Hello, people! I got a review stating that someone found the Author's notes in the middle of the story very distracting, and I guess they are when I think about it. So, I'm doing footnotes instead!
Disclaimer: I'm listening to We Are Never Getting Back Together right now, so: I, am never, ever, gonna own Kickin' It. I-eee, am never, ever, ever, gonna own Kickin' It. You go talk to producers, talk to actors, talk to me. But I-eee, am never, ever, gonna own Kickin' It.
Yay! Missing Him continues, NOW!
Kim's POV
'Hmm' I think, as I walk to the dojo from school. 'Jack never called back last night'. I had called him four times after 9:00 check on him, but he never answered. He didn't come to school today either. As much as he hates the place, he still goes anyway.
I get to the dojo first to see Rudy pacing around with his hands behind his back and a worried expression on his face.
"Rudy? What's wrong?" I ask him. He looks up at me.
"I told Jack to call me last night, before he went to bed. He didn't."
"So? He probably forgot."
"I don't know. I gotta bad feeling…"
Milton, Jerry, and Eddie walk in at that moment. Rudy looks at them for a second, then goes into his office and comes back out with his keys.
"Come on guys," he says.
"Where are we going?" Milton asks.
"Jack's house."
Forty five minutes later, we've arrived at our destination…
…only to find it swarming with police.
"Ack! It's the popo! Turn back!" Jerry jokes. He apologizes when everyone in the car glares at him. We get out of the car. Rudy goes up to a police man that comes out of Jack's house.
"Excuse me, officer. What's going on here?" The man stops and looks at us.
"There was a kidnapping here last night." We gasp, and the officer raises an eyebrow. "Do you know Jack Anderson?"
"Yes, sir. I'm his sensei and these are his friends," Rudy says, managing to keep a straight face.
"Hmm… come inside." He leads us to the living room, where four men are gathered around the dining table. I look around; Jack's comfortable and cozy living room has been turned into a crime scene.
My gaze lingers on a metal baseball bat with blood on the end that has a little card next to it, showing that it's evidence.
One of the men looks up at us as we walk in. "Who are they, Jones?" he asks, addressing the policeman that led us in here.
"They know the victim."
"May we ask you all some questions?" A man named Neal Scott (so says his badge) asks us, as we all sit down in the waiting room of the police station. (1) We all nod.
"Ok. Follow me, please." He takes us to a room. I look around. One of the walls has a big glass rectangle in the middle of it, and I can see people doing stuff on the other side. 'Observation-type-room thing. Cool.' I think. The room that we walked into contains only a table, a big thing on the table, and six chairs (five on one long side, one on the other). He sits down one side, and we sit down on the other.
"This call was recorded at approximately 7:12pm yesterday. I want you guys to identify the two voices that you hear in the background; you'll know who I'm talking about when it gets there." We nod, and he plays the recording.
"Seaford Police Department, how may I help you?" the first voice says. I recognize it as Officer Scott's voice. I look up at him, silently asking if it was indeed him who answered the call. He nods.
"Uh, there's these two guys that broke into my house and tried to attack me. Well, they did attack me, but I know karate so I managed to take them down." I can't help but smile at the slight hint of pride in Jack's voice.
"Ok, do you know these two guys?"
"Yeah. Frank Jones and Kai Masterson." I growl at the mention of their names. The policeman looks at me quizzically.
"Ok, thank you for staying calm. Now I'm gonna need you to answer some questions for me, alright?"
"Sure." I notice a small hint of panic and nervousness appears in Jack's voice. What the heck?
"What is your name?"
"Jack Anderson."
"Was there anyone with you at the time of the attack?"
"No. My mom is in Spain and my dad… he's dead."
"Ok, where is your location?"
"454 HillrOMMM!" We all (except for the officer) simultaneously gasp.
"Thought you could get rid of us that easily, huh?"
"That's Kai," I say darkly. The rest of the gang nervously fidgets as they detect the hatred in my voice.
"Jack, stop struggling. You're just making it worse for yourself!"
"Frank?" Milton says, confusion evident in his voice. "Why does he sound sad?"
"OW! You freaking bit me!"
"HILLROSE AVENUE! WE'RE AT 454 HILLROSE AVE—"
There's a loud thump, and then silence.
"Bye-bye, Mr. Policeman,"
We all sit there for a minute, processing what we just heard. Anger bubbles up inside me until—
"I'M GONNA MURDER THEM!" I scream, standing up abruptly.
Rudy sighs. "Kim, calm down—"
"Calm down? Calm DOWN?! Those big-headed karate wannabies kidnapped my best friend! I am not going to let them get away with this!" I run out of the room, ignoring my friends as they called after me. I past surprised men and women and out of the station, my will crumbling until I got to the curb and plopped down on it. The tears are already streaming down my face. I bring my legs close to me and wrap my arms around them as I sobbed, rocking slightly. Minutes later, I hear footsteps coming up behind me. Rudy sits down next to me.
"Crying and getting angry isn't going to help him, Kim," he says softly.
"I k-know," I sob, hiccupping slightly as Rudy rubs my back in small circles. "I just— I just—"
"Didn't know how to react?"
I nod mutely.
"Well, Kim, here's what we can do to help Jack. We can cooperate with the police. We can not freak out like you just did. And we can make sure to keep an eye out for Frank and Kai." I nod again, feeling a little better. He smiles and stands up.
"Come on. Let's go inside."
Jack's POV
The first thing I'm aware of when I wake up is a splitting headache. I groan softly, wishing it would go away. The hair on the back of my head near my left ear feels a little matted and crusty, making wonder if the metal baseball bat that Kai hit me with made me bleed.
I hear movement. I open my eyes to see a little girl's face in front of mine. My reflexes react, jerking my arm forward to hit the young child.
But I can't.
I frown, looking behind me to where my wrists are. They're tied together behind my back. My ankles are also bound together as well. I turn back to the little girl, who is beaming brightly in the almost-darkness.
"Hi! My name is Hannah!" she exclaims with childish enthusiasm. "What's yours?"
"Jack." There's no harm in telling her. I might as well, since we're stuck here together.
"Thank you for getting Banana for me, Jack!"
"…Banana?" I ask, getting increasingly amused by the situation despite the fact that I'm tied up. She nods, holding up a familiar yellow stuffed animal. I smile; this is the little girl that I won the unicorn for on Saturday.
"Well, then, you're welcome." I hesitate a second, before asking, "Hannah, do you know why I'm tied up?"
She nods. "Big Brother's meanie karate teacher did it. He said that you'll cause trouble if he doesn't." Seconds later, she wrinkles her nose, saying "I don't like him."
I ponder over her words. Karate teacher. That's obviously Ty.
But 'Big Brother'…
Hmm…
…
Something clicks in my head, and I think back to last year on Halloween.
"Maybe you should take your little sister trick-or-treating."
"Maybe I will. She's gonna be a princess this year, and she's gonna be adorable." (2)
Frank is Hannah's big brother.
Hannah is Frank's little sister.
I remember a few days after my first day at Seaford High. I was sitting on the couch, flipping through channels. I briefly pause on a news story that stated "—nah Jones, age six, disappeared this morning." I just flipped to the next channel, forgetting the report within two seconds.
I feel incredibly stupid. It's quite simple, actually. Frank was (before Kim left) Ty's second best karate student. When he and his cronies got beat badly by me and Kim left, Ty started plotting something that would make his new top student do better in the dojo; kidnap his sister. Frank obviously wanted to leave by then, but couldn't because of the safety of his sister being held over his head. Ty eventually realized that Frank couldn't better get any better. He started trying to convince me to join his dojo. I refused every time. He decided that Frank was still useful then, and got the poor guy to start helping him in Ty's plan to kidnap me. That's why Frank looked reluctant when he gave my hand to Greg at the carnival, and also why he mouthed a 'Sorry' in my direction back at my house yesterday.
…
What? I can be smart, too.
When I come out of my major thinking session, Hannah is staring at my face, smiling. Her smiles are contagious, I swear it, because I end up smiling right back at her. "What?"
She giggles. "You look serious."
Before I can say anything back, a part of the wall directly across from us slides upward. You know, like in a sci-fi movie. Ty and Frank walk in. Hannah whimpers, burrowing herself into my chest. I marvel at her trust in me.
After a moment of exchanging gazes (me glaring and him contemplating), Ty says, "Frank, get your sister out of here." Frank sighs and complies, coming over and lifting his sister off of me with ease. "NO!" she says, pounding on his back. "PUT ME DOWN BIG BROTHER! MEANIE TEACHER'S GONNA HURT HIM! LET ME GO!" She carries on screaming and struggling as Frank walks out of the room. The door closes behind him.
Ty walks forward. "You know it didn't have to be like this, Jack." I look away from him, glaring at the floor so I don't do anything that I'll probably regret. He bends down and puts a cold finger under my chin, forcing it up. I retaliate by spitting in his eye. He curses and steps away from me, wiping the substance from his face. He looks up at me with an evil look on his face. I glare right back at him. He comes forward and kicks me in the stomach as hard as he can. I cough violently as he growls, "You WILL show me respect."
I slowly turn my head back up at him. "I'll show you my respect when you earn it. Heck, probably not even then." He snarls, kicking me again, but then right after he smiles.
Mood swing, much?
"Why did you bring me here?" I ask, still breathing heavily.
"Oh, it's quite simple actually. Force you to join my dojo, revenge on Kim, a 'prompt' for your mother—"
"My MOM?!"
"Yes." He bends down to where his face is directly in front of mine. "Your mother." He smirks at my confused and shocked expression, and straightens again. "She didn't tell you, did she? Then again, you were really young back then."
I don't even know how to respond to this. Since when does Ty know my mom?
"It all began 12 years ago, when you were two. Michelle, Samuel, you and your sister were a happy family. You all moved in to a house not very far from mine. It took you all a mere few days to get settled. Your mother and I met by chance; we accidentally bumped into each other at Starbucks."
I listen apprehensively, wondering where he is going with this.
"I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her."
I blanched. 'Oh. That's where he was going with that.'
Ty's expression turns bitter. "Time after time after that, I encountered her at that exact same time. I was convinced she kept coming back because she liked me. Eventually, I asked for her hand in marriage. But she refused, being loyal to your father. I was outraged—"
"So, let me get this straight," I butt in. "You meet a woman—who, by the way, you hardly even know— and you fall for her. Knowing she's married, you still go ahead and ask for her to marry you? What, did you expect her to leave her husband for a man she hardly even knows?"
"YES!"
"And you get mad over it… you're an idiot, you know that?"
"ARGH! A few months after that, there was an incident, and you all moved to Georgia. I never saw you again— until a year ago. I was delighted to find out that your father was out of the way— Oh, get over it, people die all the time. Anyway, you asked me why I had you brought here; to force you to join my dojo, for revenge on Kim and your mother, and company for your sister." He raises an eyebrow and smirks evilly at me, as if waiting for something.
"Sister? My sister disappeared… eleven years… ago…" My breath catches in my throat.
The 'incident' is my sister's disappearance.
My sister's disappearance is actually a kidnapping, courtesy of Ty.
He kidnapped my sister to get back at mom.
We move, and years later we come back.
When we come back and he found out dad was dead, he tried to get with mom again.
Mom refuses. (I always used to remember a certain number calling our house or her phone and her telling me to ignore it.)
When she refuses, he kidnaps me to force mom to accept him.
But the main thing is, he kidnapped my sister.
He kidnapped my sister.
"You…" I whisper. The fuse inside me lights, and it's very short. "YOU'RE THE ONE THAT TOOK HER!"
"Temper, temper, Jack." I absolutely despise that smug look on his face. "If you wanted to say hello, you could have just said so. Kiara, come and greet your brother."
The door slides open, and in walks my long lost twin sister.
(1) I once again tell you that I know nothing about policemen and police business and police interrogations and police stations and what not, so please correct me if I'm wrong.
(2) Quote from the episode, Boo Gi Nights.
Until next week, my good readers. I'd like to once again thank all those who reviewed. Keep 'em comin.
