Okay, here's the fifth part as promised!
Dark Visions Part Five
Rated: R
“N…N…Nik-k…Nikki…N…N…Nikki…” MacGyver mumbled softly as he slowly regained consciousness.
Stunned that he spoke and that he used her name, Nikki sat up in her chair by his bedside and gently took his hand.
“That’s right, MacGyver,” she said. “It’s me, Nikki. I’m here for you.”
He turned his head to look in her direction, his eyes slightly open as if he was half conscious. “N…Nikki…list…” his voice trailed away.
“MacGyver?” Nikki asked. She looked into his eyes and saw a faint glimmer of awareness and recognition in them, almost as if he was awakening from his private terror for the first time.
“List,” MacGyver said. “List…Nikki…”
He tossed from side to side, straining against the straps that restrained him to his bed, preventing him from making another suicide attempt.
“Be still,” Nikki said, carefully watching his bandaged and stitched wrist. “You’ve injured yourself. MacGyver, can you hear me? Come on, Mac, you’re getting so close! Come back to us, please!”
MacGyver closed his eyes and fell back asleep. Nikki sighed in disappointment.
“Damn,” she muttered.
“How is he?” Dr. Beatty asked, entering the room.
“He was awake,” Nikki said. “Briefly. He said my name.”
“That’s good news,” Dr. Beatty said. “What else did he say?”
“Something about a list.”
“List? That’s what he was saying before he lost consciousness during his suicide attempt,” Dr. Beatty said.
“I know,” Nikki said. “I’m going to get together with Pete. Maybe that means something. He’s trying to communicate with me, Dr. Beatty. He’s trying to tell me something.” She looked at MacGyver’s sleeping form and gently touched his shoulder. “Watch him, okay? I’ll come back later.”
***
“I just can’t believe what happened,” Pete said, staring blankly. “Mac would never try to kill himself.” He sighed. “Well, I guess that proves how far gone he is after Zito’s torture.” He looked at Nikki, his eyes swollen from a lack of sleep and from tears. “You know, that was the first time in quite awhile that I’ve been able to be in the same room with him, and he could have died.”
“I know, Pete,” Nikki said. “I’m sorry.”
“He kept saying ‘list,’” Pete said. “I wonder what that meant.”
“Actually, that’s what I came to see you about,” Nikki said. “I was just in the room with him, and he looked at me, said my name, and then mentioned the word ‘list’ again, as if it’s some kind of code or something.”
“He recognized you?” Pete asked.
“Yes,” Nikki said. “Pete, I think he may finally be trying to return to us.”
“We need to find out more,” Pete said. “Whatever this ‘list’ is, it could prove to be an important clue. Have Dr. Beatty place him under hypnosis again and see if we can learn anything else.”
“I’ll do that as soon as he’s conscious,” Nikki said.
Pete watched her as she walked back toward MacGyver’s room, wishing he could go with her. He had seen MacGyver two hours earlier after he came out of the emergency room for his cut open wrist, looking pale and fragile, unconscious and strapped to his bed for his own protection. While it relieved him to see MacGyver alive, the condition he was in filled Pete with sadness and distress. His friend looked worse than before, almost like an empty husk of a man. His spirit was elsewhere as he continued to weaken both mentally and physically. He wanted to be with MacGyver and help him, but he knew that even during hypnosis, he would be aware and still terrified of his presence. Once again, all he could do was wait, isolated from the closest friend in his life.
***
In the dark corners of MacGyver’s tormented mind, he began to see the long, winding, bleak corridors of the abandoned asylum. He was walking through them freely, exploring them, looking for something—what it was, he wasn’t certain. Something grabbed him from behind, pinning his arms behind him and wrapping another arm around his neck, choking him and pulling him down. He felt the intense sting as a hypodermic needle was jammed into his neck. He groaned in pain and struggled, but the grip on him only tightened. As his body began weakening and he began to feel himself slipping into unconsciousness, a voice echoed in his mind, laughing. Once again, it morphed into Pete’s voice and Pete was the one holding him.
“Hello, MacGyver,” he said, laughing maniacally.
Both Nikki and Dr. Beatty watched as MacGyver flinched, struggling violently against his restraints and whimpering.
“It’s all right, MacGyver,” Dr. Beatty said. “It’s over. No one else is in the building but you. You can calm down, understood?”
MacGyver slowly nodded and relaxed.
“Good. Now, I want you to continue to take a look around you. Do you see any list?”
“List,” MacGyver said softly.
“Yes, MacGyver,” Dr. Beatty said, continuing to guide him with her soothing, gentle voice. “Do you see it? Where is it? What is it? Can you describe it to me?”
“List…asylum…” he said, squirming in his bed.
Dr. Beatty glanced at Nikki. “Where in the asylum is the list?” She asked.
“List…asylum…” MacGyver said, tossing from side to side.
“I’m afraid that’s all we’re going to get from him for now,” Dr. Beatty said to Nikki. “He’s still not speaking fully, as if he’s afraid to give the information away for fear of retribution of some kind.” She turned to MacGyver. “It’s all right, now,” she said. “You can relax. It’s over by the count of three. One, two, three…”
A soft moan escaped MacGyver’s lips and he fell back asleep.
“Well, I guess Pete and I will have to search the asylum and see what we find,” Nikki said, sighing.
***
Neither Pete nor Nikki were thrilled to be back inside the empty, desolated tomb of the asylum building, but they searched it thoroughly, hoping that somehow MacGyver’s vague words would guide them to what they were seeking. As they searched, old, moldy bricks crumbled at their feet. The place was decomposing the way a dead human body would, rotting away to its skeletal foundation.
“I don’t understand why they haven’t demolished or renovated this place yet,” Pete said disgustedly, anger in his voice as he thought once again about MacGyver being locked away inside it for months that to him probably felt like an eternity of hell and agony as pieces of his sanity slowly fell away, leaving him the pathetic, crumpled, and frightened man he was now. Even though the asylum had fallen into a desperate state of disrepair, it was still a grim, imposing fortress that could easily contain Zito’s darkest secrets. “I mean, they were supposed to tear this place down or something,” Pete said, continuing to search. “If they had, maybe this would never have happened.”
“But Zito still would have escaped,” Nikki said. “He still would’ve killed all those people.”
Pete looked at her in the dim, gloomy light. “Yeah,” he said sadly. “I know.” He looked around some more. “Have you found anything that resembles the list MacGyver was talking about?” He asked.
“No,” Nikki said. “I haven’t found anything.”
“Oh, it’s useless,” Pete said. “We’ll never find what we’re looking for in here. This place is too big.”
“We could get the police to help us,” Nikki said.
“No,” Pete said. “I don’t want to involve the police until we find and know what this list is. It could be important evidence, but we need to find it first—and alone. I think that’s what MacGyver wants us to do.”
Nikki raised an eyebrow. “Pete, do you really think he’s that cognizant of what’s going on right now?” She asked.
“I think on some level he is,” Pete said, “and he’s trying to help us in his limited capacity. I mean, he did look at you, didn’t he? He said your name, and then he mentioned the list. Nikki, MacGyver is in there. He’s trying. I know it.”
Nikki could hear his voice tremble with emotion. “Maybe you’re right, Pete,” she said. “I did sense that he’s fighting, trying to get through to us.”
“That’s MacGyver,” Pete said. “Even in the state he’s in right now, I just know he won’t fully give up.” He paused and thought about what Nikki said earlier.
“Pete, what is it?” Nikki asked, watching him.
“I think I just figured out what the list could be,” he said.
“What?”
“It’s a hit list! Zito’s hit list! He made all these murders look random so that he couldn’t be blamed or traced, but within that chaos he had some order. He picked those people and marked them for death. I’ll bet if we find that list, we’ll know who his next victims are. That’s why he tortured and drugged MacGyver until he couldn’t function normally anymore. MacGyver knows who all the murder victims are going to be!”
“Okay, that’s an excellent theory, but how does that help us find the list?” Nikki asked.
“It doesn’t,” Pete said. “Either it’s in MacGyver’s mind…”
“Which, for now anyway, Zito has managed to destroy,” Nikki said sadly.
“Or…” Pete looked around. They were near the nurse’s station where medications used to be distributed. An old clipboard hung on the wall, gathering cobwebs. “Nikki, that’s it!” He said, shouting, his voice echoing through the halls.
“What, Pete?” Nikki asked.
“Grab that clipboard from the wall,” he said. “I want to see it.”
Nikki did as he said and handed him the old, rusted clipboard. “I don’t understand why you want this,” she said.
“Think about it,” Pete said. “List. What do nurses have at mental hospitals?”
Nikki shrugged. “A list of medications for each patient,” she said.
Pete smiled and pointed at the clipboard. “Exactly,” he said. “I think this is where we’ll find the list.”
Nikki watched as Pete peeled away the top sheet of yellowing paper, revealing underneath a crisp, new sheet of paper, the ink used to write on it still dark and fresh. Pete turned on his flashlight to get a closer look, and Nikki peered over his shoulder. Both of them read the names.
“Pete, you’re right,” she said. “All of these people have been murdered by Zito.”
Pete ripped the list away from the rusted clip, making sure not to leave any of it behind. He grinned. “We’ve got it,” he said.
***
“This is impressive, Pete,” Captain Kylie said at the police department, examining the list. “And you say that you found this piece of evidence at the old asylum where Zito was before?”
“That’s correct,” Pete said.
Kylie rubbed his pointed chin. “Well, we’ll have someone perform a handwriting analysis on this, comparing it to past samples we have on file for Zito, but I’m convinced so far.”
“You think that it’s Zito who is committing all these murders as well?” Nikki asked.
“Yes,” Kylie said, “but we didn’t have enough evidence before. At least this is a start.”
“I noticed one name on there that I haven’t seen in the news,” Pete said. “I wonder why that is.”
“Sarah Meadows,” Kylie said, reading the name. “Her address and phone number are listed on here, just like the other victims.”
Nikki’s eyes widened. “Oh, no,” she said. “You don’t think…”
Pete looked at her. “Zito’s next victim,” he said.
Kylie looked at them. “I’ll find her and place her under police protection, just in case,” he said. “You may be right, and we don’t want to take any more chances.” He looked at the list again with its scrawled handwriting. “I still don’t see a pattern in these names,” he said. “You would think Zito would have some kind of elaborate plan the way he did with Lieutenant Murphy. As far as I can tell, Zito didn’t know these people, but we can investigate those links as well and see if we find anything.”
“I appreciate that, Captain,” Pete said.
“You’re welcome, Pete,” Kylie said, staring at him with concern. “How’s MacGyver doing? I heard he was undergoing a complete mental breakdown ever since he was found.”
“Unfortunately, that’s true, and he hasn’t gotten any better,” Pete said. “But he did help us find this list.”
“How?” Kylie asked.
“He kept mentioning it,” Nikki said. “All he would say was ‘list.’ We worked with Dr. Beatty to find out more.”
“That’s incredible,” Kylie said. “So, he is recovering somewhat, it sounds like.”
“Yes, but it’s still going to take time according to Dr. Beatty,” Pete said, sighing. “You can visit him if you’d like, but…”
Kylie nodded soberly. “I understand,” he said. “I’ll keep him in my thoughts. Keep me posted on how he’s doing.”
“We will,” Pete said. “Thanks, Captain.”
“I’ll get my people on finding and securing Sarah Meadows immediately,” Kylie said.
***
“You did it, MacGyver,” Nikki whispered as MacGyver slept, still strapped to his bed. She gently caressed his hand. “I know you aren’t fully with us yet, but you have to know that you did it. You helped us. And now, maybe the last victim on Zito’s list will stay alive.” She smiled at him. “That’s a big accomplishment, and you did it. I know you can do more, MacGyver, far more. I’ve seen you. You have to come back to us so that you can continue to save more lives and do more great things. Mac, we need you.” Nikki found herself wiping away a tear as she watched him.
Outside the room, carefully disguised, Zito watched, feeling uneasy. His final victim in his little game had escaped him, whisked away by the police. He didn’t think it was possible, but somehow MacGyver had still managed to thwart his plans. His piercing, cold eyes bored through the door to MacGyver’s room and he vowed it would be the last time. He would make absolute certain of it this time.
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
