The Test

Chapter Eight

When I got to the house, it was late, and I must have woken up my mom, because she was wearing her pajamas when she opened the door. She stood there staring at me for a second, a confused expression on her face.

"Hey mom," I said, smiling softly at her. She looked the same as she had when a left, with maybe just a couple more grey hairs.

She launched herself at me, hugging me tightly, "Oh Derek, I can't believe you're home!"

I chuckled lightly, hugging her back before pulling away. "Where's dad?"

Her smile became forced, "He went out with a couple of friends to the bar." I understood her unspoken words and so I let it drop at that.

She pulled me into the house, straight to the kitchen. "You must be hungry; let me make you something to eat."

"No mom, you should go back to bed, I must have woken you up. I can make myself something."

"Nonsense, I can't sleep now knowing that you're here; I want to talk to you for a bit."

She pushed me down to sit at one of the stools at the island, before moving to the fridge to pull out some leftovers.

"Now, as much as I would like to think you came to see your mom, I know that's not the case. So, tell me what brings you back?"

"A...case; I'm helping the police department."

"Layna's case?" she guessed and I nodded my head. "That poor girl, being stalked like that. Its crazy! Tom and Steve were telling me how useless the police were being. Tom was so distraught he could barely sleep knowing that someone wanted to hurt his little girl, and Steve wasn't any better."

My mom and Tom were best friends, and had been ever since he had moved in next door, years before he had met Steve and adopted Layna.

"I just wished they would have called me sooner, so I could have prevented this from happening."

My mom came around the counter to give me a hug. "You can't prevent this stuff from happening, Derek. But you're here now and that's what matters; just find this guy before he does anything to Layna. Its only been messages so far but I don't want her to get hurt. Maybe we could get this al cleared up by the time that they come back from their vacation? That would be a nice surprise."

I pulled back to look at her, "Mom...have you talked to Tom recently?"

"Not since yesterday, before they left. Why?"

"They never left. Whoever's been stalking Layna kidnapped her last night at the hotel they were staying at."

My mom sat down heavily on the stool beside me. "Oh god."

"That's why I came; Steve called me as soon as they found out."

"That poor girl," my mom said, her voice thick with emotion.

We were silent for a moment, both of us lost in our thoughts, and trying to collect our emotions, and get them in order. I was scared, more s then I had ever been in my life. I knew what this guy was capable of, and I never wanted anything like that to happen to Layna.

"Did you ever meet Layna's new boyfriend?" I asked, clearing my throat.

"A couple of times, yeah. We had a couple of dinners with him over at Tom's place. Seemed like a nice kind, though I wasn't too fond of him."

"And why was that?" I asked, my heart beating a little faster in my chest. My mother was a good judge of character, something that I knew was present in most mothers; call it motherly instinct, or something of that sort.

"I don't know; it was just a feeling. He was extremely polite, and well-mannered and seemed like a good kid. But the way he looked at her kind of creeped me out. I mean, it wasn't like someone who was in love, or falling love you know? It was more like he was a predator looking at his prey."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I mean it could be just because I'm biased since I want you to be with her, but it just felt off. He never looked at her like you did. But, you would be better off asking Tom or Steve about him; they liked him a whole lot, and they spent more time with him so they would be able to judge his character better then I could."

I nodded my head, rubbing my face with my hands. So far I had been getting that weird feeling for Brian as well, but a feeling wasn't proof of anything.

"Is there a reason why you're curious about him?" My mom asked, looking at me with concern in her eyes.

"No, I just met him today and I was surprised to find out that she was dating someone. No one had told me about him."

"Well, what did you expect?" my mom said softly. "You haven't really been present since you left."

I sighed heavily, "I couldn't mom, it was too hard."

She squeezed my shoulder softly, "You know, if you told me why you left like that in the first place, maybe I could help you."

"I'm going to go to bed, its been a long day. I'll talk you you tomorrow morning okay?"

She smiled at me as I gave her a kiss on the cheek, but said nothing about how I avoided her question. "Goodnight sweetheart. And for the record, I have faith in you; I know you'll find her."

God I hoped so. I didn't know what I'd do if I didn't.

***

Layna

I don't know how long I lay there, waiting for Brian to return. There were no windows in the room he had put me in, so I didn't even know what time it was.

Eventually, my body's exhaustion caught up with me, and my eyelids started to droop.

As my eyes fluttered shut, my mind drifted towards the one person that could make me smile. Even though it had been a while since I had spoken to him, it was still soothing to think of him; he had been my best friend, and the love of my life.

We had so many good memories together, and that's what I needed right now; happy things to think about to take my mind off of what was happening to me right now.

I smiled softly remembered all our precious moments; from our late night adventures to our everyday interactions.

With my heart feeling lighter then it had since I got here, I fell asleep, the smile still on my face.