Chapter eleven
Abi walked into the control room. "Ethaniel, anything?" she asked.
"No, not yet. I'm sorry. The address they gave at the company, is false, it does not exist. And these people are, well according to all the records they do not exist either. But I'm not about to give up; they were here means they exist. I'm trying a few connections I have, in and out Hirsh industries. I'll find them Abi. I promise."
"Thanks," was all she could say, and went back to her office. Ben looked at her a question in his look. She nodded no, and he went back to his call. He also was trying to raise some help from old friends. He had several friends, none of them his police colleagues, patrolling the streets looking for the car.
It was 10:30pm almost 14 hours since the kidnapping, and there was still no sign of the car. Ethaniel was also no where near finding these people. Ben told his friends to call it a night and start the search again at dawn the next day. Ethaniel refused to let go of his attempts. He would sit there all night if he has to, and work on finding these damn people.
Abi and Ben left her office sitting in the living room holding on to each other. They both felt helpless and restless, but there was nothing more they could do at this point. They heard a knock on the door. "Probably more reporters Ben. Forget it."
"I'll go check, I'll be right back." He looked through the peephole and was surprised. Derek and Nick were standing there. He opened the door and greeted them warmly.
Derek squeezed Ben's shoulder and asked, "How is Abi holding up?"
"As well as can be expected," he said, then thinking for a minute and saying, "Actually she is devastated. I'm afraid. I don't think she had a chance to tell you, but she is pregnant. I'm afraid the stress will hurt her and the baby."
"Where is she?" asked Nick.
"Living room," said Ben. "Sorry, I'm letting you stand out here like this, come on in."
They came in, dropped their bags on the floor, and headed to the living room. Abi raised her head expecting it to be Ben when she saw her father and Nick. She got off the couch ran and fell into her father's arms.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" she asked. "Never mind, I'm so happy you are." Then she turned over to look at Nick, left her father's embrace and hugged him tight. "Thank you for coming," she whispered in his ear.
"You think we will let you go through this alone dear?" asked Nick kissing her cheek. "Is there anything you can inform us of. Any news, ransom request, anything."
"No. Nothing yet, but we are, and we have other people working on it. I'm afraid there is nothing more we can do tonight," said Abi.
She felt her head pounding. The pain was unbearable. "Ben, can you get me some pain killers? Oh actually forget it. I can't take any drugs, not in my condition." She moaned and headed for the sofa lying there, her eyes shut.
Ben positioned himself behind her, raising her head so she would lean against his chest instead of the hard sofa. He massaged her temples trying to ease the pain. Suddenly he realized neither one of them had anything to eat or drink since last night. No wonder she was feeling so sick. He asked Nick to go in the kitchen and ask the housekeeper to fix them some light dinner.
Nick did so and not long after, Edna came in carrying a tray with plenty of sandwiches tea and coffee for all four of them. And also some fresh orange juice for Abi.
Ben practically had to force Abi to eat and drink. She was reluctant, saying she's not hungry.
"Abi, if not for your sake, eat for our baby. Please love," he asked of her.
She looked at him and forced herself to eat one of the sandwiches. And drank two glasses of juice.
Abi was very tired, and soon fell asleep although a restless one. Ben carried her upstairs to they're room, Derek and Nick following him. He showed them their rooms on the way and continued to his and Abi's room. He lowered her little figure onto the bed. She was still dressed but he feared he would wake her so just let her sleep like that, then climbed up to bed next to her and held on to her surrounding her with his arms, soon falling asleep as well, although he didn't expect to.
2am
Abi had a strange feeling. She felt as if someone was calling out her name. She got out of bed and out the room. It was not a sound but a feeling that drew her out. She suddenly saw her father out as well.
"Dad, can you feel it too?" she asked.
"Yes, I can. What is it?"
"I don't know. Shell we go check? I think it's coming from the control room," said Abi.
She walked down the stairs Derek beside her. When they reached the control room she deactivated the security system, since it did not have her father's data. Ethaniel was inside his head on the control panels. He must have fallen asleep while working.
"Ethaniel," she called touching his shoulder.
"What? What's wrong?" he woke up startled.
"Go to bed dear friend. You can continue in the morning. I need you to be awake and focused when we find them," said Abi.
Reluctant he left Abi and Derek in the control room. Abi felt a slight hum coming from the box they received from the museum. She opened it and an amazing bright light filled the room. Inside the box was a medium sized pyramid, and it was glowing.
"What in god's name is that?" asked Derek.
"I don't know dad, but this is what was calling us."
"It's afternoon in San Francisco, I'll call Alex, give her a description and ask her to see if she can find anything about it," said Derek.
"Ok," was Abi's reply as she approached the pyramid, and took it out of the box.
"Abi, what are you doing? You shouldn't touch that. It might be dangerous."
Abi seemed unable to hear him. She was mesmerized over the artifact. She put it on the table and kept staring at it as if it she was listening to it.
Derek approached her from behind and put his hands over her eyes. This seemed to do the trick and she immediately returned to reality. "I'm fine dad," she told him. "This thing is amazing. It's a trap."
"A trap?" he asked. "What is it supposed to trap?"
"Demons."
"Are you sure about that? Honey, you could be wrong."
"I'm not dad. But go ahead. Call Alex, give her the details and see what she finds out. I'll just put this thing in the vault where it should be safe."
Derek called Alex as he planed. She appeared on the big screen and Abi showed her the artifact before going to store it in the vault.
"Alex, see what you can find out about this thing. Abi says it told her it's a trap for demons. I'm not so convinced. Call me as soon as you find anything out. No matter what time it is."
"Sure Derek," said Alex and hung up starting her investigation.
Abi came back from the vault holding a book in her hands, a strange look on her face.
"What is it?" asked Derek, but she was not responding. "God," he said, "Not again."
"What do you mean not again?" asked Abi.
"I thought I lost you to the book as to that pyramid."
"That's how they did it," she said.
"Who did what Abigail? You are not making any sense."
"The book. That's how they managed to make me see what I saw. That is how they are controlling my sight, which is why I couldn't see the danger to the children. And that is also why I can't see or sense them now."
"Ok dear. Start from the beginning. Who are those people you're talking about?"
Abi sat on one of the chairs in the control room and Derek pulled up a chair and sat next to her. She reached out a hand to his arm and held on to him. "A few days ago a couple named Levin were here. They looked almost a hundred years old. They said they are in they're twenties. I held their hands and got an image of them trying a spell. A youth spelled I thought backfired. I took the book of their hands and sent them over to a witch I know. I called her today. They never got to her. I saw their names on the list of employees I got from Hirsh Electronic division. We have to find a way to reverse what ever it is they did. Maybe then I can sense the children."
"So besides the kidnapping we are facing witchcraft?" asked her father.
"It seems so. I'll go see that old witch tomorrow morning. Maybe she can help," said Abi.
"Let's get you back to bed Abi. You and your unborn child need a rest."
"Ben told you. I only found out yesterday morning. And Ben is the only one who knows, well besides you,"
"And Nick," he said.
"Oh, ok. And Nick. I actually didn't want anyone to know just yet."
"That's ok. We will not tell anyone," said Derek.
"I know dad." She looked at him, his back turned to her, walking out the control room. She wanted to call and stop him in desperate need to talk to him, but eventually she just followed him upstairs going back to bed.
Abi went back into bed and soon fell asleep.
+++
Darkness, so much darkness. Abi looked around trying to catch a glimpse of light. She suddenly saw a fireplace lit up. The light from the fire helped her eyes adjust to her surroundings. She was in an empty house. She started walking and exploring the place. There was nothing there. The house was empty. She suddenly heard a noise coming from underneath the living room she was standing in. she looked outside the living room, trying to find a way down. She saw a door on the right side of the living room and opened it. She heard noises coming from downstairs, and started her descend down them. As she reached downstairs she saw four figures. A woman and three men. They had an altar built in the middle of the basement. She suddenly saw her grandmother tied with her hands up on one side of the room. She wanted to approach her grandmother when she saw her children lying on the altar. The four people she saw started chanting each holding a dagger. Suddenly all four daggers went down. Two daggers went into each child's heart. "No," screamed Abi. "No. Not my babies. God, you killed them."
Ben heard Abi's screams and moaning and shook her a little trying to wake her up.
"No," she screamed fighting him, thinking he is one of the four.
"Abi, please honey. Wake up. It's just a bad dream." He continued to shake her shoulders until she finally opened her eyes. She started crying. "God, sweetie, it was just a bad dream. They are not dead. We will find them and we will bring them home safely. I promise," he said trying to get her to calm down.
She stopped crying and just held on to him. "How can you be sure?" she asked. "I can't even sense them."
"I don't know how, I just know. They are alive and we will save them."
They both got up and went downstairs. Ethaniel greeted them, enthusiasm on his face. "Someone spotted the car. It's near an abandoned building. They are waiting for us."
Derek and Nick were already down, and Nick said looking at Derek, " We're coming to."
Nick already had his gun on him, and Ethaniel handed out more guns to Abi and Derek. Ben had his police gun. All five of them rushed into Ethaniel's car and to the place where the car was sighted.
Two of Ben's friends were sitting and waiting for them. They all entered the building trying to not make any noise. They had heat sensors and they checked every apartment for signs of life. When they reached the third floor one of the apartments had signs of life in it. They decided to split. Ben's friends and Ethaniel went up to the roof deciding to slide down into the apartment from the roof. They coordinated and broke into the apartment at the same time. Abi saw her grandmother tied down to one of the couches and rushed over to release her. The old woman was hurt and unconscious. The guys looked around the apartment but there was no sign of the children or the people who took them.
Abi looked around when she suddenly saw a little teddy bear. It was Sarah's favorite toy. She picked it up looking at Ben. He saw the look in her eyes and stood beside her.
"It's Sarah's Favorite," she said. "She won't go anywhere with out It." she looked at Ben and started crying uncontrollably. He saw she was falling down and held on to her, sliding to the floor with her. He sat on the floor holding her between his arms and legs and let her cry. His eyes filled with tears as well, but he did not allow himself to actually cry. Abi cried non-stop for almost 15 minutes. Every one of the guys was looking at her helpless. Derek came closer and sat down next to them, holding one hand on Abi's back so she'd know he is also there for her. She started calming down a little but was still whimpering. Finally after about 25 minutes she stopped crying at all. Ben held on to her and asked everyone to leave them.
While she was crying Ethaniel called an Ambulance to come and take her grandmother to the hospital. She didn't even notice it came and took her away.
