A/N: Yeah…so in case you haven't noticed by now, my creative juices come in spurts. Something along the lines of a watched pot never boils…Big Time Sick and In the Beginning are winning in the poll of which two stories you want me to focus on finishing first. Don't like that? Do something about it. Go to the poll on my profile page and vote.

Disclaimer: I own nothing…still…

In the Beginning

Grandma Mitchell just got released from the hospital. Carlos Garcia Sr. made sure she got home okay after taking Carlos and Logan to school. Having just had hip replacement surgery, Grandma Mitchell needed at the very least a cane in order to get around. The doctors and nurses insisted that she use a walker or wheelchair instead, but Grandma Mitchell wasn't having any of that.

"I could pick Logan up from school later today if you like," Officer Garcia said.

"No, no. That's okay. I'd like to surprise him myself if you wouldn't mind," Mrs. Mitchell replied.

"Okay, but if you change your mind…"

"I won't, but thanks. I can't even begin to thank you enough for all that you've done for me already."

"It was no problem at all. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call."

"I'll keep that in mind."

With one more glance over his shoulder to ensure that Grandma Mitchell really was okay, Officer Garcia left the Mitchell residence. A small smile appeared on his face as he thought about how independent and…stubborn…Grandma Mitchell was.

If Officer Garcia had been paying attention, he would have noticed someone parked in the street across from the Mitchell residence. This individual was in a stolen car and was carefully watching the interaction that had just taken place between Logan's grandma and Carlos' dad.

"This is going to be too easy," Dustin's dad commented with a sinister grin plastered on his face.

XXXXX

"Okay class, today we're going on a field trip," Ms. O'Haire announced.

The classroom erupted in a chorus of cheers, applause, and all-around excitement. James and Carlos both had the same idea; they ran over to Logan, grabbed one of his hands, and started pulling him behind them. James was going one way, and Carlos was going the other.

"I wanna sit by Logan on the bus!" James exclaimed.

"No, I wanna!" Carlos yelled back.

"You get to see him all day! I only get to see him here at school!"

"So?"

"So that's why I should get to sit by him!"

Logan looked back and forth from James to Carlos like the two of them were in the middle of a heated tennis match. He wanted to speak up and say something, but he didn't want to make matters worse. In the meantime, with the way his arms were being pulled, Logan felt like his shoulders would pop out of his sockets at any moment now.

"How about I sit with Carlos, and James sits with Logan?" Kendall suggested, approaching the three of them.

"I think that's a great idea!" James responded.

Kendall gave James a look that let him know that he wasn't doing this for his benefit. Carlos dropped Logan's hand and looked up at the ceiling, giving Kendall's idea some thought.

"Or how about I sit with Logan, and you three babies can do whatever you want?" Dustin said, inserting himself into the conversation.

"I'm not a baby!" Carlos retorted, eyes brimming with tears.

"How about you mind your own beeswax?" Kendall said to Dustin.

"Yeah! No one likes you!" James remarked.

"Will you stop that? Quit agreeing with me!" Kendall shouted, rounding on James.

James shrugged his shoulders innocently. He didn't like Kendall any more than Kendall liked him, but it just so happened that today, he was saying things that incidentally enough, he happened to agree with.

"You don't like me?" Dustin asked. "Big deal! Like I care!"

"Okay, what's going on here?" Ms. O'Haire said, walking over to the feuding boys.

"Everyone but me wants to sit next to Logie on the bus," Kendall answered.

Having heard what Kendall said, Logan frowned. Here he thought he and Kendall were starting to become friends. Apparently, Kendall didn't feel the same way. Logan didn't understand why Kendall didn't like him.

Ms. O'Haire, got down on Logan's level and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Logan, sweetie, who would you like to sit next to on the bus?" she inquired.

Logan looked from James to Carlos to Dustin nervously. He started stammering unintelligibly. He didn't want to make anyone mad, but only two people could fit to a bus seat. Three could fit, but it would be a really tight squeeze, and that might be uncomfortable for all three of them. Besides, someone would still be left out, and Logan didn't want to leave anyone out. Ideally, the bus seats should be circular so all three of them could sit next to Logan, but alas, they aren't circular…

"Kendall. Come on, Kendall! Let's go!" Logan exclaimed, grabbing Kendall's hand, and pulling him behind him.

The jaws of Carlos, James, and Dustin all dropped. That was the last thing they were expecting. Even Kendall looked like he wasn't sure what to make of this new development. After Logan, dragged Kendall out of the classroom, Carlos turned to James.

"Wanna sit next to me on the bus?" he asked.

"I guess," James answered rather unenthusiastically.

Dustin looked on as the two of them too left the classroom. He remained rooted in place for a few moments before he left the classroom as well, head hanging low, feet dragging behind him.

XXXXX

The doorbell to the Mitchell residence rang for a third consecutive time.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Grandma Mitchell shouted.

She opened the door, and found herself face-to-face with Dustin's dad.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"Where is he?" Dustin's father demanded, roughly brushing past Grandma Mitchell as he barged his way into the house.

Logan's grandma was barely able to keep herself upright. She thought this guy looked familiar, but she wasn't sure how she knew him. That came with the territory of having Alzheimer's. She knew faces, but couldn't put names to them, or vice versa.

"Where is who?" Grandma Mitchell asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, old lady!" Dustin's dad remarked.

Grandma Mitchell wrinkled her face in disgust. She could smell the alcohol on this guy's breath. Not to mention that his clothes seemed to be saturated in the unpleasant, overly powerful stench.

Using her walking cane, she hobbled up the stairs after Dustin's father. After he searched through all the rooms upstairs, coming up empty, he stood before the senior citizen who had just made it to the top of the stairs.

"This is the last time I'll ask you. Where is he?" he bellowed.

"Who? Logan?" Grandma Mitchell replied.

That wasn't the answer he had been hoping for, and with one violent shove, he sent Logan's grandma tumbling down the stairwell. She came to a stop at the bottom of the stairwell, her neck broken. Though she was dead, her eyes were wide open in terror.

XXXXX

The class had gone to a museum for their field trip. After about an hour of following Ms. O'Haire and their museum guide around, the five boys became bored, and decided to play a game of hide and seek instead. Well, the others didn't want to include Dustin, but Logan felt bad for him, and invited him to play with them.

"…eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Ready or not, here I come," Logan called out.

Carlos clamped a hand over his mouth in a last ditch effort to muffle his giggling. He hid behind the fossil of a brachiosaurus. It may not come as much of a surprise, but Carlos happened to be the closest to Logan's location.

Logan rolled his eyes as he could hear Carlos giggling nearby. It was obvious that Carlos wasn't very good at this game, but Logan figured this didn't bother Carlos the slightest bit. He peeked his head around the corner, and Carlos took off running. Logan gave chase.

Carlos ran into the men's restroom, and clambered into one of the stalls. Just as he shut the door to the stall, Logan entered the restroom. Little did either boy know that they weren't the only one in the restroom; Dustin's dad was as well.

"Come out, come out wherever you are," Logan said in a singsong voice. "I know you're in here, Carlos! I saw you run in here!"

Carlos was perched on top of the toilet, his feet dangling over the sides. He clamped both hands over his mouth. He was making sure that he didn't accidentally flush the toilet. That would only give him away.

Logan felt a hand cover his mouth out of nowhere. He tried to scream out, but his screams were muffled. His unknown assailant had scooped Logan up into the air with ease, and had an arm wrapped securely around his waist. Logan kicked his feet and thrashed about.

Dustin's father reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a tranquilizer. He plunged the syringe into Logan's neck, and the effect was immediate. He quietly laid Logan down on the bathroom floor, and hid himself from view once more.

Carlos started to get worried when he couldn't hear Logan anymore. It was one thing for Logan to not be saying anything, but Carlos didn't hear Logan moving around at all, and that concerned Carlos. He opened up the stall.

"Logie, are you okay?" Carlos asked in a scared voice.

After taking but a few steps, Carlos saw Logan sprawled out on the floor as still as could be. Carlos quickly kneeled down beside his friend, grabbed him firmly by the shoulders, and shook him.

"Logie, wake up! What happened?" Carlos cried out.

That's when Carlos felt something prick him in the neck, and the next thing he knew, his eyelids were heavy, and he too found himself unconscious. Dustin's father stuffed both syringes back into his jacket pocket. He walked over to the window and opened it. He returned to Carlos and Logan, scooping one boy up in each of his arms, and exited out the window.

XXXXX

As luck would have it, James happened to be hiding in the women's restroom right next door. He thought he heard Carlos' voice a little bit ago. He groaned as he left his hiding place. He had been waiting in the girls' restroom for what seemed like an eternity, and Logan still hadn't found him. Either he sucked at playing hide and seek, or he just wasn't trying very hard.

James left the women's restroom, and decided to see if Carlos was in the men's restroom still. He got down on his hands and knees, and peeked under each stall, but Carlos was nowhere to be found.

"Carlos?" James called out, just to be sure.

James received no answer. A part of him wanted to think nothing of it, but another part of him had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was horribly wrong here.

Kendall entered the restroom.

"There you are, James! The teacher's been lookin' for you. The field trip's over. Time to head back," Kendall said.

"You haven't seen Carlos or Logan, have you?" James asked.

"No. I got sick of waitin' for Logan to come find me. Why do you ask?"

James contemplated telling Kendall that he heard Carlos' voice come from the bathroom a little while back, but he decided not to tell him. It was probably nothing. He was probably just overreacting.

"It's nothing," James answered.

XXXXX

Logan woke up, and immediately went into sensory overload. He noticed a bunch of different things all at the same time. One of the first things he noticed was that it was really cold wherever he was. Another thing he noticed was that there were frozen slabs of meat hanging from the ceiling. Yet another thing he noticed was Carlos lying on the floor a few feet away from him. He knelt down beside him, and shook him.

"Carlos, wake up!" Logan urged.

Carlos cracked his eyes open. He wrapped his arms around himself as a shiver coursed through his small frame.

"Where are we?" Carlos asked. He was both amazed and scared when he could see his own breath when he talked.

"Dunno, but we gotta get out of here!" Logan replied, before abruptly leaving Carlos' side.

"Whatcha doin'?" Carlos asked, not wanting to be left alone.

"Lookin' for a door. There's gotta be one somewhere!"

Carlos trailed behind Logan. The older boy's eyes lit up in excitement upon spotting one. He ran over to it eagerly. He slid a bit on the floor, and would have fallen, if Carlos hadn't grabbed him by the arm and steadied him.

"Thanks!" Logan said, smiling in gratitude at Carlos.

Logan was perplexed when there wasn't so much as a handle or a knob on the door. He tried pushing on the door, but it wouldn't budge. Carlos helped pushing too, but even through their combined effort, it still wouldn't open. Logan pounded his fist on the door repeatedly.

"Help! Is someone out there? We're trapped!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Carlos tugged on the sleeve of Logan's t-shirt.

"I'm scared," Carlos said.

"I am too, Carlos. I am too," Logan replied.

To Be Continued…

A/N: I'm so evil…Well, actually Dustin's dad is. This is me deflecting the blame…