Hello Again (Sequel)

A Nightmare Come True

Hikaru was in class and the girls were with Auntie for the day. I had been asleep most of the day, only waking to the ringing of the doorbell. I made my way downstairs, not fully awake. I rubbed my eyes before opening the door. What I saw made my blood run cold. Standing on the front porch with a black hoodie and jeans, a confident smirk on his face, was a man I thought I had left far in my past. "Hey A.J. Long time no see," he chuckled. I tried to slam the door, but he jammed his boot in the doorway, stepping inside like he owned the place. "Ryo, you need to leave or I'm calling the authorities!" I threatened, my voice sounding meek. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair that Rose had inherited from him. "That's no way to talk to the father of your child," he chuckled. Before I could blink, he lunged at me. I squirmed, kicking and screaming. His arms were tight around my shoulders as he picked me up like I was weightless. We were leaving the house. "Let me go!" I wailed. There was a van parked in front of my house, the back doors wide open. I headbutted him and he yelled out in pain, just throwing me into the vehicle. My head hit the wheel arch and my vision became fuzzy. I stood again, rushing for the door. He shoved me again, but this time everything went black.

 "A.J., wake up!" a voice hissed. My head hurt, and I was so sleepy. I just wanted to ignore whoever was calling for me. I opened my eyes, expecting to see Hikaru with a glass of water and a couple Tylenol because my head was killing me. No, it was not Hikaru. Sitting there, with his crooked smile and deep brown eyes that had once been trustworthy, was Ryo. The man who raped me. The man who made me spend years looking over my shoulder. The biological father of one of my daughters. My worst nightmare. This couldn't be happening to me! I tried to sit up and he chuckled. "Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't do that if I was you," he said in a singsong voice, holding out a knife. I gulped, staring at him with wide eyes. "Please don't hurt me. You can have whatever you want," I whimpered. He laughed, running the knife along my cheek. "I lost any chance at the best education money could buy, I lost my chance at a high-paying job-- I lost five years of my life because of you. Do you know what prison is like? You're good with numbers; do you know how many days that is?" He took the blade away from my skin and stared expectantly. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. Like stone, I was completely still. "I asked you a question!" he thundered, his voice bouncing off of the walls of the mostly empty room.

"One th-th-thousand, ei-eight hundred and twenty five," I whimpered as tears started to roll down my face. "That's exactly right," he grinned, reaching out to stroke my cheek. I flinched, earning a hard slap from him before he went back to caressing my face. "Don't cry," he cooed. "Not yet, at least. I spent so much time behind bars, might as well do something that's worth that much. "Wh-what are you going to do?" I sobbed. He cackled, his voice like thorns and barbed wire raking my spine. 

Hikaru P.O.V.

"Where the fuck is she?" I fretted as I paced the dining room. She wasn't home when Jeanie came to drop off the girls, nor was she there when I came home from class. I had called and left several messages, but no reply. Now all of our friends were here with me, waiting for the police to arrive. They said they couldn't file a missing persons report until it had been twenty-four hours, but they were going to take down what information they could and wait until tomorrow morning. I was terrified. A.J. always answered the phone. "Where's Mommy? I want Mommy," the girls cried, running into my arms. I picked them up and sat them on the table in between Haruhi and Jeanie. We were all worried out of our minds. I went and stood in a corner, leaning against the wall as I tried to rack my brain for an idea of where she might be. The chime of the doorbell followed by a rapid knock snapped me from my thoughts.

"Mr. Hitachiin, when was the last time you saw your wife?" a burly officer asked, notepad in hand. I saw another one, this one a female, speaking to my daughters and Jeanie. "This morning, around seven. I was leaving for class," I replied. He nodded. "And the last time you spoke to her?" I sniffed, wiping my nose on the back of my hand. I had been crying for well over an hour, already expecting the worst. "Around ten. She told me that she was going to lay down for a nap after dropping our girls off with her aunt." He wrote that down and then looked at me again. "Please tell me you'll find her," I begged. He smiled grimly at me. "We'll try our hardest, sir." 

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***News Update!

Twenty-three year old wife and mother of two Adrienne Hitachiin, more commonly known as Adrienne Breaux, founder of The Heart Of Saint Evangeline-- an organization that strives for world peace-- was reported missing three days ago. There is no lead on her whereabouts. Mrs. Hitachiin is currently sixteen weeks pregnant. If you see this woman or know where she may be, please call 564-9959.

The news report showed a picture of Adrienne on our wedding day. I stared at the screen, feeling hopeless. Auntie kept the girls while the rest of us formed a search party. I was exhausted and terrified. Without A.J., I was lost; I didn't want to think about what might have happened to her. "Please come home safe. Please come home safely to me," I sighed softly. I sent whatever prayers I had upward, and got up to make more phone calls.