Thursday, April 8th, 50XX
The minutes are long for Elliot and Vincent as they are sitting ducks, camped out, hiding in the back of V's van, but also locked in the back as they had no choice but to pull their only way out closed to keep them and Kade safe.
There is no handle on the inside and the handle for the back doors has been removed too, turning the back into a cage.
"Geez, it's hot in this back part." Vincent pants. "And one could scream and no one would hear them." Elliot adds on which they both shudder at it, but it's true.
"How long do you think this boy has been held in here?" Vincent wonders.
"I'd predict maybe 24 hours at-least? And he has a name, it's Kade.
She has got supplies on hand, she's not trying to kill him." Elliot points out to a packet of water bottles, food, sodas, some snacks in the back with him and make shift air system.
"She probably kept checking on him throughout work."
"None the less, it's scary back here and we're trapped. What if our friends are dead outside and any moment, that crazy doctor pulls the door opens and puts a bullet through both our skulls?"
"We can't afford to think like that, Vincent."
"Maybe you can't, but I can. It's soundproof in here, Elliot and that 911 call you made? Didn't last past the operator answering. You didn't get a word in edgewise before the call disconnected.
Phones are useless in the back here, there is just too much a lack of signal."
"But hopefully it was still enough for them to trace it? A silent call."
"Maybe."
And then both boys shudder, hearing a single thump, the first sound in 10 minutes right against the back of the van doors they keep their eyes trained on it, afraid. Vincent's stuck there, still holding his coat against the windows.
While they are blacked out to prevent people seeing in, he didn't want to take chances as they saw the beam from a gun shine in that maybe just maybe they outline of they're heads could be seen.
Vincent shrieks when he feels the doors pulled open and he has to drop his coat, aiming his gun and Elliot does the same, but dives to stand in front of Kade, keep the younger unconscious boy safe.
They breathe a sign of relief seeing Kiera standing there, gun in hand and she moves aside to reveal a whole parking lot full of lit up police cars.
"Are you both okay?!" Panics Maxis coming from nowhere, leaping up into the back, Allie nowhere to be seen.
"We're okay." Elliot says, slipping his gun back into his holster, Maxis throwing his arms around him which he accepts.
"Where's Allie?" Vincent asks worried.
"Talking to the Police, they showed up. She's the one... who took that woman out. She did it all on her, you should have seen her. She was beyond pissed." Kiera explains.
"But why are the Police here?" Maxis asks, letting go of Elliot. "Looks like the call went through after all." Vincent shrugs, trying to hide a relieved smile.
"That was you both? Our fight didn't last long." Maxis explains further.
"Is she alive?" Elliot whispers. "Oh, yeah. She's alive, Allie tackled her to the ground and well... Let's just say Allie's lucky she's alive.
That doctors gun stalled when she tried to shoot Allie in the head, the barrel was aimed right at her and she used that moment to rip the gun from her hands.
The doctor went down without a fight after that, she's handcuffed now, sitting in a patrol car."
"How are the staff who worked beside her reacting that we just arrested their doctor?" Vincent speaks up.
"They're horrified to say the least, and find out she was keeping a kidnapped young boy in the back of her van." Maxis responds.
"I'm 21." Murmurs Kade, waking up. "Kade, you're okay, buddy?" Elliot says overjoyed, lifting the boy up in his arms a-bit. "Mmm- Who are you?" Kade murmurs again, still really out of it.
"We should get him inside the urgent care centre, they can check him over.
He might need medical attention." Maxis tells Elliot.
"I think he'll be just fine somehow. Can't say the same for his psych though." Elliot responds, stepping down and out of the back of the van with a in and out of consciousness Kade, followed by Rupert, Maxis and Kiera.
They are greeted by well and truly sea of red and blue lights.
---
The last of the night-time turns into daylight and Elliot wakes up to hear the sound of minor chatting, the sound of some clinking spoons in cups. Groaning as he sits up because his still suffering from his Hanahaki affliction, he sees everyone is awake and so is... Kade.
But his sitting alone, off to the side in the room. There was a spare bed clearly wheeled in for him, but it looks untouched, the sheets still neat. He sits upon a plastic chair, leaning against a portable table, staring at nothing.
There is food for him, but the lids remain on and it's off to the side. Elliot yawns, flexing a little. "What time is it?"
"9 a.m, you slept in." Maxis says, taking a stand from where was sitting beside Rupert who's busy chatting away to the girls, Allie and Kiera.
"There is coffee for you." He says, holding out a cup for Elliot. "Thanks." Elliot responds, accepting it and takes a quick sip.
"So, did our General finally arrive? What happened after last night? I remember climbing out the van with Kade, but then everything's a blur."
"You dropped me, ass-hat." Kade hisses. "I did what?! Oh god, I am sorry!" Elliot quickly apologizes.
Kade rolls his eyes. "It's fine, I guess. They said you we're sick and despite that, saved my life. How'd you know I was in there?"
"Just call it a hunch, intuition." Elliot responds. "Sure, alright. Divine unspoken knowledge it is." Kade huffs back.
"Kade."
"What?"
"My name's Elliot Coleman."
"I know, you friends already introduced themselves... and sleeping you. You're all U.S Military."
"Uh, so, what are we doing from here on out? Where is Kaylee V?" Elliot enquires.
"Arrested, I'm pressing charges." Kade hisses.
"I don't blame you, that's probably a good idea." Elliot responds.
"Dude, shut up. I don't need your validation."
"Wow, you're cranky." Kiera but's in.
"Excuse me, I was kidnapped by a psycho doctor. Can't blame me for being bitter." He fights back.
"You don't even know the first thing about kidnapping, please." Kiera snaps.
"What? Kiera, are you okay?" Maxis speaks up and then Kiera slaps her hands against her mouth, having just said too much. She's shaking, eyes widened.
Allie lowers her cup of coffee. "Honey, what do you want to tell us?"
"N-nothing."
"No, go on. You clearly have alot to say on the topic of kidnapping." Kade snaps.
"I don't want to talk about it! Just shut up and the rest of you, out of my way!" She yells, leaping to her feet and storms out the room. Maxis tries to give her a hug, but she punches him off and Elliot pulls him back.
Kade's eyes soften and his foot moves around nervously. "Sorry for being cranky."
"No, you don't have to apologize. Not after what you've been through, it was a long night and a harrowing experience and you've told the Police what happened.
And I'll personally see to it that your case is kept open, our General is my Dad and he has friends in high places." Maxis tells him. Vincent and Allie cough, choking coffee.
"I already told Elliot." Maxis backtracks. "Just not Kiera yet."
"And his okay with it?" Vincent says. "Yeah." Allie adds on. "I'm fine with it, really. I know sometimes my emotions fly off the handle, but I have a grip of them." Elliot responds.
"If you say so." Vincent says.
"Dude, shut up." Elliot says cheekily and Vincent sticks his tongue out for a moment back.
"Is uh- You're... friend okay? I really seemed to have a nerve... One of you should go check on her, or all of you...
I'll be fine... alone. I need to work out what I'm doing next after I get to leave." Kade says.
"You can all go and check on Kiera. I'll stay here with Kade." Elliot says.
"You sure you want to stay?" Maxis says.
"Yes, go. Check on Kiera, she needs someone. You'll all find out why soon enough. She needs the support."
"Okay, we'll go. Text us if you need us." Vincent says, pulling the door open and Maxis and Allie follow. Now it's just Kade and Elliot.
"Kade, can we talk?"
"Uh, I guess. But I don't really know you..."
"My favorite colors dark green."
"Uh- light blue. Wait, you just-"
"There we go now, you know something about me!"
"I see what you're doing, I'm not stupid."
"Kade, don't try to kill yourself, ever and you should call your sister, Molly.
She probably misses you."
"How do you know I have a sister?"
"I just do. Do you want to borrow my phone? How long has it been since you left home?"
"Uh, a week? I ran away in the middle night-"
"Because you're looking for your biological mum and you know she had a child, a sister before you and you want to meet your old sister more than anything, don't you?"
"Uh- Y-yes. I do."
"And you know-"
"That doctor is my mother? I gathered as much, she talked about it for a few minutes after kidnapping me during lunch time.
Then she didn't really say anything more and drugged me and went back inside to finish her shift. The next thing I heard and saw was you guys above me a little, but it's really disjointed."
"You we're drugged."
"Yeah."
"So, my friend Kiera Bailey is your sister. What are you going to do? Are you going to tell her and blow wide open this family secret and deepen your police case.
Or take my phone, call your foster sister, Molly and go back home?"
"I don't know. What would you do?"
"I'm not going to tell you what I think you should do."
"Well, load of help that is, Elliot."
"Sorry."
"It's fine, I should take the next couple of days, hell, maybe the next month to think. When I left home, I left without a plan really."
"Do you want to hang around with us for the moment? I'm happy to put you up, you look like you could use a friend right now, you're really in a pinch."
"You'd do that?"
"Yes, I'll talk to my General. You can just take some time to gather rational and sense and decide how this story ends.
But I do think you should call Molly though and just let her and your parents know you're safe. You don't have to tell them why you're out here, but do let them know you're safe and will be back soon.
Actually, I haven't... spoken to my Mum in a few years. I should reconcile with her, maybe my Dad too even though he cheated on her and destroyed our lives." Elliot says even though it doesn't feel like long ago since he saw, spoke and hugged his Mum.
But that timeline is gone now, erased as he left it to re-write the story along with the suffering he bought to Kade, Molly, Kiera, Maxis, Vincent, Allie, Levi, Adam & Derrick, Nadine May, Bobby Green, Bonnie Desmond, Dion & Gavin in a way, Jerry, Lance and others he can still see the face of it, but can't remember their names.
There was someone else too, but he can't picture her name or face at all.
There's just a blank splotch in a room full of people. Well, his been everywhere and done alot, he needs a holiday himself and to cure this Hanahaki for once and for all so it doesn't kill him.
His rather exhausted. Physically and emotionally. "Can I borrow your phone, Elliot?"
"What? Oh yeah, sure. Here you go. Add your number in there too." He says, handing over his phone. "You give Molly a call and I'll go see my General." Elliot says, heading to the door, giving Kade a moment alone.
"Hello?"
"Molly?"
"Kade, is that you?!"
"Yes."
"Oh my god, I was so worried about you! Mum and Dad are too, you just took off without a word during the night.
It's been a week, where are you? Kade, I want you to know I love you. I know we fight a lot and I screamed at you and threw you out of my room the few hours before you left that evening, but what if something happened and I never saw you again and never got to say I love you one last time?
I just want to tell you I love you and always will love you even when we fight. You're my baby brother and I'm you're big sister."
"I love you too, it's okay. I was being annoying that night. I don't blame you for kicking me out your room, Molly."
"Kade-"
"I'm not going to come home for a bit, Molly. But I will later. Can you tell Mum and Dad that?"
"Of course I can!"
"The code to the safe under my bed is 16th of January, 2044."
"What? Who's birthday is that? What is inside the safe? You've never let anyone see inside of it."
"My biological, older sisters birthday. I have one, the whole reason why I left home is in there, everything I learned is in the safe under my bed."
"It's understandable you would be curious one day about where you came from, Kade. Being adopted doesn't erase that."
"But it did give me a home and people who loved me compared to if I had not been adopted. My older sister I'm looking for, her name is Kiera Bailey.
She aged out of the foster system, no one adopted her. I have already found her, and Mum too... But I haven't told Kiera yet that I'm her younger brother.
Born February, 17th, 2048."
"Kade, if she's alone out there. Bring her back home with you, I'll make room in my room for her."
"She's with two men, I think she made her own family. But maybe she will come visit you and Mum and Dad."
"Then let her know I'll still make room for her."
"Will do. Molly, I need to run. But before I hang up?"
"Yeah? What is it?"
"I know you're into that witchy stuff, goth style and all.
"It's called wiccan and reincarnation, Kade. But yes, that's along the lines of it, I guess. What about it other than me disappointing our parents?"
"They aren't disappointed in you."
"Sure, sure. Well, I have leverage to contend with you now. That VS you taking off. They're worried, but I'll tell them you made contact after I read everything in your safe to make sure I got the story right."
"One of the men, Kiera hangs with it. He seems... cluey."
"Cluey how?"
"He knows things he shouldn't know. I have never met him before."
"Guess his just like me then. While I don't know everything and don't force my gifts despite going out of my mind, worried I'd never hear from you again...
Tell Elliot Coleman, Molly Fallon says hello and he needs to treat that Hanahaki of his!"
"Wait-"
"I have to go now little bro, music class is starting in 30 minutes. I need to drive over to university, I can't be late.
I'll go through the safe in the evening when I have time. Maybe after Mum and Dad have gone to bed, I love you."
And then she hangs up and Kade lowers down the phone, somewhere between relieved, confused and just...
Nevermind. He shakes his head and places Elliot's phone on the table, takes a seat to dig into the breakfast, Kiera bought in earlier for him.
---
It had been quite a few minutes since Kade finished eating and no one had returned so he cautiously left the room to find someone.
They we're all outside. "Hey, what's going on?" Kade speaks up, gingerly holding out Elliot's phone.
"Oh, thanks." Elliot responds, taking it.
"I'm just sorting out the last few ends of paperwork, we're due to leave now-" But a man trails off, eyeing Kade.
"Oh, right. You we're the kidnapping victim. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is General Steven Peterson, I run a special ops taskforce for the U.S Military."
"That sounds... expensive."
"Oh, it is Kade Beckett. Trying to convince our backers that the teams I train are worth supporting when money could be spent elsewhere is not an easy feet, especially that they don't like ex-cons make up some of the numbers."
"You all are criminals?" Kade murmurs. Oh, right... He doesn't know, Elliot reminds himself.
"Actually, only I am. I assure you everyone else already me is merely just... troubled. They're not as much trouble as what I did."
"Did you kill someone?"
"What? No!"
"Brandish a weapon somewhere?"
"Kade, robbery with a deadly weapon adds way too many years onto a sentence if caught as opposed to without, we weren't that stupid."
"We?"
"I don't want to talk about it-"
But Maxis cuts Elliot off. "Okay, we don't need to dwell on that! It's okay, moving on." He says hurriedly.
"Oh..." Kade whispers. "You seem like a good person."
"Thank you." Elliot says quickly. "That would be the point of reforming." General Peterson adds on.
"I see." Kade responds.
"Uh, so. Kade Beckett, I actually wanted a chance to talk to you. First of all, here is your ID back." He says, holding out Kade's documentation that V had taken from him.
"Thank you."
"And where are you from if I may ask?"
"Uh, I'm from Downtra."
"That's pretty far. Do you need help getting back?"
"No, I'm fine. I got money."
"But you have family don't you? Surely they are missing you-"
"I actually just spoke to my... sister. Elliot lent me his phone."
"Oh, that's good. What did she say?"
"Told me she loved me. I'll go back sometime soon... When I'm ready, I left home."
"Oh, I see. And why did you leave home? How'd you end up this way? Are you having a mini backpack or something?"
"Actually, I was out here trying to find my biological family, I'm... adopted."
"Do you know their names? What they look like?"
"Yes."
"And they are?"
"One came up on Ancestry Tracing and the other... Uh, she was in the 'Do you know this person?' reports..."
"Yes, but I want their names. Do you have their photos? I could refer you to a agency that helps with adoptees finding their biological family."
"You don't need to do that, really."
"No, I insist. You're all the way out here and got kidnapped as well. Do you know why you we're kidnapped? If the woman who did it has a motive?
She's been arrested, we've sent her the nearest police station. I actually know her, she was my classmate at University years ago, but we never talked so I don't know much about her.
You don't have to comply, but it would help the police department here. They'll probably have questions for you."
"Yeah, I know why..."
"Would you like to me tell me?"
Kade looks between everyone, unsure what to say. "You don't have to say anything, Kade. But ask yourself, do you really want to walk away from all this after what you went through to get here?" Elliot speaks up.
"Elliot!" Kiera speaks up, snapping at him. "His right, butt out, Elliot." Vincent adds on, Allie shaking her head disapprovingly.
"She's my biological mum, she gave me up when I was an infant. But I never thought she would try to lure me into a trap, I messaged her through the database, I was on my way to meet her at a local park.
I never made it there."
"Oh, shit." Vincent murmurs. "Well, this just got darker." Allie adds on.
"This case just got deeper because it was pre-mediated clearly." General Peterson says.
"What did you say your name was?"
"Steven Peterson."
"Steven Peterson?"
"Yes, Kade Beckett?"
"I think there's something wrong with that women, like really wrong."
"...Okay. I'll communicate that to the police department in the lead of this case. Is they're anything else?
Because I need to take my team back to base, one of them needs to see a doctor.
We can drop you off somewhere along the way if you want? I'm happy to make an exception, but this time only."
"Wait, you can't leave! Like, leave me."
"And why not?"
Kade flips open his wallet, looking at something inside of it. "What's in their bud?" Allie speaks up and Kade bites his lip.
"I found quite a bit of information on my Dad, Johnathan too, he was easier to track down than Mum. But he didn't really return my emails exactly. I got one letter back telling me not to contact him, didn't want to be reminded of mistakes from the past.
But he did offer up some information that I didn't get from Kaylee which confirmed something I saw in the 'Do you know this persons?' cases. He saw it, his not living in the U.S, he didn't tell anyone he knew, but me."
"And that was?" Maxis says as Kade slowly turns the paper clipping around to show Kiera Bailey's, 'do you know this person?' flyer that was distributed almost two years ago in every country.
Especially Canada, and it's stamped Canada on it, showing it was printed and distributed there.
"Why are you lying to everyone, Kiera?95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvBWsscWTs
Why are you lying to your friends? You seen close with them." Kade asks, Kiera's face turning to pure horror that his just unmasked her.
She was likely never reported missing by anyone so that never linked up with the photo of her face and name that was put out almost two years ago, asking for any information on who she was and where she was from.
95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgUIjYyWWg
