Chapter 22 (1/2)

Morning the next day, I woke having only had about two hours of sleep. My eyes were blurry and red, and I felt like a zombie as I brushed my teeth and tried to put myself together. Rose said she was going to stay the night and would return some time in the morning. Perhaps, with Aunt Rose here, she could help me with finding Hannah. The security detail had done as much as they could, and had come up empty.

Hannah had told the security when she left that she was heading to a fast food place, but when they had called the location she had logged, there was no evidence she had been there. The security were just there to keep people from breaking in, and they weren’t exactly trained private investigators. Suffice it to say, they quickly ran out of steam. I considered going to Madison a few times, but I didn’t want to upset her further. That’s when the door rang in the twilight hours of the morning.

I ran down the hall ready to answer it, but of course security had already intercepted it, and it wasn’t Hannah. Rather, it was a packaging service, and he delivered a small envelope. The envelope was addressed to me, so I couldn’t do anything but sign for it and take it. The packaging lady tried to hit on me, but Charlene’s presence intimidated her and she quickly left with a frustrated look on her face.

“A holotape?” I muttered, pulling out the long flash-drive-like device I’d come to know for containing media.

I looked through the envelope two more times, and the holotape was the only thing in it. Aunt Rose had destroyed the VS she bought last night, so that only left Madison’s VS holotape player. I let out a sigh. It seemed like fate was determined to have me see Madison either way. I had no clue what the tape was, but I had a sinking suspicion that it had to do with Hannah. Thus, my desire to see what was on the tape quickly peaked.

I ran over to Madison’s room and knocked loudly. It took a moment before the door opened. Madison peaked outside and her eyes were red as well. It looked like she had been crying for half the night. Charlene was still standing behind me, but I didn’t hesitate to push myself forward, shoving Madison back into the room and closing the door, cutting of Charlene. I didn’t really care what Charlene thought about the situation. Now wasn’t the time for being tactful.

“B-brother!” Madison let out a cry as she saw me lock the door and turn towards her. “We can’t…”

“Madison, I need-“

“Ah!” Madison let out a cry, while backing up her knees had hit the side of the bed causing her to fall back. “Brother… I… I…”

Madison finally closed her eyes, trying to ease her breathing, “J-just once… okay… one last time. I absolutely won’t change my mind!”

“Ahhh… I need your holotape player.” I scratched the back of my neck, looking a little bit awkward.

“Eh? Ah? Oh!” Madison turned red, growing increasingly flustered before turning away and diving for a drawer, pulling out her VS player I had only seen once before.

She handed the device to me with both hands while looking away.

“Thank you!” I nodded as I took her tape player.

“Stupid brother…” Madison’s words were barely audible out the side of her mouth.

“Madison, do you know where Hannah is at all?” I asked while ignoring Madison’s behavior.

“Eh? Hannah?” Madison’s expression stiffened. “What about Hannah?”

“She left last night, and she hasn’t been home.” I responded, sitting on the bed a distance from Madison and turning on the VS while trying to figure out how to put in the holotape.

“Hannah is gone?” Madison’s worried face lasted only a second before she twisted her mouth and turned away. “It’s none of my problem. She’s not my sister.”

“She is your sister.” I responded back, only now getting how the holotape slid onto the VS.

“No…” Madison gave me a tearful look that caused me to stop for a moment. “Don’t you get it? I’ve always been trying to protect her, but all I ever did was annoy her. She said it herself, I’m not her real sister. That’s genuinely how she sees me.”

I stared at Madison, lost as to what to say. The truth was, I didn’t know what was going through Hannah’s mind. She was always such a quiet and reserved girl like her mother. It had never even occurred to me she had such thoughts. Even a day later, I didn’t know how to respond to her comments. I had hopes of getting to Hannah and convincing her to make good with Madison, but with Hannah gone, I was put in a hard place and I unfortunately didn’t have the answers.

“Hello, Clyburn.” A distorted voice suddenly came from the VS, the holotape choosing that second to finally start playing.

The voice also startled Madison, who turned to the video screen. The screen was dark and grainy, the video taken at night in what looked like a grungy area. However, after a brief focusing, a person came into view. The person was none other than Hannah. Madison audibly gasped next to me, while my hands tightened on the VS player.

“If you’re playing this, then I’m sure you recognize your dear little sister here.” The distorted voice continued, a harsh thing that sounded neither man nor woman and made my skin crawl. “We caught her walking around aimlessly at night, the poor little thing. We were just going to play with her for a while, but then we found out she had a brother. We’d rather play with you.”

As the voice spoke, the camera tittered around Hannah. She was squinting into the light with her hand raised up, and she looked like she accumulated several scratches and bruises. She had been crying, but otherwise she looked in okay shape considering. Her clothing were in tact if dirtied, and her face seemed like a mix between anger and fear. My entire body was shaking, and I realized I had been holding the VS tightly enough the image was flickering a bit. I loosened my grip.

“Faeri wants to see you. You’ll get a new package tonight with the rendezvous point. Come alone. Don’t call the cops, I’ll know if you do. If you comply, you’ll get to see your precious sister again. If you don’t, well… I’ll personally turn your little sister into my bitch. She’ll come to like the taste of pussy, I think. Hahahaha…”

The tape went to static as quickly as it had started. I turned to Madison. Her mouth was open, but once again her eyes quickly flashed and she looked down, not willing to meet my eyes anymore.

“Madison… Hannah, she’s been kidnapped.”

“Mm…” Madison murmured while closing her eyes.

“I need your help. You’re the only family I’ve got right now. We need to figure this out.”

Madison remained quiet for a moment before shaking her head. “No…”

“No? This is Hannah. She’s our sister!”

“She’s your sister!”

“Damn it, Madison, this isn’t the time to be fighting. Please, will you help me?”

“I won’t!”

“Why do you have to act like a god damn chil-“ I stopped my words as Madison stared at me defiantly.

I had stood up and was now hovering over her, my voice raising to the point of a shout. That’s when the reality hit me. Madison was a child. She was only a sixteen-year-old girl. Hannah was only fifteen.  These were just girls. While mom and Aunt Rose were able to easily reconcile as adults, expecting the same thing from kids was perhaps asking too much. They were selfish, and childish, and confused. I wasn’t too much better, prone to my own emotional outbursts and mistakes, but at least I had my memories as reference. I could subjectively evaluate the situation. My sisters weren’t so lucky. They were just kids that had to grow up the hard way.

Madison had felt betrayed my Hannah. After all, she had dedicated such a large chunk of her life towards protecting her sister. She had always felt protective of Hannah, her younger sister. For that sister to suddenly turn into a person you don’t even recognize, and worse, refuse to acknowledge your family bonds, it hurt Madison too much. It wasn’t finding out Noah wasn’t her father that crushed Madison that night, it was Hannah.

“I… understand.” I stood up, giving Madison one last sad look before I turned and walked out the room.

As I approach the door, something in my eyes must have triggered Madison, because she suddenly spoke. “Wait!”

I stopped, looking back to see my sister, standing and rummaging through her nightstand. She pulled something out and handed it to me. It was a sheet of paper with an address written on it. I looked questioningly from the sheet in my hands to Madison’s face. Madison refused to meet my eyes, but she still spoke.

“It’s the address of someone who might be able to help. It’s all I can do.”

I finally gave a slow nod. “Thank you.”

“Broth- Clyburn…” Madison spoke out, causing me to stop for a moment. “I’ve already got the okay to move to the dorms. A car comes to pick me up later today. I won’t be here when you get back…”

“Already?” My mouth falls open in shock.

“I had been thinking about doing this for some time… I’m sixteen now, I don’t need mom’s permission.” Madison kept her eyes down. “You’ll keep her safe, won’t you? Make sure to bring her back safely. I’ll never forgive you if she gets hurt.”