The Reynolds Road Warehouse Mystery

A/N: Ok, this story will be my YWS debut. I wrote it a couple years ago as a revision to my original version of this story, but it's still not the best it could be I know. Still, don't hold back on criticism...I would like to know how I can fix it. ^^ So no mercy, just be kind! ^^


Chapter 1: The First Note

This is a story that tells the tale of four young kids. Fate brought them together in the small community of Bedford, and together they will undergo a vigorous test of their minds. This will prove challenging in many ways to each of them, overcoming obstacles and defeating deadly foes. Together, they will see it all through, as they find the true strength in their hearts and minds. This is the origin story of The MB Detective Agency.

Our story will start at a small house, lying atop a hill, on a dangerous street called Sterns. It all starts with a young boy named Michael, only 12 years old at the time of the exploit; Michael is quite a nosy and inquisitive child. He runs down the hill heading for the mailbox, because everyone else is too lazy to do it.

“Lets see here…” Michael mumbled as he pulled the mail out of the box. “Ray, Deb, Ray, Deb…” He said his parents’ names as he threw their mail to the ground, taking quite an attitude for this chore that cost him valuable summer sleeping time. Then he found something shocking, “Hey! This one has my name on it!” He ran back towards the house, stepping on the other letters as he hurried up the large hill.

He swung open the door, holding the letter in his hands, and his mom shot him a death glare and then just spoke calmly, “So was there anything in the mailbox?”

“Nope, no mail for you. On the other hand, I got a letter,” Michael walked into the living room holding the letter loosely between his hands. He pulled on the envelope with one hand tearing the letter open and then something flew past him, sweeping the letter away with it.

“Ah, what’s this?” Michael’s little brother Sean had swiped the letter from Michael’s hands.

“Darn it, hand that over!” Michael ran after him, pinning him to the ground quickly. Sean squirmed out of his grasp and ran across the living room. Michael ran at Sean again and this time he threw the letter to the ground. Leaving the room and laughing, pleased with his actions.

Picking the note up off of the ground, Michael growled in frustration, there wasn’t an inch of privacy to be found in his house. He quickly hid the letter behind his back as his mom passed through the room and then pulled it back out. He opened the envelope and found four separate notes, one of them with a red mark on the crease.

He pulled the red note out first and saw in large print on it, “Read this note first!” He unfolded it and looked upon its contents, it was handwritten in scratchy pen.

It read: “A word of warning: Do not open the other letters until June 25, 2004. Do not take this warning lightly. Failure to comply will result in your death. The three letters that remain are to be given to MJB, MAB, and JDC, yourself and your two vital friends. Do not share the note addressed to you with your friends, and don’t let them share theirs. You will be sorry if you do not do exactly as this letter says. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“This is…messed up,” Michael shuddered, hearing a cold voice threaten his life in his head. “Who the heck is this from, and why me? Why,” He thought about the initials for a moment and then continued, “Melissa and James! What do we all have to do with this at all?” He looked at the envelope for a return address. There was nothing but the large cursive print in which his name was written.

“I have to keep this hidden, if Mom sees this, she’ll put me on a 24-hour lockdown,” Michael thought wisely. “I have to tell Melissa, though. She can help. Eh, but if I warn James, he won’t even take it seriously. So I should just tell Melissa for now, James can find out at Summer Band tomorrow,” Michael walked out into the kitchen to the computer and quickly opened it.

It took about five minutes for the already outdated computer to load all the way. He quickly clicked on the America Online logo and it took another minute and a half for that to load. “I swear if this thing moved any slower, we’d be in the next ice age!” Michael complained to himself, now waiting for the log in screen to come all the way up.

“Finally!” Michael shouted, quickly typing in his password and making the next long process of connection come up. This took about another minute and finally AOL came entirely up. He glanced at his buddy list and Melissa’s screen name caught his eye. “Yes, you’re on!” Michael smiled, knowing where to find her whenever she was bored.

Mic97con: Hi
Lilblossom9l: Hi

Mic97con: I need to tell you something, it’s important.

Lilblossom9l: Ok, what is it?

Mic97con: I got a letter today. It had inside 4 notes. I’m supposed to give you and James one of them to open, and we are only allowed to open them tomorrow. I got a death threat, if we don’t do exactly what they say, I’m gonna die.

Lilblossom9l: lol, sorry, that just doesn’t sound very believable.

Mic97con: Listen to me! Tomorrow at the Graduation Party at Bedrock Putt-Putt, that’s when we’ll open them, and listen to me, you have to take this seriously!

Lilblossom9l: Wow, you’re not kidding, are you?

Mic97con: No! Would I joke about something like this? This could be really dangerous!

Lilblossom9l: Oh, so you really mean it. This could be bad. G2G, see you tomorrow.

Mic97con: Ok, bye.

Lilblossom9l signed off at 2:43 PM

Michael sighed, glad to at least have been able to convince her that he was telling the truth. “All right, now it’s going to be tough to go through the rest of the day. He went to his room and hid the letter in one of his drawers, burying it in random stuff. He spent the rest of the day purposely wasting time so that the day would end sooner.

Finally it was nighttime and he went to bed very quickly, which was most unlike him. Michael would have to wake up really early as usual, but unlike normal he would have a lot to deal with. He tries to get to sleep, but he can’t, there was just too much on his mind.

Chapter 2: Unfolding the Notes

Michael woke up pretty early, which was easy being as he hadn’t slept one bit the previous night. He quickly yanked the envelope out of his drawer and pulled his note out, quickly opening it. He was unable to resist it any longer. He looked at the writing; it was in the same scratchy pen as the first one.

It read: “I have taken something, something that may very well be of great importance to you. I have taken it and you can only get it back one-way. To get it back, come to the old warehouse at 4653 Reynolds Road on July 1st at Midnight. If you don’t show up, I will dispose of it, thoroughly. You will come and you will bring your two friends, or else you will suffer the same fate as the object.”

“This is impossible, how the heck do they even expect me to get there, I’m a kid! It’d be impossible for me to get there in one night! Reynolds Road is in downtown Toledo, and besides, it doesn’t sound too safe to go to an old abandoned warehouse in the middle of the night…” Michael thought to himself, still feeling very threatened by the note.

He got up and went out into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and quickly ate some breakfast. James would show up in about 20 minutes to take him to the Junior High for Summer Band. Michael quickly got ready and then he waited for James to show up. Prompt as always, James’ grandfather pulled into the driveway right on time.

Michael walked up to the door and saw James standing in the doorway. James also had a bit more width than Michael did, but had similar brown messy hair on his head. James was always considered an oddball at their school, he had obtained the nickname, 'Big Head' from the size of his head which he never thought was very big at all. It had been said by Michael once that making fun of James' head was a requirement to graduate.

“Hey, James! I’ve got something for you, and it’s important, but we’ll save that for when we get to the Junior High.”

“Please tell me it’s a donut, I am hungry! I didn’t eat any breakfast!” James complained about his stomach right off.

“No, it’s not, but don’t worry about it now,” Michael told him.

“An English muffin, then?” James was secretly begging him for food.

“No! Let’s go!” Michael snapped his head off, losing his patience very quickly.

“All right, all right,” James walked with Michael to his grandfather’s car and they all drove up Jackman Road past their old elementary school to the campus of Bedford High School and Bedford Junior High. They pulled into the parking lot and got dropped off in the courtyard. Instruments in hand, they both walked into the band room through the nearby door.

“Now then, James. I got a letter yesterday telling me to give you this note, Melissa and I both have a note too, but we’re not allowed to share the contents, he made a death threat. Whoever this guy is, he doesn’t want us to find out anymore about this little game than we know from our own notes,” Michael handed James his note and James unfolded it.
It read: “Your companion, your friend, these are words used to describe what I have taken from you. You needn’t worry; he shall be fine, so long as you listen to my instructions. Come to the warehouse, that’s where you must go. 4653 Reynolds, to be exact, when the clock strikes twelve and the moon shines bright, you will go there and all will be all right.”

James shuddered, “They-“

“No! You can’t tell me, you want to get yourself killed!?” Michael blurted out, silencing James before he could speak. “Just keep it to yourself, all right?”

“Hey guys, do you plan to play your instruments today, or are you just going to blow hot air into that note?” Mr. P, their band director had walked to up to them, with a large grin on his face. He was always the joking type, and after Summer Band, he was no longer their mentor.

Michael quickly exclaimed, “Of course, we’re going to play! Come on, James,” he dragged him into the room by his arm. They played for two and a half hours straight, because they were in multiple classes. In a newcomers' class, playing secondary instruments, Michael played baritone horn and James played saxophone. They also played with the sixth graders that were to take their place with these secondary instruments. Then they played with new seventh graders that were their age, Michael using his trombone and James playing his clarinet.

“Now will you listen to me?” James shouted at Michael as they walked outside, “This guy has kidnapped-“

“I tried to warn him…” Michael sighed, as he eyed the dart in James’ neck. “Anesthetic, obviously. He’s knocked out, and that kinda makes it obvious we’re being watched out here…” He looked around, but couldn’t see anything in any direction. “Brilliant, if I’m not careful now, I have to explain this to James’ grandfather…” Michael sighed again as the car pulled in, “I’ll just have to be careful,” he said, pulling out the dart.

James grandfather drove off towards the Bedrock Golf Course and dropped them off there. Michael hid James’ being knocked out; simply by claiming he was asleep. When they got out, he had to fake James’ voice to get out unnoticed, but it all worked out.

“All right, then. We’re here pretty early; we still have an hour and 15 minutes. I guess all we can do is hang around a little while, but I have to be careful. That episode back at the school made it obvious we’re being watched,” Michael mumbled to himself, and then he quickly ran behind a rock, dragging James with him. A suspicious looking man was walking around, and seemed like he was looking for something.

The man was quite burly and his arms were very cut up as if a knife had been taken to him. This guy was no normal person walking on a golf course, he was there looking for them. He looked around and then just kept moving forward. After he was far out of sight, Michael emerged from behind the large rock, still dragging James.

He found a place to sit down in front of the snack bar and stayed there until James woke up at about 11:45. “Huh? What am I doing here? How did I get here?” James asked deliriously, looking around not recognizing his surroundings.

“You’re such a moron,” Michael yelled, “You got knocked out because you tried to tell me what that note said, why don’t you just listen to me for once! I think you’d be a lot better off, just keep your note to yourself!” Michael lectured, hating to sound like a parent, but he had to say something.

“Yeah, whatever. Listen, if we don’t know what each others’ notes say, how are we ever going to figure this out?” James asked him, not noticing Melissa sneaking up behind him. Melissa was relatively short and thin. She had dirty blonde hair and glasses like Michael, but hers were more rectangular.

“I don’t know. We have to do something, though, find something common without saying what they say. Like,” Michael lowered his voice, “write secret messages.”

“I see, well-“

“Hey, James!” Melissa shouted in his ear obnoxiously. James nearly fell to the ground in surprise.

“Will you stop that?” James yelled, becoming very irritated.

"Why should I? You were so tired, you obviously needed a reality check!" Melissa smiled, placing her hands in her pockets.

"No, I think he's fine..." Michael mumbled in opposition to this kind of behavior. "Well anyway, Melissa," Michael outstretched his hand, "here is the note addressed to you. We've already seen what happens when you try to share what it says firsthand. So don't tell either of us what yours says, ok?"

"Yeah, whatever. Give it to me!" She snatched it from his hands as if it were something very precious to her. She unfolded the note unusually fast, ripping it twice. She peered down at the messy handwriting and struggled to read it.

It read: "Someone has vanished, not a trace has been left. The warehouse is where his body is kept. When the clock strikes twelve, all but his eternal memory will end. Unless he can be salvaged from the room that no one can see. Hidden beneath the unrepeated square amongst all the others that are perfectly alike. There is but one hidden passage to find him and there is no other way out."

"Hmm...this is a bit confusing, for starters, who is the-"

She screamed out as an arrow came flying within an inch of her head. Once it hit the wall, they saw that attached to it was a note. Written in the same handwriting as the notes in dark red was a very clear message, "Do not speak the contents of your notes!"

Chapter 3: A Mysterious Warning

"Whoa! Someone is really serious about this!" Melissa said, shuddering as she pulled the arrow out of the wall. She took the note and moved her finger across it. Doing this caused the red writing to smear where she had touched it. "It's still wet, what kind of crappy pen did this guy use?"

"What if that's not ink?" Michael pointed out to her. "What if it's...blood?" Melissa and James looked at him, a bit concerned about this assumption.

"Blood!? If that's blood, then they must have gotten it by taking it from"
"Don't say it, you'll get us killed," Michael stopped James mid-sentence, fearing what would happen if he spoke against the culprit's will again.

"Wait, James knows who was taken?" Melissa questioned hoping to learn more about what had happened.

"Apparently, he does, but he's not allowed to say it. It would seem that someone is out to get us," Michael was pointing out what was already obvious, but a much larger question still remained.

"Who? Its not like any of our enemies at school have become criminals. I mean, not that they don't act like it sometimes, but I don't think any of them are actually that bad..." Melissa rubbed her temples, looking for any reason a criminal would have to seek them.

"No, I don't think they are either, but if this person is after us, then the person they took must've also been close to us. If that's the case, then there is only one person it could be that they took," Michael paused, looked at Melissa and she nodded. He took a breath and carefully spoke, "Zach." When nothing happened in response to their friend's name being spoken, they all let out sighs of relief.

Zach was the final member of the group they hung out with together at school, so he must have been the one that was taken. Zach was always a joker and the funniest of the group. He often amused himself by insulting James, like Michael often did. He never seemed to take anything seriously, just laughing at everything. Zach had a serious person inside of him, but that person must have escaped while Zach was younger.

"Speaking of us being watched, I saw a guy earlier. I think he was looking for James and I. He was really large, I'm not sure he could have hidden back in the Junior High band room. If he wasn't the one there, then it leaves one explanation," Michael told them of the man as he formulated his theory.

"A gang of people, that way they'd be able to watch all of us individually!" James deducted, much to Michael and Melissa's surprise.

"Yes, that's exactly it. We've become wrapped up in something we can't possibly hope to help..." Michael had watched too many movies about crime bosses and knew their brutality all too well.

"We have to do something, they have Zach at this warehouse! Wherever it is..." When Melissa said this, it reminded them that she did not know what they did about Reynolds Road. They thought to speak and tell her, but knew they couldn't.

"So what do we do? Are you insisting that we go to their little warehouse? Play into their little game?" Michael shouted in confusion, not sure what he wanted to do.

"Yes, that's all we can do! We have to save Zach!" Melissa complained.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking, so what should we do?" Michael asked her, coming to his senses.

"Hello? Do I exist?" James called to them for attention. "How would we plan to get there?"

"Unfortunately, we would have no choice but to walk, I'm afraid. We could turn it into a long term sleepover, and tell each of our parents a different story to make them agree," Melissa pondered the situation, and the more she thought the more impossible it seemed.

"Come to think of it, why don't Zach's parents know about this? Shouldn't it be pretty obvious?" James asked another valid question. Zach's parents may have been a bit under protective, but they would certainly notice if their son had gone missing.

"There are a few possibilities. Maybe the gang called his parents imitating a family member to take him somewhere, or something like that. There are easy ways to trick a parent," Melissa assured them.

"Yeah, parents are dumb," Michael said, shaking his head without a doubt.

"Anyway, to get to the warehouse, we should arrange something to get around our parents," Melissa finished up, trying not to get off topic for the twentieth time. "So when we get home, we need to look into this warehouse and find out where it is." They still couldn't tell her that they already knew.

Through the rest of the party, they were mostly silent. A joke or two was spoken, but there was barely a chuckle from any one of them. They alll returned home after the party and often checked their surroundings for people watching them, but they never found anyone.

At 4:00, Michael decided to get online and find some information on this warehouse. When he signed on, he saw that Melissa was also online, probably looking for information.

Mic97con: Hi
Lilblossom9l: Hi, I found out about the warehouse. It's on Reynolds Road!
Mic97con: Uh, yeah...that was in my note. Did you find anything else?
Lilblossom9l: No, I can't find anything in specific about that warehouse...its frustrating.... Mic97con: Oh, well. That's too bad.
Lilblossom9l: I've got to go to karate now, you keep looking, ok?
Mic97con: ok, bye Lilblossom9l: bye

Michael immediately opened Google on his computer. "Let's see, search for 'Crime Warehouse Reynolds Abandoned'," he said typing in random words that came to mind. About 200 results came up on the screen, but at the top of them was: The Red Dragon. He clicked on it and read the article.

"The Red Dragon was a crime group convicted of innumerable crimes in 1984. The group's leader and all of his men were executed at the end of the trial and any member not deserving of the death penalty spent life in prison. A turning point in the trial that proved the existence of their gang was the warehouse that was where their operations were conducted."

Michael gasped, "Warehouse?" he thought, "Maybe its this warehouse!" He continued reading.

"This warehouse was located in Toledo on Reynolds Road. Within this amazing fortress were all of their stolen goods, weapons, and other such things. As well as countless bodies of victims, it was a truly horrible place. The crimes on Reynolds Road have not ceased even with the disappearance of The Red Dragon. It is unclear who is doing all of this, perhaps someone wishes to continue The Red Dragon's work."

As he read, he heard a large bang on the door. His heart raced as he stood up and walked to the door. Step by step, his body shook and a coat of sweat covered his skin. He gripped the doorknob and pulled it open. There was a hole in the screen door as if it was hit with a bludgeon. He opened the screen door and found another note on the ground, the ink running in the rain.

"You are quite smart for just a young boy. Perhaps you need to be motivated more to use your mind."

Chapter 4: A New Victim

"A-another one?" Michael shuddered, looking at the note's smeared writing.

"Motivated more? Could that mean...oh no!" Michael picked up the phone and dialed Melissa's number quickly. It rang and rang, but nobody picked up the phone. "Damn it!" He slammed the phone down and immediately picked it back up. He dialed James' number this time, and it was the same, there was no response. "What is going on here!? Could both of them have been taken? Did they leave me to figure this out alone?"

"How did they manage to take them right behind their parents' backs? They'd be sure to notice pretty quickly...unless they were taken with them! That's the only way they could manage this for so long!" Michael realized the obvious possibility. "Hmm...maybe I should check for sure at their houses though. Dad is not gonna like this," Michael realized with a sigh.

Michael walked into the living room and found his dad sitting in his green chair. He approached him and spoke up, "Hey, Dad? Can you take me to James' and Melissa's houses? I need to check something."

"In this weather?" The balding man stood up, sighing, "All right, let's go"

"Yes, sir!" Michael smiled, moving before he changed his mind. They got in the family's large red van and drove down to Bragden Creek, the neighborhood where Melissa lived. Michael opened the door and jumped out. He ran up to Melissa's door as fast as he could, and without looking he felt himself slam into someone.

"Ow...I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going..." Michael looked at who he had slammed into. It was a girl, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked to be his age, although she was much shorter than he.

"It's all right, I wasn't looking where I was going either. I was just going to talk to my friend, she lives in this house," the girl stood up and brushed off her pants.

"You know Melissa!?" Michael had a shocked look. "Yeah, do you? Wait a minute...you must be Michael! Melissa told me about you!" The girl recalled pointing at him.

"Yeah," Michael walked up to the door with the girl and knocked. "Wait, what has Melissa said?"

"Nothing bad," she grinned mischieviously.

"Wait, what's that look supposed to mean?" Michael asked in a suspicious tone.

"Nothing..." she said in a sing-song voice.

"Hello?" Melissa's father opened the door and glared down at them. He was a tall and intimidating man, and Michael found himself a bit afraid of him.

"Hi, is Melissa home right now? We're here to see her," Michael spoke for both of them, in quite a hurry.

"She's gone to karate, I was just about to pick her up," Melissa's dad answered politely.

"Oh, I see. Well, thank you anyway," Michael smiled at him and he shut the door.

"So, what were you going to see Melissa for anyway?" the girl asked him.

"Oh, its nothing! Don't worry about it!" Michael waved his hands in front of his face, as if he was denying something. "I've got to hurry and go! See you around"

The girl sighed looking after him, "That was strange..." She walked back towards where she had came from as he ran back to the van.

"So did find out what you needed to?" His dad looked at him sternly.
"Yes, but we still need to go to James' house," Michael answered him politely. "If Melissa is still all right, then that almost guarantees that James has been taken to the warehouse with Zach." Michael thought through the situation again as his father drove down Jackman Road.

"So, Michael," Michael's father gave him a weird look.

"What?" Michael wasn't sure he wanted to hear what he had to say.

"Who was that girl who you walked up to the house with?" he nudged Michael with the arm that he had free.

"What did you say?" Michael blushed in embarrassment, "It's nothing like that"

"Are you sure?" he gave Michael an accusing look. As he drove with one hand, turning on Dean Road.

"Yes! I'm positive!" Michael shouted in frustration.

"Whatever you say..." he said softly.

"I'm not kidding!" He shouted as the car came to a stop in front of James' house. He jumped out of the car again and walked up to James' door. A cold wind swept over him and gave him the chills. He knocked on the door once and waited for an answer.

He looked around and the entire area was covered in fog and he couldn't see an inch in front of his face. He got a foreboding feeling that he was being watched, but he couldn't tell in the fog. After a minute, no one answered the door and he moved to the windows. He looked in and saw that everything in the house was still on. Lights, TVs, everything that would be on if they were there, but they were not.

This alone was able to prove to him that James and his family had been kidnapped too. Now it was much more reasonable, if Melissa was still ok, then they could work together to get James and Zach back. Maybe, just maybe, they stood a chance for once. Maybe they could do it. They had a week, and that may just be enough to pull it off.

Michael ran back to the car without looking back. He didn't want to hang around for the kidnapper to take him as well. This guy was geniunely dangerous. He opened the car door and quickly shut it behind him.
"Are you done running around?" Michael's dad asked him, driving down the road, toward Lewis Avenue.

"Yes, I am. We can go home," Michael sighed, thinking over what he had found. Everything had started so peaceful and now this had to happen. Life had become a lot harder, just as soon as the summer started and now, they were in a life and death struggle.

Michael returned home and wrote down everything that he had learned. Then he fell into a deep sleep, but his dreams were all but peaceful. His mind was being tortured.

Chapter 5: Inside Operations

James slowly opened his eyes, and was shocked at his new surroundings. "What the hell? Where am I?" The walls around him were all gray and in front of him was a cage of metal bars. "I'm in a cell, but why?" He looked at the cell across from him and he saw someone he recognized. "That's Zach! But then, I must be in the warehouse! I must've been kidnapped too!" Zach was a relatively tall, skinny boy, but not nearly as much as Michael in either. He had tanned skin brown hair. He was in his cell, simply laying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Zach! Can you hear me?" James shouted through the bars of his cell.
Zach stood up and walked over to the bars of his own cell.

"James? Is that you? How did you get in here?"

"Well, let's see, I didn't ask my parents to drive me here and drop me in a prison cell! What do you think?" James shouted sarcastically.

"They might've..." Zach countered with his usual joking personality.

"Look, Michael, Melissa and I were all sent notes about your kidnapping. Mine said to come here at midnight, but it didn't give a date. I think that because I was kidnapped too, they're planning to lead Michael and Melissa into a trap," James rubbed his temples, thinking about what had happened.
"What could they want with them? You don't think these guys are"
"Serial killers? No, I don't think so. They kidnapped us to get to them, and it was not a coincidence," James explained clearly.

"I was going to say bill collectors, but that works. Anyway, all jokes aside, we need to get out of here. If we can escape from these cells and contact them somehow..." Zach shook the bars with his hands in frustration.

"Hey! Who's making all the noise back here?" A man's voice came from around the corner.

"Quick! Pretend like you're asleep!" Zach whispered, throwing himself down on his bed, and shutting his eyes quickly. James followed his lead and did the same.

"Keep it quiet, prisoners! I don't want you planning an...huh?" the man who walked in had black hair that was spiked forward. He seemed relatively young, in his 20s, with a naturally angry look on his face. The man glared into each of their cells checking for signs that they were awake. After about 3 minutes of staring at each of them, he turned around and mumbled, "Damn rats, Tazimaru should really do something about the pests in this place."

He turned and returned to where he came from, leaving a coat of sweat on both James and Zach. "Wow, I thought he had caught us for sure," James whispered, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "So what's the plan to get out of here"

"All right, listen up, moron!" Zach drew his attention to him. "You see that cheap metal bedframe you have in there?"

"Yeah..." James couldn't see what Zach intended to do. "The bedposts on each are attached with a hand screw, right?" Zach looked at his own bed for reference.

"Yeah, that's right, so what?" James shrugged his shoulders, almost assuming the answer in the dark.

"You can unscrew it and take it off. Then what I'll do is make enough noise to draw that guy in here again. Then you can use the metal post to carefully slip through the bars and take his keyring from the hook on his belt. After you do that, and he leaves, you can find the key to my own and your cell respectively. Then we'll search around this place secretly and stealthily. We'll need to be very careful and avoid being noticed by any guards," Zach finished explaining his plan, and other than expecting James to be careful and stealthy, it was clever.

"Whoa, Zach, you noticed all of that just when he came in here?" James gave him a look of amazement.

"Yeah, I'm amazing, but save your applause until the end, right now get that bedpost," Zach smiled and pointed at James' bed.

"Right," James quickly unscrewed the hand screw and threw it on the cell floor. He took the bedpost and lifted it over his shoulder. "All right, Zach. Do it!"

"Right. Hey, you dumb guard! We're making a break for it!" Zach shouted down the hallway in his most obnoxious voice, and for Zach, that's loud. "We're getting away..."

The same man as before came charging down the hallway and stopped in front of his cell. "What the hell? Why were you making all that noise? It won't work if you're trying to distract me," James quietly slipped the bedpost threw the bars, being careful not to bang it against them.

"I like messing with morons who abduct me. That's all. Especially ugly ones like you," the man growled at him giving an angry look. James now had the bedpost within a couple inches of the keys. Zach happened to notice the man's name tag, "Adam Vulner."

"Why you insolent little brat! You think you can mess with me!?" Adam yelled in a repulsed tone, clenching his fist. James finally managed to take the keys from Adam's belt and slowly slid them down the post into his hands. "Don't let me hear you speak again. If you do, I'll kill you myself. We still have the other one to lure them,"

"To lure them? So they do want to lure Michael and Melissa here, but why?" Zach thought to himself, taking on a smirking look.

"Now I will leave you, but if I return again, I will have to kill you," Adam turned and walked away again, nearly slamming his backside into the still protruding bedpost.

Looking around the corner to make sure that he was gone, Zach whispered to James, "Now quietly, and I mean near silently, open your cell," James took several minutes to find the correct key in the ring and finally was able to slowly open the cage.

He took the time to unlock and open Zach's cell as well, and they both came together in the hall. "Ok, now what we need to do is be able to check this place out, gather as much information as possible and transfer it to Michael and Melissa," Zach continued on with his plan.

"It's 3:34 right now, we must split up, wherever we are, we will come back here at 4:00. If only one of us makes it back, just run away and get the information to them. If we both make it back, we will find a way for us both to escape. If there's absolutely no way to escape, then we will simply find a phone somewhere and use it to talk to them, this may not be entirely safe, but its the only way," Zach finished, taking a deep breath.

"Then I'll go this way and you go that way," James pointed out the directions, "and Zach..."

"Yeah?"

"Come back alive." Zach nodded his head and they both headed in their own direction to unlock the mysteries that the warehouse was sure to hold.

Chapter 6: Loose in the Warehouse!

Zach walked off in the direction that Adam had gone. He knew he had to make sure not to be seen. His own footsteps echoed in his head like small explosions. As he turned the corner, he saw Adam pacing back and forth across the floor. "Damn, he's pacing back and forth. I have to get past him without him seeing that I'm here," Zach thought, not making a sound out loud.

He slowly stepped forward and then suddenly stopped, waiting for Adam to go to the other side of the room. Then, his entire body shaking, he carefully walked to the other side of the room. He hid behind a support beam to get a better view of Adam.

"He's armed, as I thought. He seems different from the guys who took me here, somehow. Oh well, I better get moving before he catches me," Zach took a pause in his thinking to get out of that particular room.

James, meanwhile, was heading in the other direction, and had up to this minute avoided running into any men of the gang. In front of him, was an old looking door. "Hmm, what could that be? Maybe there are some clues in there," He walked to the door and slowly began opening it. The door creaked and echoed down the corridor. James shuddered at the sound that the door made. Once it was entirely open, he found he had stumbled upon an office.
"Huh? This picture...Michael's dad is in it!" He picked up a photograph off of the desk. "Who is this in the picture?" he looked at the date on the picture, 6-5-70. "Who in this gang would this picture?" Two friends, one of them being Michael's father, were standing next to each other, smiling.

"Could it be the gang leader? That would give the gang leader a reason to go after Michael, assuming something happened with his father!" James put the photograph in his pocket.

"Excuse me? What business do you have in this room?" A woman's voice came from behind him. James turned around and saw a tall woman. She seemed about 30, and she had long black hair. Her name tag read: "Cecilia Turner."

"Uh...I..." James couldn't speak, he had been caught.
"I see, one of the prisoners from the operation must have escaped. I'll have to contact Lord Tazimaru..." Cecilia spoke coldly, taking a radio off of her belt.

"Tazimaru, he must be the leader..." James thought in his head, too terrified to speak. Then, without thinking, James made a run for the door, shoving Cecilia to the ground.

"He's getting away! Put all guards on alert status!" Cecilia shouted into her radio.

"Crap, I have to make sure they don't find Zach and kill him too, I'll lead them away!" James ran as fast as he ever had, he was never the type to run. James saw his path blocked by two gang members.

"So we can't kill this one?" The first guard asked his friend.

"That's right. He's bait, but we are allowed to use force," the other guard answered.

James just ran forward, pushing them to the ground. One of them crawled over and grabbed his legs. "Ha, got you now, kid!" James continued trying to run, and break from the man's hold. He managed to get the man to let go after moving his legs around enough.

"What was that?" James turned around, mocking both of them. He maintained his running and tried his best to keep going.

"Game's over, kid," James felt a pain in his head, he turned around to see who had hit him. He saw Adam with an evil grin on his face. The sheer force of the blow sent James to the ground.

"I found these in your friend's cell, and now you're going to tell me where he is," Adam held up his keyring and looked down at James.

"We were...going to meet in the office where Cecilia found me...he should be headed there..." James' eyes shut and he fell unconscious.

"You heard the boy, put him back in his cell. And put all of our guards in front of Adam's office," Cecilia pointed towards the door. "We won't let that boy live now,"

"Damn it, James got himself caught. He roused up the guards, now they'll be looking for me too," Zach sighed and looked around. "Most of the flashlights are coming from around that door over there, so if I go back to the cells, maybe I can get the information James gathered. I have to get it from him and escape, quickly,"

Zach ran towards the cells while all of the guards were distracted. Zach, unlike James, is the fastest runner out of the four of them. He headed to the cells and hid behind a wall. He saw that the hallway was empty, James must've done something to convince them they were going to meet elsewhere.

Zach ran up to James' cell, "James, hey. Did you find anything?" "Yeah, I got this photo. I'm not sure who's in it with him, but one of them is definitely Michael's dad. It was in Adam's office. Its too old to be of Adam, though," James handed him the photo through the bars. "Now, go, you have to run away, this is a basement level. So there must be a way up, find it and get away"

"Ok, James. I'll be back, though. With Michael and Melissa, we'll get you out," Zach walked off and looked for the exit. He wasn't sure if he would escape alive, or if he would ever see his friend again.

Chapter 7: Surprising Developments

Michael yawned and rubbed his tired eyes. He grabbed his glasses off of the headboard of his bed and put them on. He looked around at the familiar surroundings of his room. The blue painted walls, the ceiling fan, and the large closet. He looked at his calendar, it was June 26th, 2004. Opening the door with another yawn, he headed into the living room.

Everything was off in the living room, telling him that both his brother and his mom were asleep. His dad was at work like always. The clock read: 10:28 AM. It was surprisingly early of an hour for Michael to wake up, especially when he could not go to Summer Band without James giving him a ride. He walked into the kitchen which was already brightly lit by the sunlight.

Opening the large white cube freezer in the corner, he let out another yawn. He pulled out a box of toaster strudel and put two of them in the toaster. "Hmm, I should probably get researching about The Red Dragon, if we're to find James and Zach," Michael thought, as the smell of the strudel cooking moved sweetly through him.

Then, he did what he would have done anyway regardless of the situation. He opened the computer. Waiting for it to boot was like watching a snail crawl for a couple hours. Slow and boring. The sound of the strudel popping out of the toaster gave him an excuse to leave the slow computer. He put the strudel on a plate and iced them. Then he got a chair and sat down at the computer.

He set the plate down on the long mahogany computer desk, and found the computer ready to go. He clicked on the internet logo and proceeded to connect. He took a bite out of one of the strudel and sighed, as it slowly dialed up to the internet, When the connection was complete he looked at his buddy list and found it empty.

"Damn," Michael cursed in between bites of his strudel, "I could use Melissa's help with this right about now." Going to google, he decided to search under more specific keywords.

" "The Red Dragon" leader trial" " He came up with only a couple results. He clicked on the first one and found another article.

"A trial was held for the leader of The Red Dragon, Tazimaru, in 1986. He was found guilty of many crimes including murder in the first and second degrees, assault and battery, theft, and many others. He was sentenced to death by the state of Michigan. Unusually, the execution was carried outonly days afterthe trial. Before his death, Tazimaru spoke, "You will not get away with this. Those who have convicted me, will pay." This statement was the last Tazimaru ever spoke.

"Those who have convicted me...you will pay. That might just mean...no it couldn't be. Melissa or I have some connection to this trial?" Michael had finished his strudel and now was pondering this situation. "Maybe a parent...or something. I should meet with Melissa, so we can gather all of our information together." He looked at the webpage and noticed something else. A picture of Tazimaru was on the page.

"Tazimaru, he was that man I saw at Bedrock Putt-Putt! He must've been older than I figured, but it's definetely him. It's this gang that's running the warehouse. This man must be pretty smart to escape execution without being noticed. He must've used one of his men...that's sick!" Michael was displeased with this disregard for human life.

He heard a sound, and noticed that his buddy list showed that Melissa had signed on. He sent her an instant message requesting a meeting.

mic97con: Melissa, we need to meet and discuss this kidnapping.

lilblossom9l: Why's that?

mic97con: I've gathered some more information, and the internet can be easily monitored. Meet me at the creek in your neighborhood in about 20 minutes.

lilblossom9l: How do you plan to get there?

mic97con: Never mind that! I'll walk! Just go to the creek...

lilblossom9l: ok, ok...

mic97con signed off at 10:41 AM.

Michael sighed again, and didn't even bother to pick up his plate. He ran out the door and out onto the grass alongside the street. "No sidewalks, that's one of the few flaws here in Bedford..." Michael said as he ran along the road, down to where Jackman intersected with Sterns. Michael had just recently learned how to ride a bike and didn't want to ride it in the street just yet. So he was left with the option of walking.

He finally reached the intersection of Jackman and Sterns, panting for breath. He saw a man standing at the entrance to Bragden Creek. He had black hair that was spiked forward, and he looked gruff and frustrated. Michael noticed a handgun hanging from his belt. He was looking back and forth as if looking for something. "Crap! He's looking for me! They must have been monitoring our IM after all!" Instead of crossing, Michael ran to the side of the road and hid behind a bush.

He watched the man move from the entrance to the neighborhood and cross to begin walking alongside Sterns. "He must have seen me! Damn!" Michael thought, wiping sweat off of his forehead as the man walked by and continued moving in the direction from which Michael came, without even noticing. "Phew, I got lucky. I better hurry to Bragden now, before he comes back."

Michael crossed the street at his next opportunity and entered the neighborhood of Bragden Creek once again. This time he proceeded straight down Bragden Drive and head down to the creek. He saw Melissa waiting there, and he ran towards the creek. "Finally, you get here! God! You tell me to come here and I have to wait a whole 2 minutes!"

"Yeah, I know. I saw a guy. He looked like he was trouble, he was even armed," Michael explained.

"Well, whatever. So what did you want to tell me? What did you find out?" After Melissa asked him this, Michael explained everything that had happened yesterday very specifically.

"Hmm, that's all very useful. Maybe we will be able to figure out what's going on. I'd bet that there is a connection to our parents or something." Melissa thought a bit, which usually wasn't normal for her. Either she knew it or she didn't.

"So, on top of all this, you met Chelsea yesterday?" Melissa asked him, smiling.

"That was her name, huh? I didn't really have the time to ask her," Michael pondered, remembering his rush the previous day.

"She wanted to meet you ever since I told her about you," Melissa admitted, "Now that saves me some work."

"That reminds me, what exactly did you tell her?" Michael looked and Melissa and she grinned.

In a similar way to Chelsea she said, "Nothing..."

"Oh, come on! Someone give me a straight answer!" Michael shouted, his voice echoing throughout the neighborhood. Melissa suddenly got a very shocked look, and Michael immediately asked her, "What is it?"

"Look behind you. You won't believe it," Melissa told him, pointing over his shoulder. Michael slowly turned around and he saw something he really didn't believe. He saw Zach, his clothes frayed and covered in dirt.

"Zach! How did you...?"

"Save it. I have some things to tell you and to show you, I'll explain."

Chapter 8: Mystery of the Photo

Zach looked at Michael and Melissa and sat on the ground in front of them. "I was trapped in a warehouse on Reynolds Road and apparently was kidnapped by a gang."

Michael stopped and looked at them, "The Red Dragon, that's the name of the gang. I read it on a website," Melissa and Zach looked at him and Zach nodded.

"I saw one man in particular there that I remember, his name was Adam Vulner. I think he had black hair and he had a handgun. He left the warehouse, leading the group that came after me. I lost most of them before I got here in the night, but I have a feeling some are still around," Zach explained, telling them of this man.

"I saw a man like that! He was glancing in many directions like he was looking for someone! I thought he was tracking me cause he read our IM, but I guess he's after you."

"Yeah, and there's one more thing, James found this picture in Adam's office before he got caught," He pulled the picture out of his pocket and showed it to Michael. Melissa and Michael both looked at the picture in shock.

"Michael! That's your-"

"That's my dad! Who is that with him though?"

"I don't know, but its too old to be Adam," Zach repeated James' observation of the photo.

"It's Tazimaru! The leader of the gang! He's the only one old enough for it to make sense," Michael pictured the gang leader in his head using the picture from earlier. He looked at the date on the back of the picture and commented, "He looks like him too...somewhat. The picture I saw was 16 years after this, but I can still make out a resemblance. So he and my father were friends. So why come after Melissa and I?"

"Something must have happened, something that ticked this guy off," Melissa explained, pondering what this reason could have been.

"Well, I'm glad you're all right Zach. This picture is a great help to us. Maybe we can take this guy down and save James if we all try together! Maybe we could ask my Dad, he would know!"

"That's a good idea. He won't be home for a while though, will he?" Zach reminded Michael, it was only approaching noon.

"Damn, you're right. You can't very well go home for a couple hours either. Your parents are most likely in the warehouse too, and besides if you were to go there, that's where Adam would look for you first. We've got to hide. Somewhere where they wouldn't expect to find you, Zach. Our houses aren't safe," Michael looked to Melissa for an answer.

Melissa pondered for a moment and then came up with an answer, "I know! Follow me!" Melissa ran down to Bragden Drive again and headed away from the creek.

"Why do I not trust her?" Michael laughed running after her, "Come on, Zach. Let's see what she's got." Zach followed in silence, a very unusual occurance.

Melissa stopped at a large two story house. With decorations around the elaborate front porch, it had a quaint feel. Only Melissa knew exactly what they were doing here. Melissa walked to the door and the other two followed her in awkward silence. Melissa rang the doorbell once and stood in front of the door waiting.

After about 10 seconds, the door opened and Chelsea stood in the doorway. "Huh? What are you doing here this early, Melissa?" Chelsea looked at her in confusion and Melissa smiled.

"Oh, don't ask questions! Just let us in! Quickly!" Melissa gently pushed Chelsea out of the way and entered the house. "Come on, what do you two need? An invitation?" Michael wondered why Melissa was being so pushy all of a sudden. He followed her into the house and pulled Zach with him.

"Melissa, what's Michael doing here, and who's that?"

"That's Zach, and we're here to hide, ok? Let me tell you the story." Melissa took about ten minutes to carefully explain what had happened the past few days with input from Zach about what happened inside the warehouse.

Once they had finished, there was silence for a few moments until Chelsea exclaimed, "That's terrible! Are you all right? Is everyone ok?"

"We believe they are, because they are being used to get to us. Once they Melissa and I in the warehouse, I can't guarantee that they'll let James or his and Zach's parents live, but I'm going to try and save them!" Michael paused and looked at his friends, all of them had a particularly wide smile. "I'll give my life to make sure they're safe."

"Yes, I'll help too. I'll make sure they're all safe," Melissa smiled and looked at Michael's brave expression.

"Me too! I'm going to do all in my power!" Zach turned to Michael, Melissa and Chelsea and gave each of them a funny look.

Chelsea giggled and smiled, "All right! You guys can stay here as long as you need to. My family's out of the house today, and they won't be back for a while. Zach, why don't you wash up and change clothes, they might be a bit big on you, but I can maybe sneak something of my dad's."

"Thanks, Chelsea. Remind me that I owe you big time for this one!" Michael smiled and looked at her.

She smiles back at him and says, "I think I can remember that."

Zach went upstairs to wash himself up as the others remained downstairs on the living room couch. Chelsea managed to find one of her dad's older shirts that was small enough to be just a little big on Zach. Michael began to wash his clothes and kindly asked Zach to stay upstairs until he could be clothed.

After about an hour and a half, Zach's jeans and other assorted clothes were clean enough to wear, and other than a few new frays in the jeans, looked good as new. Michael left the clothes outside the bathroom door where Zach was hiding and left to let him get dressed.

After a few more minutes, Zach came downstairs and looked much better than before. His tan skin was no longer covered in dirt and his black hair was neat and straight. The shirt was a little long on him, but it was all right, no big deal. Adam might not even recognize him in such good shape.

"What do you think? Much better I think! Now I'm myself again!"

"Oh, great. Now Zach's back to being crazy," Michael sighed as Chelsea laughed at Zach, dancing around in his clean clothes. "Oh, well. I like him better when he's crazy."

There was a knock at the door, and everything stopped. In his steps, Zach froze not making a move. "Zach, Michael, Melissa! Hide! I'll get the door, you guys find a good place to hide!"

Chelsea slowly walked towards the door, her body shaking, wondering who could be there. She looked back to see that they were hidden and then opened the door.

Standing in the doorway was none other than Adam. "Hello, young lady. I have reason to believe that someone I'm looking for is in your house. Is anyone besides you around?"

Chelsea gulped and took a breath, "No, I-I'm alone."

"Don't lie to me, girl. They're here, tell me where they are," Chelsea gasped and started shaking again. He placed his gun to her head and gave her an evil grin.

Chapter 9: Mistaken Identity

Chelsea felt the cold metal of the gun pressing on her forehead and started shaking violently. Michael caught a glimpse of Adam as he headed through the kitchen, running from the door to the side garage with the others. He stopped and saw Chelsea turn around, walking him into the house.

"I can't let this happen. She told us to hide to save us, so I have to save her, if she can't find us, she'll be shot. I have to show myself!" Michael quickly turned around and ran into the living room, "Hey, asshole! I'm over here!"

"What the hell!?" Adam took the gun from Chelsea's head and pointed it at Michael. Michael began running out to the garage again and Adam followed, not able to get a clear shot on him.

Chelsea looked back and smiled, "Thanks."

Michael ran out into the garage and shouted, "Guys! Scatter around the neighborhood, Adam's chasing me! Go!" At hearing this Zach and Melissa emerged from their outdoor hiding places and ran in opposite directions.

"Why you!" Adam fired a shot and missed Michael narrowly, but accidently grazed Melissa's arm.

Michael turned and looked at her, "Melissa! Are you ok?"

"I'm fine! You have to get away too! Run!" Michael followed her instructions and ran straight towards the exit of the neighborhood. Adam fired another shot and this one hit him in his right arm. Michael shouted out in pain as he was hit and blood began running down his arm.

"I can't just keep running, or I'm going to die! I need to turn around, I have no choice. I'll turn and run at him, if I can hit him hard in the neck, he'll lose his breath and I can knock him out for now." Michael took a deep breath and then turned around swiftly, running at Adam. He shifted to the right, so it would be harder to hit him.

Adam shot again and Michael moved to the left, the bullet hitting his right arm again. Right at that moment, Michael swung a left-handed punch directly at Adam's neck as hard as he could, and it knocked Adam backwards firing a shot into the air.

Adam fell unconsicious on the ground, and Michael heard his difficulty breathing. Michael was panting like a dog on a hot day, having used up all of his energy. "I-it worked, I got real lucky..." Michael sighed, grabbing the gun out of Adam's hand. "It's best if you don't have this...I need it more than you."

Michael dragged Adam's unconsicious body out to the exit of Bragden Creek and when there were no cars that could see him, he laid Adam down on the side of the road. Then Michael ran back to Chelsea's house so she could help him find the others.

Once everyone was back in Chelsea's house, Michael and Melissa cleaned out their wounds. "Michael, I'm sorry. If it weren't for me, you and Melissa wouldn't be-"

"Stop apologizing, Chelsea," Michael grimaced as he washed out his bullet wounds with soap, cringing in pain. "If it weren't for you, Zach would probably be dead, and maybe us too."

"Ok..." Chelsea responded reluctantly. Michael wrapped up his wounds and walked back into the living room, his arms still giving him a relative large amount of pain.

Michael took a breath and sat down, beginning to discuss his plans, "All right, listen up everyone. Someone will most likely find Adam on the side of the road where I left him. Someone will take him into their home, while I don't know who that may be, it's enough to buy us some time."

Everyone nodded and looked at him for the rest of his plan, "Chelsea, I want you to stay here, this has nothing to do with you and I can't have you in danger. No ifs, ands, or buts. You're staying right here," Chelsea began opening her mouth to object, but Michael stopped her, "What did I say? You're staying here."

"All right...but please be careful," Chelsea sighed, sitting back on the couch.

"Melissa and Zach, it's about two o' clock now. So we can get to my house in 15 minutes or so. We can then wait there and ask my Dad about the picture, so we know what we're dealing with here. Melissa, remember to hide your wounds. Then, assuming that we still have reason to, tonight we are going to assualt the warehouse."

Michael sighed and looked around at them, "All we have is this handgun with two bullets left in it, so its best to go in there on stealth. We free James and your guys' parents, and then make an anonomous call to the police. Then we get out of that place before knowledge of this crime itself or any of our involvement gets out. The Red Dragon gang will be captured and put away. That's all we need. Everyone agree with this?"
"Yes, it's a good enough plan, our chances are low, but hey, when are they ever that high?" Melissa smiled and reassured them.

"Yeah, you never thought James would fall for all of that stuff you put in his sweatshirt hood, but it happened! Time and time again! So let's put an end to this!" Zach laughed, putting his hand out. Michael and Melissa both put their hands in as well and they all raised them up to the air.

"Guys, be careful. Don't get hurt anymore, please..." Chelsea implored them, as they stood with pride.

"Don't worry, Chelsea. We'll be back. With James! Alive and well!" Michael assured her, smiling once again and walking towards the door. "Well guys, let's go. We're off. See ya, Chelsea. Don't worry about us, ok?"

"I'll try...goodbye," Chelsea looked at them in the doorway, the sunlight shining in through the window. Michael and the others looked really cool, standing tall in the sunlight.

"For now," Michael turned his back on her and walked out the door with his friends, it was time to shut down The Red Dragon.

The first step was to pursue his Dad to confirm the information they had assumed about the picture. Adam was no longer at the side of the road, so that meant that someone had found him. Knowing that they only had a short while, Michael, Melissa, and Zach walked along Sterns Road as many cars passed by beside them. Michael hoped that they would get back before his mom woke up and realized his absence. She often slept into the day, so he assumed it would be fine.

After walking for about 15 minutes, they finally reached the shared driveway in between Michael's house and his neighbors. Kicking up dust as they walked up the stone pathway, Michael noticed his father's red hightop van wasn't there yet. They were lucky.

"Michael, should we just go inside the house and wait for your father?" Melissa asked, looking at the door of the small gray house.

"Yes, but if my mom or brother asks, you guys showed up unannouced and I know nothing," Michael opened the door, and gestured to allow them in. They shut the door behind them and almost instantaneously after, his dad pulled into the driveway, stopping in front of the old garage. He didn't park inside of it, because it has too much junk in it.

After allowing his father to put his lunchbox away and other things, Michael immediately got to the point. "Father, I need to speak to you."

"Huh? All right, shoot, what's this about?"

"Zach, show him," Michael pointed at Zach's pocket and Zach pulled out the photo.

"We'd like to know about this photo," Zach handed it to Michael's father. Looking at the picture for a moment, Michael's father turned and looked at them.

"This is me in my senior year. Me and my best friend, Alan Vulner." At this, Michael and his friends all got looks of extreme shock, the man in the picture wasn't Tazimaru. It was a realtive of Adam's!

Chapter 10: Danger on Secor Road

"Alan Vulner? What was he like?" Michael looked at his dad, who bore a frown upon his face. Hiding his wounds, Michael waited for a response.

"He was a good man, a really good guy," Michael's dad almost looked to have a tear in his eye which seemed impossible.

"Was? What happened to him?"

"He was killed, because of me. It was a car accident, I was driving down the road one day and Alan was with me. I had the brilliant idea to run a red light, so we wouldn't get caught with the traffic leaving the store one day in 1985. When I was in the intersection, a car hit the passenger side of my car, and killed him instantly. I was injured, but they were minor injuries, and I took my friend's life."

"So that's it...I think I get it," Michael drooped his head, looking even a bit sad. He looked at Melissa and she nodded, Zach did the same. They understood too. "Father, was there someone else in the car with you?"

"Yes, you're very insightful...it was her father. Melissa's father was with us," he sniffed and held a smile. "It was a long time ago, and I was told not to blame myself, but I think it's better that I take responsibility for my actions."

"That's very mature of you, thanks for telling me," Michael led Melissa and Zach to the door.

"Sure thing, good luck," Michael and the others went out the door, and shut it behind them. "There's only one person who could still have this picture, it's his son."

"So now what do we do? Are we still going to attack the warehouse?" Zach asked excitedly, Michael's Dad's still stuck in hismind.

"Yes, we have to be careful, so tonight tell your parents what you need to. I'm telling my Dad that I'm going to spend the night at your place, Zach. Zach, you and I will just hide out at the intersection of Jackman and Sterns, because of the distance of your house. Melissa, you should say you're going to be at Chelsea's, then we all can meet there. I'm sure I don't need to remind you to act stealthily once we are there. Zach, you can show us how you escaped. For you to be able to escape it must only be moderately guarded, but with your escape, it'll be tougher to free James."

Melissa and Zach just nodded and agreed as Michael carefully planned every aspect of the assualt. Anyone could tell that he was worried about what may happen once they got there. He asked for Zach's cell to make the call to the police. "I don't need to remind you that this will be dangerous, but I promised we'd be fine, so we must be very careful. Guys, I trust you with my life, so let's give it our all!"

"Yes, for James, Zach, and their parents, I'll try my best!" Melissa smiled and put her hand out.

"Never fear, with me around you have nothing to worry about!" Zach put his hand in and jumped up and down, making Michael laugh.

"Yeah, you two are right. There's nothing to worry about, for James, Zach, their parents, Chelsea, and everyone who's been affected by this gang, let's take them down!" Michael put his hand in on top of theirs and then they all raised them to the sky. "We will succeed without fail!"

Michael's faith had been restored, and now was the calm before the storm. They waited patiently at Michael's until about 6 o' clock when they all went their seperate ways. Michael went to tell his dad his fake story, and quickly got out of the house, and followed soon after Zach to the meeting place.

As light turned to darkness, Michael felt a chill over his body. He was afraid, but being able to face fears was part of life. That was his firm belief. When he finally made it to the meeting place, the others were already waiting for him, and they began their perilous journey down Sterns Road to Reynolds Road.

"Ok," Michael cleared his throat, "We don't want to get caught on any highways, so even though this'll take longer, it's the best way. We keep walking down Sterns until we get to Secor, take a left there until we get to Dorr. Take another left on Dorr, and walk until we reach Reynolds and take one final left."

"Yeah, I learned...I kept running into entrances to highways and had to turn around a lot, that's why it took me all night to get back here," Zach laughed, and Michael looked at him intently.

"Don't worry about it this time, Zach. I know where I'm going. This handgun is the only weapon we have and it has two shots, so I won't use them unless absolutely necessary," Michael looked at Melissa, who he knew was going to shout out.

"I know karate, so I can defend myself pretty well, we probably won't need the weapon. Besides, I can always disarm one of them and you can use their weapon!" Melissa smiled, proud of her knowledge in martial arts.

"Yeah, we're counting on you," picking up the pace at which he was walking, Michael remained gallant and unflinching in his confidence.

They walked on and reached Secor Road by dark, and the lights of Lambertville helped greatly with their sight crossing the roads. They stopped to rest for a moment in the Kroger parking lot, and a black car pulled into the store, as they rest.

"Hey, you kids. What are you doing out this late at night?" The man driving the car asked them.

"We were...uh...just walking home, that's all," Michael laughed and smiled as he lied through his teeth.

"Somehow, I think you're lying!" The man showed his face and it was Adam! "Cecilia, get them in this car. We're taking them to the warehouse so I can dispose of them!" Cecilia, the woman who had captured James, got out of the car armed with a shotgun.

"No sudden moves, or you all die right here," Cecilia got an evil grin and one by one led them into the car, being careful to make sure no one would see her.

"I believe that's mine, you little bastard!" Adam punched Michael in the face, which made his nose bleed. He takes the handgun from Michael's grip and chuckles. "Now all four of you can die together in that cell, but don't worry, I won't kill you right away. I'll make sure you suffer, so I can hear your screams of pain when you die. Let's go," Adam put a cloth to Michael's mouth and Michael tasted something bitter.

"It's chloroform, damn..." Michael began to feel dizzy and all of a sudden became tired. Slowly, his eyes closed, and everything around him went black.

Chapter 11: Escape! Showdown of Wits!

Michael's eyes slowly opened back up and he found himself in a prison cell with his three friends. Zach and Melissa were collapsed on the floor still, the chloroform seemed to have had a stronger effect on them. It was dark and the walls were a dark gray. It was a really depressing setting to be in.

"You're awake. So you guys got caught after all..." the voice that Michael heard was without a doubt James'.

"James! You're alive! That's great!" Michael began forming a plan of how to escape as soon as he had at least one person to help him.

"Yep, we'll all live, until Adam is done with us. He's behind the entire operation, he's pulling Tazimaru's strings! I can't figure out the reason but-"
"It was my father." James got a shocked look and then turned back to Michael not sure what he meant.

"Wait, did that picture have something that I missed?" Michael turned away from James and then back towards him.

Michael took a breath and spoke, "To put it simply, Adam blames my father and Melissa's father for his father's death. I have no time to go into detail here," Michael lowered his voice and spoke softly, "We need to worry about getting out of here."

"Ok, what do you think we should do? They have two guards at the end of both of these hallways and they constantly pace back and forth through the hall. They're a lot like you."

"Shut up, James. Don't judge me because I pace. Here's my plan, they've taken the bed out of here since you and Zach stole the keys, so this room is now bare of anything we could use to get the keys. The only possible way is to take them directly from the guard."

James nodded and Michael took a breath and went on, "The problem with that is that these guards are armed and could kill us on the spot if we tried. So the only way is to use our numbers to our advantage. They put us all together to make us easier to watch, but we can use that," Michael paused as one of the guards passed by, "use that to get the keys."

James nodded again, and looked a bit puzzled, "Well, how do we do that?"

"I didn't want to have to do this, but we're going to have to use Zach's cell phone to call the police right away, and even risk getting our involvement out to the public. After that, we make a racket and get one of the guards to come up to the cell," James showed signs of approval as Michael improvised a plan. "Then while you talk to the guard, I get my hands on his gun and threaten him with it. Most likely out of cowardice, he'll give us the keys, but if I have to injure him to get them, I will."

"What if the other guards come over here?" James asked with a look of concern, which was amazing for him.

"I'll shoot them too if I have to. Our lives and the safety of the innocents are the priority, it's not like I'm going to get in trouble with the law for assualting my kidnappers," Michael sighed, looking at the floor of the cell. "We first have to wait for those two to wake and then we must move this plan forward ASAP."

"W-what about ASA pee pee?" A confused voice came from the other side of the cell.

"Looks like Zach's awake..." Michael laughed and turned towards him, "Zach, do you realize what you just said?"

"No, I don't, all a blank!" Michael sighed and explained the plan to Zach who ignored him. Zach was too busy slapping Melissa in the face to wake her up. When she finally did wake, Zach was greeted with a kick in the leg.

"Ow! Melissa, why did you do that! You're supposed to kick James!" Zach held his leg in mild pain.

"Never mind the stupidity, we have plenty of time for that later. Let me explain, cause I'm only doing it once more," Michael explained the plan again until Melissa and Zach both thoroughly understood. "Now Zach, the next time that guard passes our cell, I want you to quickly call 911, give the address and the situation, then we proceed with taking the keys, so that we may have a chance to escape before they get here."

"Yes, sir!" Zach gave him a fake salute and waited for the guard to pass. After the guard was out of sight he quickly dialed 911 and said, "4653 Reynolds Road, I've been kidnapped by The Red Dragon gang. My three friends and I are trapped here, we're going to try and escape, send police immediately, bye!" Zach hung up the phone just as another guard passed in front of the cell. "Fast enough?"

"Perfect, Zach. Now, its time for Melissa's job. Go ahead!" Michael signaled to Melissa and she began making a loud screeching noise, which in no time at all, attracted a guard to the cell.

"What's with all the racket!? I suggest you quiet down, or I will shoot you!" the guard didn't even notice Michael moving towards where his gun was attached to his belt.

"Oh, I was just getting a little hungry and was wondering if I could get something to eat," James pushed on the guard through the bars.

"No, end of story," Michael reached for the gun and the guard began to step back.

"No! I need something to eat!" James whined much like a little baby.

The guard got closer again, "Listen, kid. You'd best shut up and just deal with it." Michael grabbed the gaurd's gun and quickly lifted it up to his face.

"Don't move! You're going to give us the keys, and all of your guard buddies are going to stay right there and watch us escape, no moves, or I will kill you!" Michael threatened in an evil sounding voice, to further the belief that he would do it.

"All right! Here!" The guard threw him the keys and Michael caught them.

"All right, now you're going to leave us to our business! If you go to your boss, I'll know! Just go to the end of the hall and stay there!" Michael pressed the gun closer to the guard's head until he went back to his side of the hallway.

"Yeah, guys! We did it!" Michael got high fives all around, and then proceeded to open the cell. "Now, let's hurry, before we run into someone more dangerous than these wimpy guards!"

They ran through the halls, following behind Zach, who knew his way to the exit. They ran full speed, quickly finding the staircase to the above ground level. Once they reached that level however, they found the leader, Tazimaru standing at the exit.

"Stop right there, kids. You're not getting out of here, you think I'd let you escape?" Tazimaru laughed, holding a gun in his hand.

"Tazimaru, you have no reason to be after us. You didn't ever intend to bring this gang back with your life when you took it back, did you? You wanted to live, and not have this danger anymore. It was Adam, he insisted that you carry out one last crime, so that he wouldn't reveal that you were still alive. He told you to get revenge for him, to kill the children of the man who killed his father. Then he would allow you your freedom. You don't have to do this, Adam is as good as dead," Michael bargained with the man, watching his tough look turn soft.

"You are right, I'll come clean and admit-" A gunshot went off and Tazimaru fell to the floor, blood moving out of a bullet wound in his head. Behind them, Adam was standing ready to shoot them too.

"Die, you little-" Another shot fired, this time by Michael. He had killed Adam.

"I'm sorry, but it was you or me," Michael sighed and looked at the two dead bodies in the room, "I had to do it, for my friends." Sirens began to sound outside and the police arrived. Michael explained the whole situation to them, and finally realized he had forgot James' and Zach's parents!

The police went back in and got them and took them back home, and then Michael proposed his terms. "You can put this story on the early morning news, but keep it off of all other news reports. We don't want worried parents. When you tell about who we were solving the mystery, just call us by our first names. If you want a group name, we are The MB Detective Agency! From now on, we have agreed to protect those in Bedford from crime, so they won't become victims like us."

"I think I can keep these terms," a man with a bright smile spoke, "My name is Noran Bryne, and like you, I was a young detective and am a private investigator today. You seem to have handled this quite well, not many kids could have done this, good work. Let me take you guys home."

"Yeah, we could really use some rest." Michael grinned, at the very end of the first case of many. The first case of The MB Detective Agency was finally closed.

EXCERPT FROM NEWS REPORT 6 AM (13 ABC)

"Our top story this morning, four young kids captured the remainder of the infamous Red Dragon gang of Toledo. Their names are Michael, Melissa, James, and Zach, and they call themselves The MB Detective Agency. Now many people may speculate if these children actually did anything at all, but here's the full story. Originally Zach, one of the members of the group was kidnapped to bait Michael and Melissa to come to their warehouse hideout on Reynolds Road. Michael, Melissa, and James each recieved letters giving them a small clue of what was going on."

"Michael began to catch on to the crime, so the criminal's next step was to kidnap James, for he wasn't the one that the criminal really wanted. Zach managed to escape from the warehouse and bring information to the group about the gang that allowed them to discover the motives. The real twist came when it turned out that the escaped convicted gang leader, Tazimaru was really being puppeted by Adam Vulner, a twisted man of 25. Apparently, Adam wanted revenge on Michael and Melissa's fathers for the death of his father. So he took them all to the warehouse to kill them all very slowly. Zach called the police and they managed to escape by stealing a guard's weapon. They reached the top floor, and Adam killed Tazimaru just before he confessed these facts and turned the gun on Michael and the others."

"Michael shot Adam with the guard's weapon just as the police came by and placed the remaining members of the gang under arrest. These children have certainly been through a lot and they should be thanked for their act of amazing heroism!"

THE END

To be continued...in The Caribbean Cruise Ship Mystery

Before anyone even bothers to look at this, it would be a good idea for you to post your chapters separately and at different times. Post chapter one, no others, and give us some time to get to it. After a little while's wait, you can go ahead and post your second chapter.

And so on and so forth.

When you have it like this, it makes it hard for the reader to critique and it's a bit sloppy, in my opinion. Separate and I'll see what I can do. ^_^

Welcome to the site, by the way! I'm Sydney. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. See ya later!

Lurv, <--- I type that in all my posts/messages; don't freak.
~*Syd*~

I agree with Silly Sudstix, you should add each chapter separately to reduce sloppieness. Excuse my spelling, haha. It makes it hard to read. It becomes a little overwhelming. Other than that, I enjoyed the story but you used the character's names to much. I look forward to reading the next installment though, and good job on your first peice on the site.

-Joel-

I've read the first three chapters and here is what I think so far:

You actually remind me of myself as a writer when I was younger, LOL. Writing about myself and friends (which I assuming is what you are doing, as that is how it appears).

First, I don't think it's extremely realistic. Shooting darts and arrows at little kids just so they do not speak the contents of their notes? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense in my opinion.

Second, I don't feel as if I got enough out of the different characters. I need some more feel for the characters and who they are/what they are about.

Overall, despite the fact I have been rather harsh on you, I kinda like it, lol. I will continue to read the rest of it and see how it turns out. Best of luck!! ^_^

DoctorClicky wrote:I've read the first three chapters and here is what I think so far:

You actually remind me of myself as a writer when I was younger, LOL. Writing about myself and friends (which I assuming is what you are doing, as that is how it appears).

First, I don't think it's extremely realistic. Shooting darts and arrows at little kids just so they do not speak the contents of their notes? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense in my opinion.

Second, I don't feel as if I got enough out of the different characters. I need some more feel for the characters and who they are/what they are about.

Overall, despite the fact I have been rather harsh on you, I kinda like it, lol. I will continue to read the rest of it and see how it turns out. Best of luck!! ^_^

It is as you say...and really, even this rewrite of the story was edited to make it more realistic (the original was WAY out there, lol) as well as to link this story into the series. As you say, when I was in 6th grade, I had a strong desire to write a story about me and my friends, and it was actually based off of a prank I played on my friend. ^^;

At this point, I've turned it into a full-fledged series that is hopefully becoming more realistic as it goes along (although of course, there are still a few fantasy-like concepts, but they all have decent scientific explanations) I do realize that a few concepts in this story still need tweaking, and I will be sure to heed your advice from this point forward. I appreciate the review though ^^

(Also, posting chapters separately...yeah I can do that ^^;)