Daddy, help me!

IVAN
~•~

I opened my eyes to the sound of sirens blaring all around me. The first thing my gaze met was the sight of the roof of my car. I could feel my legs dangling from the edge of my car seat. I tilted my neck to look to my left, blood was splattered all over the leather of my car seat. I struggled to sit up, but the back of my head stung like hell.

I could barely remember anything. I held on to the driver's seat while I fought hard to sit up, it was only then I took note of the situation.

There were police cars all around me. I saw Sarah weeping terribly, a female officer continued to tap her shoulder. Sarah was clad in a black blanket, her hair and makeup were both in a mess. She was saying something, everyone around me had their mouths moving for one reason or the other.

His face flashed through my mind.
Johnny!
I looked around for any signs of him. The only thing I saw was a body on a stretcher being lifted into an ambulance. Panic seized my chest immediately.
What had happened to Johnny?
And my children, where were they?

I got out of the car immediately. The banging at the back of my head intensified with every step I took, but I did not care. I continued to walk and walk. The sky above us was getting dark, it had been brighter when I left.
Tina, Sarah, Tommy, and I were on our way to the park. So why weren't we there yet?
Why couldn't I see my children?
Why was there blood on my car?
And why the hell was Sarah crying to a bloody police woman?!

The policewoman was the first to see me. She looked up at me and Sarah turned to me immediately. Before I could say a word, Sarah ran to me and put her arms around me. She smashed my chest with her right cheek and began to weep against my chest. Her small arms managed to squeeze me into them, her body trembled as she held on to me.

I remained silent. I could not speak because I did not know what to say.
The dark-haired female officer walked to me. My blue eyes raked all over her, she cleared her throat before she spoke.

"Mister Holloway, I am officer Tessa Reynolds, from the LAPD. Your wife made a distress call to us as soon as it happened and…"

"It happened? What happened?" I asked. Nothing was making any sense. Nothing at all.

"Ivan…Ivan…" Sarah sniffed as she held on to me. She was shivering violently, despite the blanket that engulfed her.

"Tommy and Tina were…"

No. No. It had to be a dream! The car halted, Johnny being shot, my children stolen away from me. Everything I had seen had to be a terrible dream.
I could not have woken up to my nightmare! It wasn't possible.

I finally had her back, I finally had my baby back. She could not just leave me again, without warning! For the second fucking time!

"What happened to my children?" There was a thick lump in my throat as I spoke.
The female officer narrowed her eyes on me.

"Do you not remember anything, mister Holloway?"

I ignored her, I ignored them all because I had nothing to say to any of them.

"Let's go home, Sarah," I spoke softly. I wanted to scream and yell at the top of my voice. I wanted to shout and run on my two legs to every corner of Los Angeles, I wanted to search the entire state of California for my children. But I could not find it in me to move an inch. It felt as though an invisible force was draining energy from my body. I could not feel anything, not even my wife's tight hug.

Sarah looked up at me. Her eyes glistened with the salty tears in them.

"What?"

I looked down at her.
"Let's go home. I won't repeat myself."

She let go of me and I turned back, ready to head toward my car. Another male officer stood in front of me and I frowned.

"Mister Holloway, we have a couple of questions. If we are going to help you find your children…"

"Fuck off." I spat out, brushing past him. He didn't follow me.

"Ivan! They are trying to help us!"

I didn't know when I turned my face to her, something in me suddenly sparked and I found myself screaming at the top of my voice.

"If they knew how to do their job they would be combing the streets of LA right now, instead of standing here and asking us stupid questions!" Immediately after I finished speaking, my heart began to beat at a very slow rate.
I gave Sarah a glaring death stare and it was more than enough to send her running to my side.

We walked to the car and I slipped into the driver's seat. I ignored the bullet hole in the window, Sarah shivered as she settled into the bloody chair.

Two officers stood in front of the car.

"I'm sorry sir, but we cannot let you leave here until…"

My jaw hardened. I peeped out of the window and looked at them.

"You lose your job or you lose your life, pick one," I said out loud. They exchanged knowing looks and turned to me.

"You do realize you have just threatened two police officers." The man spoke, while the woman stayed silent and kept her eyes on Sarah.
My head began to spin. I could not stand here and banter words with them.

"One call to the chief of police, that's all it would take to get your badges off your chest for life. Do not test me." My tone was eerily calm, I could tell it bothered them.

I did not need to speak any further. They stepped away from the car and I started the engine and drove away in silence.

Believe me when I say I did not know I had gotten home. But I knew that Antonio was the first to usher me into a chair in my study, while Sarah continued to cry as she went upstairs.

"Sir, do you need me to get you…" My phone rang in the middle of his sentence. With the last ounce of strength in me, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and answered the call.

"Ivan Holloway speaking."

"I know." The distorted male voice at the end of the line spoke.

A strange form of energy washed over me. I sprang up from the leather couch immediately.

"Who is this? Who is this?"

The person, whoever it was, laughed at the other end of the line.

"A friendly neighborhood child keeper. I think you might be looking for your children. A little birdie brought them to my doorstep."

My heart skipped a million beats at once. I found myself panting heavily, while my heart pounded against the muscular walls of my chest with the same intensity. My grip on my phone tightened, I could feel the heat emanating from my body.

"Who are you? And what have you done with my children?!"

"Say hi to daddy little birdies." The voice called out, laughing maniacally.

"Daddy! Daddy, please help us!" I heard Tina cry out. A baby was yelling beside her.

My heart squeezed in my chest, sharp claws dug into my chest, and reached out for the organ in it.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"10 million dollars. I'll call you in the next two hours and ten million dollars should be ready for me. Else…"

Tina's scream filled the speaker again and tears gathered in my eyes.

"Wait, I will give you whatever you want. Just tell me where I can…" The call ended.

I threw my phone across the room. It landed on a shelf and fell to the ground with a loud sound.

But the sound was nothing compared to my scream.

~•~
AUTHOR
~•~

Yes. That was the sound she had been waiting for. His scream echoed in her ears and her father smiled at her.

"It's time to put our dearest Ivan to sleep." He whispered, holding the syringe to himself.

Sarah Holloway stared at her father. If she was not his daughter she would have been scared of him. How he was able to use her husband's mental illness to his good in such a tactical manner, showed her he was a very dangerous man.

"Can we really trust Ian, papa? Tommy might be his child, but Tina is not, and…"

Antonio placed his right index finger on his daughter's lips, silencing her.

"Ian would be stupid to double cross me. He knows what I am capable of. Do not worry, tutto è sotto controllo”
He tapped her shoulder and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

Sarah stayed silent and watched her father step out of the room, she soon followed him behind.

As they walked down the stairs, they heard the sound of paper tearing into shreds. Ivan's scream continued to fill the halls. Antonio smiled but Sarah felt a tiny pinch of guilt in her heart.

If she was being honest, Ivan Holloway did not deserve anything she had her father had done to him. He certainly did not deserve what they were about to do to him.

But as her father often said, "the sin of the father shall be visited on the child."
No one could blame her, no one could point fingers at her.
She was her father's daughter.

Ivan continued to scream and throw things about while her father put on his act.

"Mister Ivan! Mister Ivan!" He screamed as he rushed to him. Sarah watched from the foot of the door.

Immediately her father got close enough, he took the syringe out of his back pocket and stabbed her husband's neck with it.

Ivan let out a scream before he paused in silence.

In less than thirty seconds, he crumpled to the ground in front of their eyes.