Chapter 3

"What do you want?" Seth said when the hand pulled away from his mouth.

"What do you think?" A dark, menacing voice answered, sending shivers up Seth's spine. Unconsciously, he took a step back from the threatening figure standing before him as he felt the panic begin to rise within him. This couldn't be happening. Seth saw the person begin to reach for something and not wanting to find out what the object was Seth began to move away from the menacing character. Before he could move far, though, the thug, with cat like reflexes, reached out and struck him across the face with the object he was previously reaching for. Seth, unable to keep his balance, fell backwards onto the ground, his vision swimming from the vicious blow. Seth was rooted to his spot on the ground as the menacing figure stepped towards him. Seth closed his eyes trying to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. He just hoped that his family knew how much they meant to him.

"Come on Seth, please pick up. Please pick up. You have to be there Seth, just please pick up the phone." Lillian muttered to herself out loud. Lillian was attempting to reach Seth for the hundredth time within the last few minutes. He was late returning home, he should have been home almost half an hour ago. Lillian was beginning to get worried. What if he was hurt? What if he really was being stalked by a crazy person? Something was definitely wrong. She just had this feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was terribly wrong. She was probably being irrational, Seth was most likely just staying at practice a little later than unusual, but no matter how much Lillian wanted to believe this, she just had to check for herself that everything was okay. She grabbed Zoë's keysto the minivan and took off for the stage. As she got closer she felt that feeling in her stomach grow and dread began to fill her heart. What would she find when there? Like a monster in a child's closet, the feeling began to scare Lillian. Unable to wait any longer, Lillian illegally parked the car and ran down the alleyway to the studio.

The door to the studio was locked. Lillian mentally berated herself for completely irrational panic. She was about to return to the car believing that Seth was probably at a friend's house, when she heard a groan behind her. Turning around, Lillian did not immediately see anything. Carefully she made her way farther back into the alley, ready to fight if the situation arose. That's when she saw it.

"Oh God, Seth!" Lillian ran to her brother's side and slide on her knees to land next to him. He was badly injured. A gigantic bruise was forming from his temple to his chin. A large gash was bleeding freely above his right eye. Lillian could tell that his arm was definitely broken and no one knew what injuries were hidden under his clothes. Momentarily shocked by the sight of her brother, Lillian just stared at him. Finally she was able to regain control of her emotions. She grabbed Seth's cellphone and called the paramedics, praying that they would get there on time.

"Seth. Wake up Seth. Don't leave me here. You have to be okay, you just have to be. This wasn't supposed to happen. Oh God, Seth, please wake up. Please. I'm so sorry." Lillian desperately called out to her brother, but all she received was silence in return. To keep her raging emotions under control, Lillian began to mutter calming words to her brother until the ambulance arrived.

Stan and Daryl were having their routine coffee break when an urgent call was sent their way. Apparently a teenage boy had been mugged in an alleyway and the person that had called it in was close to loosing the control that she was barely holding on to. The two paramedics quickly left the store for the scene. They arrived on the scene within a couple of minutes. They approached the victim and the girl sitting next to him. The girl was oblivious to their approach, so they carefully walked towards the two. Stan slowly sat down next to the girl. She was clearly perturbed by the incident. Daryl began to work on the boy; Stan was the one who was good with working with traumatized bystanders and family of the victims. This teenager did not seem to be handling the scene well at all. It was a perfect case for Stan.

"Hi. What's your name?" Stan said.

"Lillian Plummer," she replied timidly.

"Do you know him?"

"Yeah, he's my brother."

"What's his name?"

"Seth."

"How old is he?"

"15."

"Do you want to ride with us to the hospital?"

"Yes." Lillian quietly said and nearly burst out into tears.

"Okay, come on sweetheart."Stan led Lillian to the ambulance andfollowed Daryl and Seth into the back of it. Daryl drove so that Stan could stay with the girl. She was trying hard to put on a brave front for them, trying hardto hold back the tears.

"Are your parents home, honey."

"Yeah, I should call them."

"I'll do it. What's the name of your parents and your phone number?"

"Hello. Is a Julie Plummer there?"

"Yeah hold on. MOM!"

"I got it Lulu. Hello," Julie said into the phone.

Lulu sat impatiently by the phone. She was about to use it and then the phone just had to ring. What if this was one of her mother's friends, she could be waiting by the phone for hours and then knowing her luck, she'll leave to get a snack and come back to find Zoe on the phone. Lulu was about to continue ranting, when she noticed a change in demeanor in her mother. Her mother had taken on a serious look and there was fear in her eyes.

"What hospital are you taking him to?" Lulu's eyes opened wide at that. What was wrong? Who was going to the hospital? Lulu began to get worried as her mother frantically made her way to the stairs.

"HELGA!"

"Yes, Mrs. Plummer."

"I'm going to the hospital; you're going to have to watch Tyler and Peter for a longer time tonight. I may not come home at all tonight."

"Mom, what's wrong?" It was Zoë's turn to talk.

"Lillian found Seth in an alleyway. It appears that he was mugged."

"Is he going to be okay?" Lulu said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I don't know sweetheart. I'm going to go meet the ambulance at the hospital now."

"I'm going with you."

"Me too."

"Alright, just get into the car. Zoe can you drive us there."

"Yeah Mom," Zoe said noticing that her mother was in no condition to drive.

"He'll be alright. He just has to be."