Jada didn't sleep more than three hours that night. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Isaac. It was Friday only two days until her happy seventeenth but she was not at all looking forward to it. Her main birthday gift would be Isaac; that's all she wanted.
She got dressed in a sweat suit and walked down to the lobby to get her complimentary coffee and three day old doughnuts. She drank three cups and two jelly doughnuts. She got a headache so she pulled her ponytail out and let her blonde hair dangle. Not long after she found herself back in the stuffy hotel room. She looked at the clock; 7:48 am. She wrote a note for Taylor saying she went out to look for Ike. She set it on the tv and put on her Filas's.
"Hello Isaac, how was your sleep?" Kalie asked as she walked into the dark
room. "Go to hell bitch," was all he could choke out.
Whack!
He got hit hard in his back. "What? Got any more?" He protested.
Whack!
Whack!
Whack!
In his stomach. He rolled over onto his stomach and stared at the cement floor. His whole body hurt and it was his own fault for demanding more. "I'll be back to check on you later," she snickered and walked out. He remembered Jada's gift, so he pulled it out to make sure it was in tip-top shape. He opened the box using all the strength he had and looked at it.
It was a very unique necklace, the diamond was common, but on the thick chain he had engraved Isaac and Jada, true love forever. He smiled at it and put it back in his pocket. He prayed he would be out in time to give it to her.
Jada entered the thicket of woods that lay before her. She had to think twice before entering but she shook her head and walked in. She carefully looked around for any type of clues leading to where he might be. She didn't find no car tracks, pieces of his clothing, but then again she didn't expect to. She turned back to look for where she came in but she couldn't see anything but trees, and bushes.
She searched every increment of land for about 1,000 feet but still no luck. She wondered if she'd ever see Isaac again. She sat down on a tree stump and thought about all the trouble she had caused so many people. Her mind ran in circles as she thought about a billion people; Diana Hanson, Walker, her mother, Zac, Taylor, her father whom she never met, Mackenzie, Avery, Marlene, Jessica, Zoe and most importantly Isaac.
She emerged from the stump and continued her search. "Wait a God damned minute. I am out searching for my boyfriend by myself. Where the hell is the FBI, and all the cops? Why am I out searching alone? Does anybody care? Huh?" She thought aloud. She turned on her flashlight and proceeded; alone.
"Mom, Dad, wake up!" Taylor said to his parents. He ran to his parents room in his boxers with the note. "Not now Taylor go back to sleep," Diana said wearily. "Dad! Don't you care about Isaac?" he whined. Walker slowly arose from his sleep and looked at Taylor. Tay shoved the note at him.
Dear Taylor,
I went out looking for Isaac since nobody else seemed to care.
I left around 7:45 and I won't be back until I find him. If I never
see you or your family again tell them I appreciate all they've
done for me in the past couple months. Thanks Tay.
Jada
"See, she's right! Nobody is out looking but her! Doesn't anyone care?" His eyes turned to an icy blue stare. "Taylor sweetie, you know we love your brother-" Diana was cut off by Taylor, "Yeah you love him so much you're sitting in bed not even anticipating where he is!" He yelled. Zoe started to cry and Jessica woke up. "Tay, shut up," she yawned. "That's enough Taylor," Walker said sternly.
Jada was starving and jelly doughnuts were no help. She fumbled around in her pockets and pulled out a candy necklace. She bit into a yellow one; it didn't taste like summer, like her and Isaac remembered, but instead a bittersweet love song. She gnawed on two more then dropped it; she was to careless to pick it back up. She thought back to when her and Isaac first met, and shared their first kiss together. All those times she was upset he was there to comfort her.
She kept on with her search but once more was rejected of any clues. She walked throughout clearings, and tripped over sticks. After walking about a mile or so she tripped over a large tree branch. Jada tried to get up but she couldn't move her left leg. "Great just what I need, a broken leg," she sighed. She took off her jacket and wrapped it tightly around her leg. The only thing she under her jacket was a white T-shirt. She limped her leg and walked slowly through the woods. Every step hurt worse and worse but she knew Isaac would do anything for her; so she kept going.
Isaac touched his lower lip; it was bleeding. He licked it and gagged at the taste. He looked at his hands. They were black and blue with scratches. His once long, beautiful, dusty blonde curly hair was now greasy, and bloodstained.
Every time her heard something squeak he cringed at the thought of it being Kalie or Joseph. This squeak was the noise of the door opening, it was Joseph. He had bruises and cuts on his face and arms. "What happened?" Isaac asked barely above a whisper. "That stupid whore Kalie flipped out and beat me. Why am I talking to you?" He snapped. Isaac just looked at him, his eyes crying out for help. "Look, I think it's that time of the month for her you know? God, I know how you feel know. It hurts like hell," he whined.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Isaac whimpered. Joseph looked down at Isaac and saw a small reflection of himself. He thought of letting Isaac but Kalie would kill him. "Hey, I have a taco if you want it," Joseph offered. Isaac pondered it for a while because he thought it might be poisoned but he was starving. He nodded and Joseph fished around for it. He handed Isaac the taco and Isaac ate it in one bite. If he died of food poisoning he would be glad he didn't die abusivly.
"Why can't you let me be with Jada?" Isaac questioned. "Because if I do that Jada will be in here with you. You don't want her to get beaten again do you?" Isaac shook his head. "That's what I thought," he said. "But you don't understand, her birthday is in two days, I need to be with her," Isaac whimpered. He could barely talk anymore because every time he spoke his throat would stab him with pain. "Look, I'll do the best I can alright?" Joseph hollered. Isaac just stared at the ground and wished for Jada.
It was 8:28 already and Jada continued with her search. Her leg was killing her and her stomach was growling. No, you have to keep going. She told herself. She held her chin up high and was ready to walk to find her man. Jada lifted her leg and screamed at the pain inflicted. She sat down in the woods and cried for Isaac, she cried tears of hate and she cried so long there was nothing left to cry.
"Hello Agent Castelli, could you do a search for my son, Isaac Hanson. He was kidnapped yesterday around noon I guess, and we aren't sure who it was. His girlfriend Jada Collins went out searching for him," Walker explained to Agent Bethany Castelli. "Yes sir, we'll be right on it. I need a general description of where you are," she told him. "I'm at the Doubletree Hotel a few miles south of Raliegh," he said. "Very well sir, we'll call you if anything comes up. Bye." "Well?" Diana asked. She had been pacing around the hotel room for countless minutes. "They're on it," was all he said.
Taylor sat in the lobby staring ahead. He thought about why nobody cared to go out and look for his brother. What would happen to Hanson? What if Isaac got killed, heaven forbid, he thought. He looked at his watch; 9:21. He misssed spending time with his big brother; not as much as Jada did.
Agent Castelli and her men were all scattered out looking for the two teens and their kidnappers. Only three men were in the region of the woods that Jada searched in. The rest of the squad were scattered all around Raleigh. Agent Castelli was among those three men searching. Her eyes fixated on something below; a candy necklace. She picked it up and examined it carefully. It was freshly dropped for no bugs had eaten it yet. Quickly, she pulled out a plastic bag and inserted the necklace.
"Walker Hanson's room this is Agent Castelli," she said to the receptionst. "Walker Hanson," he said. "Yes this is Agent Castelli, I think we have a clue. Do you know if Isaac or Jada wear or eat candy necklaces? We have spotted one in he woods not far from were you're staying," she explained. "Does Jada or Ike eat candy necklaces?" Walker asked his wife. "Isaac doesn't I don't know about Jada," Diana informed him. Just then Taylor walked in. "What about Jada?" He asked. "Does Jada eat candy necklaces?" Diana sighed. Taylor's face lightened. "Yeah! When I was at her house she was eating one! They're her favorite candy," he said proudly. Walker releyed the information to the agent. "Thank you and we'll be searching for anything else. Goodbye for now," she said.
Taylor walked into his hotel room to find Zac sleeping still. He walked over to his bookbag and pulled out his cd player and put in Middle of Nowhere. He pushed the shuffle button a couple times and waited for the first song to come on. It did and Taylor was shocked at what the selection was; track twelve, With You In Your Dreams. He quickly pushed stop and put his Discman away.
Jada's leg was killing her completely and she was still absolutely clueless as to where Isaac was. The pain in her leg was throbbing and she was starting to become lightheaded. She didn't know how long she had been out, how far out he was, or how much longer until she would find him. To her it felt like forever and a day.
Agent Castelli and her men were out searching desperatly to find any pieces to this unsolved puzzle. The only thing leading to where Jada was, would have been the candy necklace. In Agent Castelli's eyes, this was a copycat crime; one person picks up where the other left off. Still, it made no sense to her why anyone would want to kidnap a harmless, teenage rock star.
Taylor was pacing in his room and he had been for a half an hour. He was so sick of everyone ignoring the fact that Isaac and Jada were lost. He shook his head and bit his lip. Tay sat down on his bed, finally giving his feet a rest, and turned on the news. "Police are on the lookout for what looks like a copycat crime. Just yesterday the Tulsa pop star Isaac Hanson was reported missing. Now, a day before his past disappearance him and his girlfriend Jada Collins were both missing. Jada went out looking for him today and is also reported missing. If you have any information please contact channel 5 news at 626-9214. Thank you," the older news anchor reported. Taylor switched the television off and laid face first on his bed.
"Taylor get over it, they'll find them both. It will be okay," Zac said as he walked into the room with a Dr. Pepper. Taylor looked up at him, his whole face burning red. "Everything will not be okay! This is the second time Zac! Now Jada is missing! Why is this happening! Why? What's going to happen to Hanson, and to Isaac and Jada? What if we get a call saying Isaac and Jada were both found dead? Huh? Then what Zac? Will it be okay then?" Taylor yelled loud enough for anybody in the free world to hear. Zac started to cry as he ran out of the room. "Zac, wait! I'm sorry Zac," Taylor pleaded.
Kalie had entered the room where Isaac was laying, motionless. She walked over to him and mumbled a few words. "Mr. big shot pop star is going down." Isaac looked up at her, directly into her eyes. They were an empty hazel, but if you looked far enough, they had flames. Burning hot flames, like the flames in hell. Isaac thought she was Satan himself. He shuddered at the thought. Before he could think one more time, Kalie raised the bat and swung at Isaac; then his whole world went black.
