HDA - Living in Darkness Trilogy - Pt 2 - The Search

Joe kept a very wary eye on Andrew as the other boy paced and restlessly prowled the room, obviously wishing to make his escape from the room and unable to do so, lest Joe slip out behind him into whatever freedom lay outside. The Hardy boy kept a careful hold on his plastic knife, ready to use it to slice and dice Andrew should the other boy come any closer to him than absolutely necessary.

"How long do you plan on us staying here?" Joe taunted Andrew again. "Till we both die of starvation?"

"You have to sleep sometime," Andrew declared.

"I bet you have to sleep first," Joe smirked. "I'm used to spending all night – several nights – on stake-out. Try spending six days and nights in a row in a car watching a warehouse and see how you do on sleep."

"Joe," Andrew turned to him, an imploring expression on his face.

"Don't say it!" Joe ordered. "I swear if you say it, Andrew, I will pound you into the ground right now. Do you understand me? Did I use words small enough for you, Andrew? Don't. Say. It."

Andrew turned away, pouting, and Joe wondered if his cousin had any hope of ever growing up in this lifetime. Somehow, Joe doubted it. Living his life being told he could have things that were not his and never would be, always getting his way…now Joe understood why his parents never made an issue of his mom's money and why they made him, Frank and Mandy work for what they got. In other circumstances he might end up just like Andrew and that was no way to live life.

Joe wondered if he’d made a mistake letting Andrew go. He might have found something to tie the other boy up with but hadn't had the option of looking for it at the time. He couldn't keep a tight hold on Andrew all the time, all he could do was make sure that if Andrew tried to slip out the passageway that Joe slipped out right behind him. If Andrew left this room, Joe was leaving too. It was that simple. No ifs, ands, or buts.

"You know I could very easily torture you into opening that passageway, don't you?" Joe eyed his makeshift knife and casually tested the edge with a finger.

"You wouldn't," Andrew breathed. "No way would you."

"Maybe not," Joe smiled. "But maybe so. You never know, do you? You let Uncle Derak turn you into a spoiled wimp. Do you know what I got out of it? I learned to fight back. Hard. Maybe what you have to ask yourself is how far I'm willing to go to get out of here. And you'd better really think about it if you want the right answer."

Joe slid back on the bed and tapped the knife against his leg, his eyes still on Andrew. Andrew slid down to the floor and locked his hands around his knees. Obviously lost in thought, the younger boy ignored Joe for a while.

Good, Joe thought hostilely. Think about it, Andy. Think about all the things I'd like to do to pay you back for what you did to me.

"What all have you done to my family?" Joe asked awhile later when he saw Andrew look up at him.

"What?" Andrew sounded confused. "Nothing, Joe…Nothing!"

"That's a lie!" Joe yelled. "I know you've hurt some of them! I remember you blowing up my house! I remember someone hit Vanessa with a car. And where did you get Mandy's hair, Andrew? You aren't telling me she just sent it to you as a gift, are you? Do I look that stupid?"

Andrew shrugged and looked away. Joe stormed to his feet but as he got near Andrew, his cousin scrambled away.

"Think you can outrun me, Andrew?" Joe asked in a low, menacing voice. "I'm the track star, remember? I'm the sports-a-holic, not you."

"Stay away from me!" Andrew shouted. "Just stay away!"

"Oh, the little baby wants me to stay away from him now," Joe taunted. "You didn't want to stay away from me, did you? What? You don't like being close unless I'm helpless? Unless I have so many drugs in my system I can't fight but I can feel? Is that how you need your victims? Helpless?"

"Joe, I…" Andrew said helplessly. "Please…stop!"

"NO!" Joe screamed. "Did you stop? Did you stop when I asked you to stop? Did you quit when I begged you not to do it? DID YOU?"

"N-no," Andrew whispered. "But I love you."

"And that makes it a thousand times worse!" Joe caught up to Andrew and shoved him against the wall. "You think love is being able to force someone to do what you want? Do you think love is being able to drug someone into immobility and violating them? Is that what love is to you?"

"I just…I just wanted to show you," Andrew whispered. "I wanted to show you how it could be. How good we are together. That's all…"

"It wasn't good," Joe whispered back. "None of it was good. Do you know what I feel like right now, Andrew?"

"N-no," Andrew said.

"How did you feel after Uncle Derak used you?" Joe asked.

Andrew was silent, the stark fear never leaving his eyes but growing even worse by the minute.

"Dirty," he swallowed. "Used. Angry. Hurt. But so dirty. Like I could never, ever be clean again."

"That's right," Joe said as he turned away from Andrew. "And that's exactly how I feel right now too. Dirty. Used. Angry. Hurt. Like I will never, ever be clean again."

He turned back to his cousin.

"Thank you so very much for bringing it all back to me, cousin. Thank you so very damned much."

Joe flounced over to the bed, sat down and closed his eyes.

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors 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.