Chapter 10

Dan’s POV

As I lay awake in bed, I eagerly awaited for the sound of my alarm to ring. It was morning, and I wanted to start the search as soon as possible. The police had been hesitant at first to conduct another search for Casey, but eventually they came around and agreed. My alarm rang and I jumped out of bed and chucked on the clothes I had worn yesterday.

When I entered the kitchen, Mum and Dad were sitting down at the dining table, drinking coffee.

“Good Morning,” I smiled brightly.

They smiled back and resumed chatting. I popped a piece of toast into the toaster and lent down across the counter.

The police knew what house I was talking about, as there had been many crimes committed there before. They hadn't checked it out though, because it was apparently in ruins now.

Casey had to be there, otherwise the police would think of me as a fool, to be leading them on a wild goose chase. I quickly glanced at the clock and it was five minutes to seven. The toast jumped out and I yelped. I grabbed the piece of toast and shook my head angrily, this search was really getting to me.

I buttered my toast and yelled out, “Are you two coming?”

“Yes, we’ll meet you out in the car,” Mum’s soft voice drifted in from the dining area.

My keys were on the counter beside me, so I quickly grabbed them and jogged out to car. Mum and Dad soon followed and we all got in the car. I was going to drive, because apparently Mum felt “Too unsafe to be driving in a pile of junk like this” and Dad had agreed with her. The engine started straight away and I heard Mum let out a sigh of relief.

I didn’t realise I was driving so slowly until Dad exclaimed, “Hurry up, Dan! You don’t want to be late for your own search!”

I slammed down on the accelerator and we sped away down the street.

When we arrived at the entrance to the forest, there was about twice the amount of policemen than there usually was at Casey’s searches. As soon as I parked the car, we all jumped out and headed over to the group of policemen. A sense of Déjà Vu swept over me as the whistle blew, I rounded up the group and we started hiking toward the house.

We had trekked for most of the morning and i now recoginised we were near. When the house came into view, the police slowly grabbed their guns and pointed them towards the house. It was obvious that the place had been used in the last few months, because there were wrappers and other bits and pieces on the ground, and the house sure wasn't in ruins.

Suddenly, an ear splitting scream tore the silence of the group. The police nervously glanced at each other and I ran forward. The largest policemen in the group took hold of me and I struggled under his grip.

“Let me go, that’s my best friend in there!” I screamed and then instantly regretted it because I had blown our cover.

The police rushed forward and one even fired a shot. I finally broke free of his grip and rushed forward to follow the police. This time, no one stopped me.

When I reached the entrance to the house, I stopped short. The police took charge and slowly walked into the house, guns poised ready to shoot. The huge policemen who had held me back earlier shoved a small pistol into my hands.

“For your own safety,” he mumbled.

“Listen buddy, sorry about earlier, we just want to protect you as much as we can. My name’s Sam, by the way,” he spun around and took after the other policemen.

I gently placed the gun into my pocket. Just then, a shout of pure terror shook through the thin walls of the cabin. I rushed into the house and checked every floor until I found the rest of the group.

“Is it Casey?” I gasped. They shook their head no and I stifled a scream when I saw the body of a girl on the floor.

She was still alive, but barely. One of her eyes was forced shut because of the swelling, and her whole face was black from bruising. She had open bleeding wounds all over her chest, obviously from a knife of some sort. It took me all my strength not to vomit right then.

“Scar…..his gang……next room…..” she whispered, barely breathing.

I wondered what she meant. She was probably going a bit crazy from the blood loss. Outside the window, an ambulance had pulled up and the officers were talking to my parents and Jillian. My Mum’s face was stricken with worry, so I tore my gaze away from her. Suddenly, a large gunshot sounds from the next room and we realise we’re not alone. The police gaped at each other, obviously not expecting company.

“We need backup, NOW!” Sam yelled into his radio.

The ambulance officers raced in and loaded the unfortunate girl onto the stretcher. I noticed one of the officers had blood on him. They rushed the girl out and as soon as they left the door burst open.

“What did you do to Erin!” The guy screamed.

“Excuse me mate, I think we should be the one asking that question. What did you do to Casey?” I screamed back at him.

The police looked at me in shock, as I had just basically challenged the guy for a fight. He lunged forward, but I took him by surprise and knocked him to the ground.

I felt victorious and was about to go help the other policemen help fight the gang, when I was knocked to the ground. I instantly recognised who it was. The one who had beat me up at the nightclub as Casey was being kidnapped.

I grabbed out my pistol and was about to shoot him when a sharp pain tore up my stomach. He had kicked me right in the ribs.

“No one challenges Scar and gets away with it,” the other guy came up to me and put his foot on top of my painful chest.

So his name was Scar. I realised my gun was beside me so I grabbed it so quickly even Scar was taken aback. I aimed the gun and shot without thinking. This was the guy who took my girl, he deserved to die.

He crumpled to the ground and the backup police burst through the door. They manage to handcuff all the men and the policemen led them outside to the squad cars. Something shifted in the corner, behind a large crate and i realised they had missed a guy. My life was in danger and i couldn't do anything about it. I sat as quiet as possible, barely breathing. Before i even had a chance to react, he came up behind me with a baseball bat, smashing me over the head.

Everything went black.