"A Visit From SID"
by: Stacey
Part 7
"After you," Bud told Terry, as he opened the basement door a bit wider so the pair could step through.
Terry looked at him, grinned. "Not afraid of the dark now are you, Mate?"
"I ain’t afraid of nothin’," Bud shot back, gritting his teeth, then pushed Terry back and headed down the dark basement stairway.
Terry chuckled to himself and shook his head, then quickly made his way down behind the man. His hands felt along the cool stone walls as he quietly tip-toed down the steps. If Sid was down there he didn’t want to alert him to their presence.
Sid, however, was already well aware of their presence and was laying in wait for the pair as they headed right into his trap. He smiled wickedly in the darkness as he saw the two men reach the bottom of the steps and fumble their way in the darkness towards him.
"Terry," Bud said in a whispered voice, "I think... I think I found something."
Terry reached out and felt for where Bud was standing, ran into the back of him with an "Oof!". "Sorry, Mate," he told him, then came around to stand beside him, his hands reaching out in front to feel something... or someone... there.
I could feel their hands touch my legs and I tried to move them, let them know I was alive, but Sid had tied both legs and hands to the bed and I was virtually immobile. I tried to call out, warn them, but a gag covered my mouth keeping me from screaming out, something Sid normally liked me to do, but in this case he needed me quiet.
"Is it...is she...?" Terry asked. But before Bud could answer, the lights suddenly flicked on, blinding them both.
"No, she’s quite alive, I assure you," Sid’s voice boomed from somewhere in the room. "For now, anyway. As for you two...well, seems you might not be so lucky."
Sid licked his tongue over his lower lip, the corners of his mouth slightly curved upward into a slight smile as he approached the two men. "So, they called out the K & R agent and...why, who’s this? No, you... didn’t?" he giggled wildly, "You actually brought that stupid cop with you? To...to... catch... Me? Oh hahahahaha! I’m quite... offended by that, actually. I thought I’d get a much more... shall we say, intelligent and capable... posse of sorts to come after me. But this is more... fun."
"Fuck you, you slimy nanotech bastard!" Bud shouted out at him, his eyes still blurry from the sudden bright light. "If you’ve done anything to hurt her, you’ll be sorry!"
His eyes flickered and his grin faded into a scowl. "No, it’s you that will be sorry, White. I don’t like it when my playtime is interrupted by such inferior men such as yourselves."
"Sid," Terry said, trying to keep his voice calm and even, "we just want the girl. You let her go and we’ll let you stay in our world. Simple as that. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?!" Sid spat, angrily, "You and your goon of a counterpart here will put me back in my box? No... not gonna happen, Thorne. I got my freedom and I aim to keep it!"
"How? By kidnapping young unsuspecting girls, Sid? That how you intend on staying free?" Terry asked, still managing to stay calm.
"Why Mr. Thorne, you underestimate me," Sid said, in his charming manner. "I merely wished to have a bit of fun with the girl. She did invite me, you know. Who am I to deny my presence to such a... delectable... young woman? Hmm?"
"I doubt she intended for you to kidnap her when she sent that invite, Sid," Terry told him. "Now, how about we come to an agreement here? You let the girl go and White and I will put in a good word for you down at headquarters. We’ll say it was all a misunderstanding... that you were merely bringing her here to this house as she requested, for a nice evening together. We’ll back you up, just let the girl go now – unharmed.
Meanwhile, as Terry had Sid distracted, Bud was busily attempting to untie the bonds that held my hands and feet tied to the bed-frame. I struggled to help him, but the bonds were tight; they weren’t exactly rope, but something much stronger.
Sid being Sid, of course, knew exactly what Bud and I were up to. An evil smile spread across his face, "Uh, uh, uh... I wouldn’t try that if I were you, White," his voice sang out.
Bud looked up into Sid’s wild eyes, gritted his teeth. Sid narrowed his eyes at him, "Move away from the girl or your friend here dies." Without them noticing, Sid had managed to procure Terry’s gun from him – right out of the K & R agent’s belt – and was now pressing it to the man’s head.
"Do what he says, Mate," Terry told the big cop.
"Yes, do what I say, copper!" Sid giggled, pressing the gun even harder to the side of Terry’s left temple.
Bud clenched his jaw, looked from Sid to Terry and reluctantly backed away from the bed – his hands held up to show they were empty.
"Now, what...to...do...with the two...of...you...," Sid said, in a sing-song voice.
He let out a giggle then flicked off the light switch – putting them all back into total darkness.
"Terry!" Bud called out as he felt a needle go into the back of his neck. That was the last thing Terry heard before he, too, felt the sting of a needle and soon lost consciousness.
Then the lights flickered back on. Sid stood over the two unconscious men, grinning down at them. "I think we’ll take our leave now, sweetheart," he said to me, as he effortlessly scooped up Terry’s limp body and set him upright – his back leaning against the side of the bed, "just as soon as I take care of that pesky friend of yours who’s still lurking about upstairs."
Meanwhile, upstairs, Jamie was patiently waiting for the guys to come back up from the basement. "Fuck, why do they always do this to me?!" she complained, as she paced back and fourth, biting her nails. She checked her watch for the umpteenth time, sighed. Close to half an hour now. What could possibly be taking them so long? Unless... panic set in when she realized what must have happened. "Sid!" she cursed, "you are going to pay for this, you nanotech bastard!"
Silently, she crept down the basement stairs, keeping her back flat against the wall as she went. In her hands she held the gun that Terry had given her, her hands clamped tight around it – ready to fire if need be. As she reached the bottom step she stopped, frozen by the scene in front of her. Her heart raced, panic setting in.
Sid had Terry’s hands bound together and he was hanging from them from the ceiling. His shirt was off, something which Jamie had to chide herself for taking several long minutes to allow her eyes to roam ever inch of his bare torso... admiring each curve of bulging muscle, wondering what it would be like to let her fingers run lightly over them... "Stop, Jamie, just stop!" she chastised herself again, "Now... think. How can you get to them without Sid seeing you?"
She looked around the room, saw Sid had taken Bud and tied him up much the same as he had Terry – both men seemed to be completely unconscious. At least Jamie hoped they were only unconscious. She bit her bottom lip, her brow furrowed as she tried to see if she could make out their breathing. Yes! She could see their chests rising and falling, that was good! They were still alive! Thank God for that!
But now where was Stacey? Jamie saw a bed in the center of the room, sheets rumpled. Sid must have had Stacey there. Shit. Sid! You bastard! What have you done with my best friend?! Jamie’s mind screamed, as she fought back tears of both anger and frustration.
Cautiously, she tip-toed out into the open, though still keeping her back against the wall so no one could sneak up behind her. "This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy!" Jamie chanted under her breath as she made her way closer to where Terry and Bud were dangling. She stood directly in front of Terry’s limp form, trying to figure out how to get him down from there. She looked around the room, trying to find a chair or a ladder or anything she could stand on, but found nothing.
Nothing but... "Oh! The bed!" Jamie exclaimed in a loud whisper, as she quickly set about moving the bed towards Terry.
Once in place, she acted quickly, balancing herself atop the bed and reaching up to grab at the binding that held Terry in place. "Hmm...," she thought to herself, as she surveyed the situation. She’d need a knife to cut him down from there. Suddenly remembering the large knife Terry had slipped into the little holster on the side of his ankle, Jamie lifted the man’s pants leg and pulled out the large sharp hunting knife and went about cutting Terry down.
Terry now free, he hit the floor with a loud THUD!
"Oh! Oh, poor Terry! I’m so sorry!" she cried out, tending to his wounds. Just then, she heard a moan, turned and saw Bud – who was still dangling from the ceiling – starting to rouse.
"Bud, are you alright?" Jamie asked, as she scrambled to her feet and quickly set about freeing the big cop from his bindings.
Bud let out a moan once more, his eyes fluttering open. "Yeah," he said, then fell back on the bed and on Jamie as she cut through his bindings.
"Get... off... me... you big lug!" she huffed, shoving him hard so that he rolled off of her.
"Sorry," he said, rubbing at his wrists where they’d been tied. "Terry?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"He’s fine," she said, looking at the man still laid out on the floor, "I...think."
Bud grimaced, rolled himself off the bed and onto the floor next to Terry. "Hey, hey Terry... wake up," he told him, slapping lightly at Terry’s face.
Suddenly, Terry’s hand shot up and grabbed Bud by the wrist, mid-slap, startling him. "I’m... fine," Terry groaned, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position. "How’s Stacey?"
"She...she was... here?" Jamie asked, nervously.
"Yeah," Bud told her, "Sid had her here, tied to the bed. Seemed to be fine... as far as I could tell."
"Where’s Sid now? And where’s he taken her?" Jamie asked the two men, as Bud helped Terry to his feet.
"Not sure," Terry supplied, "Sid knocked us out and tied us up before he took her. For all we know, he’s still here in this house with her."
Sid, in fact, was still in the house, and was watching and listening to everything they were saying and doing. He smiled to himself as he thought about how they were all playing their parts well... falling right into his little trap. He tapped at the screen, turned to me... "Oh, you’ve gotta see this," he said, pulling me close to him so I was looking directly at the monitor.
"See? See how they scurry about? Looking for me while all the while I sit here... watching and waiting... waiting for them to... find me!" Sid smiled wickedly, pleased with himself for being so clever as to have the three in the basement fall right into his trap.
"What are you going to do to them?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted the answer. "you can’t ... kill... them..." it was more of a statement than a question. Sid had been re-programmed not to kill. That, of course, wouldn’t stop him from harming my friends... but at least they’d be... alive... I hoped.
"Don’t be stupid," Sid snarled, "If I had wanted them dead I would have done so already. No, this is much more entertaining than just merely killing them. Just... wait. Wait and see." He giggled again as he looked intently at the monitor.
"I don’t like this," Jamie stated quietly, as she watched Bud and Terry search the basement for clues. She walked over to the two big men, making sure to keep her voice as quiet as possible as she spoke, "I mean, why would Sid just leave the two of you here for me to find? Surely he knows I was upstairs keeping watch. He was ready for the two of you, what’s to say this isn’t just one of his elaborate plans to get us all down here together?"
Terry stopped, looked at her, turned and nodded to Bud. "She’s right; this all just seems too... perfect."
"Right. Perfect. The calm before the storm," Bud agreed, looking nervously around.
"So what are we gonna do, boys?" Jamie whispered. "If we just stay here we’ll surely fall prey to whatever he’s planned for us. And if we don’t..."
"If we don’t, we may fall right into his lap," Terry said, grimly. He let out a sigh, quickly scanned the room for recording devices, finding 4 of them hidden in each corner.
Bud caught sight of them as well, cleared his throat. "Guess he’s not here," he said loudly, looking Terry in the eye.
Terry nodded, trying his best not to look at the cameras. "We should head back upstairs then, regroup. Maybe there’s a clue to where he’s taken her up there."
"Oh, right," Jamie agreed, just catching on to what they were doing. She followed the pair up the stairs, when suddenly they stopped at the door.
"You close this door, luv?" Terry asked, his hand placed against it.
Jamie thought for a moment, trying to recall exactly what she’d done when she headed downstairs. Finally, she shook her head. "No, I left it cracked."
Terry tried the doorknob – locked. He turned back to look at Bud, the big man looked concerned. "Alright then," he said to Jamie and Bud, "stand clear. Down there, both of you... go!"
Jamie was about to protest when Bud lifted her up and effortlessly carried her back down the stairs.
"Bud White, you put me down right this instance!" she hollered at him.
"Sure thing, toots," he said, grinning, as he dropped her and she landed hard on her butt.
"Ow! I swear, when I get Stacey back I’m gonna have a little talk with her about the company she keeps!" Jamie told him, scrambling to her feet and rubbing her sore bottom.
Bud just chuckled, shook his head. "Okay, you do that."
"Grrr!" Jamie growled angrily at him as he chuckled again.
Terry, meanwhile, was setting a small plastic explosive device on the door frame. Once it was done, he quickly made his way back down the stairs and pulled out the trigger. "On the count of three," he told them, "Cover your ears, this is going to be rather loud."
They all went to the farthest corner of the room, pulling the bed over on it’s side and ducked down behind it. "One...two..." Terry looked at the others, then said, "Three!" pushed the button triggering the explosive.
With a loud BANG the door flew inward off it’s hinges, the frame around it completely splintered.
"Well, that was effective," Jamie commented, as they slowly stood up and made their way back up the basement stairs and into what was left of the living room.
"C’mon, they’re here somewhere," Terry said, leading the others through the ominous house.
In a hidden room upstairs, Sid glowered at the monitor. "Well, well, well, it seems these three bumbling fools are even more creative than one would imagine. Let’s just see how they react when they actually find us, my dear." He giggled again, and turned back to the monitor.
TBC...