DARK ROOM

"Come in!" the police officer screamed from inside his office.

Jeremy slightly pushed the door and walked in.

"Take a seat. How may I help you?" the officer asked while he continued to type away on his laptop.

"I am here to report a case of rape," Jeremy stated.

"Rape, you say?" the office stopped typing and gave his full attention to Jeremy.

"Yes, rape. Someone raped my girlfriend."

The officer took out a recording device and also started taking some notes.

"When and where did this happen?"

Jeremy gave an explanation of the events that happened at the Two-Sons Hotel.

"So you were not there when this happened?" the officer asked.

"I wasn't there."

"And would you know who the culprit is? Was it a guest at the hotel, or a member of staff at the Two-Sons?"

"A guest. It was…it was…err…..Vine Pinkerton."

The police officer's lower lip dropped and hung low for some seconds before he snapped back to reality.

"Vine Pinkerton, you say?" he asked.

"Yes," Jeremy responded.

"Vine; the grandson of the master and lady Pinkerton?" he asked for clarification.

"Yes, that one," Jeremy stated with confidence.

"That's a big accusation. Do you have your facts and evidence?" the officer put down his notebook.

"I do. If you talk to Kiara, she will confirm everything that I have said."

The officer stood up and left the room. He came back a few moments later and said,

"My boss said the accused in this case is someone of great standing; thus he himself will handle this case. Please come with me."

Jeremy stood up and straightened his shirt before he slowly followed the officer.

"You…you do believe my story, don't you?" he asked the officer as they walked down the long hallway.

"I'm sorry but it is not up to me to say anything about the case. My boss will talk to you."

The officer promptly introduced Jeremy to his boss, he then saluted and left the office.

"Take a seat," the man said. He was a huge man with a bald head. He smiled brightly, and one of his front teeth was missing. "You can call me Ray," he extended his hand and shook Jeremy's.

"Thank you. My name is Jeremy. Jeremy Rain." He took a seat.

"Tell me a bit about yourself, and then tell me your story," Ray said.

Jeremy said two or three sentences about himself, and then he went straight into the case of Vine and Kiara, narrating everything as per his knowledge. When he was done, Ray stared at him for a while and said,

"Umm, this is a tough one. Are you telling me now that Kiara is at the Pinkertons? She is kidnapped?"

"She is kidnapped…or is it taken by force. I don't know the right term, but they took her."

"The beauty of the law is, non-one I above it. That's what I like about the law," Ray smiled.

"True, that is true," Jeremy felt rays of hope shining on his being. He thought he really liked officer Ray.

The man stood up and made a call. He spoke for a few seconds before going outside to conclude his call there.

Jeremy was waiting in the office, thinking that Ray was still making a call, but it worried him why the call had taken that long. He wondered if Ray had somehow forgotten about him, and he meant to stand up to go outside and check when the door was suddenly opened, and in came ….wait, what? How? In came none other than Gareth himself. In the flesh.

"Mr Jeremy. It seems like you're really good at reporting cases, are you not?" Gareth laughed.

"Gareth, what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Gareth scoffed.

"Please don't harm me. I only did what I thought was right…"

Jeremy did not finish what he wanted to say, for a bodyguard; the same bodyguard who accompanied Gareth on the day when they took Kiara, came forward and placed a cloth covering Jeremy's nose and mouth.

Knowing that he was meant to be suffocated, he tried his best to hold his breath, but he could only hold it for so long. After a while he did take a deep breath in, but he did not give up on struggling. The bodyguard was way stronger than Jeremy so he kept him pinned down, without even having to use much strength. Jeremy breathed in again, and again…and he felt a headache, and started to feel weak and before he knew it, he was out.

***.

When he regained consciousness, Jeremy found himself sleeping on a tiny bed in a very dark room. There were rays of light coming in from the room next door, for the door was not entirely shut. The little light allowed Jeremy to see that he was lying on a little bed. Besides the little bed, there was nothing else in the dark room.

He tried to move, and at that moment he realised that his whole body was aching badly. His limbs felt heavy, as if they were not his.

"Gareth!" he screamed out loudly, and he heard footsteps approaching.

The bodyguard from before opened the door and looked at him with, "you're up."

"Please help me up, I must use the bathroom."

"What bathroom? Before you talk of bathrooms, you must know that some people are not meant to be reported to the police. I'm surprised that you didn't know that. You had the guts to report the young master vine? I think…" the bodyguard would have gone on with his talk was it not for Gareth's voice which interrupted him with a question.

"Who are you talking to?" Gareth called out.

"He is awake!" the bodyguard screamed back.

Gareth came in and looked at Jeremy. He smiled.

"Please help me. I really need to use the bathroom," Jeremy pleaded with Gareth.

"Help him up!!" Gareth ordered the bodyguard.

Jeremy was assisted and escorted to a bathroom three or four doors away from where he was. When he came back, he went straight to the point with Gareth:

"Gareth please, please let me go. I'm sorry that I ran to report to the police. Once you let me go, you will never see me again."

"That's not up to me."

"Who is it up to, then? Vine?"

"Vine," Gareth chuckled a bit. "He has no idea that you're here. There are some people who have greater powers than Vine, and until I am told to let you go, I will keep you here."

"What are you going to do to me? Will you kill me?"

Gareth walked into the room and sat on the corner of the little bed.

"What surprises me, Jeremy, is that we had no intention of harming you in any way. We just left you at your house, and you decided to come after us? Do you have any idea who the Pinkertons are? Boy, you really have no idea."

"I know, I know. Please forgive me. I just acted impulsively. I swear, I didn't think much before going to the police. Please forgive me and let me go. Once I leave this place, I won't ever cross your path again."

Gareth did not respond. He stood up and walked around the bed, as if he was examining it. He gave an order for the bodyguard to watch Jeremy very closely, and then he left the room. Jeremy tried to call out after him, but it was of no use. The man was gone.

Alone in the dark room, Jeremy began to think of his mother. He wondered what she was going to do; how she was going to react once she realised that he was missing? What if…what if she went to report to the police and she also ended up in the hands of an officer like Ray? What if the Pinkertons were up to destroying each and every member of the Rain family? The more he thought about it, the more he shivered with fear. The thought of his mother being taken by a ruthless man like Gareth scared him to death.

"What if mother thinks that I am out taking photographs?" he spoke out loud to himself. "And then she won't even bother looking for me." Jeremy became scared as he thought of what was possibly going to happen to him.

He had no idea what time it was, but he was able to tell that it very late, for the bodyguard who was supposed to be watching over him was sitting by the doorway, fast asleep. He had been continuously yawning before he finally gave in to sleep.

Jeremy sat back on the bed and thought it was time to pray, just as he had seen his mother many times praying during difficult situations.

Sharon, at that very minute, was trying Jeremy's number again. She checked the time and made up her mind to call her other son.

"Hallo. Mum, is everything ok?" Nesisa was the one who answered the call.

"Nesisa my child, I'm sorry to call this late, but Jeremy is not yet home. I am very worried. His phone is not reachable."

"He isn't home? What, why? What time is it now? Oh my word, its already after 3AM? Hold on mum,"

Sharon listened as she heard Nesisa waking her husband up. She heard her narrating to Jacob that Jeremy was missing.

"Missing? Give me the phone. Hallo mum?"

"Jacob, your brother is not yet home."

"Did he say anything about working until late night?"

"No, he did not mention anything," Sharon's hand shivered but she did her best to steady it as she held on to her cell phone.

"Let me also try his number from this side, and we will see how best to handle this case if he is not yet back by morning." Jacob said.

"Morning? Is morning not too late, my son? Can't we report to the police now?"

"No mum, just hold on until the morning. If he is not back by 8AM, we call the university to check if he is in his classes, we check with his friends. If all fails, we proceed to make a police report."

"Ok my son."