A/N: So, this chapter is primarily from Caleb's point of view – I still need to map out the finer details of the next chapter so if, after reading this one, you have any ideas on how his plan is going to work out, please review and let me know! Full credit will of course apply to any idea I use.
"No one can tell what goes on in-between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out of the other side.
Or you don't." - Stephen King
Caleb let out a scream of frustration before he slammed his hand against the metal bar that confined him to the small space. No one was paying him any attention, no one listened to his frustrated screams as he demanded he be let out, or at least be allowed a phone call. He insisted that he had done nothing wrong, perhaps he had broken a law or two but it was all for the sake of his girlfriend. His beautiful, amazing girlfriend who had already been through so much and now, because of him, she was going to be going through so much more.
He didn't trust the police, he never had and he was so sure he never would. They could have helped him and the girls all those years before but instead, they had chosen to sit on their asses and tell anyone who would listen that the four girls were just running away from the reality of their situation. They would capture the criminals and convict them as they needed to be. They would ensure that those dangerous criminals, who were suspected of murder, were where they needed to be – behind bars.
He slammed his hand against the bars once again and shook his head, "I thought you were doing arresting innocent people?!" He screamed through them, "You're pathetic. All of you!" He finally kicked at the bars that were between him and the love of his life before he turned his back and gripped onto his hair with a frustrated groan. It only took him a moment before he grabbed the mattress and threw it across the room, kicking at the bed that was in the corner before he fell to the floor and let out a broken sob.
He still had no idea how this new A had found out. It was meant to be a secret, but somehow, right under his nose, Spencer and Hanna were taken just like that. One minute they were there and the next... nothing. He had taken his eye off the ball for just a moment, he had allowed himself to relax when he should have been holding her closer than ever. And once again, she was gone and she was into the hands of someone who wanted revenge. This wasn't a case of someone who wanted dolls to play with, this wasn't as it was before. This time, she truly could be returning to him in a body bag within the next twenty-four hours and perhaps, that would be the best thing if this person had anything like Charlotte had done, planned for those two girls who had been through hell and back.
One minute, Hanna was in the yard and he had gone to grab them both something to drink but by the time he got back, she was gone. She had disappeared and despite the screaming he did, running around, looking for any trace of her, he knew that she hadn't simply just walked away from him. He could feel it with every fibre of his being – she had been stolen from him. Again. And now the police decided to arrest him because he had hacked into their system to see those crime scene photographs once again, looking for proof that someone had been in there with them. Someone other than Charlotte DiLaurentis.
He needed more suspects, he needed to know who the hell had his girlfriend and her best friend. He needed answers and he wasn't going to get it from the police and then, when he admitted he had only hacked them for the sole purpose of finding his missing, taken girlfriend, they had looked at him with a roll of their eyes and told him that they weren't going to fall for it. The Rosewood Police Department were going to pay for everything they had done since the day A had reared her ugly head. He was going to make sure that they paid for every time they never believed Hanna and the other girls, for every roll of their eyes, for every accusation, for every time they looked over the evidence that was staring them right in the face, for every murder they failed to solve, for everything they had done wrong that had caused Hanna, Spencer, Aria and Emily to suffer.
His dug his nails into the palm of his hand as he took a deep breath and settled his glare on the entrance of the cell they had thrown them into. If they found Hanna's body, he was going to make them all suffer. If Hanna was found alive and well, they would still suffer.
It was another few hours before they opened the door and he found himself being led out, as some officer muttered something about someone bailing him out but the police would be wanting to talk to him in the near future. Caleb didn't say a word as he just let his anger fuel every step he took towards Ashley Marin when he saw her waiting for him, he could hear the anger in her own voice as she screamed at Detective Tanner, reminding those that worked there how incompetent each and every single one of them were. Her daughter was missing again and instead of looking for her, they were arresting her boyfriend for trying to find her.
The red head took Caleb's hand the moment he was within reach and her glare settled on the Detective, "We're going to find my daughter because you're never going to and when we do, I won't forget that you forced Caleb to waste sixteen hours in this place for trying to do your job. I'll take this as far as I need to go, I'll get all the money I need to get the best lawyer and I will destroy you. All of you. But especially you, Detective Tanner." She emphasised the word with a small smirk on her face, as she gave the woman a look up and down, showing her disbelief that she had ever earned the title in the first place.
With that, he felt himself being dragged out of there, but not before he managed to put his finger up at the red faced woman who looked as though she was trying to control her own anger. He was sure if she could arrest Ashley for anything she said, she would have but she knew the risk of further humiliation would be too much. As he stood outside, it was not the first time that he considered burning down the entire building with each officer in it so Rosewood Police would get the chance to start again. Toby could rejoin, others would come in, people who could do their jobs, who could help those people that needed it the most.
And then he caught himself, for just a split second because he realised that everything that had happened had caused him to become someone he never thought he would be. Someone who had the darkest of thoughts, someone who would murder anyone who hurt the person he loved so much.
He could sense the anger from the older Marin, even when they had left the building and were walking down the street towards her car. He knew it was coming but he was still shocked when her hand dropped from his and she turned to face him, her hands on her hips and the kind of look that a mother would give her son before she told him off. That was what she was to him after all, she was like another mother, a better mother than his own had been. "What the hell were you thinking? You know you have a criminal record, Caleb, you know that you could go to jail. You have a suspended sentence, for gods sake!" They had not spoken about that, not since Hanna had come back months ago but he knew she was right. The last time he had been arrested and brought in front of a judge, there was enough sympathy that meant he wasn't about to be thrown in jail but not enough that would give him another bout of community service. Two years on a suspended sentence, if he breached any of the conditions, if he committed another crime, he would be brought back up in front of the judge and this would be reconsidered. He could go to jail. He just got Hanna back and if she was returned to him in one piece, then he would be the one to be taken from her.
He just sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before he shook his head, "I love her, I don't see right when she's in danger and right now, she's gone and it's my fault. I never should have left her alone, I never should have thought she was safe!" He was frustrated, and upset, and not for the first time, he started to cry in front of the woman who was quick to dispel her own anger to wrap her arms around him when tears of her own fell. "They're no good to me, to her... they would never help, even if they knew how to. I had to do something, I had to anything I possibly could to bring her home and they just wasted sixteen hours!"
He was broken, more broken than he had let on since Hanna had been returned to him. He had longed to be strong, he wanted to be there for Hanna, he wanted to make sure she felt safe and loved despite what she had been through but he could feel himself breaking every single second of every single day. When he was alone, he'd wipe at the tears that would find their way down his face, when he was in the shower it was the only time he'd truly let himself feel the weight of what had happened reign down on him. He loved her so much; the more he read about the time she had spent in that place, the more he felt himself shattering. How he longed to be strong for her, and for Ashley and for himself, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up.
Once he got back to the house, he moved to the bedroom he shared with Hanna without another word, feeling defeated and more alone than he ever had. She wasn't waiting for him when he got back to the room and it broke him, but instead, her diary was on the bed where he had left it that morning and he soon found himself sitting on the bed, with it in his hands as he took a deep breath. Her words broke him, but at the same time, they managed to console him, give him comfort that even though she couldn't – or wouldn't – speak, she still loved him enough to tell him what she had been through. Writing it down was easier for her, and the words on the page was for his eyes only, staring with the Dear Caleb and always ending with the fact that she was forever his, or that she loved him. His fingers moved over the tear stained page of the last thing she had written, his fingers moving over the way she had signed her name with a small smile on his face. He couldn't read those words yet, not if they were the last ones she ever wrote to him but he read the last few words – I am so deeply in love with you – over and over again before he placed it carefully on the side and moved to pick his computer back up.
It was then, for the first time, he picked up his phone and scrolled through the messages that had been left for him during his time behind bars. Mostly from Toby or Emily, he stopped on one from an unknown number and his heart stopped when he was met with a photograph of the woman he loved so much; he could see bruises on her shoulder, a scared look on her face, her desperation...
I wonder if she'll scream for me at the end, if she'll beg me not to kill her?
Those were the words attached to the photograph and he wanted to throw his phone against the nearest wall before he looked through his messages once again, finding another message but this time, from Toby.
I just got a picture of Spencer, he says he's going to kill them for what they did to Charlotte. We did some investigating of our own... Jenna is back, along with Noel and Sara Harvey. We're going to keep an eye on them at the Radley. I'll keep you updated.
Four hours later, he had received another message; Sara Harvey is dead, fell in the shower apparently.
The puzzle pieces seemed to fit together in his mind and he rubbed his eyes, before he sent a text to the one person who would probably help him with the mess he had found himself in. His hands trembled as he sent the message, watching the tick come up once it had been read, and then the reply that was being sent back. He only waited a minute before he read the words on the screen and he nodded his head. A plan was forming, he was going to get Hanna and Spencer home safe no matter what it took.
It might work but I don't know... I'll try. You honestly think if I reach out they'll believe me?
He sighed and quickly typed back, If we don't try something, whoever this is is going to murder Hanna and Spencer. Maybe if you pretend to be on their side... she was your sister. You're the only one who could pull this off.
He took a moment before he started to type again, And delete these messages. Don't tell anyone what you plan on doing, not even Emily or Aria. I'll be there the entire time, I won't let anything happen to you.
When she didn't reply, he knew she had done as he said and he took a deep breath, doing the same with his own messages before he looked around the room one last time. If Hanna was gone, he wasn't sure he would ever be able to come back here, not without feeling that overwhelming sense of loss that would be so final. Throwing some stuff into a bag, including her diary, he sighed and closed the door behind him once he left. Downstairs, he only took a moment to scribble a note to the woman he assumed to be in her own room, before he headed to the door.
I'm going to do everything I can to get her back. Please trust me. I love both of you so much – you're both the family I always wanted.
