The loner - Fiction for kids and adults- Part 3

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Mr and Mrs Cole did not know what to make of the whole ordeal. They were so out of touch with their own son, and secretly hoped that he went to visit a friend. But they didn't even know if he had any. 

Even though Mr Cole tried to be calm about the situation, he showed some signs of anxiety. Life has been passing them by. They have worked so hard to make a success of their lives, that they missed what was right in front of them. John Cole wanted to give his son the world, but instead he had spent so little time with him, that he had lost him to the world.

Marsha Cole excused herself and poured herself a drink. The alcohol calmed her down a bit, but she too realized that they had been neglecting him too much, and she didn't know how they were ever going to make it up to him, if they got him back. She went to the bathroom and sat there crying, wondering about her child and how they were ever going to get him back. 

Peter woke up a few hours later. He was hungry and thirsty. He hasn't eaten anything since the afternoon when he arrived home. 

He still had no idea where he was. He felt a bit cold and his hands were now cut loose. It was still pitch dark and he couldn't see much what was going on around him. He had no idea what time it was, and he felt more alone than usual. 

He lay on the bed with his eyes wide open. For some reason he did not feel as scared as he should. He knew if the kidnappers wanted to harm him, they would have done so already. 

He heard some movement upstairs and concentrated to listen carefully but he couldn't hear much. He heard chairs moving and people talking faintly, but everything quieted down after a while.

Whoever was upstairs must have left, because it was silent after that. Peter sat up straight on the bed. His feet touched the cold floor and he pulled them up on the bed. He suddenly felt nauseous and realized he sat up too quickly. The medicine they injected him affected him badly, and then he couldn't hold it in anymore. 

He bent over forward and vomited on the floor. He felt absolutely terrible and the sound must have woken someone upstairs, because when he finished he saw someone standing at the door at the top of the stairs.

A streak of light was shining into the room. He quickly scanned the room and saw that he really was in a basement of some sort, and there were boxes all around him stacked up on the wall. He could see no window, and that scared him. He was stuck in here, and the only way out was through the door. 

He watched the door and saw the person coming down halfway, and then went back upstairs again. The door closed and suddenly it was pitch dark again. 

He felt better, but wished he had some water to at least rinse his mouth. Peter didn't sleep again. He lay awake the whole rest of the night. It felt like days. He thought about his parents, and wondered if they would even miss him, or notice that he was gone.

He was immediately alert when the door opened what felt like a lifetime later. Someone came downstairs and handed him a plate of food and a jug of water. He grabbed the water and downed half the jug. 

"Easy there tiger...you don't want to waste any..."

He couldn't see the person's face because of the mask they were wearing. He handed him the food and Peter thanked him. 

"Are you okay?" the person asked.

Peter nodded. "What do you want from me?"

"Money....we're after money, and you are going to persuade your father to pay the amount we want."

The man turned around and walked back upstairs. He paused halfway up and said:

"You better clean yourself up. Someone will be coming downstairs soon to make a video to send to your parents, and we don't want any trouble."

"I'm behaving." Peter said calmly. 

For some awkward reason he was not scared at all. He knew that his parents would pay and he was sure that his mom was taking this opportunity to promote herself on every social media network on the planet. 

Peter ate the food they gave him and drank some more water. He finished and put the plate on the chair next to him. 

A little while later the same man came downstairs again. He handed him a note and a dishcloth.  

"Wipe your face, then read this....this is what we want you to tell your parents. Look son...we don't want to hurt you, and we want this over as soon as possible. As soon as your parent's pay you can get out of here, and back to your cosy little house playing your little video games."

"How do you know I play video games?"

The man kept quiet. "All teenagers do."

The man left the light on and Peter read the note. They wanted two and a half million dollars. 

"Was that what he was worth?" he thought to himself. 

Peter have never cared about money.  He just wanted to get this over with. He was willing to cooperate.

Another man came down a little later to make a video and Peter stared straight into the camera.  He played along perfectly.  The kidnappers looked satisfied. 

They brought Peter some more food and water and gave him a blanket and some comics to read. It was as if they knew what he liked and they did everything to keep him calm. 

The doorbell rang just after seven and Mr Cole himself went to open the door. There was a package in front of the door. He picked it up and took it to the living room where Mrs Cole was sitting on the couch. He fetched his computer and inserted the CD. It was an edited video, and by the looks of it Peter looked fine. They listened to the recording and Mrs Cole started crying softly.

They would be contacted later that day with instructions for the drop off. If they miss-stepped, then Peter was dead. No police were to be involved.

Mr Cole closed the computer and thought for a second. 

"I have to go to the bank"

- to be continued-