Bruce grinned and turned towards the camera. "Heard about the break in earlier today at that hospital pharmacy? That was us. We couldn't have our hostages not able to feel the pain, now could we? You have five minutes until the boy gets it. Think wisely." with that, Bruce muted the screen, and said to the teens, "I hope he says no."
2 hours ago
Sally Jackson was just cleaning up the kitchen after the late lunch she had with her husband, Pons. As she was closing the dishwasher, the phone rang. Answering it she said, "This is Sally Jackson."
A deep male voice answered, "Miss Jackson, are you sitting down?"
A feeling of panic entered her and she sat down at a kitchen chair. "Now I am. What happened?"
"Miss, are you aware that there was a lockdown at your son's school this morning? It was not a drill, four men entered the building with guns and shot one of the office secretaries before they called the lockdown."
"OH!" Sally's hand flew to her mouth and her eyes watered. "IS my son ok? Did they get they man out?"
"No, we were able to get the all the kids in the school released except for two. Your son and another girl are the only ones who are unaccounted for. We do have proof that they have taken two hostages, one of which we believe is your son. We would like to ask that you and your husband come down to the station to see if we can identify these two kids."
"Of course, let me get my husband, we will be down in fifteen minutes."
"Thank you ma'am. When you get there, tell them that your are there to see Officer Blowfis."
"Ok. Goodbye." Sally said and hung up the phone. As so as she did, the tears started falling. Her dear Percy! What was he doing? How was he doing? Was he hurt? Would he try to take any hurt for the other girl? Would he live? Would she get to see him again? Just this morning, he was sitting at this very table, eating blue pancakes.
This and a million other things ran through her head. With immense willpower she pushed the thoughts away. She knew that if she let them continue, she would be crippled and unable to help Percy. She slowly got up and walked to the bedroom, where Pons had just laid down for a nap. She opened the door and saw him lying peacefully in what she knew would be his last night of full sleep in a while.
She walked up to him and shook him gently. "Sal?" he said tiredly.
"Hey. We have to go down to the police station now."
Her desperation must have crept through her voice because he was immediately alert and asking what was wrong. Doing her best to hold back tears she told her husband of what she had been told on the phone. As soon as she had finished, he pulled into a huge hug before getting up and saying, "We have to go."
Within five minutes, they were at the station. Holding hands and carrying heavy hearts, the couple walked into the station. Pons took it from there. He walked up to the counter and said, "We are here to see Officer Blowfis."
The man looked at the pair with pity and said, "You are the parents of one of the hostages?" At their nods he said, "You should be proud, those are two tough as hell kids. They will make it out; I can feel it in my bones. You will go down the hall to the last door on the left. Good luck."
"Thank you," They said and walked down they hall to the dreaded room.
As they walked in the first thing they saw was a giant screen. The second was another pair of parents, equally, if not more distraught then them. The third was the police officer that was walking towards them. Pons told they lead and meet him. He held out his hand and said, "I am Poseidon Jackson, call me Pons, and this is my wife Sally. We are here because our son may be one of the hostages held at Goode High School."
"Of course, I am Officer Blowfis, if you could come this way." He gestured them over to a computer. "Now I am about to pull up photos taken from a video chat. These are the two hostages. Are you two prepared, they are a little graphic." The couple nodded. The officer pulled up a picture of two kids. One was of a teenage girl with curly blonde hair. The other was of Percy. His cheek was bright red and bruising, as if he had been slapped there multiple times. He his were what made Sally break down though. The normally bright and twinkling eyes that reminded her of Pons were dull and scared.
Pons nodded and said thickly, "That's him."
"OK, now what we are going have you do is go stand with Mr. and Mrs. Chase, the girls parents. We expect another video chat with the kidnappers soon, and you may be able to stay in. I know that it is against protocol, but you four deserve to know what's going on, as horrible as it is. We will be getting the principal in too; he is whom the kidnappers want to talk to.
The pair nodded and walked towards the other couple. As they walked to them the other pair turn towards them. The man held out his hand and said, "Hello. My name is Frederick Chase and this is my wife Helen. Call me Fred. The girl is our Daughter, Annabeth."
Pons replied in kind. "My name is Pons Jackson, and this my wife Sally. Our boy is Percy."
After introductions were made the four just kind of stood there. They really didn't know what to say to the other. After five minutes or so, Sally spook up and said, "What is Annabeth like?"
Fred said," She is wonderful. She is so smart, but very down to earth. She was actually not Helens daughter. I had an ex who broke up with me before she knew she was pregnant. Nine months later, Annabeth turned up on my doorstep."
"I love her as if she were my own though." Helen said. "She has two brothers and loves them. You would never tell that I have only known her since she was six. Just this morning we were making plans to-" Helen stopped as tears welled up. "Well I guess we will just have to postpone our plans won't we?" She wiped her tears up and said, "And how about Percy, what is he like?"
Sally smiled tightly and said, "He is amazing. He has the best personality, fun and charming, but he is very caring. He has always struggled with school. He has ADHD and dyslexia. He loves Goode though; he has spent the longest time ever in that school. After this though, if he makes it out" She stopped, her own eyes filling with tears as she realized what she had said. It hit her then that Percy might not be coming back, that she might never again be able to hold him close and kiss his forehead, she might never again run her hands through his wild yet impossibly soft hair. The tears spilled as she turned into Pons shoulder. As she did, she saw gentle tears running down his own face. A glance at Fred and Helen told her that they were in the same state.
Sally made a split second decision and walked over and put her arms around Helen. The woman returned the hug, and together they cried at the thought of losing their children. Then she felt Pons put his arms around them and felt Fred do the same. They sat together like that and cried for what seemed like hours before the tears ran dry. They separated and took a seat next to each other. Helen looked at her and said, "They will make it out. I just know." Sally nodded in agreement.
"I hope that they get along through this, that they have each other to lean on. And when we get out of this, I want to stay in contact. There is a bond that has connected our families together, forever." Helen nodded.
Then, another man walked in. He had on a tweed jacket, and jeans. He had balding hair and stress lines. He walked up to Officer Blowfis and said, "Hello, I am Alfred, principal of Goode. You are?" Officer Blowfis introduced himself. After a short conversation, he walked over to here the two couples were sitting. He shook the hand of each, and everyone introduced himself or herself.
"I am terribly sorry about this, your children should have never been caught up in this." Sally started to say something but then, Officer Blowfis walked up.
"At the moment, the kidnappers are requesting a video chat. We are going to ask that you stay where you are, and make as little sound as possible. Everyone nodded, and the officer walked away.
Within moments, a mans face appeared. He seemed the very personification of evil to Sally at that moment. After a couple of minutes chitchat, The man moved to reveal Percy and Annabeth. They seemed okay, except that now, Percy had bruising around his neck. Then, they were shown more men. After Officer Blowfis begged them to let Percy and Annabeth go, another man started talking about how they made him want to hurt them. He stepped onto the screen and Sally's stomach churned at the sight of him. Then he spook of a deal, and Sally's heart lifted as a spark of hope was ignited. Surely Alfred would say yes and speak with them.
It was put out when he shook his head in the negative, Sally looked away. She would not be able to watch poor Annabeth get hurt. She saw the Fred did not look away, but was instead staring intensely, as if he had to watch his daughter, as if he could protect her just by looking at her. Helen had her head buried in his shoulder. Then, Sally heard a scream that would haunt her for the rest of her life. After a minute or two, the screaming stopped as Sally recognized the sound of a needle entering skin and the sigh from Annabeth as what seem like morphine entered her system. A sentence or two from the man confirmed this. Then, there sound was cut off.