Speak Out

[DarkAngel]

'Speak Out'
~Rating: T

Silence fell upon Hemlock Way; while the moon was full and high
in the night sky. Connor Jacobs woke up in a cold sweat, he was
breathing heavily. He sighed, as he slowly sat up in bed. Connor
has been having the same dream, for a long time now and it's as
vivid, as if it happened yesterday. This is not just a dream to him,
but a memory that has haunted him for the past 7 years. He was
supposed to look after her, he thought to himself.

He can barely stand watching it, replay in his head over and over
again. Connor let his head fall into his hands. "Why her?" he then
mumbled to himself. He sat there like that for about 10 minutes or
so, then he slowly climbed out of bed. Knowing that he is going to
get no more sleep tonight; he went into the kitchen, making a cup
of coffee for himself. As the coffee was being made, he looked out
the window. Everyone else are still asleep, while he's wide awake
at 2am. "Just my luck." he said to himself.

He heaved another sigh, pouring some coffee into his cup. Connor
then went and was to sit down to enjoy it, when a picture caught
his eye. He set down his coffee, and then picked up the picture. A
brown-haired girl with hazel eyes stared at him, swinging in a tire
swing. But she wasn't alone, a boy was pushing her. The teenage
version of himself. They looked happy in the picture. It was taken,
before his world was shattered. Connor held back his tears, as he
traced the outline of his little sister's face.

[Meluivan Indil]

I really like the emotion you've put into this. Are you going to continue with it or is it a one shot?

Very good.

M.

P.S. By the way, happy birthday. You might not notice this till afterwards but I hope it's a good one.

[DarkAngel]

(No, I'm going to continue this and if you have any constructive
criticism - just let me know. Ok?)

"Claire, I was supposed to look after you. And I failed." he said to
himself. Connor can picture that day, remember all that happened
then, like it happened only yesterday.

*Mom was sick in bed, and Dad was already at work. He was 15,
and Claire was only 8. Connor planned to hang out with his friend
Eddie, but his mom had other plans for him. "But Mom, I can't take
her to the park. I've already made plans." he whined. "Honey; I'm
sorry but, your plans have changed. I do not ask that much of you
and, it would mean a lot to your sister. Claire looks up to you, you
know." his mother replied, slowly sitting up in bed.

"Well that's because she's shorter than me." he said sarcastically.
His mother raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, across her
chest. "That was a joke, Mom." Connor added. "Please do this for
me, Connor." she responded, staring him down. "Fine, I'll take her
to the park." he answered, sounding defeated and throwing both
of his hands in the air. "Thank you, Connor." his mom said, as her
son walked out and closed the door behind him.

The park was not that far away from their house, so they decided
to ride their bikes. Traffic was pretty scarce, it was about 11:30 in
the morning. As soon as they got there, Claire spotted a couple of
her friends. "Look, there's Tracy and Hannah. Can I go & play with
them, big brother?" Claire asked Connor, looking up at him. "Okay
but, stay where I can see you. Mom'll freak out if I ever lose you."
Connor replied, hooking the bikes up to the bike racks. "Don't get
your boxers in a bunch, bro. You won't lose me." Claire answered,
poking Connor in his side. He chuckled, as she then ran to Tracy &
Hannah - her two best friends.

She hung out with them, swinging on the swings, as Connor kept
a watchful eye on her. Then an hour and a half later, Claire comes
running over to him. "Connor, do you have any money?" she then
asked. "Why?'' he replied. "I want to get an ice cream, I'm getting
hungry." Claire answered. "Fine, here you go." Connor said, as he
reached into his pocket and pulled out 2 dollars. Claire then made
a grab for it, and Connor pulled it out of her reach. "Now, what do
we say?" he asked. "Thank you. Mom." she responded. He smiled,
as he rustled her hair. She giggled, as she skipped merrily over to
the ice cream stand. Connor leaned back, cracking his knuckles on
his right hand and then his left.

"That's just what she needs, more sugar." he mumbled to himself,
as he chuckled. Then, his jean pocket began to vibrate. He sighed
softly, and then he pulled out his cell. Connor already knew who it
was. "Hey, Eddie." he said into the phone. "Dude, where are you?
I thought you were coming over." Eddie asked. "I know, but I had
to take Claire to the park. Mom's orders." Connor then replied, as
he got up from the bench. "Aw, man. Your mom couldn't take her?
She knew you already had plans, right?" Eddie responded. "Yeah,
but Mom's sick and Dad's working." Connor said, moving his cell to
his left hand - to his right. "Alright, I understand. Can you stop by
later?" Eddie asked. "Yeah, we're leaving in an hour anyway. Talk
to you later, bye." Connor answered, hanging up.

He slid his cell back into his pocket, glancing over at the ice cream
stand. Claire was nowhere in sight. Connor's heart began to race,
his eyes widened. He looked over at the swings, no sign of Claire.
Connor looked over at the jungle gym, no Claire. He suddenly felt,
as if he could barely breathe. Where did Claire go?, he thought to
himself. He glanced over at the monkey bars, and spotted Claire's
friends Tracy and Hannah. Connor went over to them, they looked
up at him. "Girls, have you seen Claire?" he asked.

"She was heading over to the bathroom." Tracy replied, her voice
shaky and pointing towards the bathroom. "And she didn't bother
to come and tell me?" he said. Tracy went back to eating her mint
ice cream cone. "You were busy, talking on your cell phone. Claire
didn't want to bother you." Hannah answered. Connor then rolled
his eyes, turning and walking towards the bathroom.

When he was halfway to the restrooms, right out of the corner of
his eye, he saw a man pulling a little girl by the arm. The girl's hair
was in a ponytail, dressed in pink. She tried to pull away from the
man, but he just pulled harder. She glanced back, her eyes locked
onto Connor's. And at the same time, both her eyes and his went
wide. "Claire!" he yelled. "Connor, help me!" she yelled back, and
the man stopped dead in his tracks. He turned his head and then
looked, straight at Connor. And without a moment to lose, Connor
took off - sprinting towards them.

The man grabbed Claire and threw her, over his shoulder and just
took off running. "Connor, help!" Claire screamed, her arms & legs
started swinging. The man did not falter. Connor was catching up,
silently thanking his parents for making him take track. Claire was
still kicking and hitting the man, which he completely ignored. She
looked up to see Connor, her big bro, enclosing the gap between
them. She reached out her hand for his, and so did he. Then; they
reached the parking lot, the man was racing towards a black van.
Connor wants to knock the guy down, but Claire would get hurt in
the process. But he was running out of time.

[DarkAngel]

So, Connor made a decision. As he was running, he reached
down and grabbed a palm-sized rock. He threw it at the man
and it hit him, right in his lower back. The man groaned a bit.
He staggered, but did not fall. Claire followed suit, she aimed
and kicked the man in the groin. Just then, the sliding door to
the van opened. Connor picked up another rock and threw it,
aiming for the man's head.

It whizzed above his head, but it hit the other man in the van.
He was knocked unconscious. The man who was holding Claire,
cursed under his breath, as he tossed her inside the van. Then
the man turned, facing Connor and closing the door behind him.
"You little B*st*rd! You'll pay for that!" he yelled. Connor balled
his hands into fists, quickening his pace. The man did the same
thing. Connor pulled his arm back, ready to punch. As he closed
the small gap between them, the man pulled his arm out and he
clotheslined Connor. He fell to the ground, wincing at the impact,
sending shots of searing pain through his whole back.

The man then proceeded to kick Connor, in his stomach. Connor
grabbed the man's other leg and pulled it out, from underneath
him. He fell onto the blacktop, with a thud. Connor then jumped
up, onto his feet. He started to run, as the man jumped up too.
The man shoved Connor into the van, hard. Connor spit out the
blood in his mouth, as he turned to face the man. He then pulled
back his arm and threw a punch, Connor luckily avoided it. Claire
let out a yelp, when the man's fist connected with the van. A big
dent was formed, where it connected.

[DarkAngel]

Connor's heart was pounding, within his chest. The man glared at
him, as they circled around each other. Connor took a good, long,
and hard look at the man. Tanned skin, shaved head, a scar over
his left eye-cutting his eyebrow in half, piercing blue eyes, and a
goatee. They stared each other down, as they circled. The man's
growing impatient. Then, a scream came from the van. The other
man has regained consciousness. Uh-oh.

"Connor, help!" a small voice cried out. Connor turned his head to
look behind him, at the van. "Hold on, Claire! I'll get you out, ok?"
he yelled back. "No, you won't." the man said, advancing towards
Connor - knife in hand. Connor whirled around, just in time for the
man to plunge the knife into his abdomen. Connor's jaw dropped.
He winced at the pain, as the man pulled it out. He took a look at
his hands, covered with his blood. Connor fell to his knees, he can
hear Claire - still crying out for help. At that moment, he felt totally
and completely powerless.

Powerless to save his sister. The man wiped his knife off, onto his
jeans. He smirked, as he walked towards the van, leaving Connor
to bleed to death in the parking lot. Everything started to go a bit
blurry, his sister's voice still ringing in his ears. Then, things began
to get blurry. HWK 5Y..., was the last thing he saw before his
surroundings faded to black and the rest of him hit the blacktop.*

Connor lifted up his shirt, touching the painful reminder of the day
he watched Claire get kidnapped. And failed to stop it. Ever since
that dreaded day; he blamed himself for what happened. Both of
his parents were heartbroken, especially his mom. They searched
for any sign of Claire for a year and a half, chasing one dead end
after another. Then, his parents stopped trying. But Connor didn't
stop, he never gave up hope that she was still alive.