Back Where I Belong

Chapter 4

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! 🍀💚🎉

And I wanted to let you guys know that because of how amazing you all are, you've managed to make Adopted By 5 Seconds of Summer my most read book. So congrats to you guys.

Michael's pov

"Tim!" I exclaim, "of all the people to fuc-"

"Language Michael," Andrew scolds, not looking up from his phone screen.

I roll my eyes, "Of all the people I thought would kidnap Zoey, Tim is the least expected."

"How so? I mean, we know that he likes publicity. Kidnapping her would be publicity," Ashton points out, as we drive to Tim's house.

"Yeah, but eventually, someone would figure it out, which would be bad for the company," Calum argues.

"Not if they just sent Zoey off to an orphanage first. I mean, it's kind of smart, in an evil, cruel, and twisted way, but they kidnap her, get the media stirred up, then ship her off to a new orphanage. No harm would come to the company and it brings us publicity," Luke explains.

"Damn Hemmings," I mutter, "are you sure that you didn't help Tim plan this?" He glares at me.

"Look!" Calum yells. All four of us turn and look out of Calum's window. I draw in a deep breath. Tim's house was covered in yellow police tape. The front door was kicked down. Tire tracks went through the front yard. The place was trashed.

"What happened here?" Ashton asks. None of answer. Andrew frowns and calls someone.

"Well boys, it turns out that Zoey was already busted out of here. Along with a thirteen year old girl, Cindy Meyer. Anyway, the two of them were rushed to the hospital. No word since then," Andrew informs us after a few minutes of talking on the phone.

"What? Why? Is she hurt? How bad is it?" I demand.

"Mikey, he literally just said he didn't know how badly she was injured," Luke reminds me. I smack him in the back of the head.

"To the hospital please," Andrew tells the driver. He nods and we turn around, going back the way we came.

"Zoey Noel," Ashton says, clearly fighting the urge to say Irwin. She wasn't legally an Irwin at the moment.

"She's in her best friend's room, 713. Just be quiet when you get up there, okay?" The receptionist instructs. We all nod. Then we speed walk over to the elevator.

"Cindy, please don't leave me. Please, you're my little sister. I need you here," a familiar voice pleads from inside a room. We pause outside of room 713. Calum pokes his head in, then nods. It was Zoey in there.

"Zoey, you don't need me. But just remember to always keep hope. Don't let anything break your spirit. Promise me now," a new voice says urgently. A pit forms in my stomach. That sounded an awful lot like a death wish. I look over at Luke, Ash, and Calum. They all wore matching pained expressions.

"I promise," Zoey's voice says.

"Good," the other girl mutters softly. The room goes quick for about a minute. Then Zoey's loud sobs cut through the air. My heart aches hearing my little sister cry.

I push through the partially open door and go over to her. She had her face buried in her arms and she was crying hard. A lifeless girl was on the bed. I slowly reach down and put my hand on Zoey's back. I glance to my side and see that Cal, Ash, and Luke had all followed my actions.

Zoey sniffles, then lifts her head up. She turns around. Her eyes widen and she gasps once she see us.