The Attic

Chapter 6

Ashley's POV

"No Ash, I'm not going to play this game anymore." Brent said, "I get it, okay. You want your brother back but its been three years. You have to stop this relentless search. If your brother is still out there somewhere the police will find him." 

"I thought you were more than this Brent. I thought you would be here for me and help me. But things got tough and get even more tough around the time when the anniversary of his disappearance happens. Your giving up on me. It hasn't been three years, its been three years and sixty two days. Three years and sixty two days of pure torture for him and me. How is it that the last thing i told him was that he turned girls gay? I never told him bye or that I loved him. How can you possibly give up on me?" I said through tears that threatened to spill over. How could he be so heartless at exactly the time I needed him. After Luke disappeared I broke up with Jonathan for good and began the search for him. I've gotten so close and then the leads turned into nothing. 

"Ash, I love you. I love you so so much." He said and grabbed my arms gently. "But you're not ready to be in a relationship or be a fiancee or a wife or a mom. You're only nineteen and even your job choice goes back to losing your brother. You're going to school to be a detective and you never would have picked that if your brother hadn't disappeared. I just can't be sure if you love me or the idea of me. The idea of stability. Find your brother and then, if you're ready, find me." He told me. 

"I need your help Brent. I need you, not the idea of you. Please don't leave me." He lightly kissed me on the lips and then got up and left, pausing before he reached the door trying to decide if he wanted to come back or not. But he left. I sat down on my couch and held my head in my hands, I had messed up the one relationship that meant everything to me. My parents didn't understand me anymore because they didn't want to think about it. They didn't want to think about what happened to him and they missed him so much. We all missed him. But they didn't understand why I kept on looking so hard. They didn't understand that if I stopped I would have to come to terms with the undeniable truth that he could be dead. But I didn't want to think of him like that. I wanted to be the one to find him. I needed to be the one to find him.

We were never really close, we didn't share all our feelings and have brother-sister talks. We were never best friends and we fought a lot, but I loved him so much. I just didn't realize it until it was to late. Now I'm nineteen and my entire life centered around Luke. I fast-tracked my college and only had a half of a year of school left. I took the maximum number of classes per semester and went during the summer and studied constantly and tested out of some classes. I just wanted to get school over so I could use my skills in real life and help other people and maybe alongthe way find some kind of clue to find my brother. 

I had nothing left, my brother was gone, my parents didn't understand me, Brent left me, and all my friends from high school couldn't keep up with me and I confused them. I was all alone. 

So I picked up my book and started to study for a test tomorrow. The only thing I had going for me.

Luke's POV

He gave me paper and I pencil today. He was beginning to trust me more and more. I just wanted to be able to draw and just write again. I need something to do, anything to do. So I drew what I though Hannah would look like. 

I walked over to the wall and knocked on it. I heard small steps and her eye showed up in the small hole. 

"Hi Hannah." I said, smiling. I had never felt like this before, even with Kelly. She brightened my life.

"Luke! It's really great to hear your voice. I need people interaction. Did the cab drivers wife come get you yesterday?" She asked.

"Yeah, that's never happened before and I've been here over three years." I told her. 

"I wonder why all of a sudden thats okay." She said thinking out loud. "Luke, do you think we'll ever get out?" She suddenly asked.

I sighed and answered the only way I knew how to, "I can only hope." I stuck my fingers through the hole and she grasped onto them. 

"I'm so glad you're here with me Luke."

"I'm glad I can be here for you Hannah, and I'm glad I got to meet you." 

"Luke... we have to get out of here." She said finally.

"I've tried. We only have one shot at getting out and if it doesn't work he'll kill us both. We don't even know where we are.The only hope that exists is his wife and she can't do anything. She's just as imprisoned as we are."  She sighed and let go of my hand. I heard her retreating steps and knew that I had blown whatever just happened between us. I pulled my fingers back through the hole and went over to the boarded up window. Then an idea struck me. 

All I needed was to get Sandy on my side. I had two plans and didn't know which one was the better one. I would need Hannah's help too and we would all escape together. I just wasn't sure if Sandy was up for trying an escape. 

She was so used to being stuck here and too scared to do anything about it. I had to tread carefully because if I didn't she might get scared and tip Drake off. Then I would have blood on my dead hands. I would never get to see the people that mean the most to me ever again. I had to get out. I had to get Hannah out. I had to get Sandy out. 

Ashley's POV

I decided I needed to do something fun for a change. I went out to a bar and had a few drinks  by myself and for the first time in a long time I unraveled and let myself go. By the end of the night I found a rebound and went home with him. 

The next morning I had a headsche and woke up in an unfamiliar place and bed with a half naked man sleeping beside me. I wrote a note, got dressed and tip toed out of the apartment. I walked to the subway station and then walked home. When I got to my apartment my mom and dad were sitting outside waiting for me. 

"They have a new lead and more than one connection. They think they have a chance finding out where he is. You were right Ash, and you're going to be there when they find him." All I could do was collapse and cry.