Whenever I reminisce about the disturbing events that led to my beloved sister Beth’s demise, I am filled with emotions – emotions of sadness, of remorse, but most of all, I am filled with emotions of anger. It all started on a day usually reserved for joy and happiness – Beth’s birthday. She turned 23, and our parents had bought her a horse. Our family was pretty well off, with our father, Christopher Ferguson, being some sort of a computer genius, and his skills were much sought after. Anyways, we were out on the Spruce Creek trail, trotting along talking about what that was happening in our lives, school, that sort of stuff. I remember Beth telling us she was quitting modeling – she was a gorgeous girl, with the most beautiful crystal-clear eyes you had ever seen. However, she had only done small jobs, and an occasional commercial. Even though she looked great, she was determined to work somewhere where her looks weren’t the primary requirement. She loved animals, and had been studying to become a veterinarian. She told us she had found an internship, and how much she looked forward to starting there. Just thinking about this moment breaks my heart – she was looking so happy and full of life, oblivious to the horrors fate had in store for her.

As we trotted along the path, dad told us how proud he was of us both, Beth for her newfound internship, and me because I told them I was joining the army. I had told them earlier how I felt, and how much I wanted to help defend our great country. We kept on trotting, basking in the glorious sun. Then, suddenly, as an omen for the terrible things to come, dark clouds blotted out the sun, leaving us in darkness. Beth said:”Really? On my birthday? Just typical.”

This next part I recall in somewhat of a haze. Out of nowhere, a rattlesnake attacked Beth’s horse, spooking it and causing it to rear. None of us were prepared for it, let alone Beth. I often think why didn’t it happen to me. But, as the horse reared, Beth called out in surprise, and fell backwards. She landed head first and we heard a loud crack. She screamed in agony, and mom, Debbie, and dad rushed to her. I am not quite sure what happened with me, as it is mostly a blur. I’ve been told I took care of the damned rattlesnake. But the next I remember, we were all in tears, and Beth screaming in pain and agony. We stood around her, looking at her, looking at each other, not knowing how to handle this. Dad was the first to react. He said solemnly:”I’ll…I’ll head out…to the nearest ranger station…get some help. Debbie, Adrian, stay with Beth.”

We nodded and looked at Beth, trying somehow to comfort her. I am not sure how long we waited, but eventually dad returned along with a ranger, who assessed the situation and took his radio out. He gave his coordinates to the person on the other end, and then asked:”how far are you?”

Eventually, a rescue helicopter came. They carefully got Beth onto the stretcher and strapped her in. Mom and dad went in the helicopter along with the personnel, while I took the horses back to the stable. It was the hardest trip I have ever made. I trotted with the horses at a leisurely pace, as my mind went in a million different directions. When I got to the stables, I took the car keys and drove towards the hospital. Apparently I drove a bit too fast, as a cop stopped me on the way. I just stared blankly at the road. He motioned for me to roll down the window, and when I looked up at him, I realized it was one of Beth’s old boyfriends and a good friend to me, Elliott. He said:”You OK buddy? You were going a bit over the limit you know.”

I just stared at him and eventually I stuttered:”It’s…It’s Beth. She had an accident.”

His face turned pale. I knew they were still close. “Wait here,” he said.

He went to his car and took out the radio. I couldn’t hear what he said, I was focused on everything else. He came back and told me to follow him. He turned on his siren and we drove to the hospital. It was a surreal experience, I was driving without driving, a police car with sirens blaring in front of me and everything seemed to move in slow motion. When we got to the hospital, Elliott quickly got out and quickly moved to my car. He helped me out and we went in, asking the receptionist about Beth. She typed in the information we gave her and said:”6B, currently in surgery.”

We thanked her and took the elevator to floor 6B. As we got out, I saw my parents standing, hugging each other. Crying. Elliott went up to them and said:”Hello Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson. I…I’m sorry that we meet under these circumstances. How is she?”

They both looked at him and hugged him. Then my father said:”They have put her in a coma. They are performing the surgery now. They have told us they don’t think she’ll walk again.”

Elliott gasped, my mother wailed and dad started crying. Elliott then hugged my parents, tried to comfort them and told them to keep him informed. He also promised to help us and Beth in any way he could. He then said goodbye and went back on duty. I told them about how I had met him on the way. They said it was good, as he was still considered a part of the family. We stood there and talked about the day, about Beth, about the future and what we should and could do.

Life continued, albeit in a more somber fashion. A few weeks after the accident I remember walking down the stairs. I saw something at the corner of my eye, from our living room. I looked, and I saw Beth sitting in her wheelchair, looking outside. I saw her reflection. Her crystal-clear blue eyes, once full of life, now full of sorrow, of longing. My heart sank, and I walked over to her. I tried saying something to her, but nothing came up. In the end, I just gave her a big hug. She then said:”It’s all right. Everything is fine.”

I had tears in my eyes, but replied:”It’s just so unfair. It should have been me.”

“Don’t say that,” she said.

I mumbled something and went to the kitchen to get something to eat. It was so hard for me to adjust to this new reality.

It went from horribly bad to somehow even worse a couple of weeks later. A neighbor of ours, Dr. Gaskin, came over with some flowers to comfort Beth. Dr. Gaskin. I always shudder when I think about him and his involvement in this. He had the look of your average mad scientist. Curly, white hair, pointy nose and thin lips, and he had a flat voice. Anyways, Dr. Gaskin came over with the flowers, and then told my parents that his facility had developed some sort of treatment. It was still in the infant stages, but he believed it could help Beth recover from her horrific injuries. Even that she might walk again. My parents looked at him hopefully at first, but then some skepticism seeped in. How is it possible to recover from such an injury they asked. He told us that most of it was confidential at this moment, since they were still working on it, but they had tried some of it on animals with terrible injuries, and that they had healed. Spinal injuries, broken bones, this seemed to work wonders. He encouraged us to try this, as it might have a profound effect on all of our lives. My parents were still skeptical, and weren’t buying his sale speech. A small argument erupted, as Dr. Gaskin and my father got into a heated discussion. Then, from behind us, we heard Beth’s voice. She said:”Stop it. Both of you. It is not up to you dad. If…if it has a sliver of hope of me walking again, I am willing to do it.”

My father looked at her, tears in his eyes, and he said:”Very well sweetie. If that is what you want.”

Beth smiled and said:”It is.”

Dr. Gaskin said:”Excellent. I will set everything up. We should be able to do this in three days time.”

We thanked him, and he left. We talked about what we could expect from this, what we should prepare for and what we should do now. Beth called Elliott and told him about this new development. He was excited, and said he would help us if there was need for it.

The day of the treatment came. Dr. Gaskin rang the doorbell. As my father opened, he said hi, and walked in. Dr. Gaskin was carrying what looked similar to a first-aid kit, but somehow different. He walked up to Beth, said hi and shook her hand. “Do you understand the implications of this procedure being experimental Beth?” he asked.

Beth nodded. “I hope to be able to walk again, sir.” she said.

“All right then,” he said.

He opened his first-aid kit, and took out a large syringe. It was full of some sort of purplish-looking liquid. We all gasped, including Beth. “Don’t worry,” Dr. Gaskin said.

He felt her shoulders and neck, and then proceeded to inject her between the shoulder blades and spine. Beth let out a sharp ouch sound as the syringe penetrated her flesh. When the syringe was empty, Dr. Gaskin kneeled before her, looked her in the eyes and said:”It’s done. Tell me if you feel any changes, OK?”

She smiled, and said:”Of course. Thank you so much. I really hope this works.”

He smiled, stood up and then looked at my father. “Monitor her. Any changes, let me know.”

My father nodded. We all looked at Beth and smiled. Dr. Gaskin said his goodbyes and left. If only we had known that from this moment on, Beth was doomed.

A few days went by, then a week. Beth wasn’t showing any changes. At first she had been so hopeful, but as the days went by, her demeanor went from hopeful to disappointed, eventually back to sadness and longing. The rest of us also followed, as we had had some hopes of seeing her walk again. My father one day said to her:”Well sweetie, this is an experimental procedure. Maybe they haven’t quite found out what dosage they need. Or maybe something is missing, I don’t know how this works.”

Beth just looked outside the window. Then she said solemnly:”Serves me right for getting my hopes up.”

We just stood there, looking out the window, when our doorbell rang. My father went to open. It was Dr. Gaskin. He just walked past my father, looking at his watch. My father said:”Hey, what’s up? Don’t just barge in here.”

As my father turned to look at Dr. Gaskin, a squad of five armed men in uniforms barged in. One of them pointed his gun at my father. The others went for us. Pointing their guns at us. Dr. Gaskin said:”Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you as long as you don’t resist.”

Two paramedics came in with a stretcher. They went up to Beth. Her Crystal-clear blue eyes were full of fear, of confusion. Dr. Gaskin said to the paramedics:”Wait. We have to be absolutely sure.”

As Beth was looking at them, confused and afraid, she had a…a…some sort of spasm is what I can only describe it as. Immediately, Dr. Gaskin shouted:”Now!”

The paramedics grabbed her by the arms, put her on the stretcher and strapped her in. Then they proceeded to roll her out. Dr. Gaskin followed them, and at the door he said:”Do not try to follow us. She is no longer your sister. She belongs to us now.”

Instincts kicked in, and I tried to jump the guy in front of me. As I did, I heard my mother shout my name out in fear, as she probably thought I was going to be shot. Instead, I was rewarded with a rifle butt to my head and everything turned black. When I woke up, I had a splitting headache. “What happened?,” I asked as I slowly got up.

“They took Beth”, my mom said, sobbing.

“We have to get her back,” I replied.

“We have no way of doing that,” my father said. “I went to his house, to try to find any clues as to where they might have taken her. It was empty. He doesn’t even live there it seems.”

“Wait, what?” I said, getting angrier by the second. “We have to find them. I will call in some favors.”

I found my phone and called Elliott. It immediately went to voicemail, he probably was on duty, busy with his work. I said:”Elliott, it’s Adrian. Come over as soon as you can. They took Beth. I don’t have more info at the moment, please just come here as quick as you can.”

I looked at my parents, then called an old friend. “Hey Harry, it’s Adrian. We have a situation. Come over as soon as you can. You know where I live.”

My parents looked at me, sad and also perplexed, as they weren’t fond of Harry. He was a bit of a rascal, always getting into trouble. They didn’t approve of our friendship, but to his credit, he always stood by me when it mattered. And I hoped he would do so this time. I looked at my parents and said:”Well, now we wait. There is nothing we can do at this moment.”

Later that day, we heard a car park outside. We looked out the window, and saw Elliott get out of his car. He hurried to the front door and rang the bell. I opened it for him and welcomed him. “What did you mean by ‘they got Beth’ Adrian? What is going on?” he said as he entered.

“Our neighbor, or what we thought was our neighbor, Dr. Gaskin came in along with a squad of armed men. Beth had some sort of convulsion or seizure and they strapped her in on a stroller and took her. We have no idea where. We need to find them. To find her.”

“Describe him and the men to me. Leave no detail. Everything can be useful,” Elliott said.

I described Dr. Gaskin as good as I could. Anything we had picked up on. Then my mom remembered the flowers he had given to Beth. There was a card attached, with a get-well-soon message on it. Dr. Gaskin, or whatever his name was, had signed it. Elliott took a picture of it, then sent it to someone. “OK, this is probably a long shot, but I’m gonna see if we can trace the card back to where it was bought. We might find something there.”

“Sure, anything we can use. I hope we end up with something. With anything,” I said to him. As I had said that, our doorbell rang. I went to open it, and there was Harry. I said hi, and he entered. “Good to see you Harry, my friend”, I said.

He looked at me, gave a wry smile and said:”What’s up buddy? You said something about a situation?”

He then nodded towards my parents and Elliott and said hello. I told him:”Beth has been kidnapped by some guy posing as a doctor. Or maybe he is one, we don’t really know. We thought he was our neighbor, but the house we thought he lived in is empty. I might need some muscle later on.”

He looked at me, nodded and said:”Sure thing buddy. You need me to call some guys?”

“No,” I replied. ”Let’s just see where this takes us. A smaller team is better to control than a larger one. Also, we have no idea who or what we are up against.”

“Fair enough,” he replied. He then leaned in closer to me and whispered:”What is he doing here?”, nodding towards Elliott.

“Don’t worry”, I said. “We are all on the same team here. We need to get Beth back, and we need all the help we can get.”

Elliott came up to us and said:”Hey guys. Harry. I just got a reply from my colleague. The card came from a florist on Davenport Avenue. We should go there, see if they have any information for us.”

Both Harry and I nodded in agreement. We took Harry’s car, and drove to the address. My mind was racing in all directions, thinking of what had happened to Beth, who had taken her and why. It was obvious that the guy we knew as Dr. Gaskin wasn’t who he claimed to be. Was he even a doctor? Elliott seemed to notice, and gently put his arm on my shoulder. “Don’t worry Adrian. We are going to get her back. I promise”.

I looked at him and gave him a half-smile. We finally reached our destination. Harry parked the car, and we all got out. Before we entered the store, Elliott said:”Leave it to me guys”.

We entered and Elliott went straight to the cashier. He took out the card that we found attached to Beth’s flowers. “Excuse me ma’am, we traced this card back to this store. I need to know who bought it. Any information is important”.

This young girl just stared at him, then said:”Uhm, I have no idea how we can do that. Maybe I should get the manager?”

“Do that”, Elliott said.

The girl went to the back of the store and talked to woman, probably in her 30’s, whispering something and pointing towards us. The woman then nodded her head and walked to the counter. “What seems to be the problem here gentlemen?”

“This card”, Elliott said. “As I told your colleague, this card was traced back to this store. It is vital evidence in a case. I need to get any information about the person purchasing it”.

“Well, I am happy to comply, I just need to see your credentials first, Mr. …”, the woman said.

“Oh, of course”, Elliott said, and showed her his badge. “My name is Elliott.”

She seemed satisfied, and scanned the card. “I can see it was purchased here a few weeks ago. I’ll just print out the receipt…here you go, mr. Elliott”

“Thank you ma’am”, Elliott said. “You wouldn’t remember any details about the buyer, would you?”

“Can’t say that I do, sorry”, she said.

We all thanked her, and went to Harry’s car. Elliott looked at the receipt, then frowned. “This is bad”, he said.

I looked at him, puzzled and said:”What is?”

He showed me the receipt. It was paid with card. Where the owner of the card should be, it said in bold, all capital letters: BLACKRIDGE & SONS. I stared at it for a second, then said:”What does that mean?”

Elliott looked at me and said:”I’m not sure. But I have a bad feeling about all of this. Beth might be in grave danger. I’m going to check the CCTV for that day, hopefully it will give us a hint about where this Dr. Gaskin character might be. You guys go home, I will get someone to pick me up.”

“And just what am I supposed to do in the meantime?”, I shouted angrily. I was more angry at this whole situation than at Elliott in particular.

“I need you guys cool, and I need you guys prepared. We don’t know what we are up against. We need to know more about this…this employer of Dr. Gaskin, or whatever his name is. This is important Adrian. Are we clear?”.

I said yes, and Harry drove me home. When I got home I told my parents about what we had found out. They were as puzzled as me. “What does that mean? Who has Beth? Who is Dr. Gaskin?”, my father asked.

“I have no idea dad”, I replied. “Elliott is following a clue, he will contact us when he has something.”

My dad let out a sigh, and said:”OK. Let’s see what he can turn up. It’s just so frustrating, not being able to do anything, you know?”

“Yeah, trust me, I know”, I said. “Even though it’s hard, it is important. Elliott needs time to gather information for us, so we know where Beth is. And you know me, dad. I want to be hands on each time. But this time I can’t, not now at least. So let’s wait and hope Elliott finds something.”

A couple of hours later, Elliott called me. “I found the footage of this Dr. Gaskin character going in and buying the flowers. But more importantly, I got his license plate. I am currently trying to track it down. Also seeing if he has any parking tickets, speeding tickets or the like. That would mean it would be easier to take him in.”

I sighed, a bit of relief that we were going somewhere with this, and also because it had been exhausting waiting for something to happen. “All right. What should we do now?”, I asked him.

“I found an address on the registration of the vehicle. Not surprisingly, it isn’t registered to Dr. Gaskin. The name on the registration is Isaac Jennings. If you guys could go to the apartment and see if there is anything there, that would be great. I still have to check through some stuff here. And Adrian, keep Harry on a short leash. We don’t need any unnecessary attention to our little investigation. It could complicate things.”

I agreed, and nodded for Harry to come over to me. Then I told him of the plan, about the address and that we were going to check it out. I also told him about the identity of the man formerly known as Dr. Gaskin, and that we needed to keep it subtle when we went to his apartment. Harry grunted, but agreed. We went to his car, and he drove to our destination. It was an old-looking apartment complex on a corner, red brick walls and on the side was a fire escape that looked less than sturdy, mostly due to age. I tried the door, but it was locked. I sighed. ”Let me have a look”, Harry said to me and winked, and as I backed away, he checked the door. He checked one of his pockets and found some tool I couldn’t see properly at first. It looked like a pocket knife. When I got a better look at it, I saw that it was a kind of a lockpick. I grunted, but Harry said sharply:”Do you want to see Beth or not? Let me do my thing here, and we will get to the bottom of this.”

I grudgingly agreed, and let Harry do his thing. In a few moments I could hear a click, and he opened the door. We went inside. The hallway was dimly lit, and the interior looked as if the building was an older one. We went to the staircase and made our way up to the fourth floor where this Isaac Jennings or Dr. Gaskin character supposedly lived. We stopped outside apartment 4F. Harry knocked on the door. No response. One of his neighbors, a nice looking brunette, said:”Oh, Isaac’s not home. He’s at work.”

“Oh thank you”, both me and Harry said. “When is he back, do you know?”, I asked her.

“Oh, usually around 8 or 8:30”, she replied.

I thanked her again, and me and Harry went back to the stairs, acting as if we were leaving. I whispered to Harry:”What do we do now? She has seen us.”

“Relax”, Harry whispered back. “It’s not as if we have committed any crime. We just wait a few minutes, she will probably go back to her apartment soon.”

I nodded and we waited for a moment. Harry looked back up the dimly lit hallway and said:”Clear, let’s go.”

We went back to apartment 4F, and once again, Harry found his lockpick. I was so nervous as he worked on the lock. The silence was deafening. I was sure someone would notice us and call the authorities. Finally I heard a click and Harry opened the door. We hurried in, turned the lights on, closed the door and locked it. It was a small apartment, with a small bathroom to the right, a kitchen on the left and a larger living room. We went straight for the living room, where in the furthest left corner was his bed. On his nightstand there was a picture of the man I knew as Dr. Gaskin, along with a woman who seemed around his age. Both of them were smiling. “Looks like he’s married”, Harry said. “We should hurry up.”

I agreed and looked around. There was a bookshelf on the right side of the living room. I looked at it and saw some autobiographies, some science fiction books and then I noticed some books on genetics, on biology and on chemistry. On one shelf I saw a couple of pictures. On one picture was Dr. Gaskin or Isaac Jennings, along with a man in a white lab coat. Dr. Gaskin wasn’t wearing a lab coat though. He was wearing dark green coat, and holding a mop. I looked at the picture, puzzled. Had he been lying all this time? And why? I got Harry’s attention and showed him the picture. “Wait, didn’t you say he was a doctor?”, Harry asked. “Doesn’t quite fit the profile of a doctor if you ask me.”

“I don’t know”, I said. “He introduced himself as a doctor to us. I guess we never questioned it. We had other things to worry about. But why would he lie about being a doctor. And what on earth would he and his team want with Beth? We need to find out where he is.”

We decided to call Elliott, and informed him of what we had found out so far. “All right guys, I’ll meet you there. We wait until Dr. Gaskin arrives, then we figure out a plan to get to Beth.”

I agreed and we waited for Elliott to arrive. In the meantime, I called my dad and told him all about what we had found, about Dr. Gaskin’s real identity and about our plan. “Good work Adrian”, my dad said. “I’ll join you. I’m coming over to this creep’s house.”

“Wait, are you sure dad? I mean, I’m sure we can handle it ourselves without problems”, I said.

“Adrian, she’s my daughter. I can’t just sit around, waiting for stuff to happen”, he replied. “Besides, Debbie has gone over to Karen, to get some fresh air. She couldn’t stay in the house. She’s heartbroken, Adrian.”

I sighed and agreed. Fifteen minutes later, my dad arrived. “Hello Christopher, sir”, Harry said.

“Harry”, my father replied. “When did you say Elliott would get here?” my father asked.

“Soon”, I replied. “Then we wait until Isaac arrives.”

My father nodded. We had some small talk while we waited. Twenty minutes later, Elliott arrived, and he was in uniform. “Elliott”, my father said. “What’s the plan? And what’s with the uniform?”

Elliott told us his plan, that he would “arrest” Isaac on the grounds of an unpaid parking ticket. We would take him to his car, and Elliott would get some uniforms looking like the ones on the team that had invaded our home and taken Beth. Then we would make him drive us to his workplace or wherever it was that they kept her. When we got inside, we would have to wing it, as we had no idea of what would happen. We just had to hope for the best. It was a long shot, but it was our only chance of seeing Beth again.

As we waited for Isaac, time passed excruciatingly slow, it felt. My mind was racing, as I’m sure everyone’s minds were. There was so much at stake here. And the plan wasn’t exactly perfect. But it was all we had. We heard keys jangling, then the front door was unlocked. This was it. Everyone was focused on the door. Elliott motioned for us to be quiet. The door opened, and in stepped Isaac. He seemed a bit distracted, looking down and mumbling something incomprehensible. He turned, closed the door and looked up and saw us. At that time, few things happened. Elliott motioned for him to be quiet. Harry, on the other hand, drew a gun at him. I said:”Whoa, whoa. No need for that.”

Isaac looked at Harry, puzzled and frightened. “What do you want? Money?”

“Look here Dr. Gaskin…or Isaac, or whatever your name is”, I said. “You kidnapped my sister. We are going to get her back. With or without your help. However, it would be in your best interest to cooperate. If you don’t, my friend here will have a great day breaking every single bone in your body.” I pointed at Harry as I said that.

Isaac turned pale. He seemed to realize there wasn’t much he could do. “Look”, he said. “The company I work for is bigger than you. It’s very secretive and in the end, I am just a janitor there. I lied about being a doctor. It’s just been my dream for a long time. I have no possible way of getting you to her. I am sorry.”

“Well”, Elliott said. “Today is your lucky day. You get to be a doctor. And you will get us in. Otherwise, I will make sure you disappear from every record imaginable. And I will also make sure that Harry will have all the time in the world to do…whatever it is he wants to do…to you, without any interference.”

“Please guys, this company…the security there is way stricter than you can imagine. They know me. They know I’m not a scientist. We will all be killed within a few seconds and no one will know. They have ways…they have ties to important people. We are just pawns to them.”

“Right, this Blackridge & sons. What is it that this company does? And why haven’t I heard of it?”, Elliott asked.

“Weapons, genetics, you name it. They heard about Beth’s condition and decided they wanted to test something on her. I was chosen to get to her. Because I am expendable I guess”, Isaac said. “Whatever they did to her, she is no longer yours. When she gets back…if she gets back, it will be because they either deem her to be not good enough of a guinea pig, or they have finished whatever it is they are testing on her.”

As I heard that, I rushed him and punched him square in the mouth. He got knocked out instantly. “You don’t ever talk about my sister like that, is that clear?” I shouted.

Elliott grabbed my shoulder and pulled me away. “Keep it cool. We don’t need any attention to our little excursion here, now do we?”, he said.

I pulled away from him, grunted and started pacing back and forth. “He had it coming”, I said. “Now get him up. Let’s get going.”

Harry went through his pockets and found his keys. He showed them to us and said:”I’ll find his car. Bring him down when I call and then we work on the plan from there.”

We agreed, and my father and Elliott got Isaac back up. They sat him down in a chair. We all stared angrily at him. Isaac looked around as he put his hand on his cheek. “That was uncalled for”, he said. “Let me know what it is that you want, and I will give it. But don’t try to get into the facility. It will only get us killed.”

“Shut up or I will hit you again”, I said sternly. “You will help us get in, and whatever happens, happens. We are going to do anything to save my sister. We will do so with or without your help.”

Isaac started moving his eyes from side to side, as if he was thinking. Or looking for an escape route. He pursed his lips, then finally he spoke. “OK, look into my storage room. I still keep the outfits we used. I was supposed to get rid of them, but I wanted to keep them as a memento of my first on-field mission for the company. I know what you think of me, but it made me proud that I was useful to them in a way that didn’t include mops. I had hoped I could get a promotion.”

I rolled my eyes at this. “So you are proud of kidnapping another person? Is that how I am supposed to understand this?” I asked him.

“Well, no, not the kidnapping per se. I am more proud of being the lead on a mission for the company. It had some…unfortunate…casualties, but I was the lead. And I succeeded. That’s what I’m proud of. Not the kidnapping.”

I snorted. “You are so pathetic”, I said to him.

Meanwhile, as me and Isaac had our little discussion, Elliott had called Harry and told him to go to the storage to find the military outfits Isaac had kept as some sort of a sick memento from the kidnapping. As we waited for him, my father took me aside and whispered:”I know you despise Dr. Gaskin…Isaac…whatever he calls himself. But please, don’t be so hard on him yet. We need him to get access to this facility he speaks of. If you wind him up too much he might refuse. Or worse, double cross us when we arrive. We need him…compliant…if that makes any sense. Think of Beth, and think of our goal here. He is just a pawn. A pawn we need.”

I looked him in the eyes and whispered back:”OK. I will stop it now. I just…I just feel so angry. He seems so dismissive of it all. As if it’s some sort of game to him. It just wound me up.”

My father laid his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye and whispered to me:“I do know how you feel. Remember, Beth is my daughter. But we need to keep cool here buddy. For Beth.”

I looked him in the eyes and nodded. I knew he was right. A few moments later, Elliott’s phone rang. As he took it, he pointed to us to pick Isaac up. We did and he hung up. We all went down to Isaac’s storage room and got changed. I said to Isaac as we walked to the car:”All right Dr. Gaskin, you better get us in.”

He gulped, and nodded slowly. Elliott said:”Isaac will take the wheel. It will look less suspicious that way. We need to keep it cool. I’m looking at you Harry.”

Harry snorted, and then said:”Yeah, yeah. I will keep it cool, but if I feel we are in danger, I’m not going to sit around, OK?”

Elliott sighed, looked at Harry and said:”Look, if you start shooting, you will raise the alarm. We probably will be swarmed by guards. That’s not what we need, OK? We keep it cool, we get in and hopefully we get Beth back. Speaking of that, I think it’s best if I, Adrian, Christopher and Isaac go in. You are the best driver of us. When we get back with Beth, we need to get out ASAP. I trust you to get us out the quickest.”

Harry grunted, and grudgingly said:”OK. I miss out on the first part of the action, but I do love some good old car chases. That’s fine by me.”

We sat us in the car, Isaac and Elliott in front, with me, my dad and Harry in the back. Isaac started the car, and slowly made his way through town. I can’t remember much of the trip, I was so focused on Beth, and what I would do to get her back. As I was lost in my thoughts, I heard a voice saying:”Adrian?”

I turned and it was my father. He looked at me and said:”You OK? You looked like you were in a trance.”

I looked down at the floor and said:”Yeah. Just thinking of Beth. And what I am going to do to those scumbags.”

“No Adrian”, Elliott said. “We go in, locate Beth and get out. That’s the plan. No time for heroics. All of that can wait. We can look at some legal action or something like that afterwards. But right now we need to find Beth and get her to safety. We all need to focus.”

I sighed and said:”I know…I know. This whole thing just makes me…makes me so angry. I’m not going to risk our safety. It was a manner of speaking. Letting my rage out.”

We continued the drive, until Isaac turned the car, and started driving up this old dirt road. It wasn’t very obvious, this trail, with trees to either side and just this small dirt path. After a few bumpy twists and turns, the trees cleared and we came to a large fence with two guards on either side. Isaac slowly drove up to the gate and rolled his window down. He smiled at the guards and stuttered:”Dr…Dr. Gaskin turning in.”

The guard looked at him, puzzled. “What?”, he asked. Then he turned away and radioed something in on his walkie talkie. He looked back at us suspiciously, while the other guard had his gun aimed at us. We were getting more and more anxious and afraid. Maybe this was it. Our rescue mission was about to end in a very bad way. I saw some slight motion from the corner of my eye. I realized it was Harry moving his hand down to his pocket. If he took his gun out, we were doomed. I quietly said:”Harry!” hoping I got his attention.

He looked at me, then from his pocket he took a packet of gum. He looked at me, smiled and said:”Gum?”

I sighed, mostly of relief. The guard came back to the car and said:”You are cleared. Go inside.”

The gate opened, and we drove in. As we looked at the parking lot, we saw four different ambulances parked in a spot you couldn’t really see from outside. How many others had they kidnapped? What was going on in this facility? What sort of company was this? As my mind was racing, Isaac found a spot in the back and parked the car. He opened the door and got out. So did we. Harry went over to Isaac and got his keys. Then Harry said:”Go. Go get Beth. I will wait right outside.”

We followed Isaac as he opened the front door and went inside. A secretary sat behind a desk. She looked at him, confused. “Can I help you?” she asked.

“Ah yes, hello Kim”, Isaac said. “We are going to need to take a look at specimen 3175B.”

Kim just looked at him as if he was gone mad. After a few moments, her phone rang. She kept her eyes on him as she answered. She just listened as the person on the other end told her something. Then she hung up and said:”All right. Level 11. They are waiting for you Dr. Gaskin. As well as your…entourage.”

Isaac gulped. We all knew they were on to us now. He slowly made his way to the elevator. We followed him. He hesitantly pressed the button, and as we waited, we could see his lips trembling. It was the look of a man who knew he was doomed. My father got closer to him and whispered:”It’s your own fault. You made your decision, now you live with it.”

Isaac slowly nodded. The elevator opened and we all got in. As we turned, we saw Kim. She just looked at us with sad eyes. She knew what was coming. The doors closed, and Isaac pressed the button for floor 11. The elevator started moving down. As it did, a female voice on the speakers started talking:”Here at Blackridge & Sons we are all about efficiency. You should only go to the floor you have access to. Failure to comply to this will end in your termination. Thank you for co-operating, and have a nice day.”

What did that mean? What on earth was going on here? This most definitely wasn’t your average corporation. I heard a low voice. I looked at Isaac, and saw he had closed his eyes and started praying. My father, Elliott and I all looked at each other. This was it. We had to do anything to get Beth from the claws of this entity called Blackridge & Sons. Also, what was that name? Sounded so ominous and sinister. The elevator slowed down and then stopped. Time seemed to slow down, as we waited for the door to open and reveal to us what was in store for us on the other side. The doors slowly opened, and a guard in a uniform was standing just outside. As he saw us, he smiled and said:”What are you doing, Issac? Still harboring those hopes of becoming a scientist here? And why do you still have those uniforms? I recall telling you to get rid of those. You know what happens to people who don’t follow orders.”

All of us in the elevator had raised our hands, hoping that he wouldn’t shoot us. But as he spoke, he started raising his gun slowly. Isaac was so pale at this moment, I almost thought he was half dead already. Finally Isaac stuttered:”I…I made a mistake. Please Lewis, they forced me to take them here. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Lewis snorted. “You are so pathetic”, he said to Isaac. “You have no spine. And you are sloppy. That’s why you are only a janitor here. The scientists we have are top of their fields. You aren’t even worthy of the mop you use. Now, if all of you would jus-”

As he spoke, the lights turned off. At that moment, everything started going from bad to worse. After a few moments, a red light started blinking, and an alarm started ringing. A voice could be heard over the speakers. “Breach detected. Level 11.” The voice kept repeating every few moments. In the red light, we could see a bit further behind the guard, a shape appeared. It looked like…a bear of sorts. Massive forelegs, with large sharp claws. But this abomination of a bear didn’t have any fur. It had skin. And the skin looked turned inside out, so we saw pure muscles and veins. It had a face like like a human, except instead of regular teeth, it had fangs, which were very sharp. And I looked on and I screamed. Elliott screamed. My father kicked Isaac out of the elevator, and screamed with us. As Isaac tumbled out, he collided with Lewis, the guard, and they both fell down. Elliott pressed the button for the top floor and we stood there, screaming, hoping that the guard would be too preoccupied with the situation. However, he looked at us, angry, and pointed his gun at us as the elevator was slowly closing. He didn’t manage to shoot though. The beast jumped and ripped his arm off. All we could hear as the door finally closed were his and Isaac’s final screams. The rest is kind of a blur, I think adrenaline started kicking in. Maybe my memory has just decided to block it out. I remember us running out of the elevator as the doors opened, running past the guards who were storming in. We ran outside, where Harry was waiting in the car. We jumped in and we all shouted at once:”Drive! Drive! Get us out of here now!”

Harry looked puzzled and asked:”Wait, where is Beth?”

“No time to explain right now”, I said. “Just. Drive.”

My father and I were in tears. Harry started the car and drove us off. We somehow got away from this facility with our life intact. We got back to our house and me and my father told my mom that we tried to find Beth but couldn’t. She was devastated. Although the truth probably would devastate her even more. Because, when I first saw that monstrosity that dwelled in the shadowy recesses of level 11, I saw familiarity. I saw those claws…I saw those fangs…and finally, when I looked closer…I saw a pair of crystal-clear, blue eyes.