Left you hanging long enough? Here's Chapter 10 to fill in all your answers :-)

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"What's going on?" Otto was listening intently for the answer, afraid to blink.

"Did Sammy ever tell you about what happened in Kansas?" Paula asked.

"About what his dad did to him, yeah I heard about that. Pretty bad." Otto replied.

"When Doug and I divorced, Ryan wanted to live with his father. So I didn't tell the courts about what happened, though now that I think about it, I definatly should have." Paula explained. "That's why we had joint custody. To be more specific, Sam came with me, Ryan stayed with Doug. We thought it was best because he wanted to study there after high school and only had a few years to go."

"So then what happened?" Otto was getting impatient. Eager for Paula to finish the story so he would have a clue what kind of trouble Reggie and Sam were in.

"Ryan used to write letters to me. Saying that Doug was really sorry about being abusive to Sam and that he wanted full custody of both kids. I don't know what experiances Ryan had living with his father, but soon enough, he went mad." Paula started to sob, Otto fetched her some tissues.

"What do you mean by mad?" Otto asked nervously, hoping it wasn't as bad as the situations forming in his mind.

"Mentally unstable. He couldn't control himself. Doug said it was because Sam wasn't there and that I was the cause of it all. The truth is, he hasn't ever gone to collage, he's been in a psychiatric hospital."

"But he's better now, right? I mean, he's out after all this time." Otto was stammering, his hands were shaking uncontrolably. "Please don't tell me my sister is with a mental patient."

"I don't think Ryan truely recovered. Now that he's taken Sammy away, I know he hasn't. From what it seems, Ryan blames Sam for the divorce and for his father thinking of nothing else but to get back whats his, so to speak....I wish Reggie didn't get involved in all this."

"Well, there's no stopping Reggie when it comes to helping out her friends. She's stubborn that way." Otto explained. "Now she's with Ryan."

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"I'm really worried about him. Sam's not the kind of person to miss dinner." Reggie said as her and Ryan were driving back from the diner.

"Today has been pretty shocking for him. He'll be fine in the morning." Ryan said.

Reggie looked out the window. "Ryan, I think we took a wrong turn or something. I don't think this is the way back."

Ryan just ignored her. "So, why did you come all the way to find us anyway? You do realise that by coming along you wrecked everything."

"If you're talking about what happened yesterday, I'm really sorry." Reggie suddenly became very nervous.

Ryan pulled the car over and grabbed Reggie's wrist. "What is it that you see in him anyway? He broke up our family and turned my father into a nutcase. All because he was born. He never appreciated anything. He doesn't want to come out to dinner when I offer and he actually yells at you for coming all this way to see him. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you loved him."

"Ryan, please can we just go back. I'm sorry." Reggie tried to reach for the door handle but he grabbed her other wrist. "Let go of me."

"See, not even denying it. I'm not sick like him, I didn't make anyone's life a living hell. Sure, he went through all the bad stuff, and I'm sorry he did. Why did he have to screw me over because of it. Come on Reggie, answer me that!" Ryan snapped in her face.

"I think you should calm down Ryan. You don't deserve this, but niether does Sam." Reggie cried. "Now let go, you're hurting me." She tried to kick him, but couldn't move her legs.

"No Reggie, this is hurting you." Ryan slapped her across the face. "That pain you feel is not even half of what Sam caused me over the years. Dad didn't even care less about me when I stuck up for him, all he wanted was full custody of a kid he hated anyway. All those shots and pills, wasting my life away in that hospital but all everyone every cares about is him!" Ryan threw Reggie against the car door.

Reggie wanted to open the car door and just run to the nearest house and call her father, the police, anyone who would listen but Ryan had started the car. Reggie started crying as she looked out the window. When they finally stopped, Ryan turned to her.

"Reggie I'm sorry. I'm just really stressed out. Wipe your eyes and don't mention anything to Sam." Ryan said. "This would only upset him more, and I know you don't want that for him."

-----

Twister walked across the street to see Otto. He managed to cover up his black eye with a pair of sunglasses. He saw Otto sitting by the garage. "Hey bro."

"Sorry Twist. How bad is your eye?" Otto asked, looking at the dark sunnies twister was wearing.

"It's nothing. I'm just wondering how you are." Twister at down beside him.

"Well, since it had been 48 hours, Raymundo filed a missing persons report last night. Wasn't as much of a madhouse as Sam's though." Otto explained. "I don't know if Reggie's ever coming home."

"What makes you say that?" Twister didn't like the tone of his friends voice, because it signalled that he knew something big.

"Well Mrs D came over yesterday. She told me all about Ryan's past. How he went mad and stayed in a hospital for a few years. Now Reggie and Sam are with him and the way I acted yesterday. I don't think they'll call again. I shouldn't have yelled at Sam, now we can't trace the calls or anything."

For once, Twister didn't have any idea what to do. "I wish I could help in some way. I only knew where the place was last time because of the old travel guides my mom keeps." Twister looked straight ahead. "I guess we just have to hope that they call again."

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