To Rule In Shadow

Adrian turned his head, since he couldn't move his body, and was greeted with the sight of a high-end silk tie. This tie was attached to a mountain of a man dressed in an equally high-end suit. Craning his head, he was able to catch a glimpse of a mouth pulled into a permanent smirk.

"We need to have a discussion, you and I, about some property of ours that has fallen into your hands." The voice continued, as two other dark suited men quickly moved to surround him.

Warning bells were going off in Adrian's head, but he didn't see many options. They were clearly professionals, and they had made sure to block his avenues of escape before he had a chance to respond.

In cold voice, Adrian spoke, "I'm not sure who you are or what you are talking about, but I would recommend releasing me. Since you know my name, you must know of my family, and you must have heard about what happens to those who cross them."

For moment there was a hint of fear in the giant's eyes, but it was quickly replaced with an almost reptilian cunning. "There's no need for threats Mr. Veldt. We simply want to reclaim our lost possession. Now, if you don't mind, let's move somewhere a little more convenient for our conversation. Once we are done, you will be free to go back to whatever it was you were doing."

They had caught Adrian behind the Meyer building, which was unfortunately in one of the more deserted sections of campus. He could try yelling for help, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it would be fruitless. His best bet right now, was to play along and find a good opportunity to escape. While the three of them looked to be in good shape, and might be armed, he was confident in his physical fitness and felt he could outrun them if necessary.

"Alright, lead the way. Just know that if any harm befalls me, you and your organization will suffer the consequences." He spoke in a low, threatening voice.

"I guarantee you, Mr. Veldt," The scarred man emphasized his last name, "that, so long as you cooperate, no harm will be befall you."

One of the other two suits, a man with a shaven head, took the lead, while the giant followed closely behind Adrian. They moved through a small wooded section of campus, before emerging out onto a nearby city street. A black SUV with tinted windows sat idling nearby, another man behind the wheel.

They had obviously planned this abduction out, and Adrian knew that as soon as he got into that vehicle, his chances of escape would become very slim.

He stopped a little ways away, and addressed his supposed kidnappers. "I think we've gone far enough. If you have something you want to discuss with me, you can do so here." He said while turning to face the scarred man. They were on a reasonably crowded city street, and he figured they wouldn't want to cause a scene.

The giant flashed a look of irritation. "I understand this all must seem a little unorthodox, but if you simply cooperate, this will go a whole lot smoother for you." He moved to grab hold of Adrian, but was interrupted by a soft whipping noise and the cracking of glass. One of the men cried out and clutched at his left eye.

Not sure what happened, but recognizing a chance when he saw one, Adrian drove an elbow into the bald man's stomach, shoved him out of the way, and was running before the other two suits had a chance to respond.

"Stop him!" The giant growled, reaching out in a futile attempt to grab the fleeing youth's jacket. His gloved hands slid off the slick material, failing to find purchase.

Not bothering to look back, Adrian sprinted down the street, weaving in and out of pedestrians. If he could lose them in the crowd, he could hide somewhere and make a few phone calls.

He heard the roar of an engine and the squeal of tires as the SUV took off after him. Judging from the sound of it, he only had a few seconds before it caught up.

Ducking behind a group of tourists wearing "PORTUM CITY" t-shirts despite the chill, he flew down the stairs leading towards the subway.

He vaulted over the turnstile, earning a disapproving look from an overweight security guard that promptly went back to reading his newspaper. The sounds of cursing and pursuit told him that he hadn't gained as much distance as he'd hoped.

[Time for Plan B.]

Adrian took a right through a slightly dingier corridor, leading into a section of the station that had far less traffic.

A little known fact about the 17th Street subway station was that it is one of the first stations built, back in the early 20th century when the system was being constructed. Over the years, it has undergone several renovations. In one particular instance during the late 80s, the city ran out of money for the project and had to fire the work crews three months early, while they were still in the middle of setting up a new section that would connect the station to another nearby rail line.

It had created a minor scandal at the time, since the workers were unionized. In the ensuing legal battle, the unfinished portion of the station was blocked off and largely forgotten. A few years later, the city was able to scrounge up enough money to finish some of the work, but the original plans had gone missing, and the new ones were mismanaged by the contracting company. As a result, the contractors simply walled off the majority of the new section, only leaving a single maintenance tunnel open.

Brad, one of the staff members of The Journal, had done a piece on the station during its most recent renovations, and a little bit of research had revealed the discrepancy. Always up for a little adventure, the reporter took to the field and went looking for the abandoned section. He'd found it in a little used corner of the station, behind a rusty security door with a 'DO NOT ENTER' sign.

Ordinarily this would have been the end of the investigation. Luckily, Brad had learned some basic lock picking when he was in high school in an effort to impress girls. While it had done nothing to help with his love life, he still found enough use for his skills in his daily life to carry around a set of tools with him. After a frustrating hour, he eventually managed to finesse the rusted lock open.

The unfinished section of the station proved to be dusty and full of old detritus left behind by the workers after they'd heard about being laid off. Rats had the run of the place, and it was filled with the dank and musty scent of mildew and rodent feces. Since the platform was still blocked off from the rest of the rail lines, not even the members of the city's homeless population had found the place.

In a pique of curiosity Adrian had visited the place himself a few days later. The section had proved to be every bit as dirty and repugnant as Brad had described, so after a little poking around, he'd left and had largely forgot about it.

Adrian recalled the abandoned section of the station in a rush of memories, and fearing that one or more of the suits might be working to cut him off, he decided to chance it. With luck, they would think he took off down one of the subway tunnels, as suicidal as that might be. At the very least, it should buy him enough time to make a few phone calls.

He rounded the corner and saw the door, looking every bit as decrepit as he remembered. It was tucked into the corner of a little used intersection of passages moving from one subway line to another. Since there were faster and better maintained passages that led to the same locations, these had been largely neglected.

Moving as quickly as he could, he wrenched the door open and quietly closed it behind him. Panting, he waited until he heard the sounds of thundering footsteps, before holding his breath.

A huffing male voice rang out, "Where did he go?"

Another voice, filled with anger, and not at all winded, answered "He took off down this passage, so he can't be far. You, check down that way. You, take Seth and see if he went that direction."

The first voice returned. "Hey, it looks like there's a door over there." Footsteps sounded as the man approached.

Adrian grasped the handle of the door as tightly as he could manage, trying to hold it in place as the suit tried to twist it. There was a few moments of pressure, before the man gave up.

"Looks like it's locked."

Adrian listened until he could no longer hear the men. He sighed in relief, and pulled out his cell phone. Unfortunately, he didn't have service. It wasn't uncommon in the older tunnels of the subway, but there may be some spots where he could find better reception.

Turning the light of his phone on, he began hunting for such a spot. After a few fruitless minutes spent picking his way carefully among the junk that littered the space, he finally decided to just wait the suits out. He figured that they would eventually give up, which could give him time to make a getaway.

Dusting off a crate, he took a seat and started thinking over the situation. He couldn't imagine what the scarred guy had been talking about. Adrian had a few valuable possessions, but nothing that would warrant his kidnapping, especially when you factored in the reprisals his family was likely to conduct. There was nothing new in his life, unless...

Adrian pulled the brass key out of his pocket. Somehow, he had almost forgotten about the mysterious object that had show up on his doorstep just yesterday. The timing couldn't have been a coincidence.

The key felt warm to the touch, and he thought he felt it pulse faintly in a manner that was disturbingly close to a heartbeat.

He heard the click of a lock behind him.

Spinning, he fumbled for his cell phone to turn the light back on, only to find that the battery had died. He began to panic at the thought of being trapped in deserted place, so far underground, in the dark.

Suddenly, an outline of a closed door was visible directly in front of him, white light shining from the cracks around its frame.

He was sure that when he was looking around earlier, there wasn't a door there. It was something that he'd made sure of. The only entrance or exit to the area was the security door, which was off to his left and down a few steps.

Summoning his courage, he stepped forward, and reached out to feel for the door. He wanted to see if it was real.

His fingers encountered a cool, slick surface that felt a bit like lacquered wood. Fumbling around he eventually found a knob. He twisted it, experimentally, and found it to be locked. A little more investigation revealed a keyhole a little lower on the door.

[No way.....]

The key was still in his hand, and with trembling fingers he slid it into the lock. He was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling that he was standing at a precipice, looking down into the abyss, and getting ready to jump. If he turned the key, there would be no going back.

A manic grin split his face, as his eyes alighted with d.e.s.i.r.e he'd never felt before. He turned the key, and felt the door unlock.

With an almost inaudible creek it slowly opened, bathing him in intense light.