hardy boys fan fiction
HOLE IN THE WORLD
hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction
by
Medieval Liz
Chapter 2
hardy boys fan fiction
THE CHAPTERS
Saturday, September 26, 3:25pm
Alone in the shadowed stairway Joe was fighting the rising panic. He didn’t like the dark. It was one of the few things he was actually afraid of. That, and being alone. Now he had to content with both fears.
Alone.
Although there was some light coming from the emergency lights, the stairway was starting to close in around him. If it wasn’t for his concern for his brother, he probably wouldn’t have been able to find the courage to move.
As it was, he was just struggling to his knees when the door to the floor above him opened with a resounding bang and heavy footsteps steadily made their way down toward him. Resting on his hands he watched when the third masked man rounded the corner with rising trepidation. He liked strangers as much as he liked the dark.
Beneath the ski mask there was a small smile on the man’s lips, and without second thought he walked passed Joe and toward the door.
Something inside the youngest Hardy snapped, and with a soft growl he lunged for the man’s knees.
“Give me back my brother you coward!”
The sudden weight around his legs caused the masked man to stumble to the floor with Joe’s scrawny arms wrapped around him. Pale green eyes regarded the boy curiously.
“Your brother, huh?” He shifted his weight, testing the grip of the little boy.
“Yes, my brother! Why’d you boneheads grab him anyway?” Joe demanded.
“Look Kid,” With ease the masked man grabbed Joe’s arms and pried them away from his legs, picking Joe up as he stood again. “We’re not going to hurt him. And you can tell your old man that. When he wakes up that is.”
“When he…?” Eyes wide with fright, Joe flailed and kicked the man with all he was worth. “Bad enough you steal my brother you had to hurt my Dad too? I hate you! I don’t know you, but I hate you anyway!”
The goon pushed Joe back away from him, forcing him to sit on the steps behind them. “Listen, Kid, I understand this is hard to understand right now, but I promise you your pop’s gonna be fine. So is your brother. We’re just going to borrow him for a little while. We’re not going to hurt him, he’s too valuable.”
“Damn straight he is!” Joe kicked again, the heel of his shoe catching the man’s shin. “So just let him go before I really kick your butt!”
The man’s hand reached out and Joe flinched thinking it about to strike him. Instead, he cringed as the hand ruffled his blonde hair and the man chuckled. “You got balls, Kid. Frank’s lucky to have a brother like you. I’ll make sure you get him back. Just not right now. So sit still before I have to hurt you, okay?”
The threat was not made idly, and reluctantly Joe nodded. In a flash, the man was gone out the door to the garage leaving Joe alone in the dimness again.
~~HBHBHB~~
Sunday, September 27, 6:30pm
The house on the corner was an uproar of activity. All day police, reporters, friends, family, everyone was coming and going trying to offer support or help find any information about Frank’s kidnapping. So far, nothing had turned up and that was causing more than a few people to lose their calm.
“What do you mean you’ve found nothing?!” Fenton Hardy was shouting into the receiver of his office phone. “Joe gave you a description of the van for gods’ sake! The red light cameras have to have… I know it’s a big area, Sam… Like hell you understand! This is my son we’re talking about! Now bloody well do something right and find me that van!”
The phone slammed down on its cradle and Joe flinched from where he sat on the stairs. He had never heard his father yell at his partner like that before. It scared him.
Fenton stormed out of his office and started for the living room when he spotted Joe on the stairs. His expression softened instantly and he was now walking slowly to sit beside his son on the topmost stair.
Joe watched him, his movement a little stiff. His fight with the masked man had hurt him more than he was letting on, Joe could tell by the bruise on his father’s temple and the faint limp.
“No news?” Joe asked in a whisper.
A strong arm pulled Joe into a half hug. “We’ll find him, Joe. I promise you we will.”
“But when?” Joe felt a tightness in his chest and a stinging at the corner of his eyes. “I was right there, Dad! I hear him, saw him, and I couldn’t-”
He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. “I let him down, Dad!”
“Oh Joe! No, you didn’t.” The embrace tightened in an effort to chase away the uncalled for guilt. “This is not your fault, son. You couldn’t have done anything differently.”
“I could have fought harder!” Joe exclaimed, anger replacing his grief. “I could have chased after them instead of sitting there in the dark like some… some…”
“Child?” Fenton offered sympathetically.
“Yea! I’m ten years old, I should have been able to stop them from taking my brother!”
“What does that say about me then? I’m four times your age and I couldn’t stop them either.”
“That guy beat you up, Dad, it’s not like you didn’t try.”
“And if you had tried, they could have – and would have – hurt you. How do you think your mother would feel if you were hurt right now?” Joe didn’t answer him. He just looked at his big toe that was poking through his sock.
“Listen to me, Joe,” Mr. Hardy started softly. “You have given us something that we can use. We know the vehicle they were driving and we know they’re not going to hurt your brother. That means we will find him and we will bring him home. You just have to have faith in me and everyone else that is looking for him. All right?”
Joe nodded slowly, not trusting his voice right now. He felt his father kiss him on the top of the head and hug him comfortingly. It worked, sort of. After a minute, Joe was able to speak past the overwhelming emotions he was feeling. “Dad? Do you think it was them?”
“Who, son?”
“Them,” He hissed, a tear slipping from the corner of his eye. “The Nightingales.”
There was a stunned silence until Fenton drew in a shuddering breath. “No, Joe, it wasn’t them. They’re still in prison.”
“They could have got out,” there was a tremor in Joe’s voice, one he was embarrassed to let his father hear. His father had thought him past the nightmare of five years ago, but the situation was bringing it all rushing back.
“And if you make any noise at all, I will slit your throat, drink your blood and then go get your brother… do you understand?”*1
“He told me he’d get Frank, Dad,” Joe whispered, shaking in his father’s arms.
“That was a long time ago, Joey, you’re safe now-”
“But Frank’s not.”
Fenton had no response to that. He just held his youngest as tightly as he could and let him cry. The old horrors of those few days was suddenly burning very raw in his memory. Images of five year old Joey, beaten black and blue at the hands of a pair of demented killers, beat mercilessly at his conscience. He could only pray that was not the case this time.
“Joe, I don’t want to scare you, but if it was the Nightingales do you really think they would have left you alone with just a little bump on the head?”
Grasping the chain that was fettered to Joe’s ankle, he pulled the protesting child towards him and then grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up off the bed. The child struggled weakly but as the enraged man continued squeezing his throat the protest was short lived and as Joe felt the world turn a sickening shade of yellow and felt his eye lids close, he knew he was going to die.
“Would it help if I made sure they were still in prison?” Fenton asked after a moment had passed. He felt Joe nod in his arms and reluctantly let him go. “Go lay down for a bit, Joe. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
Joe let his father help him to his feet and retreated to his room.
Fenton watched him go with a heavy heart. There would be no consoling the youngest Hardy, not until his brother was home safe and sound.
“Mr. Hardy?” A strong voice drew his attention from the closed bedroom door and Fenton looked down the stairs at the young Officer Riley. “I think we’ve got something.”
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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.