Part 1

Flash Back Scene, 8 years ago 

"Father, please... It hurts..." 

"Shut the fuck up you stupid brat!" 

Father kicked me continuously as I laid on the ground, each kick from a fully grown adult felt like a continuous burst of bludgeons against my bruised stomach. 

Tears welled from my eyes as my body convulsed with each kick, coming each in a beat. My arms moved in to protect my stomach. 

There was nothing I could do but stay in a fetal position as I was mercilessly kicked by my drunken father. 

"Please..." 

Despite my pleas, father didn't stop, instead, he grabbed me and threw me outside the house. 

It was a few years ago father had lost his job cause his company got bankrupt. 

Now, he's just a drunken bastard working a simple part-time job. His mental health has plummeted, and he lashes out on me as some sort of relief doll. 

I rolled up my sleeves and looked at my arms, seeing the bruises he gave me the other week even before this. 

"..."

More was bound to appear, especially on my stomach. 

"...?"

I frowned as I noticed a cut wound on my hand, father's shoes were pretty hard, it was probably when he stomped on my hand. 

Right now, after father threw me out, I'm just standing on the front porch. 

My name is Arthur, and I'm 12 years old. 

I looked at my surroundings, even though my perfectly working eyes saw a bright sun, houses full of colour and a serene bright green, with a warmth of the sun soothing against my skin.

Everything felt dull and colourless, despite the warmful sun against my body, my arms trembled and shuddered from the freezing cold coming from within. I could feel the ground within me break, as if I was falling into a deep void. 

Even though I was in pain, I felt nothing. 

My eyes were hollow, a pit full of black nothingness extending far deeper than any ocean, no shred of emotion. 

I was used to this, it's okay. 

I walked listlessly to a nearby park and sat down on the swings, my back hunched, my eyes only staring at my feet beneath me. 

I didn't even have the energy to swing, with only the momentum from sitting down moving the swing, I noticed a pair of shoes suddenly appear. 

"Yo." 

"..."

I looked up, keeping silent, as I heard the voice of a girl around my age. 

She had brown hair, and looked pretty cute. She wore a white blouse with a black skirt and had blue eyes. 

"Are you okay? Arthur?"

The girl asked me if I was alright while calling my name, she said this as she bent over, looking at me in eye-level. 

"How do you know my name?" 

I raised my brow, curious. 

Though, I didn't care that much, I was just curious how she knew. 

"You didn't play that much on me today, and you seem hurt..." 

The girl went closer to me and grabbed my arm, rolling my sleeves up and inspecting the bruises. 

I didn't offer any protest as I listlessly sat there. 

The girl gasped as she looked at my bleeding hand before pulling out a bandaid, sticking it on the bleeding hand.

She then soothed my bruises by simply rubbing her hand and caressing my arm. 

"..." 

Since she was kneeling down while I was seated, I could see the top of her head clearly. 

For some reason, while everything else seemed dull and damp for me, she was the only thing that looked clear and warm, almost like seeing from a focused lense. 

"There, you should be fine now!" 

The girl stood up, and began to walk away. 

"Hey, what's your name?" 

I called out to her, asking for my name.

She looked back, with a grin. 

"Hehehe..." 

She giggled before disappearing into thin air. 

Part 2 

"Oh hey look, Mr University is awake." 

"Ugh..." 

A dream about the past, again? 

Before I dreamt about it, I never even remembered it. I met Charlotte for the second time while I was 12 years old, though I struggle to remember anything from back then. 

I'd prefer it if I forgot everything. 

It seems like while my brain was trying to repressed some trauma from back then, it also repressed my meeting with Charlotte. 

"Wakey wakey." 

"..." 

Ah, I remember. 

I was knocked out by these robbers before I got off the bus. 

Right now, I seem to be in a car. 

I looked down, my hands were tied together by some rope resting between my thighs. The car seemed cramped from the amount of people in the car. 

There was the driver, a man sitting on the passenger seat at the front and two more people beside me, one holding a gun ready. They all had black masks and wore casual clothing that looked a little suspicious, mainly in black.

"...How long has it been?" 

Waking up, I asked before noticing all eyes on me. 

"..."

No one replied, the car was silent. 

After a few seconds of awkwardness, the guy sitting to my right, a beefy large fellow who seemed to visit the Gym more than his room replied: 

"It's been 2 hours." 

2 Hours, Charlotte should have made her way back to the suburb I live in at least... I hope she's alright, and not lost. 

There was a high chance that she got lost. 

And while she's lost, I'm here being held captive... Jesus. Fuck! 

"What do you want? Money? Just let me go, my-... my... the person I was with doesn't know directions home, she's lost. I need to find her before it's too late!" 

I doubt Charlotte knows to go to the police! Or if she even knows the police number! 

The vision of Charlotte just walking around cluelessly came into my mind. 

I struggled in my seat, trying to stand up. 

But the man beside me held me down. 

"We're here." 

The men took their masks off and the driver looked at me. 

"You see that ATM? You're going to go there, and withdraw everything you fucking have. If you don't, we'll dump your body in the river." 

"And what you do to me after I give you the money?" 

I snorted, looking toward the ATM. 

"Don't fucking ask questions." 

I sighed and watched the man to my left open the door, and pull me out of the car. 

Before I walked out, I noticed that each and every one of the men here held their guns out, easily visible. 

Hm? Those guns...

I could tell from this difference. 

They're fake guns. 

So only one of the guns here were real, the rest were fake. Only one man held the real one, and that was the guy opening the door to lead me out. 

I could tell that it was fake in comparison to a real gun, especially because father used to shoot BB guns and other such things at me for fun. Afterwards, I was forced to pull out the BB bullets from inside my flesh, or pick up the ammo that hit me and put it back into the toy magazines.

There's no doubt about it. 

I walked out of the car, and with the best of my ability:

"O-Oi!" 

I grabbed the real gun from the man's hand, punching him in the face and snatching it away from him. 

He was knocked unconscious. 

I then immediately pointed the gun toward the robbers, keeping them from moving. 

The tables had turned quite easily. 

"What are you doing, mate. Put down the gun, we've outgunned you." 

The men from inside the car pointed their fake guns toward me. 

I turned the safety off from the real gun and growled: 

"Try me. I know the guns you have are fake. So put them down, and drive away. Take your buddy too." 

"No, they're not." 

The man in the passenger seat with his fake gun aimed at me more precisely. 

"Go on then, shoot me. That type of gun can only shoot water, I've been feeling really thirsty. Give me something to drink, come on."

I taunted the men sitting in the car. 

"Tch, fucking bastard." 

I looked at the unconscious man, and shoved my hands through his pockets: 

"Oi, what the fuck are you doing?" 

A man from inside the car shouted out. 

Bending down, I went through his pockets and pulled out his phone, wallet. Along with my phone and wallet, this guy had it on him. 

His stuff could be used to help identify him when I report this after I find Charlotte. 

I kicked the man toward the car, urging the big beefy guy to come out, and carefully drag his body into the car.

I quickly took down the license plate on the car as they drove off. 

Alright... Now, where am I, and what do I do with this gun? And I need to find Charlotte right now! 

The normal route would be to hand the gun to the police and report the situation and robbery, but with each minute spent is another minute Charlotte gets even farther from home and even more lost. 

If I handed it in, the police would interview me for hours and keep them with me for perhaps the entire day. 

I couldn't afford that. 

Charlotte was a lone girl walking around a suburb she knew nothing about. 

I put the gun in my belt and ran toward the nearest bus stop and headed toward the stop of my suburb town, where I directed Charlotte to stop and where I live. 

Part 3

I ran off the bus and onto the stop where Charlotte would have stopped at. 

I quickly looked around, Charlotte was no where to be seen. 

"Charlotte!" 

Despite those around me, I screamed out Charlotte's name. 

No one responded. 

Looking around... Charlotte must have gone this way! 

I walked toward the direction of the mall, which was probably where Charlotte would have went. 

"God damn it... Where are you, Charlotte?"

....

......

Charlotte's POV

W-What do I do...? 

I was pacing around the town Arthur directed me to, but I had no idea what to do.

It was too late to go back and try to find Arthur, it's been hours since then and I've been walking around aimlessly looking for anyone I even remotely knew. 

I also tried to find a way back to Arthur's apartment, but got really lost trying to do so.

"Where even am I!" 

I've been walking for hours, now I'm just at a random neighbourhood with houses all around. 

I looked toward the distance and saw the tip of the mall. 

Alrighty! I'll head toward the mall!

After I made my way toward the mall, I stopped on my tracks. 

Okay, what now. 

I didn't want to go in, it'd make it harder for Arthur to find me, maybe I should just stay still and wait for Arthur... 

He was kidnapped by robbers! What really do I do?! 

As I panicked, I noticed a car pull up in front of me. 

"Hey, it's that woman that was with that fucking bastard, get her!" 

"W-W-Wha!" 

Suddenly, I was grabbed and thrown into the trunk of the car. 

Arthur's POV

As I made my way toward the mall, I noticed that the police had shut down the mall and cut down a section of it outside with police tapes surrounding an area. 

I approached a bystander: 

"What's happening?" 

A man who had gray hair and was old turned slowly:

"Apparently, a woman was just kidnapped in broad daylight."

"A woman? What did she look like?!" 

Arthur thought of the possibility of Charlotte being kidnapped, and grabbed the old man's shoulders, frantically spitting out. 

I could feel my heart jump out of my chest as his eyes focused sharply, I gripped the old man's shoulders hard enough to cause the poor old man to squint. 

Charlotte... My Charlotte... My dear dear Charlotte...  Please... Charlotte.

"I don't know, but that woman does there, she saw the entire thing happen." 

The old guy pointed toward the woman who had just walked out of the police tape, she had just finished being questioned. 

Without a word, I stomped toward the lady. 

"Excuse me, can you tell me about the kidnapping?" 

I said in a rushed voice, the lady stopped in ear tracks and backed up, intimidated by my forwardness. 

"Why do you want to know?" 

"Because the person kidnapped is someone I know! Please, tell me, everything you know. Who were the men? What car? Describe the girl who was kidnapped." 

The lady heaved a sigh, feeling annoyed that she would have to repeat what she had told the police to him. 

"I'm sorry, but I'm very busy right now."

"Please! Just quickly tell me, okay?" 

I clasped my hands, desperate. I could feel the tears begin to form within my eyes through sheer desperation, but I held it back and looked down toward the women with a plead. 

There has never been a time that I had expressed myself this much. 

"...The girl had brown hair, she was wearing some white buttoned up shirt with a cute skirt. The men who kidnapped her was in a black car, three of them came out and shoved her in the car, they all wore black masks." 

"Was one of them pretty beefy and big?"

"Y-Yeah? You've seen them before?" 

It was them! Why did they take Charlotte? Beefy man, black masks and black car, exact same description of the men who went after me! Even the same amount of number, well, I knocked one out so it's 3 instead of 4. 

"Now, which way did they go?" 

"That way." 

The lady pointed toward a direction. 

"When did this happen?" 

"Just 20 minutes ago." 

"Twenty minutes ago!" 

The crime was fresh, but how was I supposed to find them? 

I went into my pockets and pulled out a wallet, it belonged to the man who I knocked out unconscious. 

I walked to a bench, and started inspecting. 

Carlos Nguyen, huh? So he's Vietnamese. He has a funny looking face though, aged 34...

I pulled out some other cards. 

A business card, "Carlos's Workshop". So, he's an engineer, there's the address to his workplace too. 

On another card: 

His home address... Good, that's what I needed. His number is there too, man, this guy is pretty stupid carrying his identifications around when robbing people, what a fucking idiot. 

I also know the car plate number, so if I roll up at his address and see that car, I know Charlotte's going to be there. 

Plus, since he was the guy with the real gun, he must be the leader. So there's a definite high chance that he would be the one to keep Charlotte at his place. 

As I continued to inspect every section of his wallet, I got a call from my phone. 

"[...]"

I answered, but didn't say a word. 

"[If you want your girlfriend back, come to the location messaged to you tomorrow, 12pm. Bring $10,000. I have a buddy in the police force, if you even think about calling the police, we will know. And we'll throw her dead corpse in the river. Come alone]" 

A man with an asian accent spoke through the phone, each word filled with annoyance as he stated his demands and conditions. 

When he finished saying that, I got a message with the details of the meeting sent. 

"[I swear to god, if you hurt Charlotte I will kill you. You hear me?!-]" 

Before I could finish speaking, a voice over the phone caused me to shudder. 

"[-Arthur! Arthur! I'm safe! But they have me in their home-!] Bzzt!]

Charlotte was cut off before she could finish speaking. 

"Charlotte!" 

I stood up, screaming out her name with a mix of relief and fear.

"Charlotte?! Charlotte!" 

Before I knew it, the call had already ended. 

"Shit!" 

I banged the seat beside me. 

She told me she's housed in a house, that means she's not that far from here... Hey, the address in this card... It's close from here, a 20 minute or so drive-

The dots connected, my mind cleared in realisation. 

"Looks like you're having trouble there bud, need some help?" 

From the side, I heard the voice coming from Chad, who smirked as he looked at me.

Chad was here.