Wednesday, February 07, 2018

Frigid Revenge: Day 6

Word Count: 36,144

Summary of Events:
Angry at being cooped up all day, Oakley went down to supper, where he got even angrier when he found out that his coach and the doctor who'd stitched his face up had been beaten for being caught wandering the hallways, and so attacked their captor; he didn't really win the fight, but he didn't get killed as their captor kept threatening either. Charlie and her roommates continued to watch the news coverage, which included being shown the video their captor had sent to the hostage negotiators earlier that afternoon . . .

Excerpt of the Day:
""He was full of potential . . . and getting noticed for it," the voice continued. "He could almost taste his lifelong dream of going to the Olympics . . . when it was all taken from him."
The screen went black abruptly, and silence prevailed for a few moments before an image of a piece of paper with rather neat writing on it slowly materialised.
"This is the end," the voice read the words. "I can't take it anymore. My dream was to ride. To compete. To reach the Olympics. To represent my country. To win a gold medal for it. I was good. I did my best. But in the end, apparently, it wasn't good enough. Now I can never fulfill my dream. I can't stand the idea of never riding again. Or riding without that end goal. I was cut off before I could reach the top. And if I can never ride again, if I can never represent my country, because my country doesn't want me, then there is no point in being alive anymore. This is the end. There is no reason for living. Travis."
Charlie shuddered.
"Travis took his own life by gunshot twelve years ago," the voice said, showing a photo of a gun that Charlie instantly recognised as the gun their captor had been waving around all day. "Because he was shoved out. He was cast off before he could even be considered worn out. He was forsaken by the very people who understood what he lived for!"
The rage in the voice — even though Charlie was sure it was scrambled — was palpable, and made Charlie want to hide.
Slowly the gun faded away to show a photo of a half-open casket, with the still, pale, lifeless face that  had been so confident in the graduation photo. He was wearing the same royal blue coat as in the competition photos.
After too long — as far as Charlie was concerned — the image faded away and the screen was black again.
"He fought for all he was worth," the voice growled, although a touch of emotional waver reappeared. "And in the end, he lost the strength. So I have taken up the fight for him."
Charlie almost wished a picture would come up, it was weird to have the TV on but look like it was off.
"I call on the governing body of snowboarding in the United States to admit to criminal negligence and murder," the voice said resolutely. "I call on the government of the United States to arrest and prosecute them for those charges, and for them to be given the death penalty. And I demand one billion dollars in compensation from the governing body of snowboarding in the United States. If the United States, and any governments whose nationals are affected by my actions, wish to see their affected citizens alive again these conditions must be met. I refuse to renege any of these demands. The longer you hold out on me, the more dead bodies you will have to deal with.""

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