Fairy Tale Nightmare -6-

Chapter Six

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"Boys, we're back," Mrs. Knight called as she followed he daughter Katie into apartment 2J, her arms laden down with grocery bags. Katie hurried over to the kitchen table and dumped her bags before rushing over to the TV and turning it on. Mrs. Knight placed her bags on the table and set her lips in a line. "That's odd," she murmured.

"What's odd?" Katie called back, her eyes glued to the TV.

"Usually I can't get through the door with food before Carlos is in my face demanding to know what I got." Mrs. Knight chuckled a little bit at the thought.

But her statement held a lot of truth in it, on more than one occasion; she had been knocked off her feet when Carlos came flying towards her, somehow knowing that she was out getting groceries. Of course Kendall would have yelled at him until he apologized, helping his mother up and brushing her off as he did so.

Jennifer Knight frowned as she looked around the apartment. It was empty, and quiet, and the apartment was never quiet. "Katie, did you see the boys when we were coming into the apartment building?"

"No," Katie finally turned away from the TV, it was a commercial. "I stopped by the pool to talk to Camille about her commercial shoot yesterday, you know," she gave a short smile. "To see if she needed me to be her manager or something and I didn't see them."

"Maybe they're at Rocque Records," Mrs. Knight murmured to herself as she started to unpack some of the bags.

"No," Katie shook her head again. "They had the day off." She then caught sight of her mother's worried expression. "Don't worry mom, I'm sure they're at the mall or something, they know that it's almost dinner time. I'm sure they'll be back soon."

"I'll call Kendall and ask where he is?" Mrs. Knight turned and rooted through her purse, looking for her phone.

Katie didn't try to dissuade her. When her mother got all 'Mother Hen', you didn't stand in the way of her and her and her son. Obviously the time that she agreed to give Kendall more space so he and the other boys could go and house-sit at Gustavo's mansion for a night was gone from Mrs. Knight's memory. She could see the worry already getting to her mother's head as she lifted her phone to her ear, the nails on her free hand clacking against the counter top as she waited for her son to pick up.

Suddenly a dull buzzing sound reached Katie's ears. Frowning, she turned and followed the sound until she was in her brother's room. Still listening, she heard the buzzing coming from his bed and then pulled the covers back to see Kendall's phone sitting there. It continued to buzz as the screen flashed the word: MOM on it.

"Mom," Katie called, grabbing the phone. "Mom, his phone is here!" Katie's heart started to pump a little faster. So Kendall didn't have his phone on him, that shouldn't be a problem should it? Oh yes, it should, because Kendall always had his phone on him, even if the battery was dead, he'd still have it in his pocket. Mrs. Knight had taught her and Kendall at a young age to always have their phones on them just in case there was an emergency.

"What?" Mrs. Knight's voice had a panicked edge to it, but she hadn't gone over the edge yet. There were still a few places that they could be.

"His phone is here," Katie tried to keep her voice steady as she walked back over to her mother and handed her the iPhone 4S. "It was on his bed…but…he never leaves his phone anywhere…he always has it with him."

Mrs. Knight shot Katie a look but didn't say anything as she cradled the phone in her hand as if she was holding onto a bird's egg; very gently. She stared at it for a few moments as Katie watched her mother, not sure what to do. Mrs. Knight's face didn't change at all, there was no emotion; she just continued to stare at the phone in her hands.

"Mom?"

Mrs. Knight put her phone down and then moved by Kati, striding into Kendall's and Logan's shared room. Katie waited, hearing a few shuffling sounds. She waited for her mother to say something, but then she went into James' and Carlos' rooms. When she came back out, she had all three of their cell phones in her hands. Walking back into the kitchen, she loudly dropped them onto the counter with Kendall's.

"Mom?" Katie moved over to her mother and wrapped her arms around her mother's waist, shocked to feel her trembling. "Mom, everything's going to be ok, maybe they're just-"

"They're gone!" Mrs. Knight suddenly cried, burying her face in her hands. "Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James…they're all gone!"

Katie shook her head, but stayed quiet. She refused to believe that someone as strong as he brother could have just disappeared, but it was starting to look that way. None of them were at the Palm Woods, they had the day off from Rocque Records so they wouldn't be there, and they didn't have their phones on them when they always had their phones.

It wasn't adding up.

Katie looked at her mother helplessly as she continued to sob. She was never sure how to reassure her mother when she got this way, and it wasn't helping her much. Katie's eyes started to well up with tears as she continued to watch her mother. It was all true, her brother was gone and she they didn't know what happened to him or his friends. Katie's face finally crumpled and she finally let the tears fall down her cheeks.

She turned at the sound of something being pushed under the door and saw a large manila envelope slide across the floor. Katie hastily wiped her cheeks, still sniffling, and bent down to pick up the envelope. She looked it over and once she noticed that it was addressed to her mom, she turned and quickly handed it to her.

"Mom…" she was stunned into speaking only slightly above a whisper. Whatever it was, she knew that it wasn't good. After watching numerous TV movies about kidnappings, random envelopes that appeared out of nowhere was something that you should dread.

Mrs. Knight turned and took the envelope, her hand shaking slightly as she opened it and slid out a sheet of paper.

Dear Jennifer Michelle Knight,

Yes, we know your full name and we know your whereabouts at all times…

Mrs. Knight's eyes widened as she continued to read the letter. She ignored Katie's questions asking what it was, looking around the apartment. They have Kendall? She raised a hand up to her mouth. They have my baby? "Oh, Kendall…"

"What? Mom, what's going on?" Katie demanded, reaching for the letter. "Let me see!" She managed to grab it from her mother's hands as Mrs. Knight turned and grabbed her phone. "Mom?" Her voice shook.

"I'm sure they're over with Gustavo," Mrs. Knight said more to herself than her daughter. "I'm sure they're fine."

"Hello? This is Gustavo Rocque."

"Hello," Mrs. Knight gave a heavy sigh, pushing her red hair back out of her face. "Gustavo, is my son there?"

There was a prolonged silence.

"Um, Mrs. Knight, I actually have some bad news for you"

The phone slowly fell from Mrs. Knight's hand as Gustavo told her the news. She sank to the floor next to her phone and let out a blood curdling wail…