Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed my story so far

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed my story so far. Here is chapter nine. It is the last chapter I publish before I go on a month-and-a-half trip so I won't update for a while. Thank you everyone who read and/or reviewed my story. Enjoy :)

Chapter Nine

"So that guy that got me out was Arthur?" DW smiled.

"Yeah," Kate said, "He said he'll meet me here. Do you wanna get some ice cream while we wait?"

"Wow… I haven't had ice cream since I was four years old!" DW forgot what it was like to be free. Kate and DW sat down at a table in the food court and talked.

It was already night time and everything in the mall was closed. Arthur still hasn't shown up. "What if those people did something to him?" DW said, fear in her voice, "What if they killed him?"

"DW, you can stay at my apartment. I am gonna go back to the club and find out what happened," Kate told her as she got up.

"Wait! No! Those people are dangerous, Kate. What if they know you helped get me out, and what if they're angry?" DW was glad to take the role of being Kate's big sister again.

"But we have to find out what happened to Arthur," Kate told DW, "And those people might be dangerous but they wouldn't hurt me."

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DW walked into the apartment where Kate lived with their dad. If she was lucky, she would get to see her father soon. Kate had insisted on going back to the club to find out what happened to Arthur, so DW was alone. She noticed how small this apartment was compared to their old home, and she also noticed that it reeked of alcohol. "Wow… does Kate drink?" DW wondered. She realized that the smell was coming from the broken bottles of alcohol lying around the floor. DW walked into a tiny room which she understood to be Kate's bedroom. She realized now this wasn't much better than the rooms she stayed in. Then, a piece of paper sticking out from under Kate's pillow caught her eye. She pulled the paper out and took a look at it. When she saw it, tears started pouring out of her eyes uncontrollably. The paper was an old family photo: there were her parents, grandma Thora, Arthur, Kate and DW.

DW felt her heart race as the squeak of a door opening startled her. She cautiously made her way towards the door to see who it was. A smile spread across her tear-stained face as she watched her father walk into the house. "Daddy!" DW rushed to see her dad.

"Who a-are youuuu?" he muttered.

"Dad, it's me! DW!"

"Whooooooooooooo?" his voice sounded really tired.

"Your daughter! Remember me? I got kidnapped when I was little and – "

"I don't hhhhaaaaave any kiiiiids…" he groaned, "I ammm only seventeeeeen."

"Dad, don't you remember me?" DW cried.

"Get off my tree you caterpillar…" he laughed, then buckled to the ground, "NOW!" he pushed her towards the door, "GET OUT!"

DW miserably walked out the door, feeling heartbroken. Then, she realized that those alcohol bottles belonged to him and not to Kate. Her father has turned into an alcoholic.

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As Kate made her way to the club, she couldn't help but overhear an intriguing conversation.

"I can't believe it… right in our little town," said one of the three aging ladies standing on a nearby street corner.

"I heard that he was a spy going on a secret mission to destroy a terrorist organization!" said another lady.

"What? No, Dottie. That's not right. I heard that he was a serial killer," said the third lady.

"Whoever he is, that guy is crazy: driving off a cliff in a stolen taxi after going on a high-speed car chase. When the cops and the ambulance got there, he had almost every bone in his body broken and lost about half his blood."

"They said on the news that he's in a hospital right now. His chances of surviving are really low. Serves him right… killing all those young women…"

"No Lucile, you got it all wrong. He's not a serial killer – he's a spy!"

"Excuse me," Kate came up to the three arguing women, "This guy, do you know his name?" she held her breath, hoping, praying that what she felt was wrong.

"Something with the letter "a"…" said the lady named Dottie, "Was it… Andrew Write?"

"No, his name is Arthur Read," said Lucile.

"No…" whispered Kate shutting her eyes tightly, wishing she didn't hear that.

"Why, sweetheart, you know him?" asked Lucile.

Kate couldn't speak so she nodded quietly. She gulped down the teary lump rising in her throat and managed to squeak out a quiet question "Do you know what hospital they took him to?"

"Honey, there's only one hospital here that takes on such badly injured patients," said Dottie, "Elwood City hospital."

"Thank you," Kate mumbled and started running back to her apartment.