By Your Side, On This Planet and the Next

The Incident

         Nine years had passed since that day. Jenny was now a plucky, kind nine year old and Edan is a quiet, studious fourteen year old. The light of one of the planet's suns slipped through the curtains of the eldest's room, he groaned slightly and covered his head with a pillow. However, he couldn't avoid waking up when his sister ran in and hopped onto the bed. She sat on him with an, "oof" and shook his shoulder, giggling. "Edie, you gotta wake up. Mama already has breakfast ready!" Edan grumbled and removed the pillow to stare up at Jenny's smiling face, perfectly framed by her black, curly hair. He couldn't help but smile at her happy face, but then he realized she was on his chest and grimaced. "Jen, I can't breathe." His voice hoarse. Jenny jumped as she came to terms that her nine year old weight on his chest wouldn't allow a lot of air in. She scrambled off and sat at his side, "S-Sorry." Edan coughed into his fist, Jenny furrowed her brow. "Are you okay?" She asked. Edan shook his head with a small smile. "I'm okay JenJen, don't worry." His smile didn't relieve any of Jenny's worries. 

Their mother, Xiao, came into the room. "Edan baby, are you up yet? Your breakfast is getting cold- Oh," He stopped his current thought when he saw Edan's nose was blue, the boy was also breathing out of his mouth and his eyes were glassy. "You look sick honey." Worried, Xiao walked to his son's bedside. Jenny hopped up and hugged Edan's arm before he could protest about his health. "I think he's sick mama. He was just coughing a lot." She whined with worry. "Was he, sweetheart?" Xiao brushed Edan's snowy fringe back, and laid his hand on his forehead. "Mom, I'm okay. I swear." He sniffled. Xiao shook his head and took his hand away. "You're burning up, baby." Xiao said with worry. "But mom-" "No buts. You're staying home honey." Edan wanted to protest, but Xiao was finished. He looked at Jenny, blowing a piece of white hair out of his face. "Do you have your things together, honey?" She nodded, her curls bouncing. Xiao smiled gently. "Okay honey, go get your bag. If you're going to make it to school on time you should go in the next couple of minutes." He said, the school was only down the road and she's walked herself before. Edan figured he wasn't going to talk himself into going to school, so he plopped back on the pillow. Jenny hugged Edan's neck and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Don't worry, Edie. When I get home I'll take care of you!" She said, full of determination. Edan smiled and kissed her head. "Be safe okay, JenJen?" Jenny hopped off the bed. "I will." She headed for her room to get her bag. "Remember what to do if you encounter a creep?" Edan called, straining his already sore throat. "Go for the nuts and eyes!" She called back.

But Jenny didn't return that afternoon. Her family assumed that she may have just been running late, maybe a teacher wanted to talk to her after class. But when dinner time came around and there was still no sign of the young girl. Not even a phone call to explain if she'd gone to a friend's. All three members were worried and loaded themselves into Meko's vehicle to go searching. They hoped she got lost or maybe lost track of time. They checked the park, the playground, everywhere. But still no sign of Jenny. In tears, Xiao phoned the police to report her disappearance. An Amber Alert was released, and Jenny's fifth grade school photo was on every news channel and every news paper. None of the trio could look at the toothy grin without wanting to break down; especially Edan. He blamed himself for her disappearance even though his parents constantly told him it was out of his control. "If only I just went with her" He'd mumble. "If I went with her, I could've stopped it. Maybe they would've taken me instead."

Edan was given two weeks off of school for grievance, he spent that time in his room laying in bed. Xiao would bring him his meals, only to come back later and collect untouched plates. When he returned to school, he laid his head on the desk and waited for the bell to dismiss him. Teachers and classmates glanced in sympathy at him as he silently passed through the halls. He hardly did any of his work anymore, but the teachers didn't blame him for his lack of motivation. Xiao and Meko were high strung. Not only was their daughter missing, but now their son was near complete shut down. Edan was normally on top of his studies, but now his grades had dropped and he was missing assignments; he didn't even play his cello anymore. They were also worried about the fact that Edan was now wary of taking his jacket and long sleeves off. The couple called up a psychiatrist that would know how to talk to him. The older man tried talking to Edan, but Edan didn't want to talk. After trying and failing with communication, he suggested a prescription of anti-depressants and a lot of support and love. He also suggested possible institutionalization for the self harm, but Xiao shot him down because he didn't want Edan going to one of those awful places.

The police scoured every possible clue. They were relentless and filled with tenacity; and caffeine. After a couple months of searching, interviewing, and hitting dead ends the case went cold for weeks. Officers began searching surveillance cameras from surrounding stores to see if they could spot Jenny anywhere in the crowded city. With time, they spotted Jenny walking down the street through a crowd, and followed her from camera to camera. Until in one frame, a van  pulled up beside her as she broke through to an empty sidewalk. In the video, she glanced at the van but kept walking, a little faster though. She kept glancing at the van and picking up speed as it followed her, until she was nearly sprinting. The van sped ahead and cut her off, a man stepping out and grabbing the squirming, screaming child before shoving her in and driving away. The scene infuriated the officers, and made some sick to their stomachs as they thought of their own children in her position. They back tracked and played each recording frame by frame, trying to see if anyone could've seen the incident. One officer caught a glimpse of a person in one. Upon closer inspection, the person could be identified as Parker Black, a royal guard for Queen Natasha.

Police took Black into custody for questioning. For several weeks, he didn't budge leaving police confused. They continued with their interrogation, knowing that he had a younger sister himself, they used that against him. They told him to think about her in Jenny's shoes, think about how awful he would feel, think about what terrible things could be happening to her and the only thing standing in the way of her safe recovery is a witness who won't talk. Black broke. He told officers everything that he knew, including that he was forced into silence by the queen and the license plate number. The first part confused police, but they were happy with the valuable information. News channels released the plate number and Meko, Xiao and Edan hoped this would lead to a discovery. After a month or so, someone finally called in. The van with the same plates had been spotted at a grocery store. All police units flooded the area and arrested the man before he could reach the van door. The man had been interrogated as well, albeit more violently than Black was. He finally gave in and told officers where Jenny was.

When police barged into the bunker, they were met with a disturbing sight in a back room. Jenny was handcuffed to an old bed with several cameras on tripods pointed at her. Jenny herself was alive and looked exhausted like she had neglected sleep for days. A blank stare with dried tears replaced her previously cheerful facade. Blood found at the scene was identified to be the kidnapper's. Her family quickly drove to the scene as soon as they got the call; it was the first time in a while that Edan felt something other than emptiness. Jenny was outside with the medics as they checked her over to see if she had any broken bones or cuts. They found the man's skin and blood under her nails. Officers assume that Jenny fought back due to the man's face being covered in deep scratches; she went for the eyes. Meko and Xiao rushed to her and hugged her, crying. Edan stood back with tears streaming down his face as he took in the scene, he thought about how all of this could've been avoided. But it happened anyway and it was his fault. He felt someone hug around his smaller midsection, he looked down and saw the top of Jenny's curly hair. He knelt down and wrapped her in his arms, sobbing. After a visit to the hospital, Jenny was allowed to go home. She didn't speak at all during their drive. The family tried not turning on any news channels because they knew it'd be swarming with stories and pictures about the crime scene. Edan couldn't bear looking at the man's smirk in his mugshot without wanting to cry, throw up and punch him in the mouth at the same time.

In the weeks that followed, Jenny stayed home from school. But during the nights, she would have terrible night terrors that only Edan could calm her from. Edan was distraught and knew that no matter what from now on, he'd do anything to protect Jenny.