Chapter 9
Lillian, wanting to get her brother to safety as soon as possible, took off at a fast pace towards her car, but when she looked behind her, she noticed that Seth was lagging behind and was nearly doubled over with pain.
"Do you need help?"
"No." Seth stubbornly said, but as soon as the words were out of his mouth he doubled over with pain and fell to his knees.
"I would just let you stay here and rest for a while, but we have to get out of here before Graft gets back, so lean on me, then you can rest in the car."
Seth tried his best to walk on his own, but the pain, the stress, the exhaustion and the lack of food and water finally wore him down as he was forced to depend on Lillian to walk. It was a long, hard struggle, but they eventually made it to the car. Lillian helped Seth hobble into the car and then she got in the driver's seat and took off.
"Seth, call your bodyguard, tell him to meet you at the docks in 20 minutes."
"What's with you people and docks?"
"Just do it. Here, use my cell phone."
"Fine."
"Hello, Plummer residence, this is Zoe speaking."
"Zoe, its Seth."
"Oh my God, Seth, are you okay? Where are you? How did you..."
"Zoe, can you get Shane?"
"Yeah, hold on."
"SHANE!"
"Zoe, I'm right here, you don't have to yell so loud. Now what is it?"
"It's Seth, he's on the phone."
"Seth, are you sure?"
"Yes." Shane took the phone from Zoe, eager to learn why the boy was calling.
"Seth?"
"Yeah, Shane listen, I don't have much time to talk."
"What is it?"
"I managed to escape with the help of Lillian, will you meet us at the docks in 20 minutes?"
"Seth, what are you talking about?"
"Just meet me at the docks in 20 minutes, this isn't a trap and I'm not fooling you, so just be there. Oh, yeah, and Lillian says don't come with anyone outside of the immediate family."
"Seth…" Shane wanted to say more, but Seth hung up the phone. Be at the docks in 20 minutes, he could do that if it meant that Seth was coming home. Shane dialed the number of the principle so that she could watch the children while he was picking up Seth. He would bring Zoe with him, for Zoe would be someone that Seth was comfortable with.
"ZOE!"
"YEAH!"
"We're leaving as soon as Principle Fletcher gets here."
"Why?"
"We're going to the docks to get your brother."
"Seth, now you can tell me what happened to you after we were separated."
"Well, it's not as interesting as your story, but here it goes. I lived with Graft for a couple years after the separation. Graft was rich at one time because of all the crime he did and got away with. I didn't steal for him; I was basically just there for him to have something to vent his frustrations on. Anyways, Graft decided to settle down in a house and we ended up being next door neighbors to the Plummers. Dad, I mean, Mr. Plummer was a top secret government scientist who worked with security systems…"
"Was, what do you mean was?"
"He died," Seth said sadly still feeling the pain from his adopted father's death.
"I'm sorry. Please continue your story."
"Where was I? Oh yeah, Mr. Plummer knew that something fishy was going on in our house because Graft was running his schemes from the house and that is kind of hard not to notice. Mr. Plummer decided to find out if something was going on before he reported anything, so he took it on himself to befriend me to get inside our house. He was the only person who was nice to me and I began to trust him. He would invite me over for diner and he would let me help him with his experiments. He was the first person I trusted after you left me. Well, Mr. Plummer never found out if anything fishy was going on in the house because he found out that Graft was abusing me. He pressed charges and then petitioned the courts for custody of me and I have been living with the Plummers ever since. See, I told you that my story is not as interesting as yours."
"I'm so sorry."
"For what, it's not your fault. You didn't know and there wasn't anything you could have done to stop Graft had you been there." At this point, Lillian ran over a bump, and Seth was unable to hide a wince as the jolt brought the pain back to life. As much as he hated to admit it, Seth did not feel well. His chest was on fire, his back ached, his shoulder was sending agonizing pain down his side, and his head hurt so badly that he felt as though he were going to pass out from the pain. He knew that he was fading and that if he didn't lie down soon he would fall down and would be unable to get up. Because he was in such a fog, he barely registered that they had arrived at the docks and that Lillian had stopped and he was unaware that Lillian was talking to him.
"Seth!"
"What?"
"Stay with me. You don't look so hot."
"I don't feel so hot." Lillian didn't respond because of her guilt at her brother's injuries and because the Lieutenant arrived at the scene.
"Stay in the car, I will be right back."
Lillian walked out of the car and met the approaching Lieutenant.
"What do you want?" Shane growled at Lillian.
"I just want to return my brother to you for I know that you will take good care of him. I had no part in his kidnapping and regret that it happened, I merely wish to return Seth to you before something terrible happens to him that hasn't already happened."
"Okay, then let me take him and be gone," Shane said as he began to walk towards Lillian's vehicle.
"Wait, I need to talk to you first before I can let you leave."
"Yeah, I'm listening."
"Firstly, this by no means indicates that I will stop my attempts to steal the Ghost. I will not hurt my brother or his family to attain it, but I will not leave here before my job is done. Second, don't take Seth to the hospital. While he is in need of medical attention, a hospital is too dangerous for him because Graft is bribing someone that works at the hospital. You will have to make due with what you know and what you have available."
"Are you done?"
"Yes. No. Seth says he is fine, but he can barely walk, so don't let him fool you."
Shane walked over to Lillian's care and lifted Seth up. He began to walk towards the minivan, towards what he knew was safety for Seth, but halfway to the minivan Seth yelled out "WAIT."
"Lillian, come with us."
"I can't Seth."
"Why not?"
"I could never live the life that you do. I am a criminal, I steal, I lie, I constantly move from place to place. No one would ever want me living in their homes after what I have done, Seth. No one could ever care for me, knowing what kind of things I do for a living. So this is Goodbye Seth. This is goodbye forever. We are never going to see each other again for I have to get out of your life before I ruin things ever more. I love you Seth, but I can't come with you, not now and not ever. I'm sorry.Goodbye." With that Lillian hopped into her car and drove off. Seth vowed on that day, on that dock that he would see his sister again. Nothing was going to keep them separated.
Sorry that I have not updated recently, it has been a very busy week.
