The Hostage

Breakthrough

Ten years had passed since Damons mysterious disappearance. Eileen had moved out of her family home and now lived in Cedar Cove, a quiet country suburb where almost everyone lived on acreage. She lived in a small house with her partner Samson and their two dogs, Alex a black miniature poodle and Sheila, a jack russell terrier.

The sun rays began to hit Eileen on the face, waking her up in a gentle way. Eileen rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed. Grabbing a hair tie, she tied her hair up in a messy bun and stroked her sleeping partner's head before she checked her mobile phone. She hadn't changed her number in all those years but was surprised that, after her friend Jolene stopped speaking to her two years ago due to problems with child custody she spoke to her again. 

"Hey how are you? Long time no see" The message from Jolene read, startling Eileen.

Confused but not thinking about it too much Eileen responded. "Good. You?"

"Yeah good. Hoping the child custody battles finish soon. Sick and tired of it all." Was Jolene's response which made Eileen sigh, ready for more repetitions of the child custody case. As repetitive as it all was, it wa small moments like these that kept Eileen off from thinking about her brother's disappearance

"What's that beeping noise? Who's messaging?" Samson asked after rubbing his eyes before he turned onto his back, his hazel eyes looking at Eileen.

"Jolene. Strange though she hasn't spoken to me in so long. I'll message her in the other room and let you sleep. That night shift of yours really drained you I had to half carry you to the house." Eileen responded before kissing Samson on the forehead and walked out, phone in her hand.

"Thanks sweetheart." Samson replied before he turned over to fall back to sleep. 

"Sounds like the last two years have been busy for you. I'm sorry I wasn't there." Eileen messaged back as she began making some coffee for herself. Eileen knew she wasn't the best of friends with Jolene at present. Ever since Damon's disappearance she kept to herself until her family made her create a facebook account to keep in touch. That was before her friends began finding her and messaging her out of the blue. As annoying as it was, Eileen was actually grateful they were trying to reach out to her. A few text messages between Her and Jolene passed before Jolene stopped messaging saying she had to take care of her kids and send them to school. 

An hour or so passed and as Eileen sipped her coffee she heard a text message ring. She picked up the phone and saw it was from an unknown number. However the message was chilling.

"Help! I don't want to die! Not here!" The message read, as if the person was begging to be saved

Eileen's eyes grew wide. Her fingers trembled as they hovered over letters on her touch screen. Was it a prank? Was it real? Deciding to test what is happening she decided to respond, her fingers quickly pressing the letters as if they were hot coals

"Who is this and how did you get my number?" she replied curiously and bluntly. She had no time for pranksters as she was going to enjoy her first day off work with her partner when he woke up. They were both going to tidy up the yard before watching a movie.

A few seconds later Eileen heard the familiar ping of the text message. She opened it. A cold chill ran down her spine.

"I can't explain only that my captor gave me your number and said my life is in your hands. Please try and help me. I only know I was kidnapped!" 

Just then another message from an unknown number came through. Eileen opened it and read another chilling message

"Only you have the power to execute justice." The second message read.

"Who are you?" Eileen replied hoping what she saw was just a prank message

Suddenly she saw a picture of her brother and another man. Underneath it were the words 'Ten years and no justice. It is time. Ask the hostage about him.'

Eileen froze at the picture of her  brother. It had been ten years since she last looked at his face and seeing it all again brought back all the memories of that night and day.

What is this? Why is this happening? What is the connection between the hostage and her brother? Who is he? Eileen thought before she turned the phone off and walked outside to sit on the black creaking swing chair that stood on the porch. It had been years since she had seen a photo of Damon or heard of him. 

"Eileen?" Samson's voice called as he stepped outside to see Eileen looking lost in thought.

"Hey umm...listen, Samson I need help." Eileen spoke before she showed him the messages

Samson fell silent with a pale face of shock. "Do you remember giving anyone your number recently? Any strange people at work, or would anyone at work give your number out without your permission?"

"Only people to have it are my friends and employers. I don't know who else I would have given it to. I'm usually reserved at work. The only other person is David but his number would turn up and he isn't the type to give my number out." Eileen answered, feeling uneasy as she looked into the gardens at the back fence.  "Can you try to find out anything from the messages?"

"I can try to hack and find out the location of the phones." Samson spoke trying to comfort her. He knew when unexpected people contacted Eileen her anxiety plays up and causes her to go outside, refusing to talk to anyone for a while.

"Okay. Samson?" Eileen spoke as Samson held her in his arms.

"Yes?" Samson asked as he caressed Eileen's cheek while he looked out into the garden.

"I'm scared." Eileen spoke as she pressed her head against his chest as the warm country air blew past them both.

"It's okay to be scared. This isn't normal. I'm here to help you because I love you." Samson spoke to her softly and with this, led Eileen inside, keeping a lookout for anything or anyone suspicious that he felt could be spying on them.

Eileen kept looking at the picture then flicked between the messages. She didn't know what was going on and began to hope that it would be over soon. A mere prank, a sick joke. That was, until she received another message from the second person.

"Tick tock darling little sister, how much do you want your brother?"