Right Before Your Eyes (Random Updates)

Chapter 19

"Hey, I think something's wrong," Corey said as he looked up from his laptop.

"What do you mean?" North asked.

"Gabe and Kota are supposed to check in every hour, that was the agreement and they missed check in," Corey said as he typed on his laptop. Their location still shows at Brooke's but when I called to see if they were just busy and hadn't had a chance to check in yet neither answered. Brooke's goes straight to voicemail, but I don't know if that's just because she forgot to charge it again or if it's something else."

"Check her cameras," Owen demanded as he tried calling Kota's phone while Luke tried Gabe's.

"No use," Victor shook his head, "she disabled them after that fight, and we never fixed them since she was staying with us."

"I'm going," North demanded as he grabbed his car keys while muttering under his breath about how everyone's phones better be dead, or they better be asleep or else. "Lucien Now!"

"Yeah, coming," Luke said as he quickly jumped over the couch and raced out the door behind his younger brother.

"I've got a bad feeling," Brandon said as he stared out the window. "Tell me I'm wrong."

"I wish I could," Axel said as he ran his hand through his hair. "All we can do right now is hope that it's just a big misunderstanding."

"Fucking hope so," Brandon muttered as he plopped himself in the window seat.

Everyone soon became lost in their thoughts, the only sound filling the room was the clacking of Corey and Victor's keyboards as they immersed themselves in their laptops.

The shrill of Sean's phone made everyone jolt, "North?" Sean asked as he immediately put it on speaker.

"Get your ass here NOW!" North shouted, "Kota and Gabe were tranqed, she's gone!"

"What?" everyone asked at once.

"Her studio is trashed, there was a struggle and Baby's gone! Gabe is in the kitchen, looks like he was making her something to eat, and Kota is at her desk on her computer. Get here now!"

"Any other signs of injury?" Sean asked as he quickly grabbed his medical bag and opened it.

"Not on Gabe and Kota, looks like they were taken by surprise," Luke's voice was filled with tension. "Open window is probably how they got in, this was clearly a two or more-person job. Someone knew that Brookey wasn't alone."

"And where she was taken?" Sean gulped.

"Can't tell if the red is blood or paint," Luke said through clenched teeth, "haven't touched anything and with her painting—"

"There's various shades of red, got it," Sean nodded as he tossed a few more things in there. "Sure Kota and Gabe are okay?"

"They are going to be so pissed," Nathan shook his head. "Gabe's guilt is going to be bad."

"It was a surprise attack," Axel said as he finished braiding his hair, "it's not their fault, let's just get there and start assessing."

Raven slid his magazine into his gun and cocked it, "let's go, I hunt."

Axel slid his knife into the holster, "we all are."

Meanwhile

Brooke opened her eyes and groaned. Her eyes felt like sandpaper, and she was sure her bones were filled with cement. There was pressure in her chest and a burning sensation in her ribs. Her throat felt like it was filled with cotton and her hands were tingling. She tried to turn her head to see if she could possibly see where she was, but it hurt too much. Her muscles felt like she had been running a marathon with Nathan. Closing her eyes she took a shallow breath, held it, then slowly released it.

She needed to calm her nerves if she was going to try to figure out what the hell was happening. She tried to remember everything the boys had taught her, but everything hurt so much that it was hard to think. She took another breath and the fog in her brain slowly started to lift.

"Alright, I can do this," she whispered to herself as she went to lift her arm, but it wouldn't move. Forcing herself to lift her head she looked down to find her arm handcuffed to the table she was laying on. "Shit, that can't be good."

Turning her head, despite the burning protest in her muscles, she found her other wrist handcuffed as well. Dropping her head back onto the table she forced back a groan. She tried to raise her foot but found them to be strapped down as well. Just what the fuck was going on?

"Think, think, think," she whispered to herself as she tried to calm her racing nerves, "what did Luke and Marc say to do about handcuffs?"

She tried to slip her hand through, but the cuffs were too tight. Feeling the edge of the table, she ran her fingers up and down but there was no sharpness to it. Lifting her head, she saw that she was still dressed in her jeans and Good Charlotte shirt, but her shoes were removed. Well, it was a good thing that she still had her clothes on, that eased some of her anxiety, but she still didn't know where she was or what was going on. Taking a breath, she closed her eyes and listened. Not hearing anything, she opened her eyes and slowly looked around as much as she could.

She was in an empty room, the walls were wooden, which told her that she wasn't in a basement. Taking another look, she frowned, there were no windows. How could there be no windows? She couldn't see a door, so it had to be on the wall away from her. How was she going to get out of here? Were Kota and Gabe okay? Do the rest of the family know what has happened? Her chest lurched as her stomach churned and the feeling of vomiting raced through her.

"Oh good, you're awake."