Chapter 1

Hardin, Montana

It was dark, cold, and wet in the cellar that Chris had been thrown into two weeks ago today. She was hungry, dirty and tired. For the past few hours she had been dizzy from dehydration, so she couldn’t even get up to go to the bathroom.

The beatings had been getting worse as well. At first it was just kicking and punching, now the kidnappers had began using things like belts, small chains, and even bamboo shoots. She clad nothing but a cheap rag dress -made from what felt like old potato sacks- with a piece of rope for a belt. She was forced to clean, only for her tormentors to dirty up the place that night so she could clean again the next day.

She missed her family, her mom, dad, and little brother. She missed her friends at Carnegie High, and, most of all, she missed having hot food and a bed to sleep in. The raping hadn’t started yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time. There’s no way that three men would kidnap a young girl and not have their way with her.

She squinted as she rolled over onto her stomach. A gash on her back had torn open and she could feel the warm blood drip down her spine. Whimpering, she forced herself up and walked to the bucket that had been designated as the closest thing to a bathroom she’d get.

“Where are you, you little wench?!” called a low, rough, voice from the little opening at the front of her prison. Her ‘room’ had been dug out by the owners of the house (a.k.a. her kidnappers) and it was 20 ft. below the ground and the only escape was that little opening, which was barred shut ninety eight percent of the time.

Chris stepped into the light and the man-wearing an evil clown mask-threw a piece of bread to the floor in front of her. She slowly bent down and picked up the dirty piece of food, eating it slowly.

“Don’t worry love,” said the only distinguishable character of the bunch, due to his thick British accent. “You won’t be all alone for very much longer. We’ll have a good ol’ chap down there for you, right quick.”

She just backed up into the shadows and sat back on the floor.

The men cackled evilly as they went up to the main floor. What’d he mean they’re getting a ‘chap’ for me? she asked herself.

For the next nine hours she drew in the dirt, her one source of entertainment.




Los Angeles, California

Aaron had just finished the last show on his tour, in a small club in L.A.. Instead of going home, he decided to wait around and check out what kind of crowd the small club brought. He’d heard good things about that particular place and had always wanted to check it out, now seemed like an opportune moment to.

He walked around backstage for a bit, saying goodbyes to his backup dancers and stage crew, when he decided he’d go outside for a quick smoke.

He went out to a back alley behind the club and lit his Marlboro Light, taking a long drag on it before removing it from his mouth. He walked down the alley and onto the sidewalk, keeping in the shadows, incase any of his crazier fans stayed behind to catch the tour bus leave, despite the fact that he wasn’t on it. Sure enough, there they were, the same girls that had gotten to the front of the stage, and probably the same ones who’d waited in line for six hours or maybe even more.

He took another long drag on his cigarette and saw a gorgeous girl walk by, into the club. Time to book tonight’s entertainment, he thought to himself, with a laugh.

He stomped out his cigarette and walked back into the club. By the time he got to the dance floor, it was already half full of patrons willing to spend their hard earned cash on enough booze to satisfy an army.

He found the girl he’d seen outside and walked up to her, saying, “Do you want me to buy you a drink? Or should we just go find a hotel now?”

She smiled at him and replied, “Aren’t you a little young to be drinking?”

He hated that word…it made him sound like a child. So he pulled out a Benjamin and waved it in front of her face, “When you got the right cash, you’re never too young to drink.”

Her smile turned into a wide grin as she followed him to the bar.

Three hard lemonades and two sex on the beaches (each) later the were grinding in the middle of the floor and she was all but going to her knees right then and there.

~Two hours Later~

Aaron pinned his catch on the couch, unable to make it to his bedroom, and tore open her button up blouse, claiming her mouth with his as he did so. He was already down to his boxers and about to rid himself of them when his front door burst open and two men came charging in, each of them holding a handgun.

“What the fuck!?” the girl shrieked, drunkenly, pushing Aaron off of her and getting up. “If you don’t mind, we were kinda’-” Aaron heard a loud BANG!, followed by a thud. He froze where he stood, too scared to move.

“Let’s go Blondie!” one of the men said, squeezing the pressure points in Aaron’s neck, making him yell out in pain. “GO!” the man screamed, kicking Aaron in the back.

Aaron followed the men’s directions exactly and was thrown into the back of a van. The men hopped in after him and told a third man (in the driver’s seat) to step on it.

One of the men held a cloth to Aaron’s mouth and he blacked out, watching his house slowly get smaller and smaller out of the rear window of the van….

Chapter 2

Aaron woke up in a small room, about ten by ten feet and it was no more than eight feet tall. When he tried to get up, he got a massive cramp in his right calf and fell to his knees.

“Don’t try to get up, that’ll just keep happening,” a soft voice whispered.

“Who’s there?!” Aaron asked, alarmed.

“Don’t worry,” the owner of the voice stepped into the moonlight that spilled through the small opening near the ceiling, their only source of light. She was a pretty girl, long legs, stood about 5’8” with crudely cut short blond hair. Her ocean blue eyes were tired and scared. She wore nothing but a raggedy dress made out of what looked like old bags of some kind. “I’m on your side. I’ve been here for a week,” she half squeaked.

He suddenly realized that this room was more like a small prison. He looked around, it was all just a big hole, there wasn’t even any concrete, it was just dirt… “You’ve been here for a week?”

The girl just nodded; she timidly walked over and kneeled down next to Aaron. Taking the cramped leg in one soft, warm hand she began to rub the pain and stiffness out of it. Aaron just watched as her magic fingers worked up and down his calves. She moved to the other leg and did the same. This time when Aaron tried getting up, he had close to no trouble.

“Thank you,” he said offering a hand. “Name’s Aaron.”

“Christy, Chris for short,” she said. Her eyes were a bit less afraid now, but not much. Aaron couldn’t help but wonder what on earth could’ve made her so terrified. Little did he know, that he would soon find out…


Los Angeles, California

A ringing of the telephone split through the silence that Nick was just beginning to enjoy. With a frustrated sigh he got out of his hot tub and picked it up.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Nick?” It was Angel, his younger sister of almost 8 years, she sounded as if she’d been doing a lot of crying, which was unusual for her. “Thank god you’re home!”

“Ang? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Nick…” she said her voice cracking several times. “It’s horrible,” she let out a series of sobs.

“Angel! What’s the matter?!” Nick’s heart was beginning to beat faster. Something was seriously wrong to make Angel act like this. She had a great reserve and almost never lost it.

“It’s Aaron, Nick! He’s gone! And there was a girl found in his house, SHE WAS DEAD NICK!!” she started sobbing again.

Nick could’ve sworn he felt his heart stop, “W-What!?!”

“She was shot in the forehead! They found her half naked and they think Aaron killed her! Oh, Nick I don’t know what to do!!”

“Where are you? Did you try calling Aaron’s cell?”

“I’m at the police station, and that’s the first thing I did, it keeps saying that that number is ‘no longer in service’,” she began to sob uncontrollably.

Nick ran inside and upstairs as fast as he could, he fumbled getting on his boxers and pants, while at the same time, trying to calm down his hysterical sister. “Angel, freaking out isn’t going to help Aaron. And it’s definitely not going to help the police. Just answer whatever questions they ask you as truthfully as you can. I’ll be there soon, love you. Bye.”

He clicked the off button on his phone and sprinted down the stairs of his 10,000 sq. ft. mansion. He grabbed his keys and ran out the door. Speeding down the street towards the police station all he could do was pray that his baby brother was okay and unharmed.


Hardin, Montana

Aaron and Chris were forced out of the small hold and into the basement of the house. They were separated and put on opposite sides of the room. Chris seemed to know exactly what was happening, she was shaking from head to toe and there was terror in her eyes.

“Hello, poppet,” a man with a British accent said, forcing her against the wall. She let out a small cry. “What’s uh matter,” he asked, pushing himself against her. “’Fraid I might be a little too much man for you to handle?” when he said the word ‘man’ he did a small pelvic thrust, this caused her eyes to overflow with tears.

“What’re you lookin’ at!!” A large man asked. He walked over and punched Aaron in the gut, making him double over in pain. “A man’s entitled to have a woman when he wishes. Right?”

Aaron nodded, he didn’t want to, but he didn’t want to risk getting hurt worse by these guys; they weren’t messing around.

“Thas uh good man!” said the man with the accent.

Chris looked down at the floor and sobbed. What am I doing?! I can’t just let him do that to her! He thought to himself as the man gave Chris another pelvic thrust.

“Please,” he pleaded in a small whisper. “Don’t.”

“What’s that?” Asked the second man.

“Don’t, please,” he repeated weakly. He noticed Chris looking up at him, her eyes brimming with concern.

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” the British man backed off of Chris and back handed her across the face. He then took a think chain and whipped her on the exposed skin of her back several times. She screamed in pain each time.

“NO!” Aaron pleaded, all it did was get her another lashing.

By the time the man had finished beating Chris, Aaron’s eyes were wide in horror. “Now, I think it’s pretty safe to say that you won’t be speaking out of turn anymore,” Said Mr. Britain, dangling the blood coated chain.

The two men let out evil laughs and shoved the two back into their hole before walking back upstairs.

Aaron rushed over to Chris’s side, “Chris,” he said, his voice cracking. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry.”

She just laid there for a minute, not moving. “Don’t be,” she said. “I’d rather get whipped than raped. You saved me,” she slowly sat up, with a little help from Aaron, and winced as she leaned against the wall. Aaron went and put his arm around her, she rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep.

Chapter 3

One Week Later – Number of Days Missing: 9

Los Angeles, California

The Carters, both siblings and parents, were all sitting in Nick’s living room, trying to make heads or tails of what may have happened. Not one of them had slept in days, nor could anyone eat.

“He didn’t do it,” Angel said for, what seemed like, the hundredth time in less than ten minutes. “Someone else must’ve done it to frame him, then kidnapped him or something…I don’t know. All I know is that it wasn’t him,” her confidence in her twin’s innocence was cool and unwavering. The rest of the family wanted desperately to believe her, but with all of the evidence pointing to the latter, that was becoming a task easier said, then done.

“I think we need to try and figure out, who in the world would want to hurt Aaron…” Bob said, going along with Angel, he too had undying faith in Aaron.

“I’ve been racking my brain ever since I got the call, I can’t think of a single person,” Nick replied to his father’s request. “But then again, Aaron goes out and parties a lot on his own…he could’ve gotten into a fight with someone one night and they decided to do something about it.”

Jane, who was red face and teary eyed, said, “I knew we shouldn’t’ve let him come live in L.A. It’s too dangerous for a boy his age.”

“He’s eighteen, Jane,” Bob said in a tone that signified this argument had happened many times before. “Even if I agreed with that, there’s nothing we could’ve done to stop him.”

“Oh, shut up Bob!” she said heatedly as another wave of tears and sobs came over her.

He sighed, aggravated already with his ex-wife. “Guys, when you were all living together doing that reality show thing, was there ever a night when he came home, pissed off or mad at all?”

“No, not that I know of…” BJ said, trying to think back to the short time when they were all under the same roof.

“We all pretty much hung out together that whole time,” Leslie added.

“Well, with everything we’ve discussed and all of the information we gathered…” Nick began. “We’ve gone…absolutely no where.”

He threw down his notepad that he’d been jotting things down in, little memos that he’d think of here and there and anything that someone might say that could help the police find his little brother.



Hardin, Montana

The boy that they brought was cute, not to mention nice, but she still couldn’t completely trust him. He had short blond hair and brown eyes that were gentle and, at the same time, strong. Judging by the circles under his eyes, Chris guessed that he had lost his fair share of sleep even before he’d been brought to join her in this Hell on earth.

The next day Chris was left alone, but Aaron got a round of beatings from Britain and Butt Head (her preferred name for thug #2).

Britain was tall, thin, and built well. The only other thing she knew about him was that he had black hair, which he usually kept slicked back. The men always wore masks, so she could never get a clear view of their faces, which was-without a doubt-the intention of the maneuver. Butt Head was very overweight and quite short, compared to Britain. He tended to be less sexual than Britain always was, but more violent during the beatings. He was balding, but the small amount of hair he had left was gray.

When Aaron’s beating was done, he was thrown back into the hole.

“That was fun,” Butt Head taunted. “Let’s do it again REAL soon.”

Britain and Butt Head laughed as they walked up the stairs and slammed the door.

“I wonder where that third guy is all the time,” Aaron inquired as he slowly crawled over to the wall and sat next to Chris.

“What ‘third guy’?” Chris asked. When they had taken her, there’d only been two of them, she’d never seen a third.

“There’s three of them,” Aaron clarified. “Those two are the ones who broke into my house and…” he stopped. That girl!! He’d completely forgotten about her, with everything that happened. He felt the blood drain from his face, when he realized how it would look when the police found the body. The girl he had picked up at the club was no angel, and you could tell just by her clothes. She was actually, now that he thought of it, pretty damn slutty.

“Aaron?” Chris asked. “Are you okay?”

“What? Oh sorry, I was just thinking about something that happened when they broke in…”

“Oh,” she said, looking down at the ground.

The bastards must’ve done something to her too, she looks so scared. God knows what kind of things they did to her before they brought me…God knows what they have in store for her…or for us…

“What happened?” Aaron pressed. “What’d they do?”

Chris kept her eyes glued to the floor as she shook her head, reluctant to share her story.

“If I tell you what happened to me, then will you tell me?”

“Why do you want to know so badly?” she asked, her cheeks slightly pink.

“Because I want to know if there’s anything I can do to make you a little less scared of me,” his eyes were serious, then again, they never joked around. It was impossible to in a place like the one they were in.

She just looked at the ground. Aaron sighed and began telling her his story. “I was out clubbing, doing the normal routine, go out, get some random chick drunk, sleep with her, wake up alone. Anyway, we were on my couch at like two AM just about to heat things up, when these two guys busted in the front door and-”

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked in a whisper. “It’s not going to make me tell you my sob story.”

“Maybe not,” Aaron said. “But it should make you trust me more. Even if it’s just a tiny bit more.”

Chris looked at the ground and went slightly pink, Aaron continued his story. “So they broke down my front door and charged in, they shot the girl I was with and grabbed me.”

Chris looked at Aaron in horror, “What about the girl…..?” she asked, already knowing what his answer would be.

Aaron stayed silent, he shook his head and began to tremble. “She must be dead…” he said in a solemn whisper. “She was in the middle of a sentence, then there was the bang and a thud…she didn’t even scream.”

Chris looked at Aaron, she could feel all of his pain and so much more. She had lost both parents that night, and her brother was bleeding to death, from a gash on his head, when she saw him last…how he could be alive, she didn’t know. But she prayed that a neighbor heard the commotion they put up and called someone, anyone, so long as help had come for Zach in time. She wanted more than anything to see him again, to see her parents. But she was no naïve little girl, she knew that with each passing day, the odds of her ever seeing anyone she loved again were getting slimmer and slimmer…



Four days later – Number of days missing: 13

Los Angeles, California


Days later, the Carters were, once again, huddled in Nick’s living room, still trying to make sense of all the madness that'd happened, when the phone rang, Nick asked his father to get it, rubbing his head with one hand.

“Yeah?” Bob answered, not in the mood to act polite.

“Hello, is this Mr. Robert Carter?”

“Yeah, who’s this?”

“My name is Lieutenant Henry Connelly of the Los Angeles Police Department,” the man on the other line said. “We have some information regarding a Mr. Aaron Carter and what may have happened on the night he went missing. If you could come down to the station we’d fill you in on the details.”

“Can my kids come?”

“Parents only, please,” he said.

“Okay, we’ll be right there, thanks officer-er…Lieutenant.” Bob hung up the phone and looked from his kids, to his ex-wife. “They have some information about Aaron that they want us to hear at the police station.”

Jane instantly got up, grabbed her purse and rushed out the door. Bob followed and stopped at the door, “We’ll call as soon as we know anything,” he promised and ran out the door.

~At the Police Station~

“Good afternoon,” Officer Connelly greeted Bob and Jane. With one look at them he said, “My apologies, I’m sure the last thing you want to go through is needless formalities. Let’s get to the point then…”

“Our son is innocent Lieutenant!” Jane blurted out. “He’s an eighteen year old pop singer, for Christ’s sake! Why in the world would he murder someone?! What would he gain from something like that?!”
“Mrs. Carter-”

“Miss Spaulding,” she corrected.

“My apologies, Miss Spaulding, we didn’t call you hear to question Aaron’s innocence. However, any accusations we throw in his direction are simply because we cannot say he didn’t do it until we know who did, or until we find an alibi. But that is sort of relevant to the news we have for you,” he shuffled through a few papers on his desk.

“And what’s the news?” Bob asked, getting a bit aggravated.

“We have a connection, to another kidnapping. It happened in Portland, Maine. Approximately three weeks ago. A young girl name Christy Butler was taken from her home on the night of the twenty fifth of July two thousand six. Her parents were murdered along with her younger brother, Zachary. The three bodies were found the next morning by a babysitter.

“The scene is almost identical, as are the murders. With the exception of the boy, he was hit over the head with a blunt object and bled to death. All other victims were shot in the forehead, we found the same type of bullet in the girl as we did in Christy’s parents. We’ve done some research and neither party ever had record of owning a gun, it’s good information to know, but unfortunately we have no where to go on it.”

“Couldn’t the kidnapper demand a ransom soon?” Bob asked. “Can’t you find them when they do?”

“We could…but the chances of them asking for a ransom are slim.”

“Why is that?” Jane asked, eagerly.

“Because there were four other possible hostages that the suspect could have taken, but chose to kill them. That shows that he had a mark on your son, and this Christy Butler.”

“Is that all the information you have?” Bob asked, eyeing his wife, who was on the verge of another break down.

“For now, yes, we’ll inform you as soon as we find out anymore about your son,” Lieutenant Connelly stood from his seat and offered a hand to Bob as he, too, stood up. The men shook hands and Bob and Jane left to tell their kids what they just learned…

Chapter 4

The next day – Number of days missing: 14

Hardin, Montana

Chris cried out in pain as Butt Head whipped her with a bullwhip in the leg and then again in the shoulder. He pushed her to the ground and kicked her repeatedly in the ribs. When he was done he pushed her back through the hole and she fell to the ground he barred up the window, “Until next time,” he snickered and walked upstairs.

“Bastard,” Aaron hissed under his breath. He rushed over to Chris and took her into one of the corners, in case Butt Head decided to throw something at her, they had a tendency to do that.

“I’m fine, really, just a couple of cuts…” Chris said.

“Here, lemme’ see,” Aaron examined the cut on her leg. “It could’ve been worse, I guess…”

“Forget it, I’m fine. I’m just glad that guy with the accent wasn’t the one who took me.”

“Why is that?” Aaron asked, leaning against the wall.

“He’s been…getting worse,” Chris got up and started pacing, trying to walk off the pain in her leg.

“Oh…” Aaron said, getting her point. “So, before we were taken here…what kind of things did you like to do? With your friends I mean…”

“I don’t know; normal stuff. Like going to the mall, movies, going out to eat.” Her voice got really soft as she said. “I just wish I had spent more time with my brother…”

“Your brother?” Aaron asked.

Chris looked at him then realized she hadn’t told him her story. He’s been good to me, she thought. The least I owe him is an explanation… With a heavy sigh, she told him her story, every detail from the terrifying beginning to the gruesome, but undeniable end. She was alone now. Her parents had both been only children, so she had no aunts, uncles, or cousins. She had never known her grandparents; and despite the fact that she’d never met them, she knew from the way her parents talked about them that they hadn’t approved of her mother and father’s marriage. She took a seat against the opposite wall and remembered back to a conversation she had had with her mother, years ago when she was about ten or eleven,

‘Mom?’ a much younger Chris asked, taking a seat on her mother’s bed.

‘Yes, dear?’ her mother asked as she put in the last of her favorite earrings.

‘Why do you and dad hate our grandparents so much?’

Her mother froze and gave her daughter a sad glance in the mirror she had been using. ‘It’s not that we hate them…we just don’t get along…’

‘But why?’

‘They never approved of your father and I,’ she said, coming over and sitting beside her daughter on the bed. ‘You see, your father came from a very rich family, and his parents expected a lot of him. And in their eyes…I wasn’t one of those things that they expected. There was this girl that they had picked out for him…Gloria was her name. She was an amazingly beautiful blonde haired woman. She was crazy over your father. And they were expected to be married. But then, one day, your father and I bumped into each other at the country club, I wasn’t a member, I simply worked there. And one thing led to another and he cancelled the engagement and we ran away… Obviously his parents were livid…they demanded that he never try to speak to them again. And that was that.’

‘It sounds like something straight out of a movie…’ Chris laughed, her mother joined her.

‘Yes, it does, doesn’t it?’

‘But what about your parents?’

‘My parents passed a long time ago. I was twenty-three, I believe.’

‘Oh… well…who would I live with if something happened to you or daddy?’ she asked, looking up at her mother.

Her mother laughed before saying, ‘Well, your father and I plan on being around for a while, so it looks like you’re stuck, kiddo,’ Chris’s mom then began to tickle her, Chris fell back on the bed laughing and pleading for her mother to stop………

A tear fell down her cheek and Chris quickly swept it away, “It’s hard to believe that they’re gone…” she said in a hoarse tone. “We were going to go out to eat that night. To celebrate my graduation,” she gave a small laugh before she said, “We were only two months late celebrating it.”

Aaron crawled over and took Chris into a hug. And for the first time, she stopped and cried for everything she had lost when those men barged in and destroyed her life…





Meanwhile, upstairs in the house…

Britain and Butt Head vigorously pushed buttons on their controllers, commanding the characters on the screen to attack each other. Britain’s character delivered a fatal blow to Butt Head’s character’s head, sending it flying.

“And another one goes to the Rickster!” he said, using his own pompous nickname for himself.

“More like DICKster,” Butt Head said under his breath, snickering.

“Come again?” Britain said, cracking his knuckles.

“Uh…play you again?” Butt Head said, his cowardice apparent.

“Tha’s what I thought you said,” Britain said, selecting the ‘Replay’ option on the video game.

They were about half way through the game when Butt Head heard someone come up from behind them. He turned around and saw the third of the men, Jerry, standing there watching. Jerry was your average middle aged guy. He was balding, slightly over weight, and wore bifocals. No one would suspect him of committing any type of crime, simply because he was so plain, so ordinary. He usually wore work boots, with jeans, and flannel plaid shirts.

“Oh, hey Jer. What’s up?” he asked, quickly turning his attention back to his game. Once again, Britain won.

“Damn it all!” Butt Head said throwing the controller down. He heard a familiar click and turned to Jerry. The last thing he saw was the barrel of a gun pointed straight at him.

“Whas’ all this then?!” Britain screamed when he saw his friend drop to the floor. “Jerry, have you gone bloomin-” he looked towards his partner and just like Butt Head, the last thing he did was look down the barrel of a gun……

Chapter 5

Los Angeles, California

Nick finally had some alone time, everyone decided that they needed to get back to their respective homes/hotel rooms to try and get some sleep. Which was exactly what Nick was planning on doing. But first, he needed a shower.

He went upstairs to his master bathroom and turned the water on in the shower, taking off his clothes, he stepped into the shower and closed his eyes. He stood there, trying to relax just a bit, trying to feel a little less tense and a little less stressed. Everything was happening so fast, too fast. His mind barely had time to absorb it all.

About twenty minutes later Nick stepped out and dried himself off. He wrapped his towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom. He went and sat on his bed and heaved a sigh. Please God, just make sure he comes back in one piece, he prayed for the millionth time.

The sounds of Seether and Amy Lee’s ‘Broken’ suddenly filled the room, Nick groaned and went to answer his cell.

“Hello?”

“Hey man, how ya doin’?” Kevin asked on the other line.

“Oh, hey Kev. Not too good,” Nick answered truthfully.

“We all heard what happened, do you need anything?” he asked, concerned. “If you want Kristen and I can come and take care of the paparazzi and everything…?”

“Nah, it’s cool. Thanks though, hey listen, I’m gonna’ try and get some sleep. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“Yeah, you sound like you need it. I’ll talk to you later, take care man.”

“Thanks Kev,” Nick clicked his phone shut and went over to his bureau and put on a pair of boxers before collapsing onto his bed.

All the sleepless nights he spent worrying had finally caught up to him…



Hardin, Montana

“Oh my god…” Chris said, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “Aaron…that was-”

“I know what it was,” Aaron interrupted, tightening his grip on Chris.

“I have a feeling that neither of those thuds was that ‘third guy’ you were talking about…” Chris remarked with a quivering voice.

“Those two seemed to be friends, or as close to friends as murderers can get, anyway. I don’t doubt for a second that the guy that’s still standing is the guy I saw driving the van...”

They heard footsteps slowly coming down the stairs. From the line of vision that the window provided the man that was coming down was wearing boat shoes and plaid wool pants.

He took the bars off of the opening, all was silent for a moment, until he growled, “Get out here,” and they heard him cock a gun.

Chris began to shake uncontrollably as Aaron let go of her and began to climb out of their cell. She followed suit, but had a horrible feeling about what was going to happen.

Once they got out they stood side by side on the opposite side of the room as their captor. He was a plain looking man, he wore no mask, which, to Chris, only meant one thing: he didn’t care if they saw his face, because they wouldn’t be around for much longer. He wore thick glasses and his hair was beginning to thin out. He was slightly chubby, but not nearly as short as Butt Head had been, he stood about Aaron’s height.

Chris was still shaking, and she subconsciously grabbed Aaron’s hand, squeezing it every time a wave of shudders came over her.

The man walked forward towards the pair, examining them and taking in their features. It was obvious that they were both starved and had close to no strength left. So they weren’t much of a threat to him, in terms of whether or not they’d decided to retaliate.

Please, leave Chris alone… Aaron pleaded silently. He held her hand tighter and tighter as the man got closer. But, once again, his prayers were ignored.

The man approached Chris and looked at her intently. “Tell me your name. First and last,” he said, his expression impossible to read.

“C…C…Chris…Christy Butler…” she stammered. Shaking worse than ever as tears poured from her eyes.

He simply nodded and moved to be in front of Aaron. “And yours?”

“Aaron Carter…” he said, looking him straight in the eye.

“Good…very good,” he said doing an about-face and walking back to the other side of the room. “I’ll be bringing you some food down in a bit. Two hot dogs, two bags of chips, and two bottles of water each. I suggest you eat the hot dogs and share the bottled water and chips, so that you’ll have them for later,” he looked back at the two with a calm expression. Had he really just committed murder? Twice!? “Any questions?”

“J…just one,” Aaron dared to say. The man gave him an expectant look, apparently telling Aaron to continue. “Why are you giving us food?”

The man let out a somewhat maniacal chuckle. “Because you’re no good to me if you both starve to death, those imbeciles obviously didn’t think of that. From now on you will get the normal bread and glass of water along with one meal every other week,” he said with a voice so cold, it sent shivers down their spines. “Now get back in there.”

They both obeyed obediently, but only when they knew the man was upstairs did they dare talk.

“I think that being here might actually get easier with that guy…” Aaron said, not taking his eyes off of the bars that caged them in.

“No…” Chris replied, her gaze fixated on the same thing Aaron’s was. He looked at her confused, but her focus never wavered. “It’s about to get much, MUCH, worse…”

Chapter 6

Los Angeles, California – Number of Days Missing: 17

Angel sat in her room praying for her other half to return safely. Not knowing anything about Aaron and how he was doing tore her apart inside. She didn’t cry anymore. She couldn’t. She just sat around, prayed, and waited. Nick had told her that everything would be okay and that Aaron would come home soon. But she didn’t believe him. Something in her gut told her that Aaron wasn’t alright and that he wouldn’t be home for a very long time.

Sometimes, when she’d get to sleep, she’d have nightmares. She was in some sort of basement but it wasn’t really a basement. It was dark and always cold. Sometimes there was another person, other than herself, she couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman, or even roughly how tall it was, all she ever saw was a vague shadow of a human. At first she thought it was just her imagination projecting her fears, until one night, the dream changed. A third figure was introduced into the dream, but this one wasn’t like the vague figure. This one didn’t bring discomfort or fear, it actually brought what almost seemed like contentment, but with the dread that came with the horrible place she was always in, it was hard to tell.

The sound of the Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons” filled the quiet room. Angel jumped up from her seat and sprinted to her phone.

“Hello?!” she answered, half frantic.

“Ang,” her older brother began. “Come to my house quick they’ve got something BIG!”

Hardin, Montana

CHRIS

Chris was 100% right about the new guy. He was worse than both Britain and Butt Head. After Chris had received her first beating from him he hand cuffed her, pointed a gun to her head, and ordered her to march upstairs.

He brought her to, what she guessed, was a master bedroom. Then dread and fear took over her entire body. This was it. What she’d been scared of the whole time. He was going to for her to do the unthinkable.

“Get on the bed!” he barded. She did as she was told. Tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

He came over and tied her, still handcuffed, arms to the head board of the bed and her feet to the footboard. He cackled evilly as he stripped away her clothes, whistling and eerie toon....


AARON

After the beating was over, Aaron waited anxiously for Chris to be tossed back into the cell, ready to catch her, but she never came. He went and looked through the hole just in time to see the man pull out a gun and tell her to go upstairs.

NO! he screamed silently to himself. DAMN IT! NOT UPSTAIRS!

He paced back and forth for what felt like hours. After a while a small thumping noise started, he ran up to the bars that were keeping him locked in the cell and preventing him from going to help Chris. He pounded at the bars and screamed all the insults and swears he knew. He shook the bars mercilessly, anger and frustration building up inside him. Finally, when he realized that all he was doing was re-opening his cuts, he stopped and backed off. The thumping stopped and Aaron knew he was too late, there was no saving her now.

He fell to his knees and pounded the floor with his, now bleeding, fists.