The next morning, he woke before the sun had fully risen, and hurried about, getting dressed into the only pair of jeans and T-shirt he owned, and never wore unless he was in a hurry and it really didn't matter how he looked. While he was combing out his hair, he glanced over at Reya who was sleeping peacefully, and took the time to really look at her. Even though she was asleep, there was still weariness on her features and sadness that he had seen for the last nine years since their daughter had vanished. He could barely remember how she looked before, and he walked over to her, kissing her cheek lightly and stroking it with hit fingers.

"I'll bring her home," he whispered. "I promise." Reya shifted a little in her sleep, and he kissed cheek again, lingering there and absorbing the warmth. When he left at last, he could still taste her on his lips, and somehow the taste helped him feel like he could do this, almost as if he'd just eaten a caffeine packed Wonka bar.

The first place he checked was the alley where she had first shown up, but she wasn't there. And he knew she hadn't shown up at the hospital otherwise there would have been a phone call. And nothing from the police, at least nothing that the news reporters could say on the radio. The only option he had left was to look everywhere, not having the faintest idea of where to look next.
He went to the park he and Reya had gone to several times when they were dating, just to hang out and talk, and found it was very different when no one was there except for him. Somehow a park didn't look right without anyone there to play on it, but he walked through it anyway, looking around for any signs of people. There was bushes, trees, and abandoned jungle gym and a homeless boy sleeping behind a group of shrubs. Willy stopped where he was and stared, looking closer. The boy looked familiar with his dark hair and pale thin face... Daniel. So if Daniel was here, that meant Jane wasn't too far away. He scanned the park, and then spotted her, sitting on one of the swings, staring fixedly on her feet. She looked very tired, and he could only guess she had not slept since they had left. He walked over to her, and looked down at her as she moved back and forth slightly on the squeaky swing.

"Hello, Jane," he said softly. She didn't respond. "Everyone's been so afraid for you. You and Daniel." She glanced up at him, and he moved to sit on the swing next to her. It was the middle of fall, and around them were dead leaves in different shades of brown, red and yellow. This had always been Reya's favorite time of year, and he was starting to like it as much as well. Jane was wearing different clothes, he noticed for the first time, and he wondered where she had gotten them. Dark gray sweatshirt, baggy ratty jeans, and worn down converse sneakers. She was also wearing a hat to cover her shaved head, and he secretly thought it made her look slightly like a cancer patient.

"Are you going to call the police?" she asked.

"Should I?" Jane looked to Daniel who was still sound asleep, and also wearing different clothes now that Willy noticed it, and she looked back at him, biting her lip to the point of bleeding.

"If I tell you everything," she whispered, almost impossible to hear. "Will you promise you'll throw the monsters in jail?"

"I'll definitely try," he said firmly, nodding. Jane nodded and fidgeted nervously.

"When I was four, a man took me away from my parents. I had gone outside by myself, and I wasn't supposed to, so he caught me. He brought me to this place... uh... those big red things they keep farm animals in."

"A barn?" he offered.

"Yeah," she said nodding a little too fast. This whole conversation had her so nervous and flustered that she was struggling with words. Even her breathing was growing rapid, like she was running very fast. "He threw me on the ground and started hitting me with a stick because I was crying. Then he grabbed me by the hair and forced me through a small door on the floor, and down some steps." She was shaking and tears were falling down her face. He placed a hand on her shoulder to help calm her, but she pushed it away, seeming to be bothered more by it.

"There were other people down there," she said, after a minute of trying to catch her breath with little success. "Not adults, but kids, little kids, some my age, some a little younger. And there wasn't very many of them, but there was at least eight of us. There were some teenagers I guess. I don't remember. And there were other men down there too, and they all were so mean. They yelled at everyone, and if someone started crying they yelled louder. Sometimes they'd hit and kick you until you were too sore to cry. They were treating us all like animals down there, and the man who took me said he was God because he could make us do whatever he wanted."

Willy felt the color drain from his face, and Jane was bent over now, face buried in her hands, and body trembling uncontrollably. She looked as though she was going to be sick, and he rubbed her back gently. Again, she forced his hand away, and made it clear that she didn't want him to lay a hand on her. "We ate whatever we could find in there. Sometimes they'd throw garbage down to us to eat. Everyone was so hungry that they'd eat anything. A lot of people became sick and died because of the food or from starving to death. Thenthey'dstick us with needles and we'd start seeing and hearing things that weren't there. It was so real, andsome kids died from banging their heads into thewall, trying to get the images out!It was so horrible. It was like a living nightmare, and there was nothing any of uscould do about it!"

She paused and shook her head as tears spilled down her face. "They would take the girls and drag us into the dark... and they'd rape us!" She burst the last part, and dissolved into tears again. Willy couldn't believe it, and felt sick himself, listening to the horrors she was having to recall. "Jay-Jay hated it when they dragged her in the dark. We all hated it, but she was more desperate to get away from it, and so she got it the worst. There were so many nights where we'd try to sleep, but couldn't because of how loud she was screaming."

She couldn't speak anymore as sobs took hold of her, and he watched her, knowing he couldn't touch her, and waited patiently. "And they killed her?" he asked.

"She was just trying to run away," sobbed Jane. "She wasn't doing anything bad. All of us wanted to get out so bad, but she was the only one who actually tried to do it."

"How did you get out?" he asked, beginning to wonder how she would manage to accomplish that if what she was saying was true.

"I did what Jay-Jay did. I waited until they started to take me into the dark, and the second they let go, I ran. I thought they would catch me and kill me like they did to her, but... I don't know how. I just got out. But once I was free, I didn't know where to go. I didn't know which way was home, and I didn't know what to do. I was gone for an hour I guess before I heard them chasing me." She stopped and glanced up at him.

"And that's when I found you," he said softly. She nodded and shuffled her feet slightly, looking drained from crying so much. "Do you remember anything before they took you? Your family?" Her eyes strayed to the side as she tried to think about it.

"I had a baby brother," she said, after thinking it over. "My mom was bathing him right when I stormed outside. And I had other siblings. I don't remember them."

"Perhaps I can help you then," he said softly, and she looked a little surprised. "Your baby brother's name was Ronnie, and he's ten now. Jason is the next one up, who is eleven, nearly twelve. After him was Jack and Frances, twins, who are thirteen. Kyle and Deborah were the last ones, both of them being eighteen, nineteen in a week. All that's left is the second daughter, who was kidnapped when she was four, and turned fourteen last night, which I just realized this morning when I went to look for her." He glanced at her and she had tears in her eyes again. "Your mother is the reason for your red hair, which everyone was surprised by because she's been dying it black ever since she married your dad who is now one of the most famous chocolate makers in the world."

He waited for her to respond, and she didn't look at him for a long time, fidgeting nervously and biting her lips. After a while, she finally looked up at him. "I knew," she said softly. "I knew it the day I saw you."

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked her, searching her eyes.

"How can you tell your parents who you are when you're the reason everything bad happened?" she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. "This whole thing was my fault."

"No!" he said, so suddenly it made her jump a little. "You're my daughter, no matter what happened, no matter what rules you broke. You are my child, and I have always wanted nothing but the best for you. Do you honestly think I would ever wish those horrible things to happen to you?" She started crying, and held out her arms to him. He hugged her tightly, like he had been burning to do ever since he had first found her. She buried her head in his chest and he held her, closing his eyes and whispering in her ear, "I love you, Jessica."

He cradled his little girl, wishing more than anything he could take away her pain, and didn't let go for an eternity.
-

"She seems to have taken a liking to her music more than ever," said the nurse as they watched Jessica painting in the classroom. "We've had to get on her case a few times to turn it down," she added, chuckling, and Willy smiled.

"That's exactly how Reya was when she was younger," he said, nodding.

"I'll bet your wife was overwhelmed when she learned Jessica was still alive."

"She was," he said. "She hugged her and I thought she would never let her go. Not that I blame her in the slightest. She said she really sees herself in her. It's a scary thing, seeing yourself in your child's eyes. It scares you to think that one day they may go down the same road you went at that age. All I can do is pray that it'll never happen." He sighed and tapped his cane on the ground.

"How much longer, would you guess, until she can finally come home?"

"She is making progress, but these things have to be handled slowly. It could be months before she's fully ready to be welcomed back into the family and come home. Right now she's got a lot of pain to work through."

Jessica looked up from her canvas and looked over at Willy, staring at him curiously. A nurse came up from behind and placed a hand on her shoulder. Walking almost zombie-like, she followed him to the door and Willy backed away so they could get through. He watched her go, still seeming to have that permanent blank stare and he sighed. "She has made progress, Mr. Wonka," said the nurse. "She's still got a ways to go though, I'm afraid."

He nodded, and saw Daniel walk out from the side. Jessica stopped to look at him, and Willy watched, interested. Daniel was being led to visit with a psychologist, and looked very sad and depressed. Jessica raised her hand and waved slightly to him, offering a tiny grin. He returned it and waved back. Willy smiled to himself and headed for the hospital door. As he rode home in his car, the Beatles were playing on the radio and he turned it up, singing along and disappearing around the corner.

"Hey Jude/ Don't make it bad/ Take a sad song/ And make it better/ Remember to let her into your heart/ Then you can start/ To make it better..."
-
(A/N: THE END! There is a fourth part on the way, and hopefully will start being posted around then end of November, beginning of Decemberish... So I'll see you then!)
-Smeagol's (there's no business like ho business!) girl)