Chapter Eleven!

No matter how hard Ronnie tried, she could not get her eyes to adjust to the dark. She tried squinting her eyes, she tried blinking repeatedly, but nothing came into focus.

After Luke had hung up with Eric, he pulled Ronnie up from the armchair and dragged her up the stairs into a bedroom. Ronnie's heart had begun racing at that point; she didn't like the way he looked at her, and the way he kept calling her beautiful. Now they were alone in a bedroom, and she didn't know what Luke was going to do to her.

As Ronnie had tried to struggle from his grip, he only laughed, as if he could read her mind.

"Don't worry, lovely. I won't do anything like that to you." He said as he turned her to face him. He had stared deep into her eyes, and took deep, raspy breaths. "Not right now anyway. Oh yes, baby. We will have a little fun before you go home to your daddy. I think I've fallen for you, and I want to show you just how I feel about you. But not right now. Just be patient; it'll come." He laughed as he opened the closet door in the bedroom and shoved her in, bending down next to her. He ripped the duct tape off her wrists, and Ronnie saw the deep red marks that had been left. She was relieved that her arms were free, but Luke had pulled out fishing wire and began stringing it around her wrists, binding them together and then to an old pipe that was running up the side of the wall.

"I can lock this door, but I don't want you to try anything. I gotta make sure you don't run off on me. We're gonna be together for a little while; at least until I get my boy back." Luke said, as though he were talking more to himself than to Ronnie, who was almost wincing from the pain of the tight wire digging into her wrists. Ronnie swore she saw blood trickling down her wrist before Luke got up with a wink, and slammed the door, leaving Ronnie in complete darkness.

Ronnie could only hear the sound of her breathing heavily. She was relieved he had left the duct tape off her mouth; it had irritated her greatly, but he had told her if she tried yelling or screaming, he would come up there and put a bullet through her head.

She tried to struggle out of the fishing wire, but whenever she pulled or twisted, the wire would cut deeper into her skin, and she almost cried out in pain. She could feel the moist blood running down her arm now and she fought the urge to cry. I will not cry. I have to be strong. I will not let him see me cry.

Ronnie thought about Annie, and Eric and her sisters and brothers who she figured were very worried by this point. At least they know I'm safe, for now. She thought, and then she thought about Chad. Would Eric really let Chad go back to Luke, or would he try to come up with another plan? For a brief moment, Ronnie began to blame herself for everything. If only I had kept Chad's secret. I wouldn't be here. But then she reasoned with herself. Maybe I wouldn't be here, but Chad would still be with him, and I don't want him to be hurt anymore. Ronnie sighed out loud as she leaned up against the hard, cold wall. She closed her eyes, though the darkness made it feel like they were closed anyway, and tried to pray.

God, I'm scared, but I don't want him to see me scared. He scares me God, he said we're going to have fun, and I don't know what he means by that, but I think I have an idea, and I just pray somebody finds me before he tries anything. I just want to go home. Please help my family not to worry, and please help Eric think of a plan so everybody can be safe. Me and Chad. And I pray that if I ever get out of this, that Luke will never hurt anybody ever again.

Mary and Lucy sat in silence in their attic bedroom, facing each other, heads down. It was late now, almost midnight. They had been sitting in their bedroom for hours now, after Eric told everybody about Chad's father being the kidnapper and what he wanted in return for Ronnie's safety. Mary and Lucy both had watched on as Officer Matthews called for backup and went to Luke Delano's house on Krad Street. Eric had gone with them, but he returned shortly after, disappointed, and everybody knew that neither Luke nor Ronnie had been there. Mary and Lucy had excused themselves at that point, tired and sick with worry.

As they sat in their bedroom, they were unaware of what was happening downstairs, but they didn't want to think about it. Neither of them could sleep; especially not knowing where their little sister was. They both tried hard to trust that their dad would take care of it, but they couldn't help but wonder what would happen if Chad wasn't returned to his father.

Annie slowly walked into Ronnie's bedroom and stood in the doorway for a moment, stifling back tears. It was a motherly habit of hers to peek in on all of her children each night to make sure they were safe and asleep, and Ronnie's empty bedroom was too much to bear.

She let herself in and approached her bed slowly, and she felt her emotions overwhelm her when she saw the two stuffed animals lying on Ronnie's untouched bed. One, a stuffed monkey, which Annie had bought for Ronnie while she had been in the hospital recovering from the gunshot wound her father had inflicted upon her. Ronnie had been so surprised by the stuffed monkey, because, as she confided in Annie, she had never had stuffed animals growing up, dolls or anything. Annie had been saddened by this, but was happy to have shared the moment of a young girl receiving her first stuffed animal, whom she had named Chimpy.

Beside Chimpy, was a little white stuffed teddy bear, with the name "Ronnie" stitched in red thread on its belly. Annie had bought one for each of their children on the day of their births to symbolize their entrance into the family, so it was only fitting to buy one for Ronnie when she was adopted.

Annie felt her tears begin to fall down her cheek as she picked up the teddy bear, and lowered herself onto Ronnie's bed, cradling the teddy bear sadly, wishing it was Ronnie in her arms.

Eric gripped his hair tightly in his hand as he and Officer Matthews sat in the kitchen. Officer Matthews had just come up with a plan to get Ronnie back, but Eric was unsure of the whole idea.

"Look I don't like the idea of putting Ronnie in danger like that." He said, as his voice shook. Officer Matthews sighed slowly, nodding his understanding.

"I know buddy, but you know we can't just hand Chad over like that, it would be putting both of their lives in danger. I hate to break it to you Eric, but we can't be sure Luke will keep his end of the bargain. How do we know once he has Chad, he won't just run off with both of them? He's crazy, and we have to account for that. I've already called Alice from social services and although she was reluctant, she's allowing it. Listen Eric, there are no guarantees, but I'm doing everything I can to get Ronnie back, and keep Chad safe. We just have to be hopeful." Matthews stared at Eric, who only nodded unconsciously, obviously more worried than he had ever been.

"Are you sure you want to be there tomorrow night? I mean, I can handle the negotiating with my team, if you'd rather not." Matthews suggested.

"No, I'm definitely going to be there. Ronnie must be terrified, and tomorrow night will only make it worse, and I want to be there for her when this is all over. I want her to know I'm there for her to bring her home where she'll be safe." Eric sighed as he rubbed his eyes fiercely. "I just want to bring her home."

And then a tear rolled down his cheek.