SquidgeWorld Archive

Hostage
by adventurefic

Mac exited the coffee shop and began walking down the street, reading the front page of the morning newspaper as she walked along towards her car. She frowned at the depressing topics that filled the paper: war, murder, and the rising unemployment rate. "Is there ever any good news to report," she mumbled to herself, shaking her head.

When she reached her car, she climbed in and tossed the newspaper onto the passenger's seat. After starting up the car, she drove off.

Digging her cell phone from her jacket pocket, she dialed Judson's number. He soon picked up and she smiled at the sound of his voice. "You sound irritated."

"Hey, Mac. Yeah, a little irritated is a good description. We're off to a rough start this morning is all, but why are you calling? You're supposed to be starting your vacation today and not thinking about all this."

"I know, I know, but I just wanted to remind you about your meeting with Dr. Clayton this afternoon regarding our last expedition."

"Dammit!" Judson hissed, "I forgot all about that."

"See, you guys are gonna miss me, admit it."

"No doubt about that. Damn. Well, I have some schedule rearranging to do. Go, enjoy your vacation!"

"I will. I'll see you when I get back. Bye." Mac hung up the phone and tucked it back in her jacket pocket.

Mac approached a long, vacant stretch of road and sighed at the long drive ahead of her. She was driving to Nevada to spend time with some friends she hadn't seen in years. They were all friends in high school and lost touch as years went by, but they had finally organized a reunion of sorts.

She turned up the radio and tapped the steering wheel as she sped along the road. Suddenly, the driver's side window smashed into thousands of pieces. The sudden noise scared her and she lost control of the car. It skidded all over the road, blowing out the front tire in the process. The car turned sideways and the next thing she knew the car began rolling over. She lost count of how many times it rolled before coming to a stop upside down in a ditch on the side of the road.

The smell of burnt rubber filled the air as did burnt car fluids and smoke.

Mac remained motionless inside the car, unconscious from hitting her head on anything it had come in contact with when the car had tumbled down the road. Her seatbelt held her in her seat, suspending her above the roof. Blood dripped down the side of her head from a couple of nasty gashes and stained the fabric on the roof below her.

She began to come around, slowly, hearing only slight noises around her. Then she felt someone unbuckling her from the confines of her seatbelt and dragging her from the car. Moans of pain escaped from her as the movement jarred both internal and external wounds. "J- Judson," she whispered, opening her eyes only slightly to see who had taken her out of the car.

"No, I'm not Judson, but you'll see him soon enough," the man answered as he dragged her up towards the road to his van, tossing her roughly into the back. With a quick glance of his surroundings he checked to see if anyone was watching, but there was no one around for miles. Then he got in the van and tore off down the road.

When Mac awoke, she found herself slumped against a cement wall, her hands chained tightly together in front of her. Her vision was a blur from the blows to the head. She squinted in an effort to see clearer, but with some passing time her vision began clearing up.

Her head throbbed and she could feel dried blood on the left side of her face.

"Nice to see you're finally awake. Now we can get down to business."

Mac looked towards the direction in which the man's voice was coming from and was suddenly blinded by a spotlight being cast in her eyes. Her instinct was to bring a hand to her face to shield her eyes, but the movement of her arm sent a shot of agonizing pain through her left shoulder.

"I wouldn't be moving around too much if I were you. Your shoulder is dislocated and judging by the nice bruise on your collarbone I'd venture that your collarbone is broken or at least fractured."

"Untie my hands," she demanded through clenched teeth.

The man laughed, "I don't think so. You may be busted up, but I know what kind of a fighter you are, Mackenzie Previn."

The fact that he knew her sent chills down her spine. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"Oh, so many questions. You'll have the answers soon enough, but for now you can know that Judson Cross is going to pay dearly for what he did to me and it all begins with you."

Mac breathed through the pain that wracked her body and focused on the man's voice, trying to find some sort of familiarity in it.

"Judson played with me and now I'm gonna play with him. So, smile for the camera."

Mac strained to see past the blinding light, but it was much to bright. After a few moments the light shut off and the man came towards her. She blinked out the light spot in her eyes and squinted as he crouched beside her.

"Give me Judson's email address so I can send him a little greeting starring Mackenzie Previn."

"No," Mac said quietly, looking away from him.

The man reached out and grabbed her injured shoulder, squeezing it with tremendous pressure. Mac screamed out in pain and began kicking at him, landing a swift kick right between his legs. The small camera flew out of his hands and skidded across the cement floor as he curled into a ball, clutching his crotch. "You bitch!" he tried to yell in a painful breath.

Mac struggled to her feet and was about to run, but the man grabbed her ankle, pulling her leg out from under her and sending her crashing to the hard floor. The impact caused more pain to errupt in her shoulder and collarbone.

The man was quickly on her, digging his knee into her back as he leaned his weight on top of her. "That was a stupid thing to do."

Mac gasped in pain and did her best to keep from crying. She didn't want to give him any sign of weakness.

"Get up," the man said as he got off her and hauled her to her knees. With one swift punch to her midsection, she doubled over, trying to catch the wind that had been knocked from her lungs. "Try that shit again and you'll be VERY sorry."

Mac coughed and grunted as a new pain introduced itself to her body. With each breath her ribs protested, indicating that he'd inflicted damage.

"Now, what's his email address?"

Mac remained silent, still struggling as she breathed.

He grabbed a handful of her hair and pull her towards him, striking her in the nose with his fist. He yanked her face towards him again,"Give me the address," he said as he watched the blood flow down her chin, dripping all over the front of her shirt.

Mac turned her head and spat blood on the floor. Turning back to him, she got a good look at his face - burned on one side from his temple to his neck.

"Give it to me!" he screamed, holding her by the front of her shirt with a white-knuckled grip.

Realizing that she wasn't going to give him the information, he pushed her to the floor on her back and pulled out a gun. Shoving the barrel under her chin, he watched as she still struggled to breathe. Looking her over, he moved the barrel under her right eye. "I'm only going to ask you once more. What's the address?"

Mac smiled and didn't say a word, but he cocked the gun and she could see his finger beginning to squeeze the trigger.

"Okay, okay! It's crosstreasures@mail.com."

The man smiled at her and moved the gun away, "See, that wasn't so hard. Now you stay put like a good little girl while I go make arrangements for our dear Judson to meet with us."

The man let go of Mac, giving her a shove for good measure as he got up and left the room.

Mac laid on her side sobbing as the pain began to become too much to bear.

Mac lost track of time and wasn't sure how long the man had been gone, but he had now returned and wore the same evil grin that he had earlier. "We're going for a little ride, let's go," he said as he grabbed the chain around her hands and began dragging her out of the room.

Meanwhile, Judson and Gabe sped through the streets to get to the meeting place as quickly as possible.

"Who is this lunatic?" Gabe asked.

"His name is Evan McGavin. I thought he was dead, to be honest. A few years ago, he and I were out looking for the same thing, an old diary that belong to a King from London. McGavin played dirty, always did, and he'd stop at nothing to get what he wanted, and that included not thinking twice about murdering someone. He shot me twice and he was sure that he'd killed me, but I managed to go after him. We fought for a while and a candle got knocked over, setting the room on fire. When I grabbed him to pull him out of the room he continued to fight with me so I hit him. He fell to the ground and that was the last I saw of him. There was so much thick smoke, I just had to get out of there."

"Geez," Gabe replied as he held onto the bar by the door as Judson navigated his way through traffic at a high rate of speed. "Whoa! Watch it! If we want to help Mac we need to be alive to do it!"

"Sorry," Judson said, focusing on the images of Mac's broken form in his mind.

They soon arrived at the abandoned warehouse and entered slowly, being careful of any traps that McGavin may have set up.

"McGavin!" Judson yelled out.

"In here," McGavin yelled back.

Judson and Gabe entered a large room and found Mac tied to a wooden chair, her head was slumped forward so they couldn't see her face, but each was alarmed at the blood all over her.

"Mac?" Judson said as they entered the room, but she didn't answer.

"That's far enough," McGavin said as he appeared, his gun trained on them. "Toss your weapons over here and get on your knees."

Judson and Gabe complied and got to their knees. Judson fought the urge to run over to McGavin and tear his head off. The more he looked at Mac his anger grew. It was hard to tell from their vantage point whether she was alive or dead.

McGavin stood beside Mac, grabbing her by the back of the head and tilting her head back so they could see her bloody face. "As you can see, Mackenzie here hasn't been very cooperative."

"You bastard!" Judson seethed, taking in the sight of Mac's beaten face.

"Easy, big fella." McGavin took pleasure in the control he had over Judson and it showed. "Tell me something, Judson, do you know what it's like to feel your face burn. To smell your own flesh? No, of course you don't, but you're going to find out."

"Why'd you involve Mac in all of this? Why not just come for me?"

"Because what would be the fun in that? I want you to suffer greatly. I want you to suffer like I've suffered. Only I'm taking it one step further because this time I really am going to kill you. Now, why don't you two come on over here next to Mackenzie here so I can tie you up in one big group. That way you'll at least get to die together, it's the least I can do." McGavin began to laugh loudly as Judson and Gabe made their way towards Mac.

Judson and Gabe sat on opposite sides of Mac's chair. Judson tried to assess her injuries, but he was afraid to take his eyes off of McGavin for too long. "Mac?" he whispered as he saw her slowly lift her head.

"J-Judson," she whispered as she winced from the pain.

"Shhh, you're gonna be fine," Judson tried to assure her.

"Oh, isn't this cute. Don't fool yourself, Mackenzie, you're gonna die along with him." McGavin began wrapping rope around the three of them.

"Don't think you're going to get away with this," Gabe threatened.

"And who's gonna stop me? Certainly not you three." McGavin backed away from them and watched them for a few seconds, enjoying the sight. He then began dragging wooden crates across the floor and placing them around the room.

"Judson," Mac whispered.

Judson craned his neck around to look at her.

"My...my leg," she said softly.

"It's okay, Mac. We're gonna get you out of here."

"No...no...gun," Mac mumbled, "it's...it's strapped to my leg."

Judson finally realized what she meant and struggled to turn himself towards her leg beside him. His arms were bound tightly so it made it hard to move, but his hands were free. Reaching inside her pant leg, he found holster. With his limited range of movement, he struggled to free the gun.

McGavin finished setting up the boxes and began dousing them with gasoline, smiling while he poured the liquid all over them.

Once he was finished he tossed the gas can across the room and took out a book of matches. "Well, Judson, this is where I say good bye." He took out a match and got ready to strike it on the side of the box.

"Noooooo!" Judson screamed as he got Mac's gun free and aimed it towards McGavin. Firing, he hit McGavin in the leg.

McGavin was stunned by the retaliation, but struck the match as he sank to his knees.

Judson fired again, hitting McGavin in the chest. Blood spewed from his mouth as he fell forward.

They all watched with wide eyes as the match flew from McGavin's hand and fell on the ground, igniting the gasoline.

"Dammit!" Judson cursed as he and Gabe struggled to get free of the rope. "Gabe!"

"I know, I know! I'm trying!!" Gabe, the smallest of the three, managed to wriggle out of his bonds and quickly stood up, digging for the pocketknife is his jeans. After cutting Judson free, the two then worked on freeing Mac who was bound to the chair.

After a bit of a struggle, they managed to get the ropes off of her. Mac moaned and whimpered as Judson picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. "Let's get out of here!"

They ran out of the warehouse just as it exploded behind them, the force sending them crashing to the ground, debris falling all around them.

Judson and Gabe sat up, looking back at the warehouse that was no engulfed in flames. Mac moaned in pain, alerting Judson to her need for medical care. "Let's get her in the car."

They carefully lifted her into the back of the SUV and Judson climbed in with her, cradling her head in his lap. Gabe slid behind the wheel and they sped off towards the nearest hospital.

"Hang on, Mac, we're gonna get you some help," he said as he stroked her hair.

"It h-hurts," Mac whimpered.

"Shhh, it's okay." He did his best to soothe her, but it tore him up inside to see her in this state.

With each pothole or bump that Gabe hit came a scream of pain from Mac.

"Gabe!" Judson yelled, "Take it easy!"

"I'm trying! This road is a mess," Gabe said as he did his best to navigate around the bumps.

They arrived at the hospital, parking right in front of the emergency room entrance. Gabe helped Judson carry Mac into the hospital where one of the nurses quickly yelled for someone to bring over a gurney.

Mac was wheeled away from them and Judson wanted to be by her side the entire time, but they wouldn't let him past a certain point.

"Come on, let's go sit in the waiting room and let them help her," Gabe said as he put a hand on Judson's shoulder.

"No," he said, swatting Gabe's hand away, "I'm not leaving her."

"Judson, come on. You're just gonna drive yourself crazy standing here. Let's go sit down." Gabe reached out again and this time felt Judson give in and walk with him to the waiting room.

Hours passed and one of the doctors finally approached Judson and Gabe. "You're here for Ms. Previn?"

"Yes," Judson said as he and Gabe stood up.

"I'm Doctor O'Reilly," he said as he shook Judson and Gabe's hand. "Ms. Previn's going to be fine, but she's going to need a lot of rest to recover. Her shoulder was dislocated, her collarbone is fractured, two of her ribs are badly bruised and she has a concussion."

"Can we see her?"

"For a few minutes, she needs her rest, but only one at a time."

"Thank you, doctor," Judson said as he shook his hand once again.

They followed the doctor to her room and Judson quietly went in. She smiled weakly at him as he entered, "Hey."

"You okay?" Judson asked as he took her hand in his.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she said as she winced a little from the pain. "It's gonna take a lot more than a car wreck and a wuss beating from that asshole to keep me down." She started to laugh, but it turned into a hiss of pain.

"Wait, a car wreck?" Judson asked, confused.

"Just after I hung up with you, the jerk blew out my window." Mac paused for a moment to let a wave of pain pass. "I lost control of the car and rolled into a ditch. I don't remember much after the car came to a stop."

"McGavin must have been tailing you. I'm sorry, Mac." Judson gave her hand a slight squeeze.

"It's not your fault the guy was a psycho."

"Well, he's dead now, so it's over." Lifting her hand, he gave it a soft kiss.


Back at the scene of the fire...

Firemen finished extinguishing the blaze and were wrapping up their hoses.

"Ken! Was there any sign of anyone in there?"

"No Chief, the place was empty. No bodies were found."


THE END