**TW: blood and violence

I ran through the alleys and the streets, yelling out his name. Blake and I ran around frantically. I desperately tried to ask the strangers on the streets if they had seen Chris, describing him and showing them a picture of him on my phone. Blake called officer Clay, asking him for updates about Chris and his family, explaining the situation. Once the call ended, he too ran frantically, trying to get any information he could from strangers.

"Please, have you seen him? He's wearing a necklace, just like this one" I asked a lady on the street, showing her my necklace "Please he's my son" The lady shook her head and continued to walk on.

"I don't know why kids these days decide to take big steps when they can barely take care of themselves"

"So irresponsible"

"They should have thought about maturing up themselves before they decided to become teen parents"

"It's like protection doesn't exist for them"

"What do they know about life. Lost their kid now, didn't they? That'll teach 'em to think twice before they get in bed again"

Nasty comments flew around the area as the tears verged at the brim of my eyes. Not at their comments. But at the helplessness I was feeling, being unable to find him.

"Mommy!" His voice yelled in pain, louder than he had been yelling before. I turned to Blake and we both took off in the direction we thought the voice came from. Blake running ahead of me as I tried hard to keep up. Blake would turn around now and then to make sure I was keeping up but would then take off in a sprint.

"Daddy!" His voice yelled in the same pain again, sounding nearer than it had before. My hand shot up to my mouth, my mind running wild at the various thoughts of what he was going through.

"I'm coming Chris!" Blake yelled as loud as he could, hoping his voice would reach him. He sprinted ahead to find him.

"Somebody please help me!" His small voice cried out desperately from an alley I passed by, making me stop in my tracks as I called out to Blake who was far ahead of me. Deciding not to wait for him, I run into the alley.

The tears fell out of my eyes as I saw him. I wanted to be happy that I was seeing him again. But the blood dripping from his arm made me run to him, falling beside him and taking him in my arms. He flinched at first, his eyes looking up to me, relaxing at the sight of me.

"I'm here baby, I'm here!" I kissed the top of his head, cooing in his ear as he continued to cry in my arms.

"I'm here baby, I'm here" I take notice of the two people standing in front of me, mocking me as I comforted my son. "Leave. Right now. You little bitch, you had your little fun pretend family. But he's our son. So, stay out of family matters"

My blood boiled as I saw the knife in the dad's hand. How dare he do that to my son. What a pathetic excuse for a so-called father.

"Did you not hear him? Get out of here" The mom- no, the lady cried at me, taking a step closer in an attempt to show she was threatening. My hands shook as my nerves were starting to get the best of me.

"Mommy, I'm scared," Chris mumbled against my ear, making me hold him tighter and not wanting to let him go at any cost. "Don't worry, I got you" I grabbed a hold of myself, looking around my surroundings, trying to come up with an escape route. The man had a knife, the alley was a dead end. I probably wouldn't be the fastest with a kid, let alone, by myself. I couldn't risk any sort of injury towards Chris. They had already run a knife along his arm, I wasn't going to find out what else they could do. My best bet was Blake. I really hoped he wouldn't just barge in though.

Having no faith that he wouldn't, I reached for my phone discreetly, pressing the power button multiple times, hoping this would work.

"Can you not hear me?!" The lady yelled out again, as tears ran down her eyes. I continued to ignore her, not knowing how to respond. I just wanted Chris's safety. The man knelt in front of me, playing with the knife in his hand. "Let's see if this helps" He grabbed my hand, running a blade on my palm. I bit my lip at the pain, not wanting to scare Chris anymore than he already was.

"I'm ok, baby. I promise" I smile at him. I hated this. I hated feeling so helpless.

"Aww, she's ok, baby. She promises. But she can't promise that for you! This is what you get for being a useless ass little kid. We never should have come back for you! Those assholes robbed us of the money they promised for the return of your parents! We never should have had you! You, worthless piece of trash" The man yelled as he raised his knife, ready to hurt Chris.

I throw Chris out of my hold and out in the opening of the alleyway. I push the man back, trying to hold back his knife "Run, Chris! Go find Daddy! He's looking for you!" I yell at him.

"But mommy..." He stares at me intently.

"Chris, I said, run!" I yell at him louder, making him bolt, fortunately towards the direction I had last seen Blake. I saw the lady ready to run after him, but I extend my leg back, making her trip and fall to her knees at the impact.

The man takes his chance and pushes me back "You little Bitch! Hold her up!" He glares at his wife as I felt her grab my arms from behind me, holding me up as her husband stood back up.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! He's our ATM, not yours!" I spit in his face as the man continued to yell.

"You're a different kind of low. He's not an ATM. He's a child! He was looking for you so desperately and this how you treat him?!"

The lady scoffed in pain behind me "I left him for a reason. But thanks to you kids, money was offered to whoever found his parents. How could we reject that offer being his parents?"

"Let me save you the pain. He's not your kid! He's mine! And if you even dare to take a step towards him. I. Will. Kill. You" I stared the man down as he was the only one in my view, but it applied to the lady as well.

"Let's see just how much killing you're capable of sweetheart" The man took a step closer to me, the knife spinning between his fingers. A malicious smile on his lips. I winced in pain at the contact of the knife to my arm. The man took the knife out, readying himself to go for another.

The knife slipped from the man's hand as he gets kicked down by a shoe to his face. "Don't touch my girl! Or my kid!" Blake sat on top of him, punching him endlessly. Worry struck me as I realized that Chris was probably nearby.

I felt the lady's hand loosen at the sight of Blake "Push me and run" She whispered in my ear. Taken back by her statement, I try to face her but she holds me forward. "Push me and run! Keep him safe!" She shouts in a whisper, loosening all of her hold on me but not letting go.

"Jackie, get out!" Blake yelled at me, bringing my attention back. I pulled my hands forward, to make her let go and blow my elbow back, making the lady fall back. Blake and I made a run out of the alleyway with both the lady and the man down. Blake running ahead of me turning a corner to pick up Chris in his arms. Once I catch up to him, he grabs my hand and runs as fast as he can. The adrenaline taking over me as I try not to fall behind.

The man was soon behind us, the lady struggling to keep up as she held on to her stomach that seemed to be popping out of her body. I found myself squeezing Blake's hand. Blake's head turned back, watching the two chase after us. He then quickly looked over to me "We'll be fine. Trust me" He looked back ahead, tugging my hand forward as he ran faster.

He finally stopped at the end of the street when it closed to a dead end. The only way to run was either left or right. But both were dark dead-end alleyways, leaving us nowhere to hide. Blake pulled me to the right alleyway, sliding his back down the brick wall, breathing heavily as sweat dripped from his shirt. He tugged me down beside him, my breathing matching his. He wrapped an arm around me, holding both me and Chris closer to him. "I'm sorry I didn't come earlier" he whispered, kissing both our sweaty heads.

"Blake, we're stuck" I wanted to cry, but I didn't see how that would help us right now.

Blake gestured me to lower my voice as he pointed to the end of the alleyway. A light flickered against a badge as I let out a sigh of relief, wrapping my arm around Chris and Blake. Just wanting to go home.

"Ha! Kids are so stupid these days. You think running to a dead-end was smart huh?!" The man yelled out, making me flinch at the sound of his voice. Blake rubbed his hand on my back, letting me ease. Letting me know it was going to be ok. The adrenaline was finally starting to wear off as I felt the warm liquid drip down my arm. A thousand needles were poking me in my arm. My hand reached out to Chris. My poor baby must be in so much pain.

Shadows moved in front of us and the three of us continued to hurdle against the wall. "RPD, you're under arrest. There's no trying to run, we have you surrounded! You have the right to remain silent. If you do say anything, what you say can be used against you in a court of law" Officer Clay and his team pointed their guns towards them.

"I'll kill those kids! Use that against the court of law!" The man yelled as the lady could be heard telling him to shut up.

Was it over yet?