I could feel a cold draft sweeping in where I laid and chilling me through my bones. Instinctively, I reached for Blankie's soft comfort and warmth, but find it. My mind told me, five more minutes and I wanted to snuggle deeper in the covers before starting another hard day at school being teased and whispered about. But there were not covers to snuggle under, and no scent of Mom's blueberry pancakes drifting into the room to tease me out of bed. In fact, even the bed felt strange and hard. I forced my crusted eyes open and gasped as I looked around the room. I wasn't in The Tipton Hotel, but on the floor curled up in the corner of a dimly lit room.

The only furniture in the room was a rusted metal fold up chair in the center, and a small end table with an ashtray on it. The carpet was a nasty brown and covered in filth. Faded yellow wallpaper on the walls was peeling at the edges. I shook my head and tried to put everything together. That's when it all came back. Running away, witnessing the murder, and Lola and Andrew. I uncurled myself and started to stand up, when the word began spinning. My head was pounding in pain…not like a small headache you would go to the nurse for, but a throbbing pain to where you can't think, or walk, or do anything without cringing. I breathed in and lifted my hand to my head. The huge raised bump near my temple was tender to my touch. I could remember hearing a crack, which must have been something hitting my head because then I passed out. I breathed in slowly and started to walk towards the door at the end of the room. Then I put a sweaty hand on the knob and turned it, only to find it was locked. So I was trapped in this small room with nowhere to go, and a devastating headache. But it was better then being dead. I didn't want to die. Would I die here? I groaned with my head in my hands, but then lifted it towards the door, because I had heard a noise. It was a key, and the doorknob was turning.

Zack's POV

Guilt flooded over me as I silently climbed in the car with Mom. She had called 9-1-1 after I showed her the evidence that Cody wasn't just out taking a walk. Cody was gone, and perhaps never coming back. No, I don't want to think of it that way. We would find Cody and I would be able to apologize to him for always ignoring him and treating him horribly. Everything would be ok. But where would Cody go?

"Zack. I want you to think. I know you are with him more, what about your twin telepathy thing? Zack think. Where did he go? Where is my son?" Carey snapped her head to the side to look at me, slumped in the passenger's seat. Her eyes were filled with anger, and fear, and sadness, all rolled into one. Is this what Cody wanted? I felt a sudden pain of anger. Did he want us to be worried? And angry? Cody was smart, he knew we would look for him and miss him, no matter how horrible we were to him. Just leaving to go nowhere was so unlike him. And that's when I remembered. Dad's letter. Dad was in Massachusetts, nearby Boston. Cody would have probably walked to a bus station, one far away that we wouldn't expect, and ride to Dover and go with Dad. It all made sense, especially looking at it from Cody's point of view. My anger had melted away quickly; replaced by that once again fear of it being my fault that Cody was gone. I had never felt so much guilt, because my so-called telepathy was telling me that Cody was in trouble…or worse.

Cody's POV

There was nothing I could do but stare as the doorknob turned. My mouth hung open as I stood in the center.

"Oh my God, you woke up!" said a feminine voice. "I was ready to kill Andrew for knocking you in the head, we both thought you were getting ready to die. But then, we don't know anything about doctor medical crap and what signs are if you're going to die. Now, what is your name?" Lola crept into the room, now changed into an extremely long gray t-shirt and baggy sweat pants.

I stared at her, for a while, and then finally whispered softly, "Cody."

"Cody." She repeated my name slowly, like trying to comprehend and understand my name in its full extension. There was nothing special about my name. I was just Cody. She seemed to like it though I guess, because she walked up to me and gave me a hug. I felt so strange, being hugged by the person that was holding my captive. But I let her hug me…she had saved my life. I had to remember that.

"I need to leave. I need to go to my Mommy, I can't stay here" I suddenly started whimpering. I felt like a child separated from its mother in the grocery store. It was funny, because I had been away for weeks without much of a thought towards home before. But that was because I knew both of us would be ok. This was different…Mom was probably having a heart attack.

Lola held up her hand. "I'll be right back." She hurried out of the room for a few seconds, and then returned with a greasy bologna sandwich and a bag of Doritos. I greedily took it and devoured it…I was suddenly feeling very hungry.

"How long have I been sleeping?" I was suddenly curious.

"Well, it's the next day. I'm not sure how many hours…15 or so? It's been a while. Listen Cody, there's a reason you're here, and not home, or dead."

"Yeah, you saved me. Why did you do that?" I asked

"Cody" she sounded sad again, and her voice became different. "I had a son. He had blonde hair like you. And no, he wasn't Andrew's boy. After I broke up with his father, I got another boyfriend. He wasn't the best man ever, and got drunk a lot. He would beat my poor son until he was practically unconscious. I would always leave with him, and then come back. I don't know why I always came back, and I wish that I had left that last time once and for all. I guess it was maybe because I had nothing better to do. I never went to school, and couldn't get a job. I would leave with Jerry's money, until it ran out. Then I would have to go back, and it would start all over again. Well one day, I made the mistake of leaving Jerry at home with my son, and it was a Friday night. Jerry came home drunk as hell, and real pissed off about something I guess. Then he took it out on my son. He beat the poor kid…so hard" Lola's voice cracked. She was crying to herself now, and her face was drawn. "I'm sorry, it's just so hard to talk about it you know? Even after 10 years…18th birthday was yesterday. That's why we were all dressed up. Andrew knew I was hurtin', so he took my to a party. It cleared my mind for a while, until I met you. You look so much like him Cody. Cody, Jerry killed him. He killed my son." Lola broke into sobs, and I reached my arm over to comfort her. She pushed me away and continued. "After the funeral, which was real small since I couldn't afford nothing big, I lost myself. I would sit on the streets crying until I almost passed out because of dehydration, or hunger. Then I would beg. This lasted for 3 months, until I had lost so much weight, and had changed so much, if you had known me before, you wouldn't have recognized me. That's when I met Andrew. He may seem like a bad man, but he loves me. Heck, you'd be dead if he didn't. I know he does. He helped me through the whole thing, fed me and gave me a place to live. I've been with him ever since."

I stared at Lola. I couldn't imagine what she had gone though. I felt so selfish, having left such a good home for such petty reasons. I reached out to hug her, and this time she didn't push me away. We sat in silence for a long time; my head was still hurting, though the pain had subsided a little. Finally I broke the silence.

"C-Can I go home Lola? Why are you keeping me here?"

"Cody, I can't let you go home as much as I know it must hurt your mother. Andrew killed that guy…he didn't mean to though. That guy was messing with me at the party, and I told Andrew to scare him off. I guess it all got kinda out of hand. I never did say Andrew was perfect; he defiantly ain't perfect. Shoot, he pays for everything through drug dealing. Lets just say you would be doing the cops a favor by just telling them where we live, he's wanted for so many things. But he has a good heart. I know that."

"Why can't I go home?"

"Andrew is afraid that you'll identify us for murder, and illegal drugs that we have."

"But I won't! I swear, if you let me out I wont ever tell anyone anything! Just please let me out."

"I would Cody, but Andrew would never allow it. I'm sorry."

"Then what are you going to do with me?"

"Keep you here, I wont let him kill you Cody. Don't worry about that. As long as I'm here you're safe."

"Will I be able to go to school? Will I just sit here? How is my life going to change?"

"You'll help us with what we do. Are you smart?"

"I'm on honor role"

"Good. Remember what I said earlier? About Andrew being a drug dealer? Well, hes also a kinda paun broker like person. He gets people's stuff and we give them money. Then when they come back, we get more money. And we sell the stuff we keep. We get ripped off a lot, because all the people and stuff, and me and Andrew can't read or do math very well. I can read a little, and do simple math, and so can Andrew. But we need someone to keep up with the figures. Who owes us what kind of money, and so on. Make sure we don't loose anything. That will be your job, and in exchange, we'll feed you and all."

I stared in astonishment. They were going to use me, to disobey the law. I knew very well dealing drugs was illegal, and you needed a license to be a paun broker. I was working with criminals, and could get jailed for it. But what choice did I have?

So what do you think of that? Please review! And just to let you know, there is NO kind of romance between Cody and Lola. It is strictly a friendship between them, Lola becasue of needing someone to replace her son, and Cody becasue she saved his life. Please R&R! Tell me what you think, and don't be afraid to put bad reports if you hated it.