Lost

Caleb pulled up the window and jumped in, trying not to make too much noise lest someone was following him. It was Purge night, the second round he had promised not to take part in. The sirens had just gone off as he turned and looked at her bed. The covers were all over the place and her desk was knocked over. He noticed blood on the floor in the shape of hands as if someone was being dragged. His heart started to race as he walked silently past the room. Instead of melting down, the instincts that he refused to use in front of Cherry kicked in so that he could help her. He crept down the hallway and peeked his head out. He saw two figures, Mr. Grey putting on a jacket and Mrs. Grey crying and hugging him. "Mr. and Mrs. Grey! You're alright!" he said running up to them relieved. "Where is she, what happened?" Caleb was more than positive that they were wondering the same thing, but you never know. Maybe she was safe tucked up in her mother's bedroom and her father was going out to find the man who hurt his daughter.

Yet, as they explained, Caleb's hopes were thrown out of a window and run over. Mr. Grey was going out to find the attacker and his daughter. He questioned why Caleb was there, also eyeing something in Caleb's back pocket: a gun. "I am sorry sir. I wanted to visit your daughter and needed safety on the way. I see you need safety too." Caleb looked at the gun in Mr. Grey's own hand- a gun that was probably never used. It was a cheap old pistol. Caleb probably would have seen the dust on it if he studied it enough. Mr. Grey relaxed only a little, understanding why Caleb would have a gun. Caleb wondered if Mr. Grey thought he might have done this. "We need to find her," said Caleb. The two things that made Mr. Grey agree were the tremble in his voice, and the hope in his tone. Caleb was truly worried and he didn't say he needed to find the killer, he said he needed to find her. She was alive and all three of them knew it.

Caleb turned around and walked into her room, imagining the attack. Cherry was on her bed, it seemed like she was drawing. No, sketching, he thought. She was about to paint and was doing thumbnails first. He knew this because the covers were pulled towards the bottom left and then her easel was knocked down. The pages were ripped as if she was trying to get ahold of something and pull away. He winced but knew he had to keep looking. Caleb noticed a struggle happened in the middle of the room, he saw a paper cutter on the floor and he actually smiled. The blood was not hers it was the attacker's. The paper cutter had to be on the easel, she fought back. She must have run to the desk, but the attacker got it together and ended up grabbing her, dragged her out the room and avoided hitting anything else. Either she stopped struggling or he hit her and knocked her out. He couldn't have tied her up or there would be more of a struggle in the room. Caleb noticed something near the desk. A jacket. Cherry must have grabbed him and he pulled himself out of it. The reason he didn't grab it? Mr. and Mrs. Grey must have been getting home and he needed to drive out instead of get the jacket. The guy didn't think this family would have the world's best Purger on their hands. Caleb thought like a Purger, if he was capturing Cherry what would he have done? That was why he knew what he was doing. Upon checking, he saw the jacket had something in its pocket. A business card for Jim's Warehouse.

Caleb turned around and walked to Mr. Grey. "I know what happened." He explained his deduction to the shocked parents quickly. "Again it's a guess but the best guess there is yet. She will be alive for the next 12 hours. He wouldn't drag her and kill her somewhere else. He wants something from her and I hope it's not the worst." Mrs. Grey puffed out a few tears. "Not only for pleasure but, you see, even for sacrifice. Wealthy people hire assassins to capture someone pure, to kill right in their living room." Mr. Grey asked him how he knew all of this. "Mr. Grey, I am going into politics. I need to know this. I am a number one target these days." He didn't tell them that he knew from experience. He didn't tell them how much purity he had sacrificed himself. Caleb and Mr. Grey headed out in Caleb's car. The headlights were off and everything quiet. Caleb told Mr. Grey to open the compartment in the side seat. Mr. Grey found himself looking at loads of guns and knives. "Pick one, or two, just don't use that shitty pistol." Caleb parked at the warehouse, hoping this was where Cherry and the attacker went. Every criminal left a clue, usually on purpose- the more people that died on the Purge, the better. Caleb used to leave clues, too.

Caleb got out of the car quietly. He waved a hand for Mr. Grey to come closer. "Are you willing to risk death?" Caleb whispered his question looking the man in his eyes. The need to impress him didn't matter anymore. If Caleb found the attacker and Mr. Grey was staring right at him, Caleb would still murder him slowly. Mr. Grey looked startled at the thought of death and probably wondered why Caleb walked next to it so easily, but then he must have thought about his daughter and he nodded, concentration and eagerness in his eyes. "Hope she's here." Caleb said and walked over to the front door. It was locked. Looks like we can't enter quietly. Caleb gave his gun to Mr. Grey and then stepped back kicking the lock to get a feel at how old it was. Feeling that it was new and strong, Caleb turned around unlocking the trunk of his car. Pulling out a bigger gun, a rifle, he walked over and smashed the back of the gun on the new doorknob until it unlocked. Caleb threw his gun back in his car and lock it. It would make more sense to take the better gun, but two pistols were all he needed. Caleb walked in. at first seeing nothing but a door. He opened it and entered an empty office, where another door featured a small window to the next room. He peeked his head up seeing nothing, a slight light, but too small to see. He heard voices that echoed, the room was almost completely empty. Caleb tried to open the second door but it, too, was locked. Huffing, he looked around the dimly lit office, cursing when he found nothing. He turned to Mr. Grey. "Stay here, don't fucking move. I am not joking. I'd rather you stay and live. I will go out, I know what I am doing." Caleb grabbed Mr. Grey's gun and shot the doorknob several times. He gave him the gun back and took his two pistols. A light flashed on in the warehouse room and what Caleb saw lowered his hopes.

When Charice woke up it was pitch black. There was no difference between her eyes being closed or open, and her mind tried to create images in the darkness. Her lips moved, forming Caleb's name. It felt good to say his name. Shifting slightly, she could feel that her hands were tied palm-up to the arms of a wooden chair, her ankles tied to the rickety legs. Thicker rope held her waist. It was a classic scenario, a crude trap. She did not panic, but thought Caleb's name a dozen more times. He would save her. She had to believe that. If she did not know him, she would have screamed for help and cried; because she knew him, she found the strength to stay silent.

After a seemingly endless amount of time, there was the sharp sizzle of a struck match. An unfamiliar face loomed before her, getting nearer with silent footsteps. He raised the match to his lips, lighting a cigarette and blowing the smoke toward her. As Cherry turned her head away, she felt the pounding ache where he had knocked her out. She groaned softly, and the man smiled. "You're awake then," he said gleefully. "Not long now. My friends will be happy to have you participate." Cherry felt bile rise in her throat, and a sudden anger made her spit in the man's face. "You're an idiot," she hissed. "You've chosen wrong. He's coming for you now. You'll regret being born." He chuckled again. "Don't try to threaten me, girl." He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and dug it into her skin, on her forearm where the dog had clawed her weeks before. The pain broke Charice's façade and her scream filled the small room. "Nobody is going to save you!" the man continued over her sound. "Your blood will please the Lord, and your body will be strung up where everyone can see it!"

As the door swung open from his force, Caleb saw emergency lights flood the rectangular room. Two men stood guard along the taller walls and then in the middle of the room was a table, a chair with a certain girl in it, and a fifth man standing by her. Caleb narrowed his eyes to get a better look before entering the room. The only reason he hadn't been shot at was the element of surprise. Charice was crying and bleeding, but she was alive. His eyes locked on the man by her. Caleb was the one to start the fighting. One shot and the closest man to his left fell. Caleb shot the guy on the right and started walking- not running, he walked. His eyes were locked on the man closest to Cherry. The man's face was white as he realized his men were missing. Caleb was not Caleb anymore, not Cherry's sweet gentleman that did everything for her. All his worries and concern left and all his silent rage was rested on the man in front of him. "Your name, sir?" Caleb said a smile appearing on his face. "I'll kill you!" the stranger shouted. "Name!" Caleb yelled. The man walked around the table. "Jjjj- jim." he stuttered. "So you're Jim? Pleasure to meet you... Jim." His voice was a purr, drawing out each syllable. Caleb dropped one of his and used the other to shoot Jim's leg. The man fell to the ground, yelling in pain. Caleb passed Cherry like she wasn't even there still paying attention to him. Caleb kneeled down. "Looks like you're the sacrifice, not her." He pressed his thumb into the hole in the attacker's leg. "My soul…has been cleansed." Caleb said shooting the man's same leg with three more bullets. The man no longer screamed, but trembled as shock and fear consumed him. The leg would have to come off if he lived. Either way he died slowly in pain or lived like a crippled freak for the rest of his life. Caleb dropped the gun looking up to see Mr. Grey already taking care of Cherry. He finished hugging her and untying her.

When Cherry stood Caleb rose, innocence returning to his eyes. Caleb ran over and wrapped his arms around her, almost knocking her over he hugged her so much. "Oh my God. Thank God you're okay." Caleb pulled back kissing her cheek her nose her other cheek her lips, just little pecks. He thought about the last time he would ever kiss her and it made him worry. Now that she was safe that would never happen. "I love you, I love you, I love you," he kept uttering as he hugged her again. "I thought I lost you I really did. " She sobbed for a minute, hugging him back and kissing him fiercely. "You came. I told him, I knew you would come, but that bastard didn't believe me. I knew it I knew it." She kissed him again. "I love you," she said, and her words burned with the sincerity of it.