The Abduction of Regan Emmett

Ogre was standing face to face with 5 officers, and a very distraught father. He had them right where he wanted them. It was all a big game; Ogre had planned this from the beginning. He had done this before, many times even. He knew how to stay alive, and he knew how to make sure that everyone else around him suffered for eternity.
“Put them machete down, and talk to us like a man, tell us your motives, surrender, and you’ll come out of this alive, Ogre. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” James tried reasoning with him, but reasoning with someone as psychotic as Ogre was like telling an Orange to turn blue; impossible.
“Every kidnapping, every murder, every person that’s went missing in the last 5 years, and you all finally made it, over one bitch. I have to say, I’m pretty impressed.” Ogre smiled, holding the machete up to Regan’s neck and she dug her claws into his hand to try and pry him off her. Nothing worked.
“Let her go, don’t do this.” Giuseppe took a couple steps toward him, but Ogre didn’t budge, he needed to show them he wasn’t afraid, that’s how he always made it out alive, a tactic that’s yet to fail.
“We’re gonna play a game.”
“No, we’re not, you’re gonna hand over Regan and you’re gonna turn around, and put your fucking hands behind your back, hear me?” James aimed his gun right at Ogres’ head. He was done playing these twisted game of find the girl, the more he stood there and let Ogre walk all over them, the more he feared Regan wouldn’t make it out of the woods in one piece.
“That’s too easy, Officer, you know I’m a gamblin’ man.”
“You’re a sick man who needs mental help, that’s what you need. Fuck prison, I know a darker place to take you.”
“Turn back now, and maybe I won’t kill anymore of you.”
“Remember, there’s 5 of us, and only one of you.”
“Wrong!” Ogre laughed out loud, looking at Regan, before winking at her suspiciously. She looked out at the officers, at her father, tears streaming down her face, she was so weak, dirty, unable to speak, but she could tell by their faces that something was happening, something that wouldn’t turn out good at all. Ogre whipped her around to the front door to see John standing there, looking at good as he did the day they met, not weak, not on the verge of passing out, but clean and looked ready for a fight. He held a rifle in his hand, similar to the one Tom held close to his chest. Tom held his out, aiming it at John, who wouldn’t move. He looked down at Regan was who stunned at what she was seeing.
“John? What are you doing?” Her voice sounded distraught. She didn’t know what to think, why was he just standing there staring at her like he was ready to suck the soul right out of her. Was this his plan all along, to make her fall in love with him so she could trust him? It worked. He looked down at his rifle, stroking it with a side grin on his face, and his eyes glistening at how beautiful it looked in his hands, it was the first time in weeks he held a weapon in his hands, whatever it motives were, were unclear, but something in Regan’s mind knew that there was still a tension between Ogre and him that she couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“John, please, don’t do this. I trusted you, I told you things... That I can’t ever take back, don’t do this to me, please.” Regan’s calm tone sent a chilling feeling through John’s core. He had plans, but were they to hurt Regan, or to go behind Ogre’s back and save everyone? He stepped down onto the bottom step and smiled, giving Ogre the signal to continue talking.
“You thought he was gonna help you, didn’t you? You shared all your secrets with him, kissed him like he wanted you to, he held you like you two were the last ones on this earth and you believed every second of it, but you don’t know what you think you know, kid.” Ogre twisted her around to face him, inches from each other’s faces. James, Giuseppe, Tom and the rest held their weapons up ready to fire if things went wrong, but James held fire, wanting to press Ogre for more information.
“I’ll play your game if you play ours, that’s the deal.”
Ogre and John exchanged awkward glances, but John shook his head in agreement.
“What did you have in mind?” John asked, but James wasn’t stupid, he wanted to know what they had in mind first.
“You tell me first, what’s your game?”
Ogre smirked, trying to hold in any laughter he had left, and let John do the rest of the talking. John stepped down, standing next to Ogre, rifle clenched in his hand like his life depending on keeping it close to him at all times.
“We’ll let Regan go running through the woods to find a way out, we’ll give you a 10 second start to go after her, but we’re going after her too, if you find her, you can take her, if we find her… Well, finders’ keepers, right?”
“You’re out of your fuckin’ mind.” Giuseppe’s raspy voice from all the yelling finally caught up to him, John shot a nasty glance at him, before speaking again.
“If Regan stays and refuses to play this wonderful game of hide and seek, we kill all of you, and make her watch before killing her too.”
“Fuck you!” Regan tried releasing herself to smack John, but he acted oblivious to her existence.
“It’s a fair game, we’ll play yours, if you play ours, deal?” Ogre asked, a long pause from everyone, even James was lost for words, it was so quite you could hear the trees whistling from the wind. Finally, he spoke.
“Deal.”
“What?!” Giuseppe smacked his shoulder. Not understanding why, he would want to do such a crazy thing.
“This is the only way we can save her, remember, there’s only two of them.”
“Yeah, and 10 minutes ago there was one of them before Mr. Loverpants decided to switch sides again at the last second.” Giuseppe sighed, smacking his palm on his thigh. “Unbelievable.”
“We’re waiting Officers.” John looked down at his watch, frustrated with this constant waiting game.
“You have yourselves a deal, now it’s our turn. Our game is simple, we want answers, information. Why are you doing this? Why Regan?”
“Why not, Regan? Why anyone we ever took?” Ogre began, waiting for a follow up question.
“No, why Regan, meaning why are you keeping her alive this long, when you killed the others instantly?”

Ogre took a deep breath, but never letting them get to him, he held his head up high and grinned, that evil grin that made everyone’s skin crawl.
“She’s a pure blood, an innocent soul, who we wanted to turn vile and guilty before finishing her off.”
“What do you mean, vile and guilty?” James put his gun back in his holster and crossed his arms.
“What do you think we had John do here, we know a virgin when we see one…” John and Ogre laughed simultaneously. Tom had enough, he aimed his rifle up at the men before Ogre jolted his machete back up to Regan’s neck, making her squeal.
“NOT part of them game, Mr. Emmett, now put it down!” John screamed out, almost loud enough for the whole country to hear.

Regan closed her eyes, wondering how she got into this situation in the first place. If only she wasn’t jealous of her sister, and wasn’t a bum always having mommy and daddy doing everything for her, then maybe she would be home in Georgia, living a happier life without all this madness involved. People already died trying to save her, they wouldn’t get to go back to their families, and friends and laugh and have fun on their days off, those were going to haunt Regan’s mind for the rest of her life and it was all because of her jealous personality.
“Dad, I’m sorry for all this, this wouldn’t be happening if I had just listened to you and mom.” She cried out, hating herself every second they stood there.
“Don’t be sorry, honey. Let’s just worry about getting you home safe before there’s any apologies.”
“Might be her only time to apologize if we happen to find her first.” Ogre sighed out, happily awaiting their fun game of hide and seek: killers’ addition.
“I’m bored of these questions, time to play the real game.” Ogre threw the machete on the ground, John threw his rifle on the ground.

“We’ll search for her without the weapons, but you can bring yours.” Ogre spun Regan around to face him once more before kissing her hard on the mouth, her grunts were loud enough for everyone to hear, she pushed him off before he grabbed her wrist with tight force, so tight the pressure was agonizing.

“I’m gonna let her go, she’s gonna run into the woods like a good girl, you’re all gonna wait ten seconds, and then you can go find her, but another ten seconds, and we come find all of you. First group who finds Regan, well you already know.” Regan tried wiggling her way out of his grip, as he stared off at everyone, getting ready to count down until the game officially began. John gave Ogre a side eye, ready to do what he had to do.
“3…” He counted backwards. Everyone watching Regan, ready to play this game that James was regretting already. But he was willing to do whatever it took to keep Regan alive.

“2.” Everyone’s stomach’s dropped.

“1!”

THUMP!

Ogre dropped to the ground, everyone gasping, including Regan who was finally out of his grip. John stood over him, before spitting on his unconscious face. He looked up at Regan before placing his hand gently on her face. He had bashed Ogre’s head with the end of his rifle, his plan all along. He was never on Ogre’s side, just wanted him to think he was.

“I’m sorry everyone, this is partly my fault. I’m not on his side, but I’m not playing victim. Now he will wake up, fast. We’re not playing games, but he is. We need to go, and fast before he finds us, and I’m gonna help you get out of here… Alive.” He walked Regan over to her father, she hugged him tightly before sobbing in his arms, John kept his eye on Ogre while everyone gathered around Regan, hugging her and making sure she was okay, she was still weak, and dirty but that didn’t stop her from feeling more alive than she had in weeks.

“We have to go everyone, come on!” John signaled everyone into the neck of the woods, running onto the first trail they saw, John letting them go first, before looking back at Ogre, his hands moved a little, and John knew that meant he was waking up, and when you mess with Ogre, and turn things around on him, everything became a bloody mess, and he wasn’t going down until every last one of them was killed, Ogre knew how to make it out alive while everyone else laid in pool of their own blood.

But John wasn’t playing victim anymore, it was time to make a change, it was time to be the hero. He scurried off into the woods, while Ogre was still ready to play finders’ keepers, instead this time he would be finding more than just Regan, but John too.
This will become the game of a life time for Ogre, and a plan of a lifetime for Regan and John. Ready, get set, go.