Chapter 22

Commissioner Wayne paced his office in front of the Douglas family for what felt like fifteen minutes. Why would the man tell them to come to the station, he has information when he doesn't really have information? It was frustrating. She had driven like a mad woman just to get here and now Jessica sits in this mans office about bite her finger nails to the root when finally, the mans door opened and another officer walked in.

The man was short about 5'4", with a head full of blond curls. His eyes as brown as tea with a look of childish intelligence behind them. In his hands was a plastic bag that had what looked to be a few strands of hair within it. Officer Jordan handed the bag to the Commissioner, turning around he gave the family a sympathetic look then left the room, closing the door with a sound 'click'.

"Well?" Jessica asked impatiently. She was more than tired of the run around the police were giving them. How could they think that her son would run away and take a young girl with him! It was ludicrous!

"In this bag is a clue as to who may have taken your son."

"Whose hair is it Commissioner?" Sam was at wits end as well. He couldn't believe he worked for such an asshole.

Wayne walked around the side of the desk and turned the computer screen around so the family could see it. "Long ago we arrested this woman for assault and battery of her ex-husbands girlfriend. We think that this sample of hair belongs to her."

Jessica's heart jumped into her throat. 'Assault and battery!' That meant her son really was in danger of this person. Whoever she is. Her picture was a bit blurred. She could just make out that the woman has black hair, shoulder length, and a very pale face.

"Yes, the neighbors heard screaming called us up and we took her away." Wayne cleared his throat then continued. "After jail time the woman was trailed and let go to a mental institute because she was found insane."

Jessica scoffed at this. It was an obvious act. Anyone who watched daytime soaps new that the best way to escape prison is to plea insanity.

"Don't write it off. We did a full hospital check on it and the woman tested positive in every test. She truly had thought that what she was doing was alright." He frowned, his brows furrowing. "Her cats scans were off the chart with brain activity."

"Aand?" Jessica stood now. "You're just going to talk to us about this, I want to go find my son."

Waving a hand the man told her to sit down. "Please Mrs. Douglas, this is just a clue as to who has him. We don't know where they might be."

"Why not?" Asks Sam, who had been quietly listening to his wife and his boss chatter.

"Because Sam, she no longer lives in the state." He turned the screen back around. "So where ever she's living now, may be where she took your son... We just need to figure out where."

Sam shook his head taking it all in. "Do you know anything more about her?"

"Well, her background is pretty complicated. You see, she's deaf and-..." He was cut off by a loud voice.

"I need to see the commissioner!" They heard a familiar voice in the main office of the station. "It's important. It's about Rocky, I called just a while ago."

Jessica turned in her seat, standing, she opened the door and waved the frantic young boy in. "You said it's something about Rocky?" She asked when Robbie approached them.

"Commissioner, I know who has Rocky."

"So do I?" The man stood up, looking rather unhappy. "And who told you? What were you snooping around in the forensics room?"

"I know because her name is Marissa Balsam!"

"I know! But how do you?"

"Because she's my aunt!"

They didn't waste time moving to the airport to the private helicopter waiting for them to fly out to Canada. Robbie seemed very quiet after he told the police and the Douglas family about the phone call from the woman at the diner and how when he went to see his aunt to ask for help that she had been acting really strange. He also told them how she was- whether they believed him or not- a telepath and could be dangerous.

Commissioner Wayne had called the number on Robbie's phone to see if the woman could back up the boys story. She told it as best as she could, feeling rather intimidated by the Chief of police. Once the call was over, he hurried everyone into police escort to the airport. It was so much of a scene with sirens going and everyone in their homes looking out the window wondering what could be going on this late at night.

Jessica used her cell phone and called home to Colt and Tum Tum. The two would no doubt wonder what was going on as well, and she promised to keep them posted. Jessica couldn't believe that she was going to be able to hold her son again. It had been so long. She would never let him, never. She almost couldn't stop her tears from falling when they arrived at the airport. Robbie was asked to stay behind, he refused, but the police officers held him down until the chopper was out of sight.

Please... please, let my son be ok... tears streaked her face. God please look out for my son.

Sam rubbed his wife's arms as he held her close with one arm, a gun in another. The assigned officer and Wayne weren't the only ones ready to deal with the woman. No one hurt his first child and got away with it. He didn't care who they were. He could only hope that his son was safe until they got their the next morning.

Rocky sat, stone faced, in a tub of warm- nearly hot- water. He didn't want to get clean, he didn't want a bath, and he didn't want this so called reward Maria was so happy about. He wanted to go back to his cell and sleep until he was sure death would be by his bedside taking his ready and waiting body. This was no laughing matter to him, no game. As much as his body was already tainted, he felt he didn't need to be berated like he was nothing but a fuck toy. He wished he had come to his senses sooner than this. But now it was too late. No turning back. No saying, no. Just, too late.

Besides, they weren't going to get very far if Rocky wasn't hard. What would she do? Spend the whole night- morning... Whatever time of day it is sitting on his lap until his body finally gives in to the fact that heat is engulfing his crotch. Didn't seem likely to happen.

"Mmmm..." Chimed Maria from her bedroom. "Someone smells deliciouuuuus." Peeking into the bathroom, she smiled at her prize. "All those bubbles look like fun love. Maybe Mamma should join her little Rock'ems for a dip." She didn't make it sound like much of a question, but she made no attempts to go into the bathroom. What could she be doing in the bedroom that was so important anyway?

Hopefully not hanging more pictures of him. The walls are wall papered with the stuff. It was freaky. Some of them looked fresh, almost new. Like she had taken them while he was in the cell sleeping. He never slept naked at home, not in the dorms; so she must have taken them while he was down in his new room. He couldn't help but notice that almost all the eyes in the photo's except for when they were closed, were burned out. What was the significance to that?

Thankfully, the bathroom was just a normal everyday bathroom. A shower/tub, toilet, sink the usual. Rocky was especially grateful that there were no pictures in the bathroom. He could only imagine what sick things Maria would do with the eyes of the pictures on her while she bathed.

"Oh, but Rocky!" She said loudly as she just noticed that he was merely sitting there. No water on any part of his body other than his waste and down. "Did we forget how to clean ourselves? You'd think you'd want to be clean with the way you act. All high and mighty like you own the place."

What on earth was she talking about. Rocky couldn't figure it out half the time. It was as if she carried on in this little world with him and herself then took it out on the real him if the results were bad. Not wanted to be drowned, he figured since the girl was advancing into the bathroom with him, Rocky raised the rag to his face and began to mechanically scrub his face clean. He scrubbed as hard as his strength would allow. He wanted to hurt his self, break his nose or burn his eyes with soap. But what good would that do? None what so ever.

He grunted in pain feeling the contact of the girls fist meeting between his shoulder blades against his spine. He had been so into his thoughts of hurting his self he didn't see the attack coming. But he would show no pain. Because maybe, just maybe if he showed it didn't hurt him, she would stop abusing him so much. Maybe...

"Learn to LISTEN!" Barked the insane girl. "I'm beginning to think you don't want me to be nice to you." She untied his hair letting it spread between his shoulders and a bit lower than that. "Huh?" Maria continued talking to the wall. "Maybe you would rather I punish you tonight- show you your place in this family."

"No..." He said lamely.

Maria grabbed a handful of Rocky's hair, jerking his head back hard. "NO... WHAT!"

"No... master."

A crooked smile spread on her pale face. "Good boy." Her hand still wound securely in his hair, she lowered Rocky so that he had to bend his back with her movement. She dunked his hair into the bubbly water until it was nice and wet. Then, reaching over to the side of the tub, she grabbed a bottle of shampoo. "I'm going to wash your hair lover. I hear it can be such a sensual thing. So what I want from you is a kiss. I-... I want to feel how much you love me."

I don't love you. He growled, unheard, mentally. And I never will.

The shampoo oozed down his hair, dripping against his exposed back. How much was she using? Was his hair really that dirty? Of course, it has been a long time since its been washed. He winked his eyes closed when he felt a glob running down his face. The girls hands scrubbed his hair, painfully hard. His scalp felt fried by the time she was done with the base and moved on to the length.

"I don't feel someone kissing meee." She sang out.

Rocky turned his head so that he could see her face- as much as he didn't want to- he then leaned back and kissed her. Pliant, weak. It would feel heart felt to anyone not experienced with kissing. But he knew that it was a joke. Maria's teeth bit down, not very playfully, hard on his lower lip. Rocky gasped at the pain. No sooner had his mouth cracked open did the girl shove her tongue down his throat.

"Bite her..." He heard his alter growl from somewhere in his mind.

His eyes flashed a bit of anger before, the closed again. He couldn't let his self lose control again. HE is the one in charge of this body, not some... bizarre, raw nerve that wanted what was worst for him. The shattered boy cringed when Maria's tongue slid over the roof of his mouth. With an audible smack, the two separated, panting as they caught their breath.

"Rinse your hair... I'll turn down the bed." Dropping her hands into the water, she rinsed the suds from the shampoo off her hands. An act that seemed too normal to come from her. "After, you and I can eat dinner. I'm making your favorite."

"Soup?" Rocky asked. It sounded more like a smart remark than a question. But he hadn't meant it that way.

"No silly," she slapped his shoulder playfully. "I mean lasagna. Mmm. Doesn't that sound good?"

Rocky nods, then returns his gaze to the tub water. It was becoming rather dirty. Last thing he wanted was for her to get in and wash him completely. Running the water up and down his arms, he noticed from the side of his eye that Maria was smiling at him.

"You're so beautiful... Just as I remember you..." Her hand touched his cheek, softly, as though they were actual lovers and she would never lay a cruel hand on him. "You're so thin... I love you this way. Thin, beautiful... weak. You need me." She said, then asked. "Do you need me?"

Rocky wondered if she were being serious. She couldn't be. But instead of his disagreeing he nods. "Yes. I need you."

"Lovely." Standing, she brushed a hand down her pants. "Don't be long."

With that she was gone. Rocky finished washing his self until he was as clean as he could be. It took him a moment to dry his hair. It was impossible when it was long. How do girls do it? Why would Colt wanna grow his hair? His brother always talked about doing it, and each year it actually seemed to be making progress. Dad hated it, but Mom thought he looked sweet. Rocky didn't know why any of that mattered now. He would never see his family again. So what they did, who they were, how they chose to look was no longer his business. They will miss him for a while, but some time after they would forget him. Wouldn't they?

Dropping the towel from his waist, the blond looked over at the towel bar at his discarded pajamas. Should I put them back on? He wondered. Maria never said whether I had to get dressed afterwards or not...

"Don't make me come in after youuuu.." The girl sang out.

Pajamas. He decided. They may be easy access, but he still wanted some protection from the girls assault of his body. Sliding on his pants, then his shirt he walked out into the bedroom.

"Myyy, but I do love you in purple..." she took his appearance in. Patting the bed, she grins. "Come sit. I wanna open my present."

Rocky walked slowly over to the bed then lay down beside her, his back was against the head board, but his legs were extended. That was as far as he'd go.

"I wanna talk to you about your reward." Maria began.

Rocky heard the sound of a drawer opening where he couldn't see. But he knew it was at the side of the bed Maria was on. He kept his gaze straight ahead. A picture of him on his bike was staring back at him. He had straps on his shoulders so he could guess he was either going to school or from it.

"You've beaten up..." she paused. "someone who did nothing to you..." she continued to pause as though it were for dramatic effect and with every pause of her words, something heavy thumped against the side table that was by the bed. "At dinner..." Thump! "you spit food out."

There was a bone in my food. I couldn't swallow it. He though to himself; his body jumped when he heard the thump again. The rapid beat of his heart slowed down imitating the thumping sound. It made his chest hurt.

"You kept something from me..." Thump! "And then didn't tell me what it was, even after you were sent to your room." Thump! "You cheated on your piano lessons." Thimp! "...So the question is..." A louder thump! "Do you deserve to be rewarded... or punished?" Maria lowered her eyes to a slit. "And I want an answer."

Rocky thought over what she was saying. He knew the answer. He just wondered if he had the Gaul to retort back with something rude. He didn't. "P-... Punished."

Maria smirked, straddling Rocky's hips. He now knew where the thumping was coming from, his eyes widened in horror. In the girls hands is a large, long, latex sex toy. With the look on her face, he was about to find out what punishment truly was.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Tum tum rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he marched his self downstairs. Someone had been banging on the front door for who knew how long. It was obvious Colt hadn't heard it from his room, even though he were technically closer to the stairs. But thems the breaks. That or Colt left and didn't tell anyone. He does that some times. With a lazy sigh, he reaches out for the knob giving it an un-rewarded turn. "Oh right, the lock." Turning it over, the door nearly knocked him on his butt as it was shoved open.

Robbie stood before him in a pant. He looked as though he had run from the dorms to their house. "Did you guys hear the news? Hellooo?" He didn't see the young fallen boy at first until he heard a grunt when he stood up.

"Robbie? What are you doing here?" He didn't sound pissed off like the Canadian thought he'd be. He sounded more tired than anything. "Did you hear the news?"

"What news?" He stepped back, letting the frantic boy in.

"The police figured out who took Rocky."

"What!" Tum's eyes looked as big as saucers. He couldn't believe it! It was... it was the best thing he'd heard since his father said they were getting a puppy- which he lied about- but there was no way this was a lie. Robbie sounded so sure of himself. "Well, when? Where is he!" He looked around like Rocky were hiding out somewhere in the living room waiting to yell out 'Surprise!'

"The cops and your parents went to go get them but-..." He turned hearing the door open.

"What are you doing here?" Was Colt's reaction to the brunette. He was not on his list of favorite people right now. How anyone could talk so cruelly of someone whose been kidnapped was just ignorant. He wouldn't stand for the boys presents. But then he noticed his little brother. "Tum Tum, what are you doing up so late?"

"I'm sixteen, but who cares- they found him!" He jumped up and down like a four year old who just got a really big taffy. "They found him! They found him!"

"Rocky! Where is he!" He mimicked his brothers recent actions of looking around the living room, visually, for their absent brother.

Robbie could see the true love this family had for each other. It was nice actually. So nice it made him sick to his stomach thinking of what would happen to him once the two find out it was his aunt that took him. Sure he couldn't prove it. His aunts hair is black after all. If she took off a wig, her hair would have been messed up, but it looked as prim and well kept as it always was. Robbie would kill his self if he were wrong and the cops arrested her for nothing but... his aunt did used to live in L.A. for a while. She had been arrested for killing a woman.

"Robbie knows, he was just about to tell me." Tum said.

Robbie blinked, swallowing hard. "I uh..."

"Well," Colt sounded like a reasonable and kind person to him for a change. "Where is he, was he close? Who took him?"

"...A woman... In Canada. She has him."

"Canada!" Colt thought about that. "Did they say her name or anything like that?"

Robbie continued to hesitate. "They said nothing to me... I more like told them."

"You know who took him?" Tum asked.

"Who?"

"The lady at a diner, she saw the flyer I put up when I went to see..." He swallowed hard again. "my aunt."

"You're Canadian?" Tum looked him over as though he were trying to see something that was invisible.

"Yeah, but my family moved. That's not important right now... thing is... My aunt wasn't the one that called me- which is why I went there, to check."

"So who called you?"

"It was Rocky. He couldn't leave a message the woman told me, because the woman who took him was chasing him.

"Did the lady say what she looked like?"

"Petite, blonde hair."

"Maria." Colt and Tum tum said in unison.

"Maria?" Robbie was lost, although if the two boys knew her name there was a chance that it wasn't his aunt after all. It made no sense anyway. Why would his aunt kidnap someone?

"She's this psycho bitch who kidnapped our brother once before." Colt explained. "She's crazy and... well..." He didn't wanna say it. Just thinking about it made him feel uncomfortable. No one ever believed them anyway.

"She's a psychic." Tum blurted out.

"She is?"

"Yeah but, she went nuts after she had taken Rocky that time." Colt went on, trying to override that psychic thing. "I don't know what Rocky said to her, but she flipped and ran away. Cops never found her... Come to think of it, when the cops went to her house they said it had been abandoned for the longest time." He ran an uncomfortable hand through his longish, dirty blond hair.

"I hope he's ok. 'Cause if Maria has him... she's gonna do anything she can to keep him." Tum Tum stated as he walked to the stairs. "I'm getting dressed. We can go to the police station and wait for mom and dad to call."

"Dork, that doesn't make sense." Colt comments. "Mom and Dad won't know we're at the police station, we have to wait here."

"Oh yeah... And heeey, where were you?" He came back down the two steps he had gone up.

"Nowhere. Leave it alone." He took his coat off. Looking at Robbie, he frowned. "Well, sit down. You might as well wait with us, since you came all this way."

"..." He couldn't believe it. Did that mean Colt was... gonna be nice to him? "Colt... thank you."

"Whatever, fag." He mumbled as he put his coat away. "Just... don't bring up your gross life style and we're cool."

"Yeah, because that's all we fags do. Talk about our sex lives and shit."

"Don't fight." Tum mentions shaking his head. "Boy, I can't wait till Rocky comes back so that he can take over saying that."