Change is Good - 21. Chapter 21 - Let The Games Begin

Chapter 21: Let the Games Begin

*Shawn*

I had to have broken every driving law they came up with as I raced to the park. Pulling into the parking lot, I could see Austin pacing around in the parking lot. Justin and Jason were leaning against their respective vehicles as Tiffany stared blankly at the scene set in front of her. I felt a lump in my throat as I parked my car and made my way over to everyone.

Austin was the first to notice me. “Shawn, I’m sorry I don’t know what else to say.” Austin looked away from it all as he stared at the ground and stopped pacing about.

My heart was pounding a cold chill running down my spine as I continued towards Alex’s car. I should have been there with him, I should have known better. The blame couldn’t be placed on anyone else but myself. I didn’t have any proof yet, but there was no doubt in my mind that Mark was involved in this somehow. With his court date just around the corner, this had to be some kind of scare tactic or something worse.

"We won't let you shoulder the blame for this all on your own, you know. We should have all known better, after Mark showed up right there on the school grounds,” Austin told me. I couldn’t bring myself to look away from the scene of Alex’s car sitting before us empty and still warm.

Deep down I knew Austin was right but that alone was not helping me feel any better. "I told him I wouldn't let anything happen to him again. I promised him," I yelled slamming my fist on the roof of the car. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling, my knees giving out as I fell into the empty driver seat. The last thing I remember was how the car somehow smelled of Alex before everything went black.

*Austin*

The feeling of not being able to do anything was just awful. I knew Shawn was taking this hard, probably harder than any of us. Emotionally, Shawn had simply checked out. Jason helped me get an unresponsive Shawn into the car. Tiffany at this point hadn't said a word as she just continued to stare at the car. It was scary just how unattached from everything she seemed, almost as if she was just a shell of her former self.

"We will find him babe, I promise," Justin cooed into her ear as he came up behind Tiffany. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he buried his face into her shoulder hiding his face from the rest of us. As he stood there embracing her, his shoulders began to shake as he quietly sobbed before Tiffany finally turned in his arms.

She didn't say anything as she began to weep with Justin and I felt my chest tighten. I couldn't stand it anymore myself as I turned around and buried my face in Jason's chest trying to hold myself together as he held me close. I have never been one for religion, but now seemed like as good a time as any as I prayed that Alex was safe and unharmed.

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

I've come this far and this is making me sick to my stomach. Maybe it's the face of the boy, but whatever it may be, I can't let it stop me now. There is too much at stake for me at this point all because of that asshole.

"Where am I?" A hoarse voice called out pulling me back to reality.

"We'll look who decided to grace us with his presence. How are you feeling sleeping beauty," Mark said as he walked around and stroked the face of the beautiful boy restrained in front of him. The boy flinched away from the contact on his skin; a disgusted look appeared on his face as he looked into the eyes of his captor.

"Haven't you caused enough damage as it is already?" the boy shouted.

"Enough?" Mark said with a laugh, "I haven't begun to show you what enough really is. Did you really think I was going to let you put me behind bars and do nothing about it?" Mark taunted, slapping the boy lightly on the cheek.

Behind bars. What was he talking about? I could feel a nervous sweat begin to break out as I realized, I may have been suckered into something much more than I thought. Getting involved with Mark again was risky, but the weight of his words made me realize this was much worse than I could have imagined.

"You brought all of this down on yourself; you have no one else to place blame on,” the boy spat back at Mark.

"Of course I do. You could have made things so much easier if you had just given me what I wanted from the beginning. Hell, I wouldn’t have minded being your side dick. If you weren't such a goody goody, none of us would be in this mess right now. I say this whole affair boils down to your own selfishness." A backhanded slap that made me flinch from the sound of contact, the boy was once again lost to this world. I looked down at my trembling hands, I was losing my nerve but this time out of fear, what pain have I just brought upon this boy and those close to him?

“Stay here, I am going out for a while. The windows are all sealed and boarded up so I am not too worried about him going anywhere,” Mark shrugged as he grabbed his coat and walked out.

*Shawn*

Sleep did not come to me that night. After we found his car and pulled ourselves together, we contacted Ellen to let her know what was happening. The hardest part was telling his parents, the look on their faces was one I shared. If things played out to the worst-case scenario, I don't think there is anything in the world that would get these people to smile again.

"I figured you would still be up, I brought you some tea to help calm your nerves," Mom said as she placed the tray of tea down on my nightstand.

"What if we don't find him Mom? What if I never get to hold him again?" I couldn't stop the tears again, feeling like a child as I was cradled in my mother's arms.

"Oh honey, I'm sure things will work out for the best, but right now he needs you to be strong for him, even though I know it's hard." Its times like this that I wish my parents didn't have to be away so often. They were always my rock when things truly got tough.

Somehow, I managed to fall asleep only to be awoken by my phone ringing. Not caring to look who was calling me, I quickly answered the phone to silence the ringing.

"Good morning to you sleeping beauty."

"Mark! What the hell do you want?" My blood ran hot hearing his voice.

"Shame on you friend, that is no way to talk to the one who has your happiness in hand, now is it?" My blood went cold. He knew about Alex or worst yet he had him.

“What do you want?” I could already tell I wasn’t going to like the outcome of this.

*Alex*

Waking up the first thing I notice was the pounding of my head and I was strapped to a bed unfamiliar with the surroundings.

"You shouldn't move around too much it will only make things that much more uncomfortable," a voice said.

I looked up to see a guy about my age looking back at me, when recognition floods my being.

"You!? You're a part of this too?" The guy looked away and would not look back in my direction.

I can't believe Mark had help in this. It was all a part of his elaborate scheme and I fell right into his hands. My mind reeled with anger as I looked on at this guy who played the supposed hurt victim that got me caught up in all this.

"Glad to see you awake again cutie I didn't think it would have been much fun to play if you weren't awake to enjoy it again." The smile on his face made my skin crawl and stomach churn; I could only imagine the sick and twisted things he had in mind. I was even more so sick, at the thought that Mark could get someone else to go along with him in his depraved actions.

"Oh don't give me that look we are going to have so much fun. In the mean time I have other matters to attend to so I will take my leave.” Mark leaned down to kiss my forehead before walking out the door with a smirk plastered across his face.

"How can you stand any of this?" I asked the unknown guy with a bit of an edge in my voice. He flinched as he looked away from me.

"Someone like you would never understand," he responded, avoiding my gaze he let out a sigh. "For what it's worth, I am sorry," he said before walking out of the room closing the door behind him as he went. Tired and confused my thoughts drifted to Shawn as I lay there looking at the ceiling. I just pray that when it’s all said and done we can be together again.

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

I can't stomach this anymore; it's not worth it to bring this much pain to people. I know what's at stake, with a cold chill that runs through me as I thought about what Mark might try to do to me if he figured out that I have anything to do with this.

*Shawn*

Two damn days and it felt like an eternity since I've seen Alex. Knowing that Mark has something to do with this hasn't made me feel any better. Mark's call left me furious, but the sight of Alex bound to a bed was almost too much and with everyone doing, the best they could for any leads, the wait was killing us all. I hadn't told anyone about Mark's ransom. I knew better, no matter how much we gave him; Alex wouldn't be set free that easily. He was in too deep and no amount of money could make these problems go away. When Alex’s folk showed up at our door, it was late afternoon.

"There has been a break; we just got a call from Ellen. Apparently, their department has received an anonymous tip about someone matching Mark's description. She told us not to get over excited as this could also bring bad news, but I had to let you know," Alex’s mom told me before rushing over grabbing me in a hug as she wept.

My mother directed everyone to the living room while I ran up to my room to let the others know about the new information. It seemed everyone shared the same sentiment as me, although it wasn't much, it was enough to keep us hoping that Alex was ok and would be brought back to us soon.

We were waiting for what seemed like hours, when the phone finally rang.

"Hello everyone, I know you all must be drained physically and emotionally, but following the tip we had received has placed Mark still within the city limits. However at this point he is only a suspect and we don’t have sufficient evidence to actually bring him in.” I felt my heart drop as we were told everything. If I hadn’t been so shocked, I could have taken a screen shot or something of the video call from Mark.

**********

"How the hell did they find out so fast, this doesn't make sense. This is all wrong; all fucking wrong, this was not the plan. I can barely make any moves without looking over my shoulder seeing those damns cops scurrying around everywhere."

Mark paced all around the room looking very unsettled, occasionally glaring at the boy bound to the bed trying to figure out what his next move would be.

"Ok, here is the new plan. If things go seriously wrong, we use him as a shield to negotiate terms to get out of this. If they aren't willing to bend, we take him out right here." I let out an audible gasp as he revealed his plan.

"Are you insane, we can't do that? I didn't sign up to murder or help murder someone, hell I didn't sign up for half of this shit," I screamed at him.

Mark pinned me against the wall, his hand closing around my throat. "If you remember correctly you owe me, or have you forgotten your trip overseas last year?" I could feel myself visibly pale as his words began to sink in. "I am going to see if I can get a peek at what we are dealing with before making my final move, don't try anything you may end up regretting it," he said throwing me against the wall as he released me.

"Is it really that bad?" The boy asked. Not expecting him to have been awake for that conversation startled me.

"What do you mean?"

"Whatever it is he has on you, is it really bad enough for you to become a part of all of this?" the boy questioned.

"You wouldn't understand," I said looking towards the door expecting Mark to come back through it at any time.

"Well help me out a little, I'm Alex by the way, I don't think I've caught your name during any of this." He gave me a weak smile; he actually smiled which only served to confuse me.

"Why would you be smiling at all, at a time like this?" The confusion evident on my face, I am sure.

"More often than not, I tend to look at the bright side of things. Here and now I feel you may not being doing this of your own free will."

"I suppose I'm not, when I think about it but..."

Mark rushed back into the room immediately, focusing his eyes full of hatred at Alex as he cut off our conversation.

"The show is about to begin cupcake." Mark smiled.

Our eyes widen in horror as Mark revealed what he had concealed beneath his clothes.

*Shawn*

I couldn’t take sitting around doing nothing. I grabbed my keys walking by everyone as I made my way out the front door. I had just started my car and was ready to pull out, when Justin, opened the passenger door. Not saying a word he nodded at me before strapping himself in and looking straight out the front windshield.

“I’m sure this is what I have to do. I can’t play this waiting game and I won’t let anyone tell me different,” I said putting the car in gear.

Justin looked over at me and smiled. “When did I ever say anything about trying to stop you? First off we have to find the bastard, the cops have nothing to really go on but that won’t stop us.” I nodded at Justin before peeling out of my parents’ driveway. There would be hell to pay for that later, but right now, I have more important matters to attend to. I had made up my mind once and for all to deal with Mark my way this time; I just hope the ones I loved would get out of this with no more damage.