Chapter 3
Agent Roger Venture
While the Martin family wondered what to do as they paced around the massive living room, Cody was having a horrible time at the kidnapers' headquarters or home which it was obvious because nobody liked the sensation of being kidnapped. His hostage takers were treating Cody, Sam, and Sue poorly and painfully as they were held captive uncomfortably. They tied them up on to uneven chairs, they stuffed some black piece of fabric in the three children's mouth and placed gray tape on their eyes which didn't allow the children to watch anything at all and they only took the material inside their mouths just to give them water which tasted awful. Each time the abductors took off the black material, Cody, Sue or Sam began to scream, "Help! Help! We are here! Please help us!" So that made the kidnapper's job harder and they decided in not giving the youngsters water at all only when they thought that they needed them for survival. In Cody mind, he told himself, if we don't get out of here quick, we will dehydrate!
Even though, none of the kidnapped children could see their surroundings, they felt that they were in a small damp shack, they were all in one same room and they were as farthest as possible from all the doors and windows. They didn't feel any warmth at all and that made them feel that the windows were blocked and didn't let any sunlight in. There was an atrocious scent as if somebody, which were probably the kidnappers, hadn't taken a bath in a long and long time. How the floor beneath the children's feet and according to the sound the kidnappers made when walking with weighty boots, it appeared that the ground was rocky and rough similar to the Martin backyard.
That same night, the police came to inspect the house in search to look for a stolen diamond, and as soon the kidnappers heard the knocking, they hid Cody in a secret trapdoor in the floor so small it didn't let him to move his head from side to side but the space where his feet where was big enough so Cody could stomp on the floor. Sue was hidden inside a cramped closet and she had to curl into a ball to make her as most comfortable as possible. Sam, meanwhile, was small enough to be locked inside a cupboard but the cupboard was filled with broken glass and sharp objects and Sam had to move them away so they won't puncture him on the way.
The very moment Cody knew that the police was on top of the secret trapdoor he was in, Cody made every sound possible and started stomping his feet to the trapdoor's floor. "What is that?" one of the officers asked looking up at the ceiling and down at the floor.
"Oh, umm, it's the, umm, neighbor's cat," Tom replied nervously stomping on the floor to try to quiet Cody. Cody's kept on making noises and trying to scream behind the material inside his mouth even though it was useless and his attempting screams made the material damp with saliva.
After the police officers left, the kidnappers took off one of Cody's shoes, put a tack in it and put the shoe on again. He moaned in pain as he felt the tack trespass his flesh.
They yanked Sue out of the closet by yanking on her hair and then they destroyed her necklace shaped like a heart. Sue sobbed and sobbed until Jake locked her in the closet again. Jake threw the rest of the necklace outdoors and it the wind carried it to the Andrew home where Sue had managed to deposit the help letter.
Meanwhile, Sam was thrown to the floor beaten with rocks, punched and kicked. Sam couldn't end bleeding neither stop himself from throwing up or sobbing.
On the other side of the city, Zack identified that Cody was in pain, and he actually felt the tack trespass his flesh too. He immediately advised his parents.
Kurt phoned the police and informed them what had happened. The police called the FBI and told them to send someone to go and investigate. They sent over an agent and some police members.
The agent arrived at once. He introduced himself as Roger Venture and asked what had happened and who had been the closest to the kidnapped boy at the time he was snatched. Between tears, Carrie mentioned that it had been Zack and the agent asked for permission if he could ask Zack some questions which the parents agreed.
Zack looked at the agent from head to toe looked quite familiar, as he had already seen the agent before. He had brownish skin and piercing blue eyes. He was tall and carried a series of suitcases which Zack guessed contained technology that would help his family locate his brother. He was wearing a red shirt and an open leather jacket and leather pants. His shoes were recently lustrated and Zack noticed he wore a ring on his left hand.
On Zack's bedroom, Zack advised him what had occurred and Roger said, "Let me guess the abducted child is your twin, and you can communicate with him mentally"
"Y-yes umm no, but I can still hear, feel, think and see what he is doing. But, how do you know we were twins and can be in touch?" Zack asked.
"I know because when you said it was our birthday when Cody disappeared. And I also knew because I have a twin too and I can also communicate with him." Roger replied.
"Really," Zack asked, "where is he now?"
"Right now he is…frankly I don't know," Roger responded scratching his head in confusion. Then he crossed his arms and became silent.
In the distance there were sounds of sobs that came from Carrie and the sound of the police taking possible evidence form the scene of crime. A police officer with a high but croaky voice asked questions to Kurt but his voice was in such a tone that it seemed like he did not care of a kidnapped sixteen-year old boy.
"How can you lose path of somebody who you can be in touch with?" Zack wondered stunned. Zack thought if he-Roger-could communicate with his twin wherever he is, why didn't he just communicate with him and be sure to where he was.
"Anyway, I'll show how to communicate with your brother. First, close your eyes and focus on him and then say something you would like to tell him. Ask him where he is right this instant." The agent instructed calmly so Zack could concentrate.
Zack did as so and thought carefully. It took him a lot of time until he began sweating with effort. His hands turned into fists and his face was turning bright red. Some wrinkles the size of small bugs appeared on Zack's forehead.
Roger told him to calm down and to take his time. Zack breathed in deeply and began again. It took Zack almost an hour to focus between all the pressure and he could swear he was beginning to grow tense. His fingers wouldn't stop moving and he desired to bite his nails. Roger was becoming inpatient but Zack didn't notice so he took more time than he had expected. In an effort to focus he covered his ears eyes with pillows and blocked the modern world surrounding him but that didn't work as well as he had expected. Instead, he had become dizzy with the lack of oxygen that the pillows caused so he removed the pillows and started to obtain large amounts of air and the dizziness stopped. Then, Zack thought if it all became quiet he could easily focus on Cody, so he lay on his bed face down.
At last, Zack focused which astonished him because he thought it was impossible. The sensation felt welcoming and fresh to Zack so he did not want to make it disappear so he did not thought of anything just of the feeling he was experiencing right that instant. The focusing still lingered on for about an hour until Zack saw the impatience on Roger's face.
Beside him, Roger was frowning at him with annoyance and his face had become wrinkled. His blue eyes became from a sky-blue to a piercing and exasperating blue. His arms were crossed and his feet were moving uneasily on the floor which symbolized to Zack that he was tired of standing up for an hour so to make Roger more comfortable he decided to ask Cody, and said in his mind, "Cody, where are you?" There was no response so Zack tried again.
At first there was no response and Zack began to wonder if Roger had joked with him and did not care that his brother was in grave danger. The thought maddened Zack and even though nobody could see, he was frowning with anger. He attempted to communicate with his brother again but thought that most likely it wouldn't be worth it for he thought Roger only joked. A frightened and anxious voice responded his question, Zack-Zack is that you?