Chapter 7

Cal, Leo, and Haoyu burst into the theater, startling the others, who noted the three looked like something awful had happened. Diane stood up and caught Leo as the boy ran into her arms, tears falling down his face. Balan stood up, knowing something was gravely wrong as Jake wasn't with the three that had just arrived.

Diane looked at Leo. "Leo, what happened?" She asked gently.

He looked up at her. "S-Someone kidnapped Jake," he managed to say as his tears began to fall down his face.

"He tried to get away, but the man had him," Haoyu said, looking upset.

Cal sighed. "Some guy came up to us and grabbed Jake. He wants Jake for something, but I don't know what," he said before looking at Diane, knowing she was close to the young man. "I'm sorry, Diane. It happened so fast that we couldn't stop the man in time."

Attilio stood up. "I bet that man was the same one that asked me if I had seen Jake," he said. "He mentioned knowing Jake was a famous racer."

"Then I think it's safe to assume the man is looking to have Jake race for him," Jose said. "Someone who is looking to pocket the money Jake will win."

Eis looked angry before taking a deep breath. "We best start a search party then," he said. "Before that man can hurt Jake."

Diane stood up. "I agree," she said. "I'm going out to go find him."

"We'll come with you," Sana said to her.

"I will as well," Lance said with a nod.

Balan nodded, seeing as they all were on board. After all, Jake was a part of their family and always would be and when a family member was missing, the whole family would come together and move mountains to find them again. "Spread out into four groups and cover each corner of the city," he said. "Gather whatever information you can. Even the smallest clue can lead us to some answers and hopefully to Jake very soon."

Lucy looked over at Lance. "Lance, can you sense Jake?" She asked hopefully.

The tendriled being closed his eyes and after a moment, he opened them. "I'm afraid I can't pinpoint exactly where he is, but I can sense his emotions, though it is faint," he said.

"How is he?" Diane asked in worry.

"He's tired mostly and I'm picking up a bit of resentment towards someone, most likely the manager that kidnapped him," Lance said.

"Do you know if he's at least in the city?" Bruce asked.

"Thankfully, yes," Lance said.

They all headed out, hoping to find Jake soon.

Somewhere in the city...

Jake wasn't happy as the man that kidnapped him forced him to do races and the man pocketed all the money that the young man earned from racing. Right now, the young man was in a five-star hotel in a V.I.P. lobby with twelve other racers who had also been kidnapped from their families and forced to race for the greedy manager. In fact, Jake recognized them all as famous racers from around the world. There was Cody Anders from the U.S.A., Carla Evinci from Brazil, Zeno Kashi from Japan, Raz VinClutch from Norway, Elena Salvada from India, Connor Sheldon from Germany, Steven Pallet from UK, Fernando Emerazai from Spain, Michael Raoul from Italy, Gina Marth from Jamaica, Zack Harold from Iceland and Sarah Glassglow from Sweden.

Thankfully, despite the mistreatment they got from the greedy manager, the other racers were kind to Jake, welcoming him warmly. "We're sorry you got caught up in this," Gina said.

Zeno looked upset. "I wish we could stop that greedy man," he said.

"We haven't been able to see out families since he kidnapped us," Fernando said softly.

Jake knew how they all felt as he had felt the same way when he had been kidnapped and pulled away from Cal, Haoyu, and Leo. He hoped they had made it back in time to the theater. "I know what you guys are feeling," he said sympathetically.

A few nights later, after a twenty-hour race that left them all exhausted, they all couldn't take the mistreatment anymore, wanting nothing to do but escape and go back to their families. Jake especially couldn't take the mistreatment and he lay on his bed, thinking about Balan and the others and how he loved being around them.

He missed them all. Balan's fatherly hugs and words of comfort, Diane's words of love, and the others' friendships. He stood up from his bed, wishing to be back with them all.

"Hey, Jake," Conner called out to him, making him look over at where they had all gathered at the table nearby. "Come on over. We want to talk."

Jake nodded, coming over as Raz brought a chair over for him. "Hey, man, I think we've got a plan," he said.

"We do?" He asked.

"Yes," Carla said. "A bit risky, but we firmly believe it will work."

She pulled out a poster that mentioned the Grand Prix taking place in the city in the next week. Steven nodded, looking at Jake. "People have been waiting for the Grand Prix for months and we're going to use that race as our plan to escape. All of us, including you," he said.

While the plan sounded good, Jake was worried. "But what if the greedy manager is there?" He asked.

"He won't be," Sarah said. "Because he doesn't know there's a Grand Prix taking place here in the city."

Elena nodded. "The plan is we enter the Grand Prix and once the race is done, we can return back to our families without the greedy man knowing," she said.

Jake began to feel better and as Zeno handed out the sign-up forms, he took one to sign, but before he did, Cody came up to him. "Hey, before you sign that, there's something you should know," he said.

"What's up?" The young man asked.

"The day before the Grand Prix, we'll have have to do a qualification 'Single Lap' time around the circuit at the airport where a total of twenty six racers, counting us, will compete and the top half with the best times will qualify for the Grand Prix while one person will be a wild card pick," Cody explained before looking at Jake. "If we do this, we will all need to work together to be those thirteen racers to make it to the Grand Prix because the circuit will include fast straightaways, technical turns, and a dirt section as well."

Jake nodded. "For our families," he said as he signed the form.

"For our families," the other racers said in unison as they signed the forms and Zeno went to turn them in. Jake then headed to bed to get some sleep, knowing he was going to have to be at his best to win the race and everyone's freedom.

He only hoped it would all go as smoothly as they planned.

Meanwhile, Balan and the others were not having any luck finding Jake. "Where could he be?" Lucy asked.

"I bet that sleazy manager is keeping them somewhere hidden," Bruce said.

The teams came back and all looked worried. "If Jake is in the city, he's well hidden," Fiona said.

Lance closed his eyes and nodded. "I can still faintly sense him, but not enough to locate him," he said before looking at Diane with sorrow. "I'm sorry, Diane. I wish I could pinpoint exactly where Jake is."

"It's okay, Lance," she said. "We at least know he's here in the city, so that's good. And we will find him."

Balan nodded, noting it was getting dark and the stars were starting to come out. "Come," he said gently, though he was worried too about Jake. "We've done all we can for today. We can continue our search tomorrow when we are all fresh after some rest."

"He's right," Eis said with a nod. "Maybe we'll find something tomorrow that we might have accidentally overlooked tonight."

"Yes, because it's hard to find clues with tired eyes," Cal said with a nod. "Let's just hope wherever Jake is, he's warm and at least safe for the night."

Nodding, they all returned to the theater, determined not to give up in finding Jake and hoping they would find him soon.

Will the plan work? Will Jake be reunited with the others? We shall soon see.

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GoldGuardian2418