TW: Some implied violence

*Roman POV*

"Something happened to him," Logan says.

"Well, no dip Watson," I say.

I call him Watson because he would rather be Sherlock.

"We should go to the police," Patton says.

"No, they won't do anything. They didn't for you two," Logan says.

"Oh," Patton says, "But we need to do something!"

"I agree, I think that Jason kid is dangerous," I say.

He reminds me way too much of a psychopath.

"Well, we should start searching," Logan says.

"Split up and meet back here in like two hours," I say.

They nod, and we split up. I'm going to search the neighborhood.

There's a meadow, small river, and the edge of the forest here. Which is odd, considering we're only a ten-minute walk from the school.

I search the meadow first, for any other clues. There's nothing, of course. I move on the river.

The only thing I get there are wet socks. All that's left to search is the neighborhood. I don't have high hopes.

I knock on everyone's doors, asking around. No one seems to know. When I get to the final house, the Jason kid answers.

"Sup, loser," He says.

"Hi. Do you know where Virgil is?" I ask.

"Not a clue. Not that I care, either," Jason says.

"Let me know if you do," I say, "Please,"

He rolls his eyes.

"Whatever," He says.

Jason shuts the door and I walk back to the meadow.

I find Patton and Logan already there.

"Anything?" I ask.

They shake their heads.

"I searched the entire forest, including up in the trees," Logan says.

"I checked the park and mall area," Patton says.

"Maybe we should check his house again," I say.

They nod. We walk over to Virgil's house.

"Should we knock or..?" I trail off.

"We could just look through his window. It looks easy to climb up to," Patton suggests.

"Sure," I shrug.

We walk to the side of his house, and I climb the ladder like side up to his window. I feel kinda like a criminal, but I'm not. I peer through his window.

"Nothing," I say.

I take another look when I see movement. I see a person. But not Virgil. This guy has a bowler hat, burn scar, and bright yellow gloves.

"Guys, we should run," I say.

I climb down and we get moving.

"What did you see?" Patton asks.

"J-Dee," I growl. 

"Why would he be in Virgil's house?" Logan asks.

"I dunno, but he's there," I say, "And anywhere he is is a place we should avoid,"

We end up back at the meadow.

"That's fair, but don't you think we should have stayed and questioned him?" Logan asks.

"Maybe, but I doubt he'd tell the truth," I say.

"Yeah, that kid lies way too much," Patton says.

"Fine," Logan says, "We'll continue our investigation on Monday,"

"Sounds good," I say.

"Ok!" Patton says.

*Virgil POV*

Down here time isn't real. Technically, it's not real in the first place, but here I can't sense it at all. It could be 1 AM or 3 PM for all I know.

I'm really bored. I wish I had my earbuds, but they're probably in my sweatshirt with my phone.

"I'm booooored," I whine.

"Shut up and go to sleep," I hear Jason call from the other side of the door.

I hear quiet discussion, and the door opens. J-Dee comes in and unties my legs.

"You can walk around now, but that's it," He says.

"Thanks. Give Jason a thank you kiss for me, would you?" I say.

J-Dee gives a quiet laugh. I smile as he leaves the room. I know I shouldn't, but I can tell he's probably going to be the nicest person to me here.

I look upwards and see a tiny window. One I hadn't noticed before. It's too small to climb through or even poke my head out. That's if I was even able to reach it. But I see that's it's close to midnight.

I start making random noises to annoy Jason.

"Shut it or I'll gag you!" He shouts.

"Do it, coward," I say.

He won't. He's a wimp, this is probably the bravest thing he's ever done.

A few hours later, or maybe a day, I don't know, Jason walks in.

"What do you want this time?" I ask.

"An apology. Just say you're sorry and I won't hurt you," He says.

"Ok, one, no. Two, you already hurt me. Three, no," I say.

He shrugs.

"Have it your way," He says, pulling out a baseball bat.

It was at this moment, I realized, I'd messed up.

---

It looks like my black eye spread across my body. It feels like it too. Everything hurts.

No ones coming to rescue me. I have to escape on my own. But how? I'm not exactly in good condition, and I have a bad cough right now. From what, I don't know.

I pull out the stress ball I keep hidden in my shirt. When I take a closer look at it, I realize it's mine. The one I keep in my room. It's got the same parts chipped away and everything.

I don't bother wondering if J-Dee took it from my room. He most definitely did. I don't remember if I locked my window or not. Probably not.

I slump over on my side. Everything still hurts and I'm tired. I think I'll take a nap.

Just as I'm about to, I break into a coughing fit. It lasts a good three minutes and leaves me with a sore throat. Goody.

I get into a more comfortable position and fall asleep. For once.

---

My dreams weren't pleasant, but that's not a shock. I look up at the window. It's cloudy out. Great, that tells me nothing about the time.

"Yo, Jason," I say, "You done with me yet?"

No response.

"Seriously, this is getting stupid," I say.

Still nothing.

"Yoo-hoo? Anyone home?" I call.

Maybe he's at school. Which would mean it's between 9-3. Really doesn't narrow it down, but still, it's good to know.

I stand up and start wandering the small room. It' not that big, you can maybe fit five people here. Thankfully I'm not claustrophobic, or this place would be even worse.

I sit back down after a few minutes when my legs start to ache. It's going to take a while to heal, isn't it?

How do I escape? That should be on my mind more, but it's not. I guess I'm just waiting for Jason to wimp out and release me. Maybe I'm underestimating him.

I beat the odds and managed to keep on schedule the past few days, which is surprising for me. I hope you enjoyed reading, and feel free to leave any thoughts or feedback in the comments. Have a fantastic day/night you magnificent peep!