Well, a lot of people to thank! You guys make this journey so much more fun. Without further ado, love goes out too Aeroja, Mr. President, Hikari no Kasai, Scarlett, nigel small, taeXen, brittney, Miss-Invisible-Heartbreak, I AM AIR, BeingHannah923, Cookie Monster Giggles, Greengamer14, WeLoveTheLove and who could forget, MoonbabyAstroRock3r.
Your alerts and favourites are still, forever welcomed! Brings a tear to my eye each time I see one!
Behind The Lens
Chapter Sixteen; In Due Time.
Carlos paced back and forth across the room, ignoring the soothening that came from the gang. With each stomp on the floor, another doubt pushed into his mind. The party was long over, mainly because of Logan's weird disappearance. Tears began to brim in the corner of his eyes, stinging. He looked over at Kendall, looking at him the most for comfort. His eyes met with a sympathetic and worried look from the dirty blonde, only heightening his fears.
"Why hasn't he called?" Carlos almost shouted.
"Carlos, I'm sure everythings fine," Kendall said softly. "Have you tried calling his mom?"
"What, and freak her out as well? No!" Carlos pinched the bridge of his nose, letting a deep sigh escape his lips. His mind whirled, the many cogs and gears twisting and turning. Logan wouldn't have walked away, not after everything. He wouldn't have willingly disappeared. Something was amidst.
James looked at Kendall, worry glossing over his eyes. Instinctively, Kendall gripped onto James' hand, squeezing it lightly. He didn't know Logan that well, but he liked the boy. He was decent and good for Carlos. But for James.. He knew they had a special kind of friendship. He knew about the incident with James trying to kiss Logan and make the move. After all, now that they were dating, it would be silly to keep secrets from each other.
The door swung open, thudding against the wall, Sabrina and Drew hastily walking in.
"We've checked the entire block, we can't find him." Sabrina breathed, her voice strong, but on the verge of breaking down.
"He didn't say anything or do anything?" Drew asked.
Carlos shook his head, unable to speak. His breath was caught, but even if that cleared, there would be no denying that his voice wouldn't be able to take the pressure of the building emotions. His eyes fell to the floor, a few stray tears falling gracefully from the spheres.
In his mind, the worst was happening, despite no real proof. He just cared about Logan too much.
A vibration sent Carlos' eyes upwards. His head turned, looking at the surprised looks from the entire 'Scooby Gang', each one frantically digging in their pockets and handbags, trying to find the device that was going off.
"I got it!" Sabrina called, having pulled her phone from her handbag. "It's from Logan."
Her grin brought everyones' mood up, each one letting out their own sigh of relief. Whilst Kendall and James shared a quick, sweet kiss on the lips, Lucy fell back on the couch, letting out a large cheer. Everyone was happy, including Carlos, who by now, was bouncing over on every step towards Drew and Sabrina, the pair perched near the kitchen.
Then, his heart sunk, closely following the look of distraught on Sabrina's face.
"Sabrina.." Carlos croaked, realisation hitting him like a train.
Carlos' teary eyes watched on as Drew wrapped his arms around Sabrina's waist, pulling her into a deep hug as prickly, hot tears flowed down her face quickly. Her hand violently shook as she turned the phone around, showing the Latino the picture on the screen.
A picture of Logan. Tied up and gagged in a chair. Unconscious.
His body soon gave way, his frame falling to the floor in a broken heap as he bursted into tears. James and Kendall rushed over, the dirty blonde scooping Carlos into a hug as James inspected the phone. He too let out a muffled cry, hidden behind his hands. Lucy leaned up, staring at the picture from the distance.
"I-I-I-Is that.." Lucy stammered.
Sabrina nodded as she let out her own cry, her head quickly burying itself in Drew's shoulder blade. Almost instantly, Lucy's face dropped, an unusual shade of white painting itself across her features. Then, another vibration rung out in the quiet room, startling everyone.
This time, it came from James' pocket.
His eyes widened as he pulled forth the phone, staring at the device, his gaze never once leaving. It carried on vibrating, shaking around in his hand like a wasp's nest. A stray tear flew fell as he looked up, noticing that everyone but Kendall and Carlos was looking at him. Swallowing the lump on his throat, scratching against the skin, he pressed the button, opening the text from Logan.
"I-I-It s-says.." James croaked, giving up and handing the phone to Lucy.
"It says.." Lucy drew in a breath, exhaling it shakily. "Let's play a game, shall we Scooby Gang?"
Her worried eyes found themselves following yet another vibration, this time, in her own pocket. Shakily, she pulled the phone up, holding it against James' phone. She took another deep breath, her solid exterior shattered as she opened up the dreaded text.
"The game is.. Where is Logan Mitchell?" Lucy said quietly.
Another vibration rattled through the room, Drew's hand diving down into his pocket and bringing forth his own phone. Without hestitation and a concern look on his face, he pressed the button.
"To win, you have to find him. Find him and maybe.." Drew grew quieter at the end of the sentence.
"What's it say?" Kendall asked, slightly agitated.
"Find him and maybe he'll survive.." Drew replied.
A harsh and choked wail could be heard from Carlos, his tight fists pounding against the floor of the apartment roughly. Kendall tried calming him down, rubbing circles on his back through the thin fabric that clung to the Latino's body. Each whimper and cry brought a wave of pain through the entire group, the realisation that Logan could easily be dead if they didn't play along.
Finally, this time, music began blaring through a phone's speakers. Carlos held his breath, realising it was his phone that was now making the noise, the fact it never went on vibrate. Pulling himself onto his knees, Carlos dug for his phone, pulling it out and letting it drop to the floor carelessly, the wood tapping a button and a picture of Carlos and Logan popping up, in a happy embrace. Both smiling.
Carlos looked at Kendall, the dirty blonde shifting his eyes between the phone and Carlos. He didn't know what to do. Slightly nodding, Kendall leaned forward, scooping the phone up into his hand and opening the text message, taking a deep breath as he began to read.
"So, to start this wonderful journey, Carlos, won't don't you go and see Sylvia and Grant? Maybe they could give you some insight." Kendall said.
He pulled his gaze back onto Carlos, noticing the petrified look on the Latino's face.
After the tears were shed and emotions slowly but surely calmed down, there was nothing left expect the missing feeling. The omnious atmosphere that loomed and suffocated the apartment and it's inhabitants. Nobody would leave all night. After hearing from Carlos about going to his parents' house tomorrow, everyone felt.. Weird. They felt trapped, like an animal in headlights. Everyone was scared, if not for themselves then for the possible outcome for Logan and the pain he could be going through.
A sharp shooting pain pierced through the back of Logan's mind, like sharp nails being dragged across his brain. His eyes strained and twisted behind his eyelids, the pain and after effect of the chloroform becoming clear. Carefully, he pulled the lids open, letting the blaring, bright white light shine down from the ceiling, causing him to squint.
He grunted and groaned, the throbbing behind his eyes and in his skull driving him wild. It felt just like the hangover, only, 10x as worst. Logan tried to pull his hands away, bringing them up to his face to protect his sensitive orbs from the light, only to find them trapped and bounded, gripped tightly.. He changed the angle of his sight, tilting his eyes downwards to avoid the rays. Despite everything being blurry and cloudy, he could notice the faint signs of a thick rope, twisted across his wrists and keeping him pinned to the arm of a cold metal chair.
"W-Where am I?" Logan groaned weakly, closing his eyes again.
A dark laugh echoed throughout the stone room, bouncing from the walls.
Logan groaned again, the back of his head hurting a lot more than it should from a chloroform hit. It should just knock him out. But now, the back of his head felt like it had been split open. Gingerly, Logan shifted in his seat, trying to work out how tight to the chair he was. He managed to squirm a little, but besides that, he was stuck. Like prey waiting to be devoured.
A shadowy figure began drawing close, each step getting increasingly louder and louder as the person got nearer.
"W-W-W-Who are you?" Logan struggled to say, his throat closing up on him.
"All in due time, my dear Logan.." the man replied in a husky, thick voice.
Logan opened his eyes for a small second, trying to focus out the blur, to try and see the man that had abducted him. But the more he opened his eyes, the more he found himself fighting against the complete blackness that wanted to swamp over his eyeballs.
His mouth parted for a small second, words getting ready to be spoken when a sickening thud rang out as Logan's head jerked forward, his body forcing out a strangled cry of pain.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Logan cried out.
The same, dark laugh filled and bounced around the room, slowly going quieter as the footsteps began decreasing.
Stars began to pepper in his eyesight, flashing and growing. The stinging sensation at the back of his head had only gotten more worse, a warm and wet sensation running down the back and across his neck. Slowly, the stars enveloped his entire sight, forcing his eyelids to close on him as he tried to cry for help, just one more time, praying for an answer.
Carlos sat there, knees brought to his chest, holding onto them for dear life. He slowly rocked himself back and forth, desperately trying to hold back the tears threatening to escape his eyes. He couldn't cry. Not again. He had to be strong, if not for himself, then for Logan. Logan needed saving, and no matter the cost, Carlos would be the superhero. The sunlight blinked through the curtains, highlighting the teenagers spread out the room.
Drew and Sabrina on the other, curled up with each other. James and Kendall decided to take Carlos' bedroom, after the Latino suggested he'd share a bed with Lucy if he got tired, although, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. He couldn't just turn his mind off and allow his body to shut down for rest, not knowing that Logan was out there somewhere in danger, possibly dead.
"Carlos?"
A weak, broken voice caused Carlos' head to crane around to the side, seeing James, tugging on the bottom of his shirt.
"Hi.." Carlos croaked out.
James stepped into the room gingerly, his eyes fixed on the Latino's face. His cheeks were swollen and bright red, the evidence of no doubt crying all night.
"Morning.." James quietly replied, swallowing the lump in his throat. "D-Do we, I mean, are we heading to your parents' house today?"
"I'm going on my own." Carlos said, an unusual sense of coldness laced in his voice.
"That's what you think," another voice stepped in, clearly from Kendall. "We're a gang, remember? You were the one that named us."
"Kendall, I-" Carlos breathed, before being cut off.
"No buts, Carlos," Kendall sadly smiled and extending his hand forward. "We're gonna find him, together, as a unit. We're not leaving you alone."
Carlos admitted defeat, sighing and accepting the hand from the dirty blonde, pulling himself to his feet. Soon, Drew, Sabrina and Lucy were also awake, each of the three agreeing that it's best they stick together, Lucy even pointing out that they are all involved, seeing as everyone got a text from the kidnapper.
They quickly left the apartment, heading for the only clue they had on Logan's whereabouts; Carlos' adopted parents' house. Carlos climbed into James' car, quickly followed by Lucy and Kendall, whilst Sabrina and Drew took Drew's car. The car purred along the tarmac, the subtle vibration running through the car, hopefully soothening Carlos down. Trees upon trees passed the window he was looking out, until finally, things started to become more familiar.
He was going home.
Some bangs on the floor startled Logan, prompting for his eyes to slowly peel open, the cloudiness having finally disappeared. Swallowing some saliva down his voice, he almost choked, realising how scratchy and raw it was, again, no doubt from the chloroform. Blinking rapidly to reduce the stars that still slightly peppered his vision, he gazed around the room, noticing it looked more like a warehouse.
The walls and floors were made of simple concrete, thus, the echoes being louder than normal. The ceiling was high up, littered by the many industrial lights.
Still feeling the warm sensation on the back of his head, he raised his hand into the air, bringing to his head and lightly touching it. He hissed at the response, a wave of pain rushing through his skull like a tidal wave. But then something clicked on.
He moved his hand out into the light, noticing the crimson that was painted at the tips of his fingertips. His hand soon fell to the cold floor that seemed darker than the rest, and it was then, that Logan realised he wasn't tied to a chair anymore, but rather, in a cage.
Logan clawed at the floor, pulling himself up onto his knees, his hands wrapping themselves around the thick metal poles that imprisoned him. He gave them a small giggle, just to make sure if they were solid or weak. Unfortunately, they didn't budge. Another depressed sigh escaped his lips as he forced back the tears, desperate to not show weakness. That was the only thing he learned from his self-defense classes. To not show any weakness they could use.
It was ironic, actually. Johanna had signed him up with an instructor, for self-defense, just in case a crazy fan took their obsession to the next level and tried to attack him. But after a week, Logan stopped going, claiming to his mother that he didn't need it, that the chances of him getting attacked or kidnapped were slim, seeing as he was constantly surrounded by bodyguards.
But he wasn't. Not anymore. Not since taking away many of Johanna's responsibilities.
"Comfortable?" a dark voice shot out.
Alerted, Logan's eyes frantically looked up, noticing the dark figure standing only inches away. The same figure he had seen everywhere. The last image he saw when he blacked out.
"Who are you?" Logan replied, his tone shaky.
"There's no need to worry about that," the man chortled. "Everything will make sense in time."
A burning anger rose in Logan. All his life, he was forced into things he didn't want. Forced in front of a camera. Forced to attend parties with people he didn't like. Forced to stop being a teenager. Forced to be a celebrity with a higher class. Forced to be someone he wasn't. He managed to claw back some control, and now, in the flash of a second, someone new had managed to rip it away from him.
"In time? Why not just kill me now? Get it over and done with!" Logan spat.
The sinister, all to common laugh filled the room. "Because, that would be too easy and frankly, my plan wouldn't work."
"If you're after money, it won't happen." Logan defended himself, trying to hide the fact that the anger had gone the minute it came, and now, the emptiness and fear was taking place.
"I don't want money.." the man said softly, stepping closer towards the cage, steps thudding against the concrete. "You have something I want."
The car soon came to a halt outside a reasonably large, manor like house that matched every single one around it. It looked nice, despite the neighbourhood. It wasn't exactly upper class like where Carlos was currently living or where Logan used to live, but it was certainly better than Carlos' block of apartments. Trees lined the street, their emerald leafs draping across the sky and road, giving off enough shade to still allow flickers of light to push through and onto the sidewalk and houses in view.
"Which one is it?" James asked.
"That one," Kendall pointed a finger through the finger. "That's where they live."
"How do you know? Even I don't know." Lucy said from the backseat, her voice still pretty much raw.
"I've known him longer," Kendall replied. "Since you moved here, right Carlitos?"
Carlos nodded, his eyes still strained. He didn't know if he was ready. All that was on his mind was saving Logan. Finding him and bringing him home. He didn't want to talk to her or him, for that matter, seeing as both so kindly turned their backs on him. But another thought countered that one. If Roberto was home, which he mostly likely was, then maybe he could help? Or at least keep Grant in order to find enough information out.
But then again, Roberto wasn't replying to his texts and call..
"Let's get this over and done with." Carlos said quietly, opening his door.
As his feet made contact with the ground, he noticed Drew's car pulled up behind him, Sabrina forcefully trying to push a smile on her face, although, it lacked luster. Followed by the group, Carlos headed up the path towards the large, wooden door. They all stood around him, as if making a protective barrier as his fist gently pounded against the door.
Kendall's hand fell lightly onto his shoulder, as if for reassurance. The dirty blonde smiled warmly as the door opened.
Eeek, so many sorry's to get through. Firstly, sorry for the short chapter. The next one, though, you can find out more about Carlos' old life and adopted family!
I want to say sorry for the possible confusion with the layout and cut-off lines. Each scene got smaller and smaller, and well, I really wanted to add some Logan in there, despite the fact he's been captured.
And another sorry for the texts. That was my corny way of bringing each member into the situation, so that Carlos didn't have a choice but to let them help him. Although, Kendall didn't get a text.. No hidden message there. I just couldn't extend it!