I'm sorry it took me awhile to post this next part--work and computer problems had me occupied.
Just a brief warning: there is some violence in this part, but also remember that this story is rated R for a reason. Read at your discretion.
Dark Visions Part Six
Rated: R
“I still don’t see any patterns in the names of the victims Zito picked,” Captain Kylie said, examining the list. “We’ve conducted every possible background check we could on each of these people, and none of them match up to Zito. In fact, there’s evidence that none of his victims even knew him.”
Pete sighed. “I wonder why he would do that,” he said. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Pete, Zito’s a cold blooded murderer,” Kylie said. “Even through all my years of police work, I still haven’t been able to understand these kinds of people. Nothing they do makes rational sense to us at all.”
The phone in the police station rang, and Kylie answered it. The expression on his face turned into a puzzled and stern frown, and he held the phone out to Pete.
“It’s for you,” he said.
Nikki looked at Pete, knowing it had to be Zito calling again. The look on Pete’s face seemed to confirm her suspicions as he began listening to the chilling voice on the other end.
“Hello Peter, have you missed me?” Zito asked.
Pete held his hand over the receiver. “It’s Zito,” he said.
“I’ll put it in speaker,” Captain Kylie said. “Keep him talking so that we can run a trace.”
“Did you really think my motive for killing those people had to do with a grudge against them or some form of revenge, like I didn’t receive a decent haircut from one of them?” Zito asked, laughing slightly, his vicious voice echoing over the speaker. “Honestly, that’s so pedestrian and obvious.”
“Why not? You’ve done it before,” Pete taunted, remembering bitterly what he almost did to Murphy and Skinner, and what he had managed to do to MacGyver.
“I suppose you are right, Peter,” Zito said, “however, I also enjoy killing for the sheer thrill and power of it as well. Since you inconveniently deprived me of my final victim in this game, I have had to find a substitute. Any guesses as to who it might be?” Zito giggled.
“MacGyver,” Nikki said.
Pete looked at her. “What have you done to MacGyver?” He asked angrily, almost shouting into the phone.
There was one final malicious giggle from Zito, and then the line went dead. Pete slammed the phone down and glared at Captain Kylie. “Well?” He demanded hotly.
Kylie gravely shook his head. “No trace,” he said. “I’m sorry, Pete.”
“Damn!” Pete growled.
“Pete, calm down,” Nikki said. “I’m sure he’s just bluffing. There’s no way he could have harmed MacGyver.”
“He already has,” Pete reminded her sadly.
“I know, but he’s secure now in that hospital,” she said. “No one but Dr. Beatty and a few other staff there have access to him.”
As if the mention of her name prompted the phone to ring, Dr. Beatty called the station next. Captain Kylie once again handed the phone to Pete.
“What? No, how could that be? That’s impossible!” Pete shouted, this time more in distress than in anger. “All right, we’ll meet you there at the hospital.” He hung up the phone and looked at Nikki and Captain Kylie, his face pale in shock.
“Pete, what is it?” Captain Kylie asked.
“Someone took MacGyver,” he said, his voice shaken.
“What? How?” Nikki asked, stunned.
“I don’t know,” Pete said. “All Dr. Beatty told me is that someone claiming to have secured hospital access and authority removed him from the room. The staff thought it was a legitimate order until Dr. Beatty alerted them that no one was authorized to move him except her and showed them that the papers were forged.”
“Zito,” Nikki said.
Captain Kylie nodded. “He would know hospital protocol enough to pull something like this off,” he said, “and he’s highly skilled at disguises. No one would have noticed it was him.”
“Where could he have taken MacGyver?” Nikki asked. “You don’t think it would be the asylum again, do you?”
“No, that’s too obvious,” Pete said, sighing in exasperation. “All I do know is that we’d better get over to the hospital, and now before something worse happens to MacGyver than what has already been done to him. Captain Kylie, could you bring some of your men with us? I want to take down that scum now!” Pete grit his teeth, holding back a few more choice words he had reserved for Zito.
“Of course, Pete,” Kylie said. “I’ll have my men over there immediately.”
***
“Pete, I’m sorry this happened,” Dr. Beatty said, rushing over to meet them when they entered the hospital. “By the time I got here, he was already gone.”
“It’s all right,” Pete said. “We’re going to find him. We’re going to get him back.” He clenched his jaws and his fists in determination.
“Did you see which direction he was taken?” Captain Kylie asked the nurses at the reception desk.
One of them pointed down the hallway toward the elevators and shrugged. “After that, I’m not sure where they went,” she said.
A thoughtful frown appeared on Kylie’s face and he began to look around the hospital.
“What is it, Captain?” Nikki asked, watching him.
“What’s the name of this hospital again?” He asked.
“Strickland Memorial,” Pete said. “Why?”
“This is the hospital where some of Zito’s murder victims were taken and stored in the morgue,” he said grimly.
“So, what are you suggesting?” Pete asked, dreading to hear the answer.
“Maybe Zito never left the hospital with MacGyver at all,” he said.
“It would be difficult to smuggle him out of here in the condition he’s in,” Nikki said. “That makes perfect sense. But, where would they go?”
“Someplace quiet and almost completely undisturbed,” Kylie said. “Someplace…like the morgue.”
“Get your people down there immediately,” Pete said, running toward the elevators, Nikki and Dr. Beatty following him.
“Call security,” Kylie advised the nurses. “Tell them to meet me down in the morgue.”
“Yes sir,” one of the nurses said, quickly picking up the phone to alert hospital security.
***
Zito was pleased. He barely had to sedate MacGyver. He was already unaware of his surroundings in the cold morgue, stirring on occasion and moaning, pulling against his restraints but otherwise remaining in a state of deep sleep. Zito watched him and grinned. He could see the effects of his torture in MacGyver’s pale, scarred, and thin body. Still, it hadn’t been enough to completely silence him. Coldly and clinically, he pulled out a small ice pick instrument along with a small hammer. He held it above MacGyver’s head, inches away from near his eye cavity.
“The lobotomy,” he said, educating MacGyver on it even though he wasn’t aware, moaning slightly and tossing from side to side. “Quite a primitive early attempt to subdue violent patients before more humane efforts like drugs became widely available. It was known to cause brain damage and personality changes, which is precisely why I’m going to perform one on you. You see MacGyver; I thought I had succeeded in completely obliterating your mind. I nearly did, and you are institutionalized, but something of your intelligence still remains. You managed to escape from me, and you told your friends about my list. I’m afraid I can’t afford to have you interfere with my plans anymore. This corrective procedure will ensure that you don’t. When I’m finished with you, nothing of what you were will remain. You’ll become a vegetable, and utterly useless to Pete.”
Outside the morgue door, Pete, Nikki, Captain Kylie, and a small group of police and security guards gathered. Pete peered carefully into the room through the small glass window in the door.
“He’s in there all right,” Pete said disgustedly, “and he’s got MacGyver.”
“What’s he doing?” Nikki asked.
Pete squinted, barely able to make out the whole scene inside the morgue. “I can’t be sure,” he said. He looked at Captain Kylie. “All I know is that we should move, now!”
Kylie nodded and glanced back at his men and the security guards. “We’re going to take this slowly,” he said. “Zito is unpredictable. God knows what he’ll do to MacGyver if we move too fast or act rashly. Still, our actions are going to have to be quick, but accurate. Ready?” His men nodded, and he looked back at Pete, Nikki, and Dr. Beatty. “All right,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “My men will enter first. When it’s safe, you’ll follow us. Understood?” Pete, Nikki, and Dr. Beatty nodded. “Okay, on three…”
His men and the security guards positioned themselves quietly outside the door, guns drawn.
“One,” Captain Kylie said, “two…three!”
His men kicked the door down.
“Police! Freeze!” The shouted as they entered the room.
Zito looked at them and smiled condescendingly. “Such a flare for the dramatic,” he said calmly. “If you take any measures to apprehend me, I will drive this spike into MacGyver’s brain, severing it and his ability to be MacGyver anymore. What is left of him will be nothing but an empty shell,” he said, holding the pick instrument directly on the spot where he planned to drive it through MacGyver’s brain.
The police hesitated, knowing they had to deal carefully in a hostage situation in order not to escalate it.
“Shoot him!” Pete shouted, entering the room with Nikki and Dr. Beatty. All three of them stared in horror at what Zito was about to do to MacGyver.
“Oh my God,” Dr. Beatty said, recognizing the barbaric relic of an instrument Zito held on MacGyver’s head well from her studies in psychology and psychiatry. “He’s going to perform a lobotomy on MacGyver.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Pete said.
“You don’t, Peter,” Zito said, smiling. “It appears I have the upper hand in this situation.”
“Shoot him, damn it! Now!” Pete shouted, unable to take seeing MacGyver at the mercy of this madman anymore.
The police aimed their weapons at Zito, and Zito angrily picked up the small hammer, preparing to strike it against the pick and drive it into MacGyver’s brain. “Shoot me, and I swear I’ll pierce his brain!” He shouted.
“Pete, we have to handle this delicately,” Captain Kylie said. “Any false moves, and MacGyver could get hurt.”
“That’s right,” Zito said. “Listen to the good captain, here.”
MacGyver stirred and moaned, twisting against his restraints. Tears filled Nikki’s eyes as she watched him, realizing just how horrific MacGyver’s experience must have been in the hands of this dangerous lunatic.
“What do you want?” She asked Zito.
“I want to finish what I came here to do,” Zito said, still holding the instrument against MacGyver’s head. “So, if you’ll kindly exit the room…”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Captain Kylie said. “We have to come to some kind of resolution here, Zito, but no one should get hurt. Understand?”
Zito grinned. “How pathetic,” he said. “A policeman bargaining when he’s in no position to make demands.” He prepared to strike the pick into MacGyver’s head.
“NO!” Pete shouted, stopping Zito. “Listen, why don’t we do what he says, huh?”
“Pete!” Nikki said.
“I have an idea,” Pete said between tight lips.
“Come on, let’s back out of the room,” Pete said, glancing at Captain Kylie, communicating with him silently with knowing eyes.
“Very sensible, Pete,” Zito said, watching him carefully.
“Well, I’m glad you agree,” Pete said harshly. He waited until all the police were out of the room and when Zito’s guard appeared to be down, and then he whipped out his gun and fired.
The blast sent Zito reeling, the bullet striking him in the chest. He crashed to the floor in one loud thud. The sound of the gun going off awakened MacGyver, who stared at the violent scene in confusion. He saw Zito’s expression turn from pained to peaceful as he slumped to the floor, lifeless. As he looked at Zito, images of being chained up naked and spread-eagled and whipped returned to MacGyver, along with images of bodies being dismembered and decapitated in front of him. This time, the man performing these gruesome tasks was not Pete, but the man he saw lying on the floor, bleeding. Pete stood over him, glaring down at him with pure hatred as the police entered the room again.
“Make sure he’s dead,” Pete said, hoping he wasn’t dealing with another Murdoc. He didn’t want Zito coming back to life to repeatedly haunt and torment MacGyver.
Captain Kylie felt Zito’s pulse. It was nonexistent. He shook his head. “He’s dead,” he said, looking up at Pete.
“Pete!” Nikki shouted, entering the room with Dr. Beatty. They stared at the limp, lifeless form of Zito in horror. “How did you know...?”
“I had to catch him off guard somehow,” Pete said. “I didn’t want to see this man live any longer. I know Mac wouldn’t approve, but after what he’s been through…” he sighed.
“I know, Pete,” Nikki said, squeezing his arm in support. “You did the right thing. You had to stop his madness somehow.”
MacGyver stared up at Pete, slowly beginning to understand. Pete had saved his life instead of harming him. Pete was innocent. It was Zito who had tortured him. All of the sessions he’d had with Dr. Beatty showing him the pictures of Zito and Pete had begun to work. He began to associate the right man with the right crime, and saw Pete as his friend once again. Zito’s conditioning had finally broken down, replaced with the truth. He struggled violently against his restraints, grunting.
“He’s conscious,” Dr. Beatty said.
“MacGyver,” Nikki said sadly, still seeing a wild look in MacGyver’s brown eyes.
Pete reached out to him.
“Careful, Pete,” Nikki said.
“She’s right,” Dr. Beatty said. “Remember, he might still think you’re his torturer.”
As Pete watched, MacGyver moaned and strained to raise his arm against the straps, almost as if he was reaching for something. There was a deep pleading and moistness in MacGyver’s eyes along with something else Pete hadn’t seen recently—trust.
“No,” Pete said. “No, I think he’s trying to tell me something.” Quickly, he removed the strap around MacGyver’s arms.
“I don’t think you should be removing his restraints,” Dr. Beatty said. “You can’t be sure of what he’ll do. He might retaliate against you.”
Pete ignored her, knowing exactly what he was doing. Once MacGyver realized his arms were free, he reached up for Pete’s hand, grabbing it and clasping it tightly—not out of fear, but out of renewed friendship. It reminded Pete of when MacGyver grabbed his hand after awakening from his coma. It was the same warm, trusting feeling. He was reaching for support. MacGyver looked at him and his lips began to form a faint, quivering smile. He struggled to move his lips, trying to speak.
“It’s all right, Mac,” Pete said, holding back tears. “I’m here for you. I’ve never left.”
Nikki and Dr. Beatty watched in astonishment.
“He recognizes you,” Nikki said. “He’s not afraid of you anymore.”
“This is extraordinary,” Dr. Beatty said, smiling in relief. “It appears he’s starting to see you as his friend again. My sessions with him must have worked.”
“P…” MacGyver mumbled. “P..e…”
“It’s okay, Mac, I’m here,” Pete said, gently rubbing his hand. He looked at it and noticed for the first time that some of MacGyver’s fingernails had been ripped out by Zito, making him want to hold MacGyver’s hand tighter in a gesture of protection, even though the maniac was now dead and no longer a threat.
MacGyver squirmed in his bed and struggled to talk again. “P…P-e-t-e…” he said, smiling faintly.
“That’s right, Mac,” Pete said, smiling, a few tears of sadness and relief rolling down his cheeks. “I’m here. Zito can’t hurt you anymore.”
MacGyver smiled and moaned, releasing his grip from Pete’s hand. His arm fell limply to his side and he sighed, settling back into unconsciousness, a peaceful expression finally showing on his face after months of hell. Pete looked up at Nikki, Dr. Beatty, and Captain Kylie, a beaming, tearful smile on his face.
“I think he’s going to be all right,” he said.
To be continued…
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."
--Henry David Thoreau
brains+brawn+beauty+personality=MacGyver
