A/N: Sorry it's taken forever to write this guys but my computer died and now this one has a virus so please bare with me. In this story so far Lucas has been gone a total of Eight years. He was kiddnapped at age 4, the last chapter was two years after the inital kinapping and now it's six years later (hope you all can follow that) So here's the new chapter I hope you all like it and as always don't forget to review!!
Chapter Three: Six Years, Three Months and Four Days
Darkness. That was the world he lived in. It was cruel, rough and filled with all kinds of shady characters, most of which could be found in his mother's bedroom on any given night. They drank heavily, cursed too much and was quick to throw a back hand or fist in his direction just for the hell of it or simply because he dared to look in their direction. If he wasn't beaten unconscious by his mother's so called "friends" he would pick himself off the floor and run into his room in an attempt to escape it all. When that didn't work he would sigh and grow frustrated as he was forced to listen to the sounds of animalistic sex penetrating his bedroom walls.
The thought made him violently ill.
He remembered talking to her about it one time. She simply laughed in his face before slapping him hard and reminding him that this was the only way that she could provide for his miserable ass. That he was the reason that she had to sell herself in order to clothe him and put food on the table. Then moments later she told him that she loved him and asked for forgiveness. She said that his father was to blame for their situation and that if he hadn't left them for some bitch named Karen that they would be a happy family. Then she held him tightly and said that he should go to his room because one of her friends would be there shortly. He nodded his head and did as he was told never again daring to speak of his mother's forced profession or the father that had left them behind to deal with such a fate.
The air outside was crisp and the wind was strong as he wondered through the streets of New York City. The one thing he loved about this place was the bright lights and crowds of all different kinds of people.
He smiled to himself at the irony.
He felt safer amongst the crowds of strangers then he ever had in his own home.
Turning the corner he walked further from the lights and the protection of the city to the sirens, robbers, drug dealers and addicts alike that littered his block. With each step he took he felt his life force draining from him. He felt his face harden, his eyes narrow and shift towards the ground being sure not to make eye contact with the wrong person. It always amazed him how two blocks could make a suck a huge difference between what kind of neighborhood he found himself in. The city was an amazing place.
A block later he found himself looking at the place that he had called home for the past six years. It was an old dingy apartment building with three floors that were bound to cave in at any moment not to mention the infestation of mice and roaches, walls that had holes in them and water that only ran hot for ten minutes every eight hour. There were two crack addicts that always seemed to sit in the exact same position on the front stair case all day, every day since he could remember. One was a lady that he guessed to be around his mother's ages but somehow her eyes said that she was much younger then she appeared to be. There was some innocence left in them like she had experienced so much but yet lived so little at the same time. He always felt sorry for her. He wondered what had happened in her life time that could have possible led her to where she was today. Next to her was a man that looked to be in his forties. He had blond hair hidden underneath a coat of dirt and the coldest blue eyes that the boy had ever seen. The man sent chills up and down his spine but he never showed it. In this part of town fear and death were joined at the hip.
Quickly passing the two by he walked up the two flights of stairs to the apartment that he shared with his mother. Before he even opened the door he could hear the noise coming from the other side of the door. He heard the cheering and the multitude of male voices and inwardly cringed. His mother was entertaining a multitude of men again.
He always hated this.
It was bad enough that his mother slept with men for money but when she would sleep with several at a time in front of an audience it made him sick and wish that he wasn't even born so that his Mom wouldn't have to go through this. He knew that her profession was the reason why she drank so much and why she took out her frustrations on him and he only had his existence to blame for this. Hanging his heads down low he stuck his key in the lock and opened the front door bracing himself for what he would find on the other side. The second he stepped foot in the small apartment he was greeted by huge rough hands slamming him hard against the wall.
"Who the hell are you?" the gruff voice questioned.
"I live here. Now who the hell are you?"
The instant that he spoke he heard the labored voice of his mother.
"Go to your room kid. Now before I beat the shit out of you" she ordered.
Following the sound of her voice his eyes rested upon his mother laying flat on her back, legs spread wide open on their kitchen table with a rather large tattooed bald man positioned between them. She looked half out of it and he knew why.
She was high out of her mind.
"Get that kid the hell out of here. He's making me lose my wood" the bald guy yelled prompting the other to release him.
He instantly made his way to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him in an attempt to shut out what was happening on the other side. But it didn't work. It never did.
Tossing his backpack onto the floor the boy laid on his bed and shut his eyes. He sighed in lonely frustration over the life he wished he could have had if his father had chosen to stick around and save himself and his mother from the horrible lifestyle they lived today. Reaching underneath his pillow he retrieved the only piece he had left of the father that abandoned them. He stared at the picture with a mixture of longing, hatred and wonder. He wondered how a man who looked so loving and caring in this picture could be so heartless, so selfish as to leave his family alone and penniless. He wondered how he could leave behind a woman who loved him so much and a son who needed a father, a son who needed him. Although he thought about these things there was something in the man's eyes that troubled him.
He couldn't put his finger on it but somehow he knew there was something that he was missing. Something not quite right about not only the man in the picture but the entire situation it's self. It was like his mother was leaving something out. He didn't know why but these thoughts always led him back to his father and that Karen woman. A woman he had never seen before but wondered so much about. Maybe it was because she was the reason his father had left them. Or maybe she was part of the missing piece that he just couldn't for the life of him figure out.
He imagined this woman to be a kind, loving person with dark hair, big brown eyes and a soft voice, a far cry from the person his mother happened to be. He never understood why he would hold the woman responsible for breaking up his home as some sort of angel. On some days he could close his eyes and hear the woman singing to him, her voice soothing and full of comfort. Her voice was sweet, gentle and loving. Sometimes he felt guilty about dreaming of her. It was so weird. Shouldn't he hate her with every fiber of his being? Shouldn't he wish her dead? He should have but he didn't. There was just something about this mystery woman that he couldn't get out of his mind.
Turning on his side he stuck the picture back under his pillow and tried to get some rest but he couldn't. All he could do was think about his father and Karen and wondering just what the hell it all meant just as he heard the woman's sweet voice singing to him once again…
"Hush little baby don't say a word. Mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird. If that mocking bird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring. If that diamond ring don't shine, you'll still be the sweetest little baby of mine"
There she was again.
Singing a song to a boy who had been gone for eight long years. Singing to a ghost that has haunted her since the day her son was taken away and swept into the world of a mad woman.
She never understood why she did this to herself.
After all she still had a son who was right there in her house, in the room just next to the one she found herself sitting in but yet she could never bring herself let go of his long gone older sibling. Sure she loved dark haired boy more then anything in the world and usually spent her days in "over protective" mother mode but at night, during this hour she always found herself in this room filled with unopened birthday and Christmas presents trying to fill the void of her broken heart. She sighed wondering where her son was. Wondering if he was happy, if he was safe, if he was even still alive at all.
Her husband wasn't doing any better.
Dan was a mess and would drink heavily on their son's birthday and Christmas time. He would go on and on about how all of this was his fault and how he was a terrible father. She felt so sorry for him, for them all but she knew that they had to move on.
On the day that Detective Bambrick informed them that the bodies found on that faithful day six years ago was in fact NOT that of their son's or his abductor the couple couldn't have been more relieved. However the fact was that he was still out there somewhere and they wouldn't rest until they found him. The only problem was that Deb had appeared to have drop off the face of the planet and had taken their baby boy with her.
In that moment she felt enraged. It wasn't enough that the bitch had slept with her husband, no, she had to take away her child too. Was there anything of hers that the whore didn't feel entitled to? The woman cursed under breath. She wanted more then anything to be locked in a room with Ms. Deborah Lee for just five minutes so she could beat the hell out of her for causing her family so much pain and for taking her son away from her, from his father. She cried silent tears knowing that she may never have that chance and that her son was fast becoming nothing but a distant, painful memory. The thought killed her and seemed to take away her very breath.
"Karen"
She looked up and saw her husband standing in the doorway.
"Come back to bed honey. Sitting in this room is doing nothing to help you" the man said walking over to her and extending a hand.
"What if this room and just a few memories is all that we'll ever have left of him?"
Dan sighed and sat down next to her.
"I don't believe that for a second but if that turns out to be true then I say we'll have to pick up the pieces of our lives and try to be the best parents we can for Nathan and to make him as happy as possible. That's all we'll be able to do Karen"
The woman looked down in defeat and shook her head.
"Why can't they just find him? Why is it so hard?"
"You know why Karen. It's been too long and Deb is just too good at not being found. Besides we wouldn't know what Lucas looks like anyway"
"Don't say that! I know it's been eight years but I would know my son if I saw him. I don't care what the woman has done. I'm Lucas's mother and I would know my son and he would know me. I believe this Dan, I have to"
He looked at her with great sadness wondering if what she was saying was true or if she was just tapering on the edge of delusion. He wanted more then anything to believe that she was right. At one point he would have known it but the years had seemed to dash away all hope of ever finding their son. He didn't want to believe the worse or even think it but he had no choice. Nathan still needed parents and he couldn't live in the fantasy world where Lucas returned home. No, he had to live in the present.
"Of course you would honey. Now please let's just go back to bed. Nathan has a play tomorrow and we don't want to bring him down with our sadness. It's not fair to him" he said giving his wife a kiss on the head.
He hated seeing her like this. The worst part was that there was nothing he could do to fix it.
"Ok" Karen finally replied rising to her feet.
"Oh Dan when are you leaving for that meeting again?"
"Friday night unfortunately, why?"
"I think it would be a good idea if Nathan and I tagged alone. I could really use a break from this place"
Dan smiled.
"That's great honey. I would love to have the two of you along. In fact why don't we extend the trip a little. After all Nathan has winter recess next week, so there's no need for us to rush back home"
"Yeah, that sounds like a wonderful idea Dan" the woman stopped short just as they were about to enter their bedroom.
"Where are we going again?"
"Only to one of the greatest cities in the world" the man replied with the grin of kid in a candy store.
"And where would that be again"
Dan rolled his eyes put his arms around his wife.
"We're going to the big apple. Baby we're going to New York City"
