Chapter 20 ID
As Kendall reaches the top of the stairs, he slows down while frantically searching for his young friend. He heard the cops standing on the other side of the door. But that's not important now.
"Carlos?" He calls out as he heads for his friend's room. When he doesn't see him in there, his heart starts to race. He frantically searches the other rooms. "Carlos?" He calls out again, sounding more panicked.
He runs across the hall, stopping at every door, when suddenly he catches something in the crook of his eye. He turns around and walks into James' room. He waves a hand across his nose to get rid of the Cuda smell that seems to linger in the room.
He keeps walking when he hears soft whimpering coming from the far side corner of the room. He can see something moving slightly next to the bed.
"Carlos?" he hesitantly asks. He carefully walks closer. He sighs when he recognizes his young friend huddled in the corner. He has his knees drawn up to his chest and is hugging them with his arms. He rocks back and forth while tears stream down his face and he silently sobs.
"Oh, buddy…" Kendall says as he comes closer. He wants to reach out to his friend, but he backs up the minute Kendall comes too close. Kendall holds up his hands in surrender and puts on a small smile.
"Okay. I won't touch you. I'll just sit right here next to you. Is that okay?" He gently asks as he slides down himself, also drawing up his knees, and casually lays his arms over them. He notices Carlos tense up when he scotches closer ever so slightly. But he doesn't back up anymore.
"I know you don't want to talk yet, so I'm just going to sit here, alright? Until you're ready." He says with an assuring smile. He doesn't expect a response, so he just leans his head against the wall and sits there. The only sound in the room is the soft whimpering of Carlos.
Meanwhile…
"So wait a minute. You're telling us that those dead guys you found weren't the ones who hurt Carlos?" James exclaims, looking shocked and angry as he gets up from the couch.
Lucy sighs and exchanges a look with her partner Nathan.
"No. They also hurt him. But the people who were behind this whole thing… I'm afraid they are still very much alive." Lucy calmly tells the family as they listen to her talk in shock. James runs a hand through his hair, while Mrs. Knight just looks ahead. "Now from what we've gathered from the video tapes.." Lucy starts.
"Wait. What video tapes?" Logan suddenly interrupts. Lucy opens her mouth to say something and looks at her partner. "What video tapes?" Logan repeats, his eyes shining concern.
"Uh, we found out that there were cameras set up all through the warehouse. These people, they uh, they recorded everything." She explains, looking down now.
"Oh my god…" Mrs. Knight exclaims and Katie grabs her hand at once when she sees the tears building up.
"They recorded everything? As in, when they hurt Carlos?" Logan asks in a near whisper, his eyes wide with shock and worry.
"I'm afraid so." Lucy answers again. Logan looks away.
"Those sick bastards…" James exclaims and he kicks a nearby chair, making it topple over.
Logan just takes a deep breath and looks at Lucy and Nathan again.
"So, what you're saying is, these people. They are still out there and they might come back for Carlos? I mean, that's why you're here, right? Because he needs protection?" Logan asks them anxiously.
"Not exactly." Lucy says as she eyes Nathan again.
"Actually, we only have the footage of the video tapes to show us who these people are. We found some possible suspects in our database. But we're going to need a positive id, so we'll know who to look for." Nathan calmly explains. He looks at everyone hesitantly to find out if they understood him.
"You can't be serious…" Logan asks, shaking his head.
"Carlos is the best witness in this case. From what we can gather, the others hardly saw these two. If he can id them from the pictures, we can go looking for them and lock them away for good." Nathan adds.
"That has go to be some kind of joke…" James asks, his eyes dark, his jaw set as he asks this.
"I'm afraid it's the only way we can do this." Lucy quietly adds.
"So the only way for you to solve your case is by making Carlos relive this whole nightmare again?" James asks, stepping closer.
"Look, I didn't want to do this either, but it is the only way." Lucy explains again.
"Well, you'll have to find another way. Because there is no way in hell we're going to let you do this. Right, Logan?" James asks his friend. Logan just looks down with wide eyes. "Logan?" James repeats, his eyes narrowing.
"So if Carlos can't id them, then you'll never be able to find them?" Logan quietly asks, not looking up.
"The video footage never shows a clear shot of them. So we only have guesses on who they are. We can't confirm it otherwise." Lucy tells them all. "I wish we had another solution."
"But you don't. This is the only way. So Carlos needs to see those pictures." Logan deducts and looks at Lucy and Nathan for confirmation. They both nod.
"Logan, you can't be serious…" James says, shaking his head. Logan gets up and walks over to him.
"James, it's the only way… These people, what they did to him… They need to be found or this will never end…" Logan tells him.
"No, no… I can't believe you would allow them to do this. How can you just agree with them? You know what this will do to him. He already has nightmares that leave him screaming and it took so much effort to get him to somewhat open up to us. Just think about what will happen if they show him those pictures. We'll lose him again…" James tells him, his eyes filled with pain and worry, eyes darting from right to left.
"James, he'll never be safe if we don't…" Logan quietly tries to reassure him.
"No, Logan. I'm not going to let you do this…" James tells him; still looking shocked, while gulping down some tears.
"James…" Logan starts, holding his hand out to his friend. But James steps back, shaking his head.
"No. I won't let you do this… I won't." He says as he turns around and hurries up the stairs.
"James!" Logan calls out, but Lucy stands next to him with a hand on his arm.
"Just let him go. He just needs some time." She assures him with a small smile.
"No. He's right. I mean, what will happen if we show him these pictures? He might revert completely back to the way he was when you found him. And he already made progress. I mean, it might not be much. He's not even talking yet, but it's been so much already and I just…" His voice breaks as he chokes on tears.
Lucy swallows thickly when she sees the last boy breaking down. This whole thing is taking an enormous toll on them.
"Logan, it's okay. Maybe we can just come back later. At a different time." She offers as she looks at Nathan for help. She puts a hand on his back, Nathan just shakes his head.
"No." Logan suddenly says, sternly as he shakes his head. He swallows some tears. "No, not a different time. I don't want him to have to do this. But I don't want him to have to live in fear his whole life either. Those people need to be locked away. We don't even know what they did to him, but just looking at him…" He lingers a look up the stairs before looking back at Lucy. "You have to keep him safe. Whatever it takes…" He nearly whispers with a pleading look in his eyes.
Lucy just nods, her eyes full of emotion as well. She nods towards Nathan, who gets up.
"This way." Logan tells them as he shakily starts to lead them towards the stairs.
"Logan…" Mrs. Knight asks behind him with another pleading tone. He closes his eyes for a moment and turns around. Katie also pleads with him as she holds her mother.
"It's the only way…" He says as he tries to reassure them and himself as well.
He turns back and again starts to lead the detectives up the stairs.
He slowly heads for the only sounds emitted, coming from James' room. He takes a deep breath before slowly pushing the door open.
James looks up from his place on the bed, facing his friends sitting against the wall. His eyes show betrayal. He immediately stands up and moves in front of Logan with balled fists.
"I told you not to, Logan. You can't do this to him." He hisses with angry eyes.
"Carlos, look who's here? You remember Detectives Lucy and Nathan, right?" Logan says, putting on a very fake smile. Carlos looks up slightly with scared eyes. He is no longer crying, but he still rocks back and forth.
"Logan…" James warns. Logan looks up at him and tries to show him that he's sorry, but James only looks hurt and betrayed.
"James.." Kendall suddenly says calmly as he gets up from the floor. "Look, from what you told me… I think Logan's right. I mean, I'm not crazy about this. But it might be the only way to get these people off the streets. This isn't just to save Carlos. It's to save all those other kids they took and the ones they might want to take again. He always tried to protect those kids in there, James. I think if he could, he'd tell us the same thing. He'd do this for them."
James darts his eyes between Logan and Kendall with an incredulous look of betrayal.
"James, it's for his own safety as well as so many others." Kendall adds as he puts a hand on James' shoulder.
"I can't believe you guys would do this…" He says, looking disgusted. He shrugs Kendall's hand off him and stalks out of the room, knowing he can't stop the four of them.
"James.." Kendall calls out, but he sighs.
"We'll talk to him later." Logan tells him. He nods.
"Carlos? Do you remember me? I'm detective Lucy Crimson and this is my partner Nathan Parker. We were the one who found you." Lucy says with a soft smile as she steps closer to Carlos. She kneels down towards him like he's a child. His eyes look scared, but she thinks she sees some recognition far away. She signals Nathan to join her and he hesitantly kneels down as well.
"Carlos, do you know why we are here?" She asks him, but he just looks at his hands again.
"He's not going to respond." Kendall tells them. "But he is listening." He says as he sits down in his original position next to Carlos. "Carlos, remember how James explained that they want you to look at some pictures? That's why they're here okay?"
"Yeah, uh, we have some pictures we'd like to show you and we'd like you to tell us if any of these men and women look familiar." Lucy softly tells him. She signals Nathan again and he looks very uncomfortable as he grabs his iPad and hands it to Lucy.
"Now I know this is very hard for you, but we really hope you can help us." She says assuring and shows him the iPad. She locks eyes with Kendall for a moment and he looks worried, but nods.
"Go on, Carlos. Just take it easy. Logan is here and so am I, all right? Just take your time." He tells his friend as Carlos slowly looks up and stares at Kendall for a moment. "It's okay. Nothing is going to happen to you. It's just pictures." He says with a nod.
Carlos looks hesitant, but then they seem slightly surprised when he actually looks up and at the iPad.
"Okay then. Uh, here's the first picture. Just let us know if you recognize anyone." Lucy says with a nervous smile. She slowly slides the pictures away as she looks for some sort of reaction in Carlos' eyes. Every slide shows two pictures of known man/woman pairs who worked together before.
Everyone waits nervously and anxiously, but the first six pictures nothing happens. But when the seventh pictures shows up, Carlos stiffens. He gasps and backs into the wall.
"Carlos?" A voice calls out, but it sounds like he's underwater. The voices and images in front of him seem to blur and suddenly, he's in another room. It's dark and quiet. Only the lamp on the ceiling lighted up above him illuminates the few items of furniture in the room. He tries to look up, but he can't move.
He looks around and notices his arms and legs have chains on them. His heart starts to race as he suddenly recognizes the small, grey looking room. He starts to panic as he also now recognizes the bed he is chained to.
Oh no… He couldn't be back here. That wasn't possible. He got out, didn't he? This wasn't real…
He closes his eyes for a moment and opens them again. No change. It's not a dream…
He starts to panic more and more and starts to pull on his chains with every strength he has.
His head shoots up when he hears the squeaking sound of the door opening.
"Hey, sweetie. Did you miss me?" Her voice sounds horrible in his ears. It hurts and slices through him like a knife. As she walks closer, He suddenly turns up next to her.
"Aw, he looks scared, Mols. What do you think?" He asks her with a smile. She smiles back.
"I do think I agree. I guess we'll have to make him feel better." She says and heads towards him.
He screams as loud as he can.
"Kendall, do something!" Logan screams as he watches his young friend screaming and trashing in the corner. His hands are over his ears and his eyes are squeezed shut.
"I told you not to. I told you this was a bad idea!" James suddenly yells from the doorway. But the moment he tries to get closer, Carlos screams even louder. He quickly steps back.
"Carlos, please… It's me, Kendall. It's okay. You're safe. Carlos…" Kendall pleads as Logan panics and cries on the other side of the room. Nathan looks on in shock.
"Carlos, Carlos, look at me. Carlos, they're just pictures. You're not there anymore. You're home, safe and sound and you're friends are here." Lucy says sternly, while trying to pry his hands from his ears.
"Stop it, you're hurting him!" James screams and he heads for Lucy, but Nathan quickly grabs his arms and tries to pull him away.
"Carlos, I know you're still in there. Just listen to me. You're not in the warehouse anymore. You're home in your beach house, which you share with your friends and family. They are not here and they are not going to hurt you anymore. I am personally going to make sure of that." She keeps her voice strong as she firmly pulls his arms down. His eyes are still squeezed shut, but his screams have quieted down to more whimpers and he no longer tries to clamp his ears shut.
"Carlos, she's right. You're safe here with Logan and James and Katie, my mom and me. We're all here for you. We're all here and we're not going anywhere." Kendall adds as he leans closer to Carlos.
Then in one moment Carlos finally moves in the most unexpected way. He pulls away from Lucy and practically launches himself into Kendall's arms. He latches himself onto his shirt and sobs as tears flow down freely.
Kendall looks up in shock to find everyone else mirroring the same reaction. He tries not to cry himself as he slowly lifts his arms up and puts them around his friend, pulling him even closer.
"It's okay, buddy. I'm here. Everything's going to be fine." He soothes as he holds his best friend safely in his arms.
A/N First of all, thanks for the awesome reviews everyone! It really helped me want to write more
So, here's another chapter. I hope it wasn't confusing for anyone. If it was, don't hesitate to ask questions. Also, I know this is a horrible thing to put Carlos through, but I hope everyone understands why it was needed. And I still gave somewhat of a happy ending, right? ;)
Anyway, hope you like the chapter, let me know what you think!
Oh and psst; if you have some moments you'd like to see happen with Carlos in his next step to recovery… You know what to do ;) He won't talk just yet, but other bromances or family moments are open to ideas
Thanks again guys and until next time!
Love, Baxxie