To Keep It Secret // wattys2017

CHAPTER 16: FAMILY REUNION

'Nathan please! I beg you. All I am asking for I something to write on. How do you think I feel after days of staring at the walls? Please, I beg you. One notebook and a pencil, that's all I'm asking for.' The boy is standing in the doorway making no eye contact. The guilt is all over his face and he can't hide it. 'Nathan....' He groans and takes a deep breath. Then he leaves the room. I hit the wall with my fists out of anger. 'Fuck!' I groan and stroke my painful hand. Why can't he just help me for once? After all he did to me. I can't believe I ever trusted him. A tear escaped from my eye and rolls over my chapped cheeks. 'Stay positive, they are going to find you Jayden. Stay positive.' I try to calm myself down but deep down I know I will be stuck here for much longer. I let my slender body hit the smelly old matrass and close my wet eyes. Even though I am exhausted I won't be able to sleep. I never will, but everything is better than staring at those concrete walls one minute longer.

I hear the creaking door and look up. Nathan throws something on the bed and when I turn it around I see it's the notebook I asked for. It has a blue cover and two pencils inside of it. I look up trying to make eye contact with him. 'Thank you.' I say quietly. He nods and walks away. I hear the door getting locked. I start writing in the notebook. I know it sounds weird but since that's the only new thing I can do, I will take advantage of it. I am done staring at the walls and talking to myself. I need to express my feelings in a different way then slamming myself against concrete walls. Before I know I will break something and then I am even in more trouble than I am right now. That's why I asked for something to write in, it helps me expressing my feelings. You can see it as a diary. Only this is less fun...

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May 23th 2018

Dear Diary,

So here we go. It's my 7th day in this basement and I feel like time is standing still. They finally have given me something to write. I got this blue notebook and two pencils. I am not sure why they gave this to me. Well, actually he. I feel like he is trying to help me even though he is one of them. First the phone call and now the book.... He confuses me a lot. I just don't understand what he has to do with all this. I tried to talk him out of this mess but he wouldn't listen. He knows this is wrong, but still he obeys him. I need to find out why he is doing this, maybe there is a way for me to escape this hell hole. I am done with the cold concrete walls. I am trying to stay positive but every day that passes makes me a little less hopeful. Sometimes I think about how my family and friends are back at home. Do they miss me? Do they even know I am gone? Of course they know I am gone. But do they know why I am gone? Maybe they just think I am sailing off to some foreign county craving for adventure. Or maybe they think I left to camp in the forest for a while. I did that a lot in the past. I won't give up on them. I am sure they will find me. Death or alive, I don't know... But they will find me. I just need to convince him to give me something to eat because I'm starving. I need to keep myself alive and stay hopeful. Stay hopeful, cause they will find me.

- J.M.H

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After an hour I hear knocking on the door. It's Nathan. He takes a step into the room still avoiding eye contact with me. 'He is my father.' Are the only words escaping his lips. 'Wait what?' I ask confused not understanding what he means. 'He is my father. Your dad killed my little brother when he refused to help him.' I hear the anger in his voice growing. 'You're Mister Andrews son?' I feel my body shiver. 'That's not possible. He had only one son. You're lying.' I shake my head and refuse to believe him. I can't trust him. 'Correction, he has three sons. Me, Mason and Thomas. Yes you're hearing me, Thomas Malone.' I press my fingers against my ears. 'You're lying!' A little laugh escapes his lips. 'Poor Jayden. So naive. Thomas and I were living with our mother after our parents got divorced. After years of not seeing our father I went looking for him. Thomas didn't want to join me. I visited his house but he wasn't there. The neighbors told me he left Seattle after the death of Mason. I searched every possible hiding place until I received a message of an unknown number. My father knew I was looking for him and told me to go to a small building in the woods near Route 4. When I arrived there and entered the building I discovered a huge defect refrigerator. My dad appeared and hugged me. He opened the refrigerator and showed me a girl sitting there in the corner of the room. It-' I interrupt him. 'The girl you stalked at school.' I finish his sentence. He smirks. 'Yes, I did not stalk her though. However, let's not talk about that. Where was I... Oh yes, the girl Abby. My dad told me we needed to capture her so her and I could be together, forever. I didn't wanted her to walk out of my life. He taught me how to hide her without anyone knowing where she could be. After weeks of spending time together he told me he wanted to reunite the family. I tricked Thomas by begging him for help and as always my naive brother came to me as fast as he could. Sadly enough the plan to reunite our family didn't work out. Thomas tricked us by calling the cops. That stupid boy wanted us arrested. Before he could even meet his father again. When the cops arrived I needed to escape and because of him I lost her. He will pay his debts.' 

The anger in his voice is the only thing I hear. There is no guilt anymore. 'And now you're wondering, why am I here? Hmm well that's a funny story. As you know, your father killed my little brother Mason. You think we would let him get away with it? We found out he had a sweet daughter and son. How cute, isn't it? but he took away something from us and that's what we wanted to do to him too. That's why we captured you last year. You didn't see me, but I. Was. Right. There.' He stops for a minute and looks me right in the eye. 'Our plan didn't go well, as you know. They found us and my dad got arrested. Luckily I had enough time to escape. Let's not get into details too much now, since you know what happened after that. My dad knew how to escape on his way to the prison and we found our way back to each other. That's how I know he truly loves me. He will always find his way back to me. That's why I am doing this, because he loves me and he would do anything for me. I want to do the same for him, because I love my father. We are a family.' I cannot believe what comes out of his mouth. He is brainwashed by his own father and he doesn't even realize it. All this time I thought he was my friend, but he is nothing better than his father. 'I thought you were my friend.' Tears aren't falling anymore. All I feel is pure anger. He betrayed me when I was there for him. 'Well it was fun as long as it lasted. Let's get back to the story. We heard you and your family moved away because of this tragic experience. Did you really think you could escape from us? Your father didn't paid his debts yet. That's why you're here. Well... For now. We're going to make a really nice trip tomorrow. You're getting a new home. Which makes me think about all the things I still have to do. I see you tomorrow princess.' He smirks and leaves me in the empty cold room. My brain isn't able to process all the things he just told me. My headache gets worse and worse and I can't control my breathing. My head starts spinning and I start to hyperventilate. Before I know I passed out.

'Go go go!' Hand above our head!' My eyes shoot open by the loud sounds coming from the hall. Footsteps are coming closer and I can't believe what I am hearing. I don't care about the pain I feel caused by the deep cuts on my arms and legs and run to the locked door. I slam my hands against it screaming for help. 'I am here! Please! Help me! I am right here!' Tears of happiness are rolling over my face. 'Step back! I repeat, step back!' I hear a voice say on the other side of the door. My skinny legs take a step back when I hear something hitting the door hard. After a couple loud bangs the door falls inside the room. In front of me I see a woman in uniform wiping sweat off her forehead. Then she slowly walks over to me and reaches for my hand. 'It's okay. You're save now.' She smiles polite. 'We need to get you out of here.' In all this time she is the first person I dare to trust again. I give her my hand. 'Good.' She smiles and leads me to the stairs which I never have seen before. They were always hidden behind a door.

 I stop and look into the room where I was captured in the first place. The smell of rotten flesh invades my nose. In front of me I see a man and boy on their knees with their hands above their heads. Nathan looks up angry and I can't resist looking at him for a minute. Then the woman pulls my arm. 'It's over. Come on, let's get out of here.' Then she carefully lifts up my legs and drags me out of the building. The light hurts my eyes causing my to squeeze them. I hide my face in the crook of her neck while I am hearing ambulances coming closer. 'I will take over from here.' I hear a man say. 'Jayden? I am here to help you. Is it okay if we sit down in the ambulance and rest for a while?' I look up and see a man with red hair smiling at me. I nod and feel my feet touching the ground. A blanket gets wrapped around me and the man lifts me up to bring me to the car. 'We are going to bring you to the hospital to do some tests okay? But first there is someone who wants to see you.' When I look in the corner of my eye I see my parents crying and looking at me. They carefully walk over to me and hug me. The words escaping from their lips are full of happiness and for a moment I feel loved again. I realize how much I missed their hugs. Then our hug gets interrupted by the paramedic who tells us we have to go to the hospital. My parents nod and get into the ambulance. The doors close and while I am holding my mother's shaky warm hand I realize something.

'They found me.'