Dally stormed into the Curtis household, grabbed a bowl from one of the cabinets, poured some soup from Two-Bit's mother, and went to the living room without a word. Everyone stared at the entrance to the living room, before slowly turning back to staring at the plates. When everyone had enough, Soda did the dishes while Darry and Two-bit went into the living room where Dally was watching T.V.
"Dal, are you alright?" Darry asked.
"Fine!" Dally snapped.
"Okay….so….we've been doing some search parties with the fuzz around town," Two-bit explained.
"You actually teamed up with them?!" Dally hissed.
"Not by choice. They know more than we do and how he works," Darry said.
"Yeah, which is why he's still out there with Pony and Johnny doing who knows what to them," Dally said slamming his spoon inside the bowl. "Jesus Christ Darry, you really think they're gonna help you find a couple of greaser kids? Of course not! All they care about is getting their guy."
"What else are we suppose to do Dally?! I wanna find them alive too and if working with the fuzz is gonna increase our chances of doing that, then so be it!" Darry said.
"Don't expect them to give you anything in return Curtis," Dally said.
"I'm not. All I want is my brother back," Darry said and walked outside for a minute to get some air.
"I'm drivin' to the City tomorrow and try to spread out our search for them. That's what officer Jarrett the Parrot suggested. You wanna come?" Two-bit asked.
"I'll join forces with the fuzz when all hell freezes over," Dally said.
"Whoa, I ain't workin' for the cops on this. I'm just goin' down there to look. We've got enough searchers looking around Tulsa," Two-bit explained.
"You go 'head and focus on your own little search and I'll focus on me," Dally said and turned his attention back to the T.V.
"Guess I'm goin' solo," he said.
"That's it! I'm outta here!" Dally announced and left the house walking past Darry who was sitting on the porch. Darry opened his mouth to say something but decided against it before words came out. Dally just swung open the gate and stormed off. Darry quickly massaged his forehead before heading back into the house. Two-bit still sat on the couch while Soda walked in from the kitchen.
"Guess I better head home and tell Mom I gave you the soup before she has mine hid. I'll see you guys later," Two-bit said as soon as Darry came back in.
"Alright, see you. And tell your Mom thanks again," Darry said.
"I will. See ya," Two-bit said.
"Bye," Soda said and Two-bit left. Darry and Soda decided to watch a movie that was on for a little bit.
When it was over, Soda was almost asleep on Darry's shoulder. "I guess I'm going to bed," Soda announced and quietly walked into his room with Darry following him after turning off all the lights. "Darry you don't have to keep sleeping with me. I'll be fine."
"I won't if you don't want me to, but seriously, it's not a problem Soda," Darry said.
"Come on Darry. I'm gonna be seventeen in a few weeks. I think I can handle sleeping by myself at night," he said rolling his eyes.
"Alright, but don't hesitate if you need me," Darry said.
"Don't worry about me," Soda said getting into bed.
"Night kid," Darry said and turned out the bedroom lights.
"Night," Soda replied and Soda fell asleep holding onto Ponyboy's pillow like a teddy bear.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
…"Soda"…
Was someone calling my name? I thought I heard something but I was too tired to open my eyes and see.
…"Soda!" it called again. This time I opened my eyes and saw that I was outside sleeping on the ground for some reason. It was completely dark out save for a few streetlights, but I had no idea what time it was or what the hell happened.
"Darry?" I called out, but he didn't answer back. I stood up and looked around wherever I was. It looked to be the entrance to some kind of dark forest with a road right down the middle of it.
"…Soda!" the voice continued but this time full of fear coming from the woods. Someone was in trouble. Then it suddenly hit me. I knew that voice!
"Pony?" I said out loud. My heart was pounding and I could hardly breathe. "Pony?!" I called a little louder. 'Please answer back, please,' I begged.
"SODA!" it screamed, but this time I had no doubts that this was my brother. I sprinted off into the woods.
"PONY! HOLD ON! I'M COMING!" I screamed back. I ran as fast as I could to wherever my brother was calling me from. Everything around me seemed hazy or a blur, but I didn't care. All that mattered was reaching and protecting him from whatever was scaring him. Every time he called for me, I just ran faster and faster. At last, I saw someone in the distance just standing there with his back to me. "Ponyboy?!" I yelled. The figure turned around and there he was; my baby brother! I ran all the way over to him and almost tackled him into a hug.
I squeezed him for all he was worth and started sobbing on his shoulder. I kissed the side of his head and then I realized that he wasn't hugging me back. I let him go and looked at him but still keeping my hands on his shoulders. His face was pale and had a blank stare to him. "Are you okay?!" I sobbed.
"You didn't protect me," he said in a monotone voice.
"I know baby, I know," I whimpered hugging him again. "But I'm gonna take you home now and-"
"No!" he shouted and pushed me away. I stared at him in shock.
"Pony! Why…"
"You told me you would keep me safe! You promised! But then you let him get me! How could you?!" he screamed.
"Honey, I didn't-" I said with more tears rolling down my eyes than before. I tried to walk forward and touch his face again but he just jumped backward.
"You didn't mean to?! You didn't know he was after me?! You're supposed to be my big brother! You said to let you and Darry worry about keeping me safe and then you gave me right to him!"
"NO! NEVER! Baby, please!" I begged ready to collapse any second. I was sobbing so hard that I almost couldn't see him clearly due to all my tears.
"It's too late Soda. He already killed us, and it's all your fault," Ponyboy said and then fell to the ground face-first.
"NO!" I screamed and ran over to his fallen body. When I turned him over to put his head in my lap, I now saw that his entire body was covered in bruises, burns, and horrifying marks that almost made me throw up. "I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry," I sobbed rocking him back and forth.
"It's all your fault," he mumbled and suddenly, his entire body slowly disintegrated in my arms.
"NO! NONONO! PONY!" I screamed to the heavens.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Soda's eyes shot open and instantly tried to move, but I felt someone holding and rocking me close.
"Shhhh, Soda, it's okay little buddy," someone said. Soda took a deep breath as requested and his surroundings started coming back to him. He was no longer in the woods, but back in his own bed sweating and tears still rolling down his cheeks. Darry meanwhile was sitting next to him holding and rocking him. "I'm here now." Soda immediately grabbed Darry and hugged him like his life depended on it while still crying.
It took about twenty minutes for Soda's cries to settle down and Darry let get of Soda to look at him. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"No, I'm not. We…we gotta find him Darry," Soda hiccupped.
"I won't stop until we do. I swear to you," Darry promised.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Sunday, September 26th, 1965
Soda was the first one up the next morning. He tip-toed out of his bedroom and almost ran into Dally who was leaving. "Hey Dal, do you wanna stay for…" he asked but Dally slammed the door shut without answering back. 'Guess not,' he thought and then went into the kitchen to start breakfast.
Just as he was in the middle of making some pancakes Darry came in the kitchen.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi," Soda said giving him a quick glance and then went back to flipping the hotcakes. Meanwhile, Darry went over and started making himself a coffee.
"Are you absolutely sure you wanna do this?" Darry asked.
"Yes Darry, I'm sure! I'm so frickin' useless right now, so I might as well go and make myself useful by earning some money. Remember, those bills aren't gonna stop because they're missing," Soda snapped. Darry put the coffee pot down and put his fists on the table. Soda waited for a response back, but it never came. He just exhaled loudly and took his cup with him to the table. After that, he left the kitchen and left the house to grab the paper from out front. Before he went inside, however, he took off the rubber band holding the paper together and crumpled up the front page that had a picture of Lynch and a smaller picture of Ponyboy and Johnny.
He went back into the house after tossing the crumbled up page in the trash. Then he went back inside.
"Hold the door!" a voice said behind him. Darry turned around and saw Steve there in his D.X uniform unbuttoned over a white shirt.
"Hey Steve," Darry said letting the door close.
"Boss said Soda was comin' in today. Are you serious?" Steve asked.
"Unfortunately," Darry stated and Steve gave him a funny look. "Don't waste your time trying to talk him out of it; you know how he is."
"Yeah, but to be honest, it'll be nice to have him around to talk to. I can't stand the other guy we work with."
"Hey, can you do me a favor?" Darry asked.
"Depends," Steve said.
"Can you keep an eye on Soda today and make sure he doesn't pull out the radio?"
"Why? We love listenin' to….oh right. I'll try, but I can't help it if he pulls it out while I'm fixin' up a car or in the garage," Steve replied.
"Thanks. You can come in for breakfast if you want," Darry said opening up the door again and Steve followed him in. As soon as he saw Soda, he snuck up and then used Soda's shoulder to boast himself in the air.
"Hey buddy," he said. Soda gasped and then looked at his friend.
"Hi, Steve. Don't mess up my pancakes," Soda ordered.
"Golden-brown pancakes this time? You sure you wanna go in today? I think you got a fever," Steve said feeling his forehead.
"Knock it off, I'm fine," Soda said rolling his eyes while pushing Steve's hand off. "I didn't have time to make a masterpiece today. I'll do one some other time."
"Whatever you say buddy; just try not to pass out on me again alright?"
"Fine," Soda mumbled as he put his last pancake on the plate with all the others. Then, after Darry was done setting the table and pulled out some chocolate cake from the icebox, everyone sat down to eat.
When everyone was finished, Darry dropped off the two friends at work and decided to search around the outskirts of town a little more.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Meanwhile, Dally had walked into town with his hands in his jacket. He kept walking and did his normal routine of yelling at people who so much as looked at him and even pick-pocketing a few people not paying attention. Then he arrived at the Shepards place. When he got to the door, he pounded on the front door. After a few seconds of no one answering it, he pounded again. This time the door opened and Tim opened the door rubbing his forehead. He couldn't look Dally in the eye and was swaying around a little, but could still talk fairly normal.
"H-hey Dal. How's it goin'?" Tim asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Tim, I gotta know, have you heard anything back from those friends of yours?" Dally asked.
"Aw sh**! I heard back, but then Angie told me what happened to you the other day so I didn't get the chance to tell you; the day he took Ponyboy and the quiet one. Johnny right?"
"Yeah, so what did you find out?" Dally asked and now Tim tried really hard to stable himself and look right at Dally.
"Ya sure you wanna know?" he asked.
"Spill it, Shepard!" Dally ordered.
"Okay, but don't say I didn't w-warn ya," Tim said and then stepped out into the front yard with Dally. "I found out a couple of things but some of it is stuff we already figured out."
"Just say it!" Dally snapped.
"We all know he's after kids, but a lot of people don't know that Lynch spies on them for a few days and gets to know them before he decides to take them. He takes them to wherever he feels like it and 'plays' with them. Don't ask what exactly that means," Tim explained.
"Yeah, what else?" Tim hesitated before answering.
"This guy is a complete psycho. The problem is that his main motivation is to use fear to his advantage however he can. There are so many rumors going on about him that you can't tell which ones are true; some he even started himself. Like he wrote to a family member how he carved a secret message over his victim's entire back, but when the victim turned up dead, there wasn't anything on her back except some whip marks. He has more fun with the family than actually torturing his victim."
"Yeah, I knew about that. Ya got anything else for me?"
"I'm still waiting for one other person, but I do know a few more things. One, in particular, is something even stranger," Tim said.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
After coming up with no leads or clues about the boys, Darry returned to the house to do some housework and be by the phone in case someone called. When he got there, there were reporters in front of the house.
'Here we go again,' Darry thought as he pulled into the driveway driving slow to avoid hitting anyone. It didn't take long for the reporters to crowd around him and start pushing and shoving.
"Darrel! What's it like to have a serial murderer kidnap your brother?!"
"Darrel! Over here! Do you have anything to say to the school that let him get kidnapped or Lynch himself?"
"Mr. Curtis? Is your brother really in the hands of a serial killer? Or did he just run away again?"
"Darrel! Would your parents be ashamed that you let their youngest child die?"
'Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!' Darry thought pushing his way to the front door.
"Aw, come on Darrel! Just tell us what you're thinking right now!"
"How is your other brother Sodapop taking all this?"
"Yes! Sodapop! Does he blame himself or does he blame everything on you?"
Finally, Darry made it to the door and opened it enough for him to squeeze inside and then lock the door behind him. Then, he went around the house and started closing all the blinds and curtains in every room in the house. If there wasn't anything, he taped anything dark or thick that he could find that would stay. When that was done, he decided to do some work around the house.
By two o'clock, he sat in silence in the armchair staring at the walls. He decided to turn on the T.V avoiding the news at all costs. He finally settled on watching a Mickey Mouse cartoonthat just happened to be on. When the episode was over, a newsman came on the screen. Darry tried to reach for the remote but couldn't when he heard the breaking news.
Breaking News this hour, it seems that Harrison Lynch has stricken once again in Tulsa as a body was just found on 18th street this morning.
Darry shot up from the chair. 'Please don't be him, please don't be him,' Darry pleaded.
A seventeen-year-old was found dead after he was supposed to meet a friend early this morning but never showed up. The friend went to his house located here on 18th street to see if he was alright; instead, he found his friend dead covered from head to toe with stab wounds and burns. Head investigator Richard Helms of the FBI has no doubts that Harrison Lynch is the culprit due to a note sent to the newspaper by an anonymous user, but has refused to comment more on the matter. Unfortunately, Ponyboy Curtis and Jonathan Cade who both were kidnapped last Thursday have still yet to be found. Police and the FBI are urging that if anyone has any information either on the current whereabouts of Lynch or information on the missing boys to please call 911 immediately. I'm Susan Hinton reporting live.
All of a sudden the phone rang. He ran to it as fast as he could and answered it.
"Hello?!" he said clearly panicked.
"Darrel? This is Agent Carlos. I know you saw what happened on the news. Don't go anywhere, you understand me?" he asked.
"What the hell's going on? You gave up working on his case?!" Darry asked.
"No no, of course not. The murder just came up and it's related to Lynch so we have an obligation to investigate it. I can't give too much away right now, but this is something we didn't want to tell you until it came up," Agent Carlos exclaimed.
"Son of a bi*** what else haven't you told me?! He has my brother and you all seem to worry only about hiding as much from me as you can!" Darry shouted.
"Calm down Mr. Curtis. I assure you, we're doing everything in our power to try and find your brother and friend alive. Unfortunately, this is part of what he does."
"If he's killed someone again then does that mean Johnny and Pony are dead?!"
"I honestly have no answer for you, Darrel. I'm very sorry," Agent Carlos said.
Another chapter down. Love to hear any type of thoughts or feelings. I hope you guys keep enjoying it.
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