Foster Kids

Chapter 26 : New location

Chapter 26

Later...     

Riker POV

"Riker."

I opened my eyes, seeing dad standing over me.

"Why are you on the couch and not in the chair?"

"Because it was hard to breathe and I really just wanted to get some sleep," I said, quietly.

"Well get up. It's time to go."

"I'm not in trouble?"

"No. Happy birthday."

"Thanks...?"

I got up. Dad took my arm and brought me back out to his car. I got in the backseat, and he started driving again.

Why did he wish me a happy birthday? Why would he even care enough to do that?

I'm confused. But I'm also still really tired. So I'm going to try to see if I can get some more sleep.

Ross POV

"How can they have no news to tell us?" I whined.

"They have a couple of leads, but nothing solid," Mark said.

"What about tracking his phone? Were they able to do that?"

"No. They're still trying though."

I sighed.

"Is no news still good news?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. But we still have to stay positive, ok? Riker might be totally fine."

"I just wish it didn't have to happen on his birthday. That just sucks."

"I know. But when they find Riker-"

"How do you know they'll find him?"

"We're thinking positively, remember?"

"Oh... Yeah, ok keep going."

"When they find Riker and he gets back here, we can throw him the best birthday party ever."

"That would be so fun!"

"Did you celebrate birthdays with your parents?"

"Yeah. Mom would make us a cake and get us a present. Sometimes we were allowed to have friends sleep over. Well, I did. Riker doesn't really have friends. But anyway, I would be allowed to stay up late with my friends and play video games or watch movies. It was pretty fun."

"Has Riker ever had any friends?"

"Um... I don't really think so. Like sometimes when I would have friends over, he'd hang out with us and would become familiar with my friends. But that isn't really the same as having friends. They were all my friends."

"Why do you think he's never had any friends?"

"I don't know. It's kind of always been like that. People just pick on him and tease him and stuff."

"Do you know why?"

"If I had to guess, it would be because of dad. Dad has made him so traumatized that at school, I think he's very nervous of someone acting like dad. So he doesn't tell on anyone and just deals with all their teasing. He just lets them do it. He's too scared to tell on them. So they just keep doing it to him because there are no consequences."

"I see..."

"I wish he had friends. Sometimes I feel bad when I'm at a friend's house because I know he's alone at home. Not like really alone because mom and dad were there, but alone in the sense that he didn't really have anyone to talk to or to hang out with."

"Well when this is all over, maybe he can learn to make some new friends and to stand up to those people."

"I hope so..."

Later...

Riker POV

It was the same today as it was last night. Driving for a while, my legs hurting from being in the car for so long, peeing on the side of the road while dad holds onto my shirt so tight it's almost choking me, taking back roads in the middle of nowhere...

Finally we arrived to wherever we were going. We were in a parking lot with a few big buildings. But there were no cars in this parking lot except ours.

Dad told me to wait in the car while he took off his license plates. I'm so hungry and so thirsty. I haven't had anything to eat or drink since he kidnapped me.

He opened my door a few minutes later and let me out. He held onto my arm really tight and started walking me towards one of the buildings.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"These are airplane hangars. They store planes. And probably no one will be here using their planes until the holidays."

We got to the door of one of the buildings. He put a passcode into the door and it opened.

"Do you have a plane?" I asked.

"No. One of my friends does, so he gave me the code so we could be here for a little while."

He made me turn around and tied my hands behind my back. And then told me to go sit down on the floor. He called one of his friends again.

So what? We have to sleep here now? It's cold in here. It's not a heated building, so it's kind of the same temperature in here as it is outside.

It's not like freezing, but it is fall, so it's just a bit cold. And all I'm wearing is my pjs from last night. I don't even have shoes on.

And the floor was cold.

Dad came back over.

"Can I have something to eat and drink, please?" I asked.

Dad didn't say anything.

"Please? I haven't had anything since last night. I'm starving."

"I think maybe I saw a vending machine around here. Stay here."

Dad left and went outside. I'm getting really cold. I brought my knees to my chest to try to stay warm, which was hard to do without my hands.

A few minutes later, dad came back in. He put a bottle of water and a bag of chips in my lap.

"Thanks. Can you please untie me so I can eat?"

He untied my hands, but tied my feet together instead so I couldn't run. I don't plan on it though. If I'm going to try to escape, it won't be by trying to outrun him.

I ate my chips and drank some of my water.

I was getting really worried that the police won't be able to find me. If we took all back roads, they would've never seen us. And now we're in the middle of nowhere in an airplane storage building. 

What if I starve to death or freeze to death before they can find me?

Dad was walking around, and even going outside, looking around. I don't know what he's doing. And I don't really care. But I feel like I should really be trying to come up with a plan to escape. I can't live off of water and chips for very long. So if I'm going to try to escape, I need as much energy as possible. It would be better to try to escape sooner rather than later.

Dad came back inside and threw something else into my lap.

"Happy birthday."

I looked down. It was a brownie from the vending machine with sprinkles on it.

"Um... Thank you," I said, opening it.

I still don't understand why he cares. But whatever. At least I get some more food.