Whisper in the Darkness - Ch14
~~~
From the alleyway Yamazaki and Lars had brought Ueda to a black SUV at the other end with a driver waiting in the front, smoking and drumming his fingers rhythmically on the wheel as he waited patiently for his cohorts to return. Yamazaki grinned back at Ueda who was being half carried by Lars who had a more than firm hold of his upper arm.
“This is Shu,” Ueda shot a look at the driver who glanced back at him before addressing Yamazaki.
“Oi, Yamazaki, we haven’t got time to play silly buggers with him, where’s the other one?” Yamazaki rolled his eyes and turned to the driver.
“I told you he’s not back from Osaka yet, we’ll have to be slightly creative, Lars-” he turned back to the silent giant.
“Kindly assist our passenger into the back of the vehicle, thank you,” Throwing open the door of the back of the SUV with one hand Lars let go of Ueda’s arm only to curl his hand around his throat again.
“Without suffocating him Lars, we still need him to be able to talk for a while,” Lars merely nodded in response and somehow managed to hold Ueda up by the neck without strangling him as he lifted him into the back of the car.
“Shu, I might need you back here,” Shu made a face and flicked the butt of his cigarette into the road.
“Why can’t Lars do it?” Ueda grew uneasy at their conversation, wondering what ‘it’ was exactly.
“Because, quite simply, he doesn’t fit in the back here,” Shu sniggered and got out of the driver’s seat. Lars shot Yamazaki an unreadable look before climbing into the passenger seat.
‘It’ simply proved to be holding Ueda’s arms securely behind his back while he and Shu knelt in the very back of the car and Yamazaki sat in the backseat leaning back over the headrests to be able to speak to him.
“I’d like you to call Nishikido Ryo for me,” Ueda glared up at him.
“So you can kill him too? I don’t think so,” he spat.
“We don’t want to kill you just yet, there are a few things we need you to tell us, and since it’s very important and the boss doesn’t want any mistakes he wants to hear that information himself, but he, coincidentally, isn’t back from Yokohama yet, so we need to get both of you to a secure location in the meantime,” Ueda stared expressionlessly at him and, leaning as far towards him as his restricted arms would allow, met Yamazaki’s eyes.
“You’re fucking insane,”
Yamazaki merely smiled at him.
“Ueda Tatsuya, if you don’t call him, I will, simple as that,” Ueda flinched back as the man reached into his jacket pocket and fished out his mobile. Scrolling down, once he found Ryo’s name Yamazaki hit ‘call’ and held the phone up to his ear. After a second he smiled and looked back at Ueda over his shoulder.
“It’s ringing,”
On the shinkansen Ryo drummed his fingertips against the armrest, unable to keep Ueda out of his mind, as he had been trying to do the entire journey. One he got back to Tokyo he had every intention of calling him and meeting him. He wanted so much to talk to him properly, though he was still unsure as to how willing Ueda would be to talk, he had to try.
Besides, more than anything, Ryo wanted to see Ueda’s eyes again.
At that moment Ryo’s phone vibrated in his pocket. Flipping it open he saw the call was from Ueda. He blinked in surprise and, not daring to speculate too much, raised the phone to his ear, pushing the answer button.
“Hello, Tatsuya?”
“Not quite Nishikido Ryo,”
Ryo frowned and tightened his grip on the phone.
“Who is this? Why are you using Tatsuya’s phone?”
“Well, I asked him to use it but he refused,”
“Where is he?”
“Oh he’s right here, Ueda Tatsuya you should say hello to your friend,” before Ryo had a chance to respond he heard Ueda’s voice in the background calling to him, telling him to hang up, before his voice was suddenly cut off and the unfamiliar voice was back.
“He’s not being as cooperative as we’d like, but maybe you’ll be different,” Ryo glanced around and turned to the window as the train shot through a small station without stopping. We’re only two stops away Ryo though frantically.
“What have you done to him?” he asked slowly.
“Oh now, we haven’t done anything to him! Well, my associate may have been less than gentle but we can look past that! Anyway, we need both of you to cooperate with us, all we need, is for you to speak with our boss, doesn’t that sound reasonable?” Ryo closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“What do you need us to talk about? We don’t even know you,”
“See, this isn’t so hard! We need to talk about the little…incident about a month ago,” Ryo’s eyes snapped open. Now that he thought about it, the police had never gotten back to them about the case, and in the effort to take care of Ueda he’d completely forgotten about it.
Until now.
He bit his lip, remembering the explosion, the heat of the flames, the bite of the glass on his skin…the sight of Ueda lying motionless, the blood around his closed eyes, the paper whiteness of his skin, the agonising stretch of time until the ambulance arrived…
“I swear, you do anything to him-”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, no need to get aggressive Nishikido Ryo, just meet us somewhere for a chat with our boss and this’ll all be over,”
Ryo didn’t think for a second it would be as simple as that but if he didn’t want them to hurt Ueda before he could get there he’d have to do as they asked. He had no idea what he could do even if he was there, but there was no way he couldn’t go…
“Where?”
“Warehouse district near the docks, there’s one two minutes through the gate, got half a big wooden sign over the doors, it’s red and the kanji for metal* is painted on it in white,”
Ryo paused.
Dimly, he was aware of the person on the other end speaking to someone else.
“Shu, the duct tape is right behind-yeah, that’s it,”
Ryo winced, listening to the sticky tearing sound of the tape being unwound from the reel.
“Now drive, hurry up,” there was a muffled voice in the background and the sound of car doors and an engine.
“Well, we’re on the move and we should be at our location in just ten minutes or so, how far away are you Nishikido Ryo, you’re on your way back from Osaka aren’t you,” Ryo winced, it wasn’t a question, they knew, they knew everything about them…
“We’re about two stops away,”
“Good, so about half an hour from Tokyo maximum, from the station it should only take twenty minutes by taxi, oh, and no police, I suppose that’s obvious isn’t it? Hey, how about you say hi to your friend before I hang up,”
Ryo opened his mouth to reply but before he could Ueda’s voice, slightly breathless and shaking ever so slightly was in his ear.
“Ryo?”
“Tatsuya! What the hell is going on, who are these guys?”
“I don’t know exactly,”
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” he heard Ueda give a short humourless laugh.
“Well, I have a newfound appreciation for oxygen,”
“Tatsuya…”
“Don’t come Ryo, stay away, please,” Ryo screwed up his eyes and leant his forehead against the window.
“You know I can’t, I can’t just leave you,”
“You’re so fucking stubborn,” Ueda said quietly, his voice cracking slightly.
“Look who’s talking,”
“Ryo?”
“Yeah?” Leaning up against the back door of the SUV, his knees drawn up, his feet, in their sneakers, pressed against the carpeted floor and his hands duct taped behind him, his wrists pressed awkwardly against the small of his back, Yamazaki’s arm outstretched to hold the phone to his ear, Ueda took a deep breath and licked his lips, imploring his voice to stay steady.
“This guy already told you not to call the police but…do me another favour?”
“Tatsuya-”
“Don’t tell Kame, or Yucchi, or Yamashita-kun or anyone, don’t tell them, please?” Ryo ran a hand through his hair.
“Alright, alright I won’t,”
“Good, they don’t need to get involved,”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,”
“I wish you wouldn’t,”
“Tatsuya…”
“I know,”
“Guess I’ll see you soon,”
There was the pause and then a click and a dial tone. Ryo’s hand dropped into his lap and he slowly flipped his phone shut with a tiny clap. He bit his lip and clenched his fists in his lap, screwing up his eyes.
Fuck, fuck, fucking fuck…
He had nothing, absolutely nothing, he could think of no way to save the one he loved, all he could think was that he had to meet up with these crazy people as soon as possible…
His phone suddenly vibrated briefly in his lap. Flipping it open he was met with a brief text from Ueda’s phone informing him f the address of an old warehouse where the guy using the phone wanted him to meet them.
Alright, if there was nothing more he could do, he would at least get to Ueda as soon as he could, he’d figure everything else out from there.
~~~
( part2 )
From the alleyway Yamazaki and Lars had brought Ueda to a black SUV at the other end with a driver waiting in the front, smoking and drumming his fingers rhythmically on the wheel as he waited patiently for his cohorts to return. Yamazaki grinned back at Ueda who was being half carried by Lars who had a more than firm hold of his upper arm.
“This is Shu,” Ueda shot a look at the driver who glanced back at him before addressing Yamazaki.
“Oi, Yamazaki, we haven’t got time to play silly buggers with him, where’s the other one?” Yamazaki rolled his eyes and turned to the driver.
“I told you he’s not back from Osaka yet, we’ll have to be slightly creative, Lars-” he turned back to the silent giant.
“Kindly assist our passenger into the back of the vehicle, thank you,” Throwing open the door of the back of the SUV with one hand Lars let go of Ueda’s arm only to curl his hand around his throat again.
“Without suffocating him Lars, we still need him to be able to talk for a while,” Lars merely nodded in response and somehow managed to hold Ueda up by the neck without strangling him as he lifted him into the back of the car.
“Shu, I might need you back here,” Shu made a face and flicked the butt of his cigarette into the road.
“Why can’t Lars do it?” Ueda grew uneasy at their conversation, wondering what ‘it’ was exactly.
“Because, quite simply, he doesn’t fit in the back here,” Shu sniggered and got out of the driver’s seat. Lars shot Yamazaki an unreadable look before climbing into the passenger seat.
‘It’ simply proved to be holding Ueda’s arms securely behind his back while he and Shu knelt in the very back of the car and Yamazaki sat in the backseat leaning back over the headrests to be able to speak to him.
“I’d like you to call Nishikido Ryo for me,” Ueda glared up at him.
“So you can kill him too? I don’t think so,” he spat.
“We don’t want to kill you just yet, there are a few things we need you to tell us, and since it’s very important and the boss doesn’t want any mistakes he wants to hear that information himself, but he, coincidentally, isn’t back from Yokohama yet, so we need to get both of you to a secure location in the meantime,” Ueda stared expressionlessly at him and, leaning as far towards him as his restricted arms would allow, met Yamazaki’s eyes.
“You’re fucking insane,”
Yamazaki merely smiled at him.
“Ueda Tatsuya, if you don’t call him, I will, simple as that,” Ueda flinched back as the man reached into his jacket pocket and fished out his mobile. Scrolling down, once he found Ryo’s name Yamazaki hit ‘call’ and held the phone up to his ear. After a second he smiled and looked back at Ueda over his shoulder.
“It’s ringing,”
On the shinkansen Ryo drummed his fingertips against the armrest, unable to keep Ueda out of his mind, as he had been trying to do the entire journey. One he got back to Tokyo he had every intention of calling him and meeting him. He wanted so much to talk to him properly, though he was still unsure as to how willing Ueda would be to talk, he had to try.
Besides, more than anything, Ryo wanted to see Ueda’s eyes again.
At that moment Ryo’s phone vibrated in his pocket. Flipping it open he saw the call was from Ueda. He blinked in surprise and, not daring to speculate too much, raised the phone to his ear, pushing the answer button.
“Hello, Tatsuya?”
“Not quite Nishikido Ryo,”
Ryo frowned and tightened his grip on the phone.
“Who is this? Why are you using Tatsuya’s phone?”
“Well, I asked him to use it but he refused,”
“Where is he?”
“Oh he’s right here, Ueda Tatsuya you should say hello to your friend,” before Ryo had a chance to respond he heard Ueda’s voice in the background calling to him, telling him to hang up, before his voice was suddenly cut off and the unfamiliar voice was back.
“He’s not being as cooperative as we’d like, but maybe you’ll be different,” Ryo glanced around and turned to the window as the train shot through a small station without stopping. We’re only two stops away Ryo though frantically.
“What have you done to him?” he asked slowly.
“Oh now, we haven’t done anything to him! Well, my associate may have been less than gentle but we can look past that! Anyway, we need both of you to cooperate with us, all we need, is for you to speak with our boss, doesn’t that sound reasonable?” Ryo closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“What do you need us to talk about? We don’t even know you,”
“See, this isn’t so hard! We need to talk about the little…incident about a month ago,” Ryo’s eyes snapped open. Now that he thought about it, the police had never gotten back to them about the case, and in the effort to take care of Ueda he’d completely forgotten about it.
Until now.
He bit his lip, remembering the explosion, the heat of the flames, the bite of the glass on his skin…the sight of Ueda lying motionless, the blood around his closed eyes, the paper whiteness of his skin, the agonising stretch of time until the ambulance arrived…
“I swear, you do anything to him-”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, no need to get aggressive Nishikido Ryo, just meet us somewhere for a chat with our boss and this’ll all be over,”
Ryo didn’t think for a second it would be as simple as that but if he didn’t want them to hurt Ueda before he could get there he’d have to do as they asked. He had no idea what he could do even if he was there, but there was no way he couldn’t go…
“Where?”
“Warehouse district near the docks, there’s one two minutes through the gate, got half a big wooden sign over the doors, it’s red and the kanji for metal* is painted on it in white,”
Ryo paused.
Dimly, he was aware of the person on the other end speaking to someone else.
“Shu, the duct tape is right behind-yeah, that’s it,”
Ryo winced, listening to the sticky tearing sound of the tape being unwound from the reel.
“Now drive, hurry up,” there was a muffled voice in the background and the sound of car doors and an engine.
“Well, we’re on the move and we should be at our location in just ten minutes or so, how far away are you Nishikido Ryo, you’re on your way back from Osaka aren’t you,” Ryo winced, it wasn’t a question, they knew, they knew everything about them…
“We’re about two stops away,”
“Good, so about half an hour from Tokyo maximum, from the station it should only take twenty minutes by taxi, oh, and no police, I suppose that’s obvious isn’t it? Hey, how about you say hi to your friend before I hang up,”
Ryo opened his mouth to reply but before he could Ueda’s voice, slightly breathless and shaking ever so slightly was in his ear.
“Ryo?”
“Tatsuya! What the hell is going on, who are these guys?”
“I don’t know exactly,”
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” he heard Ueda give a short humourless laugh.
“Well, I have a newfound appreciation for oxygen,”
“Tatsuya…”
“Don’t come Ryo, stay away, please,” Ryo screwed up his eyes and leant his forehead against the window.
“You know I can’t, I can’t just leave you,”
“You’re so fucking stubborn,” Ueda said quietly, his voice cracking slightly.
“Look who’s talking,”
“Ryo?”
“Yeah?” Leaning up against the back door of the SUV, his knees drawn up, his feet, in their sneakers, pressed against the carpeted floor and his hands duct taped behind him, his wrists pressed awkwardly against the small of his back, Yamazaki’s arm outstretched to hold the phone to his ear, Ueda took a deep breath and licked his lips, imploring his voice to stay steady.
“This guy already told you not to call the police but…do me another favour?”
“Tatsuya-”
“Don’t tell Kame, or Yucchi, or Yamashita-kun or anyone, don’t tell them, please?” Ryo ran a hand through his hair.
“Alright, alright I won’t,”
“Good, they don’t need to get involved,”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,”
“I wish you wouldn’t,”
“Tatsuya…”
“I know,”
“Guess I’ll see you soon,”
There was the pause and then a click and a dial tone. Ryo’s hand dropped into his lap and he slowly flipped his phone shut with a tiny clap. He bit his lip and clenched his fists in his lap, screwing up his eyes.
Fuck, fuck, fucking fuck…
He had nothing, absolutely nothing, he could think of no way to save the one he loved, all he could think was that he had to meet up with these crazy people as soon as possible…
His phone suddenly vibrated briefly in his lap. Flipping it open he was met with a brief text from Ueda’s phone informing him f the address of an old warehouse where the guy using the phone wanted him to meet them.
Alright, if there was nothing more he could do, he would at least get to Ueda as soon as he could, he’d figure everything else out from there.
~~~
( part2 )