First I want to say this is an updated version of my original story Lost and Found. I had a terrible case of writers block and nothing seemed to cure it, not evening re-reading the story. Another idea came to me, and I hadn't been happy with the way the story was progressing anyway so I decided to completely re-vamp it and make changes. That is my right since I am the author lol. I want to say thank-you to everyone who has stuck with this story and put it on their alert list. I am hoping to bring you a better story, that is less confusing and with an even better plot line. Once again I own no one except the characters you do not own such as Cecily, nor do I make any money off of this, if I did lets face it I wouldn't have to better myself with an education.

Chapter 1 (Where is he?)

She put the wash cloth under the luke warm faucet, before bringing it up to her split lip. She dabbed lightly wincing at the pain. She knew the swelling would go down eventually, "It's not that bad" she whispered to reassure herself. The pounding on the bathroom door caused her to jump.

"get your ass out here" a voice growled on the other side. She closed her eyes, wishing that when she opened them everything would be like it used to be, but the banging once again on the door alerted her that her wish was not granted. She folded the wash cloth neatly and placed it on the far corner of the sink before pulling the door open to be met with a large chest. She stopped suddenly and held back a cry as a hand clamped down on her right wrist. A word was not uttered as he dragged her down the hallway pushing her ahead of them once they left the living room.

"about time" a woman spit looking at the girl with distain.

"Sorry mother" the girl said her voice not more than a whisper, she knew by her quick glance that her mother was coming down from a high.

"Jerry and I are going on a trip" Her mother spat, "and since you can't be trusted Jerry's son will be here shortly to keep an eye on you. If you step one foot out of line and I hear about it Cecily, you will be punished" She ended shrilly.

Cecily just nodded her head, she couldn't stand Ricky. He was cruel and vicious. Cecily had more than one run in with him barely escaping his lost visit no help from her mother. Cecil took a step back as her mother stood, "I ask you a question" The woman gritted her teeth. She only stood a couple of inches taller than her and looked down her nose at the girl.

"Yes" Cecily whispered.

"Yes what" The woman ask holding Cecily's chin with her thin fingers, digging them into her face.

"Yes Ma'am" Cecily answered hoping that would please her mother enough to let her go. The Woman gave one more strong squeeze before pushing the girl back with her hand.

"Get in the kitchen. I want lunch before I leave" The woman growled.

Cecily moved quickly not wanting to anger her mother any further. She tried not to think about anything as she took ingredients out of the fridge and panty to make soup, And when that didn't work she reminded herself her mother wasn't always like the, that she used to be caring. They wre never that close but when her daddy died. Cecily had to take a deep breath. She missed him, and without him her life spiraled into a slow hell. She shook her head, it would be suicide if Jerry came in and caught her crying. She wiped her nose on a paper towel, and pushed on letting the small task occupy her thought process.

She was stirring the soup when she felt a body slide up behind her. She knew it was him without even having to turn around, "Miss me" was whispered into her ear and she couldn't stop her body from shivering. The large hand came to rest on her hip and she had to bite her lip to hold in the cry of distress. "Not going to even turn and greet me properly" He whispered in her ear. She prayed that Jerry would walk in, the only time she ever wanted him to enter a room was when hi son was visiting. He would at least admonish his son to take his business behind closed doors, and that Cecily was busy cooking their dinner. It would buy her a few hours, but she was not reprieved She felt his mouth on her neck, and another shiver went through her, "Glad your just as excited to see me" He whispered and she couldn't stop the sound of protest that let her lips. She wanted to move but there was no where to go. He had her wedged between the stove and himself. She didn't even have room to turn around, not that she wanted to. She was trying to come up with a plan when she heard heavy footsteps.

"Ricky leave the girl alone until she gets dinner finished, then you can play with her." A voice growled. She heard Ricky sigh, but he moved way and she left out a sigh of relief.

It was short lived as Jerry came up beside her. "Are you almost done" Cecily only nodded as she stepped away from the stove to retrieve three bowls. Once that was done she ladled out the soup putting it on the table, and then retrieve three bottles of beer from the fridge . She scrunched her nose in disgust, they couldn't pay the electric bill every month but they were never without beer.

Jerry sat down at the table without a word to her, and she took that as a good sign. She made her way through the house trying to locate her mother. She found her in her mother's bedroom, bending over a small compact, a straw in hand. "Dinner's ready" Cecily said softly she hated when she found her mother like this, not only on a personal level, but you never knew what kind of mood she'd be in after she took a hit.

"What did I tell you" The woman raged struggling to get up, "About interrupting my private time, you are nothing but trouble." The woman continued as she staggered over to her. Cecily winced as her head snapped to the side, her lip re-opening and she felt the blood dribble down her chin.

"I'm sorry mama" Cecily told her softly, "I just thought you'd like to know your dinner is ready" Cecily was pushed back as her mother stumbled past her growling over her shoulder, "Clean your face."

Cecily once again found herself in the bathroom. She took the wash cloth she'd carefully folded only two hours before and turned on the tap. Once the water was semi-warm she placed it under the tap and gently started to dab at the split lip once again. It seemed to take forever for the blood to stop and she rinsed out the rag, wringing it out and once again folding it and placing it back where she got it from. Only then did she look up at the mirror, her lip still puffy and she could see the obvious split. She had one or two bruises starting to form where her mother grabbed her chin. She sighed her face had been bruise free this morning, the first time in awhile and this afternoon she once again had those familiar marks.

She sighed once again, she'd have to pull out the minimal make-up she owned for work this evening. Looking away from the mirror, wiping her watery eyes she moved to open the bathroom door when it opened on its own accord. Ricky smile when her eyes went wide. He stepped in casing her to take a step back. He closed the door and locked it behind him. "Everyone's gone but you and me, so we won't be interrupted while we make-up for lost time" he said a smile spreading across his face. Cecily backed up her legs hitting the back of the tub, her eyes flickered from side to side trying to find a way out, any way out. He kept coming toward her and she let out a cry as his arm reach out to pull her against him. She tried to struggle, but he only held her tighter, "If you fight me I'll make it worse" he said harshly in her ear, as he bit it as if to prove his point. Cecily cried out, but remained still, "Good Girl" He purred as he led her out of the bathroom and down the hall. They were almost to the end of the hallway when she started to struggle again pulling her right wrist. He tightened his grip and whipped around, narrowing his eyes he bent her right wrist backwards and she winced. "I thought you learned you lesson the last time" he growled as he used his strength to whip her into the wall. Cecily cried out as her back and head hit the wall. He boxed her in with his arms, "The hard way huh" He chuckled as he pressed himself against her, "You always know what I like" He took her mouth with his in a bruising kiss as he pulled away he bit down on her lip, and laughed as he licked the blood off his own. "Cecily we are going to have so much fun" He whispered, and that was the last thing she heard as she felt his hands go around her throat.

She didn't know what time it was, all she knew was the hallway was dark and she was cold. The carpet under her was itchy and her head pounding. The house seemed quiet, and slowly she rolled over to her belly pushing herself up onto her knees. Her whole body was sore, once she made it to her knees she raised up on both legs. She needed to make it to her room, and find clothes to cover herself before Ricky came back for round two. She stumbled to her room, opening the small dresser she pulled out a worn pair of jeans, and long sleeved tee-shirt, along with undergarments. One she gathered those up she opened her bedroom door looking down the hallway both ways before making her way to the bathroom. She didn't dare flip on the light she didn't want to alert him to where she went. She got her wash cloth and quickly wet it with water. She washed her face first before she ran her hands over the rest of her body feeling for dried blood. Thankfully she didn't find anymore large areas of dried blood. Her wrist hurt like a bitch, but there was nothing she could do about it right now. She carefully got dressed and ran her fingers through her hair, wincing as her hand touched the back of her head. She had a huge bump. She wiped her eyes, she would not cry she'd get through this she said to herself, she made her way back to her room and glanced at the clock 7 pm. She was late, she was supposed to be at work by five. She did let the tears slip then, If she were fired she'd never be able to save enough to get away. As quickly as she could she grabbed her bottle of foundation and applied it using the broken mirror hanging on the wall. She then grabbed her small stash of money there was no way she would leave it here with Ricky. She'd worked to hard to give up the money to him. Once she'd stuffed the money in her pocket she made her way out of her room and down the steps, careful of the bottom step she knew it squeaked. The living room was dark and she assumed Ricky was out. Once she made it out the front door the breath she was holding left her. It would take at least fifteen minutes to walk to the diner she worked at, and she spent that time coming up with a plausible excuse as to why she was late.

The diner was pretty empty, so maybe just maybe the owner wouldn't be so mad. "Hey Cecily" A young mad said from behind the counter.

"Hey Nate" Cecily told him, "How mad is he" She ask him coming up to the counter and accepting the apron he held out to her.

"Not to bad" Nate told her smiling, "I told him we talked about it and I'd just forgot to come in, you were taking my shift so I could leave a little early"

"Nate you didn't have to" Cecily told him but she tried to smile.

"Not a problem" Nate smiled.

Cecily was glad Nate covered for her, he'd never ask what was going on and he was generally a laid back guy, "Thank you" She told him and Nate just smiled.

"I needed to leave early anyway" He shrugged, "Rachel wants me to take her to a late movie" Cecily smiled but winced, "Hey are you ok" He ask her. Cecily just nodded and went off to do her job.

A couple hours passed before Cecily had time to speak to Nate again, "Thanks again Nate, I owe you one" Cecily told him as she came behind the counter to ring up a customers bill.

"Not a problem, plus it worked out, I get to take Rachel to see the movie that she wants tonight. It won't be a problem that you are working later?" he finished eyeing her.

"No, my mom and her husband went out of town today, so it's just me and his son, who won't care" Cecily said lying through her teeth.

Nate nodded his head even though he was frowning. He started to say something when Cecily smiled, "Hey it's ten you better get going" Nate untied his apron and shoved it under the counter "See you tomorrow then" he told her as he went through the swinging doors to tell the boss he was leaving.

Cecily truthfully didn't mind working the later shifts at the diner. Not many people came in on late nights, just the occasional truckers. Cecily smiled to herself that was why Duncan opened the diner in the first place, he used to be a trucker and said there weren't enough all night diners that served a good meal. Once Cecily got the change counted she took it back to the customer, gave them a small smiled and went to stand back behind the counter. She assumed that Nate left out the back, and they were starting to hit their slow spell, but it was a Friday night so around two or so they'd pick back up when people were looking for something for after the bar.

Cecily busied herself straitening up around the cash register every time Nate worked it usually ended up a mess. Duncan came out from the kitchen and cleared his throat. Cecily turned to face him, she'd been sending her orders back with Nate whenever she could tonight to avoid a lecture from Duncan. Duncan shook his head when he got a good look at Cecily, "Cecily, please try and make it on time, I know Nate said you two had it all worked out, but you and I both know that wasn't the truth"

"I'm sorry," Cecily told him softly, "It won't happen again."

"If something comes up in the future call me. You're a good worker, I don't like having to scold you." Duncan said giving her a friendly smile, "Now it looks like we have a couple of customers" He added in a gruff voice and headed back into the kitchen.

Cecily took two menus from beside the cash register and headed toward the booth that the two men had sat down at, "Welcome to Duncan's" she said giving a small smile trying to not strain her lip and placed the menus in front of them. "Can I start you off with something to drink"

After they gave her their drink orders she gave a quick nod and walked away to get them. She let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding when she got to the drink fountain. Both men were rather large and built, and they both scared her, she would really prefer if they ate quickly and left. Once she'd gotten their water, she headed back to the table and placed it in front of them. "Are you ready to order?"

Both men looked at her, and she fought the urge to run. These men were not her family, they didn't intent to hurt her she reminded herself. The one with the ball cap, the kinder looking of the two gave her his order and she jotted it down before she looked at the remaining man.

"Where's Nate" he ask. Cecily looked at him and bit her lip, she didn't know why he was looking for Nate, and she didn't want him to get in trouble. "He was supposed to work tonight" the deep voice continued.

"He already left" she answered, and the guy's frown deepened.

"That shit" he exclaimed, "He could have at least called and let me know."

Cecily shrunk back and willed her body not to shake. She had to warn Nate somehow that this large man was angry and looking for him, "you-your or-order s-sir" she ask not meeting his eyes. Once the man gave her the order she quickly made her way to the back.

John's POV

"Get a grip Orton, you about gave that poor girl a heart attack" The guy in the ball cap said.

The other guy just shrugged his large shoulders, "What my brother is a shit, we wouldn't have even stopped if I knew he wasn't here. I'd be at home asleep"

"Yeah Right, it's Friday night your just mad your not at the bar picking up some chick"

"Shut up John" Randy scowled causing John to chuckle.

Normal POV

Cecily took the order to Duncan in the back, "They were asking about Nate" She told him as she handed it to him. Duncan just nodded his head and started on the order, he was one of those don't ask don't tell kind of guys. Cecily just frowned the guy seemed really angry. As Cecily went back to the register, she fumbled under the counter looking for Nate's cell phone number. She owed him one. Once she found the number, she dialed. She knew he was probably in the movie with Rachel but at least he would have a warning.

"Nate, it's Cecily. A guy with tattoos came here looking for you, he seems angry. He ordered food, so he isn't leaving right away to look for you, but he, just be careful" she said hanging up. She spared a glance at the two men sitting at the table, they could use refills.

Taking a deep breath she moved toward the table. She smiled nervously as she refilled their glasses, "It won't take long for your food, can I get you anything while you wait."

"We're fine" the guy in the hat told her, and smiled his dimples showing, as the other guy made a noise, "Don't mind him" he added.

Cecily nodded and once again headed to the register. She was glad when a couple more people filed into the diner and she had something else to busy her time. She was over halfway done with her shift it was 1:30 and she would get to leave at three. Her body was aching and her head and wrist were throbbing, her lip stung but she would push her way through.

"Order up" She heard from the kitchen and headed back to get the order. She took it to the large men, and placed the plates in front of them. "More water" She ask softly, and when they nodded she quickly retrieved the pitcher and gave them refills.

"Anything else" she ask as she heard the door open once again. She turned to greet the newest customers and her words died in her throat. He stared at her his brown eyes burning into her blue ones and she felt herself go stiff. She didn't even feel her hands shaking till she heard an angry "Hey" she looked down

"I'm so sorry" She stuttered "I'll help you clean it" she sat the water down on the table and grabbed a handful of napkins bending down to start patting his shirt, he hands still shaking. Both men looked at her, she missed their concerned looks over her head. "I'm so sorry" she just kept muttering. She looked up when the man cleared his throat, "It's ok, it's just water" He told her taking the napkins from her hand.

"It will dry" the other man chimed in, and she nodded trying not to cry.

"I'll check on you later" she said leaving their table to check on her other customers, before she made her way over to him. "What can I get you" She ask trying to steel her voice.

"Did I tell you that you could leave the house" he ask his voice quiet but cold.

"I have a job" she said just as quiet.

"That is not what I ask you" he said harshly.

"No you, you didn't" She answered her eyes downcast.

"you know what happens when you don't listen" Ricky smiled a toothy grin, she only nodded. "It's going to be fun" he added and Cecily closed her eyes, "Now bitch," he whispered, "Get me something to eat."

Cecily had never wished so hard in her life that the ground would open up and swallow her. He went about the motions of work but no longer even tried to smile at customers. She didn't even have the energy to be scared of the two large men in the back booth. All her energy was being focused on being scared of Ricky. She wanted to sob when Darla walked through the door, because that meant she was free to go home. Darla greeted her with a bright smile, she was in her late forties but looking at her you'd never know it. "How's it going tonight" Darla ask and Cecily supplied her with the rundown and then sighed.

"I spilled a drink on the customer at table 7, so I'm paying for their meal" Cecily told Darla pulling out money from her picket. She had her back to Ricky, and she could feel his eyes on her.

"That's sweet of you honey" Darla nodded.

"I'm going to say my goodbye's to the customers" Cecily said untying her apron and making her rounds when she got to the table with the two big men. "My shift is over, Darla will be taking care of you, just call her if you need anything" She told them her eyes downcast.

"Thanks" the one with the ball cap told her, "Hey are you ok" he added.

"I'm fine" she told him still refusing to look them in the face. She turned and walked out the front of the diner.

She knew Ricky would follow her, but she didn't want to be stuck paying Ricky's bill. She also knew that Darla wouldn't let him leave without paying. She didn't get as far as she thought she would before she felt him grab her arm and jerk her around to face him. "What kind of game are you playing at bitch" He seethed in her face, "Walking out without me, did you think you'd get away?"

Cecily just shook her head no she knew it was better not to talk to Ricky when he was in these moods, hell she thought it was always better to keep her mouth shut when Ricky was around. She felt his hand go around her throat, and she felt the sting in her head and back as she was pushed into the car she was standing next to, "You know I should make you walk home" He told her, "But I want to be able to punish you like you deserve and there are to many people around here" He moved his hand away from her neck she didn't even notice when his fingers caught the chain she was wearing nor did she notice when it slid to the pavement below her, because Ricky grabbed her arm and drug her to his car opening the back door and shoving her inside of it.