Crushed Under the Weight

Chapter Two: Gone

Chapter 2:

~Riley~

I stared at the girl in front of me. Her words didn't make any sense. Aiden Michaels was gone. Someone had abducted him? I couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was screwed. As soon as you were abducted in this town, there was no escaping. Your captor had you in cuffs and all sorts of shit. I only knew that because that was how I entered this damned city.

"He's really gone, Riley! I saw it go down," the girl pressed.

Hadley Davis had a big reputation of spreading false truths. A large piece of me figured this was another one of her stories. Hadley's greatest issue in life was her need for attention. The only thing her multitude of lies ever got was a cynical expression whenever she was telling the truth, if it even was the truth.

Behind her pretty brown eyes and bouncy blonde curls was an attention seeker. She was always switching up her clothing. One day, she'd don a plain white tee and some jeans while another day saw a fancy floral dress.

"Really? He was abducted?" I just couldn't believe her.

"Yeah. The dude that kidnapped him wore all black, even a black mask. He drove a dusty black van," Hadley continued.

I turned my head and glanced at one of my other classmates. The girl simply nodded. Damn, it was the one time to believe Hadley. Something about it seemed to unbelievable. I wasn't sure what exactly, but Aiden was the last person I expected to get abducted. He was so locked up. The most information anybody in the class had on him was simply his name.

"He better not give any of us up. I don't want to end up in some guy's van." I clenched my jaw at that.

"That's enough," the teacher said.

At that, we continued the worksheet on quadratic functions. Despite the math in front of me, I kept thinking about how terrified Aiden must've been in the same moment.

~Levi~

I stared at the boy. He slept soundlessly in the back of the crusty old van. With the short kid completely unconscious, I continued my wait.

If that fucker takes another moment of my time, I will kill him.

When I glanced down at the kid again, I noticed the goosebumps on his uncovered arms. Although my co workers assumed I was a monster, I had one hell of a fat ass heart. Without a moment of hesitation, I pulled the sleeping boy close and held his small form in my arms.

As I sat in the opened back of the van, I scanned the perimeter. No one would get their hands on the boy. No one except my boss and myself. With a yawn, I finally took into account how tired I actually was. Part of me decided that cuddling with the kid wasn't my brightest idea. Nonetheless, I didn't plan on moving.

The boy slept so quietly. It made me jealous. He looked so damn peaceful. The kid reminded me of him. At the thought, I started stroking the sleeping boy's soft brown hair. Not long after that, the boy stirred and his eyelids slowly opened to reveal wide cocoa brown eyes.

"Sleep well?" I asked in a soft tone.

"You chloroformed me," he mumbled.

"Are you hurt?"
"No, sir."

Sir? I wasn't used to hearing that.

"That's good. When was your last meal?"
"I had breakfast the morning you took me."
"So this morning?"
"It's the same day?"

I chuckled at that. The boy rested his head on my collarbone. He relaxed against me. We both sat there in silence. As I held him in my arms, I waited for my boss.

"What are we waiting for?"
"My boss needs to approve of you."

The brown-eyed boy sat up an looked me dead in my eyes. While he had a blank facial expression, I saw the hesitance in the warm brown orbs.

"What does he want with me, sir?"
"It makes my job easier when I don't know."
"Is it bad?"
"Usually is."

A solemn note fell into the brunette's eyes. as I watched his face, he averted his gaze. This hadn't happened before. My victims and targets never got to me this way. Of course, I was never alone with them. Mr. Burke never took this long.

"What's your name, kid?"
"Aiden. What's your name, sir?"
"Levi."

Aiden nodded before relaxing into my embrace once more. I figured it'd be a good idea to talk to Mr. Burke about this one.

Suddenly, my phone started ringing. I answered the call immediately. It would've been smart to check the caller ID... Oh well. 

"Levi, I won't be able to come down that way today. Take the kid to an abandoned apartment. We'll meet tomorrow."

I nodded absentmindedly at the orders. Mr. Burke never bothered with hellos. If he needed to talk to me, he wouldn't waste his breath or my time. Since it was closeby, I gave the man the address of the apartment complex that I found Aiden in. It seemed like a good idea to me to give him a quick taste of "home" before I shipped him off to Mr. Burke.

After the man hung up, Aiden crawled out of my lap.

"Aiden, do you want to sit up front with me?"

The kid looked at me, taken aback by the question. I hated being alone up front. From what I could tell, he wouldn't try to run; he had accepted his fate, as bad as it sounded.

"Okay, I'll join you," he said as he hauled himself out the back of the van.

After I closed the back doors, Aiden followed me to the front seats. He sat in the passenger's seat while I relaxed behind the wheel. Once the engine's roar came to my ears, I pulled out of the empty parking lot and headed to the quiet apartment complex. The brunette beside me only fiddled with the hem of his grey t-shirt. The sight of him only reminded me of how long the day was growing.

[A/N: What do you guys think of Levi? What do you think Mr. Burke has in store for Aiden? What do you think of Riley?]