Well, hi… It's been a few months. I'm sorry this update took so long. Things are… kind of not great right now, and writing anything has been a struggle, but I finally got inspiration for this and managed to finish it. I hope you enjoy.

"He's starting to wake up."

"Which is why I told you to hurry."

"I'm going as fast as I can."

Kendall groaned as the voices got louder, not helping at all to lessen the headache that was causing his head to throb. He tried opening his eyes, but his eyelids felt like they were glued together, and when he tried opening his mouth to speak, all that managed to come out was another groan.

His mouth tasted like copper. He recognized the taste as blood in the back of his mind.

Where was he? And who was talking so loudly?

"Just tie him up to the chair. That way he won't be able to escape again."

"How did they even escape the first time?"

"Does it look like I know?"

Kendall's eyes scrunched up tightly. He recognized those voices, especially that last one, but he couldn't think straight. His mind felt foggy and like it wasn't completely there.

"Is this tight enough?"

He felt a hand press against one of his wrists. "It should be, but make it even tighter, just to be sure."

He whimpered as he felt something digging into his wrist a moment later, then felt it again in his other one. He could hear the voices around him, but he couldn't fully understand what was going on. All he knew was that they were way too loud and all he wanted to do was succumb to the tiredness that seemed to be weighing him down.

"That should be good enough."

"Now what do we do? We can't just hide out in this motel forever."

"We're not going to."

Kendall squeezed his eyes tighter, wishing he could just curl in on himself and block out the voices. He licked at his dry lips, the taste of blood intensifying, and finally managed to pry his eyes open.

"You're awake."

His father was standing in front of him, a gun held in one hand. He felt himself tense up as his eyes fell upon it. He opened his mouth to say something, but his father chose that moment to place a finger under his chin, forcing him to look up.

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you."

His head was throbbing. Although his memory was foggy, the memories of what had happened just hours before were slowly starting to come back to him. He remembered fighting with his father, trying to distract him so that he would not shoot his mom and Katie.

His mom and Katie.

"W-Whe—"

"If you're wondering where your mother and Katie are, they're not here."

Then where are they? he wanted to ask, but his lips wouldn't form the words he wanted to say.

"And they will no longer be an issue."

Kendall felt his blood run cold. What the hell did he mean by that?

"W-What?"

"You heard me." His father sneered, taking a seat on the bed in front of him. Kendall had been too preoccupied about where his mom and Katie were to notice it. "They're gone."

Kendall swallowed hard, feeling tears well up in his eyes.

Watching him closely, his father smiled, placing the gun on his lap. "They're dead."

He could have sworn the throbbing in his head stopped for a moment, the two words his father had spoken ringing in his ears over and over, causing the nausea that he was already feeling to become even worse.

"What?" The word came out as a whisper as he leaned forward, the ropes around his wrists digging into his skin.

His father smiled and stood, grabbing his gun as he did so. "They're dead," he repeated, the smile on his face growing as each second ticked by, "and there's nothing you can do about it now."

"No." Kendall felt a chill run up his spine, his whole body going tense. "No! You're lying!"

"I am not lying. Am I Trey?"

Kendall didn't even look in Trey's direction. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"He's not lying," Trey said, but Kendall wasn't listening to him. There was a pain in his chest that seemed to be getting stronger. It was only a matter of time before it consumed him completely, cutting him down until there was nothing left of him. His mom and his sister were dead. The two most important people in his life were dead, and it was all his fault.

"No." He closed his eyes, his head shaking vigorously from side to side. No. No, no, no. No.

"I told you to listen to me, but you didn't listen."

He could hear the smirk in his father's voice. Could feel him close, but he refused to open his eyes.

"Instead, you and your brat of a sister decided that trying to escape would be a good idea. Did you really think you'd be able to outsmart me?"

Kendall didn't answer. He felt a sob claw its way up his throat, parting his lips only a second later. The tears came almost instantly, more sobs causing his body to quake where he sat, restrained, unable to escape.

He was trapped, and at this point, he wasn't even sure escaping was worth it anymore.

"It's been almost two hours," Carlos said as he watched the hands of the clock that was hanging on the wall move as each second ticked by. To say he was worried would have been an understatement. He couldn't stop looking at the clock or thinking about what might be happening with Kendall, Katie and their mom right now. His dad had sent him a text shortly after he had left, telling him that he'd call as soon as they had been found, but so far, his phone hadn't made one single sound.

"I'm sure he'll call soon," James told him and scooted closer to him on the couch, one arm looping over Carlos' shoulders.

"I hope so." Carlos sighed as he leaned further into James, his head resting against his shoulder.

Logan was seated on the floor in front of them, his head between his hands. He hadn't said anything in a while. He was just staring forward, with a blank expression on his face.

"Penny for your thoughts?" James asked, but Logan didn't immediately look up. "Logan?"

Slowly, Logan raised his head, blinking rapidly. "What?"

James unwrapped his arm from around Carlos and leaned forward, so that he was closer to Logan's eye level. "You've been quiet for a while. What have you been thinking about?"

"Nothing," Logan said and looked down.

"You're always thinking about something," Carlos told him. He pulled away from James and leaned towards Logan as well.

"I'm just wondering how things got this bad," Logan said after a moment, hesitation clear in his voice. "After what happened when we were little, I didn't think– I didn't think Kendall's dad would come back."

"Me either," Carlos and James said quietly.

"He really hurt him," James added. "He deserves to rot in prison."

"Maybe he will." Carlos bit on his bottom lip and looked thoughtfully at James, and then at Logan. "Maybe once all of this is over, he'll go back to being in prison, and this time forever."

"I hope so," Logan said. "I really hope so."

"There's no way they'll let him out of prison after all of this," James said.

"Some people get away with anything," Carlos sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised. But maybe they'll keep a closer eye on him now."

"They need to," James said. "He's not a good person, and he never will be."

"I just hope they're alive."

"Logan—"

Logan shook his head and got up. "He's capable of it. You both saw what he did to Kendall before. And that was when he was little. Who knows what he'd do now."

James and Carlos turned to look at each other. "We know."

"But he said he'd let them go if he got his money," Carlos said. "So I don't think he'd do anything that drastic. At least, not yet."

"Let's hope not," James said.

Logan nodded but didn't say anything after that. He grabbed at his aching head and walked towards the kitchen. Once there, he grabbed a bottle of painkillers from one of the cabinets and a glass of water. He was about to pop the pill into his mouth when a phone started ringing.

He watched as Carlos dove for the phone sitting on the coffee table in front of him and James, his hands shaking. Staring down at the pill in his hand, Logan tossed it into his mouth. He had a feeling he was going to need it.

Katie awoke to the sound of a siren ringing loudly in her ears. A whimper slipped past her lips as she pried her eyes open and stared at a man who was watching her closely. She didn't recognize him, but judging by the name tag on his vest, she could tell he was a paramedic.

"Shhh, don't move," he told her, his lips pressing into a tight line. "Everything's gonna be alright. Just stay still."

Katie's eyes started to fill with tears. Noticing this, the man beside her took a hold of her hand and squeezed it tightly.

"My name's Mark," he said, giving her a small smile. "You hit your head pretty badly, but it's not as bad as it could be. We think you might have a concussion, but apart from that, you should be okay. Does your head hurt?"

Slowly, Katie nodded.

"That's normal with concussions. When we get to the hospital, the doctors may want to run some tests, to make sure nothing else has happened, but things will be just fine."

Katie nodded, swallowing even though her mouth felt painfully dry. "W-Where is—"

"Your mom?"

"Yes."

"She's in another ambulance."

"Is–Is she okay?"

Mark frowned at her question and diverted his eyes away from her. "She was shot, but in the leg. Leg wounds aren't as serious, so I think she should be okay."

"And… And Kendall?"

"Kendall?"

"My brother. He was–He was there, too."

"I didn't see your brother," Mark told her, watching as her eyes filled up with more tears. One of them managed to leak out from her eye and slowly roll down the side of her face. "But maybe he's in the other ambulance. I'm sure he's somewhere. When we get to the hospital, I'll see if I can find out anything, okay?"

Katie nodded her head, even though the small action caused it to throb. "Thank you."

"No problem," he said.

Katie gave him a small smile, her fingers tightening around his hand. A moment later, she closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them, she gave Mark a quizzical look.

"Who–Who are you?"

"What?"

"W-Who are you? Where… am I?" Katie asked and pulled her hand away from his.

Logan's hands were shaking. He hastily put on his jacket and slipped on his sneakers, accidentally stuffing his foot into the wrong sneaker the first time in his hurry. His hair was tousled, eyes bloodshot and wet. He sat on the edge of his bed as he waited for James and Carlos to be ready, his eyes falling on Kendall's side of the room. His eyes scanned the hockey posters on the wall, the photograph framed on Kendall's nightstand, with all four of them in it, his hockey stick leaning against the wall, his crumpled bed sheets.

He felt a lump grow in his throat.

"Hey, are you ready?" James asked, popping his head into the room.

Logan nodded and got up, his legs shaking under his weight. "Yeah, I'm ready. Is Carlos?"

"Yeah. Come on." James wrapped an arm around his shoulders, bringing him to his side. Logan would have usually pulled James away, not being one to be too comfortable with physical contact, but at that moment, he couldn't be bothered to move.

Together, the two of them walked to the living room, where Carlos was sitting, along with Gustavo and Kelly.

"Wait, I forgot my keys." Logan moved to walk back to his room, but James wrapped a hand around his wrist, stopping him. "What—"

"I'm driving you," Gustavo said, dangling his keys in the air.

The lump in Logan's throat throbbed.

"You don't have to. I can drive us just fine."

"I don't think you can. Not in this state," Kelly told him. "Plus, we were heading there anyway."

Logan stood motionless for a moment, his eyes glassy. "Okay."

James stepped out of the car as soon as they arrived at the hospital and held the door open so Carlos could step out, too. He gave Carlos a small pat on the back, then stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets, so that no one would notice them trembling. He breathed in sharply, before following the other boys, Kelly and Gustavo into the hospital.

Inside, the walls were painted a light beige color. He watched as Kelly stepped towards the front desk, where two nurses were sitting. One was busy typing something into a computer, while the other had a phone pressed to her ear. The one that was talking on the phone held up a finger as her eyes fell on Kelly.

As they waited, James' eyes scanned the waiting room. It was busy and crowded, with only two chairs available. He lightly nudged Logan, who was standing beside him, with his shoulder, and nodded towards the empty chairs.

"You should sit down," he told him, and then turned to Carlos. "Both of you."

"And you?" Carlos asked.

"I'm fine standing up."

"We could take turns."

"I'm fine for now."

Carlos nodded slowly, looking unconvinced, but grabbed Logan's wrist and pulled him towards the empty chairs. James followed closely behind and stood beside them awkwardly, crossing his arms over his chest.

When Gustavo and Kelly approached them, all three of them looked up.

"What did they say?" Carlos asked, rising from his seat. "Are they okay?"

Kelly looked at Gustavo for a second before answering.

"Jennifer's in surgery. Katie…"

"What's wrong with Katie?" James' voice trembled as he eyed Kelly. "Did something happen…?"

"Katie hit her head pretty badly," Kelly said slowly. "The doctors think she probably has a concussion, but they're running some tests on her."

"What are the tests for?" Carlos asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

"Just to make sure nothing else is going on," Kelly said, pressing her lips into a tight smile.

"When will they know?" Logan asked in a quiet voice. He gripped at the chair's armrests with both hands, his knuckles turning white.

"I don't know, sweetheart. But they said they'd let us know as soon as they knew anything."

James clenched his jaw, his hands balling into fists. "He did this, didn't he?"

"We're not sure."

"But he did," James said, in between gritted teeth. "He must've done something."

"We'll know eventually," Kelly said, stepping towards him. "But we probably won't know anything for a while."

James didn't respond. He blinked tears away from his eyes and looked away from her – from all of them.

"There's an empty chair over there," she told him, signaling at a chair that was now empty a couple of rows behind them. "You should take a seat. Try to relax."

"I'm fine."

"Honey, you're not. Go sit down, please."

Not wanting to argue with her, James did as she said, his steps slow and heavy. When he got to the chair, he slumped into it, his eyes meeting the back of the chair in front of him, where a woman was sitting, with what appeared to be a baby in her arms.

It wasn't long before Carlos' dad appeared through the entrance, looking exhausted. James watched as Carlos practically sprang from his seat and into his father's arms, his whole body shaking. He had to look away, before he too started to cry.

"James, mijo." He felt a hand on his shoulder a few minutes later and instantly knew it belonged to Antonio. "What are you doing over here, away from the other boys?"

"There was no more room," he said quietly, not looking up.

Antonio was quiet for a moment, his grip on James' shoulder tightening slightly.

"Why don't we go for a walk?"

At this, James looked up. "A walk?"

Antonio nodded. "You, me, Carlos and Logan. Just around the hospital. We'll be back before you know it."

"But, what if something happens?"

"Nothing's going to happen. The doctors are taking good care of them, and Kelly and Gustavo will be here, just in case. But I think a walk will do you some good."

James swallowed and looked back to where Carlos and Logan were seated, watching him closely. "I guess."

Antonio gave him a small smile. "Come on."

With a sigh, James got up from the chair and followed Antonio towards the hospital entrance. Carlos and Logan were soon at his side, solem expressions on both of their faces.

Outside, the air was slightly chilly. He hugged his arms around himself, watching from the corner of his eye as Logan did the same.

"Where are we going?" James called out.

Without turning around, Antonio answered him. "I saw a hotdog cart on the way here," he said. "Figured you boys must be hungry."

"I'm not really—" James began to say, but as if on cue, his stomach started to rumble. "Or maybe I am, a little…"

"I thought so."

Rounding a corner, the four of them caught sight of the hotdog cart. Once they had all ordered, they found a bench and ate their hotdogs in silence.

"So, what happened?" James asked once he had finished his.

"What happened?" Antonio looked at him, his eyebrows knitted together.

"With Katie and Mama Knight. What happened?"

"Oh, that." Antonio was quiet for a moment. "We don't know exactly. We think Kenneth shot Jen. As for Katie… she was hit on the head pretty hard, but we're not sure how."

"Were they both unconscious?"

"When we got there, yes."

"And… Kendall?" Carlos asked, tears pooling in his eyes. "Does no one know anything?"

Antonio shook his head. "He wasn't there, but… there was blood on the floor. We think it might be his."

"Why?"

"It wasn't in the same place Katie and Jennifer were at. But, of course, that's just a theory."

"So… he took him?" Logan asked, his voice cracking. "Again?"

"Unfortunately… yes."

Noticing the way Logan was blinking rapidly and taking in air too quickly, James reached over and squeezed his hand.

"Logan, breathe," he whispered, but at this point, Logan was starting to hyperventilate.

Antonio got up and moved to where Logan was sitting, kneeling at his feet. "Logan, we're going to find him, okay?" he said, his eyes meeting Logan's. "We will."

"I promised him," Logan croaked out. "I-I promised him he wouldn't take him, and he… and he did."

"It was out of your control, mijo."

"But I promised h-him." A lone tear rolled down Logan's cheek. His breathing had evened out a bit, but it was still too fast to be considered normal.

"I know," Antonio told him, "and I understand how you feel. Trust me, I do. But you didn't know this would happen. All we can do now is do our best to bring him home, safe and sound."

"He won't be."

"What?" Antonio asked.

All heads turned to Carlos, who was watching him closely.

"He won't be, safe and sound."

"What do you mean?"

"He's gonna hurt him. Wherever he is, he's gonna hurt him, badly, just like he did before."

Kendall doubled over as a punch was delivered to his stomach, knocking the air right out of his lungs. He felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes, but he didn't allow them to fall. His father was watching closely, a satisfied smile on his face.

"You talk back to me one more time, and you're gonna get much worse than that," he told him, pulling something out of his pocket. "Don't forget I have this," he said, showing him what was in his hand – a pocket knife.

Kendall remained quiet, his eyes glued to the sharp object.

"You wouldn't want me to hurt you with it, would you?"

Kendall didn't say anything.

"Would you?" his father growled, placing the knife near Kendall's throat.

A whimper slipped past Kendall's lips, his eyes scrunching up in pain.

"N-No."

"What did you say?" Kenneth asked, as he grabbed Kendall's face with two fingers and forced him to look in his direction. "I didn't hear you."

"No."

Letting go of his face, his father stepped back. "Trey, do me a favor and gag him for now."

"What? No!"

Trey was behind him in an instant, a bandana pulled over Kendall's mouth and tied to the back of his head. He squirmed helplessly, his sight blurring with tears.

"Maybe if you can't speak for a while, you'll learn not to talk back to me," his father said. He then turned to Trey. "Help me carry him, won't you?"

"Where to?"

"To the closet."

Trey nodded, grabbed the chair from the back as Kenneth grabbed it from the front, and together, they hauled it to the closet. Kendall tried to scream out, tried to squirm away, but it was useless.

He found himself sitting in complete darkness once again.

I clearly enjoy hurting Kendall and all the other boys, lol. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm really not.

Please let me know what you thought. And thank you for reading. :)

~ BigTimeRush-BTR :)