His Puppet

Sitting on the floor of my local corner shop with a gun pointed at my head isn't how I thought my night would be going, but here I am. To try to get an understanding of what the heck I'm talking about, I must take you back to a few hours ago—you know, when my life was normal. 

A few hours before…

"Blake, did you drink all the milk?!" I shout, looking into my fridge at an empty carton of milk on the shelf. I don't get why people, when they're finished with something, put it back in the fridge. Do they think the thing is just going to magically appear full again?

"No, I saved a bit at the bottom for you," he explains, pointing to the carton now in my hand. I look down to see the tiniest bit ever.

"Oh thanks, I can feed my pet mouse now," I exclaim, and walk over to throw the carton in the bin, while he laughs and goes back to his game.

"Can mice drink milk?" He asks with a smirk on his face still staring at the tv; I knew this meant he was only half listening to me. 

"I don't know, I'll have to get back to you on that one. The point is, if you're going to drink the last of the milk, A), don't put the empty carton back in the fridge and B), at least drink it all!" I shout throwing my arms in the air. He just shrugs his shoulders brushing me off. Well, we've lost contact now, as he's gone back to playing his pointless game! "Well, I guess I've been chosen to go get more," I sigh, but he doesn't even look up from the tv. Wow, I'm glad I'm interesting to him. 

I take my coat off the hook while grabbing my purse. I really didn't feel like going out, but I've been wanting scrambled eggs for days. And the day I'm allowing myself to indulge, my lovely supportive boyfriend drinks all the milk. 

"I'm heading out to get milk, do you need anything?" I ask from the door. He just waves his hand at me again, his eyes not leaving the tv. How can a game possibly be that interesting? 

I walk out my door to see my neighbour also walking out of his door, holding a black bin bag. 

"My turn to take the rubbish out," he smiles as he closes his door. I send him a smile, starting to walk down the hall towards the lift. 

"How's Blake?" He asks while we wait for the lift to come up. I roll my eyes remembering what just happened; right now, he's being rather annoying. 

"He's sat on his game; he drank all of the milk, saving me the tiniest bit, forcing me to venture out into the wild at 10 p.m. to get some," I explain as the doors open. He laughs, letting me walk in first. I thank him and click the button for the ground floor.

"Did he at least put the carton away?" He asks with a smile. I say no, which makes him shake his head. Well at least one person is siding with me about the carton rule.

"Layla's just the same," he smiles talking about his wife, as a ding erupts from the lift, telling us we're on our floor. He smiles letting me walk out first. 

"Well, I hope you fix your milk carton crisis," he smiles walking to the huge bins outside. I smile but quickly turn a question popping in my mind. 

"Do mice drink milk?" I ask. He looks at me confused shaking his head; he dumps the rubbish in the bin turning back to face me. 

"I wouldn't know," he laughs, walking back into the building sending me a wave. I send one back before starting my journey down the street.

Oh, did I forget to mention that I don't drive? My darling boyfriend is sending me venturing into the wilderness at 10 p.m. at night. I pull my coat tighter around myself, the cold night sending a shiver through my body. The little corner shop wasn't far away, but I didn't want to catch a chill. I pass a few people going about their journeys sending a few of them a little smile; everyone needs one of them sometimes. I finally see the corner shop at the end of the street; a few people walking in and out. As I make it to the entrance, a woman holding a baby in one of those sling things walks up. I smile moving aside letting her go first; she was carrying a little baby that could get cold more easily than me.

I walk in after her seeing the cashier Rick smiling behind the counter. I send him a quick smile heading towards the milk section to finally get my milk to make scrambled eggs. As I pick the milk up off the aisle, a man’s very loud voice fills the little shop. 

"Everyone get down!" He shouts, his voice echoing. I place my beloved milk back, walking to the side to see what the commotion was, when I see two masked men, all in black holding rather big guns in their hands.

I quickly walk down the aisle away from them, trying my best not to be seen. My phone vibrating in my pocket makes me quickly pull it out as the men continued to shout. Blake was on the other end. 

"Hey Freya, could you get me an energy drink while you're there?" He asks. I take another look to see where the men were; they had everyone apart from Rick sit on the floor.

"Blake, I'm in the shop, but two men have walked in with guns; please, you need to get help," I whisper down the phone, quickly checking where the two men were.

"Ha-ha funny one, so can you get me one?" He asks. At this moment I wanted to throw my phone, but that would draw way too much attention to where I am. 

"Blake, I'm not joking, please," I beg, but as I go to look at the men one was missing. The shorter one was gone. I quickly turn to see him right behind me. 

"Freya?" Blake asks down the phone, but I was frozen from fear. The guy rips my phone off me, holding it to his ear. 

"I'm sorry, Freya can't come to the phone right now," he smiles evilly. He drops the phone and takes me by the arm, dragging me down the aisles to where everyone else was. 

I'm pushed to the ground next to the woman with the baby, and another guy that came in after me. The small guy holds the gun up to my head; my hands immediately going up in surrender.

"Don't try to run," he growls. I quickly nod scared for my life; this took a turn!

Present time…

So, you're now up to date on the events that led up to this point—missing milk, annoying boyfriend, and crazy short robber guy. What a great night I'm having right now! But let's just get back to the story.

Little short robber guy finally pulls the gun away from my head, while the tall robber guy continues to shout at Rick. The girl’s baby was just crying uncontrollably; with all the shouting she must have woken up. I slide over to her, putting the dummy in her mouth, which makes the small guy shout once again.

"What are you doing?!" He shouts towards me. I hold my hands up in surrender once again; last time I try to help someone.

"I was just helping the baby," I mutter. Does this guy need to show us he's tough even with his size? 

The taller guy pulls Rick over the counter and to the floor to join our group. He continues to pace around the shop floor for a little while, his eyes looking over the group, then down to something in his hands. From afar, it looked like a little photo that you could fit in your wallet.

"You," he finally speaks pointing towards me, as I look behind just to make sure he was wanting me. Okay, why is everyone targeting me right now? 

"Stand up," he says in a deep voice which terrified me. I slowly get to my feet, my hands still up in surrender. I didn't want them to think I was going to try something. My whole body was shaking from fear. I didn't know what was going to happen.

"Name?" He asks me. I went to speak, but no words came out. I was terrified, these people could do anything to us, most importantly me. I'm the one they're targeting!

"Freya, the person on the phone back there called her Freya," small robber guy speaks up from behind tall robber dude. I just nod my head, confirming that was indeed my name.

"Well, Freya, you have a very important job to do," the tall guy smiles walking towards me. He looks down at the woman and her baby, then back at me. “Take the baby," he says with a straight face. I just stare at him confused; that is a very weird request.

"No, please, she's only a month old," the woman cries holding her baby tightly. There is no way I'm going to take her baby away from her, that's horrible...and weird.

"Either she takes the baby, or I will," he shouts down at the woman before taking steps back looking at the clock. "Time’s ticking," he smiles again with his arms crossed. I look down to the woman who was on the floor with tears rolling down her face; she sends me a nod unclipping the baby from her sling thing.

I kneel closer to her as she passes me the small crying child. I hold her in my arms; a pink blanket wrapped around her tiny body. 

"What's her name?" I whisper to the crying woman; she whispers back Amelia. "I promise, I won't let anything happen to her," I whisper as the tall guy smacks the counter telling me to hurry it up. 

I rise to my feet, turning so I was now facing the two men, the baby still crying. Tall guy clicks his finger, pointing down to the space beside him. I slowly—my body still scared—walk over, where he makes me face the other guy.

"What do you think?" The tall guy asks, placing his arm on my shoulder. The dude nods saying yeah, which didn't make any sense to me. 

"I thought the same thing," the tall one mutters, fully resting his hand on my shoulder. I was beyond scared at this point.

He pushes me to start walking towards the aisles as sirens could be heard from outside—yes, the police are going to come and save us! This little baby can go back to her mother, and I can finally eat my scrambled eggs! 

"This is how it's going to go," the tall guy whispers walking me down the aisle, while short guy stays with the others on the floor. "You're going to follow me into a car that's parked out back; you're not going to fight me, or I'll just have to take that little baby alone," he warns me, walking us to the end of the aisle, where a door to the back room was located. 

I mean, I had a choice to leave, and get on with my own life, but there was no way I was going to leave this baby with him. I promised that girl I was going to look after her. 

I nod as he opens the door, letting me walk through first. The only thoughts that were racing around my mind were: Are we going to be okay? Why has he chosen to take an innocent baby with him?; I hope Blake is okay, and that he helps the police find me; and how good the scrambled eggs sound. I know I shouldn't be thinking about eggs, but I've been wanting them for a while now!

We get to the final door that leads outside, but as he went to open it, the door wouldn't budge. Wait, this could be it; the police could find us, and I'll be okay! But alas, it wasn't going to be like that. He pushes me back and starts to kick the door repeatedly. I look behind me, but I couldn't see anyone; he was too focused on the door that maybe he wouldn't notice. But I hesitated, and he managed to boot the door open; the cold night air filling the room. He turns back around, guiding me out the door where a black car was parked. From the little alley, you could see loads of blue flashing lights from the front. Why can't they move around to the alley and see us here?! He opens the back door to the car, waiting for me to get in. I freeze just staring at the open car; if I get in, there would be a possibility that I wouldn't get out again, or I would, but my life would be changed forever. 

"Of course, sorry doll, I forgot you were holding the baby, let me help you," he says. The way he spoke was entirely different to before; he starts putting his hands on my back moving me to the open door.

I give in and realise even if I fought, he'd still force me in the car, and I have a little baby in my arms. I slowly allow him to help me into the car. Once I'm in, he closes the door, then shouts to his friend inside. The baby was still crying; she was doing what I wanted to do but I knew I had to be strong. 

"It's okay Amelia, I'm going to figure out a way for us to get out of here," I whisper, bouncing her a little to try and calm her down. 

The little robber dude runs out the shop holding two bags in his hands, probably full of money. The taller guy gets in the back next to me as the little one runs to the driver's seat getting in the car. We drive off normally down the street, where we blend in. Behind us were a bunch of police cars blocking the other side of the road. I'm so close to freedom, yet so far—and I'm getting further away from it. Once we turn a corner, tall robber dude pulls his mask off revealing his face, small robber dude doing the same. Wait, that's a bad thing, they've just shown me their identities—they're not planning to let us go. 

"Can you please shut that thing up?" Small robber dude shouts from the front. I look down at the baby. I didn't know how; I wasn't a mother and that's who she wanted right now.

I bounce her, but it wasn't working; again, she didn't want me! Tall robber dude leans over to the front opening the glove box, while smacking the other dude up the head.

"She's a baby idiot! Here, don't worry, it's clean," he says sitting back holding a pink dummy in his hand. I take it from him, putting it into her mouth, which slowly makes her calm down.

We drive for around ten minutes, until we pull up at what looked like an old, abandoned house. They live here? 

"Get the bags, try not to mess that up," the tall guy says to the small guy getting out the car, where he walks to my side.

"I know I made a mistake last time, but it won't happen again, I've learnt," the smaller one says getting out the car, leaving the two bags on the front seat, and closing the door behind him. I would tell him, but he's just kidnapped me; I ain't helping him. 

Tall guy opens my door, taking my hand helping me get out the car with the baby. Once out, I'm quickly taken into the dark house, but the inside didn't look abandoned. It was like any other normal house. Tall guy closes the door, hanging his coat up—acting so cool about the fact he just kidnapped two people! The small guy looks through the kitchen cupboards, while I'm ushered upstairs to a bedroom that didn't look very clean, apart from the bed; it looked new.

"Time for a talk," he says, closing the door behind him. This, once again, terrified me—not that I stopped being terrified at all tonight. "Put the baby on the bed; don't worry, she'll be okay," he says, walking around the room fixing things. I nod, walking over and gently placing her on the bed. She fell asleep not long ago; she's tired from crying so much.

"Don't look so scared, I'm not going to hurt you. I mean, what kind of man beats a woman who just had his kid?" He says, which makes me freeze on the spot. Did he say I just had his kid? This guy must be crazy! 

"I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't had any baby, this isn't my baby and I only met you like an hour ago," I say, finally building up the courage to speak. I turn around to see him placing something on the table.

In one swift movement, I'm pushed up against the wall with him standing in front of me. I start to shake, once again being terrified! I look behind him to make sure the baby was okay on the bed; she was still fast asleep. 

"That may have once been true but not anymore. You're my wife, Mrs. Freya Richards, we just had a baby a month ago. Quite bad that we haven't chosen a name for her yet," he says trapping me. I stare up terrified at him not knowing what to say, think or do. "Your old life is over; this is your new one. You're going to play along with everything, and in the end, it'll just come naturally," he says. This cannot be happening right now! This dude isn't forcing me to pretend to be his wife!

"Things are going to be amazing, I'll give the best life for you and our daughter, don't worry," he says quietly, stroking my cheek with his finger. This just got weird and highly uncomfortable. "I'll leave you to settle in with the baby to be named later. I'll actually make her a bottle," he says, finally releasing me from the trap he put me in—well one of them, at least. 

He looks down at the sleeping baby on the bed, then back at me with a smile on his face. He says something like "perfect," then walks out the room, closing the door behind him. I stand there frozen with my back against the wall. What the heck just happened? 

One minute, I was complaining to Blake about milk, and now, I'm stuck here with a strange guy and someone else's baby.

And I didn't even get my scrambled eggs!

I walk over to the window to see if there were any clues on where he's taken us. It was now pitch black, and I had no idea what the time was, but I knew it was late. I pace around the room, just trying to produce an idea to try to leave this place, but my mind drew a blank. Has anyone ever been put in a situation like this before? It seems so weird. Amelia starts to make some noises on the bed snapping me out of my thoughts. I promised her mum back at the shop that I would look after her, but how am I meant to do that in a situation like this? 

I walk over, scooping her up in my arms; her blue eyes looking at me. 

"I know I'm not your mum, and I know that's who you want, but don't worry, I'm going to figure out a way for us to get out of here. You're just going to need to trust me," I whisper, not wanting those robber guys hearing me. Wait, he says I'm his wife, but I don't even know his name yet, how does that work? 

The door opens, and in he walks holding a bottle in his hand. Did he just have one of those laying around? This dude is getting weirder and weirder as time is going on. 

"Wow, right on time I see," he smiles, closing the door behind him. He makes his way over rubbing the baby's cheek. "We really need to think of a name for her, it’s been a while," he smiles looking down at her. She already has a name! I could suggest her real name, we can't just call her a totally random name, because what if she thinks that's her name?! 

"How about Amelia?" I ask, he looks up at me, then down back at the baby thinking. "I just think she looks like one," I shrug, trying to push at the name, which is her name anyway! 

"Amelia, yeah I like it, hello Amelia," he smiles down at her. Yes, I can't believe that worked! I must be good at manipulating people; I could use that to my advantage. 

"What's your full name; I mean, we could think of a middle name for her that might be the same as yours?" I ask. Good thinking Freya, you're getting better at this. He looks at me, takes the baby, and sits on the bed.

"Anthony Richards, I don't actually have a middle name," he explains. Well, at least I know his name now, and did it in a very clever way if I do say so myself. "Do you have a middle name?" He asks. I freeze but eventually shake my head; I did have one, Marie, but I wasn't about to tell him that. 

He puts the bottle in Amelia's mouth, and she starts to drink it; he must have had some experience with children. 

"So, is this where we're going to be staying?" I ask, trying to get as much information as I could, so I could figure out where we are and how I'm going to get back.

"No, this is just for tonight, we'll be heading to our actual home tomorrow morning, it isn't too far away," he explains, looking down at the baby. A smile starts to form on my lips, he's giving me a lot of clues on where we are. 

We didn't drive for that long from the shop, and if he's telling the truth about the house not being far from here, it can't be far away from where I live. As soon as I get the chance, I'm working out where that house is, so I can work out how far out we are from the town. Now I know his full name and when I get to a police station, I can give them that. I still don't know the small guy’s name—but he doesn't seem that bright, so it might be much easier to get his name. 

"You're quiet," Anthony says snapping me out of my plotting thoughts. Okay, that wasn't the best time to stop and reflect. I just say I'm tired then go back to looking out the window. "Then go get some sleep, don't worry, I can sort her out," he suggests causing me to freeze. I mean, I want to sleep, but I don't trust him alone with Amelia. I shake my head, walking over and sitting next to him, but I keep my eyes glued to the baby.

"Oh, come on, you look tired. She'll just fall asleep after she drinks this," he pushes. I nod, not wanting to have an argument with him, as I don't want to get in his bad side.

I walk to the bed, getting under the blanket as he stays at the bottom of the bed feeding Amelia. I thought it would take me ages to fall asleep as I was terrified, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep. 

I wake up to the sun creeping in through the thin curtains. I look beside me to see Amelia moving around with Anthony fast asleep next to her. I get up, walking to the window. I could fully make out the street now. This could be our chance. I slip my shoes on and pick Amelia up, wrapping her in the pink blanket. I take one more look at sleeping Anthony before walking out the bedroom door and down the stairs. 

Amelia starts to make some crying noises; she needs a bottle. I walk to the kitchen to see a bunch of baby stuff. With one hand, I manage to make her a bottle; the thing that took most of the time was figuring out how to make the thing! I pick the bottle up and was about to walk out the back door, but I hear footsteps walking down the stairs. I have a two-second window to leave the house, but I don't know where I am, and he'd catch me when I get lost. 

"What are you doing?" He asks walking into the little kitchen; I look down at Amelia then at the bottle in my hand.

"I was just making her a bottle," I start, but he looks down at my shoes. "I didn't want to get a splinter in my foot, the floors here don't seem well looked after," I try to explain, thinking on the spot. He looks at me for a second, but nods directing me to the living room. I look at the back door to freedom, but I knew I couldn't make it. 

"You should have woken me, we're a team," he says, sitting me on the sofa as she starts to cry. I didn't know what to do. "It's okay, don't worry, just lay her relaxed in your arms," he tells me, moving my arms to hold Amelia. I've never handled a baby this much before. "Now just place the bottle in her mouth, and there, you're feeding her," he says, she soon stops crying, and drinks her bottle. That was stressful.

"Once she's finished, I've got fresh clothes for you and fresh clothes for this little one. After you're ready, we're going to head out," he says, I just nod looking down at Amelia. I need to find a way out of this somehow, but I just don't know how. "Ink, will you hurry up!" He shouts as the little robber guy, who I know as Ink, runs down the stairs out of breath.

"I've checked everywhere, I can't find the bags anywhere," he says leaning on his knees, Anthony stands up looking beyond angry.

"You can't be trusted to do anything, can you?" he shouts holding Ink by the scruff of his neck. I knew I didn't want to help but I don't wanna see him kill this dude.

"I'm pretty sure you left two bags in the car last night," I say which makes them both turn to look at me. "I'd have a look in there." 

Anthony drops Ink to the floor, but he isn't there long, he literally bolts his little body to the front door.

"Sorry about him, he can never follow orders. Luckily, you're here, I don't know what I would have done to him if you didn't step in," he smiles down at me. I don't know why he's smiling, that's not a good thing to admit! 

A few minutes pass, Ink runs back in holding the two bags smiling. It took him that long to find them? They were in the front, not hard to miss at all. 

"She was right, they were in the car. You have a good eye Freya," he smiles towards me, I smile back looking down as Anthony chimes in. 

"No, she's not an idiot like you. Now, go take them bags and sort the contents," he says, pushing Ink into the kitchen area as I finished burping Amelia.

"Now she's finished, why don't you go up and get changed? I'll be up in a minute to help you dress Amelia," he smiles. I nod, standing and walking up the stairs to the room, where two piles of clothes were neatly folded.

I place Amelia safely on the middle of the bed. He said he wouldn't be long, and there's no way I'm letting him watch me change. I just finished tying my shoes as he walks in with an empty bag in his hand.

"Wow," he says looking at me. I look down at myself confused, they got me a pair of blue skinny jeans, a normal white top and a green bomber jacket, this is something I'd pick out myself. "And, to finish off the look," he says, getting something out his back pocket holding it up; it was a wedding ring. When I don't move, he takes my hand, placing the ring on my ring finger himself smiling. "Now, let's dress Amelia," he says, walking over to the bed scooping her up telling me to get the clothes.

I walk over picking up her pile of clothes and handing them to him, but he shakes his head. He takes my hand and pulls me to where he was standing.

"I'll be here to help, but you'll learn if you do it yourself," he says. I nod as he tells me what to do, I went very slowly, as I didn't want to hurt her in any way, and after a few minutes she was fully dressed. "See, it isn't hard, once you know how to do it," he smiles, picking her up handing her over to me, where she rests her head on my shoulder. He looks over smiling, placing a kiss on my head, which once again made me feel extremely uncomfortable. 

The door opens. Ink runs in out of breath, saying repeatedly they're here. Anthony looks to me saying to wait here before he and Ink leave the room. I place Amelia down running to the bathroom, where I thought I'd seen a pen. I run back into the room, getting a strip of paper and writing a quick note.

"My names Freya Edwards, I'm being held captive with a baby named Amelia. I don't know where he's taking us, but a man named Anthony Richards won't let us leave, he's crazy. He says I'm his wife and this is our baby but it's not, please if you see this send help." 

I place the note just under a little clock by the bed so you could only see a bit of the paper sticking out. I quickly pick Amelia up as the door opens, and Ink walks in with a bleeding nose. 

"Come on, we need to leave," he says, picking up the bags and pushing me out the room and down the stairs; but we don't go to the front, we go out the back.

The back garden didn't seem like it was looked after at all, it was abandoned just like the rest of the house. He opens the old garden gate, but we get stopped by a man.

"What are you doing in that house?" He asks us to which Ink ignores, he walks me over to the car opening the back door, but the guy stops us. This is my chance to leave to go home!

"Answer the question or I'll get the police to ask you it," he says smacking his hand off the car door. Ink pulls something out his pocket holding it to the guy. 

"No, you're not, I don't have to answer anything, now get out of my face," he says holding a gun up to the guy, who immediately puts his hands up 

"Freya in the car," he tells me. I nod getting in where I see a baby car seat. "Anthony brought it for Amelia," he says still holding the gun up to the guy, I nod, gently placing her in the car seat strapping her in as Ink starts shouting at the guy again. "Leave now!" He shouts. The guy runs off, another escape plan gone down the drain. Come on, Freya think! 

Anthony runs out the house with two full bags, throwing them in the back, as I finish strapping the baby in. Anthony quickly gets in the passenger seat while Ink quickly starts the car.

"That went somewhat smoothly," Anthony says, clipping his seat belt in as we drive down the road. "Slow down, or you'll draw attention to us. It did go okay with you, right?" Anthony asks looking to Ink who doesn't dare move, he turns around to me raising an eyebrow.

"A man came to the car asking questions, he pulled a gun on him," I tell him. I know I was being a snitch, but these people kidnapped me. I'm not taking anyone's side, if I see you do something you're not meant too, I'm going to call you out on it. 

"You did what?!" Anthony shouts so loud it woke a sleeping Amelia up, I quickly slip her dummy in her mouth as Anthony tells Ink to pull the car over. It was about to go down!

Ink pulls the car over, Anthony getting out before it even fully stops, telling Ink to do the same. Ink sighs, looking down at the steering wheel. He was proper scared. He finally unclips his seat belt, getting out the car. Anthony shouts to me that he'll just be down there before he pushes Ink away, so they were out of my eyeshot. I sit there for a second, but it hits me I'm alone. I have a chance to run with Amelia! I go to open my door, but it's locked. No way, did he use child lock on me!? I was about to climb in the front to try the front doors, but the sound of the car locking stops me in my tracks. Oh, come on Freya, did you really believe that would work? And if it did, you're in the middle of nowhere, he'd find you rather easily, and who knows what he'd do then.

A few minutes go by until I see Anthony walking over to the car unlocking it, but he goes to the boot. I hear what sounds like water hitting the ground, but before I could turn to look, he had already closed the boot and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Sorry about that, we'll start getting back on track now," he says turning the car on. I realise we're missing a person. Ink wasn't here, and my dumb mouth had to question it.

He looks back at me through the mirror for a second before turning his attention back to the road. "He's making his own way back," was all he said.

Okay maybe I shouldn't have asked, because now I'm a thousand times more scared than I was before, did he just kill Ink? I mean he washed his hands with water before he even entered the car, what if he was washing the blood off his hands? Okay Freya calm down, I mean, he sees you as his wife and has said he would never hurt you, so just play along with whatever this is until you're rescued. 

Hey, it's me again, future Freya, all while Ink was going down for me, things were getting heated back at the police station. My boyfriend Blake just found out about the note I left and was demanding answers from the police. They were so afraid of him. Well, that's what I've been told, I don't think that's true. I mean, the only thing that's scared of Blake is the toilet after a night out...we're getting off-topic...oh yeah, the police thing, let's just say Blake wasn't happy.

Blake was pacing up and down the waiting room of the police station, face-value he looked beyond annoyed, but deep down he was extremely worried. He just wanted everything to go back to normal, because right now he felt like he was living in a bad dream that he wasn't waking up from. Amelia's parents run in, the mother didn't look like she'd had a proper night sleep in days; how could she, her month-old baby was somewhere lost out in the world? 

"Still no news, all they're telling me is they've found a note," Blake says, looking back at them; they'd become acquaintances through this whole situation.

"They have to tell us something, they can't just keep us in the dark. We have a right to know," Amelia's dad Tony says, which just makes Blake get angrier walking over to the poor guy working at the desk.

"I have been waiting here for hours for updates on my girlfriend and all you have told me is you've found a note addressed from her; you haven't told us what the note said or where it was found. We have a right to know," Blake says, smashing his hand on the desk in anger, making the poor guy jump back from shock. "Did she tell you who has them captive, and you don't wanna tell us because you don't want us to know what kind of crazed lunatic has our loved ones!?" he shouts as the side door opens, the lead investigator walking out towards Blake.

"It's not what the note says, it's the circumstances we found the note in," the officer says breaking up the fight that was about to go down.

"What's that supposed to mean?” Blake asks, aiming his annoyance at the officer standing by the door. He sighs before he speaks, which to Blake wasn't a good sign.

"Come through and I'll explain," he says opening the door. Blake and Amelia's parents, who were silent through this whole thing, look at each other, but eventually follow him through the door and into an office.

The officer walks behind the desk taking a seat pulling a file open. Blake stood with his arms crossed putting on a tough act, but he was the most scared he's ever been in this very moment.

"A few hours ago, we got a call from a man saying someone held a gun to his head," the officer starts, but Blake cuts in before he could really get to the point. 

"What's that got to do with Freya and Amelia?" He asks impatient to hear what the guy had to say. Another officer walks in, handing him an envelope before walking out. 

"The man says he was just taking the rubbish out when he saw two people, a man and a young woman, holding a little baby; he approached them and asked what they were doing in the old, abandoned house," he explained. Blake didn't even go to speak; he had a feeling this young girl was his lost girlfriend. "The woman didn't look up or speak, the guy ignored him and opened the back door calling her Freya. When the man said if they didn't answer he was going to call the police, the dude pulled a gun out saying to get out of his face," he continued. Blake was now pacing up and down, this was Freya, the guy even called her by her name!

"Somewhere in the conversation, the man said the name Anthony, which is also the name in the note we found; we just need you to verify if this is indeed Freya's handwriting," the officer says, pulling the note out and placing it on his desk.

This was when Blake remembered a note he keeps in his wallet from Freya. When they first met, she wrote him a note with her number, saying to call her; he's always kept it. He pulls the little note out, walking over and placing it next to the note the police found. It was a perfect match.

"These look identical. With your permission, I can take it to our expert so we can know for sure," the officer says looking at the two notes. Blake nods saying he can, but to look after it. "You can have it back maybe tomorrow, now back to what happened. After he pulled the gun out, our guy ran off, but hid around the corner. A few minutes later, another man walked out who was identified as Anthony Richards. We are running background checks on him as we speak," he says, putting the two notes into the envelope as Kate, Amelia's mum, speaks up.

"Now that you know who this guy is, can't you go to his address and get him?" She asks thinking logically, but the officer shakes his head.

"The thing is, this guy is well-trained, he's kept no papers at all. That's why the background checks are taking this long; it's like the guy doesn't exist. I wish I could tell you this will all be over soon, but I would be lying, we're dealing with some clever criminals," the officer says, which makes Kate start to cry again. Hearing the news that her baby girl won't be home anytime soon is breaking her and for Blake, he was just happy that his Freya was still alive out there just waiting to be rescued. 

Blake did scare one person, the guy at the front desk—well not scared, just made him jump. The lead officer man was right, this was going to take a long while and things got crazy. Especially Anthony, he went crazy. I'd strap yourself in, this is about to be a crazy ride.