The Gift of the Winds...

[Jason Hiller]

Jason nodded, his throat tight with distress. "Yes, sir. Is there anything else you need from me? Anything I can do?"

[Zephyros Aetai]

“Just try to stay calm… that’s the best way you can help Zeph right now. Don’t do anything foolish…” Mr. Aetai told him, gesturing at a chair that was fairly close to the phone.

---

Zephyros slowly lifted his head, the pain overwhelming his body’s exhaustion. Breathing hurt, in one specific spot. He coughed weakly, his head still hanging. His eyes closed, he listened as the boss dialed a number he thought he recognized just by the sounds of the numbers. Home… They were making the ransom demand again. Calling his house… He slowly lifted his head, coughing again. A little blood came to his mouth and he gagged, spitting it out.

He couldn’t hear the other part of the conversation, but the man looked at him angrily and pulled his head up by his hair, looking into his eyes angrily.

---

It hadn’t taken long for the phone to be wired so that any call would be recorded, and the family sat around the phone nervously. Every time it rang, Dawn answered before anyone else could, and always seemed disappointed (maybe heartbroken was a better word) every time it turned out to be another person giving them well wishes. Finally, she stopped answering it, letting one of her sons pick up the phone.

Euros reached for the receiver as it rang again, answering with his usual lack of tone. His eyes widened and he looked at Jason, then his parents as he waved urgently at the police officer with the recorder. He put the phone on speaker.

<Do you have the money?> a voice, that sounded altered, asked. Euros looked at Jason and softly translated as his parents clung to each other.

<Yes. Tell us what you need us to do,> Astraios said, trying to comfort his distraught wife. Dawn had her face buried in his shoulder, clinging tightly to him and afraid to listen to what was going on.

Euros’ eyes widened. NO! They weren’t going to give the men money until they knew Zeph was okay. <Put Zephyros on the phone! Prove he’s still okay!> Euros snapped, leaning over the phone angrily and forgetting to translate for Jason.

<Who is this?>

<His brother! Put him on the phone!> Euros ordered. <We need to speak with him before we’ll consider giving you any money!>

---

The man glared at Zephyros, who looked at him blankly. The drugs they’d forced into his stomach still lingered in his system, making it difficult for him to understand what was going on.

<You will tell them you are perfectly fine or by heaven once we have our money I’ll insure you aren’t.> the man hissed into Zeph’s ear, putting the phone against his other ear. Zeph just looked at the man, then licked his lips.

<Hello? Mom, Dad? Jason?> he asked. “Jason, can you hear me?”

[Jason Hiller]

Jason couldn't hold back a sob as Zeph's voice came to his ears. His voice was odd, sounding sluggish and slurred, but recognizable. What had they done to him?!

"I can hear you," Jason answered through the tears that started coursing down his face. "It's going to be okay. Help is coming, I promise. We'll get you out of there." He sucked in a shaky breath. "They haven't hurt you, have they?"

[Zephyros Aetai]

Zephyros sobbed a little in relief. Jason! He looked at the man, whose lip was twisted in anger. <What are you saying?>

<What you told me to say!> Zeph hissed back, pressing his ear against the phone. "I think they drugged me and they beat me... he wants me to tell you I'm okay. He doesn't understand English... Jason, I love you. No matter what happens... I love you. I love all of you."

The phone was pulled from his ear and a fist slammed into his stomach. He gasped desperately, unable to breathe.

---

Dawn clenched her jaw, afraid of telling the men that Zeph had told them what was really going on in fear they would abuse her son worse. They heard him whimper for breath in the background as the man spoke.

<You've heard proof he's still alive. We need the money by sunset in two days or he dies.>

Euros' eyes widened, <You said we had three days!>

<That was yesterday. You have until July eighth to get us the money in the Swiss bank account we will send to you via text before we destroy this phone. >

Dawn wailed, crying harder into her husband’s shoulder. Euros fell back into a chair, his expression disbelieving. Zephyros was going to be dead in two days if they didn’t pay…

<How are we supposed to get Zeph back?> Astraios asked, trying to calm Dawn while struggling to remain calm himself. The price was not too high; they would pay far more to get any of their sons back… but only if they knew how to get him back.

<We will discuss that in our next call. We will call tomorrow.> The click that ended the call echoed in the room… with the finality of a door shutting… or a gunshot.

[Jason Hiller]

Jason shook silently in his chair, tears streaming down his face. For all he knew, Zeph had just said his last goodbyes. The others were talking in rapid Greek now, and he didn't understand a word of what they were saying.

"What's going on?" he cried urgently, looking around at the others and choking on the lump in his throat. "Speak English! I can't understand you!"

[Zephyros Aetai]

He was ignored until the phonecall ended and Euros looked at Jason with an emptiness that looked more like a form of protection than a habit of emotionlessness.

"They gave us two days... We have until the eighth to get them their money, and they are only going to tell us how to get Zeph back tomorrow... they are sending us the account number via a text..." he told Jason softly. "It sounds like they hit him once he got off the phone..."

[Jason Hiller]

Jason sobbed silently, his hand over his mouth. Tomorrow... he was only going to meet Professor Harris tomorrow. Everything was happening so quickly... he shut his eyes and hung his head, the room starting to spin around him. His stomach churned, and he fought an overwhelming urge to vomit. A faint sound escaped his mouth, something like a dog's whine.

[Zephyros Aetai]

<You told them, didn’t you?> the man accused, slowly advancing on his helplessly bound hostage. Zephyros pulled back in the chair, his eyes wide. The drugs had completely worn off now, and every bruise on his body ached, especially those around his wrists. The ones he was making worse as he struggled to get away from the murderous look in that horrible man’s eyes.

---

Euros looked at Jason with concern. Should he have told the young man what had happened? He looked like he was going to be ill… but he had every right to know what they knew. Putting hand on his shoulder, Euros knelt to look closely at Jason. “You should go try to think about something else. You’ve done everything you can right now… We have until sunset on the eighth. That means we have over 48 hours. If this detective you contacted is as good as you think, that’s plenty of time to find Zeph. Besides, we have the money right now… As soon as we know how to find Zeph, we’ll pay and get him back. Everything is going to be okay."

I hope Euros thought, looking at Jason with sympathy. Of all of his brothers, Zephyros was the one he had the most difficulty getting along with. He had wished Zeph was dead before.

How guilty he felt now.

[Jason Hiller]

Jason looked up at Euros, his eyes wide. "I don't think I can manage to think about anything else... but I'll try." For Zeph, he added silently.

For now, what he needed most was sleep. He rose unsteadily from his chair, wiping a hand across his face. "I'm going to go try and sleep, if there's nothing else I can do right now."

[Zephyros Aetai]

Euros nodded slowly, "That's a good idea. You aren't of any help if you are exhausted..." He watched Jason go back to his room, wondering how well the werewolf would sleep without Zeph... Zeph probably wasn't sleeping well without him.

[Aritha Bianca Kairavi]

--

Aritha sat playing with a cup of coffee, occasionally taking a sip. Like most vampires she didn't mind the taste of it, but today it tasted like ashes in her mouth. Everything did, even her breaths. She watched the terminal with anxious eyes, waiting for Professor Harris to come through.

[Jason Hiller]

Jason's body was running solely on fear-induced adrenaline, caffeine, and sugar. Sleep was out of the question. He had downed the whole large cup of coffee (three sugars, no cream, extra espresso) without so much as tasting it, the caffeine making his head buzz. He sat close to Aritha, yearning for a comforting touch, a reassuring word, anything. Anything to block out the countdown ticking steadily away in the back of his mind.

He, too, kept his eyes on the terminal, tear-sore and bloodshot as they were. He knew he must be as much of a wreck on the outside as he was on the inside.

[Aritha Bianca Kairavi]

Aritha turned and patted his hand. "Jason, it's going to be okay. Calm down... Once she gets here, we'll start to get everything fixed and Zeph will be with us and fine."

She wished she believed what she was saying, but she was an actress, and could make anything she said ring with confidence. Jason wouldn't see that she was lying through her teeth... especially not with how exhausted he was.

[Jason Hiller]

Jason nodded, laying his other hand on top of Aritha's. He closed his aching, sleep-deprived eyes for a moment, listening to his heartbeat and imagining that somewhere, Zeph was alive and waiting to be freed. Maybe he was listening to his own heartbeat, imagining their two hearts, Jason's and Zeph's, beating as one. As long as their hearts kept beating together, there would be hope.

Jason counted seconds and heartbeats, breathing deeply to bring oxygen to his brain. If only he had been able to sleep... But he couldn't stand the chill of an empty bed, not when the one who belonged beside him was in so much danger. He had shivered away the night with his arms wrapped around a pillow, waiting for his cellphone alarm clock to go off and signal that it was time to go to the airport. Now he waited still more, for Paula's arrival and what hope it could possibly bring.

[paulaharris]

Paula Harris, former detective for the Springfield Police Department, now teacher at Dunehelden Academy, stepped up to the customs official and slid her passport across to him. She longed for a decent cup of coffee; her last cup was three hours ago and if she was going to remain focused she needed more of it. Once she made it through the last checkpoint and into the terminal, she would buy a very tall cup and drink all of it in under five minutes.

The customs official checked over the documents, and then looked up at the woman in front of him. "Paula Harris?" He said with a very thick accent.

"That's me." She said quickly, using her detective voice. "What of it?"

"Like the one from The Ghost of-"

"Yes." Paula said abruptly, cutting him off. Damn William and his play. Damn them to hell for the fact that people knew who she was. She made a mental note to give William a very rude visit at some point in her life. "The same Paula Harris. And I am on official business, so get the paperwork done and let's move on."

The customs official nodded quickly and rushed through the paperwork. When he was finished, he handed the passport back to Paula and mumbled a feeble "Enjoy your stay in Greece."

Paula swept out of customs and allowed her feet to carry her towards the coffee shop. She walked with an air of authority, and her posture commanded both respect and fear. She was dressed in her working clothes - the brown trench coat she had grown fond of, a button-down shirt, and jeans. In her hand she held a briefcase filled with reports and documents she had been emailed the night before from Dunehelden. Thank heaven that no one in that castle slept.

Once entering the coffee shop, she walked up to the counter and quickly ordered a large black coffee. It was in her hand in less than a minute. She turned and scanned the heads of the people sitting inside. After a few seconds of searching, Paula managed to locate two of the people she was looking for - Jason and Aritha. Her heart immediately sank as she realized what the absence of a third member meant.

Paula allowed her business manner to drop slightly in the presence of her students. She walked over to the table, set down her coffee and briefcase, and sat, eying both of her students intently.

"First off, Jason, I want you to know that Ian is worried sick about what's going on, and he wants you to call him or send him a message as soon as you can to let him know that everything is alright. Any time of the day or night is fine. He's with Natalie, and Natalie's parent's house doesn't have a guest bedroom, so I imagine he's not going to be sleeping at all. But I don't think any more needs to be said on that." She took a sip of her coffee. Damn, still too hot. Paula set it back down on the table and cleared her throat.

"And, with that said, I assume that the absence of Zephyros means that he's the one in trouble. I want one of you to explain to me, quickly, what happened so I have a general idea of what I'm dealing with."

[Jason Hiller]

Jason drew in a deep breath, looking the woman in the eye, and did as he was bidden.

"Zephyros and I went to visit Aritha and her father in Antaya on the night of the fifth. He left the wagon we were in at roughly nine pm, give or take two or three minutes. He said he was going to visit Aritha's father, to buy something from him. I stayed behind with Aritha while he was gone. At least two hours went by before I felt that something wasn't right, and I asked Aritha what might have been keeping Zeph away. She said that her father might have kept him back to talk for awhile. We went to her wagon and spoke with her father, but he said that Zeph never arrived there.

"I suggested going out to look for Zeph, but Aritha said we should stay. She got my and Zeph's bags from the hotel we were staying in, and when she got back I asked if anyone had seen Zeph, but no-one had. I was panicking by that point. Aritha said that I should go back to the Aetai's home, that I'd be safest there. Aritha took me back and returned to help her father.

"The morning of the sixth, we got a tape from Zeph's kidnappers. The kidnappers demanded to be paid two million American dollars within three days, or they'd kill Zeph. Immediately after we saw the tape, I contacted Ian, as you know, as well as Aritha. At eight that night the kidnappers called to discuss the ransom with Zeph's parents. They let Zeph talk to us so we knew he was still alive; then they shortened the timeframe to two days and said they'd call again the next day, meaning today. They said we have until sunset on the second day to give them the money. Eight-fifty pm on the eighth."

He drew in another breath, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands. He needed to cling to any hope they had, and right now, their hopes rested in Professor Harris. He kept his eyes on her, waiting for her assessment.

[paulaharris]

Paula listened to Jason's story without reacting. Occasionally, she lifted her coffee and took a sip, but other than that, she remained motionless. When the story was finished, Paula leaned forward and smiled slightly.

"Jason, thank you for retaining so many details. I understand that you're very worried right now." She then slipped back into her business mode. "From what I now already, I can say with reasonable certainty that this was a planned job. Whoever did this knew what they were doing long in advance, and they also knew that you and Zeph were visiting Aritha. Was it a well-known fact that you were going to Antaya? Did a lot of people know, or was it very spur-of-the-moment?"

[Jason Hiller]

"It was very much a spur-of-the-moment thing," Jason answered her, trying to keep from visibly shivering at the thought of someone planning to kidnap Zeph. "Zeph came up with the idea after reading in the newspaper that Aritha and her family were in town, but he got the servants to arrange everything so we could get away quickly without Zeph's mother getting upset that we were sneaking off alone. That was the morning of the fifth."

[paulaharris]

Paula nodded. "That settles that then." She said simply. "I will ask you more about that later... I'm just trying to get a feel for the situation right now."

Hmmm... she thought to herself. I don't remember seeing either of these two in my Tracking class. Come next year, they had better be sitting in the front row.

"I'll lay out everything I know on the table and you can tell me what you think." Paula said briskly. She opened her briefcase and pulled out a group of file folders, laying on the table. "I had Professor Mervielle-Dion get these for me and fax them over. They're the student files for Zeph, his brothers, and you two. Since you two are my investigative team for this - or at least as close as I'm going to get to one - I've obtained permission for you to view the files as long as there is still an immediate threat. I'll make copies at the Aetai island and you can look them over if you have a minute. I suggest doing it with coffee, or in Jason's case, something a bit stronger."

"Right now, this is what I know. I'm guessing that this was a planned job, executed with inside help. The person or people who did this had knowledge of Zeph's whereabouts that was very up-to-date. Right now, I'm questioning the motive... for some reason, two million American dollars strikes me as a fairly low amount for someone to demand of a man with his own private island. This can be about the money or it can be something personal. I won't honestly be able to make a guess on that until I speak to Zeph's family and understand who might have been driven to do this."

Paula took another sip from her coffee. It was finally cooling down to a reasonable temperature. "Right now, our two more important focuses are to find the motive and to narrow down the suspect list as much as possible. The two are connected, and if we do both, we should be able to eliminate enough suspects to begin a truly thorough investigation. Which we need to do sooner rather than later, as we have... what... about thirty-six hours left until the ransom is due."

If these two were not in her class next year, she was going to march down to Veronique's office and put them in it herself...

[Zephyros Aetai]

Zeph lay curled up in the corner where they’d thrown him hours ago… maybe an entire night ago, trying to block out the memories of what had just happened… what had happened before he’d been thrown into the corner he was now trying to hide in. The men left, leaving him alone in the room. He couldn’t help whimpering…. between each tight little gasp. It felt like that place on his chest were ribs had bruised were now broken, and one arm was dislocated. After the phone call they’d untied him from the chair… and had him restrained before he could take advantage of that fact.

He refused to think of what they had done to him after that. His stomach hurt terribly and his chest, especially that one spot on the left. As did… other areas of his body. Thinking of that pain brought forcibly to mind what had been done to him and he choked on the tears that rose to his eyes. The men had left him unbound, certain the pain would keep him still. The phone they had attempted to destroy was halfway across the room… If he could reach it, he could put it together enough for it to work.

If he could move that far. Zeph took a very careful slow breath and started inching his way across the room, the pain making him stop every few seconds. One of his legs refused to work… And felt like a broken bone was the reason. Finally he had the phone, and every piece of it, in his grasp. Moving slowly, he put it back together, and turned it on. It was silent, and he thanked whatever god was watching over him for this break of luck.

Dialing was a fresh agony as he wondered if the phone was going to connect. Ringing…. Ringing… Please pick up! I don’t know when they’re coming back!

Finally there was that tell-tale click and he sobbed in relief. “Jason?”

[Jason Hiller]

Jason jumped as his phone rang in his pocket, muttering an apology before digging it out and pressing Talk. He didn't recognize the number... "Hello-- ZEPH?!!"

Jason locked eyes with Paula for second or two and mouthed Yes! before fairly whimpering into the phone.

"Zeph, it's me... I've got Aritha and Professor Harris with me. We're figuring out how to find you and free you. Are you okay?"

[Zephyros Aetai]

Zephyros sobbed again, holding the phone close. "No... no, I'm not. Jason... they're going to kill me. Where my parents can see. I don't want you there."

He swallowed, still holding the phone tightly. "I don't know when they're coming back... Jason, I just called to hear your voice again... They're going to keep me alive until they get the money."

[Jason Hiller]

Jason went sheet-white and almost dropped the phone from his shaking hand. Holding Paula's eyes again, he relayed what Zeph had said. "They're going to kill Zeph as soon as they get the ransom money. Zeph," he asked, "have you seen your kidnappers before? Do you recognize them?"

[paulaharris]

Paula's heart went into overdrive. This was beyond lucky. While her blood started to pump faster, her brain remained calm and collected.

"Don't bother asking that." She said quickly. "He won't have seen them. Very fast, have him describe anything about his location. Particularly sounds from outside and the room he's in. Also, if he knows how many kidnappers are involved and their genders, that would be helpful. Don't tell me word for word what he says, waste of time. Talk. And tell him not to risk anything. If he hears the kidnappers going, he has to go without so much as a 'goodbye'."

[Jason Hiller]

Jason nodded, swallowing hard. His heart was pounding, and the phone kept trying to slip from his hand, but he gripped it like a lifeline.

"Zeph," he said quickly, "I need you to describe the place you're in. Especially anything you see in your room or hear from outside. How many kidnappers are there, are they men or women? Don't risk anything. If you hear them coming back, hang up, no goodbye. I love you," he added hastily, in case he never got the chance to say it again.