Mixed up families, huh?

Chapter Five: Noah's POV

I spent the night searching for Tyson. I don't want to admit it, but I spent most of the night crying, too. I was terrified. Tyson was just a kid, who knows what kind of trouble he could get into out there? He wasn't what I would consider strong or manly. Honestly, I still saw him as just my little brother.

I was scared for him, but I was angry, too. Wherever Tyson was, he was dodging my calls. So, I searched everywhere. My store, the local gas station, the diner at the edge of town. I scoured the streets for my little brother, praying his face would pop up in front of my headlights.

I called everyone we knew. Ozzy, although he was still working when I had gotten home. Our Aunt Dara, although she lived in Missouri. Bobby Camden, our local mechanic. Even Mac Klayton, Tyson's old friend from middle school. No one had heard from him, but all of them promised to keep an eye out for him.

I finally pulled into an abandoned parking lot and sighed. I was irritated. If no one Tyson knew had heard from him, then I had no clue where he was. I searched all over town, and hadn't spotted him anywhere. I refused to give up, I couldn't do that to Tyson, and something inside me wouldn't let me stop trying to find him.

It was almost 2 in the morning, which means it's only been around 7 hours since Tyson went missing, as far as I can tell. He had left a note, so I know he wasn't kidnapped, at least not initially. I can't call the police, it hasn't been 24 hours since Tyson was last seen, and I don't have enough crucial evidence to claim Tyson a missing person.

Which gave me no choices. I could either go home and wait for him to come back, or keep searching the town aimlessly.

I laid my head on the steering wheel and rubbed my head, trying to disperse of the upcoming headache. I had almost started driving again when my phone started vibrating in my pocket. In my rush to get to it, I answered without reading the caller ID. I was hoping it would be Tyson, but any word from anyone we know would be ideal, too.

"Hello?" My whisper was hoarse. Even I could tell from my voice that I had been crying. And I couldn't keep the tiniest flicker of hope out of the one word that came out of my mouth. I held my breath for a second, waiting. I heard a laugh. Just a short chuckle, barely lasting 2 seconds. That was enough.

After hours of searching for my brother, I had finally gotten a hold of him. He was okay, that meant he would be coming home soon. It killed me, knowing he was out there somewhere. I couldn't help him or protect him, I didn't even know where he was. I hated that.

"Hey, big brother." Tyson sounded okay. His voice held its usual tone of humor and teasing. He was obviously exhausted, though, I could hear it in his voice.

"Are you okay?" As much as I wanted to ask Tyson where he was, this had to come first. I had been wandering around for hours, wondering if he was safe. It drove me crazy. The pleading note in my question was clear.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay. Don't worry about me. I promise I'm alright. I just called to make sure you weren't worrying too much about me. I know you already miss me, who wouldn't?" His laugh was contagious, even over the phone. Now wasn't the time for laughs, but Tyson didn't care. He would crack jokes with a gun pointed to his head and the man on the other end of the trigger would probably at least chuckle.

"Hey! This isn't the time, Ty. Listen, where are you? I'm coming to get you." My words vibrated with a calm patience and authority, but I was in a rush to find Tyson. I wanted him home, sleeping in his own bed, where I could keep an eye on him.

Tyson began to ramble on the other line. "Yeah, so don't freak out. Technically I'm 3 hours from home, sitting in a sketchy motel room. But, I'm fine. I'm slightly terrified and I don't really know what I'm doing, I might be way in over my head, but the lady at the desk was nice. Her name was Ellen and she didn't even charge me for the room. Which is good, 'cause I don't actually have a lot of money and the room is kind of nasty, but I'm not complaining 'cause I'm like super tired and I had to drive the car here, which sucked, and all I could think about was that trip to Chicago, like 8 years ago, and the car accident? You remember that Noah? That was scary. Anyway, yeah I'm okay, but this motel is kinda freaky..."

I felt like he was going to keep going, and I could hardly keep up, so I shushed him over the phone. He was immediately silent. I felt kind of bad, because he sounded kind of panicked, but there wasn't much I could do but process the slew of information he had thrown at me.

It took me a second, but when I caught up to what Tyson had said, I was furious. Not only had he ran away from home and ignored my calls, but then he stopped at a motel that was probably crowded with sketchy drug dealers and rapists without anyone with him. He was a short, skinny kid. He couldn't fight off a man with any muscle. He could easily find himself in trouble in a place like that.

I almost threw up thinking about it.

"Okay, okay. I'm slightly angry that you ran away without telling me, and that you dodged my calls, but we'll be having a long conversation about that later. Now, I need you to lock your door and close the windows, don't let anyone in. Tell me where you are, and don't leave the room until I get there." My voice was rough. As much as I wanted to comfort Tyson, he needed to be safe first and the only way to get him to listen to me was to order him around.

"That's the thing... You can't exactly come here. I found a lead on Reagan and I'm trying to find her, but I have to do this on my own. I'm sorry, Noah, but if you come here and we find out she's not here anymore, then I'll never forgive myself for hurting you. I'll call you everyday and I'll be safe, I promise, but you can't come here." Rage filled in my vocal cords, ready to spill out into my words.

I was struggling to keep a hold of myself. Tyson had found a lead and he hadn't told me? Really?

Tyson and I told each other everything. It hurt my heart to know he hadn't immediately told me, but I was even more upset that he followed the lead without me. He had never gone very far without me in the car, too.

"Ty, no." That was all I could get out. I could tell he understood. No meant a lot in this situation. No, he couldn't do this on his own. No, he wasn't going to withhold information on his whereabouts from me. No, I wasn't going to just let him stay in a rat-infested motel with creeps hanging around. No, it wasn't okay. Nothing about the situation was okay. Not him lying to me or him putting himself in danger or him protecting me from the pain of my sister being gone.

None of it was right.

"Noah, my big brother, my best friend, my favorite person in the world, I'll be okay. I promise I'll call you if things start to get dangerous. I love you, but I'm really tired. I'll call you soon." And then he hung up. Just like that, my little brother was forcing me to agree to something I wasn't comfortable with.

My brother was gone, and I hadn't gotten any closer to finding him.

I sighed in exhaustion, and promptly fell asleep in the middle of a random parking lot, feeling the effects of Tyson's poor decision making.

I was worried, more than anything. Worried about what my parents would think if they could see us now. Their three children, all separated and hurting. Their sons, disagreeing about something so stupid. Their youngest son, in a scary motel, all on his own. Their oldest son, unable to help either of his siblings, falling asleep in a dark parking lot on a warm summer night. Their only daughter, still held captive by psychopaths, without anyone to help her.

Worried about my sister. My only sister. Spending her whole life in a hellhole, who knows where. Believing no one in the world cares or loves her. Kidnapped at birth and kept from her real family. Worried that she wouldn't come with them or believe them when they found her. Worried that she was already dead.

Worried about my little brother, the most important person in my life. Worried that he was scared and upset in an unknown place, without his older brother there to protect him. Worried that he was surrounded by bad people, people who would take advantage of him and manipulate him. Worried that he would never come home. Worried that he would find his little brother dead and alone, like he had found his parents.

I fell asleep in a dark parking lot on a warm summer night with too much on my mind and not enough to do about it.