Identity Distortion: The Perfect Family

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Bryan Shaw

June 4, 2016: One Day Missing

I woke up hearing my parents bickering downstairs so I went down to find out what was going on. I walked into the living room and saw Mom standing by the window and Scott sitting on the couch. They are discussing whether or not to contact the police so early. Nathan didn't come home last night and his cell phone is unreachable. This is very unlike Nathan. He never stays out late and always comes home before curfew. If it was one of the rare occasions where he absolutely couldn't make it home before curfew, he always called to make Mom aware. He isn't the type to get drunk and wander around the streets either so this is worrying. It's even more worrying when considering the recent events in our neighborhood.

Lately, there has been a few instances of kidnappings in the area. Most of these incidents are unknown to the media and outsiders as most of them have not been officially reported to the police and folks mostly stay mum on the situation. This has created a dark underbelly of the neighborhood of sorts. Random individuals get kidnapped for a ransom and then their families or loved ones pay for their return without drawing any attention. The first known victim was Mrs. Ferrer. A woman in her 40s who lived just down the street. She was held at gunpoint after answering her front door alone in the middle of the night and was forced into the trunk of a car. The next day, her husband, who is part owner of one of the largest manufacturing companies in the state, received a letter telling him how much he had to pay to get her back. Attached to the letter was a picture of her tied-up. He was informed to not contact the police; so he got the money and wired it as instructed. Mrs. Ferrer returned a few hours afterward, thankfully unharmed but very traumatized. The two were so shaken up that they didn't even bother to file a police report or anything. They just swiftly moved, allegedly out of the country. The entire neighborhood was shocked and distraught by the incident, especially considering that the Ferrers were such good people. As a result, better security monitoring was implemented in the area and watch groups were formed. The kidnaps still continued though. The kidnaps are difficult to be on the lookout for as they happen few and far between. And there seems to be no special type when it comes to victims either. Men, women, old, young. It doesn't matter. Because of all the secrecy, there is no way of knowing for sure how many victims there are. The only ones I know about are the ones who were brave enough to tell people about it. There are less than ten victims that I'm aware of at this time. There could be a lot more though. Some individuals have been suspected as victims due to their hasty relocation, though this could just be an attempt to avoid becoming a victim. The victims usually come back alright, for the most part. They sometimes have a few bruises but so far none of them who have returned seemed to have been seriously injured or abused. There is only one known victim that hasn't returned. A guy who went by the name of Eddy, who lived just six houses up the street. His parents are CEOs of a global pharmaceutical company. About two months ago, Eddy basically vanished. Like the other victims, his folks got a letter telling them about the ransom and so on. His situation is different from the others in that the kidnappers keep requesting more money after money has already been wired. Therefore, the parents keep wiring huge amounts of their money and haven't gotten back their son. Some of us suspect that Eddy is actually dead and the kidnappers are just milking all the money they can from his folks. Despite being advised to stop, they are still wiring loads of money each week. Eddy was only 20 years old when he vanished — my current age.

This situation is very worrying. Still, Scott insists that it is too soon to get the police involved as Nathan has been missing for less than twenty-four hours. Mom looks extremely tired and unsettled. It's obvious that she hasn't slept much.