THE VICKERS

Chapter 7

It was getting dark now. Devin and I had snuck into an old apartment complex on Melrose avenue to shelter from the cold and to figure things out.

Though the building was probably as old as the city, it still had regular guests. Men often rented rooms for themselves and their mistresses. It was also a popular spot for the ladies of the night.

The shattered glass at the back of one the ground floor apartments made it easy to get it. There wasn't any security or even a watchman to worry about either. So we settled in the dusty room. I sat on the purple velvet sheets while Devin took a seat in a bully wooden chair.

We didn't know who took Dahlia or why. We didn't know where she could be. We knew nothing.

We were cold and hungry and had nothing. Devin decided to take a shower in the middle of our discussion. I think the weight of not knowing what to do was getting to him.

It was getting to me too. Devin was so sure that Juno was somehow involved, and even if Dahlia pissed him off somehow. Kidnapping just wasn't his style. Or maybe he took her, and she was already... No. I shook away the thought that threatened to enter my mind.

Minutes after Devin returned from the bathroom. The phone we got from Marcus buzzed. He was covered only by a stained towel from the waist down. The lean muscles in his arms stretched as he He grabbed it off the bed. He furrowed his brows at the number.

I asked him who it was and he only shook his head.

"It's a message," he stated simply.

I got up and stood beside him.

He lowered his hand so I could see. When he opened it we both held our breaths when we saw the girl sitting in a chair in the middle of a room.

Her face was bruised from where she must have been hit several times. I recognized the stubbornness and defiance in my sister's eyes. It's the one that got her into a lot of trouble.

She started to speak. She focused off-screen as if she was reading a prompt. Devin stiffened as the last words were spoken. My eyes stung and my heart raced when then the video ended. But I needed to control myself. We would find before those bastards could lay their hands on her again.

Devin was silent for a minute. I was afraid to speak. I didn't know what to say.

"God Damnit!" he yelled launching the phone into a far corner of the room. The yellow fluffy carpet softened its crash. He raked his hands aggressively through his dark curly hair.

"Fuck!" he cursed again. I was angry too. But mine was internalized as I watched my brother pace the room, making a rut in the carpet. There was no point to both of us losing our minds.

I sat down on the bed and bowed my head. How are we going to save her? We don't have the money and we only had a day to get it.

This was my worst nightmare coming to life. I missed our parents terribly but not as much as Dahlia and Devin.

They had more time with them. I only had 8 years. For the last six years of my life, my siblings were all I had.

They are all I have, and I never wanted to lose my family. But what could a 14-year-old boy do?

The tears welled in my eyes and I quickly wiped them away.

I didn't want Devin to see me cry. I didn't want to seem weak.

But he heard the uncontrollable sniff and came to sit beside me. He touched my shoulder and I looked up but he was staring at the pink floral wallpaper that was beginning to strip.