Chapter 9
"FINALLY!" Katie exclaimed, dropping her suitcase off in 2J in a huff, then fell forward on the couch. The guys rolled their eyes, amused by the girl, and dropped off their duffle bags at their rooms, Kendall took the preteen's, knowing that she might not do it herself. When they returned to the living room, they saw Mrs. Knight hugging the life out of her daughter.
"Mom? I think she needs to breathe," Kendall called out, making the stage mom let go and focus her attention on them. She ran up and engulfed them all in a group hug, to which they returned.
"Mm! I just missed you all so~ much!" She gleefully said, letting them go. Her grin, however, turned to a frown when she saw the state they were all in. After working the investigation, the boys had bags under their eyes and slightly off - one of them looked worse than the others. "What happened?! You four look like you could pass out any minute! I knew I should have come along-"
"Mom!" Kendall grabbed the shoulders of the frantic woman, but more out of assurance than aggression. "We're fine, just a little tired is all. We had a long flight after all."
Jennifer carefully looked into her son's eyes and, when she found out he was telling the truth, she sighed. "Okay, then all of you get some rest. Even you Katie."
"What? But I'm not-" Mrs. Knight whipped her head at her and raised a challenging eyebrow, making her daughter back down. The boys and girl, although not agreeing with the circumstances, left to their rooms and went to bed.
"What is wrong with you?! You had one job to find the killers of Mr. Preps and when you did, you just let them go!" Carlos winced, looking at an identical version of himself… well, almost identical. That Carlos was pissed.
"Not only that but you let an innocent lady fall down the path of alcoholism, just like Josh and Surge. I mean, come on! If I was out there, I would have successfully captured Louis and Rich, prevented my father's gun being stolen, and prevented the suicide by Mrs. Devon," that Carlos continued. He crossed his arms, shook his head in disgust, and circled the actual Carlos. "Look at you. You're so pathetic. Stupid. Useless. A waste of space… I could go on and on about how you are absolute trash, but, I rather talk about the decisions that you've made."
Carlos wanted to say something, but he couldn't - literally, he could only listen.
"You pushed everyone away when they were only trying to help, you kept things bottled up, you stole from your father, you tried to get yourself and friends killed by solving a stupid crime, and you are clear at fault for the death of Mr. Preps and Mrs. Devon. Why? Preps wouldn't have been out there in the bleachers if SOMEONE didn't need to go to the ice rink, which would have prevented the shooters to even be there. And Devon - you shouting at her for drinking only provoked her doing more damage to herself than she really intended. Nice going. Honestly, you should just end it right here and now. I'm sure the others won't care. I know you have access to the roof of the hotel… So why don't you? You could finally stop hurting others and stop those stupid mistakes-
"NO!" Carlos cried, snapping his eyes open, scanned the room, as he breathed heavily. James mumbled something incoherently as he stirred then rolled over to be facing the wall. This sudden movement reminded the Latino that he was in the Palm Woods, so he sighed and brushed the sweat off his forehead. He also felt that he was crying.
The Latino, not wanting to disturb his friend in his deep sleep, slowly got out of bed, put on a sweater, and headed out of the apartment, hoping to clear his mind from all the madness swarming in there.
It was night, around two in the morning to be exact. The light of the full moon shined down and cascaded its glimmering light all across that half of the world. The pool, glowing by not only the installed lights to give it more aesthetic, but by the moonlight as well. The slight breeze of the cool night brushed some leaves of the palm trees, plants, and created small waves in the water. No living being was around, but him, making the entire lobby and pool silent as can be, very different compared to when it was daylight. The stars also sat upon the dark blue sky, sparkling in its place, just like the sun would be when it was day, never letting down the things that live off it.
Although he was always cheerful and energetic in the day, Carlos preferred the night, knowing that it was always reliable to be silent and peaceful. The beauty of the night, unfortunately, brought him to the last place he wanted to be - the roof. He wasn't even sure how he got there, but he did, and he hates it. 'You should just end it right here and now' his voice rang in his ears. The teen subconsciously walked closer to the edge, luckily it had a barrier to keep him inside, or he would have walked right off.
Carlos shook his head and folded his arms of the concrete wall, then stared up at the sky. His eyes sparkled in fascination at the moon and stars, curious as to why they were there and why they were so beautiful, able to forget everything in your mind in a split second. He sighed. Carlos then, thinking it was a good idea, started humming the song he just learned days ago. He smiled and let himself close his eyes as a fresh, cool breeze brushed his face, soothing the boy.
Although he was humming, it was soft, so he could still hear his surroundings, so he abruptly stopped and his ears perked up when he heard something behind him. It sent chills down his spine. He forgot to close the roof door. He heard something again, making him open his eyes in a hurry and look behind him. Someone is there with him. Carlos' eyes scanned the darkness, trying to make out anything. 'Vent. Vent. Wall. Vent. Another wall. Shadow. Pipes- wait what?!' His eyes immediately widened at the figure, crouched into the shadows, but the light grey wall gave away their position. Based on how they looked, they obviously didn't want to be seen. This caused Carlos to feel him shudder and make goosebumps come all over his arms. The two, not moving from their positions, stared at each other in the dark.
Not knowing what to do, Carlos made a count to three in his head. When he landed on the last number, he turned like the speed of light and dashed away. He heard the person do the same. The roof was pretty large so that meant it was a distance away from the door that led back into the building. This was, unfortunately, Carlos' downfall. He ran as fast as he could but he felt something tug his hoodie, making him crashed into the ground. He groaned but he quickly got back up and got into a defensive position. His eyes frantically searched for his attacker but he couldn't see anything, not even with the moon's light.
That was until he heard a too familiar voice whisper in his ear, sending chills all over his body. "Sorry, but I have to follow his orders." It said. Before he could expose what he believes is the aggressor, he felt a sudden flash of pain to the back of his head, causing him to yelp and fall to the floor, but not before his world faded into even more darkness.
Katie's P.O.V.
I woke up to the sound of the front apartment door closing. Strange, it's 2:36 in the morning, nobody should be leaving the apartment. It may be nothing but… I'm curious. So, with that motivation, I groggily moved out of my bed and exited my room. I yawned as I quietly went to the living room, but I didn't see anything so I went out of the apartment. I would have hissed like a vampire by the sudden light but instead, I started blinking rapidly at the end of the hall. I could have sworn I saw...
"Carlos?" I called but he didn't hear me. It was like he was in his own little world, so I decided to follow him and drag him back to the apartment. I rolled my eyes and scurried after him, but I soon lost him when I got to the lobby. 'Where did he go?' I groaned. I was about to head back to the apartment when I heard footsteps behind me. Before I could turn around, I felt a hand with a cloth clamp over my mouth. Just by the smell of it, I immediately knew it was chloroform. I tried struggling and stomp on my attacker's foot but nothing worked and I started getting more tired than I already was. My world went black.
Carlos stirred from the floor and rolled over to be on his back. He cracked his eyes open to the blinding sunlight, making him squeeze them back shut. The teen groaned and sat up, but his hands shot up to his head when he felt an overwhelming headache come over him. He opened his eyes again and looked around. He was on the roof, but why was he-?
Immediately, the memories from last night rushed back to him, making his headache worse. But what made it feel like hell on earth was the revelation he witnessed, he knew who attacked him. It was Rich. Getting up, he staggered to the door and walked back down the stairs he came up the night before. Carlos removed his hand as he made his way to the lobby, but was quite surprised to see officers there, along with his family and teens gathering around. They were talking so much that they didn't notice him at first, so he had to walk up to Kendall to see what's happening.
"Hey-" The moment he touched the teen, making him turn, he was engulfed by hugs. They were saying stuff about how worried they were and what had happened, confusing him greatly, so he forced his way out of the embrace. "What's going on? And where's Katie?"
"She…," Mrs. Knight choked up, tears welling up to her eyes, as she covered her mouth and willed herself not to start crying again.
"She's gone," Kendall informed seriously, they could all feel the anger radiating off him. "She left during the night and didn't come back. We think she was taken-"
"Once again, Mr. Knight, she wasn't. She's a teenage girl, she might have gone out for her own pleasure," an officer corrected with a tired voice, making the teen shot daggers. Carlos quietly thought over what happened to him a few hours before while the officer and dirty blonde argued. If it really was Rich who attacked him, Louis must have been here too so getting him and Katie might have been a priority. But, why would they only take Katie and not him? The Latino, getting reference from the last time he had to investigate but with his father, walked over to the desk where Mr. Bitters was munching his snacks away and got his attention.
"Mr. Bitters, I need to see last night's security footage," he whispered to the man. "It might help me find Katie."
"Fine, but only because I believe that she really was kidnapped," the manager agreed, but also secretly having another reason. He liked the preteen girl, like she was his friend, so seeing her in trouble made him worried. Carlos nodded in appreciation and walked to the other side of the desk where the manager was opening up the software extension on his computer, then moved aside to let the teen go at it. Carlos used the remote and rewound the footage all the way to two in the morning. Nothing happened when he pressed play so he fast forward it until he saw him walk into the lobby then Katie. She was looking around and, by the looks of it she was looking for him. A teen appeared behind her, half of his face covered with a bandana, and grab hold of her. Although Katie was struggling, she soon fell limp into the teen's arms. Carlos and Bitters quietly watched as another masked figure appear and they both walked out. The teen changed cameras and saw them leave to the right side of the sidewalk and disappear.
"Mr. Bitters, I need you to show this to the police while I get started on finding her," Carlos instructed, handing over the remote, to which the manager nodded. The teen secretly walked out of the building.
"Where do you think you're going?" Okay, he guessed he wasn't being secret enough. He turned to his friends, who were crossing their arms with narrowed eyes.
"I-I'm going… out," he lamely lied.
"We heard that you got some footage of what happened to Katie," Kendall frowned. "So, let me ask you again, where are you going, Carlos?"
He thought about the question. On one hand, he could do this with his friends and make it easier on himself or the other where he keeps them away, knowing that they might get into danger if they were there with him.
"Carlos, seriously, you're going after her, aren't you?" Logan asked, pulling the teen out of his thoughts. The teen sighed, eyes downcast.
"What is wrong with you? She's my sister, Carlos! Why do you keeping pushing us away!" Kendall started yelling, drawing some attention to him, but he didn't care. He started walking up to the teen as he continued. "You know what, you're selfish! We can do this together but all you want to do is do everything yourself! Why? Huh, tell me why!"
By that time, Kendall was towering over Carlos, who didn't respond, which angered the teen more.
"Katie is out there. She's out there with someone we don't know, getting hurt or possibly worse, but all you want to do is lie to our faces, saying that everything is okay, and leave us all alone-!"
"I'M DOING THIS SO YOU DON'T DIE!" Carlos suddenly burst, facing his friend in the eyes. "I'm doing this because I know we could all die from Louis, yeah, they followed us. But, like I said, I'm only pushing you away because I can't have you three dead! I know we're a team, but that doesn't apply here like other times, Kendall! It's life or death and, right now, it may sound selfish to you but I'm going to go after Katie."
Before he knew it, he was punched in the face. Carlos staggered back and touched his nose, noting that it was bleeding. It surely didn't help his headache. He looked back up to Kendall, to see a regretful expression planted on his face.
"C-Carlos, I'm sorry." He tried reaching out but the teen glared and smacked his hand away, causing the teen to flinch back.
"Fuck you, Kendall." The trio of teens froze at his line. Carlos, too blinded by his anger, walked past them and back into the hotel, now realizing he was still in his PJs. The left teens were so shocked and hurt, that they couldn't move. Kendall was the first, his eyes watering a bit so he put his head down in a hurry.
No one has ever said that to him, well, some people that he had problems with, but none of his friends, especially his BEST friends. What hurt more was the first-ever curse word they ever heard their friend say was directed toward him. He felt two hands placed on either one of his shoulders, but he knew who they were.
"He's… going through a lot," James spoke up, his tone low.
"He shouldn't have said that but-" Logan cut himself off and bit his lip.
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have said that. I was just so worried for Katie and-" Kendall sighed before he could continue his rant. "I should go apologize."
"Let him cool down first, it'll be best in case he blows up on you again," the genius suggested, patting the dirty blonde's shoulder. Kendall looked up to the sky. "She's be okay. I know she will."
"Yeah," James agreed.
"I know, I know, but I'm her older brother. It's my job to worry."
To be continued...