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

Joe glowered darkly at the closed bathroom door, his blue eyes filled with malice. Inside, he seethed, angry at the world – for his stupidity…and Mandy.

How could you? he demanded mentally at his twin. How could you get yourself in a place where HE could touch you? Damn it, Mandy! How?!

Joe hopped up off the bed, limping slightly from the still healing brand mark on the bottom of his foot, and he began to pace, back and forth, up and down, trying to purge the anger with physical movement. He knew – deep down – that it wasn’t really Mandy he was angry at. He stopped, finally, and slid down to the floor, wrapping both arms around his knees. He sat motionless, eyes fixed on a point in the distance.

Frank was blind.

Joe was used to relying on his brother pulling him out of scrapes – just like Joe was used to pulling Frank out of them. It seemed fairly equal, their ability to ‘find trouble.’ Some weeks it seemed to sway heavily against one brother or the other but the next week it would even out. He doubted they would ever prove, between Frank’s over-thinking and planning, and Joe’s impulsively charge-in attitude, which was better.

Perhaps, Joe considered, it’s a mix of both.

Joe sighed and leaned back again, almost hitting his head on the wall behind him, which reminded him that his head hurt. He rubbed the back of his head where he hit the floor the day before, and grimaced when he felt the lump there. Easy to forget on top of other issues but still present, he knew he had to take better care of it. Or, at least, not whack it against a wall or the bed or Derak’s head when he saw the man again….

Joe’s attention turned back to the door of the bathroom and he frowned, wondering just what Derak planned to do with the both of them. Joe knew, only too well, what happened a few days before, just before they left the dungeon room. He tried not to think about it or remember – if he did, he would lose the contents of his stomach all over the floor and have to live with the smell – but he did remember. He pushed the memories way back; he had no way to deal with them right now. Maybe later.

Joe got back to his feet again and crossed, cautiously, over to the bathroom door. He knocked softly.

“Andrew?” he said through the closed door. “Andrew?”

“What?” the curt voice said from within. “What do you want?”

“Are you all right?” Joe asked, unperturbed by the seeming hostility from his cousin.

There was a massive release of air from within the room – a sigh of major proportions as far as Joe was concerned – but Andrew finally opened the door and peered out at Joe. “I’m fine.”

Joe raised both eyebrows at that and chewed on his lower lip, stopping only when he realized he was channeling Mandy for some reason. He shook his head.

“What’s wrong?” Joe asked.

“Nothing,” Andrew said. “Everything. I don’t know.”

Joe blinked. “Which is it?”

“Everything.” The younger cousin stepped out of the bathroom and stood there, looking sheepish and small, though he was the same height as Joe. “Being here, worried what’s going to happen and…I’m worried about you too, Joe.”

“Drew…” Joe touched his cousin’s shoulder, squeezing it in friendship. “I’m fine. No matter what happens here, no matter how much further Uncle Derak goes, I’m not going to let him beat me. You have to decide that for yourself too. Otherwise, he wins. Not gonna happen on my watch!”

Andrew laughed, bleakly, no smile coming into his eyes or face.

“That’s good,” he commented, softly. “Glad you feel so strongly about it, Joe…”

Joe watched his cousin move around the room again, walking slowly, stopping occasionally against one wall or the other.

“I already looked for a way out,” Joe said. “Never found one. Well, not before I fell and hurt my head. Again.”

“What?” Andrew stared at him.

“I fell off a chair and hit my head,” Joe shrugged. “It happens. It was stupid, anyway.”

Andrew turned away again and Joe let him explore on his own while he went into the bathroom. Joe got a cold washcloth and held it to the back of his head, wincing in pain. Joe came out of the bathroom to find Andrew kneeling on the floor, reaching for something through a small hole in the wall.

“This slid open while you were in the bathroom,” Joe’s cousin told him. “Come on over, looks like food. Is this how he always feeds you?”

“Pretty much,” Joe agreed as he went to pick up the tray of food. There were two large glasses of orange juice, along with a plate of eggs and bacon and toast.

“Does this mean it’s morning or does he want us to think it’s morning?” Andrew asked Joe as he took a bite of the bacon and began to nibble on it.

“Dunno,” Joe shrugged as he took a piece of toast and ate at it. “Here’s your glass of orange juice.”

Andrew made a repulsed face. “He knows I hate orange juice. Do you remember that? When we were kids you would always drink my orange juice for me.”

“Oh, yeah!” Joe grinned. “I do remember that! Your mom kept making you drink the orange juice even though you didn’t like it so I would drink your share when she wasn’t looking. Man, I was scared she was going to catch us!”

“Me too,” Andrew laughed. “I’ll just get some water from the bathroom. You want my orange juice again?”

“Sure,” Joe agreed as he picked up one of the large glasses and took a drink. “Mmmm…good stuff.”

Andrew laughed as he disappeared into the bathroom, coming out with a small paper cup filled with water. Joe took one of the forks and ate on the plate of eggs, handing Andrew his own fork so the younger boy could start on the other side of the plate.

“Kind of like a picnic,” Andrew said, around a mouthful of eggs. Joe took another bite of his toast and another long swallow of orange juice.

“Too bad you don’t like the orange juice. Tastes fresh squeezed.”

Andrew shrugged and smiled around a mouthful of bacon. The two boys ate companionably for several long minutes before Joe shook his head.

“Something wrong?” Andrew asked Joe in a soft voice.

“Mmm, no,” Joe denied as he rubbed his head. Why was he dizzy all of a sudden? Was that knock on the head giving him a delayed reaction of some kind?

Joe ate a couple more bites of eggs and barely managed to swallow them before he dropped his fork onto the tray.

“Andrew,” he gasped. “Something’s wrong…”

And then he fell backward, passing out almost instantly.

**** **** **** ****

The world passed by in a wobbly whirl of sensations. When he tried to open his eyes he only saw whirling lights, cascading into colors of yellow and blue and more lights.

Then he finally focused, a narrow pinprick of vision that allowed him to see blue eyes and red lips.

Andrew. He smiled, then, comforted by his cousin’s presence.

Until, suddenly, the red lips lowered and he felt their warmth against his own. Joe gave a start and started to push back when something heavy covered him and the whirling started again, giving, once more, into blackness.

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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.