Hi, thank you so much for all the reviews. I have never received so many for only one chapter before and so was very excited. I decided that I'd post this chapter up and I'm hoping crosses fingers that I'll get the next one up by the end of the week.
Days
Images of black and red flew into his vision. The image of blonde hair and blue eyes with tears glistening in the corners and falling down bruised cheeks. A cry in the dark and the sound of Ryan calling his name filled his ears.
He sat up in bed, sweat running down his neck and back. He brought his shaking hands to his head and tried to quieten his breathing. He didn't want to wake Kirsten. She'd finally allowed him to give her a sleeping pill to help her to go to sleep and she was snoring quietly next to him.
He carefully removed himself from the bed and locked himself in their shared bathroom.
Ryan had been missing for 4 days now and the police had found little trace of him. Seth was spending his first night not in their bed. It was the quietness and suddenness of the whole ordeal that had the whole family waking up from long hours of tormented to sleep to realise that their dreams weren't far from the truth. Ryan was really missing.
There was a police man staying with them. No one knew what the motives of the kidnapper had been. Sandy had wanted to make sure no one would be able to attack his family again so he had arranged for a police man to be with them at all times.
The days were moving too fast. Each one would be filled with more pain for Ryan and the police told them as each day passed there was a smaller chance of him being found alive. The thought that Ryan may not be alive had sent Kirsten into hysterics and it had taken Sandy hours to calm her down.
They had to find Ryan, he was a member of the family now and they would not give up looking for him, however long it took. They would not give up on him.
He splashed water on his face, waking himself up. He had to be the strong one. The nana was coming down for a few days to help look after Seth whilst he and Kirsten were busy with the police. They didn't want to leave him alone, not after what happened so she had agreed.
Kirsten had almost protested but who else would be able to come. Julie was too busy trying to console Marissa and Neil was on a business conference.
Sandy stepped away from the sink. What kind of state would they find Ryan in? He prayed to God that he would be alive.
The newspapers were filled with Newport's newest 'horror' story and often he'd been stopped in the streets by a newpsie trying to appear caring but failing miserably. It was clear they were only after the juicy gossip so they could be the first to tell their friends.
The issue was that Ryan had vanished. The only person who had seen it happen was Seth. All Seth remembered was that the kidnapper was a guy and had a loud voice. The police officers had been getting frustrated at him but one look at his traumatised face showed he wasn't keeping anything to himself.
Sandy found himself walking on auto pilot through the house and on to the patio. He kept expecting Ryan to come through those glass doors with a sheepish grin and an apology for making them all worry, but none came.
The police had searched the pool house for any clues. They had been surprised when they asked to see Ryan's room and found it to be outside and a glass box.
Sandy made a mental note that when Ryan came back they had to move him into the main house. It had been okay when he had first arrived and needed the solidarity but the lack of security was clear and he wanted to be as close as he could to Ryan as he could. He needed him to be safe.
He looked around the room and saw the punch bag swinging slightly from side to side in the wind. He had dug that old thing out of the garage for Ryan when he remembered he owned it and thought it would be good anger management for him.
He saw the draws, usually neat and organised but now messy from the police men rifling through his things.
A picture of the family lay on the counter and he picked it up. It was from Ryan's first Chrismukkah with the family and he was smiling. It had been the first time they'd had a family picture together and they all had a copy.
Another picture lay next to their family portrait. He was surprised to see Dawn and Ryan's father smiling back at him. A much younger Trey and a little baby Ryan were also photographed. Dawn held Ryan; he was so small and wrapped in a blanket, fast asleep. Trey was holding his father's hand and Frank was bent over towards him.
They looked like a normal, happy family. One that could survive anything but how wrong was that statement? How could everything have just fallen apart for them?
His mind drifted to the man who had taken Ryan away. Had he set out for Ryan? The police reckoned the abduction had been planned. Everything was too hidden and covered up for the attack to have been purely coincidence.
He hated all of this second guessing. Why had Seth been left? How did Seth manage to get into his bed and not feel the urge to go to him or Kirsten? Especially seeing as he had been asleep on the couch.
The police had tried to look at CTV cameras but they were all blocked by something. Whoever had taken Ryan really wanted him and had obviously been planning the attack for weeks. Was there more than one man? One man couldn't possibly have been able to do this by himself.
He left the pool house unable to stand it any longer and he found Seth sitting in the kitchen, staring blankly at the table. The bruise on his face was still there but much less noticeable. However, whenever any of the family saw it, the thought that Ryan was alone with the man who had caused the bruise was brought home to them.
He put a reassuring hand in Seth's shoulder and rubbed it.
"We'll find him Seth,"
He just wished he could believe those words himself.
TBC…