Chapter Seven: Prisoners

The darkness was thick, dense, impenetrable. Honey blinked her eyes rapidly, as if to will some light into them—nothing. The darkness was so complete that even when she brought her hand up to her face, she was still unable to see anything. The silence that surrounded her added to her fear. Her heart pounded and panic threatened to overwhelm her. She tried to move, but there was a faint feeling of nausea and her head throbbed painfully. She was unable to prevent a whimper from escaping.

         “Oh, Trix, Jim, oh, Brian, where am I?” she sniffed audibly. Brian. Her thoughts lingered on her calm and dependable friend. If only…it was as if a switch had been thrown on inside her brain. Fragmented pieces of memory slid in and out of her mind. She struggled to form coherent thoughts. “Brian?” she whispered. Her dry mouth and cracked lips were making it difficult to speak. “Brian, are you here?” There was no answer, and Honey bit her lip in an effort to stave off the tears she felt filling her eyes as she remembered—Brian, falling to the floor, blood seeping from a wound to his head.

        She slowed her breathing and strained her ears, desperate for any sign of life other than her own.  She felt rather than heard the faintest of sounds. Slowly, she pulled herself up into a sitting position. She moved with caution so as not to lose her balance, leaning to one side, making a sweep of the floor with her hand. Nothing impeded her investigation.  She righted herself, then, and carefully reached in the opposite direction, stretching as far as she could; again, nothing. She moved over a few feet and tried again, felt her fingers brush against something and adjusted her position to reach even further.

        Increasing the pressure of her fingers she tried again. It felt like a shoe. Moving closer, she stretched out her arm. Definitely a shoe and attached to a leg. Heedless of anything other than the need to know that she was not alone, she gave the shoe a decided shake.
        “Brian, Brian,” she repeated urgently. A low moan came from the indiscernible form. Honey gulped and gave the shoe another shake.
        “Honey?” the faint, hoarse response cheered her enormously.
        “Oh, Brian.” She moved to embrace the foot, awkwardly.
        Brian, who was feeling like he’d been hit by the proverbial train, rubbed a hand worriedly over his aching head. He reached down, groping in the darkness, until he found Honey’s hand. He gave it what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze.
        “Hey, Honey, it’s okay, I’m here.”
        Honey sniffed and lifted his hand, pressing it against her cheek. “Brian, I was so afraid I was here by myself. Are you okay?”
        “I’m all right. Just a bit of a headache.” He gingerly lifted his hand to his forehead and felt the abrasion on his left temple. “Speaking of here, do you know where we are? Or what happened?”
        Honey shook her head, then realised Brian couldn’t possible see the gesture. “No. I haven’t a clue about where we are. The last thing I remember is seeing you lying on the floor bleeding. I thought you might be—” she cut herself off mid-sentence, unable to even voice her fear, and took a deep breath. “I think they must have drugged me or something. I felt something over my face and I didn’t wake up until a few minutes ago. I feel kind of strange. And sort of sick”
        “Probably chloroform.” Brian’s tone was grim.
        “How do you feel?” Honey asked
        “Like I’ve been hit with a brick, but otherwise fine.”
        “I’m so sorry, Brian.” Honey struggled to keep her voice even and failed.
        Brian eased into a sitting position and gently pulled her toward him. “What are you sorry for, Honey?”
        “If you hadn’t come back, if you hadn’t offered to stay with me this afternoon, you wouldn’t be here.”
        Brian tightened his arms around the slender girl. “This is not your fault, Honey. I know you know that.”
        “We’re kidnapped, aren’t we?” Honey countered. “I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened if my family weren’t so wealthy.”
        “Again. Not your fault.” He peered into the darkness. “I can’t see a thing. Wherever we are, I get the feeling it’s kind of secluded.”
        “That’s what I was thinking,” Honey admitted. “That, or we’re in some kind of a basement.”
        “Why a basement?” Brian queried with interest.
        Honey gave her slim shoulders a characteristic shrug, though her friend couldn’t see it. “I just thought that if we were in a regular kind of room, there’d be some light. From other buildings, from the street or even just from the stars.” She paused. “Is that silly?”
         “Actually, I think it’s pretty darned smart,” Brian said. “Have you heard anything?” he asked. “Traffic, people, anything?”
        “No,” Honey replied. “I could barely even hear you breathing.”
        “Well, let’s really listen, see if we can pick up any clues.”

        After a few moments, Brian gently tapped Honey on the arm. “You’re right. It’s hopeless,” he sighed. The darkness that surrounded them offered no real sense of the space they were in. “You know, Honey, I think we’d be a little less uncomfortable if we at least had something to lean against.”
        “I guess so, but I really can’t see more than a couple of inches in front of me. I don’t think it will help much if I fall flat on my face.”
        “Good point.” Brian slid his arm away from Honey’s shoulders and moved into a crawling position. “Let’s just sort of shuffle along the floor. We won’t try to walk. Logic dictates that eventually we’ll find a wall.”
        “Okay.” Honey now moved onto her hands and knees and slowly the two began to move, taking care to regularly touch hands.
        “Make sure your hands stay in front of your head,” Brian warned.
        Honey giggled at the mental image this conjured, and Brian smiled into the darkness, pleased that she hadn’t lost her sense of humour.
        Suddenly, Brian’s long fingers met with resistance. “Hold on, Honey.” He steadied himself and reached out an arm, relieved to find something relatively smooth and solid.
      “This is better isn’t it?” Brian queried after the two had repositioned themselves.
        “It doesn’t seem quite so threatening now that we’re not completely surrounded by space,” Honey admitted. “That’s if you can be surrounded by space. I’m not sure that makes any sense.”
        “I wish I could think of something more useful to do.” Brian’s tone revealed his frustration.
        “I wish I wasn’t so scared,” Honey said in a small voice.
        “You’re doing just fine.”
        “Still, it would nice to not be afraid.”
        “I’d be pretty worried about you if you weren’t, Honey,” Brian sighed. “I’m kind of scared myself. I admit that we don’t seem to be in a very good situation at the moment, but at least we’re together, and we’re both okay. Plus, Trix and Jim won’t rest until they’ve done everything they can to find us.”
        “How can they possibly do that?” Honey responded reasonably.
        “Remember who you’re talking about. My hound dog sister has solved more mysteries and hunted down more clues than anyone outside of law enforcement.” Brian gave Honey’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Now, I know she won’t have her intrepid partner by her side, but I’m pretty sure Jim will make a good substitute.”
        Honey gave a slight chuckle. “You’re right, of course; Trixie and I have tracked down plenty of dangerous criminals in the past.”
        “I’ll say. What about the time Thea Van Loon tried to drown the two of you in the Hudson?”
Honey sighed. “We’d never have gotten out of that car if you hadn’t told us what to do.” She couldn’t see the faint smile that appeared on Brian’s face at the sound of the admiration in her voice.
        “So, we know we can rely on one another, right?”
        “We sure do. I’ll never forget the relief I felt when you guys showed up in Saratoga.”
        “And what about Pierre Lontard and the Aguileras?”
        Honey shivered. “That was a horrible time. Trixie and I thought we’d never see any of you again.”
         “But you were wrong, weren’t you?” Brian reminded gently.
        “Yes, and I know what you’re trying to do, Brian Belden. Taking my mind off what’s happening now, and at the same time pointing out that we’ve been in terrible situations before and it’s always turned out okay in the end.”
        “Is it working?” Brian asked lightly.
        “I guess. I can’t help thinking you’d be better off if you had Trixie with you instead of me. She’s much more resourceful.”
        “She’s not as cute though,” Brian teased, determined not to let Honey get too maudlin.
        Honey giggled, and Brian ruffled her hair.

        After a few moments, Honey sighed again. “I wish I knew what time it was. I think I’d feel better somehow.” She tried peering at her wrist then gave a sharp exclamation. “My watch, it’s gone!”
        “Are you sure?” Brian asked.
        “Of course I’m sure,” Honey replied. She grabbed the hand he had draped around her shoulders and rubbed it across her bare wrist.
        “I mean, are you sure you were wearing it this afternoon?”
        “Positive,” Honey said. “In fact, I looked at it when I heard the door opening. I knew you couldn’t have had time to drop off the assignments and was surprised you were back so quickly. Only it wasn’t you that time.” She paused as a thought suddenly struck her. “I don’t remember seeing the assignments when you came back. I mean I know it was pretty chaotic but—”
        “Actually, I ran into someone from class,” Brian interrupted,  “and they offered to take them to the college for me. That’s why I came back early. Thank goodness.”
        “I know I’m grateful that you came back, but I can’t imagine that you are,” Honey observed wryly.
        “Well, I’d rather be here with you than back with Trix and Jim worrying myself sick over what had happened to you. You know, your watch may have fallen off during the struggle in the apartment,” he added, changing the subject. “It could even be here somewhere. It’s not like we could spot it.” Brian’s tone was thoughtful.
        “It could have,” Honey conceded. “But if not, it might just be the clue that Trix and Jim need to point them in the right direction.”
        “True,” Brian agreed. “That watch has played an important part in more than one Bob-White mystery.” He tightened his grip on her.
        “I still don’t know the time though,” Honey said.
        Brian shifted the arm he had wrapped around her shoulders. “That is one problem I believe I can solve.” He pushed up the sleeve of his sweater and held his wrist close to his face. He peered at the luminous dial on his watch. “A quarter after eleven.”
        “What time did you go out this afternoon?” Honey asked
        “A little before five, I think,” Brian replied.
        “Right. You came back, maybe ten minutes later. We’ve been awake for a little while, so we’ve been here around six hours.” Honey mused. “Or, I should say, we’ve been gone that long.  We’ve got no way of knowing how far they’ve brought us.”
        “True,” Brian admitted. “But the farther they took us, the greater the risk of being discovered.”
        Honey tugged lightly on his arm. “Do you think this is connected to what happened last night?”
        “It looks like it, Honey. It would be a bit of a coincidence if it weren’t.” Brian’s tone was bitter. “I should have listened to Trix. If I’d taken her seriously, then this might have been avoided.”
        “I don’t see how,” Honey countered. “If someone wanted to grab me, they’d have found a way. Even if we had been more alert.”

        They sat in silence for some time before Honey spoke again. “Do you suppose they’ve issued a ransom demand?” 
        “I don’t know. They might have. It depends,” Brian replied automatically.
        “On what?” Honey asked.
        “Lots of things,” Brian said evasively. “You know, it could be worse. At least we’re sheltered and we’re not restrained. That’s something.”
        “Sure,” Honey agreed softly. “But I think that might mean that wherever we are, it’s not going to be easy to get away.” She hesitated then continued. “Before, you meant that they’ll only have asked for a ransom if the motive is money. Didn’t you?”
        “What else could it be?” Brian countered determinedly.
        “Revenge, some kind of exchange, just plain crazy.” Honey was sounding increasingly dejected, and Brian pulled her tighter against him.
        “If they were really crazy, Honey, I’m sure they’d have done more than just drug us and knock us out.” He could have added that a really crazy person probably would have killed him rather than take him too.    
        “I guess so,” Honey agreed reluctantly.
        “You know, I think what we both need about now is to try and get some sleep. It might not be that easy, but I figure we really can’t achieve anything at the moment. Whatever tomorrow brings, I have a hunch we’re going to need our strength.”
        “I suppose you’re right.”

        Brian carefully eased his body down so that he could stretch out full length on the floor. He guided Honey so that she could lie in the circle of his arm, her head resting against his shoulder.
        “Won’t you be uncomfortable like this?” she asked concernedly.
        “I don’t imagine either one of us is going to be very comfortable tonight, Honey. I’ll sleep a little better knowing you have somewhere to rest your head.”
        Honey sighed and closed her eyes. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said, yawning.
        “I’m pretty sure I’ll be here,” Brian joked weakly.
        Exhausted, physically and emotionally the two slept.
        MBW:MAIN                                                                                                                                                                            NEXT

Author's notes: Big hugs and continuing thanks to Dana for the fab edit.  All grammatically correct things are hers and all errors and weirdness my own. This was actually the chapter that started me on this story journey.
Word count: 2295
Disclaimer: Trixie et al belong to Random House and not to me. No profit is being made from these scribblings.