Taken Over: Sapphire of Hope

Tragic Symbol of Love

As captain Lance sat in his office doing his paperwork, his phone rang. Quickly he grabbed it and answered the call.

"Captain Lance Johnson here.........I'm on my way over."

Lance hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket hoping today was going to be a good day after receiving that call. He left his office and walked down the hall to the room where Adam was locked up. He spoke to the guards that were standing in front of the door and gave them their instructions.

"You two are to stay here and make sure no one gets in that room. I have to go check on a suspect downtown and hopefully get more information on Death Trap."

The captain then turned around, went back down the hall and left the building.

When Lance got downtown to his destination, he could see four police cars parked outside one of the houses. He parked across the street, got out of his car and to one of the officers that was standing by the door of the house. He then pulled out his badge, and when the cop confirmed his I.D. he let the captain in the house.

When Captain Lance walked into the house, he could see to his left, a doorway. Inside this doorway was a kitchen, and sitting at the table was a policeman and an 18 year old boy who had a blanket around him, and looked as though he had the flu. The boy had blonde hair that was short in the back and sides, and long on the top. His long hair had been brushed to one side and slightly covered his face and right eye.

The captain walked over to the boy and introduced himself.

"Hello son. I'm Captain Lance Johnson of the Oregon state patrol."

The boy stared at the man, then back at the other cop sitting at the table. He then looked down at his coffee cup, took a sip of his tea and remained silent.

"Not much of a talker huh? Well that's too bad. You looked like a good kid, but when people don't answer to cops for an introduction, it usually means they know something, or are guilty of something."

The boy looked at the captain and decided to reply.

"Okay Captain Lance Johnson, I'll cooperate. My name is Aiden Lawrence. Yes my brother is Jake Lawrence. According to your friend here, my brother did something stupid and is involved with some criminal activity. From what I understand, you have come to my house to ask why I missed school on March 15 and if I know the whereabouts of my older brother or about fifty other students at my school. As you can see, I'm sick. I've been sick with the flu since March 12. My brother hasn't been home since March 13 and I haven't left the house since I've been throwing up. If you want to know more, I can tell you that I haven't thrown up since the day before yesterday, but still have a fever, and I am still feeling very weak. My temperature is currently at 101 and if you want to check, you can take it right now. Here's the thermometer."

The boy lifted a thermometer and placed it on the table. The captain looked at the device, then to the cop sitting down at the table. The cop at the table then ushered Captain Lance to the other room where they spoke in private.

"Captain, we got nothing on him. We took his temperature and he's right, it's about 101. And we talked to his neighbors next door and they can confirm he hasn't left the house and has been very sick. They've been coming over and checking on him since March 13 after his brother left. The boy is clean."

The captain was very disappointed at this news. He then walked back into the kitchen to ask Aiden some more questions.

"Okay Aiden, I just have a couple more questions. First I'd like to know where your brother is."

Aiden looked at the captain with frustration.

"I just told you I don't know. He left the house the day after I got sick and I haven't seen him since."

"Okay, that leads me to my next question. Why would your brother leave you if you were as sick as you claimed you were?"

"I don't know. Probably because he hates me and always has."

The captain looked at Aiden, and for some reason couldn't believe him. He knew the boy was hiding something, but couldn't prove it. Or could he?

"Alright Aiden. So your brother hates you, but aren't you family? Shouldn't he stick around to take care of his younger brother no matter how much he hates you?"

Aiden picked his cup back up, and finished off his drink. When the cup was empty, he placed it back down on the table and looked back at the cop.

"Look Captain, my brother doesn't think that way. My brother only does what he thinks is best for himself and doesn't give a damn about anyone else, including me. My brother would rather eat dog shit then hang out with me, let alone take care of me while I'm sick with the flu. You think family is important? That's great, maybe when you find my brother you can teach him how that works, because he sure as hell doesn't know."

The captain looked over at the other officer. The man seemed a little depressed and showed some compassion for the boy. But there was something off about this kid. The captain couldn't place his finger on it, but he had a gut feeling this kid knew something. There was something more to this kid then meets the eye.

As he stared at Aiden trying to figure him out, the boy brushed his hair away from his face revealing for the first time, his right eye. It wasn't blue like his left eye, it was black. The captain couldn't help but ask.

"What happened to your eye?"

Aiden showed more frustration towards the captain as though the captain had asked him that question a thousand times.

"The same thing that happened to yours. I was born with it."

The captain could sense a little sarcasm in Aiden's tone, so he asked him again in a different approach.

"I meant, why is it black and not blue like your other eye?"

Aiden once again looked frustrated as he answered.

"I just told you, I was born with it. It's the only thing that I have of my mothers."

This just made the captain even more curious.

"What do you mean it's the only thing you have of your mothers?"

Aiden lost his look of frustration and became slightly depressed.

"I mean my mom is dead and this is what she left me. When my mom got pregnant with me, she started having medical problems. When I finally decided to come into this world a month and a half early, she went down hill. All I know is that my mother only lived for about five minutes after she gave birth to me. My eye is the only thing I got from her. To everyone else, its a birthmark, but to me...it's a symbol of her love for me..."

Aiden couldn't hold back his tears as he explained this to the captain.

"I'm sorry son. What about your father. Where is he?"

Aiden's depression turned to anger at the thought of his dad.

"My dad left my mom after he knocked her up and she got pregnant with me. You want to know where my dad is? Ask my brother, from what I've heard from Jake about my dad, Jakes acting just like him. So who knows, maybe that's where my idiot brother ran off to. If he did, I wouldn't be surprised. Running off apparently runs in the family."

The captain stared at Aiden in disbelief. How has this kid survived this long? A dead mother that he sees every time he looks in the mirror, a father he's never met, and a brother who treats him like he's a nobody. But as much as the captain felt bad, he still didn't trust Aiden.

"Ok sir. We should go, this boy doesn't know anything."

The captain nodded and followed his fellow officer out of the house. As he drove away, he couldn't help but think that boy would be responsible for something bad in the future. But like his fellow officer said, the boy was clean. Unlike the psychopath back at the station. And with the bad feeling Captain Lance had about Aiden, it was time to ask Adam if he had any information on this boy, and his tragic past.