United We Stand

3. Gone

I turn on the computer that monitors the camera in the garage. Jake's head is right by my ear, peering into the screen. I wince and pretend to grab something and step away from him. "Look away. Password." I order Jake. And he follows his instructions.

I type in the password. Jonathan. Pops decided to name password after Dad. "Done." I say to Jake, who turns around. I scroll from each angle of the footage and type the day.

I skip until I see the lights off in the garage. "Wait, zoom in there." Jake says as he points to the corner of the camera. And I do. It's dark but sure enough there is the shape of Brooklyn.

She creeps towards Pops old rusty truck. Just when Brooklyn is about to unlock the door a person springs out of nowhere and tackles her. A big lump forms in my throat.

"No." I say, my voice trembling. Brooklyn tries to fight back but the person is clearly more skilled than her. He covers her mouth and all that I can hear is muffled shouts.

The guy knocks her out and the keys in Brooklyn's hand fall on the floor. He drags her away, outside the garage. I look at the time. 12:30am. Jake looks mortified.

"Call the cops." I say, my voice cracking. I run up the stairs and dash into the garage. Yup, next to the rusty truck are the keys. Things are knocked over, from the kidnap. Granny was already waiting for me in the driveway when I came outside, so none of us entered the garage.

And I didn't go into Brooklyn's room because I thought she was in bed with Jake. I bend down to pick up the keys when a crunchening whack rings in my ears. I fall to the floor, my head thrumming with pain. The world goes black.

«-»

My eyes shoot open, adjusting to the sunlight around me. I find myself in the arms of the security guard from earlier today. He's still wearing his suit. I won't let his handsome face deceive me now. I jump out of his arms and into the grass, I scramble to my feet. I start sprinting away from him.

          The girls track varsity team has served me well. I loose him within a couple of seconds. I look around me and find myself still in my neighborhood somewhere. I hide behind a unfamiliar house to catch my breath. What is his deal? Did I win the lottery? Does this have to do with Brooklyn missing?

I feel the back of my head. A bump is forming where the guy whacked me. My stomach growls. Shoot. I forgot to eat breakfast. I groan, I left my phone in my bag on the counter. So stupid. "Wh—"

         A perfect sized hand clamps over my mouth, slamming me against the side of the house. I try to say let me go but it comes out as, "mmhmp!" I push the guy back and try to fight but he is obviously stronger than me.

"I just want to talk." He says, his voice a nice pitch. I keep struggling against him. My heart hammers against my chest with fear. Is he going to kill me? What have I done? Maybe it was that one time I stole an eraser from someone...

           Eventually I get breathless and stop moving. I expect him to let me go but he holds on. "You're not normal. We're connected, and you're the mutant." He says. I roll my eyes and bite his hand and make a run for it.

But with one swing of his arm he grabs me from the waist and slams me back into the same position I was before. I groan at the pain shooting up my back. "Listen," he growls with annoyance,"If you'd just listen I wouldn't be hurting you." My bite seems to have no affect on his hand.

"Have you heard of Harold Davison?" He asks.

I nod. He was a billionaire who invested his money on some science experiment. I don't know what his experiment was about but years after he lost all of his money.