A Key To Hope

Chapter Seven

Devan's POV
My head was pounding, and my chest hurt so badly, but I knew I was alive. I forced my eyes open, and winced. The light was blinding, and I groaned, remembering what happened. I tried to sit up, but I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't get up." Leah said, and I sighed, laying back down.
"Micaiah.....He took her. I know him. I don't remember where from, but I know him." Leah took my hand, gently squeezing it. She lay her head on the pillow beside me, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"What are we going to do?" She asked softly, and I took a shaky breath.
"I don't know. We're going to find her, Leah. I know we will." I said quietly, and then a doctor came in the room, followed by a police officer.

"Ah, good. You're awake. How are you feeling?" I looked up, my chest still feeling like it was on fire.
"What happened to my daughter?" He didn't meet my eyes, and I knew immediately that something was really wrong. 

"What did you find?" I asked through gritted teeth, forcing myself to not go at him. Leah laid a hand on my shoulder as the officer finally met my eyes. 

"We don't have anything. No fingerprints, no DNA, nothing. We have no leads whatsoever on this guy. We have a video, but it's awful quality, and we don't know if we can get anything from it. I'm sorry." He left silently, and I couldn't choke down the lump in my throat. Sobs escaped, and the tears blinded me. I felt Leah slide onto the bed, gently wrapping her arms around me, but I heard her crying as well.

"It'll be okay." She whispered, choking back tears.
"She's strong. She'll make it. She'll be okay."

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        Micaiah's POV
                I woke up in a small room, with only a tiny window several feet above me. Suddenly, the door swung open, and I scrambled back, trying to get away, but the man's lips curled in a cruel smile.

    "You look just like your mother." He sneered, almost laughing.
     "How....how do you know her?" I gasped, and he laughed, shaking his head.
     "It doesn't matter anymore. You need to **** off, you little *****." He snarled, and when I reached for my implant, he kicked my hand away, and crushed it under his boot. I choked down a cry of fury, scrambling away from him. This couldn't be happening. He kicked the shards away from me, and left the room, cursing. I finally allowed myself to start crying, curling up in a ball, and sobbing. This couldn't be real. But sadly, deep down......I knew it was.

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     Isaac's POV
            I had just gotten the call from Micaiah's mom, and she had filled me in on everything that had happened. Her dad had been shot and was in the hospital, and Micaiah had been kidnapped. Apparently, I had originally been a suspect because of our connection, but her dad had seen enough of his face to know that it wasn't me. I powered up my laptop, pulling up the video that Spencer had sent me of our performance the other night. She hadn't done much for her costume or her hair, just a simple black ballet top, sheer tights, and a loose white tulle skirt, which would flow beautifully when she spun. She had used her pale pink pointe shoes, and had braided her long hair, and then used the braid to do put her hair in a bun. She never wore any makeup, except when she was onstage, and even then she wasn't happy about it. I rewatched the video, absolutely loving the whole thing. She had performed her part flawlessly, especially the part where I caught her in midair. We had taken a little bit of that from Nutcracker. Then, it hit me. If she wasn't found soon, we lost our main character for the performance. And I......I lost the one person in my life who I cared about more than anyone.

     "I can't believe this. This just.....This can't be real." I whispered, feeling like my heart was breaking. I didn't want this to be real, but I knew it was.