It was the dead of night, my feet were numb, and Sam was still nowhere to be found. The police kept asking me the same questions, hoping I would have a different answer time after time. But I never did and never would. Everything I knew about the two men had came out of my mouth so many times that I could barely even remember them now. Search dogs lead the way through the woods a few miles down the road from one of the suspects home's. The dog had picked up a trace of Sam there.

The rest of us were slugging slowly behind, hoping Sam would soon be found. Spencer and Ms. Puckett were following behind Carly and I, but none of us spoke. We were much too tired.

Suddenly the search crew in front of us stopped and turned around to us. "If you would like to return home, you may do so. You will be contacted if any signs of her are found. We have sent out an amber alert and the border is being carefully patrolled."

Sam's mom just crossed her arms. "I'm not leaving until my daughter is found."

Carly looked over at Spencer who shrugged. "I was going to stay but if you would like to then I am going to take Carly and Freddie home." She just nodded and continued along with the search team. The three of us stood together, not really knowing what to do.

"I can't believe this is happening," Carly sighed. She had awoken only two hours before, with no recollection of what had happened before she passed out.

The only thing left to do was wait. We had no way of knowing where they took her. Heck, we didn't even know why they took her. These people were out to get Sam for what seemed like no reason. It was a ridiculous game that only a psycho would play.

Not even aware that I had been walking, we reached a sidewalk and called over a taxi. They pulled over and let us in.

Carly sat in between Spencer and I, resting her head on my shoulder. Not too long ago, I would have been going crazy over that simple action. My feeling had changed since then, however. Sam was the only one on my mind, and there was no way I could tell her that. Just before she went missing, I had decided to tell her about my feeling for her. Little did I know she wouldn't be there to hear my confessions.

Once we reached the apartment, the three of us walked upstairs drowsily, almost like zombies. I knocked on the door to my apartment, waiting for my mother to answer.

"Bye Freddie, see you in the morning," Carly mumbled, just about to close the door behind her. I waved at her and the door shut. My mother answered the door and pulled me into a hug.

"Oh Freddie, I am so glad you're alright. Did you find Sam?"

I just shook my head and walked past her, straight to my room, and onto my bed, where I would have a sleepless night, hoping Sam was okay.

-----

As morning broke through my window, a small ounce of hope washed over me in knowing that it would be much easier for the search crew to spot Sam during the day time. My mother knocked on the door and told me breakfast was ready. There was no way in hell I was going to eat at such a time.

So I pulled on some fresh clothes and grabbed my cell phone. There was a text from Spencer, asking me to come over as soon as possible. A smile swept onto my face, assuming it was news about Sam. I immediately ran out of my room.

"Don't you want some whole wheat toast and juice? It will keep you from getting backed up!" my mom called as I closed the front door behind me.

It was only a few steps to Carly's apartment after one knock Spencer opened the door. "Hey Spence, what's up?" Carly was sitting on the couch with her hands wrapped around her knees. There was a police man sitting beside her, watching the television. "What's going on?"

Spencer held up a piece of paper inside of a zip lock bag. I grabbed it from his hands and stopped breathing when I saw what it said:

"You are next."

"Who...what...when?"

"When we got home it was sitting on her bed. We have no idea how they got into our apartment but that what the big man on the couch is for. He's been there all night." Spencer walked over to the couch and sat down, putting one of his arms around Carly. Her face was frozen in a terrified position. "So has she. I think she might be in shock." He poked her face but nothing happened.

It took a moment to soak everything up. Sam was gone, Carly was next. Where did I play into all of this? Were they after me too? Was my purpose to just be paranoid and worry too much about myself that I do nothing to help the police? So many questions with no answers.

Before I got a chance to say anything, Spencer's phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket. "Hello? Uh-huh. Okay. We'll be there as soon as possible."

"What was that about?" I asked.

"They know where Sam is."

I smiled for the second time that morning. "That's great, where is she?"

He paused for a moment, looking at the ground. The smile escaped from my face and my eyebrows pushed together. Spencer finally looked up at me, his emotions in a whirl. He choked on his word for a second, but it finally creeped from his lips. "Dead."

Could it be? Did they really kill her?

Review and find out :)