now.” Her voice was flirtatious now, teasing.

Again Jayden was about to speak but changed his mind at the last moment and turned his face away.

“That’s alright. I know you’re not feeling well and I’m truly sorry. You will feel much better when you wake up.”

“I... don’t want to go to sleep.”

“Silly boy to make so much fuss.” She stroked his hair and he shuddered. “Hush dear one. Close your eyes. You’ll be asleep soon and when you wake I’ll be here and we can talk.”

“Don’t want to talk.”

“I know you don’t, but you will, you’ll feel much better tonight. I said hush now... so hush.”

It was easier just to close his eyes and pretend to be asleep. As much as he hated to admit it, it was pleasant to feel her stroke his hair, to smooth his forehead and temples with featherlight strokes. It eased the pounding headache.

He wished she would go away though, that she would leave him alone, give him time to think. But long before she moved from his side he was beyond the ability for coherent thought. He barely acknowledged her departure and soon afterwards he was not aware of anything at all.

****************

The police had no leads. They had failed to keep the information from the press and it was splashed all over the front pages of every newspaper, featuring on ever news programme. Fans and press made camp outside the hotel effectively imprisoning the group inside, not that they felt much like going out.

They paced like cages lions, jumping every time the telephone rang. As the day wore on the police grew more and more perplexed by the absence of any communication from the kidnapper and it soon became depressingly obvious that Jayden had not been taken for ransom.

Every member of the group blamed themselves for being so wrapped up in their own self gratification they failed to realise their friend was in trouble.

“The thing is I did know. At the time I knew there was something wrong. I know Jayden, I know he wouldn’t get that drunk, that quickly, especially not in the mood he was in yesterday. I knew he was in trouble and I just let him walk off with that woman.”

“We all knew there was something wrong Rik, or would have if we had opened our eyes and thought for a minute. We all let him down.”

“Fuck! If anything happens to him...” Cal slammed his fist into the table, making it and everyone else jump.

“Something is happening to him. There’s no ransom request so we all know what that means.”

They all hung their heads. Yes they knew what it meant. It meant that either Jayden was already dead or he was being held by someone who had something other than money on their mind.

Jeff was strung out too. He was swept off his feet giving interviews on behalf of the band, fending off queries from fans, promoters, agents and the media. He had spoken to Jayden’s family and close friends, although most of them were in the room, and felt as though he lost a piece of his soul every time he had to tell someone that no one had the first idea what had happened to Jayden.

The police had worked through the guest list of the party and had obtained photographs of every woman there as well as CCTV footage of the car park. Because of the media interest the police came to the hotel rather than expect them to go to the station and they weren’t uniformed bobbies either, but immaculately presented CID officers who looked like they could take a man apart with their bare hands without breaking a sweat and whilst being unfailingly pleasant and polite.

All four remaining band members, and Jeff, poured over photographs but were unable to identify the woman who had called herself Siona, the mysterious woman who had left with Jayden. The CCTV camera footage showed them leaving the club at just after 1.30am and getting into a blue convertible in the car park. However the pictures were grainy and the woman made sure she kept her face averted. She clearly knew where the cameras were situated.

“The fact is she was entirely ordinary. She wasn’t pretty but she wasn’t plain either. She hadn’t overdone the makeup and was wearing ordinary kind of clothes. There was nothing to distinguish her, nothing to notice, nothing to remember about her.”

“I would think that was very deliberate. Are you sure none of the photographs ring any bells at all?”

“Oh they ring bells alright. I went home with two of them, but I am absolutely certain none of them is the woman who was with Jayden.”

They all agreed. Having given a description to the police artist it was abundantly clear that it would fit at least half the women there and at least the same proportion of the general population.

“What about the car? Have you traced that?”

“It was reported missing two days ago and found abandoned about six o’clock this morning in the car park of a set of factory units. No one goes near the place until the factories open so there is next to no chance that anyone saw anything, although we have put incident notices at the sight.

“The lab boys are taking it apart piece by piece but, frankly I would be surprised if we found anything.”

“Why not?”

“This has all the markings of a very well planned, professional job. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to research exactly the kind of girl Jayden would go for and to make sure she made herself as nondescript and unremarkable as possible.

“She was confident enough to allow herself to be introduced to all of you even knowing she was time limited in that she had to get Jayden out of there before the drug knocked him out completely.

“She was one cool customer. There is no doubt that it was a well planned professional job. She’s not likely to have overlooked something like leaving fingerprints in the car.”

“So... do you have anything to go on?”

“We’re interviewing everyone on the guest list and all of the club personnel. At the moment our best chance is that someone has seen something that might give us a clue.”

“And that’s it? That’s all? She can just walk in there, drug him and drag him out and no one sees anything... she doesn’t leave a mark? A clue?”

“At this stage no, we don’t have much to go on.”

“What about the glasses? She didn’t have gloves on. She would have left fingerprints all over the glasses.”

“As would the waiters, anyone who happened to touch them and whoever cleared them away. Even if we were able to identify them among the hundreds used and collected at the end of the night they will all have been steam cleaned long before anyone knew that anything was wrong.”

“So are you telling me there’s nothing you can do, no way you can find her, no way you can find Jayden?”

“That’s not what I’m telling you at all. I am telling you that, at the moment we don’t have any leads but we have not given up looking. There are still avenues to explore. Someone must have seen something... Jayden is not an unobtrusive person. We will find him.”

“Forgive me if I’m not reassured.”

“Just keep focussing on the positives.”

“What positives.... you mean that no body has been found...yet.” Cal was getting angry and wasn’t hiding it, but the detective was very calm. He appreciated the position they were all in. He had seen it many times.

“It’s very unlikely that anyone would have gone to that much trouble just to kill him.”

“Unlikely, not impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible.”

“Just keep thinking. If you remember anything, anything at all that you think might be helpful then give us a call.”

“As if we’ve thought of anything else.”

“I appreciate this must be hard for you, but I can assure you we are doing everything, everything we possibly can.”

“I wish I could believe that will be enough. I can’t help thinking, wondering what’s happening to Jayden. It’s not going to be good is it?”

“The chances are he’s just being held somewhere.”

“The chances? Hell if we start thinking about the chances... the chances are that he’s been snatched by some nut who had no problem drugging him senseless, and so would have no problem doing almost anything. They haven’t asked for money so they obviously want something else from him and the chances are they are taking it even as we speak.”

“Try not to think too much about that.”

“Try not to think about it? How the hell am I supposed to think about anything else? He’s my best friend and the thought of him drugged and helpless... in the hands of some nutcase...” Cal shuddered and resumed his pacing. “I should have seen. I did see. I should have known. I should have done something. I could have stopped this. I could have saved him. And now... and now... FUCK!!!” He stopped and turned towards the detectives. “If anything happens to him... anything... you had better keep a close eye on that freak because I am going to fucking KILL her.”