Persevering Love - C.E.

Little Fighter

Y/N's POV

11:38 pm

For the last two hours, Chris and I have been sobering up just so we can drive home. So all we've had is water and birthday cake. If I had to estimate my drunkness right now, it would have to be a 5%. I didn't drink too much to begin with so it didn't take much to calm down. Same thing for Chris, he actually only had one glass of champagne and drunk Shirley Temples for the rest of the night. But since it was getting late, we figured it was time to head out. We said our goodbyes to everyone and Chris drove us home. With all the hilarious things that occurred, that was all we could talk about on the way.

Finally, we arrived and the first thing I noticed was that our front door was creaked just a bit. My heart skipped a beat and I anxiously asked, "Chris, does our door look opened to you?" Chris takes a peak and his face looked like he saw a ghost. We both jumped out the car, not even closing the doors, and ran inside the house. The first thing we noticed was Lisa lying on the ground, with blood dripping down her head and ductape on her mouth. "Mom!" Chris exclaimed as he fell to the floor, gently ripping it off. She gasped for air and weakly pointed to the steps. I tore off my heels and held my dress up as I ran up the steps. "THEO!!" I yelled into the halls.

I first went into his room, which was completely empty. And I felt my heart shatter. All that was left was his favorite teddy bear which I grabbed. With rapid tears falling down my cheeks, I checked every other place upstairs. Our room, the guest room, bathroom, closets, storage spots, and Theo was nowhere to be found. I fell down to my knees, still holding the bear and screamed. "SOMEONE HELP!!!" I yelled, "He isn't here!!!" I sobbed, smearing my makeup all over the place. Chris ran up to me and saw me on the ground as I looked up to him with my puffy wet eyes. I could tell that he was just as broken as he fell to his knees next to me and hurriedly called the police.

Without hesitation, I ran down the steps and tried to talk with Lisa. "Lisa please! Is there anything you remember? Did you see who took Theo?" "....No my dear. I tried my best but....I was knocked out by one of them." She weakly responded, "One of them? What do you mean one of them? There were two??" "Yes. A woman and a man." As soon as those words left her lips, I could think of the only two people capable and willing to do something like this. "I-I thought it was....no...i-it can't be." She said, looking up at me. But I couldn't look back. I just stared into space as I pondered in disbelief. Nick and Maddison.

Within the next 10 minutes, our house was full of policemen and two EMTs who were patching up Lisa's wound. They questioned her as soon as they got sight of the situation and then headed over to us. "Okay, do you have any idea of who would've done this?" The Chief of policemen asked. And before Chris could get out a word, I answered, "Nicolas Hoult and Maddison Bennett." I strictly stated. The policeman and Chris looked at me in shock, "The two you've had past conflict with that's been all over the news? The ones that tried to kill you?" He asked, adding a knife to my already torn up heart. "Yes." I responded. "But, how's that possible? Haven't they been in prison all this time?" "That's what I thought." I answered coldly.

"Oh my god." Chris said, losing his breath at the end of his sentence. I quickly turned to him in confusion. "What-" "Chief, you're gonna wanna see this." One of the officers stated, cutting me off, coming in the house as she grabbed the tv remote and turned it on to the nearest news station. It was a live broadcast of our little Theo, sitting in some type of dark area on the floor with the camera pointed right in front of him. I stood up immediately, as did Chris, and gasped, holding a hand to my stomach. "My baby." I said as my breath shook. He cried and yelled, "I want my mommy!" "Oh, I want your mommy too." A dark voice commented off camera until the view was pointed at exactly who I thought it was. It was Nick, except he looked much more dark. Like something in him snapped.

He brought the camera close to his face and he chuckled so evily. "You know what about 3-4 years in prison will do to a man....? It'll turn his life up....side.....down. Like whatever existed before being locked up, is gone. Poof!" He giggled like a maniac. "Someone call the department, we need to figure out where this is being broadcasted!" The chief yelled as a couple of officers ran to their cars, going back to their headquarters. "But don't worry, I'm gonna tell little Theo all about what the hardship of prison did to me....And we're gonna have a grand ball!" He exclaimed, pinching Theo's cheek, resulting in Theo biting his finger. "Ouch! You're a little fighter, aren't you? Like your mother. Good thing you didn't pick up any traits from your dad." He snickered as I looked over to Chris, who's jaw was clenched at the mention of him.

"Anywhoo...Y/N..." He said darkly, "I know you're watching this. And if you wanna know where Theo is, you better start asking your fake golden boy of a husband some questions about those texts he's been getting and the real reason he got that gun. And remember, it's alllll a puzzle. You just need to know how to put it together. Until then, see you soon." He chuckled evilly before ending the live. "Chris, what the hell is he talking about?" I calmly questioned with a strict look. Before he could answer, he swiftly threw a glass cup at the wall and screamed in anger. "Hey, hey, watch it!" All the policemen said as Chris's back faced me. "Chris! What is he talking about?!" He slowly turned around with his eyes faced down, face in disappointment. "For awhile now, I've been getting these text messages saying the most random and odd things. Including tonight, I got a text saying 'it's almost showtime. Tick...tick."

My breath began to pick up in disbelief and I looked at him. "Why didn't you say anything?!" I asked as my breath shook. "Because I thought it was just some creepy fans. I-I didn't think they meant anything that would come to this...." "Okay and what about the gun? What was that really about?" ".....Back around Theo's birthday, he got a big package in the mail from Maddy and Nick. It had a toy lion inside with a note addressed to him saying that they'll see him real soon. You were away filming and I didn't wanna worry you. So, I bought the gun for protection." "Oh my god." I muttered, trying to think of what to say. I felt sick to my stomach, literally.

I clenched my hand to my stomach and ran over to the trash can in the kitchen, throwing up everything. "Geez." One of the officers commented in the front. "Baby, I'm so sorry." Chris said as he ran over to my side and held my hair up. "I never wanted any of this to happen. I swear when I-" I held my hand up as a signal for him to shut up and I quickly wiped my mouth. "Chris. As much as I want to be pissed off at you right now, our only focus should be finding Theo. And don't get me wrong, I am very pissed but we have better things to think about." I answered. "You're right." He agreed. "Uh, Mr. Evans?" The chief said bringing our attention to him. "We need to see those texts."