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David’s heart pounded as he drove after Keller Dover. He was far behind but not too far so that he could follow and track the man.
David was taken by surprise when as he was following Keller, he wasn’t going in the direction of the suspicious apartment building, but instead in the opposite direction. As the two got closer to their destination David could now see that he was in fact going to Alex’s mom’s house.
But why? What was so important there? Was he planning on interrogating her? Questions pounded the detective’s head, but eventually he parked close to the old lady’s house, out of sight from Keller so that he couldn’t see he was being followed.
The detective ran out of his car immediately and looked from a safe distance as he observed Keller speaking to the woman. She let him in easily and after a second David jogged up to the door, being cautious and pressing his ear against the door to hear what the two were saying.
There was some mumbling of voices and suddenly a pause, as if something interesting had been said. He could now hear Keller’s voice seeming a bit frantic and on edge. Then a shot rang out, which immediately prompted the Detective to kick the door open with his gun raised in hand.
But what he saw was shocking and completely the opposite situation the man had expected to see. Keller was pressed up against the kitchen sink with a pale face and a window behind him had a hold with cracks all around.
The old lady turned to face the detective and he could see her holding a gun in her hand, though surprisingly not shaking as a scared woman would have been holding it. David had presumed that Keller had attacked or dangerously provoked her in some way as to make her draw a gun.
He slowly lowered his gun. “Ma’am are you alright”, he said, taking a step closer but suddenly he felt a searing pain in his lower stomach area. Before he knew it, he was falling down and clutching his stomach in pain. He looked at his hands, which were covered in blood. His blood? That didn’t make sense.
Alex’s mom shouted something to Keller which stopped him from approaching the detective. The woman walked up to him, picking up his gun and slowly backing away. David couldn’t stop the pained groans from escaping his throat as he could barely keep eye contact on the woman. His vision was blurring in and out and he blinked profusely to keep his eyes sharp.
“I’m so sorry I had to hurt you detective, but you must understand I can’t let anyone take my baby away from me”, she said in a calm voice.
“THAT’S MY FUCKING KID”, yelled Keller.
The lady immediately pointed the gun towards Dover.
“Don’t use such language when there are children present.”
David struggled to get up. He couldn’t let this woman hurt any other people. As he stood he felt lightheaded and immediately fell against the wall, wincing in utter burning pain again.
“Aww how cute”, the old lady said, shaking her head with a wide smile on her face.
“Guess I won’t have to have you both drink the jug since pretty boy over here is already about to pass out.”
“What??” asked Keller, taking glances over to the injured detective.
“If you ever want to see your daughter again— she took out a jug filled with purple liquid inside— then you’re going to drink this. A man your size… hm you should have to drink about a third of this for the effects to take place.” she spoke while shaking the jug with a smile.
“I’m not gonna fucking drink that piece of— “LANGUAGE”, yelled the old lady.
“You’re drinking this or your daughter dies.”
Keller kept a stern look on his face, not moving from his position.
“Or… I could shoot you like I did him. Huh? You want a bullet in you too?” she asked, handing the jug towards him, still keeping her gun trained to his head.
David was now beginning to cough up blood or vomit blood. Keller couldn’t tell from all the wheezing and whimpering he was making. He looked back towards the jug and grabbed it, quickly twisting off the lid but suddenly hesitating looking down at the liquid. He breathed in and out quickly and then started to drink. Out of all the messed up shit that was happening right now Keller was grateful that this liquid at least didn’t taste like crap.
After drinking for 10 seconds he pulled the jug away from his mouth, holding it out to the old lady.
“Nuh uh, come on, you gotta drink more of that. That was half of a third.” she pointed to the jug and then to Keller with her gun, waiting.
Keller really wished he had kidnapped and tortured her instead because at that moment he couldn’t stop shaking out of rage. He put the jug again to his mouth and chugged.
“Andddd… stop”, said the grandma.
Keller stopped drinking and put the jug onto the kitchen countertop.
“Now w-where is my daughter”, he questioned, rubbing his face as his voice and body were now trembling. What the fuck was in that juice??
“Take your buddy outside with me and I’ll show you.”
“What, him?” Keller said, pointing to the shaking detective.
“He can barely stand. He needs medical help.”
“Pick. Him. Up. And fucking follow me,” she replied in a stern tone.
Keller carefully made his way to David who was beginning to look paler every second. He got to him and kneeled down, then started ripping a sleeve of his white shirt off with his teeth.
“What the hell are you doing?” asked the detective groaning. “Dressing this wound,” he replied softly.
He shifted the fabric in a way where he could wrap it around the man’s waist, somewhat helping stop the blood flow since the detective’s hand was beginning to slip from the gunshot wound.
As he tightened the makeshift medical aid, David winced in pain.
“I’m sorry,” Keller whispered. He then helped the detective up, allowing him to lean all his body weight against himself. “That was fast”, sarcastically replied the old lady.
She then led them outside where the cold was a shock to both men. All the while she kept her gun straight at Keller’s head. David’s teeth began to chatter and his eyes began to flutter, as he was losing consciousness.
“No, no, no stay awake Loki you gotta stay awake”, but Keller’s words weren’t enough as the body clutching onto him kept getting heavier. “Damn it I’m sorry man”, he said. Keller softly squeezed the bloody wound which sent David wide awake, screaming in sheer agony. “F-fuck!” he yelled, moaning in pain.
“We’re here!” the old lady said in a sing-songy voice. “T-this is just a fucking c-car”, spoke Keller trying to fight back the urge to fall. “You’re right. How about you show us all what’s underneath?” she suggested with a joyful face of a kid on Christmas Day.
“W-what are you talking about?” asked David.
“Ugh you really are a stupid man. Keller get in the car and back it up in reverse.”
Keller glanced toward the bloodied man on his shoulder. “I’ll just put you down okay? But you gotta stay awake for me.” “Trust me I’m f-fucking awake”, he replied. Keller gently helped the detective to the ground then hopped inside the vehicle.
If it wasn’t for the fact he had to find and save his daughter and… well the detective, Keller would’ve driven off right then. But he couldn’t. And the old woman knew that.
So he put the car in reverse, backing up until he was told to stop. He slowly exited the vehicle and saw the wooden panel that had been underneath the rusty car. The woman swiped it away leaving a wide hole to be seen with no bottom in sight.
“Now… get in. But first put him in.” She pointed to David.
“How deep is it?” Keller asked.
“Deep enough.”
“When am I gonna see my daughter?”
“When you get in the hole.”
Keller chuckled. “Like hell I am, I wanna see my daughter first!”
“Oh… I see.”
The old woman walked towards the detective and lifted her foot, pressing it firmly into the gunshot wound. David let out a loud and terrifying scream.
“Put yourself and him in the hole. Now.”
“Why can’t you just let me see my fucking daughter first!?”
The old woman smirked and twisted her foot, allowing another one of the detective’s screams to come out.
“OKAY OKAY I’LL GET IN THE FUCKING HOLE!!!”
“Good.”
She took her foot off the detective which made whimper in pain. Keller walked over to David and saw the blood pooling around him, sinking in the dry dirt. He grabbed under his shoulders and dragged him to the pitch black hole, positioning him so he was legs first in.
He then began to lower him in as far as he could then let go. He heard a thump so Keller was relieved that at least the hole wasn’t as deep as he imagined. He then draped his legs in the hole yelling down to David to move away.
But before he could drop in the old lady kicked him hard in the back which made him hit his hard against the concrete side of the hole and fall in, kicking out all the air from his lungs. As he wheezed the light at the top slowly disappeared as the wooden board was placed over leaving the two in utter darkness.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Keller fumbled around for something, anything to make light in the darkness. Because of David’s unresponsiveness, Keller wasn’t able to find where he was, which led him to assume the hole was pretty wide.
Eventually Dover found what seemed to be a pile of clothes and toys. If Anna’s toys were here, maybe the small torch toy she had would be here too. He could only hope…
He found a few plastic toys, one seeming to be a mini figure, one the red whistle that had now been found, and the last a rectangular box. He felt around the plastic and finally found a button that when clicked on, produced a small amount of light.
Because the hole was in pitch blackness though, the small illuminated energy provided a well working flashlight.
Keller turned the light around and could now see the bottom of black shoes, which seemed to be David’s. His head was still pounding from the hit he had taken falling in, so he attempted to crawl towards the body.
He got to the detective and started to softly shake him.
“Detective? David? Man you gotta get up.”
All he got back was a soft wince. Keller sighed deeply and pointed his head and the flashlight upwards. He stood up to try and guess how high above the exit was. It was about 4 feet over his head. He turned back to Loki.
“Detective, can you stand? I think I know how to get out.”
_______________________________________________________
After finally dealing with the two men, the old lady walked inside to observe the damage to her wooden floor.
There was certainly a lot of blood that had seeped through not only the wood but some of the floor carpets that led outside. Of course she was annoyed at having to now clean all this up, but luckily she had the exact tools to cover the mess.
For the wood she started by adding an even layer of baking soda over the semi dried blood and massaging it into the stain with a dry cloth. Then, after soaking a toothbrush in vinegar, she had to vigorously scrub the wood. It would bubble up with the combination.
But once the bubbling stopped, wiping away the mixture with a dry cloth was the best way to erase it. She had to do this a few times to get it all out and once she did something similar to the carpets, she was finished.
Wiping her forehead at her work she enjoyed her few seconds of accomplishment before hearing a knock at the door.
“POLICE!”
“Be there in a second!”
She quickly moved all her cleaning supplies to a closet and ripped off her red soaked gloves. Finally after checking there were no blood stains on her skin or clothes she walked calmly to the door and opened it. It was a simple police officer, not a detective that was at the door.
“Ma’am are you aware of any of the whereabouts of Keller Dover or Detective David Loki? We tried looking for Mr. Dover and the detective, but we found his police vehicle just a few meters from your house.”
“Oh yes! Mr. Dover had come over to my house in quite a rage and started threatening me, saying I knew where his kid was, but that’s when the detective burst through the door! He yelled at Mr. Dover to get down but he ran out the side door and into the woods! The detective shot a hole through my window trying to get Mr. Dover but he missed and so he chased after him. I haven’t seen them since.”
“I see ma’am.” The police officer wrote some notes down. And peered at the semi broken door and bullet shaped hole behind the lady. “How long did this happen ago?”
“Oh just about 15 minutes or so.”
“Alright ma’am well thank you for your time. Let us know if you see either one of them please.” He handed her a card with the police station’s number on it.
She nodded her head and watched as the policeman left, talking on his radio about searching the woods. She softly closed the door and sighed with relief.
Too close,
she thought.
_______________________________________________________
Burning. Burning was all the detective could feel. It had gotten so much worse since the old hag had stepped on it. He wanted to punch Mr. Dover right then and there for causing his pain. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t see. It was too dark. Was he dead?
He found he wasn’t when he heard a gruff voice talking to him. He was asking him if he could stand. Hell he could barely breathe. But the gruff voice told him he knew a way out.
A way out.
What was even waiting for the detective? He didn’t have a lover, or a kid, or any friends for that matter. The only one here that has something to lose was Keller. Would David really be that selfish as to not give another man a chance to see his daughter again?
Anna didn’t deserve that. So when Keller pulled the detective halfway up, he got up fully on his own, trying to avoid the urge to start crying.
“The exit is only a few more feet above us. Although the car covers the wooden exit it doesn’t press on it. So we can push it away and crawl out from under the car. But to do that I need your help. I need to get on your shoulders in order to push the cover up, which means I need you to be able to hold me up and not fall over. Can you do that?”
Loki nodded his head up and down once.
“Okay.”
Loki kneeled down in order to let Keller get on his shoulders. Once he was on he focused on standing up, which was more difficult to do with a full body’s weight on you and a gunshot wound in the stomach.
As he stood up he was shaking but still kept a firm stance in the dirt ground. Once he was almost fully up he could hear the movement of wood on concrete and looked up as light began to shine through.
The men both began to laugh in relief as more light entered the darkness. Once it was completely open, David stood up straight and tall, which caused Dover’s head to peek out over the opening.
The man on top scrambled up and out and the pressure from Loki’s shoulders was gone. Keller then put the car in reverse and slowly pulled away. Then after hearing a car door shut, a hand reached down towards David.
“You gotta jump.” Keller said.
So Loki did. He jumped high and grabbed the arm which was difficult to hold on to when the blood on his hands made it slippery. But thankfully, just before their hands separated, Loki was pulled out by Dover. He groaned in pain once again and Keller looked over.
“Oh shit.”
“W-what?” the detective asked.
He then looked down at himself and saw how much blood there was. It had almost drenched his entire shirt. “Shit,” David said. Keller grabbed him under the shoulders and propped him against a trash can.
“Stay here. I’ll get you after I get my daughter.”
There wasn’t any point of saying something else since Keller had already taken off and Loki was beginning to lose all his adrenaline and started to feel the pain. The real pain. It came in waves, having it start out as bad and all of a sudden getting really bad.
This time he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing and began to mumble curses and swears. Each time the pain hit it hit harder and harder forcing the man to curl into himself in pain, shaking.
_______________________________________________________
As soon as Keller got close to the back door the first thing he heard was jazz music playing.
At least the old bitch has good taste in music,
he joked to himself. But he was still content with fucking murdering her if given the chance.
He slowly opened the door, keeping his ears sharp for any sounds that she might be close. As he looked around, he saw the detective's gun on the kitchen countertop in front of him. He crept towards it and picked it.
Thankfully the jazz music was too loud for anyone (especially an old grandma) to hear him checking the ammo. It was fully loaded. He switched the safety off.
He walked down the hall slowly and came to a door that was shut. All the other doors down the hall were opened wide, allowing you to see which room was which. Keller pressed his ear against the door and could hear the old woman humming along to the jazz music. He could also hear the clicking of what seemed to be glass bottles.
He couldn’t waste anymore time.
He opened the door quickly in time to see the old lady holding up
a little arm
his daughter’s little arm with a needle in her other hand. The old hag smiled at him and tried to say something but he instantly shot her in the head, absolutely done with her bullshit. He then grabbed his daughter who was holding her ears in discomfort from the shot sound. He hugged her immediately and started to cry.
“Oh baby, oh baby it’s okay now you’re okay.”
“Daddy, where were you?”
“Oh sweetie I was— the sound of sirens, radios, and people talking stopped him from continuing.
The cops heard the gunshots,
he thought. He gently placed his daughter down and jogged to look outside the window. He saw a crowd of police officers with his family in the front coming towards the house.
He ran back to his little girl.
“Hey sweetie daddy’s gonna have to leave okay? But mommy’s gonna come take care of you alright?”
Anna nodded her head slowly.
“Okay. I promise I’ll be right back after I take care of some things.”
He then kissed her on the head and left out the back door.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
If you asked Detective Loki what happened after he had passed out lying against the trash can, waiting for Keller, he wouldn’t be able to tell you much.
He didn’t really notice when he was being picked up and put in a car, or when a man’s voice kept telling him “Everything’s gonna be okay”.
It was taking all his strength to not just pass out and die.
David had pondered what the experience of ‘your life flashing before your eyes’ would be like, but now he had found his answer. It was like watching a fast summary of his entire life.
He could see himself as a little boy, hiding in closets to escape his father's drunken anger.
He could also see himself running away from home multiple times, to meet up with his secret boyfriend Danny, which he was later “taught about” through fists that being a faggot wasn’t allowed. He moved away a day later.
He saw himself excelling in high school, going to college, and working his ass off to become a detective. He met a friend at the academy.
His name was Trent. He liked Trent. He reminded him of Danny. But unfortunately Trent turned out to be more like his dad’s personality than Danny. That was okay though. Because that just made Danny more special.
He saw himself making the top of his class and becoming a detective. That was the best memory he had.
But then he saw himself entering the house, where Keller and Alex’s mom were, and he saw red. A lot of red. And now here he was.
Burning and bleeding was all he could feel._________________________________________
As soon as Keller had managed to get the detective in the rusty car that had previously been parked over the hidden hole, he hopped in, trying his best to hotwire it.
A grunt of discomfort came from the backseat.
“Everything’s gonna be okay”, he tried to console the man. He turned back to the wires, and started to rub them together until eventually the engine kicked in.
Keller sighed in relief, however he knew he wasn’t out of the woods yet.
He had to get back to his late father’s place, where he was keeping Alex, and figure out what to do.
He knew he couldn’t handle the guilt of how he treated Alex, and he was fully prepared to go to jail for the rest of his life.
But helping Alex and David were his first priorities. He glanced back a second to see the detective who was now once again passed out. He turned back and started the car, pressing hard on the gas not looking back.
Because a part of him feared he would see his little girl looking back.
_________________________________________
David could feel the car stopping after about 7 minutes of driving.
He heard the door slam closed, and strong hands that gently held him up. He was shivering violently, but the warmth of the man holding him to his side was warm, like a blanket in an ice cold room.
Keller was half dragging half walking the detective to a beaten up looking building.
Loki quickly recognized it as the place he found Keller sleeping in, and that apparently was owned by his late father. It was also the place he had found most suspicious, since Keller had gone to such lengths to not let the detective know.
So the fact he was being brought here sort of made him think he was about to be killed, or worse, go through whatever he had probably done with Alex.
“N-no”, Loki said, trying to pull away from Keller. But it was no use. He was too weak to even walk by himself.
“Hey, hey, look I’m just bringing us here because there’s some medical care to help you.”
Loki didn’t bother trying to get away, as he could feel his vision darkening, eventually leaving him alone in the dark. He didn’t like the dark.
_________________________________________
As soon as Keller set Loki on the ground, he received a sharp hiss of pain, as the detective recoiled in discomfort. “I know, I know. I’m sorry.” Keller said, using a gentle voice.
He moved around the room, looking for the medical supplies he had stashed there when keeping Alex hostage.
Keller couldn’t deny his guilt that was settling in the pit of his stomach, as his memories of hurting Alex popped up. But he had to focus on that later. David was bleeding out and needed help right now.
He found it underneath some wood pieces, and quickly ran over and dropped down next to the detective. The med kit included:GauzeScissorsBandagesTweezersA lighterAlcoholDisinfecting Spray
Keller had taken some medical training, and knew how to sew up cuts and disinfect wounds, but disinfecting and removing a bullet from somebody was incredibly out of his knowledge. As stupid as he looked, he decided to look it up.
“Not taking any fucking chances”, he mumbled. Loki was visibly sweating now, yet still shivering. Keller felt his forehead, and could tell he was burning up. “Shit.”
After finding an instructional video in a few seconds, Keller got out his medical supplies in order, and moved Loki so he was laying down, with Keller’s jacket being used as a pillow.
“Listen, I’m not gonna sugar coat it, this is gonna hurt like a bitch. But I need you to stay down, so I’m gonna hold you down.” Keller then reached for a towel and placed it in Loki’s mouth, causing the detective to open his eyes in confusion.
“For you to scream in…if you need to.”
Loki squeezed his eyes shut again and slightly nodded.
“Ok.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Absolute fucking hell. That was what it felt like. He could feel the tweezers go into his open wound. How it burned like his body was on fire. Until he finally passed out…
When he awoke, he was not expecting to see Alex directly across from him, looking even shittier than he did. Keller was helping him out, trying to bandage him up. Alex just looked terrified. He felt horrible for the guy.
He knew he had to get out. No matter what, Keller was dangerous and he knew that. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep when Keller turned around. He heard a gruff sigh and then retreating footsteps.
Now it was time. He opened his eyes, looking around for Keller in the room, but it was just him and that poor kid Alex. He groaned as he tried to push himself up. Panting heavily, he used his energy to pull himself up, until he was leaning against the wall. He walked over to the nearest window. No Keller and no vehicle.
He turned to Alex. “Can you stand? We have to go.”
Alex didn’t even acknowledge his presence. Just staring absently across the room.
“ALEX!” He said louder. The man turned to him finally. “We have to go. I’m trying to save you. You’re not safe here.”
“He said I can’t leave, or bad things will happen.”
“Huh? What, Keller said that to you?” asked the detective.
He nodded.
“Well he’s a liar. I promise to you I won’t let anything happen to you Alex. Let’s go.”
__________________________________________
Keller was finally back with the extra medical supplies he had gotten from CVS. He knew the cashier was looking at him strangely, with his hood up and twitchy attitude, so he ran out and to the car as soon as possible.
Once back at the place, he noticed a long trail of blood leading elsewhere into the neighborhoods.
“Shit.”
The next thing he knew, there were police surrounding the area and yelling at him to get down. He did so, without hesitation, as he already knew this was going to happen. He knew he deserved it, after everything he did. He only wished he could’ve said sorry to his wife and kids. They didn’t deserve to grow up without a present father.So he did something incredibly stupid. He asked to talk to detective Loki.__________________________________________
4 days later…
After finally getting some medical attention at the hospital, all Loki wanted to do was sleep until next year, but of course something always had to come up.He heard about Keller’s request and at first denied it. But then, after some more reports from other cops about his insisting, he finally decided to see him.
He was nervous, as this was the guy who almost ended his life, while also saving him in the process. So you could say he had some “mixed feelings”. When he saw Keller on the other side of the glass, he was not expecting to see such a cheerful looking guy. He smiled widely and immediately started thanking Loki for coming to see him.
It was strange to see him look so human. He wouldn’t have believed this was the same man who tortured and almost killed another human simply to find his daughter. Dads really are scary.
Loki wanted to get to the point. “Why’d you keep asking for me? You were insistent you could only talk to me about a certain “request” you had. Why?”
“I don’t trust the other cops. You’re different.”
“Why? Because you almost got me killed? Because you tortured some guy who was completely innocent? How am I different? I hate you more than anyone else here.”
Keller laughed. He fucking laughed.
Loki was about to say some very unkind words when Keller spoke very loud and clearly.
“I know you don’t owe me anything. But I’m asking this for my daughter, and for my sake as well. Please check in on my family. Just… let me know they’re okay. They don’t deserve what I put them through. If you won’t do it for me, just do it for her. My daughter.”
Loki was taken aback. He wanted to leave and tell Keller to piss off, but he thought about that young girl. How she must have to deal with all this trauma by herself. Keller was right. She didn’t deserve that.
“I’ll… see what I can do.”
“Thank you detective.”
“You’re welcome”.