"What do you mean, he never got here? Ryan... he said he would be late!" I yelled. I knew it wasn't right to be taking out my anger on Tina, but I was too worried to care. "I know... but 'late' normally means, like a couple minutes, maybe 15, and that's stretching it. Also... UnicornMann got a text saying Ryan was coming at a normal time, and not to tell you because he wanted to surprise you," Tina explained. I felt my cheeks heat up, but now wasn't the time to be embarrassed. "Look, if Ryan never arrived, something bad must have happened. And that means that we have to help him," She said. I sighed, seeing the reason of this. "Fine. I'm... I'm sorry. Hopefully, Ryan can fend for himself, until we find him," I said desperately. "That's the spirit!" Tina cheered. "Now let's go save Ryan!" She called. We ran into the daycare room, and called everyone back.
"So, guys, I have a plan," I announced. I was surprised that I sounded WAY more confident than I felt. "First, we need to check the daycare security camera footage. There may be some clues. Then, we have to either follow those clues, or hopefully we can track Ryan's phone. Unicorn, can you do that?" I asked. "Of course! I'm UnicornMann, after all!" He replied. "Cool. If none of that works, then we can figure something else out." I told them. "Well, let's hop to it! Tina, Cookie, Sabre, you guys come with me, and we'll check the tapes. Unicorn, hack into the best satellite you can find and trace Ryan's phone." I felt a grin spread over my face. One that felt... confident, and, well, good. "We'll find this boy yet." I took off running downstairs toward the offices, with Tina, Sabre, and Cookie right behind me. Unicorn saluted, and pulled out a computer.
I glanced at Tina. "Anyone know how to access the tapes?" I asked, sitting in front of the laptop on the office desk. Tina grinned at me. "Allow me," She said with a teasing bow. The girl sat down in front of the computer and opened an app. She entered a code, and a live video appeared on the screen, with a menu beside it. Tina clicked "View History," and she beckoned to us. "See if you can see Ryan, or anyone else," She instructed us. As we watched the history of today, suddenly, Sabre stopped her. "Do you see that?" He queried. "See what?" Tina asked. "That," Sabre said grimly. I saw what he was pointing at. A shadow... of a person. Standing outside of the daycare, hidden by the bushes. Like they were... waiting for something... or someone. My heart skipped a beat.
"Do you guys think he was kidnapped?" Sabre asked. Sabre and I met eyes. I was sure he knew what I thought. Cookie spoke up. "We don't necessarily know, but it is likely. Ryan wouldn't say he was coming on time, and then never show up. Unless he was trying to prank us, but then he wouldn't come to the daycare. And there's proof that the shadow in the bushes is not Ryan. Look there," Cookie said. She paused the footage, and zoomed in on a blue shape in the image. "Blue eyes," She announced triumphantly. Sabre gave her a high-five. "Way to go, Cookie!" He praised her. I smiled slightly, but then I noticed something else.
"Red eyes." I said, moving the image slightly to the left. "Either two people... or one person with Heterochromia." I said, shivering. Dread settled in my stomach, cold as a stone. Tina looked at me, concerned. "It's not necessarily him," She reassured me. I frowned, unconvinced. "But it probably is," I said sadly. A couple phrases came to my mind, lost from the past. "Isn't that right new kid, isn't that RIGHT new kid?" "Heterochromiaaaa!" "She is mine, and she is Tina's, and she is everyone's here at the daycare to do whatever we want with her!" "He does kinda look like a jungle guy, and she does live in a tree." I shuddered. Casper.