Secured Sevenfold

Arin’s POV
We had been working all night, trying to find something that we missed. Something that would lead us to find the girls, but so far no luck.
Brian and Matt were both very quiet, I guess both for their own reasons. I planned on talking to them, every little detail I could get was worth it.

I knew they weren’t on their top level, they couldn’t think straight, were worried on how the girls left, things that were unspoken and of the possibility of not finding them soon.
I wouldn’t let them even think that, of course we would find them.
We just needed a hint, a small hint that would help us and point us in the right direction, we are a goddamn security company of course we would find them.

I think Matt and Brian had went to bed around 5 in the morning, I had be the last to close the office staring and staring at the images flashing in front of me, of how they haul the girls out of the house and into the van, where was the missing piece, how could we trace them…

I had slept for about 4 hours, and went right back to work, I heard some voices in the kitchen but I didn’t react, I needed all my concentration on the videos… there must be something… I played the scene over and over again, from every camera position possible… nothing… until…
I zoomed in, when the van drove down the street, finally.. something!
“GUYS! GUYS!” I yelled loudly, excitement rushing through my body.
Both Matt and Brian were the first running into the office, looking wildly around.
“What is it? Did they call, are they..” Matt looked hopeful but I shook my head, the excitement a little less than before.
“So no… I just… I found something, I think Zack could work with it.” I pointed at the screen. Johnny and Zack coming into the office, both breathing heavily.
“What is it, kid?” Zack asked and moved behind me.
“Here I watched the video over and over, we never could see the license plate form the car, but here…” I zoomed in on of the screen.
“I got it. I’m not too sure if the last is and 8 or a B but, I think with a little work and your connections, maybe you can find it out.” I looked at Zack and he already scribbled something down in the notepad.
Matt and Brian looked at him “I’m on it, give me about an hour and I have something.” He said confidently pulling his cell phone out and punching in a number, holding it to his ear and started talking while going out of the office.

“That’s something.” Johnny said and clapped my shoulder “Good job, kiddo.” He smiled and walked out as well.
“He is right, that's a hint. Thanks Arin.” Brian nodded and turned to go out, Matt about to do the same but I stopped him.
“Matt, you wanna talk to me about it?” I asked and he shook his head but started talking nevertheless.
“I fucked up, Arin… I was a jealous ass and I wanted to walk after her, tell her that I know I was stupid, that I love her and know she wouldn’t cheat on me, I hesitated… stayed away, that’s when they took her, Arin… right under my watch, under my nose… I fucked up, what if they really hurt her.. hurt them? I can never forgive myself.” Matt looks heartbroken and I get up from behind the chair, he looked at me and I saw his eyes were glassy.

“Nothing will happen to them, we will get them back, don’t worry. I know we will, they are strong and smart. They are together, we will get a hold on them. It will be okay, believe me.” I say and Matt nods, he lifted his hands to his eyes and whisked the dampness away.
“Arin, I can’t thank you enough…I know Brian and I are not the best help… I wish we were but I think… I'm slowly going crazy, not knowing where she is. Not knowing how she is doing… fuck I just…” Matt heaves another heavy sigh and plopped down on the chair.
“Do you have an idea what we can do in the meantime… I can’t just sit around, but I can’t seem come up with an idea, I can’t seem to get my mind around the fact that they are gone… taken…” Matt swallows when an a knock on the door sounds.

“Zack is waiting for a call, the guys seems confident on finding something, we just need to wait for it.” Brian says sticking only his head inside and Matt nods, “I want to know it right away, I’ll check.”
“He is in the living room.” Brian says and wanted to leave but I wave him inside, when Matt went out.
“What’s up, kid? Find something else?” Brian ask and he looks tired.
“Did you sleep at all?” I ask concerned and he shook his head.
“I can’t close my eyes without knowing where she is, Arin. When I fell asleep from exhaustion I woke up a few minutes later, letting my hand wander over the bedspread… not finding her, giving me something like panic attack.” Brian admits quietly and I swallow thickly, normally we didn’t talk about feelings like that, but right now… I just wanted to help my friends, listening to them… maybe that would help them, making them believe that everything would be fine, that we will find them… cause I know we would.

“I miss them, too.” I admit and Brian looks up to me. “You don’t even know how I miss her, kid. I can’t believe I left her outside alone… after… I mean we just told each other we love us, we shared…” He swallows thickly his Adam’s apple moving up and down “I thought that I was the luckiest man on the planet that she is mine.. and the next moment, she is gone… taken from me, just like that…” Brian shook his head, then looks me straight in the eye.
“Don’t say this to Matt, but tell me Arin, do you think they will hurt them? You met one of the guys who wanted to take Jacky, do you think they… will…?” Brian stops not able to say more and I shook my head vehemently.

I didn’t even wanna think about it, Brian let his hands run though his hair and sighs heavily.
“I know… I also don’t wanna think about it, but… I… fuck… what if they are not coming back?” Brian asks and I saw the hurt in his eyes, is he giving up?

“Zack got the call!” Johnny yells and both Brian and I look up “Let’s go” I tell him and we both run into the living room, seeing Zack write something down on his notepad.
“You sure? Okay… Got it. Thanks man, I owe you.” Zack hangs up and looks at us.
“It’s not much but a beginning…”

Joe’s POV
…Matt…
…Matt…. Where are you…
…Where was I?
This first thing I thought about when I woke up out of this haze was Matt, he would be so angry with me for opening the door. How could I have been so stupid?
The last thing I remember are those arms, pulling me outside of the house, the unending black I ended up in. I didn’t know where I was, the only thing I knew was my throat being dry as sand, my head was ready to explode and my eyes stung even though I had them closed.

My first reaction was to bring my hand to my face to help my eyes open up, but I was quickly stopped. My hands were tied. Tightly. And there was no way for me to get out of the ties. The more I pulled, the more I hurt myself. I groaned at all the little aches I had. I slowly opened up my eyes and looked around, trying to make something of the pitch dark space that was around me. It looked like I was in some kind of basement and I wasn’t alone.

The minute I realized, I heard a moan next to me “Brian…. Brian…”
My sister! They took her too! How did that happen?
“Jacky?” I whispered softly.
“Josephine?” My sisters voice was hoarse, and hopeful, but my heart broke, her calling me by my full name said everything, we were in trouble and we both knew it.
“Yeah it’s me” My eyes were used to the dark now and I could see my sisters silhouette next to me.
“What happened?”
I would like to know that too. I know what happened with me, but I couldn’t apprehend how Jacky got taken too.
“I… I… was in the house and I heard a knock on the door and I opened. The next minute something was pushed against my mouth and nose and everything turned black. What happened to you?”
“I was in the garden.. outside the tent.. They took me after Brian went inside again” her voice got trailed at the end of her sentence and I knew she was thinking about Brian, just as Matt wouldn’t leave my mind.

“Can you believe dad put us into this situation?” I asked after a moment of silence. It was the thing that was lingering in the back of my mind the whole time. How could he have been so reckless, so uncaring for his daughters? I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.
“I refused to believe it after the guys told us, but being here, right now…. Makes it hard to forget about it, huh?”
Our voices were soft, and even though we were both unable to move or really see each other, it was weirdly comforting my sister was here with me, that I didn’t have to do this alone.
“Jacky?”
“Yeah?”
“Matt and I fought. I walked away from him, that was why I was at the house. He asked me to never open the door and I did it anyway” I felt tears streaming down my face, sadness was heavy on my heart and I felt like I couldn’t stop the words from coming out anymore “What if… What if that was the last thing I said to him? ‘Let me go’, what if he does? What if he gives up on me? I love him, I want everything with him and now I might not even see him ever again….” I sniffed and I felt my sister move next to me. The tip of her finger touching mine.

“Brian and I…. we had an amazing moment, right before… you know… I told him I would be in the next minute, that I just had to… straighten my clothes and catch my breath… He must be going out of his mind right now.. “ She got lost in thought, but soon continued
“You know… as he walked back to the tent, he looked over his shoulder a couple of times, I’ve never been looked at that way Josephine, never. I think this might be the real thing”
I let out a deep sigh. I didn’t know what to do. Normally I would be the one to fix things, but I just didn’t know how. The thought of Matt should give me strength, the will to see him again, but it only made my heart freeze over in desperation.
“We will get out of this, Joe, I promise you. I want to get back to Brian, I need to get back to Brian, nothing else matters. Just as long as I will be back in his arms again.” Jacky did sound determined and that only made me feel worse. Why didn’t I fight for Matt? I didn’t want to be without him ever again, I wanted to marry him some day, carry his children, why did I feel this knocked down?

Just as I was about to tell Jacky my thoughts, a door opened, letting a beam of light fall into the room. Then some footsteps and finally the light being turned on.
We were in a room, it must have been a kind of basement, it was empty, only me and my sister, in chairs, all tied up. Two men came in. One of them being my abductor and I guess the other one was Jacky’s.
“Well, well, look here, the sleeping beauties have woken up”
“How nice for you two to join us in the land of the living” the other one smirked.
I had a hard time not flinching away as they came closer.
“We saw you two were pretty friendly with all those men of that fake security company, so I can assume that means you two are open to some playing around?”
One put his hand out to me and let the back of his hand go over the side of my face. Jacky moved around in her chair, getting mad “Stay away from my sister you asshole!” She spit at the guys, only angering him.
“Oh you little girl… you will regret this…. You better play nice… You do something for me, I do something for you” The second one let out a smile as he neared Jacky even more. Just as he was about to touch her, the door opened and a female voice startled the two men.

“Cut it out! Don’t forget who you are working for!”

Notes

The guys have a lead, the girls are alright... for now...
Let's see how everyone will handle this!

We would love some comments please!