THE PLAYGROUND

CHAPTER SEVEN

     The cops arrived at Tim's playground and searched the area but they couldn't find anything till an officer finally spotted a hatch that led to an underground cave.

It was really big once they got inside and they felt like they were just going in circles. They searched for a few minutes before they found a cell. They were examining it when they heard a deafening scream.

They hurried to the direction that they felt the voice came from, and when they got there, they found a room with candles all around and they noticed some people wearing black robes that had hoods. Among those people, they spotted the Hathaway siblings and their guest trying to stop the hooded people from escaping but their efforts weren't enough.

Then in the middle of the room, the missing girl, Alexa was chained to a makeshift bed and was bleeding. Beside her was her twin brother crying like a baby. The cops immediately sprung into action. They requested for backup and an ambulance. They were about to move forward but they stopped and had to look away because of the bright light that almost blinded them. They heard screams and when they looked around, they saw the hooded figures on the ground crawling around like they were blinded. They arrested all of them and took Alexa and her brothers to safety.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three weeks later, Alexa had already been discharged from the hospital. Their mom was still in coma and they visited her every day. Aiden and Alexa were a happy couple. They were still searching for their father and it was already two months and two days since they last saw him. They had printed out fliers and they also showed it on TV every now and then, but it felt like their father had disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One night, Alexa had a dream and she saw her dad. She didn't quite understand it because her dad was standing among a huge crowd but no one could see him, no one except her. She ran to him and was begging him to come back home but he said he couldn't, that he was trapped. She didn't understand what he meant because he wasn't trapped at anywhere.

She was still thinking about it while they were eating breakfast, and Chris seemed to notice it. Lately, he seems to understand her more than anyone. He knew when she was thinking and he was able to read her expression.

"Lexi, what's wrong?" He placed his hands on hers and looked at her with concern.

"Hmm...well, the thing is, I...had a dream about... dad."

She told them all what she saw and they didn't seem to understand it either.

"So your dad is trapped somewhere." Aiden said.

"That's what he said."

"But we have no idea where."

"Yes."

They all sat there, thinking about what the dream could mean and where their dad could be.

Later that day, they all went to see their mom, except Aiden. He said he had somewhere important to go.

"It doesn't look like she's improving". Alexa said, concern visible in her eyes.

"She is. You just can't tell." The doctor replied.

"When is she going to wake up? Because, I kinda agree with Alexa. I don't see any improvement." David held their mother's hand looking sad.

"I can't give you an exact date, but I'm sure if you keep coming to see her and we keep taking care of her, she's gonna wake up." David wanted to argue more with the doctor but he seemed so sure of what he was saying.

"Guys, she just moved." Chris happily exclaimed.

"What?" David and Alexa asked in disbelief.

"She just moved her hand. I saw it." He said with excitement.

The doctor examined her and told them that he would have to do more test before he can be certain of anything, but he assured them that all is well and that they shouldn't loose hope.

When they got back home, they had hardly settled in when they heard a knock on the door.

"Sorry to bother you. I'm officer gale and I'm here with a young man who claims to have information about your missing father."

As soon as they heard this, they were all very interested. They invited the officer and the man inside.

"I was at the grocery store when I saw the man you're looking for and I immediately remembered that I had seen him about a month ago."

"A month ago?, where?" Dave asked, hope filling his insides.

"He was with a young man, kinda like my age. They were at this little inn close to the little blue river."

"Really?, and you're sure you saw this man?." Alexa said, showing him a pic of their dad.

"I'm certain."

"Can you take us there?" The officer asked.

"Yes sir. Whenever you're ready."

The five of them set out to the little blue river. When they got there, Alexa was shocked to find their father's car parked outside.

"That's dad's car." She exclaimed.

"Yeah, it is. What is it doing here?" Dave agreed.

"Are you sure this is your dad's car?" Officer gale questioned.

"A 100% sure. That's dad's car, but does that mean that dad's been here the whole time?" Chris had confusion written all over his face as he spoke.

"Wait here, I'm going in." Officer gale stepped towards the inn but Dave stopped him. "I'm going with you."

"Okay, but stay behind me."

When they got inside, the place was tidy like people were living there, the rooms were filled with clothes, blankets and other things. There was still leftovers in the kitchen but no sign of their dad. They decided to come back some other time but on their way out, Dave stepped on something that seemed out of place and they decided to take a look. They discovered an entrance to the basement, when they went down, the first thing Dave saw made his heart beat faster and not in a good way. He saw their dad's clothes covered in blood.

"Is something wrong?." Officer gale asked, noticing the look on Dave's face.

"That's dad's clothes, the one he was putting on the day he left home."

Officer Gale was about to say something but he was interrupted by a sound. They didn't see the person's face but someone had locked them in. They banged the door several times but it wouldn't budge.

"Stand back, I'm gonna try and shoot it open."

He shot it a couple of times and tried opening it again and it finally opened after a few tries. They quickly came out and went after the person but when they went outside, they saw Chris and Alexa restraining a blonde girl.

"She was trying to get away." Alexa said, panting hard.

"Yeah, and we didn't want her to escape." Chris added.