Mind Games

Chapter 22 - Ned

A/N: Hello guys! And sorry about the long, long delay in updating!
I am delighted to see my readership leap up over the past few weeks. Thank you all for reading and special thanks to riya_rockssss for voting on every single chapter!
Do feel free to comment with what you like, dislike and where you think I can be better at this thing called writing :)
And now, picking up from where we left off...

"What is it?"

Ned flinched at the tone and winced as he noticed Ryan's mother sway on her feet.

He plastered a fake smile on his face. "I just wanted to meet Ryan."

His mother look confused for a moment. "He's not home yet. Why isn't he home? It's quite late, isn't it?"

Ned nodded uneasily. He wished he could've just called Ryan but Ryan didn't dare use his phone anymore.

"Well if I see him around I will tell him you wanted him home." He said.

Ryan's mother snorted. "Don't bother. Good riddance to that boy!"

Ned blinked, wondering if he heard her right through her slurred voice.

Ryan had never been close to his mother, but as far as Ned knew they shared a fairly warm relationship. Now he heard hostility, even hate, in his friend's mother's voice. And the realisation hit him - Amy.

He smiled uneasily and started backing off. "All right. I need to go. Thank you."

Ryan's mother looked confused again. "Wait... If you see him... Tell him to come home. It's late."

Ned nodded. "Sure. Will do."

He turned away and started walking fast. Wanting to put as much distance as possible between this strange woman he knew as his best friend's mother.

He went to the one place he knew Ryan would be. The park.

Right enough he spotted Ryan there, sitting still, on the swing.

He looked up as Ned walked up to him.

"I know." Ned said simply.

Ryan turned away and looked up at the starry sky, where his father always belonged.

"How's Cassie...?" He asked, softly.

Ned sighed. "She's still in intensive care. Still critical. Her mother has been arrested. But her grandparents are with her." He cracked a small smile. "From the look of their phones, I doubt they have met Amy yet."

Ryan didn't look at him. "How do we stop her?" He asked, almost to himself.

Ned sat on the swing next to him. "The only thing I can think of is to contact the app developers. They created her. They should be able to stop her."

For the first time that day, Ryan looked at his friend with hope. "Yeah, that might work."

Ned grinned. "Let's go home, man. I'll tell my folks your mom is unwell. Stay with us. We have a lot of work to do now. It's mission Destroy Amy."

Ryan grinned back, fire filling his eyes. "We are going to bring that bitch down!"