Take Back The Image of the Invisible, chapter 6
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"All right Armstrong either you tell us where you've hidden your kids or we'll just try every door in this place until we find them." Billie struggled trying to get out of Tank's grip with no luck.
"Fuck off you snake-faced asswipe!" Tank slammed the front man against the wall again, this time a bit harder.
"Fine then, have it your way," Snake replied coolly as he walked to the first door in the hall.
"Let's begin, shall we?" he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.
"Closet... " He looked over his shoulder and down at where Tré was pinned on the floor.
"You're home away from home, isn't it, Mr. Cool." Snake sneered.
"Fu... " the drummer started, but Crow forced his face down into the carpet and muffled the rest of the sentence.
Snake turned about to face the next door on the other side of the hall. Again, he opened the door wide and his face fell slightly.
"Laundry room... Then it must be lucky door number three."
He moved to the final door in the hall and turned the handle. It wouldn't budge.
"Locked? That's very suspicious if you ask me, Mr. Armstrong... Tank, bring him over here, will you?"
The man obliged, swinging Billie around and slamming him against the wall right next to the door.
"Now pay close attention, Armstrong. This is a handy little trick about locks I learned a while back."
He took a knife from his back pocket and flipped it open.
"You see people believe that if they lock things up they will be safe, but that is far from the truth... " he slid the knife blade into the small crack between the door and its frame.
"All locks are defective in some way or another... " He slid it upwards to the lock and worked it around for a moment before the door gave a soft click and he opened it.
"There you have it."
Snake hit a switch just inside the door and a light clicked on in the stairwell. He took one step down and was almost immediately hit from behind. Billie had finally nailed Tank in the gut, causing the big man to release him and had leapt at Snake. The two men rolled down the stairs, punching and grabbing at each other as they tumbled. They landed in a tangled heap at the bottom of the stairs and Snake managed to scramble on top of Billie, dealing him a punch to the face as he struggled to free himself. He pulled back, intending to hit the front man again when something caught him hard across his side, sending him toppling off Billie and rolling across the floor.
Snake scrambled to his feet, frantically searching for what had hit him. The only source of light was that which came from the stairwell. Other than that, the basement was impenetrably dark. Another hard hit fell down across his side and the man stumbled back. He again whipped about looking every which way trying to find the source of the attacks. He was beginning to panic.
"Who the fuck is there!?" he yelped.
Billie pushed himself up off the floor, wiping some blood from his mouth. He fixed Snake with a cold stare as the gang leader stood there, panic stricken without his stooges and under attack by an enemy he couldn't see.
"What's the matter, Snake?" the lead vocalist spat. "Is the big bad kidnapper afraid of the dark?"
Another hard hit fell across the panicked thug's back and he sprawled forward, falling on his face at Billie's feet.
"Or are you just afraid of whats IN the dark?" came a voice from the shadows. It was pitiless and full of malice.
The gang leader whimpered from his place on the ground crawling a little further into the light as he glanced fearfully over his shoulder. Jason stepped into the light flooding down from the stairwell, a two by four gripped in his hands.
"You alright, Billie?" he asked, looking over at the front man. He nodded and the two watched Snake scramble to his feet.
"Since when in Hell are there four of you people? Or is this some friend of yours outside of that stupid band?" Billie clenched his fists and started in on Snake.
"You little asshole, I'm gonna fuck you up so damn bad you'll regret ever messing with any of us!"
Just then, there was a thud and the sound of scrambling from upstairs. Tank came rolling down the stairs having obviously been shoved from the doorway by one of the other two upstairs and landed heavily at the bottom. Billie and Jason backed up as the man came to a stop. Snake was about to make a move when Tré came running full tilt down the stairs. He catapulted himself off five stairs from the bottom and landed directly on the man crushing him down.
Billie and Jason both launched themselves at Tank as Mike came half sliding, half running down the stairs with Crow and Weasel hot on his heels. An all out brawl broke out as the band members and the kidnappers simultaneously started in on each other. Tré threw Snake out of his way and began swinging at anything that moved. Mike and Jason had their hands full with Weasel and Crow, but Billie was having a real hard time with Tank. The big man was extremely angry, he swung hard, and fast, catching the lead singer numerous times around the back and shoulders. Billie head butted Tank in the stomach and started punching and kicking as hard as he could. He was actually doing pretty well, having managed to give the big man a split lip and numerous cuts and bruises on his arms.
Billie suddenly caught a hard fist to the head, followed quickly by a cross blow that sent him into the wall. He slumped down as his vision slid in and out of focus.
"Dad!" he heard his oldest son yell only to see him kneel down at his side a minute later.
Billie blinked hard, trying to get his vision to clear up a bit, but he only succeeded a little.
"Joey... You should have stayed where you where... " he muttered.
Joey just shook his head "Come on Dad you gotta get up... "
He helped Billie to his feet, sticking close to his side as Tank, Crow, and Weasel turned to look in their direction. The basement lights clicked on suddenly, throwing the entire room into sudden brightness. Billie turned his head to look over by the switch only to see Rat standing their looking quiet smug with himself. The front man glared at the masked man.
"Yeah, really something to be proud of buddy, you found a stupid light switch. Congratulations." Rat just sneered at the comment.
Snake stepped forward looking at Billie and Joey as they stood in front of him. "How cute a father and his eldest son... It warms the heart to see a child so devoted to his dad that he would jump to help, even if it risked his own safety... "
"You stay away from my brother, you freak!" Jakob piped up as he stepped out from behind some boxes near the corner of the basement.
"Jakob no, don't," Adrienne's voice pleaded with her youngest son as she held tightly to his hand.
"Ah, so we finally get to meet the whole family, including the lovely wife." Snake said greasily.
"How cute. However, we're done with this. Boys, grab the kids and let's go."
Billie, Mike, and Jason moved, forming a barricade between the kidnappers and the kids. They tried numerous times to get around, the three but where driven back either by Jason and his swift hand with the two by four or by the beating fists of Mike and Billie.
The entire group was bloodied and Snake was at the end of his patience. "Fine," he growled after yet another failed attempt to get past the three.
"Me and the boys will just have to come back for your damn kids. We're not leaving empty handed though. Tank, grab the drummer. He's gonna take a little ride with us."
Tré had been separated from the rest during the fighting and had started in on Tank again when Billie had been knocked to the ground. He stopped when these words came from Snake. He backed up a few steps.
"Sorry buddy, but my mum always told me not to go riding in cars with strangers." Tank lunged, catching the drummer in his arms and pinning him against his side as he picked him up.
"Shit!" Tré yelped and struggled madly.
Tank slapped a hand over his mouth. Billie started towards him but stopped short as Snake retrieved his knife from where he had dropped it on the stairs and leapt over to Tré cutting him across the arm. The drummer let out a muffled yell as his arm started bleeding.
"If we see any of you following us out of here or down the street, the next slit will be through his throat."
With that, the five nappers disappeared up the stairs and the last thing Billie heard was the fading sounds of one of his best friends being dragged off.
"All right Armstrong either you tell us where you've hidden your kids or we'll just try every door in this place until we find them." Billie struggled trying to get out of Tank's grip with no luck.
"Fuck off you snake-faced asswipe!" Tank slammed the front man against the wall again, this time a bit harder.
"Fine then, have it your way," Snake replied coolly as he walked to the first door in the hall.
"Let's begin, shall we?" he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.
"Closet... " He looked over his shoulder and down at where Tré was pinned on the floor.
"You're home away from home, isn't it, Mr. Cool." Snake sneered.
"Fu... " the drummer started, but Crow forced his face down into the carpet and muffled the rest of the sentence.
Snake turned about to face the next door on the other side of the hall. Again, he opened the door wide and his face fell slightly.
"Laundry room... Then it must be lucky door number three."
He moved to the final door in the hall and turned the handle. It wouldn't budge.
"Locked? That's very suspicious if you ask me, Mr. Armstrong... Tank, bring him over here, will you?"
The man obliged, swinging Billie around and slamming him against the wall right next to the door.
"Now pay close attention, Armstrong. This is a handy little trick about locks I learned a while back."
He took a knife from his back pocket and flipped it open.
"You see people believe that if they lock things up they will be safe, but that is far from the truth... " he slid the knife blade into the small crack between the door and its frame.
"All locks are defective in some way or another... " He slid it upwards to the lock and worked it around for a moment before the door gave a soft click and he opened it.
"There you have it."
Snake hit a switch just inside the door and a light clicked on in the stairwell. He took one step down and was almost immediately hit from behind. Billie had finally nailed Tank in the gut, causing the big man to release him and had leapt at Snake. The two men rolled down the stairs, punching and grabbing at each other as they tumbled. They landed in a tangled heap at the bottom of the stairs and Snake managed to scramble on top of Billie, dealing him a punch to the face as he struggled to free himself. He pulled back, intending to hit the front man again when something caught him hard across his side, sending him toppling off Billie and rolling across the floor.
Snake scrambled to his feet, frantically searching for what had hit him. The only source of light was that which came from the stairwell. Other than that, the basement was impenetrably dark. Another hard hit fell down across his side and the man stumbled back. He again whipped about looking every which way trying to find the source of the attacks. He was beginning to panic.
"Who the fuck is there!?" he yelped.
Billie pushed himself up off the floor, wiping some blood from his mouth. He fixed Snake with a cold stare as the gang leader stood there, panic stricken without his stooges and under attack by an enemy he couldn't see.
"What's the matter, Snake?" the lead vocalist spat. "Is the big bad kidnapper afraid of the dark?"
Another hard hit fell across the panicked thug's back and he sprawled forward, falling on his face at Billie's feet.
"Or are you just afraid of whats IN the dark?" came a voice from the shadows. It was pitiless and full of malice.
The gang leader whimpered from his place on the ground crawling a little further into the light as he glanced fearfully over his shoulder. Jason stepped into the light flooding down from the stairwell, a two by four gripped in his hands.
"You alright, Billie?" he asked, looking over at the front man. He nodded and the two watched Snake scramble to his feet.
"Since when in Hell are there four of you people? Or is this some friend of yours outside of that stupid band?" Billie clenched his fists and started in on Snake.
"You little asshole, I'm gonna fuck you up so damn bad you'll regret ever messing with any of us!"
Just then, there was a thud and the sound of scrambling from upstairs. Tank came rolling down the stairs having obviously been shoved from the doorway by one of the other two upstairs and landed heavily at the bottom. Billie and Jason backed up as the man came to a stop. Snake was about to make a move when Tré came running full tilt down the stairs. He catapulted himself off five stairs from the bottom and landed directly on the man crushing him down.
Billie and Jason both launched themselves at Tank as Mike came half sliding, half running down the stairs with Crow and Weasel hot on his heels. An all out brawl broke out as the band members and the kidnappers simultaneously started in on each other. Tré threw Snake out of his way and began swinging at anything that moved. Mike and Jason had their hands full with Weasel and Crow, but Billie was having a real hard time with Tank. The big man was extremely angry, he swung hard, and fast, catching the lead singer numerous times around the back and shoulders. Billie head butted Tank in the stomach and started punching and kicking as hard as he could. He was actually doing pretty well, having managed to give the big man a split lip and numerous cuts and bruises on his arms.
Billie suddenly caught a hard fist to the head, followed quickly by a cross blow that sent him into the wall. He slumped down as his vision slid in and out of focus.
"Dad!" he heard his oldest son yell only to see him kneel down at his side a minute later.
Billie blinked hard, trying to get his vision to clear up a bit, but he only succeeded a little.
"Joey... You should have stayed where you where... " he muttered.
Joey just shook his head "Come on Dad you gotta get up... "
He helped Billie to his feet, sticking close to his side as Tank, Crow, and Weasel turned to look in their direction. The basement lights clicked on suddenly, throwing the entire room into sudden brightness. Billie turned his head to look over by the switch only to see Rat standing their looking quiet smug with himself. The front man glared at the masked man.
"Yeah, really something to be proud of buddy, you found a stupid light switch. Congratulations." Rat just sneered at the comment.
Snake stepped forward looking at Billie and Joey as they stood in front of him. "How cute a father and his eldest son... It warms the heart to see a child so devoted to his dad that he would jump to help, even if it risked his own safety... "
"You stay away from my brother, you freak!" Jakob piped up as he stepped out from behind some boxes near the corner of the basement.
"Jakob no, don't," Adrienne's voice pleaded with her youngest son as she held tightly to his hand.
"Ah, so we finally get to meet the whole family, including the lovely wife." Snake said greasily.
"How cute. However, we're done with this. Boys, grab the kids and let's go."
Billie, Mike, and Jason moved, forming a barricade between the kidnappers and the kids. They tried numerous times to get around, the three but where driven back either by Jason and his swift hand with the two by four or by the beating fists of Mike and Billie.
The entire group was bloodied and Snake was at the end of his patience. "Fine," he growled after yet another failed attempt to get past the three.
"Me and the boys will just have to come back for your damn kids. We're not leaving empty handed though. Tank, grab the drummer. He's gonna take a little ride with us."
Tré had been separated from the rest during the fighting and had started in on Tank again when Billie had been knocked to the ground. He stopped when these words came from Snake. He backed up a few steps.
"Sorry buddy, but my mum always told me not to go riding in cars with strangers." Tank lunged, catching the drummer in his arms and pinning him against his side as he picked him up.
"Shit!" Tré yelped and struggled madly.
Tank slapped a hand over his mouth. Billie started towards him but stopped short as Snake retrieved his knife from where he had dropped it on the stairs and leapt over to Tré cutting him across the arm. The drummer let out a muffled yell as his arm started bleeding.
"If we see any of you following us out of here or down the street, the next slit will be through his throat."
With that, the five nappers disappeared up the stairs and the last thing Billie heard was the fading sounds of one of his best friends being dragged off.
