I do not own the characters of High School Musical.All events, actions, and names are entirely fictional and any similarity is purely coincidental.
8
Troy put down his gun and held his flashlight up, shining it at the little girl who looked no older than nine years old. She had tears running down her dirt-stained face, her brown hair was in desperate tangles around her face, and she was completely bare and open to anyone who walked in.
He carefully walked over to her and gently pulled out the gag and ripped off the tape on her face. She immediately began screaming for help as she struggling against the straps. "Help! Somebody help me!"
He gently shushed her as he began to tie off her straps. "Shhh! It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a cop."
"I need to get out of here before he comes back," she whimpered, rubbing her wrists. The straps had left harsh marks on her wrists and ankles. She looked at Troy with uncertainty. "Don't hurt me."
"I'm not going to hurt you, honey. My name is Troy. How long have you been down here?" he asked, murmuring an alert into his walkie-talkie.
She shook her head. "I can't remember anymore."
"Did anybody else come down here?"
She scratched her head, leaving an array of white flicks. "I remember one girl had been down here a few weeks ago. She was strapped to the bed just like me."
"What did she look like? Is she here?" he asked.
"She had dark hair, blue eyes, and was older than me. She hasn't been back since then. I don't know what happened to her after that."
Troy closed his eyes quickly. "What did he do to her?"
She shut her eyes, which were quickly filling with tears. She shook her head. "I can't tell. He made me promise."
Troy sighed and took off his jacket. He zipped it up around her body and picked her up, cradling her against his body. He let her cry on his shoulder as he strapped his gun back to his belt and quickly headed upstairs. Almost immediately, he could hear the approaching sirens of the cops and ambulance. He headed towards the front door, which burst open with force. Cops from the LAPD and the local town emerged with their guns pointed. They lowered them once they saw Troy and the little girl.
"Good God, Bolton. What's happened?" asked an officer.
Troy handed the little girl to an EMT, who quickly guided her outside to the ambulance. He shouted orders to his partner as he strapped her to a gurney. Troy simply looked on once he was outside. He had tears in his eyes as he watched the ambulance drive away, its sirens wailing. He could see all the neighbors coming out of their houses, wondering what was going on.
"Bolton." Detective Jamison approached him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"
He looked down. "You guys need to go down the stairs in the living room. You…I don't know. You just need to investigate every corner."
Jamison nodded before leading his boys into the house. Troy picked up his cell phone, speed dialing his wife's number.
"Gabriella? No, I'm not hurt. But, you need to get to the Tulelake hospital. There is something you need to see."
Gabriella held Madison's hand as they rushed through the hospital in Tulelake. They looked around frantically at the rushing doctors and babbling nurses. Other people were waiting in the visiting room while other patients were wheeled around in a hurry or just to get some exercise.
Gabriella stopped at a desk and pounded it with her hands hard. "Please, I need some help. I need to know where Detective Bolton is."
"Gabriella. Madison."
They turned to see a tired Troy rushing toward them and enveloping them both in a hug. He kissed their heads and pulled back, though Madison held her grip around her dad's waist. Gabriella looked up at him, evident worry across her face.
"What happened, Troy?"
He sighed. "I went back to Greg's house to see what else I could find. I found a secret room that has the worst things that you could possibly find."
"Like what?" she asked.
Madison let go of Troy and looked up at him. "You found that room? How?"
Gabriella looked at Madison curiously. "What room? You've been in there?"
"I found a little girl strapped to a cot," he said. He put his head in his hands, rubbing it furiously.
Gabriella placed her hands over her mouth and held back her tears, shaking her head. "Oh my God. Is she okay?"
Madison shook her head as she looked at her father. "Lily."
Troy looked at his daughter, his wife following his actions. "You know her name?"
"That's what Greg would always call her when I'd see her. He would make me promise not tell a soul about her or anything that he did," she said. "I can't believe she is alive."
Gabriella held her daughter and sighed. "There are so many unanswered questions."
Troy continued to look at Madison. "Madison, you know this girl? She told me you have been in that room."
"She did?" Madison suddenly looked nervous and finally relief when a doctor approached them.
"Detective Bolton." The doctor flipped through his papers before looking at Troy.
"How is she?" he asked.
"She is going to be alright, but we had to do a few tests on her to find out what exactly happened to her." He paused somberly. "We found out that she had been sexually assaulted by the man. Greg."
Madison turned away. Gabriella couldn't hold back her tears any longer as she cried on Troy's shoulder. Troy exhaled a shaky breath. "What about her parents? Does she have any?"
The doctor sighed and looked down. He then looked back at the couple. "We did our research as vastly as we could. We found at that her parents had died in car crash about a year ago. She has no other siblings or relatives in Tulelake or nearby."
"She's homeless," whispered Gabriella, wiping her tears. She looked at Troy. "What do we do?"
"Detective Bolton, she is asking for you." The doctor nodded once before leaving them.
Troy looked at Gabriella and Madison before walking towards Lily's room. He quietly knocked on the door before walking in. She was lying in the bed with IV's hooked to her arm, her face clean from the dirt, and her hair slightly wet. He determined that she must have been given a shower by the nurses.
She looked over at him. "Troy."
He smiled at her, getting on his knees and kneeling by her bed. "Hey, Lily. How are you?"
She shrugged, messing with the covers. "I'm okay. I'm just waiting for my parents."
Troy sighed and looked down. "Lily? Your parents aren't coming."
Lily furrowed her eyebrows, looking at him with confusion. "What do you mean they aren't coming?"
"They had to go away for a while," he said, not sure how else to explain it to her. She was only a little girl.
Tears began to build in her eyes. "Where am I going to go? I can't stay here. I can't go back to that house."
"You won't have to, Lily." Troy sighed and held her hand. "You can stay with me."
"You?"
He nodded. "I have a lovely wife who will take care of you and we have a teenage daughter."
"Any pets? I like animals," she said, smiling lightly. It was her first smile in a long time.
Troy chuckled. "Well, my daughter brought home a dog."
"I like dogs."
A few hours later, after many questions and very few answers, the Bolton family returned to their home that evening. Madison quickly went upstairs, much to the confusion of Gabriella and Troy. They both sighed and sat at the counter, staring off into space.
"Tory, are you sure about this? I mean, can we handle another child at a time like this?" asked Gabriella, looking over at him.
His tie was disheveled and his hair was in an array of sorts. He looked completely worn out. "Gabriella, she has no other family. She is all alone."
She sighed. "I know. She's so fragile, Troy."
"We'll take care of her," he said, looking at her. Troy held Gabriella's hands in his lap. "Gabriella, you're a wonderful mother. She will love you and trust you. It's the right thing to do so we can keep her safe and healthy."
Gabriella sighed before nodding, giving him a small smile. "Okay. Does she know what happened to her?"
He shook his head. "No. I don't feel comfortable telling her that. It would be too much for her. She is only nine years old."
"Okay. But-" Gabriella was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. She got up and answered the door, being bombarded by the flash of cameras and video cameras in her face. Microphones and recorders were pushed towards as a million questions were thrown at her.
"Mrs. Bolton, how do you feel about your current situation?"
"Mrs. Bolton, what does your daughter have to say about the little girl?"
"Mrs. Bolton, did Madison have the same experience as the little girl?"
Troy rushed towards the door, shaking his head in frustration at the reporters. "Get out of here!"
"Mr. Bolton, how is this affecting you?"
"Mr. Bolton, what are you going to do about the little girl?"
"Mr. Bolton, have you caught the man yet?"
"Mr. Bolton, how is this epidemic affecting your marriage and your relationship with your daughter?"
Troy glared at them angrily. "I said get the fuck out of here!" He slammed the door and sighed running his hands through his hair. He could still hear the reporters outside asking questions. The flashes came through the windows. He knew all of this would be on the news.
Gabriella looked at him. "This is going to go nationwide, Troy. You know it. It's going to be like it was with Madison's disappearance. CNN will be all over it, the local news, everything."
He nodded and sighed. "I know that." He looked at her. "They aren't going to stop asking us questions. But when they do and we have no choice but to answer, you need to just be calm and short. Don't give them any information. We can't disclose anything. We need to protect our family."
"And, Lily." Gabriella nodded.
"Lily is a part of our family now," said Troy.
Gabriella nodded quickly and smiled at him, kissing his cheek. "She is. When do we bring her home?"
"The doctor said we can bring her home tomorrow. We need to take her by the adoption agency." Troy sighed. "Madison needs to come with us, though. I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone."
"Me either. She knows Lily, too. And, I know she is hiding something from us. She is hiding information," she said.
Troy nodded. "I know she is, but she will tell us when she is ready."
"What if she doesn't tell us until the court date? Do you know how heartbreaking that would be?" asked Gabriella.
"It's already breaking our hearts," said Troy.
