Chapter 51~Emma

"So, you coming over tonight?" I asked Arron over the phone. It'd been Dan's suggestion that we got together; we hadn't seen each other all week, and all of us were missing him.

"As soon as I can," Arron promised.

I sighed, "Ok, gotta go; school calls,"

Arron snickered, "Is my hearing going wrong? Did I just hear Emma say the word School without enthusiasm? Are you sure this isn't Anna?"

"Anna is standing right next to me laughing so hard at your very funny statement," I told Arron, and Anna grinned at me.

Arron chuckled, "Well, see you tonight then, Anna- sorry- Emma!"

"Bye, Gabby- sorry- Arron,"

"Oh come on! I sound nothing like Gabby!" Arron moaned.

"Quit moaning Arron, you sound even more like her when you moan!" I grinned.

I could practically hear Arron rolling his eyes. "Yeah, see you sis," He told me.

"Bye Arron," I said, then hung up.

"Come on!" Gabby yelled at us from down the corridor. Elizabeth was with her, as well as Andrew and Dan.

"Coming!" I yelled, and scooped up my shoulder bag.

Anna followed suit and we headed down the corridor. We walked to school together, and everyone messed around. Anna even accepted a dare to go down and lie in the middle of the road. She got out of the way of a car just in time.

Dan grinned, "Good thing you rolled out of the way," He told Anna, helping her brush the mud off her clothes, "otherwise it would have put an end to a really funny game of Truth or Dare!"

I glared at them, "It already has put an end to the game," I told him.

Anna sighed dramatically. "Well that sucks!"

"Ya think?" Dan replied.

"Well, Emma does have a point, Anna nearly got herself killed," Andrew said.

I was so astounded that someone had actually agreed with me on something that I nearly tripped up and fell onto the road myself. My moment of surprise had gone unnoticed, though, and Anna was talking now.

"Nearly, being the operative word in that sentence! I didn't get killed, so it doesn't count as being dangerous," She argued.

Dan shifted uncomfortably, "Well, we can't carry on now; we're here,"

I looked up and saw we'd arrived. I also saw Anna looking uncomfortable. I looked around for the source of Anna and Dan's uneasiness, and spotted a guy heading over to us.

"Great," Muttered Anna.

"What's up with him?" I asked.

Anna shook her head, "Tell you later, ok?"

I nodded just as the boy reached us. He smiled slightly at me, but was mainly looking at Anna.

"Hi again," He told her.

"Hi," Her monosyllabic answer made me grin; Anna clearly disliked this guy.

"So, you guys walk to school?" He asked us all.

"Uh huh! More exercise and stuff!" Gabby cheered.

"My dad drives me here, saves time, and it's a lot easier,"

"Good on you," Anna muttered, and anyone who knew her could understand the part she left off; now fuck off you lazy git!

He shrugged, "Well, see you later," He announced and walked off.

"Weirdo," Anna glowered at him.

"I am so with you there," Elizabeth muttered, looking after the guy suspiciously.

"Yup, anyone who doesn't like walking is weird!" Gabby agreed.

"Hey! I don't like walking, and I'm not weird," Anna protested.

"Yes you are," We all grinned.

Chapter 52

Jeremy watched as the six of them left the school. He decided that he would follow them back to the orphanage, and try to grasp their daily routine. Who knows, he might even spot a golden opportunity. He set off at a very slow jog, about 50 metres behind the group.

As they arrived at the orphanage, he spotted the 3 girls run ahead of the group and throw themselves at a tall dark figure. He flipped through the notes he'd made on them. 3 girls, 1 boy. He guessed that the figure was their brother. He watched them walk in together, and grinned. By the looks of it, their brother had either walked or caught the bus here; it would be easy to catch him off guard if that was the case, and no one would be watching out for him in particular. He sat down on a bench a few metres away from the house and began to form a plan in his head.

Chapter 53~Anna

Arron was waiting for us outside the orphanage when we arrived. I grinned up at him and hugged him hard.

"Woah, anyone would've thought you guys had actually missed me!" He exclaimed, hugging the three of us back.

"We did!" Gabby protested.

"Lies!" Arron dismissed, grinning.

"Whatevs," I told him, smiling back, "It's good to see you again Arron!"

"Yeah, the same can't be said for me; I've been dreading having to see you guys again all week," Arron grinned, ruffling my hair.

"Like Emma said this morning, I'm laughing so hard at your very funny statement, Arron," I told him, and Emma grinned.

We walked inside the orphanage laughing.

Arron stayed for tea, and we told him all about our 'exciting adventures' that involved playing hide and seek, and playing monopoly. Neither Emma nor I said anything about CHERUB. Dan, Andrew and Elizabeth hung out with us too, since they had nothing else to do, and Dan managed to convince us all to play yet another game of monopoly, which he consequently won. Overall, by the time we had finished, it was dark outside and, we were all getting tired. Arron stood up and hugged us all.

"I'd better get going," He announced.

"Come on then, I'll show you to the door, since otherwise, you'll get hopelessly lost," I told him, and we stood up together. Dan, Andrew and Elizabeth said goodnight to us all and headed out too.

When we got to the front door I hugged Arron once more, and waved him off, "Come round next week, ok?" I yelled at him.

He grinned back at me as he walked out of the drive, "Sure, see you all next week!"

I smiled and turned to go back in, when, suddenly, I heard a shout of surprise and some squealing tyres, then a steady whine of a car enigne that was getting further and further away.

"Arron?" I shouted, worried. I couldn't hear any reply, so I ran out of the drive, barefoot and all.

"Arron?" I yelled even louder.

The street was empty; no one was in 100 metres of the place.

"Arron?" I screamed, panicking. What was going on? What had happened? I heard someone running up behind me, but I couldn't look to check who.

"Arron!" I cried, "Arron!"

I looked down the empty street once more, and, suddenly, I had doubts that I would see Arron again at all, let alone next week.

Chapter 54

Dan had slipped downstairs to see Jennifer, a few seconds after Anna and Arron had headed off to the door. He reckoned they couldn't exactly get stabbed or anything, right on the porch of the orphanage.

He'd just got into Jennifer's office, when he heard a shout. Jennifer looked up immediately.

"You didn't leave any of them on their own, did you?" She snapped, and he didn't need to ask who. He turned on the spot and sprinted to the entrance hall of the orphanage, Jennifer right behind him.

"Arron?"

He could hear Anna yelling and her running to the end of the drive.

"Arron?"

Dan flung open the door and saw Anna at the end of the drive, barefoot, looking up and down the street frantically.

"Arron?"

He ran up to her, but she didn't turn round. "Arron! Arron!"

He bit his lip. "Anna...?"

Anna shook her head, checked the street again, and then started to run down it. Dan caught up with her easily, and he grabbed her wrist.

"Anna! Calm down! What's going on?"

Anna shook her head again, and he saw tears on her cheeks. She pulled her arm, trying to run off again, but Dan made sure he had a tight hold.

"Arron!" She screamed desperately, ignoring his question.

Dan turned to see Jennifer, Emma, Gabby, Andrew and Elizabeth running out of the drive. Great; the whole crew was here.

"Anna, calm down, what happened?" He asked her, but she just continued to pull at her hand and look around frantically. "He can't have gone! He can't have!" She muttered.

"Who can't have?" Dan asked.

Jennifer took Anna's other hand, and bent down to look at her properly. "Anna," She said gently, "What happened? Where's Arron?"

Anna sobbed loudly, and looked down the street again, and Dan was suddenly edgy; it was dark, they were attracting a lot of attention and they were in the middle of the street. Anything could happen.

"Jennifer, I think we should probably go back inside," He said firmly, as Emma and Gabby raced over.

Emma looked from Dan to Jennifer to Anna and planted her hands on her hips, "What's going on?" She demanded.

Dan and Jennifer began to speak, but Anna interrupted them, "It's Arron," She sobbed, "He's gone,"

Chapter 55~Emma

Anna was hysterical by the time we got her inside. After her sudden announcement, she didn't say anything else. Jennifer led her into her office and sat her down on a chair. Gabby and I wanted to stay with Anna, but Jennifer insisted that we left. I was worried about Arron, but figured he'd be fine; Anna might have said he was gone, but until we figured out what the hell she meant, I was gonna go out on a limb and say that he was fine.

Gabby and I got ready for bed, and Gabby fell asleep pretty much instantly, but I lay awake, unable to get any sleep. After a while, I heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I called out quietly.

"Andrew," Andrew called back.

"Come in," I sighed.

Andrew slipped into the room and sat down opposite me, on Anna's bed. In the dim light of my bedside lamp, I could barely see his face.

"Sorry," He muttered, "I couldn't sleep, and figured you'd probably be the same. Elizabeth was snoring about half an hour ago,"

"Yeah," I sighed again and looked back to the door."Did you hear anything more about Anna?"

Andrew shook his head, "I haven't heard Dan go back up to his room either, so I think he's with her,"

I frowned, "How come Dan gets to sit with her when I can't?" I demanded.

Andrew smiled slightly, "You realise someone has to look after Gabby, and, as much as you might hate it, that person's gotta be you. Dan is Anna's best friend, so, he's the next best thing,"

"But Gabby's asleep now, so why can't I go down and see Anna?" I countered.

Andrew shook his head, "How do you think Gabby would feel if she woke up and found no you, and no Anna. Especially after what Anna said about Arron,"

I shook my head stubbornly, "Anna was hysterical, she didn't know what she was saying,"

Andrew sighed, "Emma," He said cautiously, "What do you think made Anna hysterical?"

I hated it, but he was right. The more I thought about it, the more it fitted. Anna had been yelling Arron's name, and, if Arron had been there, he would have come back, wouldn't he?

"That's it!" I said, frustrated. I picked up my mobile and dialled Arron's number.

"What are you doing?" Hissed Andrew.

"I'm calling Arron!" I hissed back.

I could hear the rings now. 1 ring. 2 rings. 3 rings. Suddenly, the rings cut off. I took my phone away from my ear. Arron had ignored my phone call. I frowned. I didn't think that Arron had ever ignored a phone call in his life, let alone from his sister!

Andrew gently took the phone off me and put it on the table beside my bed. I stared at the phone. "He... he didn't answer," I whispered.

Andrew looked away. "He probably was only half awake; it's four in the morning Emma,"

"Right," I muttered, feeling exhausted. I slumped against the wall, "Night Andrew,"

"Night, Emma," Andrew told me, but I noticed that he made no move to leave the room, I wondered why for a second, but gave up and just curled up in bed and fell asleep.

Chapter 56

Dan sat next to Anna on the sofa, and patted her back while she cried. Elizabeth had slipped out a while ago to get to bed; one of them had to stick with Gabby and Emma tomorrow, and make sure that nothing happened to them. Andrew looked up from his seat at the desk. He'd been talking to Meryl for the best part of the hour, and Anna was so out of it that she hadn't even noticed. Jennifer was on Anna's other side, talking to her soothingly.

"One of us is gonna have to watch over Emma and Gabby, make sure no one tries to pull another stunt with with them while we're distracted," Andrew told them.

Dan nodded, Once Anna had calmed down slightly, she'd told them what had happened. Although she hadn't seen any of it, it was a good enough recount to tell them that Arron had been kidnapped. Neither Jennifer nor Meryl gave out any information about who, but Dan suspected they knew exactly who it had been.

Andrew seemed to realise that no one else could watch over the two girls but him, and he grimaced. "Any good excuses for being in their room?" He asked.

Dan shrugged, "Your room is the one above and you fell through the floor on your sleep, and landed in their room?"

Andrew rolled his eyes, "Great excuse Dan,"

"My pleasure,"

Andrew got up and headed out of the room.

Anna slumped suddenly and Dan looked up to see Jennifer standing up, still holding what looked suspiciously like a needle.

"Anna's had a shock; she needs some sleep, and so do we. We also need to sort out what we're going to do about Arron," Jennifer announced. Dan nodded, and got up off the sofa. He rearranged Anna so that she was lying down comfortably on the sofa, before heading over to the desk with Jennifer. Meryl was waiting for them, on the computer, and she looked stressed out and sleep deprived.

"What do you think has happened to Arron?" Dan asked Meryl.

"I have no way of knowing, but I suspect that it will be somewhat unpleasant,"

Dan frowned, "I'm not sure that we'll always be able to be there for Emma and Anna and Gabby, Meryl," He told her honestly, "Especially since we have no clue who these people are, or why they want Arron, and Emma, and Gabby, and Anna,"

Meryl nodded, "I understand, Dan, and we have been planning to take the three girls to CHERUB as an emergency, encase something went wrong,"

"So, when are you gonna take them to CHERUB?" Dan demanded.

"Not quite yet, nothing has gone too disastrously wrong yet," Meryl told him.

Dan glared at her in disgust, "Their brother has been kidnapped literally right under our noses, and nothing 'disastrously wrong' has happened yet?" He asked incredulously.

Meryl glowered at him, "Daniel Whitness, do not use that tone of voice with me,"

Dan stared right back at her, "Jeez, sorry mum, next time, please do explain to me; exactly when do we count this mission as gone 'disastrously wrong'? When one of them has disappeared, or when all of them have?"

And with that, Dan stood up and marched out of the room. He couldn't believe what Meryl had just told him. It made him think, was she really all that bothered if four kids got taken? Did it matter to her at all?

Chapter 56~Emma

Anna still hadn't come up when I woke up in the morning. At some point during the night, Andrew must have gone back upstairs, because he wasn't in our room anymore. I shook Gabby awake and we headed downstairs. Dan and Andrew met us going down, and both of them had massive bags under their eyes.

I went straight over to Dan. "How's Anna,"

Dan looked up and smiled wearily, "She's fine now. Jennifer had to give her something to calm her down. She's sleeping it off now,"

I let out a relieved breath. "Good," I muttered, then, feeling bitchy, asked, "How are you? You look exhausted,"

Dan grinned harder, "Why thank you, Emma, I feel loved,"

I rolled my eyes, and Dan continued, "Actually, I am exhausted. I think I stayed up pretty much all night,"

Andrew came up behind us, "I think the only ones that got any sleep at all were Gabby and Elizabeth,"

I nodded, "Looks a lot like it,"

Gabby had gone ahead into the dining room, and she and Elizabeth were talking to each other with enthusiasm.

We headed over to their table and collapsed into the other chairs. Elizabeth looked us up and down. Finally she spoke, "Dan, are you sure it's the best thing to come into school? You look like you could collapse," There was a hidden meaning in those words, but I couldn't figure out what. I stared between them suspiciously.

Andrew got up, "We may as well join the breakfast queue before they stop serving," He announced. Gabby and I got up and followed him to the end of the queue, but Dan and Elizabeth stayed behind, talking quickly and quietly.

Andrew caught my gaze and grinned, "Those two clearly have something on their minds. I thought it was best we left them to it, give them some space,"

I smiled, "Suppose so,"

A few seconds Dan got up and headed over to join us.

"Elizabeth's keeping the table for us," He announced.

"Fine with me," Gabby replied as she reached the counter and immediately piled her plate high, "Note to self; the food at school just does not cut it,"

I rolled my eyes, picked up a few slices of toast before heading back to the table. Elizabeth smiled up at me as I sat down. "You look really bad,"

I shrugged, "Unlike some people, I got some sleep, so I'm better off than them,"

Elizabeth grinned at me, "Don't think that I can't see you yawning Emma!" She mock scolded.

I shrugged and yawned outright. Andrew sat down beside me and yawned too.

"Quit yawning!" Dan complained, "You're making me want to yawn!"

"Yeah!" Gabby complained, plonking a massive plate of food.

"At least Dan has an excuse to yawn," I pointed out to her.

Gabby scowled, "So? I have an excuse to complain!"

"And anyway," Elizabeth cut in, "Dan's taking the day off school,"

I looked up in surprise, and saw Dan grimace at Elizabeth, who stared back patronisingly.

Dan gave up, and glanced away, "Yeah, I guess, I'm really tired anyway,"

Andrew glanced at his watch and stood up, "Come on, you guys, we're gonna be late!"

Gabby sighed and looked longingly at the remains of her food, "We need to start eating earlier," She muttered.

We arrived at school with minutes to spare, and, after dropping Gabby and Elizabeth off at their various form rooms, Andrew and I headed to our own. We grabbed our usual seats at the back of the class seconds before the teacher came in. I yawned again and leaned on the back of my chair. This was gonna be a hard, long, immensely boring day, especially after what was happening back at the orphanage...

Chapter 57~Emma

We got home later than usual, after having to practically drag Gabby away from school; they'd been doing cooking. Anna and Dan were waiting for us by the door. Anna smiled and hugged us both, but didn't say much else. Dan was every bit as subdued too.

"Don't worry, Anna, I've got all of your work with me," I teased her.

Anna groaned, but didn't say anything. I glanced at Dan, who made a face, "She's been like this all day," He muttered to me as I went past.

I bit my lip and looked Anna, who was trudging up the stairs in front of us.

"Dude, the word 'subdued' is way too much of an understatement for Anna," Gabby whispered to me as we followed Anna up the stairs.

I smiled down at Gabby, "Ya think?"

The other three were whispering furiously behind our backs, but I decided to leave them to it; I was more worried about Anna.

Dan pulled me to one side as the others went into the room.

"About Arron..." He started, biting his lip and looking down.

"What is it?" I sighed.

"The school rang up a few hours ago. He didn't go to school today, and, when they rang the mate he was staying with, he apparently didn't go home last night, either," Dan burst out.

I felt the blood drain from my face. "So, so it's true then, isn't it, what Anna said last night?" I slipped down onto the floor, my legs no longer able to hold my weight. "Oh God," I muttered.

Where was Arron now, I thought, what had happened to him? If he'd been kidnapped, then why?

Dan attempted a smile, "Come on," He said, offering me his hand, "Gabby will wonder where you've got to,"

I grabbed his outstretched hand and hauled myself back up. I know why Anna is acting so glum now, I thought to myself, as I entered our room. And although I was smiling as I walked up to Gabby, I felt hollow inside.

Chapter 59

Dan watched Anna and Emma carefully the next morning. Neither girl seemed to have got much sleep, he decided, and, although Emma joined in the conversation as regularly as possible, Anna didn't say a word. He frowned, and wondered how long Anna's word strike was going to last.

Breakfast went quickly, and slightly awkwardly, and Dan realised that they usually relied on Anna to give them something to talk about. Take away Anna, and we're left with a bunch of people with no clue what to do. He decided he now had new respects for anyone who could make a conversation flow as quickly and as easily as Anna could.

The walk to school was much the same; a few attempts to start a conversation that lasted less than a minute.

By the time they all arrived at school, the atmosphere was gloomy and miserable. Dan sighed and looked around the form room as they entered. He stiffened as he saw Jeremy grinning at them knowingly, and his uneasy feeling about the boy seemed to double.

Dan glanced once more at Anna and made a mental note to tell her to snap out of it at lunchtime. She was starting to look worryingly depressed.

The lessons passed slowly, with no Anna whispering jokes in his ear, and messing around with him while they were supposed to be working. Just when Dan was about to scream in frustration, the lunch bell rang, and there was a massive wave of noise as 30 kids jumped out of their chairs and headed to the door. Dan waited for a few minutes for Anna to get up, then he realised she wasn't going to.

"C'mon, Anna, get up," He prodded her.

Anna sighed and pushed back her chair.

"Are you ever going to talk again, or has your tongue been cut out?" Dan demanded.

Anna shrugged, and Dan scowled. He shot a desperate look at Andrew, who shrugged and glanced at Emma, who was standing meekly next to him, as if to say; don't look at me, I've got problems of my own.

The 4 of them headed down the corridor to the lunch hall and grabbed some food and a table. Emma volunteered to grab some knives and forks, and she dragged Anna along after her. As soon as Dan and Andrew were out of ear shot, he could see her talking to Anna. Dan sighed and turned back to Andrew.

"Looks like Emma's at least trying to snap out of it," He told him.

"Yeah, that's better than both of them mooching round like depressed mourners." Andrew smiled.

Dan looked up to see Jeremy walk over to their table. Dan could see his arrogant smile from 10 metres away.

"How are Anna and Emma?" Jeremy asked as he got closer, but his tone indicated that he, quite frankly, couldn't care less about either of them. Jeremy grinned, "Are they missing their precious Arron?" He taunted.

Dan's head snapped up, "What?" He demanded. "What do you know about Arron?"

Andrew was glaring at Jeremy too, and the hatred that showed on both of the boy's faces was crystal clear to Jeremy, but it didn't bother him.

"Why do you want to know? Does your oh-so-secret crime-busting organization not know what's happening? Or maybe they do, Dan, maybe they're just not telling you," Jeremy sneered, and Dan clenched his fists.

"What do you know about us?" He snarled back.

Jeremy grinned, "Enough. Your here to look after Anna and Emma, aren't you?"

Jeremy didn't wait for a reply; he knew he was right. His dad had told him all about this stupid crime stopping agency that used kids last night. He knew all he needed to know, but he wanted to make sure Dan and Andrew knew it too.

"You know," He leaned close up to Dan, "You won't always be able to protect them, and that one day you don't, we'll be waiting, and Anna and Emma will play right. Into. Our. Hands." He finished, grinning triumphantly.

Dan wanted to smack the idiot until he was black and blue, but before he could even get up, Jeremy looked behind him.

"Better go, wouldn't want your girlfriends finding out our little secrets, would we?" And he stood up and walked away.

Emma and Anna sat back down, and Emma looked at the astonished, infuriated faces of the two boys, "What just happened?" She asked nervously.

Something very, really, incredibly bad, Dan wanted to say, but one look at Anna's depressed face shut him up. It probably wasn't the best thing to tell them that they knew who had taken Arron...

ooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhh Jeremy knows about CHERUB, not good! Arron's dissapeared, Anna's majorly depressed and no one has a clue what to do...

things certainly aren't going well for Anna and Emma!