"His dad?"

"Well, no. His step-dad. Jeremy!"

"Jere- shit." He pulled out his phone and called the police.



I was sitting at the kitchen table, Ray trying to calm me down when an officer arrived.

"So can you tell me what happened?" He asked. Gerard turned to me.

"Frank suffers from Peter Pan Syndrome. He's 17 but he thinks he's an eight year old. He said he wanted to ride the swings so I took him to the park. When we were there someone put their hand over both of our mouths and hit me over the back if the head. I passed out."

"What happened when you woke up?"

"Ray found me unconscious under the swings. When I woke up I asked where Frank was and Ray said he hadn't seen him so I ran home to see if he's come back but he hasn't. I told Gee what happened and then he called the police."

"Did you see who took him?"

"He looked familiar. I believe it was Frank's step-father Jeremy but he's been in jail for the last few years."

"Why was he in jail?"

Gerard spoke up. "Frank'a step-father beat his mother to death then started beating him with the intent to kill him until I got there. I hit his step-dad over the head with a vase and knocked him out. That's how Frank got PPS."

"What is his step-father's name?" The officer asked, pulling out his phone.

"Jeremy. Jeremy Hoppson I believe." The officer dialed a number and put the phone to his ear.

"Yes, could you search the prison files for a Jeremy Hoppson?" After a few minutes you could hear the muffled talking of a person on the other line. "Thank you." He hung up the phone and turned to us. "He got out on parole. His where abouts have been unknown for the last few days since his release." Gerard escorted the officer out.

"We have to find him. Gee, we have to find him!" I burst out. Gerard just stared at the ground. "Gerard, you know as well as I do his step-father will kill him," I growled out.

Gerard sighed. "Yeah, I know. But there's nothing we can do."