Family Matters

by Aiden Vaughan

  Unfortunately Jason was up against some very resourceful criminals who seemed to have a plan for everything. In a pantry drawer, underneath some freezer storage bags were a couple of sealed bags that had cloths saturated with ether. Angelo quietly snuck up behind Jason, grabbed him from behind holding the rag over his nose and mouth, and after a few minutes of struggle, Jason went limp. Angelo grinned with anticipation about the evening’s activities. For now, he knew that the boy would be unconscious for several hours, giving him plenty of time to take care of business here and run some errands as he had been instructed to do whenever he grabbed a kid.

  Angelo went to a cabinet at the end of the kitchen. He opened the bottom shelf. Inside near the back and nearly impossible to see was an ingeniously designed brake lever. Angelo pulled on the lever, which released the entire cabinet from its moorings on the floor. The cabinet was actually mounted on a track. When Angelo pushed the cabinet it receded into the wall revealing the entrance to a subbasement below the house. The opening was approximately eight feet by six feet. Against one of the sides of the opening was a long set of ladder-like steps. There was a light switch that Angelo turned on, illuminating the entrance and the bottom of the ladder about twenty feet down from the opening. There was also a pulley system attached to a large cart, which could be used to lower and raise supplies and equipment down into the subbasement. Angelo used the cart to lower the unconscious Jason into the subbasement.

  Angelo then climbed down the ladder to tie and gag Jason. With Jason secured, he climbed up the ladder and pulled the cabinet back on its tracks until he heard the lever click shut. The cabinet was now locked back in place.

  Angelo went outside, got back into his pickup truck, and drove the truck another ten miles east on the highway to the start of a long hiking trail located at the edge of a huge county park. The trail followed a stream for over twenty-five miles into the Diablo Mountains. He parked the truck along the highway. Angelo left the truck and walked about a half mile southwest along the highway. Hidden behind a couple of large oak trees was the start of a pathway through the forest. Walking carefully around the trees so that he wouldn’t trip, Angelo walked about 200 feet down the path until he arrived at a small shed. Inside the shed, a small white Honda sedan was parked there. After unlocking the shed door, he got in the car, started it up, and drove it out of the shed. After getting out and locking the door, he continued to drive on a short gravel pathway leading to a neighbor’s driveway, which took him back to the highway. He headed west back toward his house, but first he stopped at a small gas station with a convenience store and picked up some food items.

  Purchases in tow, Angelo continued to drive toward his house. About a half mile from his driveway, Angelo turned left on another side gravel road that led to some of his neighbors’ properties. There was another shed near the side of the gravel road, which was actually on Angelo’s property. Angelo stopped the car, got out and unlocked the shed door. After parking the car and grabbing his bag of purchases, he relocked the door and headed back to his house. Before entering he looked around to see if anyone was nearby. He quickly went inside his house, locked the door, and went back down into the hidden subbasement where he had stashed Jason. To the outsider, it appeared that no one was in the house. Just like before, when members of the task force searched Angelo’s house, there was nothing to be seen, no evidence to be found other than some dishes in the sink, and overwhelming silence.

  Back in the van that was tracking Jason, Sergeant Malone noticed that Jason’s signal from the tracking devices on him had suddenly grown very weak. He tweaked the equipment for about five or ten minutes, then called Captain Garcia. “Antonio, Jason’s signal has suddenly faded. I don’t know if that is due to an equipment malfunction, or something happening to Jason. Are you experiencing the same thing?”

  Captain Garcia looked over at the monitoring system where he was and noticed the same phenomenon. “Yes, I am. Is there any sign of movement?”

  “Not recently. I’m still getting a strong signal on the pickup truck. It has only been about forty minutes since Jason was picked up by Angelo. Should we go in and look for him or should we wait?”

  “If we don’t see movement soon or hear from Jason we need to move in. Clearly something strange is going on. Weren’t both of those implant devices brand new?”

  “I think so. Wait, now the pickup truck implant is starting to move! It looks like it is moving east on the highway.”

  “Are Jason’s moving?”

  “No, they still seem dimmed out.”

  “Follow the truck. I will bring some task force members to the house. Keep in constant touch especially if you observe anything unusual!”

  Chapter 26

  Angelo’s Chamber of Horrors

  (Thursday Evening)

  A couple of hours later, a very groggy Jason gradually regained consciousness. As he started to wake up, he discovered that he had been bound hand to foot with pieces of rope. His hands were tied in front of him and attached to the rope binding his ankles. Jason was also gagged with his bandana, which had been tied inside his mouth and around his neck. When he began talking through the gag, protesting his treatment, Angelo looked over at him and said, “Now you be quiet, boy. My daddy always told me that children should be seen not heard. You keep yourself shushed!”

  Angelo and Jason were traveling in some sort of a railway car, and gradually descending through a dark cavern. Jason protested again through his gag, demanding to know “Where are you taking me?”

  Angelo replied, “We are going to a special place, where I take all of my kids. Soon you will join them and participate in my special training program for kids!”

  Eventually the car arrived at the end of its track. Angelo and Jason were in a large subterranean cavern. Angelo opened the door of the car and got out. He took a rope with a large loop on the end of it, put it over Jason’s head, and onto his shoulders. He then tightened the loop around Jason’s neck. It was a leash to drag him around if necessary and a noose to subdue him if he decided to struggle. Then man knelt down and untied the rope around Jason’s ankles and ordered him to get up out of the car. He pulled on the rope around Jason’s neck to persuade him to comply. He then led Jason over to a corner of the cavern where there were several chains hanging from a large wooden frame. Jason continued to protest through his bandana gag as the man pulled his bound hands above his head and attached them to one of the chains. The man then grabbed a roll of duct tape and tore off a couple of strips of tape. He taped them over Jason’s mouth and the bandana. “I told you to be shushed, boy. Now shush!”

  As Jason got accustomed to the dim lighting in the room from gas lights or battery operated fixtures, he saw that there was another kid in the cavern. It was Nick! He was shirtless, bound to a pole with his hands above his head, and gagged with a piece of duct tape. There were serious welts on his back. Angelo went up to him and asked him if he had been good while he was gone. Nick made animated mmphing sounds. The man pulled the piece of tape off of his mouth. “Have you been good, boy?”

  “Yes,” Nick answered in a desperate voice. “What could I possibly do while tied to this post?”

  “Sounds like you haven’t learned your lesson, boy. I think you need some more discipline!”

  “No, please don’t!” Nick pleaded. “I didn’t mean to say that!”

  “My daddy always told me, ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child.’ You don’t want to become a bad boy do you?”

  “I’m a good kid, really I am.”

  Unmoved by Nick’s pleading, Angelo turned Nick around so his back was exposed, took a short crop whip with several tails on it, and viciously beat Nick with ten strokes, counting each one out loud. Nick’s cries of pain and anguish echoed around the cavern.

  “That’s much better,” Angelo said. “A little discipline goes a long way, don’t you agree, boy?”

  “Please don’t hurt me any more!” Nick cried. “I’ll be good, I promise!”
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br />   “Lies, lies, I’ve heard enough of your lies.” Angelo went up to Nick and re-taped his mouth. “You think about your behavior, boy. Until then you be real quiet. We have a new guest here, and I am sure he is embarrassed by the way you are acting, boy!”

  Shocked and scared by what he just witnessed, Jason struggled with the ropes binding his hands, but they were tightly tied and starting to cut off his circulation. He looked around the cavern watching what Angelo was doing. Jason was frustrated because he couldn’t get to either of the emergency call buttons planted on him that would bring in the police task force. In fact he was wondering why they hadn’t appeared yet. The agreement was that if Jason didn’t call in every hour with the prearranged signal “long-short-short-long-short-short” they were to assume that something had gone wrong and send in a SWAT team. It had been at least three hours since Jason had been overpowered and tied up. “Where is Captain Garcia and the rescue team?” Jason kept thinking. A dagger-like chill hit his stomach as he realized that something must be preventing the transmission of signals from his tracking devices!

  Looking around the cavern, Jason began to comprehend the very difficult situation that he was in. The cavern was probably too deep beneath the ground to transmit signals, although the police technician had assured him that the device would work under all kinds of difficult reception situations. To compound matters, he was bound and gagged in a way that he couldn’t do anything with his hands to escape. Worse yet, Angelo was clearly deranged or brain-damaged. Something had sent him over the edge to cause him to treat kids in such a cruel and brutal manner. Jason was very worried about Nick. He could tell from the stress in Nick’s voice that the torture he was being subjected to was starting to get to him.

  Watching Angelo move around the cavern, Jason realized that his actions made no sense. Based on the way he talked about things, Jason figured that he had the maturity level of a young boy, probably around the same age as his kidnap victims. Unfortunately he had the size and strength of an adult and a lot of experience overpowering and taking young kids captive. Jason decided that his best chance to escape would involve somehow taking advantage of Angelo’s lack of logical processing. Somehow he had to get Angelo to trust him enough so that he could get free and escape.

  Eventually Angelo came back over to the area of the cavern where Jason was. His eyes were bright with anticipation. In his subterranean “playground”, Jason was a new toy for him to amuse himself with. He sat down on a rickety bench and stared at Jason. Sensing that Angelo wanted to talk, Jason made mmphing sounds through his gag. Eventually Angelo realized that Jason was trying to talk to him. He got up, pulled the tape off of Jason’s face, and untied the bandana in his mouth.

  “Thank you, sir,” Jason said in his most polite and innocent sounding voice. “That feels so much better.”

  “What’s your name, boy?” Angelo demanded.

  “My name is Jason, sir. I would like to talk to you, sir, but my mouth is real dry. Could you please give me a little drink of water? Please? I would really be grateful.”

  Angelo acted a little grumpy about having to get up and do something, but eventually he relented. After all, the boy was being very polite to him. Angelo went over to a shelf where there were cans of food and bottles of water. He brought a bottle of water back and held it up to Jason’s mouth so he could take a couple of sips. Then he sat back down on the bench.

  “Oh thank you, sir,” Jason said. “That was most kind of you and most refreshing.”

  “My daddy says you should do one good deed every day!”

  “Who is your daddy, Angelo? What is his name?”

  “My daddy was a very good man. He taught me everything I know!”

  “You said that this was a special training center for kids,” Jason continued. “Did your daddy help set this up?

  “No my daddy didn’t set this up. I did with my friend. We give kids special training.”

  “What kind of special training do you give to the kids who come here?”

  “Oh, you will see, Jason. You are the next kid to get the training. As soon as I am done with that other kid Nick we will start it!”

  “Nick is currently having the special training?”

  “Yes, he is, but he isn’t enjoying it very much. I think his training will be ending very soon!”

  “You don’t need to rush him through on my account,” Jason said. “There is plenty of time.”

  “My daddy said that you only get one chance in life! Nick isn’t very polite to me and you are! I think you should get the training starting tomorrow.”

  “Could you help me out with one more thing, sir?” Jason asked. “I need to go to the bathroom! Would you be willing to let me down from these ropes so I could go? I promise I will be very good and quick about it.”

  Angelo looked at Jason with suspicion in his eyes. “I don’t know, boy. You only get one favor at a time. I already gave you a drink of water.” Angelo then got up and re-taped Jason mouth with the duct tape. “We will talk again later, boy. In the meantime you stay shushed!” Angelo then walked away into another part of the cavern.

  “Damn!” Jason thought to himself. He realized that he was in a very difficult predicament. But there was nothing he could but stand there and take it. His wrists continued to throb from the tight ropes binding them. He realized that he had to stay sharp mentally as best he could. He could not afford to lose his temper or do anything to antagonize Angelo no matter how he was treated.

  Over in the other part of the cavern, Angelo was with Nicolo. He had cut Nicolo down from the pole he had been tied to, removed his gag, and given him a bathroom break. Then Angelo brought him over to a table with a chair. He had Nicolo sit down in the chair. He then gave Nick a meal consisting of spaghetti from a can, crackers, and a bottle of water. The spaghetti had been heated up on a little portable camp stove. It was the nicest meal Nick had been given since his kidnapping.

  “Do you like that food, boy?” Angelo asked Nick.

  “Yes, thank you,” Nick replied gratefully.

  “My daddy always said that even the condemned are entitled to a good meal!”

  Nick didn’t know how to respond to that. It sounded ominous but pretty much everything that Angelo said was weird or strange. Little did he know that this was the last meal that Angelo was planning to give him. After he finished the meal, Nicolo felt drowsy. Soon he was unconscious due to a tranquilizer that Angelo had added to the spaghetti.

  About ninety minutes later, Angelo came back over to where he had chained up Jason. He was very curious about this boy who had just appeared on the highway. Angelo couldn’t wait to see how Jason would respond to his training. First he would have to deal with Nicolo, but in the meantime he wanted to find out about his new prize, the hitchhiker boy with his thumb out on the side of the road, just asking to be taken!

  Jason had nodded off from having nothing to do and from being tightly bound and gagged. Angelo sat down and watched Jason for a while. There was something different about this boy. Even though he said that he was homeless and poverty stricken, he had a presence about him that commanded people’s attention. Angelo saw it in his clothing, bright red sneakers and a red bandana, even though they were faded and well worn with holes in them. His tee shirt and shorts were ragged but of good quality suggesting that the boy at one time was living in much better circumstances.

  He was also different from the other kids because he was polite and respectful. He didn’t have to be told to call Angelo ‘sir’ and he asked for things without being demanding. Sure he protested and demanded to be let go when he first found himself tied up and gagged, but after that he seemed to accept his fate. “I’m definitely going to take my time with this boy’s training,” Angelo thought to himself. “My daddy always said that when it comes to the value of things, a poor man knows way more than a rich man.”

  Eventually Angelo got bored just watching. He wanted to find out more about Jason. He got up out of his seat, grabbed
the bottle of water, removed the tape from Jason’s mouth, and splashed him with a small squirt of water. The water splash jarred Jason awake and he opened his eyes. “Here, boy, have a drink of water.” Angelo held the water bottle up to his mouth and Jason took several sips. “Is that better?”

  “Oh, yes, sir,” Jason replied. “Much better.”

  “Good!” Angelo replied. “I took the tape off your mouth and gave you that water for a reason, boy.”

  “And what would that be, sir?” Jason responded.

  “I want you to tell me all about yourself, boy!

  “You mean you want to have a conversation with me?”

  “Yes, I want to hear all about your life. Where you are from, what you like to do, all that stuff.”

  “It would be a lot easier to talk if my hands weren’t tied above my head. Then I could look you in the eye and have a real conversation.”

  “My daddy always told me that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Right now I have you in hand and just where I want you, boy. Now talk!”

  Jason really wanted to swear at the man, but he managed to hold his temper in check. He told Angelo the story that he made up with Captain Garcia: his name was Jason Garfield, he had been living in a foster home for the past year, but couldn’t stand being there any more, and ran away from there to see the world and find a better place to live.

  “What happened to your mommy and daddy, boy?”

  “My daddy was a soldier who got killed in the Iraq war. My mom couldn’t handle the loss very well and started drinking a lot to ease her pain. One day she was driving her car drunk and ended up smashing it into a concrete wall. I went to live with my aunt and uncle for a while, but all they wanted was a boy servant to wait on them hand and foot. When I complained about it to the social worker, she ended up putting me in a foster home. My new foster parents could care less about me. All they wanted was the monthly check from the state.”

  As Jason was telling his story, Angelo realized that Jason was a perfect kid for his training program. He had no relatives who might look for him, no regular home or address. Jason was a nice ripe plum who had been dropped in his lap.