A 20-year-old man secured his cap over his head, hiding any of his hair that could possibly stick out. He tightly wrapped his leather jacket around him, securing the bag of drugs he had hidden. He was waiting patiently in an alley for his buyer. But he was getting impatient.

Another man walked into the alley. The sharp suit and slicked black hair didn't fool this drug dealer; the man was addicted and losing all of his money, fast. He was just like all of the clients: soon-to-be failures trying to hide behind an addictive escape.

The suited man pulled something out of his jacket pocket: a wad of cash. He tossed it to the capped man, who in turn tossed the drugs to the waiting customer. They both nodded to each other and then went their separate ways. That's how it always was.

Once the dealer reached a warehouse, he quietly went inside, ignoring the snickers and whispers that his presence started up. He went into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Do you have to be so loud?" another man groaned from his bed.

The two shared the room together, orders from their boss. The standing man pulled the cap from his head and smirked.

"Anything to annoy you," he said, chucking the hat at the man in the left bed.

The man yelped in shock and shot up, glaring daggers. "Don't test me, Jack. Or I will tell the Boss about your little 'adventure' into town the other day." Jack felt his face go more pale, if that was even possible. The other man, Joe, only smirked, laying back down.

Jack was a hostage, in everyone's opinion. His full name? Jackson Nathaniel Frost. Joe lured him away from protection 3 years now, kidnapping him at 17, bringing him here. Now Jack was stuck here unless and until he paid off his late father's debt to the drug lord that resided here, Pitch Black. And how was he doing that?

By selling drugs.

The rules were simple when he went to meet a client:

1. Go there, and come straight back.

2. Don't talk.

3. Don't let anyone see your hair.

His hair would be a dead giveaway to who he was. Not a lot of albino kids went missing because they'd be so easy to find with their white hair. He could only imagine what his parents, siblings, and friends were going through after all this time. Every day, he wondered if they gave up on him.

Jack had snuck into Burgess to watch his now 13-year-old brother, Jamie, play in a school baseball game. And the kid was pretty good. Sophie, who was now 8, was always cheering from the sidelines. Jack's mother, Annabelle, and stepfather, Jeremiah, always sat there with smiles, but made no noise.

Jack had heard from Joe that Bunny, Tooth, North, and Sandy had all graduated and were now going to the same college together, somewhere in Virginia. Jack hoped they weren't staying close by because of him.

Jack plopped onto his bed and looked at his few pictures he had taped to the wall, the ones he had had in his pocket when brought here for the first time 3 years ago. He let his fingers glide over them, bringing up happy memories. He smiled when they landed on a special picture.

"Happy birthday, Mom."

Annabelle sat in silence. As much as she was trying to enjoy her birthday, she was always hoping, with each passing day, some news of Jack's whereabouts would come up. The police promised they'd keep an eye out, but it had been 3 years now. Most police gave up by then. But she refused to think her son was gone for good.

When the phone rang, Jeremiah shot up to answer it. After a minute of hushed talking, he handed the phone to Annabelle with a huge smile on his face. She looked at him for a moment, confused, then took the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Bennett?"

"This is she."

"This is Detective Bowers, from the Burgess Police Department," a man spoke.

"Ah, yes," Annabelle smiled. "You're that nice fellow that joined about 3 years back, yes?"

"Yeah," Bowers confirmed. "And I have a birthday present for you. I hope it's enough."

"Ok," Annabelle chuckled. "And what might that be?"

"I think I've got a lead on Jack."

Bunny scribbled madly in his notebook, trying to make sense of all of these crazy algebra equations. He hated math; he much preferred a paint brush, a canvas, and an open imagination. North, his college roommate and life-long best friend, sat on the other side of the room, humming a Christmas tune while typing away on his laptop. He was working on a English report.

There was a hurried knock at the door, tapped out in a pattern.

"Come on in, friend!" North hollered. "We are just studying!"

The door opened to Sandy, another life-long friend. He bounded in with his own algebra book and pencil in hand.

"Join the club, mate," Bunny chuckled.

Sandy quickly plopped down next to him and began looking at what Bunny had done so far. After another 15 minutes, Tooth bounded into the room, laptop in arms.

"I can't be in my dorm room anymore," she groaned, plopping down next to Bunny on his other side. Laying her head against his shoulder, she sighed. He smiled sadly to her.

"Let me guess," he commented. "Your roommate brought her business boyfriend there again."

"Yes," Tooth sighed. "And they were making out when I left. Who knows what they're doing now." Her nose scrunched up in disgust. "Last time I came back, the room smelled like all of these awful drugs."

A phone buzzing cut Tooth off. North picked up his cell, looking at it before smiling. "Ah, is friend Jamie!"

"Oh?" Bunny asked. "And what's up with him?"

North read before replying to the text, the replying to his friends, "Says he has good news he wishes to share."

After a minute, his phone buzzed again, and after reading the text, his eyes got wide.

"North?" Tooth asked. "What's wrong?"

He looked to his friends with wide eyes, fighting back tears.

"Jamie says ... Cops found lead for Jack."

"I know you're excited mate, but bloody hell, slow down before you kill us all!"

"Sorry," North blushed, tapping on his break pedal.

Tooth and Sandy sat quietly in the backseat, unsure of what to think of the situation. It was an hour drive to Burgess from their college, but it felt like so much longer to the group of friends. Their fifth member, Jack Frost, had been missing for a little over 3 years now. Everyone knew he was most likely taken by drug lord Pitch Black, but because no one could find Pitch, no one could find Jack. They could only imagine the horrors Jack had gone through in the past 3 years.

Even when the Burgess exit finally came into view, they all found it was still hard for them to breathe. They wanted Jack back so badly, and they didn't want this lead to just be nothing. They'd had enough disappointing leads from undedicated police officers grabbing at straws.

This detective, however, seemed really dedicated in finding and bringing Jack home safely. Detective Michael Bowers joined the police force right before Jack went missing. When he heard that Pitch might be involved, he immediately dedicated himself to the case. Jeremiah had eventually asked Michael what had him so committed: Michael had answered that he lost a sister to Pitch's father; he wasn't going to let us lose Jack.

The group finally made it to the police station where they saw the Bennett's van parked out front. They hurried themselves inside to the Bennett's side and waited for Detective Bowers to call them back. He eventually did, leading them to a private office, locking the door and closing blinds behind them.

"You know I don't want to get your hopes up over nothing," he started, sitting in his seat. "And I don't want to be grasping at straws, but I think this is a pretty solid lead. There's a CEO who was recently fired from a big business here in town. He confessed that he was stealing the company's money to buy drugs - and he confessed to buying from Pitch Black."

The entire group seemed to lighten up at the sound of that.

"He's agreed to go to a fake pickup with us," Michael continued. "He says the same person comes every time. Never talks, always wearing a cap. He's really pale, so he thinks it may be Jack."

"You mean," Annabelle frowned. "That Pitch is forcing Jack to be a part of his business?"

"Possibly," Michael answered. "Probably every drug he sells goes towards paying off Joshua's debt." He clasped his hands together. "We've already set up cameras in the alley, so you can watch from here, at the station. It's happening tomorrow night. If this works, Jack will be coming home."

Annabelle and Tooth broke down crying.