The Mistake & The Broken Boy

♠Who You Know♠

Jessica's POV

"We need dispatch units at every airport, every border and every inch of this county searched. We have to find this boy within the next thirty-six hours or our chances of ever doing so will be slim to none. We need-"

I tried to tune out the officer's words. I tried to ignore the multiple voices around me and the hundreds of bodies that were among us. I ignored the arms that encircled around my waist and subsequently stabled me where I stood.

"I'm sorry" I looked up to see the boy who made my nephew cry in the first place, his ex boyfriend, Christopher Jamison. His family was quite popular in the town and even he himself was on a road to fame.

"Why are you here?" Caleb asked him for me, voice void and cold.

Guilt showed on the boy's features for a split second before determination bloomed. "I came to help and search for Adrian. He is out there somewhere and I know he is fighting to come back to us"

Us? After that statement he left to aid in the search parties.

It was almost midnight, approximately less than twelve hours since Adrian was taken. We had gathered a large numbered search party to aid in the hunt for him. The police said it would be beneficial to look in the woods in case the kidnapper felt guilty and just gave him up.

And though she wouldn't tell us, I knew she implied that maybe Adrian could be out there somewhere- alone, cold, lifeless.......

I lurched forward, breaking free from the grip, free from the huge gathering, and within the depths of the forest, I puked my guts out. It was a wretched feeling as it tumbled up my throat and invaded my senses.

"Aunt Jessica" I looked back while wiping my mouth to see Caleb and Jared knelt beside me. Jayden was nowhere in sight.

"Where is Jayden?" I asked with worry prominent in my voice. I looked around the forestry but only strangers' faces met my vision.

"He went off with the first search party" Jared explained. He wanted to say something more but for a while, he stayed quiet. Until..."Are you sure you can handle this, Jessica?"

"I'm fine. He's my nephew. I should be helping too" I stood up slowly, though my body protested. I hadn't eaten or drank anything yet. The thought of putting something to my mouth when Adrian could be out there hungry.....

It placed a wedge in my throat.

"But-"

"Imagine if Adrian comes back and he learns that I did nothing to find him. I need to search too" I said with resolve in my tone. I knew that I couldn't be persuaded. Jared and Caleb both knew that too as they nodded reluctantly.

"My job is to ensure your safety on these search parties. We have the best policemen on the job and doing over time" I looked up to see the reassuring smile of the detective. Detective Spencer. "We have a better chance of finding him this way"

"I hope so" I muttered before tightening my arms around myself. "Which search party am-"

Ring! My face scrunched up in frustration and annoyance as my phone rang. I tried to fish it out of my bag but it was proving to be difficult. Ring! Ring!

I snatched it from the side of my bag and answered the call. "Hello?" I said it a little too harshly but I was at my boiling point at that moment.

There was a silence for a long minute which only made my frustration skyrocket. "Hello?"

Silence.

A few more seconds passed easily... "A-Aunt Jessica?"

My body froze and my heart stopped for a fraction of a second. Only afterward, it started beating faster than it had ever before. "Adrian?"