Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter V


	"Hello, May I as-" He stopped, catching the raspy breathing from the other end of the line, and
then a cough. His heart froze in his chest upon hearing his brother. He sounded like hell. "Bro- (cough) 
are you there? T- they took me, I'm chained in a basement somewhere." Thinking his brother had been 
killed, or was in the hospital after his disappearance two days ago, It, took a second to sink in. when it had, the urine had already soaked into his leg. Knees knocking, Spirit tried to still his heart and speak clearly, sensing time was short. "Sco- brother, i- i thought you were in the hos- How are you making this call if i have your phone? if you're tied up somewhere not in the hospital?" Another cough, from up above in the bedroom this time. He had to try to find out where his brother was and tell Hikaru so he could help. "Spirit, listen, I have my Bluetooth, the capsule one in my ear. the battery is about to die. Someone who sounded like Hikaru was down here yesterday with the lion, who tortured me." a pause, static. "you're in dan-" Spirit cut him off, understanding coming to him in a terrified panicked flash. "Oh my god, You're in our basement! The phone is upstairs with Hikaru, plugged in! Hang up hang up now, Ill find you, i have your car and the keys. it's in the garage!" Spirit heard another sound, telling his brother just how deep in the shit they both were, He wasn't sure where it came from, but he sensed it was more important than hearing his brother cough out a raspy 'hurry' before hanging up.  Upstairs, the phone in the valet by the bedside vibrated. the ending of the call wasn't the only thing it signified as Hikaru woke.

	Hikaru looked at his phone, wondering groggily why the lion would call back at such an odd hour.
Noticing that it wasn't his phone, he opened the Valet to plug it in for the night. Staring into the stained wood valet, His eyes widened as his blood chilled, Two and two came together in his mind no less loudly than an explosion as his heart thundered like a train wreck. Scorpiious' phone, the cat in the basement, had just completed a call, to the house phone. He had heard Spirit speaking to someone downstairs just before this information had flashed on the tiny LCD screen. He unplugged his own phone, and made a call to the lion. He was now very determined to find out just how it was possible that he was looking at a prison sentence, and why Spirit was talking to a cell phone up here that no one should be on.

	There was no time, Not nearly enough to what he needed to do and think. Spirit nearly dropped the phone receiver on the hard laminate counter, but caught it only making a slight rattling noise on the hard plastic charging cradle. He had to get to the basement, no time to dress, And he definitely did not want to wake Hikaru now. He grabbed the keys to his brothers SUV in the garage and stuffed them into a PJ pocket while running to the basement. Reaching in to flick on the garage light he could hear Hikaru upstairs, the heavy thump of him slipping his foot paws into shoes echoing through the ceiling overhead like twin rolls of thunder. The panicked fox reached the basement by way of a corridor to the laundry in the hallway below the bedrooms. The four stair treads leading down to the basement door felt cold and ominous beneath his foot paws. He was now headed underground, and was way in over his head. He heard Hikaru on the phone upstairs as he opened the door to the steps down. Not nearly enough time.

	Able to do little but lay and panic on the steel table he was chained to, Scorpiious heard the
ominous rattle-creak-squeak of the basement door swinging wide on it's tortured hinges, each staccato creak
rapidly running in time with his pounding heart. Seeing Spirit run over at nearly a gallop, he cried around the gag in his muzzle with a mix of panic and relief. He was chained, and Spirit had no key nor tools. As the fox pitched his head this way and that as though on a complex gimbal joint, he located a pull chain for an overhead bare bulb and caught sight of Scorpiious. His heart skipped several beats at a sight that didn't bear lingering on, but would haunt him forever. Where his brothers fur was not filthy and matted, it was shaven and nicked. Some were deep, not the result of shaving. Many bore the telltale discolored inflammation of the beginning of an infection. Where visible to his now teary vision, Scorpiious skin was pale, sickly looking covered in goosebumps. That and a matting of filth and blood in his remaining fur was burned into his memory with the sickly yellow bruises he was peppered with. and the trickle of dried blood from his now dry triangular nose. Scorpiious should be in a hospital, should be anywhere but here. He wiped to clear his vision with a paw, needing clear vision, even if nothing else was to find his mark with the four foot bolt cutters he had seen as well.

	Scorpiious knew it was bad when he saw the wild eyed terror in his brothers emerald eyes. Knew
it was worse when he could hear unintelligible shouting from elsewhere in the house. Hikaru. So it was probably safe to say that, figuratively speaking, he was out of the bag now. But not out of the woods yet. One by one, Spirit groaned, applying his whole body to the heavy duty bolt cutters, freeing him of his shackles and only nicking him once. Thankfully Spirit hadn't noticed, or he likely would have come 
apart. Freed, he was only just able to stand on the shakiest legs. "brother, i hope you can drive. i feel like 
Im gonna vomit.." the cat said as his brother caught him, snaking his arm under his brother's around his back. Scorpiious did the same as he began to wobble-run with the panicked fox around the corner to the
garage door and the escape he was so close to all this time. "Spirit, did you ever think to come down and,
i don't know, put up a tool, get a light bulb? Something?" The fox gave him a pained look, his eyes going 
from guilt to panic. His eyes tracked to the left. "Sorry, only the lion did." Spirit shouldered roughly through the connecting door, the knob bouncing it off the wall making a sound like a wa-wa pedal. He saw a shotgun with a yellow paw clutching it coming from the front door as Hikaru yelled "there!" pointing to the escapees fleeing into the garage. 

	No sooner had they cleared the door, and Spirit had hit the master unlock on the electronic key fob making a click-thump as they pawed the handles. Spirit in panic and confusion, Scorpiious grimacing as the sudden marathon dash to safety irritated his wounds than a titanic boom dissolved the garage door to the main house. Spirit yelped in terror raising his paws to his muzzle as stray shot grazed the windshield, producing a star burst fracture. Wanting to get the hell out before they got closer, hissing with pain Scorpiious reached over thumbing the garage button Spirit had left on the visor, and twisted the ignition key. The throaty roar as the big engine sprang to life as the homicidal lion snarled through the shattered doorway. The big door had only rolled enough to clear the bumper. Scorpiious no longer cared much about his insurance coverage. He ducked down as Spirit let instinct take over, Slipping the shift into reverse as the 12 gauge leveled to the fractured windshield. Oddly, Scorpiious began to giggle as over the clatter of the garage door, and the engine roaring, tires spinning for purchase on the slick concrete he could hear the big aluminum door shriek. As the SUV backed through it like gummy tissue paper the roar and shrieks of it protest were in perfect time with MCR's 'Teenagers', which had just started to play from the disc tray.

	The lion, Hikarus assistant in this whole mess, which was supposed to keep the nosy, gods damned cat hybrid out of his brothers life saw his friend rush through the door with a yelp. "NO! Not the fox!" just as he pulled  the trigger on the big bore pepper gun. He missed, only clipping a fender with lead shot as the giant vehicle seemed to vanish through the garage door, rippling it like something in a sci fi show. With a roar it had gone in less than  fifteen seconds. He turned to the wolf, lowering the shotgun a moment later as an after-thought. "If Spirit is supposed to be all yours, you may want to catch him instead of the cat this time." Hikaru walked forward, the poster image of sanity and calm. lifted a leg and gave the lion a powerful kick with his hind paw, embedding him in the drywall as he neatly snatched the shotgun from his paws. The lion was still dazed as Hikaru leveled the barrels at his muzzle, staring down the bore. "I did this to keep Spirit safe too, you failed. you die." was the last the big dazed cat heard as the wolf pulled the trigger. Hikaru was all in now. and didn't need anyone to help him keep the fox to himself. He smiled a toothy grin as he stepped through the gaping hole left by the truck that had brought so much trouble into his life. He resolved to end it as he started the lions powerful little sports car and sped off in the direction of the trail of wreckage in the street.

	The brothers had narrowly avoided the killer lion and his shotgun, and then saw the psychotic wolf leap through the shattered door after him. Spirit realized his limited practice with driving would be put to the test with both of them behind him. outside the garage door, He had seen the lions car parked in the drive right behind Hikarus car, which was in the garage. He watched for both in the rearview. Rounding corners in panic trying to think clearly. 

	They had kidnapped and beaten, tortured his brother. He saw it now, saw the why, in Hikarus actions. How weird he acted at the party, snapping at Scorpiious about the game console. And how he had suddenly decided to go home early the night his brother disappeared. He could see Hikarus possessiveness, and somehow knew he had followed them with the lion to the restaurant when his brother had stopped for coffee. Scorpiious doubled over in the seat and vomited bile onto the floor mat. Spirit grimaced. He couldn't call the police, he had left his phone back there. but he could get his brother to the hospital. He, they would be safe there. his thoughts were interrupted by the big truck jostling as the a car made contact with the rear bumper. In the mirror, he saw the lions red sports car. It was all he needed to mash the pedal down with his foot paw.

	The SUV skidded around the corner, Being pushed by the momentum of the powerful little car. Spirit didn't think he could keep up with this kind of driving for long. He looked over at Scorpiious, and it didn't look like he was doing well either. He seemed green, limp, every motion of the car sent his head lolling to one side or the other. Spirit snapped his head back in time to avoid a parked jeep as he negotiated corner after corner, trying desperately to find his way to a main road. Rounding another bend he had just time to reach out a paw and turn the radio off. He could not afford to be distracted. Then up ahead he saw what he wanted, An intersection, red light and all. All he could hope for was to reach it and break enough traffic laws to get the chase called in to the police. 

	He let off the gas on the approach, still doing nearly 40 and swung wide, the little sports car right behind him. He pawed the wheel back to the right, the big SUV dipping into a sway with a sharp squeal as the tires caught the pavement again. He had just switched his foot paw off the brake and on to the gas when the lions car slammed the rear drivers side hard, hitting the fox's head against the support pillar near the seat. Dazed, but focused by fear, his foot paw never left the pedal. He pawed the wheel right, accelerating out of the skid and fishtailing. Clearly, the smaller car had been able to take a straighter route through the intersection, and had just given it's prey a love tap. It was now passing them, in excess of 60 mph. The driver drew back, matching pace with the SUV, and the window came down, revealing a shotgun in a grey paw. Spirit swung wide right, letting off the gas, then hard left. the tiny car skittered on the pavement from the impact. And the shotgun had fallen out on the roadway as a result. 

	The lions sports car becoming a little less aggressive now, falling back he had a moment to think. That grey paw could only belong to Hikaru, and he was in the lions car, with his shotgun, now dropped. The fox didn't know what that meant, but with only one fur chasing them, the odds were better. But not even enough. Spirit goosed it to 70, not the safest move at any sane time, but the only way he could keep ahead of the now battered sports car, and hopefully get the attention of the police. As luck would have it, He passed a cop heading the other way at just that moment.  But not knowing if the crazed wolf was still armed, or who the officer would pull over is what worried the fox, now heading past 80. He thought for sure, that whatever was in the car behind him, and whoever may be with Hikaru, he would need more than one cop, and soon. Scorpiious had fallen over in the passenger seat, Blood streaming from his head by the ear. And spirit knew this had to end one way or the other, and soon.
