Hostages

eleven

- Andrea -

After five minutes of realization that they were finally gone, I screamed and pushed the only chair still standing over. How is this happening? This cannot be happening. Louis is out there, dead or alive, and I'm going to find him with or without their help. I charged out of the room. There has to be something here that will give me clues to know I have what Patch wants.

I walked around the main level, searching for something. Anything. I pulled open drawers and swung open cabinets. I shuffled papers and even dumped out the garbage for that something. I sighed, sliding down the kitchen wall. I pressed a hand to my warm head and a small tear rolls down my cheek. Should I call the cops?

I walked up the stairs and into my old bedroom. It was empty. No bed, no tables, no dressers, nothing. Completely empty. There was, however, a picture of this house hundreds of years ago hanging on the wall across from the door. I remember before my mother passed away, my Uncle knocked down a bit of the wall there for me to put my most prized possessions in. I think I took everything with me when I moved though.

I trudged over to the picture frame, gently removing it from it's spot on the wall. I peeked inside the gaping hole to see nothing but cobwebs. I went to put the frame back on, when something caught my eye. A sparkle came into view. I cocked my head at it, sneaking my hand in and pulling out a necklace my mother gave me before she passed away.

****

"Amry!" Mother's voice called and I raced down the stairs to meet her at the bottom. She held a long white box in her hand with a bright smile on her face. "I have a present for you, honey."

"Oh! Presents!" I smiled and giggled as she crouched down in front of me. She opened the box. "Pretty." I carried out the words, my eyes glimmering with the reflecting gold of a necklace.

"It's for you." She said taking it out. It resembled a small hour glass that had sand draining to the bottom. The pace of it was slow. She held it in the air and my eyes were just astonished at it's beauty.

"This was my sister's from when she was your age. This hour glass will last you years until all these little sand grains run out. And when that happens," she pauses to place the new charm around my neck, "someone is gonna come and get it from you."

"Why?"

She held up a hand, silencing me. "Just remember, Amry: this charm belongs to someone very important to me. You mustn't tell anyone where you got it, okay? And also remember you'll have to go to the big red barn and give it back." She explains to me. I can only wrap my tiny little brain around so much of what she's saying.

"But why do I have to give it back?" I asked, frowning. The necklace was long on my small little body, draping over my chest. I cupped the little hourglass in my hand, admiring it with the pout.

"Because," she smiled, nicely. "That's when you'll know times up."

****

No way.

All these years, I had thought it was just a metaphor telling me that one day time is gonna run out and I won't be young anymore. I thought this was just referring to me becoming an adult. But the sand is still going and my adulthood passed months ago. That's when everything clicked. Oh. My. God.

Patch. Will.

Patch is Will. Will is my cousin.

How could I have not recognized him? I mean, he seemed oddly familiar at first when I met him but I guess when you have only met twice in your life at a young age, everything seems to change and you forget. I can now say that I distinctly remember Will's oldest sister eyeing me, giving me dirty looks, and telling me at how lovely my necklace was.

Will wants the necklace. But where is he? And why?

Okay, Andrea, time to think. Why would Will want this necklace? Was it his sister's? No. Mother told me it was her sister's. That must mean this necklace was his mother's. It must have some odd valuable meaning to him.

'And also remember you'll have to go to the big red barn and give it back.'

Big red barn. Big red barn? What big red barn? Will's house? I remember going over there when we were younger but I don't remember where it is. I shut my eyes, trying to picture the surroundings. All I remember was that it had a big willow tree in the front yard with a tire swing dangling from it. There was a red barn off to the side that looked old and empty. Red barn.

I shoved the necklace into my shorts pocket, feeling something odd in there as well. I pulled it out. Louis' medallion. This is my evidence. This is how I can get the boys back.

I held the medallion tight in my hand, racing for the stairs.