Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews, reading them really is the highlight of my day :)
All mistakes are mine :)

CHAPTER 21

Neal knew it was a bad idea.
He knew that he shouldn't disobey Elizabeth's orders, he knew Keller was out there and he knew he could be in danger.
But Kate said she had something cool to show him and she promised that they would only be gone for five minutes, no one would even know that they had left.
Neal knew he shouldn't leave, he knew it but he agreed anyway.
He grabbed Kate's offered hand and he walked away with her.
They didn't make it far before a man grabbed him.
Neal yelled to Kate that she should run and get help, but she didn't move.
The man didn't care about her, he didn't even look at her and Neal realized that there was a reason for that.
The guilty look in her eyes confirmed his fear. She had lured him away, she had tricked him, she had betrayed him.
He was thrown into the back of a van, his head hitting the floor and the pain caused tears to well up in his eyes.
The pain made him wish Elizabeth was there to kiss it better, and that wish made him think about the Burkes.
What was going to happen to him? Would he ever see them again?

The words echoed in her head, 'there is no Kate at our school'.
There was no Kate.
All they had now was a girl who had lied about her name, she could be anyone.
Both of them realized that this meant that Kate wasn't an innocent girl that happened to get caught up in this, no she was most likely used to lure Neal away.
This was without a doubt Keller's doing and she didn't even want to think about why the man wanted the kid so badly.
No one even knew why he kidnapped the boy in the first place.
Keller and his helper hadn't revealed the motive behind the kidnapping and Neal hadn't been willing to talk about the incident at all.
It felt like Keller wanted something from the kidnapping, it felt as if Neal was just a pawn in Keller's game and if that was the case then why?
How did Neal end up in Keller's path in the first place?
Did he know something? Maybe he knew someone?
Elizabeth wished that they would have known all of this, maybe that would've helped them find the missing kid but they didn't know anything and they didn't have any idea on how to locate Keller or what the man was planning to do with the boy.

Elizabeth watched as Peter paced the room while he talked to the NYPD on the phone. He had already called Jones and updated him on the situation and now he tried to get as much help from the police as possible.
She didn't miss when Peter said 'My kid is missing' and the words caused her to smile.
Peter had been so reluctant to foster the boy in the beginning and now he referred to Neal as his kid.
She just wished Neal could've heard it, just so that he would know how much he was loved.
Peter hung up and it seemed like the NYPD would give them all the help they could possibly give.
Peter suddenly handed her the phone and Elizabeth looked at it in confusion.

"Check for updates on your mother"

He said and Elizabeth felt horrible for completely forgetting about her mom.
She had been so caught up with Neal's disappearance that she hadn't even given her mother a second thought.
She called her dad, who picked up on the third ring.

"Hey sweetheart. What a nice surprise"

Her father didn't sound upset and he genuinely sounded surprised over her phone call.

"Dad, how is mom doing?"

There was a silence, and she could hear hushed whispers before her father answered her, sounding confused.

"She's fine, why are you asking?"

"I got a call from a doctor, they said mom collapsed and were in the hospital"
"Elizabeth, honey. Your mom is at home, she's alright. There must have been a mistake"

She frowned at his words, that couldn't be.
The doctor had mentioned her mother's name, he had even mentioned her correct date of birth. There was no way that this could've been a mistake.

Peter frowned when Elizabeth hung up the phone telling him that her mother was fine.
Something about this didn't feel right.
Elizabeth had received a phone call, a serious one that assured that she would get emotional and stressed, and he had received a tip, a seemingly legit tip about Keller which assured that he would rush to work on his day off.
Then Kate showed up when they both were occupied, it was as if she had waited to show up until both adults were busy.
Maybe it sounded stupid, but his gut feeling was screaming that this wasn't right.
The odds that this whole thing was a coincidence, that both the tip and the phone call was fake and that Kate just happened to show up while Elizabeth was on the phone, was very low.
It all seemed like an elaborate plan to get to Neal.
That really left an unsettling feeling in Peter's stomach.
Keller was willing to go to great lengths just to get to Neal. Why did he want the boy so bad?

Neal's head was pounding and he could feel the sticky, red substance slowly moving further down his face.
He had hit his head really bad but no one had cared.
He was really tired, he just wanted to sleep but he had heard somewhere that you shouldn't fall asleep with a head injury.
It was hard to stay awake though.
The van was dark, it smelled really bad and his body wanted nothing else but to sleep through this hell.
He found himself longing for Peter and Elizabeth, for their comforting words and their warm hugs. He longed for that safe feeling he got when he was sleeping in their bed.
His tears started to fall and he wondered if they would ever find him.
Maybe they wouldn't look for him and just assume that he ran away.
Even if running away was all he wanted in the beginning, now the mere thought of being alone again scared him.
In the beginning all he wanted was to get away from the Burkes but now all he wanted was to get back to them.

The ride seemed to last forever but finally the van stopped and the door opened.
Neal shied away from the bright light before the man grabbed him and literally threw him out of the van.
Neal's body hit the cement floor and the pain immediately flared up in his ribs.
Kate hovered over him, looking worried but Neal didn't want her worry.
She had betrayed him, he was in this position because of her.
He was lifted off the floor again, and the man carried him through the building, who looked like an abandoned warehouse.
Neal didn't dare to resist, his body already hurting too much to risk getting more hurt.

"Long time no seen junior"

Neal felt a chill sweep through his body as he heard the familiar voice and within seconds he could see its owner.
Keller looked at him with a smug face and Neal felt nothing but hate for this man.
He wished he was an adult so that he could fight Keller, but he wasn't an adult so he had to settle for glaring daggers at the criminal.
He was dumped on a chair, without restraints since the bad guys clearly had the upper take here and they could stop Neal from escaping before he had even left the chair.
Keller walked up to him, leaning over him so that their faces were just inches apart.
Neal could feel his warm, stinky breath on his face and he realized that hate wasn't a strong enough word when it came to Keller.
Without thinking, he punched the man right in the face, his small fist connecting with the big nose.

"Son of a"

Keller backed up, while running his hand under his nose checking for any signs of a nose bleed.

"That wasn't very nice, kiddo"

Keller said in a mix of anger and amusement.

"Especially not since I've been kind enough to get you a surprise gift"

Neal didn't know what kind of surprise Keller was talking about but he knew that he should expect the worst.

"You're lucky I'm nice enough to give it to you anyway"

Neal scoffed at the man's words. Neal was everything but lucky.
A door opened behind him and he could hear footsteps approaching him.
There was something about those footsteps that caused his heart to beat faster and a sudden fear came over him. He didn't know why, but his instincts were warning him that danger was approaching.
Neal slowly turned around and his blood froze when he saw the familiar man walking towards him. A man Neal hoped he would never see again.
Suddenly Keller didn't seem that bad, not now when his father had stepped into the room.

Author's Note 2: Unfortunately my father is in the hospital and it's not looking good. Right now it is unclear if he will survive.
As you could imagine this does not only take up a lot of my time but it also affects me mentally.
My point here is that it might take a while before the next update, depending on if my dad gets better or not.
I will not abandon this story, I will just need some time to deal with everything and some time to be with my family.
Thank you for understanding.