The party broke up and Mikkel went to bed early in one of the numerous guestrooms in Dave and Kate's home, feeling extremely tired. He woke less then three hours later screaming his lungs out, loud enough to wake the whole house, his skin covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

Marcus rushed into his room to see what the problem was. What he found was a terrified boy who was still shaking and was covered in sweat. "I should have realized this would happen," said Marcus sitting on the edge of Mikkel's bed and reaching over to hug his son close. "After what you've been through I shouldn't be surprised that you are having nightmares."

Mikkel didn't respond, but he did slowly stop shaking. "Will they ever go away?" he asked somewhat softly, for his throat was still sore.

"Eventually," said Marcus.

"But what am I suppose to do in the meantime? Will I never get another decent night's sleep?"

"Talking about it helps sometimes," said Marcus softly. "It helps your subconscious deal with it a little better and the nightmares don't seem as bad afterwards, although they still happen."

Finally, Mikkel began to speak about how he dreamed of his brother strangling him, but this time, instead of Seth stopping before he wound up killing him—this time he ended up dead. Then he talked about how he'd had a nightmare of how Seth had conked him on the back of the head and dragged him up to the attic and started the fire—then left him to die. If it hadn't been for Cole and Jack and the other firemen of company 81 he would probably be dead.

"These dreams are based on memories but they will pass," said Marcus, giving the boy a hug. "If you think it would help we could hire a psychiatrist once we return to Virginia."

Mikkel made a face. "We might have to do that, but I would prefer the dreams to stop before we have to take such measures."

"If they keep up though, they could drive you over the brink—from sanity too insanity if you aren't careful," Marcus warned.

They were both quiet a moment when finally Marcus asked, "Have you considered how close you came to death?"

Mikkel looked up and looked at his adopted father's serious expression. "I have actually," said Mikkel finally.

"And have you also considered that if you had died and you weren't a Christian at the time of what that would mean?" asked Marcus.

"It would mean that I would die, but to die forever not just leaving my earthly body behind. Dad, you don't have to worry so much. I know both you and mom have been worried about this very subject for the last few years, but when I was caught in that fire—when I thought I was about to die, all that stuff you'd been trying to teach me over the last few years started to make sense."

Marcus expression became less worried as Mikkel continued to talk then he smiled slightly when Mikkel fell silent.

"I'm glad," said Marcus simply. "You're right, it had both me and your mother worried, especially after you were kidnapped. We feared you would wind up dead and as fearful as that was it was even worse since you weren't a Christian at the time and we would never see you again if you weren't. Think you can sleep now?"

"I can try, but don't be surprised if I wake up screaming," said Mikkel with a weary smile. "I'm sure I woke up the whole house and I'm surprised everyone not rushing in here to see what the problem is."

"They know Shari and I will handle it and I'm sure they all expected you to have nightmares at some point though not necessarily this soon after you just got out of the hospital," Marcus said ruffling the boy's hair affectionately and added, "If you do have more nightmares we'll all be there to help you get through it until the nightmares are nothing more then a bad memory."

"Thanks dad," said Mikkel giving Marcus a hug. "Thank you for everything. I think I finally understand what made you take me in when I was caught trying to rob you. I think I understand why you did what you did."

"Took you long enough," said Marcus teasingly, trying to inject lightness into his tone.

"Yeah, well I'm a slow learner," said Mikkel also teasingly.

"You're not slow," said Marcus, seriously this time. "Some things just take longer to understand then others—especially matters of faith and the heart. Believe me, when I tell you, I learned that the hard way. Try to get some sleep," Marcus suggested getting up to leave and go back to bed.

"Night dad," said Mikkel.

"Night son," Marcus responded, closing the door partway behind him.

~~~The Kidnapping~~~

Mikkel tossed and turned the whole night though he didn't wake up screaming again. When he woke up fully it was early—even earlier then he had to be up for school. He just lay back for a minute and tried to remember the dreams that had kept him in a state of semi-consciousness the whole night. As hard as he tried he could only remember flashes and half images and all were as fleeting as ghosts. Finally, he rose with a tired sigh and started brewing coffee for everyone that wanted a cup for when they awoke. Shari was never fully awake without at least two or three cups of coffee first then he sat down on the couch and started to read one of the newspapers lying there.

"You're up early," said Marcus coming into the room.

Mikkel shrugged not wanting to admit the nightmares had continued to plague him throughout the night.

"More nightmares?" asked Marcus.

"On and off," Mikkel admitted.

"Well, we'll see what we can do to chase those bad memories away. How would you like to spend the next couple of weeks at your Uncle Stephen's in Silverton?"

"But what about school?" Mikkel asked. "I've already missed a month and I'm probably so far behind I'll never catch up."

"I'm sure we can work something out with the principal and your teachers," said Marcus.

"It might be fun and maybe it'll keep my mind from having nightmares," Mikkel. "If I could just relax for awhile get my mind off of what happened . . ."

"It might not work like you expect it to you know," said Marcus. "It'll help certainly, but it might not get rid of them totally. I just want you to be prepared for that just in case."

"I know, but I need time to think, to just relax, to go fishing or whatever," said Mikkel

"To forget for awhile?" suggested Marcus.

"To forget," Mikkel repeated. "Where is everyone else?"

"I'm sure all of them are still sleeping, it's still really early," Marcus said. "It's been a rather difficult month on everyone not just Shari and me. Your siblings miss you and they keep asking where you are and it's not like Shari and I can tell them that you were kidnapped as they are much too young for that kind of information."

"I miss them too, and can't wait to get back home to see them," Mikkel said.

"Rosie also been worried about you as she's well aware that you were taken by your brother and is praying that we will find you. We left her to look after the younger children and Shari, and I still need to tell her that you've been found but no one thought of it yesterday."

"It's nice to be loved and wanted," Mikkel said and Marcus smiled nodding.

"Yes it is," Marcus agreed clapping Mikkel on the shoulder in affection. "Everyone is glad that you're back safe and sound and we'll deal with the nightmares until they are no more."

"Let's hope they go away before they drive me insane," Mikkel said soberly.

"And also pray and give your worries and concerns to Jesus," Marcus advised him seriously.

"I'll try," Mikkel said.

"That's all anyone can ask," Marcus replied as he ruffled Mikkel's hair affectionately.

~~~The Kidnapping~~~

Marcus entered the jail where Seth was being held before his trial. He showed the desk sergeant his badge and asked if he could see Seth. It was a couple of days later and they were heading to take Mikkel to Silverton tomorrow. He was going to spend a couple of weeks with Stephen and Meghan and hopefully work through the nightmares so that he could get a peaceful night's sleep again. He had been praying for a solution before the nightmares drove Mikkel over the edge of sanity—into insanity and madness. Marcus didn't want that to happen to the boy he had come to love and think of like a son.

"And what do you want him for?" asked the sergeant.

"To talk to him is all; sergeant and to give him this," said Marcus showing the sergeant the bible.

"That one will never accept God," said the sergeant who was a Christian himself.

"Probably not," said Marcus. "But I've got to try, for Mikkel's sake as well as his own."

"I salute you," said the sergeant. "This is a brave thing you're doing."

"Not so brave really," Marcus replied. "We all do what we must and I feel I must do this."

The sergeant nodded without replying, but he saluted Marcus in respect and asked one of the other officers to lead Marcus back to Seth's cell. They entered a long dank corridor and Marcus observed silently that every jail he had ever been in seemed to have the same long, dark and dank corridor leading back to the holding cells.

"Give me a few minutes alone if you would please?" Marcus asked politely.

The officer nodded. "He's down at the end, last cell on your left. You be careful he's mean one."

"I know," said Marcus simply.

The officer nodded and turned to leave but then he turned back and said, "I'll be back in twenty minutes. If you want out sooner just knock on the door." Marcus nodded and the officer was gone.

Marcus walked down to the cell the officer had indicated to find Seth laying on his bunk hands behind his head staring at the ceiling. "And what do you want?" Seth asked sneering not even looking Marcus's way

"I just wanted to talk to you and ask you why you did what you did."

"Why does it matter anyway?"

"It matters," said Marcus quietly. "Because you caused my family untold anguish—my family is everything to me. You gave a thirteen year old nightmares so bad he wakes up screaming . . ."

"So the brat is still alive," said Seth, still not moving from his bunk. "If I ever get out he is dead."

"You won't get out Seth—at least not for thirty or forty years."

"Anything else you want?" asked Seth, sarcastically. "If not you're wasting my time."

Marcus shook his head, sadly. "You're full of anger Seth. That anger has been eating at you for years until it is at the point that you are mad at the world and everybody in it—even someone as innocent as Mikkel."

"You think Mikkel is innocent?" Seth sneered hatefully. "Don't make me laugh."

"He is innocent in the eyes of God since he has accepted Christ as his savior. To us, he is just a boy, which you mistreated . . ." Marcus trailed off when Seth snorted in derision.

It was obvious Seth disagreed with that statement, but didn't comment.

"I also came to give you this," said Marcus, taking a bible out of his coat pocket. "May you find redemption within its, pages." Marcus passed the book through the bars and Seth got up to take it.

"Is this all you wanted to give me?" asked Seth with contempt throwing the book to the other side of the cell. "Well, let me tell you something, God has never done anything for me, except let my mother be killed and my father die of a drug overdose and put me out on the street having to live by my wits. So what has God ever done for me—if he even exists at all."

Marcus shook his head sadly and left with one last comment. "You will never be truly happy Seth—never be able to release the hate and the anger without help and God is the only one who can help you. Accept his unconditional love and his help before it is too late."

"Just get out of my sight," Seth yelled furious. "I don't have to listen to this."

Marcus turned and left without another word, feeling kind of sad that Seth was so obstinate when it came to religion or anything for that matter.

~~~The Kidnapping~~~

A few days later, Mikkel was on his way to Silverton with both Marcus and Shari. They were driving since it was only a few hours outside of Chicago they had decided to drop him off and head home. They would be back to pick him up in a couple of weeks and they would stay in contact by phone. Shari had at first been against the idea. After all, she had just gotten him back, but Marcus had convinced her that this would be good for him and she had finally given in, but only with the stipulation that he call every night. Stephen and Meghan knew they were coming and had sent their three children to spend a few days with their grandparents Bill and Elizabeth Delhart, which were Meghan's parents.

"Welcome," said Stephen coming out to greet them as they drove up the drive. He gave his brother a hug then turned to greet Shari and at last Mikkel. "Can you stay awhile?" Stephen asked his brother

"Just long enough to see what you've done with the place, then we had better be going," said Marcus. Stephen showed them around and Mikkel went and put up his things in the house when Marcus suggested, "Why don't you go say hello to your Aunt Meghan?"

He knew they were probably going to discuss him, but he didn't mind so much, because they knew they had his best interest at heart. "So?" asked Stephen.

"He's been having bad nightmares almost every night and they haven't seemed to lessen in intensity in the last few days. He wakes up tired and ends up falling asleep in the middle of lunch or just while he's watching TV."

"It's funny, but he doesn't seem to have nightmares when he does fall asleep in the afternoons," said Shari. "We usually let him sleep as long as we can."

"This has got to stop," said Marcus. "He's already missed over a month of school as it is and his grades are showing it, but to put him back in school now is a bad idea—he'd just fall asleep in the middle of class and the teachers and other students wouldn't understand why without us or Mikkel explaining and why keep putting Mikkel through that? Why keep forcing him to explain that he's having horrific nightmares and keeps waking up several times a night? That would be very embarrassing for a boy his age to admit to, we'd like to avoid putting him through that if we can. Why cause rumors about him to start as nobody needs to deal with that, especially a boy Mikkel's age. We all know how cruel kids can be to someone they consider odd and those kids won't understand the trauma that Mikkel has been through and likely tease him about it and call him a wimp or a coward."

"What are you going to do about school?" asked Stephen knowing Marcus was right and why put Mikkel through that kind of trauma when he had already been through so much?

"Principal Hanes has agreed to let him make up the month of assignments and we'll send them to you as soon as we get them," said Shari.

"But what about next year?" Stephen asked.

"I'm hoping and praying this problem will be solved by the end of the summer if not I don't know. We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it," Marcus said.

Stephen nodded understanding, "You're hoping relaxing for awhile—fishing and the like will do the trick?"

"Yes," said Shari. "We want our little boy back to normal and to stop waking up screaming and covered in sweat."

Stephen winced. "That bad?" he asked his sympathy obvious.

"That bad," Marcus concurred. "I'm surprised he has any voice left at all or at least that his throat again isn't sore from all that screaming. I mean, he's barely recovered from what Seth did to him and he still has the bruise around his neck, which is healing, but at least his sore throat has healed and he's not hoarse anymore. Well, you saw the bruise around his neck for yourself and it's all black and blue."

"We'll see what we can do," said Stephen.

"We'll be forever in your debt," said Shari.

"Not necessary," said Stephen. "You're family," he said as if that explained everything and to Marcus it did—the O'Malleys would do practically anything for family.

"We'd better be going," said Marcus. "We'll call."

"See you in a couple of weeks," Stephen agreed, giving his brother a hug. They turned to leave after Stephen had kissed Shari on the cheek. They got in their rental car and headed back in the direction of Chicago.

~~~The Kidnapping~~~

"Aunt Meghan it's me," said Mikkel just making sure she knew he was there for Meghan was blind.

"Well hello, Mikkel, come have a seat in the kitchen I just finished a batch of cookies," came Meghan's pleasant voice. "Where's, Stephen, Marcus and Shari?"

"Outside," said Mikkel. "I have a feeling they sent me in here because they wanted to discuss me without me overhearing." It still amazed him that Meghan could find her way around the house or even the town without too much trouble, especially with her being blind. Part of it came with being organized he knew and what she couldn't do for herself she had Stephen and Blackie her seeing-eye dog to help her. Her parents as well, but she could pretty well get around on her own without anybody's help if she had to.

"I'm sure you're probably right," said Meghan, with a chuckle. "But they all love you a great deal you know and they have your best interest at heart. I love you too."

"Oh, I don't mind, not really," said Mikkel grabbing a cookie. "It's nice to have people to care about you and anybody who says it isn't and that it would be better if everybody would leave them alone hasn't ever lived on the street and had to eat stuff out of garbage cans."

"That's a very mature attitude Mikkel," said Meghan, nodding her head in agreement.

"Yeah, well, spend a little time out on the street and you grow up real fast, you never really have a chance to be a kid," Mikkel said.

"You know that's kind of sad when you think about it, everybody should have a chance to be a child and play and learn and grow," said Meghan.

"For most people who grow up in families that might be true, but not for somebody who spent two, three years on the street," said Mikkel.

"Yeah well you're here to relax and get rid of those nasty nightmares," said Meghan. "So let's discuss something pleasant shall we?"

"Sure," Mikkel agreed, changing the subject.

~~~The Kidnapping~~~