If You Knew What I Knew:
Chapter 21

Howie

    We all leaned forward.
    “What?” AJ asked.
    “I have him.  I’m torturing him.”
    “No, you don’t have him.  Nick’s dead.” AJ said harshly.
    “No, no he’s not.  He’s perfectly alive in Mark’s basement.  I don’t know what Mark did to make you think that he was dead, but he’s alive.  I promise you, he’s alive.”
    “Take us to Mark’s house then.” I said, not releasing my grip on her.
    “Alright.” Her voice was still happy.
    I released her then, and grabbed her by the wrist roughly.  I led her back to Brian’s car, the knife still in my hands.
    “Wait!” She cried.  “My snakes!”
    “You hate snakes.” I pulled her and kept walking.
    She slapped at my hands and stopped walking, forcing me to stop. 
    “Polly Anna hated snakes.  I love them.” Her voice was matter-of-factly and she pursed her lips.  “I’m getting my snakes.”
    “But they’re dead.” I said, not understanding.
    “Exactly,” she said, pulling me in the direction of the snakes, which were lying in the grass at the same spot where I had dropped them.  “I killed them.  It’s a sign of my new strength.  I love snakes because I love to kill them.”  She bent over to pick up the snakes.  “Okay, let’s go,” she said when she had them.
    We got into Brian’s car and she led us straight to Mark’s house.  She got out and led us up the steps.
    “I didn’t think it was gonna be so easy,” Brian whispered to me.
    “Me neither.”
    She opened the door and waited for us to follow her inside the house.
    “Mark’s not home.”  She walked to a staircase that led to the basement and started her way down.
    “Do you think this is a trap?” Kevin asked.
    I didn’t answer because I didn’t want to think about it.  I just followed Polly Anna down the stair case.  She stopped at the bottom to open a door. 
    “He’s in there.” She gestured inside.
    “Oh no, you don’t.” Kevin said.  “I’m not about to fall for the ‘you go ahead of me’ thing.  Then you’ll just lock us in there.  You’re coming with us.”  He pushed ahead of me and picked up Polly Anna and threw her over his shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes.  He led the way into the basement.
    “Oh my gosh.” He muttered, so surprised that he nearly lost his grip on Polly Anna.
    I walked into the basement and knew why Kevin nearly dropped Polly.
    “What did you do to him?” Brian screamed at Polly Anna, running over to where Nick was.
    His arms had been strapped together behind the chair and his legs had been strapped to the chair.  His head was bent over and he was drooling.  He didn’t answer to anything that was said to him.  He couldn’t talk and he couldn’t move his body.  We figured this out as soon as we had unstrapped him from the chair.  His body went limp and he started to fall forward, towards Brian who was still knelt down in front of him.  He caught him in time and leaned him back against the chair.
    “What did you do to him?” Brian’s voice was quieter now.
    “We pumped him full of drugs.”
    “Drugs like pot drugs or what?” I asked.  Kevin had put Polly Anna down but he still had her wrist in a death grip.
    “No, the kind of drugs that they give to you at an asylum.  They’re used to settle down people who struggle when they’re put into the straight jacket.” She smiled at Nick, a proud glow covering her face.
    “Just how much of this stuff did you give him?” AJ asked.
    “Enough to kill a horse.  The healthy bastard didn’t die though.”
    “This is bad.” Brian muttered.  “Kevin, Howie, you guys pick him up and carry him to my car.  AJ, grab Polly Anna and don’t let her go.  I’ll call the hospital and tell them that we’re coming.”  He turned back to Nick.  “Hang on, buddy.  We’re gonna get you some help.  You’ll be fine.”  He stepped back when Kevin and I came to pick him up.  “I hope he’ll be fine.”

Chapter 22
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