Broken

15

"He has kidnapped mom!" She said between tears..I knew that bastard would do anything to keep hurting both of them.
Claire was crying on the other side of the phone and my heart hurt when I heard her crying.

"Is Lukas asleep?"

"Yea...yeah...I just put him to bed when I received a video from an anonymous person."

"Calm down...I'll be there in five minutes."

I cut the call and left the office.
When I got home, Claire was slumped on the floor with her knees to her chest. Her hair was a mess and there were dried streams of tears on her face. I hugged her while trying to calm her down.

"She's not safe. Her eye was bloodshot and...and...and..." She just broke down in tears. I couldn't stand seeing her like that. I helped her up and said "I promise Claire,I promise nothing will happen to your mom." She looked at me with her green eyes and said "I trust you."

She trusted me.

I looked at the sleeping figure in the bed and then back at my computer. I had sent the video from her phone to my laptop and I was currently looking at anything that would give off a hint.
I looked at the paused video and realized there was a reflection of trees in the background.

"Claire." I shook her gently.
"Hmm?" She answered. She looked so cute when she woke up.
"Does your father have a house..like maybe a cabin in the woods?" I asked her.
"Yes...he bought it last year." She answered half asleep.
I was about to sleep when Lukas began crying. "I'll go pick him." I said. She smiled at me and sat on the bed.
I brought him to her and said "I saw some trees in the background of the video and I'm wondering if she's being kept there."
"Okay.." She said while breastfeeding the baby. She was blushing but I didn't even feel a bit of shame. I guess it's an acquired habit.
"Put Lukas in his nursery when you're done. I'll be back."

I walked out and made a phone call. In about six minutes,there was a ring at the front door.
"Hiii El!" My sister,yes my sister,said enthusiastically. She hugged me and said "Where's the little bundle of joy you told me about?" I pointed at my bedroom and she walked hurriedly to my room.

"Hii Claire,nice to meet you." She said before hugging Claire. She carried Lukas and said "Hi baby,I'm your aunty." I smiled a bit and said "Liyah,well neet you to take care of our son. We have something to take care off."She nodded and said "Okay. You can trust me."

It was almost morning when we got to a forest. Claire was visibly shaking and I held onto her hand and said "I'm with you. Calm down." And kissed her. She smiled at me. We got out of the car and walked into the forest. We walked for about 45 minutes until we found a little cabin. It was dimly lit and there was smoke coming out of the chimney above it.
We hid behind a few trees and checked for any activity.

"You better not move or else.." I heard someone scream. I was guessing it was that scumbag. He walked out of the cabin and slammed the door shut. I looked at Claire for a while before looking at the cabin.
"I'll stay here." Claire said. "No,it's not safe,he might come any moment so let's hurry up and get her." She nodded and followed me as we walked stealthily to the cabin.

I opened the door and I was shocked by what I saw. Mom was laying on the floor almost lifeless. Her hair was a mess and she had cuts and bruises all over her body. Claire looked at her for a while before calling her to check if she was alive. She looked at us with hazy eyes and inched back into a corner.
"No,no don't touch me!" She screamed while holding her head. Her left eye was swollen shut and her lip was cracked and busted at a corner. She looked terrible. I was about to help her up when I heard a click.

*Click*

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Felix said with a sadistic smile. The amn looked fucked up. His eyes were red as if he had been drinking and his hat was messy.
He pulled Claire into his arms and kept the gun at her temple. "El,El,El,you just had to butt in didn't you?" He asked me.
Claire looked at me with fearful eyes and I needed to do something and fast.

He pushed Claire beside Mom when suddenly,the door broke down! Three guys walked into the room,all heavily armed.
"Glad you got my call,Dylan." I said to the guy in the middle.

"You fucking did this?" Felix screamed.
He pulled a pocket knife from his coat and held it at Claire's neck.
"You fucking try to set me up,she'll die!" He yelled. He knew that I would try to stop him so he threw Claire on the ground and picked Mom up. He slit her throat and at that exact moment,Dylan and the two ther guys shot multiple holes in his chest.

"Mom!" Claire screamed and ran to her mother's lifeless body. "Get her to a hospital." I said to Dylan.

*Bang*

I heard a bang erupt from behind me. I turned and saw Claire bleeding on the floor.

He fucking shot her.

"Claire!" I screamed and ran to her. "It hurts!" She cried. She loosing blood by the minute. I carried her to my car not before instructing them to take care of Felix.

I had driven out of the forest when I saw smoke emerging from the trees.