The Danger ABC's

Chapter 3: Shadows in the Light

He would receive the call today that would change everything. The Call that would undermine every principle he had. Jack was prickling with anticipation. Call was frightened. So when he reached Aaron's beautiful house, looked at the beautiful brickwork, the horrible realization dawned on him that he had been here before, in the icy night. He had taken things from this house. Nothing memorable, nothing that they would notice at first. But he had stolen from the person who had given up his macaroni, and that hurt Call to his very core.

"Are you ok?" Aaron asked with concern in his eyes. Concern Call didn't deserve. He wanted to slap himself, but he choked back the sob forming in his chest and tried his best to sound as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just ate a bug." Jasper made a disgusted face, Call shot him a look, and both Aaron and Tamara looked pretty confused. Aaron fiddled with the key from his pocket, brushing the hair from his eyes as he fitted it into the lock. Call's heart was racing, even though no one had seen him. And it got worse the more he looked at Aaron's innocent face, the face that didn't know he was letting a monster in. No. He was Call now. Jack was gone, and he was just the normal, sarcastic schoolboy with a normal home life and a hatred of all things educational.

Call stepped inside, set down his bag, took off his shoes, and tried not to think about how everything seemed too familiar. Failing to ignore a sneer from Jasper at his ratty sneakers, they walked down the hallway into Aaron's room. Call had never been more surprised. Like the rest of the house, Aaron's room was immaculate. But it was bare. A bed, a desk, a bookcase and a closet, with an adjoining bathroom. No ornate vases, no band posters, no photos except a small silver one of him and Tamara on the desk. It was almost like looking at the room of a ghost. A stark contrast to the lavish furnishings of the rest of the house.

"Sorry guys, I just have to get my laptop. You can get set up in the dining room, if you want." So Call followed Tamara, unanswered questions on his lips, to a large, modern dining room filled with a natural glow. He took out his math book, which was about 80 percent scribbles and 10 percent ripped out pages. Tamara looked at the state of his book with disapproval.

"Do you ever actually learn in math class?"

"Yes... kindergarten was so my year." Tamara laughed, and it made Call happy. He reminded himself that he wasn't here to make friends. And that reminded him of other things. He needed to breathe.

"Uh, do you know where the bathroom is?" because it would be weird to know exactly where the bathroom was in a stranger's house.

"Yeah, It's right through there on the left." said Tamara

"Thanks." Just then, (because the universe had it out for him) Aaron walked through the door, carrying what looked like ten math books, a laptop, and a thick binder. And of course he didn't see Call, and of course Call was mentally complaining about his shoes again, and of course Aaron tripping over Call bounced all the books off of Call's face and he was pretty sure his nose was bleeding.

"Oh, god, Call I'm so, so sorry." Aaron said from on top of him.

"Uh, it's fine." Call said, feeling his face heat up.

"You're bleeding!" Aaron said, sitting up to a straddling position before he suddenly realized where he was sitting and turned a deep shade of scarlet.

"I think I have a first aid kit in my bathroom, come on." Aaron said, getting off Call and dragging him by the wrist to the bathroom. Call's heart was pounding, probably because of the near death experience that he'd just had. Aaron wiped the blood off Call's nose, despite his fervent protests that he could do it himself, and Call couldn't stop looking at Aaron's expression. It was almost... motherly, as if Aaron felt some obligation to keep Call safe. Aaron took out a box from underneath the sink and rummaged around in a small box he pulled out before applying Neosporin and a bandage Call was positive was going to fall off in a minute.

"Aaron?" Aaron looked up at Call, and Call wondered how anything could be so green.

"Yeah?"

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" Aaron burst out laughing, and so did Call. When the laughter finally died down, Tamara yelled from the dining room: "Are you two going to come out of there sometime in the next eight years, or are you just going to live in the bathroom?!"

"I don't know, there's really good Wifi in here!" Call yelled back.

"We should probably leave the bathroom before Tamara decides to come kill us." Aaron said.

"Yeah, our project isn't gonna do itself."

"Our project?"

"You heard Ms. Rajavi."

When they got back to the dining room, it seemed like Tamara and Jasper had already done half the work. Aaron's books were still all over the floor, so a half hour into their study time they had sat down, almost broken Call's nose with a half-pound geometry book, and picked up what seemed like a million books off the floor. Fortunately, Aaron was a fast worker, and by the time Call had to leave for dinner, (instant ramen and a cup of instant coffee) they had gotten a good chunk of research done. And although if you had asked him he would have denied it, Call was having... fun.

"Thanks for having me, Aaron."

"You sure you can't stay for dinner? We're having pizza." Call's stomach grumbled at the thought of delicious pizza, but he remembered the phone call he was due to receive today, and he didn't want to be around anyone else when it happened. He would have to be Jack for that, and Call needed to separate him and Jack as much as possible.

"Sorry, I still need to do the history homework."

"Ok, well, see you next week I guess." Aaron's tone was cheerful, but there was a disappointed look in his eyes.

"See you next week." Call walked through the dim streets, wishing he had said yes. He was surprised to find that his house was only a ten-minute walk from Aaron's house. Then, there was nothing to do but wait. And homework. But mainly wait. And ramen. But also, waiting. Then, the cracked flip phone buzzed out its tinny ringtone.

"Hello?"

"Listen. I am the Enemy. In three days, my assistant will drop off a package containing everything you need to complete the abduction. There will also be two keys, and an address. The address will lead you to a soundproofed room with a car in it. You will use the car to take the abductee to the soundproof room, where you will receive another call with further information. At no point will you ever address me during this second phone call. You will complete further instructions from there. If you hear the police, you will burn all materials before taking the abductee into a smaller hidden compartment. If you have any questions, you will ask them to my assistant. Write nothing down. Tell no one anything. And if you make even the slightest mistake, your father is as good as dead."

"Who am I supposed to be kidnapping?"

"All in good time, all in good time."

"What the fu-"

Click.

Callum Hunt knew three things. One, he was a thief. Two, he liked coffee. And three, no way in hell was he going to sleep that night.