New Year's Angel (R5 Fan Fiction -Rydellington)

"Who you Gonna Call?"

May 1st 2014

Ryland

                I booked it out of the court room, down the left hall, toward the jail cells. As I entered the main office, I asked the security guard if I could speak with Stormie Lynch. He looked me up and down probably wondering why I was in a rush and nodded his head while pointing to a room in the back of the hall. “Head down to room 21 and i’ll bring her in.” After thanking the officer I hurried down the hall to the tiny room filled with a table and two chairs. I sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the table and waited. About two minutes later my Mom and the officer came in. She smiled at me and sat down placing her handcuffed hands on the table. The officer told us we had 15 minutes and left the room standing right at the door. As soon as his back had turned towards us I unleashed all of my thoughts on my Mom.

                “Mom, I am so sorry you are in here. I know you were not directly involved in any of this but I do know that there is something that you haven’t been telling us. What have you and Dad been hiding? How could you not tell us the truth? What is going on? Who do you keep calling?” When I finally stopped to take a breath I realized that she was crying. She reached across the table and took my hands in hers. “Sweetheart, you do not need to apologize for anything. You are right, I do know a lot more than your father and I have let on. Ryland there is a lot more to this than you boys realize and I wish I could tell you. You have no idea how hard this entire situation has been for me. I love you so much and just don’t want anything else to happen to my children. I hate lying to my sons.”I squeezed her hand and gave her a smile. “Mom, what could happen to us from telling the truth?” Just then I realized the bottom line. That was the golden question. “WAIT! Is that why you and Dad did this? Are you protecting us from something?” At my final question, Mom turned her face away. I had figured it out. There was more to this story!

                “Ryland... please; I can’t tell you anything. It could ruin everything your father and I have done to keep Rydel safe.” I stood up quickly taking a deep breath. Keeping Rydel safe? Facing Mom again I tried my best to prevent my voice from rising. “Hold on! Keep Rydel Safe? Are you telling me that she is alive! That she has been alive this whole time and you and Dad have known and not told us? Is that who you have been calling every day? Mom I came here to get that number, but now I need the truth! No more lies! Dad told us about the college guys in the trial. We know they are somehow involved and we thought that you were calling one of them! It was that guy who gave you the number in the first place wasn’t it? Have you been speaking to her?” Just then I realized that if I wanted to hear my Mom’s answers I needed to stop asking so many questions. I leaned against the back wall of the room crossing my arms over my chest, just staring into her blue eyes. I could see the hurt and the knowing glare. She knew she was going to have to explain but for some reason she seemed really hesitant. She didn’t want to tell me anything.

                “Ryland keep your voice down. Look, if the cops find out anything Rydel will no longer be safe. Yes, she is alive. I don’t know what kind of condition she is in as I haven’t laid eyes on her since that night; same as you boys. Those guys that your Dad mentioned are involved and yes they have her. I can’t tell you anything else honey, i’m so sorry! As for the number, I can’t give that to you either.” Mom’s voice started to crack and I could see the pain written all over her face. She was tired. She just wanted life to go back to normal but she couldn’t do anything about it. I felt so bad for her. “You boys were supposed to stop looking for her. You were supposed to move on. If you keep looking you could cause more damage. Please, I beg of you all. Tell Riker to stop. Your father can only give so many answers and when Riker is unsatisfied with the ones he gives, he’ll need to get over it.”

                I was so confused! What could she possibly be protecting us from that would cause this much... well... drama? None of this was making any sense. Mom’s story was almost as bad as the one I had told Dad before they had been arrested. For an artistic family, we sucked at being put on the spot. “Stop looking! Mom how could we have done that? Rydel had disappeared out of a moving car! Nothing about that accident made sense! You know I can’t tell Riker to stop because you know he won’t! Let us help! Let me help! You and Dad are not going to be able to solve anything from behind bars and until I get the information necessary to clear your names I can’t get you out. I NEED to know that number. I NEED to know what to do to help.”

                Suddenly, there was a light in my Mom’s eyes that I hadn’t seen in a long time. “That’s it! Ryland that’s it! It’s you!” What now? I was lost. “Mom, what the heck are you talking about?” She suddenly stood up running around the table to hug me. “Ryland honey you’re the answer! Look I can’t tell you much right now; the guard is going to take me away any minute.” Mom handed me a piece of paper as she backed away. “This number, it leads to the people keeping Rydel captive. I would call everyday to get proof that she was still alive. The people behind this have a plan. You are the answer because you are not a member of R5! How did I not think of this before? Sweet heart listen to me. This number cannot fall into your brothers’ hands. I can’t tell you why, but just know that it is for everyone’s safety. Promise me you won’t tell them anything!”

                Again, so confused! She goes from absolutely blocking me out to thinking i’m the answer. What does that even mean? “How can I not tell them Mom? I don’t understand... I... do I call... do I... what do I do?” She placed her hand on my cheek staring up into my eyes. I was probably a good 5 inches taller than her so i’m surprised she wasn’t standing on her tip toes. “Ryland, call this number and pretend to be your father. The secret password is end table. They will need that before they give you any information about Rydel. The phone call lasts 2 minutes and all you need to say is the password. Don’t say anything else. Talk to your father before you call. Riker, Ross, and Rocky cannot know. Your Dad will explain more. I would tell you more but we don’t have time. I believe in you my beautiful baby boy.”

                As if on cue, the officer walked in telling us time was up. I left that room feeling more confused than I had in the last 4 months. What the hell was going on?