Take Back The Image of the Invisible, chapter 8
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Billie pushed the front door open wearily as he and Mike walked into the living room. Adrienne and Jason where both sitting on the couch, waiting for them and the boys were watching cartoons. Adrienne looked over at her tired husband as he plopped down on the couch beside her.
"Any luck finding him Bill?"
The man just shook his head and sighed heavily staring down at his shoes. He and Mike had been out looking all over the place for Tré since the sun rose that morning and had not seen even the tiniest sign of him. Adrienne wrapped an arm around him as Jakob came over, climbing up into his dad's lap as Joey climbed up on the couch beside him.
Billie looked wearily down at his two sons and managed a small smile. Jakob looked up at his father from his position on the man's lap.
"What about Frankito and Ramona, Daddy? We're going to keep looking for them too, right?"
Billie nodded. "Of course we're going to keep looking for them. We want to get everyone back safe and sound."
Joey tugged on Billie's sleeve to get his attention. The front man looked over at his older son, "Dad, those guys said they would be back...you're not gonna let them get us are you?"
Billie gave his son a reassuring hug. "Don't you worry about those guys Joey, your mom and I wont let that happen. Besides, everyone sitting in this room is here to help too."
Adrienne gave the two boys a reassuring smile and Jason and Mike nodded their agreement. The reply seemed to satisfy Joey and he gave a small smile as well.
* * *
The group sat there for a time talking on and off but after awhile everyone lapsed into silence, each immersed in their own thoughts. Joey and Jakob both fell asleep and Billie and Adrienne went and put them to bed before returning to say their own good nights.
"Jason and I will head out first thing tomorrow and keep looking for Tré and any sign of the kids. We'll come here around noon." Mike said as he stood up and get ready to leave for his home. Jason was preparing to do the same.
Billie nodded. "Call me immediately if you find anything at all."
The two nodded and headed out the door. All Billie could do now was wait and pray that his friend was okay and those creeps wouldn't be making another trip to visit his family.
* * *
Tré slowly swam his way up through the muddy levels of his subconscious mind and back into a conscious state. The drummer squirmed a little bit as he felt short burst of hot air hitting him in the face. He opened his eyes and froze in momentary terror as he found himself nose to nose with the huge dog from the alleyway. He was surprised that it hadn't already ripped his throat open. He swallowed hard fighting to stay calm.
"Nice doggie..." he slowly lifted a hand up praying to God the dog wasn't going to change its mind about not biting him.
Tré cautiously gave the dog's head a pat and the big animal moved, allowing him to sit up before nudging the mans hand for more petting. He practically broke out laughing with relief. It was friendly! Or at least it was acting friendly at the moment. Tré looked around, taking in his surroundings. He seemed to be in what looked like an abandon shop that had been converted into a place to live. The only light came from the sun filtering in from some high windows and a couple of scattered lamps hanging from the high ceiling.
Tré got up off the old couch he had woken up on and looked around the large, virtually empty room. He was beginning to wonder why there didn't seem to be any one else here. The dog jumped down from the couch and trotted towards a narrow hallway, stopping and glancing over his shoulder at Tré before continuing on. The drummer shrugged; he didn't know his way around wherever this was and the dog seemed to be trying to give him a hint, so he headed after it. The dog trotted on down the hall passing in and out of light cast by more overhead lamps. There where numerous doors on either side of the hall, most of which where shut but the animal didn't seem interested anyway.
Tré followed the dog down the hall and into another room, this one a bit smaller but filled with natural light from windows and a door.
Tré smiled, a bit relieved. "Thanks for the lead, dog. I'm out of here before that owner of yours with the chainsaw comes back."
With that, he pushed the door open and headed out into the alleyway on the other side. He paused wearily, looking up and down for any sign of other people around. Not seeing any, he began making his way down towards the street. Tré glanced over his shoulder only to find the dog still following him.
He turned. "Stay here, dog I don't really need any tag-alongs at the moment. Besides, I'm sure your psychotic chainsaw carrying owner wouldn't be too happy if he came home and you where gone. Stay."
The dog simply cocked its head to the side and gave a small whine but didn't move.
"Good." Tré turned and started back along the alley but only made it a few steps before the dog let out a loud bark that echoed along the walls of the buildings on either side and made Tré practically jump out of his skin.
He whipped around, saying, "No, bad dog, quiet! No barking."
It only started barking more when Tré said this and he tried in vain to quiet the animal.
"Please shut up, I don't want anyone to know I'm here!"
"Too late."
Tré spun wildly around looking every which way for whoever had spoken but seeing no one. "Quiet Rocko," the voice said calmly and the dog immediately stopped barking.
"Oh great, NOW the dog shuts up," Tré grumbled.
"The dog had nothing to do with my knowing where you where. He simply lead you to a way out and you took it just like I knew you would. Rocko is my accomplice. I've know you where moving for over twenty minutes. So what are you going to do now? You don't know where I am, you don't know WHO I am, and you don't know if I'm armed or not. Your walking a slippery slope, I suggest you watch your step, Mr. Cool."
Tré was starting to feel nervous now and began looking around the alley for the person speaking. "You're that chainsaw psycho, aren't you!?"
The person chuckled, "That depends on who you talk to."
Tré fought to keep from panicking. "Is this some kind of sick game of yours? You're just playing with me before you kill me, aren't you?"
"I wouldn't call it a sick game per say. If I where playing a sick game I'd have wounded you in some way by now and I wouldn't be talking to you as much as I have been. Now the question is can you find me before I change my mind?"
"What do you mean 'before you change your mind?'
"I think you know perfectly well what I mean. Now where do you think I am? What can you figure out?"
Was this person testing him for some reason? Tré was confused and getting a bit freaked out by now. Then he had an idea.
"Er here dog." He called then muttered "Shit... what was its name? Ricki? No... wait!" "Here Rocko, find the crazy person," The dog didn't move so much as a hair.
"Nice try Mr. Cool, but unfortunately that dog won't listen to a damn thing you say. I trained him to respond to my voice and my voice alone so you're just going to have to figure things out for yourself. Then again that shouldn't be hard for the one and only Tré Cool now, should it?"
Tré paused as it suddenly dawned on him. He whipped around, spotting a maintenance ladder on the side of the building he had just come out of. He launched himself onto it and scrambled quickly up, leaping onto the roof.
"Gotcha!" He stopped confused. He could have sworn the voice was coming from up here but the gravel-strewn rooftop was empty save for an old a/c unit and pigeon poop.
He took a few steps forward, looking around, "This doesn't make any sense... "
"It makes perfect sense, Mr. Cool. Your actions where rash and unthought out and now... " The drummer whipped around only to find himself a hairs breadth from the muzzle of a pistol.
"...you're in trouble."
"Any luck finding him Bill?"
The man just shook his head and sighed heavily staring down at his shoes. He and Mike had been out looking all over the place for Tré since the sun rose that morning and had not seen even the tiniest sign of him. Adrienne wrapped an arm around him as Jakob came over, climbing up into his dad's lap as Joey climbed up on the couch beside him.
Billie looked wearily down at his two sons and managed a small smile. Jakob looked up at his father from his position on the man's lap.
"What about Frankito and Ramona, Daddy? We're going to keep looking for them too, right?"
Billie nodded. "Of course we're going to keep looking for them. We want to get everyone back safe and sound."
Joey tugged on Billie's sleeve to get his attention. The front man looked over at his older son, "Dad, those guys said they would be back...you're not gonna let them get us are you?"
Billie gave his son a reassuring hug. "Don't you worry about those guys Joey, your mom and I wont let that happen. Besides, everyone sitting in this room is here to help too."
Adrienne gave the two boys a reassuring smile and Jason and Mike nodded their agreement. The reply seemed to satisfy Joey and he gave a small smile as well.
* * *
The group sat there for a time talking on and off but after awhile everyone lapsed into silence, each immersed in their own thoughts. Joey and Jakob both fell asleep and Billie and Adrienne went and put them to bed before returning to say their own good nights.
"Jason and I will head out first thing tomorrow and keep looking for Tré and any sign of the kids. We'll come here around noon." Mike said as he stood up and get ready to leave for his home. Jason was preparing to do the same.
Billie nodded. "Call me immediately if you find anything at all."
The two nodded and headed out the door. All Billie could do now was wait and pray that his friend was okay and those creeps wouldn't be making another trip to visit his family.
* * *
Tré slowly swam his way up through the muddy levels of his subconscious mind and back into a conscious state. The drummer squirmed a little bit as he felt short burst of hot air hitting him in the face. He opened his eyes and froze in momentary terror as he found himself nose to nose with the huge dog from the alleyway. He was surprised that it hadn't already ripped his throat open. He swallowed hard fighting to stay calm.
"Nice doggie..." he slowly lifted a hand up praying to God the dog wasn't going to change its mind about not biting him.
Tré cautiously gave the dog's head a pat and the big animal moved, allowing him to sit up before nudging the mans hand for more petting. He practically broke out laughing with relief. It was friendly! Or at least it was acting friendly at the moment. Tré looked around, taking in his surroundings. He seemed to be in what looked like an abandon shop that had been converted into a place to live. The only light came from the sun filtering in from some high windows and a couple of scattered lamps hanging from the high ceiling.
Tré got up off the old couch he had woken up on and looked around the large, virtually empty room. He was beginning to wonder why there didn't seem to be any one else here. The dog jumped down from the couch and trotted towards a narrow hallway, stopping and glancing over his shoulder at Tré before continuing on. The drummer shrugged; he didn't know his way around wherever this was and the dog seemed to be trying to give him a hint, so he headed after it. The dog trotted on down the hall passing in and out of light cast by more overhead lamps. There where numerous doors on either side of the hall, most of which where shut but the animal didn't seem interested anyway.
Tré followed the dog down the hall and into another room, this one a bit smaller but filled with natural light from windows and a door.
Tré smiled, a bit relieved. "Thanks for the lead, dog. I'm out of here before that owner of yours with the chainsaw comes back."
With that, he pushed the door open and headed out into the alleyway on the other side. He paused wearily, looking up and down for any sign of other people around. Not seeing any, he began making his way down towards the street. Tré glanced over his shoulder only to find the dog still following him.
He turned. "Stay here, dog I don't really need any tag-alongs at the moment. Besides, I'm sure your psychotic chainsaw carrying owner wouldn't be too happy if he came home and you where gone. Stay."
The dog simply cocked its head to the side and gave a small whine but didn't move.
"Good." Tré turned and started back along the alley but only made it a few steps before the dog let out a loud bark that echoed along the walls of the buildings on either side and made Tré practically jump out of his skin.
He whipped around, saying, "No, bad dog, quiet! No barking."
It only started barking more when Tré said this and he tried in vain to quiet the animal.
"Please shut up, I don't want anyone to know I'm here!"
"Too late."
Tré spun wildly around looking every which way for whoever had spoken but seeing no one. "Quiet Rocko," the voice said calmly and the dog immediately stopped barking.
"Oh great, NOW the dog shuts up," Tré grumbled.
"The dog had nothing to do with my knowing where you where. He simply lead you to a way out and you took it just like I knew you would. Rocko is my accomplice. I've know you where moving for over twenty minutes. So what are you going to do now? You don't know where I am, you don't know WHO I am, and you don't know if I'm armed or not. Your walking a slippery slope, I suggest you watch your step, Mr. Cool."
Tré was starting to feel nervous now and began looking around the alley for the person speaking. "You're that chainsaw psycho, aren't you!?"
The person chuckled, "That depends on who you talk to."
Tré fought to keep from panicking. "Is this some kind of sick game of yours? You're just playing with me before you kill me, aren't you?"
"I wouldn't call it a sick game per say. If I where playing a sick game I'd have wounded you in some way by now and I wouldn't be talking to you as much as I have been. Now the question is can you find me before I change my mind?"
"What do you mean 'before you change your mind?'
"I think you know perfectly well what I mean. Now where do you think I am? What can you figure out?"
Was this person testing him for some reason? Tré was confused and getting a bit freaked out by now. Then he had an idea.
"Er here dog." He called then muttered "Shit... what was its name? Ricki? No... wait!" "Here Rocko, find the crazy person," The dog didn't move so much as a hair.
"Nice try Mr. Cool, but unfortunately that dog won't listen to a damn thing you say. I trained him to respond to my voice and my voice alone so you're just going to have to figure things out for yourself. Then again that shouldn't be hard for the one and only Tré Cool now, should it?"
Tré paused as it suddenly dawned on him. He whipped around, spotting a maintenance ladder on the side of the building he had just come out of. He launched himself onto it and scrambled quickly up, leaping onto the roof.
"Gotcha!" He stopped confused. He could have sworn the voice was coming from up here but the gravel-strewn rooftop was empty save for an old a/c unit and pigeon poop.
He took a few steps forward, looking around, "This doesn't make any sense... "
"It makes perfect sense, Mr. Cool. Your actions where rash and unthought out and now... " The drummer whipped around only to find himself a hairs breadth from the muzzle of a pistol.
"...you're in trouble."
