Chapter 12

Jason awoke to violent shakings, his eyes shooting open. He tried to stand up but was immediately pulled back into a leather chair by a pair of handcuffs on both wrists. Surprise and confusion overtaking him, Jason glanced at both of his wrists enclosed in steel, chained to the arms of a white leather chair. In front of him was a similar leather chair facing toward him, empty. He looked around expecting to find someone behind him but there was no one in the room. Then who shook me and woke me up?

He looked to the wall at his side and saw a small, circular window with sunlight shining through. The sky was an incredibly vivid blue without any visible clouds. He leaned over to get a better view out of the window and gasped when he looked down.

It was turbulence. I’m on an airplane.

The water below seemed motionless at this altitude, the glare from the sun blinding him. Jason remembered talking to Jenna after his exam, the party at his house, his conversation with Chris. The man with the white hair! Is he the reason I’m on this plane? The man shot him with a dart, rendering him unconscious. Jason could think of no other explanation as to why he woke up handcuffed on a plane. He tried breaking the handcuffs by forcibly swinging an arm across his body only to have it stop mid-swing with the resounding click of the tightening metal chain. Jason grimaced in pain and moved his arm back to the chair, succumbing to the security of the handcuffs.

He began to breathe more heavily, his heart rate increasing. Nowhere to go and no one in sight, Jason felt absolutely helpless. He closed his eyes hoping it was all a dream, that he would soon wake up in his bed at home. “Come on, come on…” he whispered under his breath, “wake up d****t.” He opened his eyes again only to wake up in the same chair wearing the same handcuffs. He slammed his head back on the headrest of the chair wishing he was somewhere else, anywhere else.

After a couple minutes, Jason heard some voices from behind him muffled by a door. He couldn’t make out any of the words, and he didn’t recognize any of the voices. He assumed one of the voices belonged to the man with the white hair, but had no way of knowing for sure. He turned around as far as he could to look at the door, the voices getting louder. Here they come.

The doorknob turned down and the door swung open. A large, burly man dressed in a black suit was standing in the doorway and staring directly at Jason. “He’s awake, sir.”

Jason turned around, breaking eye contact with the man and stared forward. He was having intense trouble trying to control his breathing, the gravity of everything coming together at once. He closed his eyes once more, “Please, please, please,” he pleaded under his breath. Jason tried to wipe off a tear that ran down his face but the handcuffs prevented him.

Jason heard footsteps near him and cringed, his muscles tightening at the thought of what might happen to him. Air rushed out of the chair across from him as the footsteps stopped. He attempted to open his eyes and had to blink to rid his eyes of the tears that had built up. Soon enough, Jason’s focused on the man that took the seat near him. “You’re okay, Jason. No need to cry.” The man with the white hair took out a handkerchief from the inside of his suit jacket and tried to hand it to him. Jason looked down at the handcuffs then back at the man. “Ah, the handcuffs. Erik, if you could.”

The man from the doorway walked over to Jason with a key and unlocked the handcuff on his right hand. Jason wiggled his wrist as the handcuff slid off, wiping his face with the back of his hand. The man across from him leaned back into his chair and slid the handkerchief back into his suit pocket. “Who…who are you?” Jason stuttered.

“My name is Simon. Simon Weld.” He glanced out the window, “I’m sorry I had to take you like that.” He looked back at Jason and grinned.

“You’re not sorry.” Simon laughed.

“Not especially, no. Although, as you can imagine, you were not the one I was trying to find, Jason. What use would I have for a college student,” Simon ran his hands through his white hair, “except for collateral?”

“Collateral for my brother, you mean?”

“Yes. I’m sure Chris told you something about us, but I’m not quite sure how much. Too bad he went out your window before I could ask him,” Simon paused. Jason barely knew anything about this man, why they were looking for Chris or even what they were doing. Chris mentioned something about a cure for cancer, but he didn’t want Simon to know that he knew. “He just said you were looking for him, that’s it.”

“I’m sure it is,” Simon said.

“Who are you?”

“I already told you. My name is Simon.”

“You know what I mean.” Jason’s anger and frustration surpassed his fear for being handcuffed in a chair, flying over the ocean with this man. “Who are you? Why is my brother running away from you?”

“Chris used to work for me. As a matter of fact, he was a very good worker, until he left that is.” Simon turned to Erik, “Get me a drink, if you could. Gin and tonic. Would you like something, Jason?”

“And have you poison me? No thanks.”

“I need you alive. What use would it be in poisoning you?” Simon frowned. “I’m no murderer, Jason. Why you think I’m trying to kill you is beyond me. You just need to get to know me a little better.”

“I have no interest in getting to know you.” Jason turned to Erik, “I’ll take a Coke.” Erik walked to the bar to pour the drinks. Jason sat staring out the window of the airplane watching the waves of the ocean below. “What do you want with my brother? I’m sure he had a good reason for leaving.”

“Of course he did,” Simon started. “They all have a good reason for leaving. We just have a better reason for bringing them back. Chris knows the ins and outs of what we’re doing. If his knowledge becomes public, all hell would break loose.”

“So you’re worried of being exposed?”

“That’s one way of putting it.” Erik came back with the drinks, placing them on the table between the two. Jason was having trouble keeping his thoughts together with the flood of questions in his head. There was one question that was on his mind for a long time but never had the opportunity to ask.

“That day a couple months ago, you watched me come out of a restaurant,” Jason started, “and my friend saw you.”

“Jenna, yes.” He knows her name. What else does he know? “That wasn’t the first time she’s seen me.”

“Why were you following her? What does she have to do with any of this?”

“Nothing really, but when someone gets close to the brother of the person you’re spending so much time looking for, it’s always good to cover your bases.” Simon took a sip of his drink and placed it back on the table.

“We…aren’t close.”

“Close enough for her to try and save you.” Save me? Simon saw the confusion in Jason’s face and let out a slight chuckle. “Yes, she saw you fall to the ground at your party and tried to save you. Nothing another tranquilizer couldn’t handle.”

“You didn’t.”

“She’s safe, Jason. She’s right back there.” Simon pointed to the back door where they first entered the room. Jason launched himself from his chair and swung at Simon with his free arm, but the handcuffs on his other arm prevented him from reaching his target by a few inches. He struggled to reach for Simon and grab hold, to pull him closer, but it was to no avail. Simon sat comfortably watching Jason struggle. “Don’t make me put the cuffs back on.”

Jason straightened, tears forming in his eyes. He wasn’t sure why he felt so strongly toward Jenna. He knew he liked her, but not this much. Jason felt the urge to save her, the helpless urge. He sat back down, defeated, staring at his drink. “You leave her alone, you hear me?” He looked back at Simon and repeated, “Leave her alone.”

“Just do what I ask and she’ll be fine.” Simon took a swig of his drink. “Once your brother returns, you and Jenna will be on your way back home.”

“And Chris? What happens to him?”

“That’s none of your business.” Jason wanted to argue with him, to hear a promise of his brother’s safety. Now was not the time to argue, flying thousands of feet in the air, over the ocean, cuffed to a chair. No, not now. Jason sunk back in his chair and broke eye contact with Simon. He noticed Erik staring blankly out the window, his hands behind his back, emotionless. “Had he not jumped out of your window,” Simon began, “we wouldn’t be in this position, would we?”

Jason felt a sense of victory to hear of his brother’s escape, but Simon was right. If Chris didn’t get away, he would be the one cuffed to this chair and Jason and Jenna would be back home. If Chris knew Jason would be kidnapped, would he still have taken off? Surely he knew Simon would capture me. All Jason could do for the time being was sit and wait. He would do everything in his power to keep Simon from hurting him, from hurting Chris. From hurting Jenna.

Simon looked at his watch then moved his gaze to the window. “We should be there right about now. Erik, please go attend to Jenna.”

“Yes, sir.” Erik nodded and slipped through the door in the back, closing it behind him.

“Where, exactly, is here?”

Simon turned from the window to look at Jason and smiled. “Jason,” he started, “welcome to Dawn.”