Chapter 1: Introducing Denver
Chapter Text
The Missing 6
Denver
A city in Colorado.
It was a pretty boring place. Nothing would really happen there. The most interesting thing of the week was who won the fight on Tuesday.
The school was no better. Fights every few days, if someone looked at another the wrong way or spoke shit about another. Classes were boring and pointless since no one would listen except the ones in the front.
At lunch everyone would split off into their groups, to their tables that they always sat at. It was like everyone had an assigned spot. The ‘popular jocks’ and ‘pretty cheerleaders’ would sit in the middle of the cafeteria, the ‘nerds’ would sit in the library and eat while reading or writing, and the weird kids would sit in the far corner of the cafeteria. Along with some other groups the cafeteria would be full of chatter and laughs.
Everything stayed the same throughout the years. Classes were the same, sport nights were the same, school events were always the same. The news always stayed the same with their boring weather reports and upcoming new movies in cinemas.
Until it wasn’t. Until the news wasn’t just that. It was filled with far more concerning reports.
Child Kidnappings
***
Chapter 2: Goodbye Griffin
Summary:
“Are those a part of the trick?” Griffin asked, cautiously pointing at the balloons.
“No but this is.” He said pulling out a can of something and that made Griffin turn around and try to run.
Biggest mistake ever.
Notes:
Hii
I’m double posting since that first chapter was kinda of just an introduction to this I guess.
But hope you like it!!
Chapter Text
The missing 6- Griffin Stagg
Griffin was a quiet kid. The only way you’d know him was if you knew Vance, his step-brother. Though Griffin didn’t really mind kids not knowing him, he also sometimes hated how people didn’t know him. He didn’t blame them either because he wasn’t very social either.
It was a random Thursday morning when Griffin woke up to Vance bashing on his door, telling him to either get ready now or walk to school. He groaned while he pushed himself off his bed and went to his wardrobe.
After 5 quick minutes of Griffin picking out his outfit, brushing his teeth, and doing his hair he went downstairs and couldn’t see Vance anywhere. Before he could search for him he heard a very loud honk from outside.
He quickly moved to the car and got in the passenger seat next to Vance.
“Took you long enough, I was just about to leave you.” Vance said with a cigarette placed in his mouth.
“Seriously, smoking this earlier Van?” Griffin sighed while raising an eyebrow towards him.
“Griff, if you can’t handle a little bit of morning smoke, be my guest and walk. Vance said sarcastically.
“yeah, yeah alright whatever.” Griffin mumbled back.
The rest of the 5 minutes in the car were silent, but not uncomfortable silence. Griffin and Vance both got out of the car and Vance turned to Griffin and stopped him.
“Hey, I'll wait 5 minutes this afternoon, any later and you're walking. Alright?” Vance said sternly at Griffin.
“Yeah ok, 5 minutes got it.” Griffin said, already walking away. “Bye Vance.” He said quickly, still walking.
“Bye Griffin.” Vance says stomping on his cigarette before walking to his class or the bathroom to skip, who knew.
***
Griffin’s day went the same as it always does. He went to his classes, sat wherever he could find a seat, spoke when he was called for, and then watched. Not in a creepy way, in an observing way.
Since Griffin had no friends and had no one to talk to, he was good at observing people. Just watching them from afar, noticing what they're good or bad at, what they like and what they don’t, and how they act around different people. He never thought it was stalking, he thought it was just spectating another's behaviour and ways. And since he was noticing them in school, it was just him watching a fellow student and how they act.
Was it creepy? Sure.
But Griffin had no one to talk to and if anyone spontaneously wanted to be friends with him, he would know what to talk about or how to make them laugh. And it wasn’t like Griffin kept a book and recorded everything about a person, he would always observe some new everyday.
***
Finally, Griffin heard the final bell of the day and practically sprinted out of the classroom. He wanted to get to his locker, get to Vance's car, and go home. Once he reached his locker's hallway he froze. The hallway was absolutely slammed. Kids conversations all muddled together and kids running and pushing their way out. Griffin gave himself 2 options.
- Him, the scrawny little boy he is, go into that crowd and try and get to his locker
or
2. Fuck the locker, take his books home, and have the chance of forgetting them tomorrow
He chose fuck the locker, and go home.
So he quickly walked in the other direction and hurriedly walked outside to the car park. Thankfully, he saw Vance’s car, sitting in the spot from that morning. Unfortunately, he did not see Vance.
Griffin thought to himself, ‘Maybe he just got caught up in the crowded area or he was with friends. So he waited. And waited. He decided to text Vance and ask where the fuck he was.
3:23 pm
*Griff has come online
Griff: bro where tf are you?
What happened to your very intimidating warning today about not being any later than 5 minutes?
3:38 pm
Griff: ??
r u dead or something?
3:46 pm
Griff: come on Van
stop fucking around just drive us home
Or atleast tell me to fuck off and walk home
3:59 pm
Griff: fine fuck you then 🖕🏽🖕🏽
just wait till you get home and all your cigarettes are flushed down the toilet dickhead
*Griff has gone offline
***
Not until the time read 4:12, Griffin had got up and started walking home. He waited a little to see if his brother would show up or not, which he didn’t.
He was annoyed that Vance couldn’t have at least told him he wasn’t gonna drive him home so then he wouldn’t have to have wasted his time waiting. Oh and he still had his heavy ass books that he thought he was gonna be able to put in the car instead of carrying them on his journey home.
It wasn’t dark yet, it was actually a really nice time. The sun was an orangy/yellow colour and the wind was whistling through Griffin's hair. He was admiring the sky when he saw a black van with the words ‘Abracadabra’ written on the side, turn the corner of the street he was on. He watched the van slowly drive down the street about to pass him and he began to walk fastly past it.
He let out a breath of relief when he saw it turn the corner and drive away. He kept walking while admiring the sky and just as he could see his house, he saw the same black van pull up to an abrupt stop next to him.
The windows of the van were shaded black so he couldn’t see anything, he couldn’t see whoever was following him. Until a tall man got out of the van and walked around to Griffin's side of the car. The man was at least 5’10, he had dirty blonde hair, and obviously a creepy fucking mask.
“Those books look heavy. Do you want a ride home so you don’t have to carry them?” The mysterious man asked, stepping forwards to take the book out of his hands.
“No. I’m nearly home. It’s fine, thanks though.” Griffin said, quickly swerving from the Grabbers touch and began walking away.
“Do you wanna see a magic trick?” The man called out and Griffin turned around since he thought the man would leave him alone after this.
“...sure.”
“Ok goodie. Come over here.” The man walked over the van doors and opened it, shuffling through a box. Griffin slowly approached the back and he looked in the back at all the equipment but the black balloons.
“Are those a part of the trick?” Griffin asked, cautiously pointing at the balloons.
“No but this is.” He said pulling out a can of something and that made Griffin turn around and try to run.
Biggest mistake ever.
His back turned to the man meant that Griffin could no longer see what he was doing behind him. Until he felt two hands on him. One forearm across his throat, putting him in a choke hold, and the other putting some sort of mask with a gas bottle of some sort attached to it. It made him feel dizzy and he could feel himself being dragged away and tossed into the man's van. He fought so hard to stay awake but whatever he had used on him, was insanely powerful.
***
He woke up with a throbbing head and his vision was blurred. He heard a loud click and saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He quickly spun around in the direction of the movement and pushed himself back until he hit what had to be a wall. Though he still had blurred vision, he saw a human figure slowly walking towards him until the man was squatting in front of him.
“You're finally awake.” The man said brushing Griffin's hair to the side.
Griffin thought about slapping the man's hand away and running to the door. Then he really thought about it and thought about how many reasons there were that he couldn’t get out.
- This man obviously had some weird strong stuff that could just know him out again
- He was a miggot compared to this man
- The man was also obviously much stronger than Griffin
- He still couldn’t see
The list could go on but Griffin stopped himself when he saw the man stand up and begin talking again.
“Not much of a talker, huh?” The man’s voice was sickeningly sweet while he tilted his head at him
“Well, you will soon. After what we'll do together.” His voice again sounded disgusting and definitely had meant something from his last words before he walked out of the room.
Maybe 2 hours later, Griffin had got his sight back after he wanted it back for so long, but after regaining it he hated it. Having this sight of the basement he was in only made it more real.
The basement was dark, it was cracked and dusty. He saw a black phone hanging on the wall, which he found very odd but he was just kidnapped by a guy so everything was odd right now. The room was empty except for the dirty, old mattress he had just noticed he was sitting on. There was a giant metal door that was obviously that entrance.
He sat on the mattress for hours thinking about how he should have just waited for Vance, or how he should have walked home a little faster when he saw the van for the first time. He just kept thinking of how he could have prevented ending up here.
He wanted to go home. Back to Vance and his mum. He was also so hungry but he wouldn’t let himself talk to the man if it meant he was going to starve to death.
***
4:34 pm
*Van has come online
Van: Holy shit calm down
I had an after school detention
4:36 pm
Van: Oi you walked home??
You should have just waited for me
I wouldn’t have ditched my car
I would have got there eventually
4:48 pm
Van: You better not have flushed my cigarette or I will flush you
Are you seriously ignoring me
come on Griff
***
Vance parked his car in the driveway and he walked inside the house carrying some stuff in hand. He walked towards the kitchen when he heard his mum's voice.
“Hey baby, how come you're so late.” His mum says giving him a hug and a kiss on his hair.
“Hi ma, I just had an after school detention and then I stopped by the store for some stuff.” Vance said placing some bread, butter, and other random items on the counter but keeping a packet of gummies and a vanilla coke in his hand.
“I thought you didn’t like vanilla coke?” His mother said, tilting her head in confusion.
“It’s not for me. I think Griffin is mad at me so I got him this as a forgive me thing or whatever.” Vance said, already walking away to Griffin’s room.
He knocked on the door twice, then another 2, and when he didn’t answer he spoke through the door.
“Griff I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I got a detention and left you.” He said ruffly but spoken softly. He waited for a reply and when he didn’t get one he spoke again.
“Griffin, come on don’t ignore me. I got you gummies and the gross coke?” He waited again before he spoke one last time.
“I’m coming in, whether you answer it or not.” Was the last thing he said before he opened the door and peeked in.
“Griffin, please speak to me.” He said lifting up the lumped blankets only to see no one there. He looked around the room quickly and then softly laughed but it sounded fake.
“ ok Ha Ha. Come on, this isn’t funny you dick.” Vance said more concerned now.
When no one answered he hurried down the stairs back to his mum.
“Mum, when did Griffin get home?” He said in a voice filled with concern, eyes widened like a psycho.
“What do you mean, I thought he came home with you?” His mum said, matching his concerned look.
“So he didn’t come home?” Vance said, confirming that he never came home.
“No. No he didn’t but maybe he’s with his friends.” His mum said, trying to convince both of them he’s fine. But Vance is already out the door.
“He doesn’t have any friends.” He said, closing the door behind him.
He rushed out the house, got in his car, and quickly drove past the streets until he saw something odd. Black balloons caught on a branch in a tree.
He got out of his car and sprinted to the balloons and while he was trying to examine the balloons he tripped over something.
He looked down to see what he tripped over and his heart nearly stopped. On the floor was a phone that had Griffin's wallpaper and a textbook with Griffin's messy handwriting with his name on it. Vance started looking around, trying to look for any sign of his step-brother.
***
By 6 police were patrolling the area looking for the boy, neighbours were looking for him, and Mrs Hopper was giving the police her statement. Vance hadn’t said a word since he and his mum had their conversation about when they last saw him.
He couldn’t speak.
He’s the one who ditched him.
He’s the one who made him walk home alone
He’s the one to blame for this
***
Chapter 3: Bruises and Blue’s
Summary:
He wasn’t crazy.
He was just a 15 year old boy who lost his brother.
Notes:
TW:
Rape
Abuse
Chapter Text
The missing 6
Griffin didn’t know how many days it had been. The lack of sleep he was getting was affecting him. The first few nights of sleep were somewhat fine. As good as you could sleep in a kidnappers decayed basement. But after the 3rd night he couldn’t sleep longer than 10 minutes.
On the 3rd night Griffin had fallen into a deep sleep after spending the day trying to assess the room for a way out. He wouldn’t have woken up if he hadn’t had felt the mattress shift.
He opened his eyes groggily and saw the man sitting on the mattress, watching him with his creepy mask. Griffin shot up and shuffled back against the wall trying to put distance in between them.
He heard the man giggle. “What’s wrong, I just brought you your food.” The creep pointed towards the tray of eggs and sprite.
Griffin didn’t answer but instead looked at the floor of food. He hadn’t said anything to the man at all the whole time he was kidnapped and he didn’t plan on it. He didn’t want to give the kidnapper the pleasure of his voice.
“Still not talking Griffin?” Griffin’s head snapped up and looked at the man who giggled again at his surprise.
“Suprised how I know your name?” He tilted his head, reached into his pocket and pulled a folded piece of paper out.
“Here, have a look.” He handed the piece of paper to Griffin and he shyly took it and unfolded it.
MISSING CHILD
Name- Griffin Micheal Hopper-Stagg
Age- 14
Birthday- May 1st 1964
Gender: Male
Day of Disappearance- April 2nd 1978
Physical Description- 5’1, blonde/brown, curled, short hair, brown eyes, caucasian, skinny
Last seen by- ‘Step-Brother’ Vance Hopper-Stagg
Last wearing- Grey long sleeved shirt, black knee length cargo shorts, black and white converse
Went missing…- Boy was waiting for his brother to drive them home, though his brother had detention which he was not acknowledged of. He walked home and was taken a block away from his home.
It was crazy how just a week ago nobody knew anything about him, let alone his name and now the whole state knew his full name, date of birth, and what he looked like.
He looked up from the paper at the man and the man had moved a little closer. Griffin folded the paper and buried it in his lap since he didn’t want the kidnapper knowing anything else about him.
“I can get another one easily so you can keep that.” The man reached out a hand and caressed Griffin's cheek, Griffin tried shuffling back but the man moved his hand to his shoulder and kept him where he was
“You're such a pretty boy you know that.” That made Griffin nauseous, not only because his kidnapper found him attractive but he knew what was coming.
The man shuffled on the bed, moved in front of Griffin and moved his hands out to Griffin's thighs. Before Griffin could push them away the man grabbed his hands and pinned them underneath his knees so his hands were free.
Griffin tried kicking him off or at least away from him but it didn’t work. He wanted to scream, to yell at him, or anything aggressive but he knew he wanted a reaction out of Griffin. The man rubbed his thumbs into Griffin's thigh and kept moving further to his inner thighs.
“Stop squirming. You’ll feel so good.” He said moving his hands down to Griffin's belt and that made Griffin squirm even more. He flopped around trying to free his arm and legs, but his struggling only made the man restrain him more.
He freed Griffin's arms and Griffin used his chance. He punched the man square in the face though it wasn’t the strongest punch in the world, it was pretty good since Vance had taught him how to.
The kidnapper raised his hand up to the mask that had cracked and looked back down at Griffin.
“You're gonna regret that pretty boy.” He pulled off his belt, grabbed Griffin's arms and tied them together tightly so that he couldn’t interfere.
He reached down for Griffin’s short buttons and despite Griffin's squirming he undid the shorts and pulled them down. He did the same to his own pants and his underwear. His dick fell out of his shorts and hung in front of Griffin, and something about that made this all real.
Realer than before.
Griffin felt his body betray himself and felt tears rolling down his cheeks, dripping onto the dirty mattress.
“Don’t cry baby, you’ll feel so good after this.” The man wiped his tears and reached for Griffin’s boxers.
“please… stop.” Griffin said hoarsely since he hadn’t spoken in days and the man looked up at him and Griffin could sense the smirk on his face. His plea didn’t help because the man continued to pull down the boxers and the rest Griffin blurred out.
He didn’t want to remember this disgusting moment.
When the man was done with him, he pulled up his pants and stood up in front of Griffin.
“You were such a good boy.” He rubbed Griffin's hair and walked towards the door, but he turned around after he opened it.
“Don’t forget to eat. You’ll need the stamina.” He said before walking out the door.
Griffin sat still on the bed staring at the floor. He couldn’t move, he didn’t want to move. He felt disgusting, revolting. His virginity was taken by a 60 something year old man who had kidnapped him and hidden him in a basement as disgusting as him.
Thinking about this made him need to throw up. He ran to the bathroom around the corner, despite his body screaming at him to stop since he was in pain everywhere. He threw up 3 times before the need to throw up went away, though the urge to still lingered.
His head hung off the toilet and he sat there thinking. Thinking about how many more times he would have to go through this. Thinking about how he would have to get used to it. Thousands of more thoughts flooded his head and before he knew it he had sat up and leaned against the wall next to the toilet.
Tears swelled in his eyes and even though he tried to hold them back, they spilled out and then more came and more, until he was having a panic attack.
Tears fountained down his face, his chest rose and fell uneven and panicked, and he held himself in his own arms then rocked back and forth. He gasped for air and clawed at his chest, trying to allow himself a breath of air.
No one was there to comfort him or calm him down, the only thing to console him was the dimly lit space with a family of spiders in the corner.
That night was the worst night for Griffin. It was the first night that everything happened and he wasn’t prepared, but how could he be, he was just a 14 year old boy.
***
Vance couldn’t sleep.
Every night he would lay on Griffin's bed and try to sleep. His mother got obsessive. She would go to work, stop by the police station for any news, come home, pull out her investigation white board, and spend hours staring at it, constantly moving things and muttering things to herself.
Vance got worse. He would stay up every night, occasionally getting an hour of sleep due to pure exhaustion. Rarely went a full 7 hours to school. He would show up to school and either skip most classes or just not go to school at all.
The guilt ate away at him. It was his fault Griffin was taken by a disgusting excuse of a human. He had never found it hard to sneak on his phone in class so why couldn’t he have texted Griffin to wait for him that day.
Or he could have skipped detention, that was never hard either. He could have at least been with him, if he was they would have been kidnapped together or Vance could have fought him off and saved them both, or Vance could have swapped himself for Griffin.
The list could go on. Vance spent those sleepless nights thinking of all the possible outcomes of how he could have prevented Griffin’s kidnapping.
Whenever he showed up to school and students and teachers would ask how he was doing, he would say ‘I’m fine’ or ‘It’s fine’ or anything along those lines. He didn’t want anyone to see how much he was crumbling apart.
Mainly because he shouldn’t be.
Griffin was definitely facing worse right now. Griffin could be in a basement or an attic, he could be being starved or dehydrated, he could have been raped or abused, or he could be dead.
All because of Vance.
Vance shouldn’t feel sad. He’s not kidnapped right now or the mother of a kidnapped child, he was the reason the boy was kidnapped. He had no right to feel sad and his mum had no right to try and comfort him. She should be yelling at him or hitting him like his father used to.
He would have deserved it.
***
A month after Griffin was taken and the police had showed up to the house less and less. That only made Vance’s mum crazier. She spent more time trying to figure out where Griffin was.
She would forget to eat and forget to sleep and Vance would have to remind her. He would tuck her in and make her dinner.
Vance was still the same. He still kept skipping classes and school, still couldn’t sleep despite the room he was in, and still kept to himself. He would walk around after school hoping he would get any hints of where Griffin was.
It was Monday the 2 of May and Vance had actually gone to school, even though he wished he hadn’t. When the bell went he almost jumped for joy and dashed out of the classroom.
He was doing his afternoon walk around the block, headphones blasting music, eyes jumping from house to house looking for Griffin, and constantly scanning for black balloons.
Today he was rather pissed. Everyone was giving up on Griffin, they thought he was dead and some people had already forgotten his name.
Vance was doing one of his usual blocks when he saw something suspicious. A black van with the words Abracadabra on the side driving past him down the block. Something about the van told Vance to chase it.
He slowly started jogging towards the van and when the van stopped at a light, he knew this was his chance to see if his gut was right or not.
Vance crossed the road, pulled his hoodie up so whoever was inside couldn’t see who it was, and looked into the car through the front screen and saw a man with a creepy mask on. He was disappointed his gut was wrong and before he could look away he saw what he was looking for.
Black balloons poked out from the back.
Before he could run to the car, it drove away down the street. Vance pulled his hoodie down and stared at the van driving away in shock. He dashed down the street back to his house, to tell his mum.
He smashed the door open, dripping in sweat and dashed around the house trying to find his mum, who was lying on the couch staring at the investigation white board.
“MA! MA WHERE ARE YOU? MA- There you are!” Vance panted, dashing to her side.
“yes V? Are you ok?” She said, slightly turning away from the board to look at him.
“I need to talk to the police. I saw this guy driving a black van and he had a creepy mask on and had a bunch of black balloons in the back!” Vance said in a messy sentence, waving around his hands frantically.
Her eyes widened and she stared at Vance for a moment before she hugged him and dashed to the phone, quickly dialling the local police station.
***
Within the hours a police car had shown up and was interrogating Vance in the kitchen.
“Ok so you saw a man with a creepy mask in a black van with the words ‘Abracadabra’ on the side, and you saw black balloons in the back of the car that was on Gilmore street and you think this is the guy who took your brother? Am I getting this right?” One of the officers asked, reading his notepad.
“Yes, I told you a hundred times.” Vance grumbled, throwing his head in his hands.
“Are you sure the man had a mask on?” The other officer chimed in.
Vance rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Am I sure he didn’t have horns and a smile that covers half his face?” He repeated, trying to make the man sound stupid, and he did.
“Are you sure the van had the word ‘Abracadabra’ on the side?” He asked again.
“Yes… well I’m pretty sure that's what it said but that's not the-”
“So you don’t specifically remember or you don’t know?” The officer cut Vance off.
“Um what? I mean what other word has like 10 letters in it other than ‘Alacazam’ or something? What relevance does this have to my brother?” Vance rubbed his head in confusion.
“We’re just trying to understand this story so we can help him.” The officer from before cut the other one off from talking.
“Black van. Black balloons. Creepy mask. Kidnapper. My brother. Got it?” Vance said sarcastically.
“Look, we'll look into this soon, ok.” The officers stood up and walked towards the door.
“What do you mean ‘soon’? Look into it now.” Vance furrowed his brows, following them to the door.
“This isn't a solid proof kid. You have no witnesses to back you up and there is no other evidence.” The nicer officer said, turning to put a hand on his shoulder.
“Why would I lie about this? I’m telling the truth.” Vance said, pushing his hand off his shoulders.
“We know you're not lying. We’ll look into it very soon, ok.” Before Vance could answer they walked away to the car and drove away.
“V, baby, you did-” She was cut off by Vance walking past her.
“It’s fine ma.” He closed the door to Griffin's room and sat on his bed.
He stared at the floor for a while thinking about how much no one cared he was gone. Griffin had no friends so he had no one missing him, his teachers wouldn’t know he existed if it wasn’t for the roll, Vance was the only one Griffin had other than his mother.
Vance looked to the side of the bed and saw Griffin's bedside table with the vanilla coke and lollies Vance had got him one that day. Beside that, he saw a photo of Griffin when he was younger and saw how innocent and sweet he looked, and how different he thought he probably looked.
***
By the next morning everyone had found out about ‘Vance’s breakthrough’ and everyone thought he was crazy. They all were saying ‘Vance has finally lost it’ or ‘Losing a brother does this kind of stuff to people’, all of it made him livid.
He wasn’t crazy.
He was just a 15 year old boy who lost his brother.
Chapter 4: Big Brother Billy
Summary:
Billy Showalter
Notes:
Heyy guys, I was late on this one because I was doing a few other fics and other stuff but here is this one.
Chapter Text
The missing 6- Billy Showalter 1
Billy Showalter was the local paperboy, who delivered the papers with his dog, Harper, every morning despite the weather. Sunny, rainy, windy, snowy, stormy, whatever the weather was he would always deliver the paper.
At school he wasn’t popular but he was well known. When he walked through the halls some people would say ‘Hi’ or ‘How are you’ and he would say hi back. People would pick him in group projects or sports teams because he was a good sportsman and student.
He wasn’t a quiet person, if you spoke to him he’d talk to you until you had to go, but he wasn’t an engaging person, if no one spoke to him, he wasn’t mad, instead he would put on his headphones and go do something by himself.
He also had 5 siblings. 4 year old MJ, 7 year old Dylan, 10 year old Jasmine and Charli, himself, then his older brother Tyson who was 18. He found them all annoying but he loved them all. His youngest sister MJ was his favourite since she loved him so much.
He spent the most time with her when she was a baby so she spent a lot of her 3 years alive with him. When he got home from school, she would run out the door and jump into his arms, followed by Harper.
***
Billy didn’t think he had a best friend but he did have a good friend, Bruce Yamada. Bruce was one of those people who talked to Billy in the halls regularly and said something other than ‘Hi’ and ‘How are you’.
Bruce would have actual conversations with him and sometimes sit with him at lunch. It was a nice friendship Billy had.
The bell for lunch rang and everyone flooded out of the classroom, running towards the cafeteria. Billy walked to his locker and put his books away when he felt someone's presence beside him.
“Hey Billy, wanna go eat lunch on the bleachers?” Billy saw Bruce when he closed his locker.
“Yes, definitely let's go.” Billy said following Bruce towards the bleachers.
“So how's baseball been?” Billy said, bouncing his soccer ball on the floor.
“Yeah it’s been pretty good. We versed this team last week and holy shit they had the best pitcher. I think his name was Vinney and Linney.” Bruce thought to himself.
“I think his name is Finney?” Billy suggested.
“Well he has an amazing throw.” They both sat on the bleachers and looked out over the soccer field.
“So how have you been? We haven’t spoken since…” Bruce paused to think and Billy answered first.
“Since Griffin Hopper-Staggs abduction.” Billy said quietly.
Billy shook his head silently.“I think it’s crazy. I mean the craziest thing in Denver was who won the baseball match that week, then it was about a 14 year old boy in our grade who got kidnapped.” He said thinking about the papers he would hand out before and after Griffin.
“I feel really bad for his brother as well. I can tell he blames himself and everyone thinks he’s gone crazy.” Bruce said, looking at Vance who was sitting alone at the other end of the bleachers with his headphones in.
“I actually think he did see something.” Billy said, looking at Vance as well.
“I mean why would he lie about that and tell the police. I don’t know Vance but I can tell he’s not the type to lie about something like that.” Bruce agreed with him and looked over at Vance and saw Vance was already looking at him.
Him and Billy quickly looked away and hoped he didn’t think they were making fun of him. They looked back over to see if he was still looking and saw Vance had walked away and was walking to the back of the school.
“I also feel bad for Griffin. I mean no one cares, no one even knew him before he was taken. He has no one other than Vance and his mum because he doesn’t have any friends.
“How do you know he doesn’t have any friends?” Bruce asked, sipping on his juice box.
“Well I had a science experiment with him last year and we talked a bit, then when the project was done I started noticing him in more places. And every time he was alone and no one has tried to look for him other than Vance.” Billy said with a frown thinking about Griffin.
“I really hope he gets found.” Bruce says putting his juice box down.
“Alive.” Billy added.
The boys shifted to another topic and kept talking until the bell went. Both boys said their goodbyes and went to their second last class.
***
History and Math went too slow for Billy’s liking but it didn’t matter anymore, he was free and he could go home now. That was all that mattered.
He got on his bike and rode home, waving to Bruce and his sister when he passed them. When he got home, he laid his bike on the fence and turned to the house when he heard a loud, squeaky voice call out.
“BILLYYYYY!!!” A little blonde girl came running from the front door, jumping at him.
“MJJJJJJJ” Billy said, picking her up and spinning her around, then resting her on his side.
“Hiii, how was your day today?” Billy asked, walking towards the door and kneeling down to pet Harper.
“Good. hungry.” MJ demanded and Billy set her down on a chair before he walked over to the cupboard.
“What do you feel like? Mac&Cheese or Yogurt?” Billy said, holding up a packet of Mac&Cheese and a pouch of yogurt.
“CSHEESHHH.” She called out, misspronouncing the name.
“Sure, Mac&cheese.” Billy tried correcting her but knew it was no use.
***
Billy woke up to his alarm and saw the time reading 4:00 am. That was his first alarm so he had another 30 minutes to sleep before he had to get up.
Another 30 minutes later he heard his alarm buzzing again and got himself up this time. He quietly got up and put his clothes on, brushed his teeth, grabbed his school bag and walked out the door. He put his shoes on, then his helmet and got on his bike and rode.
Riding at this time was good for Billy. If Billy did it at this time, he would be able to deliver the papers to everyone with enough time to go home, drop Harper off and make his other siblings breakfast and wake them up.
His parents worked as a doctor and a surgeon so when they weren’t home he had to wake them up and make them breakfast and when they were at home, they would be sleeping so Billy woke them up and made them breakfast.
It wasn’t a chore his parents assigned him, more like a job he gave himself to lessen his parents' to do list. His siblings weren’t horrible, they were quite easy to instruct in the morning and they understood he was the oldest kid there, therefore he was in charge.
When his brother still lived with them, Billy still did that job. He didn’t know if it was because he wanted to be in charge or because he didn’t trust his brother to be punctual.
Billy was half way through his deliveries after 2 water breaks for Harper, since her fur made her very hot when the sun came out and she was running. Harper would always come on rides with Billy, it was her morning ‘walk’ even though she was running.
Billy was turning on to Hargrove lane when he saw a black van slowly drive down the street past him. He remembered that Vance said something about a black van with black balloons.
‘What's wrong about checking it out?’ Billy thought to himself and rode after the van.
When he got to the corner of the street the car had already reached the block over. Billy was going to turn around and ride away when he saw the car turn and the words ‘Abracadabra’ written on the side. That sounded like the van Vance described to the police.
He’d go try and ask Vance about it later at school after he had finished his newspapers. Billy was on his second last block and heard someone call out his name.
“Hey Billy!” He turned around and saw Bruce standing there with a bat in his arms and a backpack over his shoulder.
“Oh Hi Bruce, where you headed.” Billy spun his bike around towards Bruce.
“Going to the field for practice.” Bruce leaned down to pat Harper.
“Really? This early?” Billy asked him.
“Hey you're up this early.” Bruce stood up smiling at him.
“Oh my god. So you know how Vance saw that black van with the word ‘abracadabra’ on the side right? Well I just saw that exact van while riding around.” Billy explained which made Bruce’s eyes widen.
“Are you dead serious. Like your not fucking with me.” Bruce pointed at him, widening his eyes.
“I’m so serious I'm gonna go talk to Vance at school about it.” Billy raised his hands in defense.
“Holy shit, did you get the number plate?” Bruce had hopefulness in his eyes but Billy’s expression didn’t help.
“In my defense I was too busy trying to read the word on the side of the van to make sure this was the one Vance was talking about.” Billy said, trying to reason with Bruce.
"At least you can confirm you also saw the van.” Bruce ran his hands through his hair, trying to think of the positives.
“Yeah, I’m gonna do that after I try and talk to Vance. Well I have to go and finish my papers. Be careful walking to the field.” Billy said, kicking up his stand.
“I will. Be careful riding.” Bruce said, walking away in the direction of the field.
Billy rode down the street and made his way to his last street of deliveries. He cruised along the sidepath, tossing the papers up into the house's drive ways.
He was in deep thought about how he was going to talk to Vance since he wasn’t the most approachable person when Harper started barking beside him.
He looked down at Harper awkwardly since he was still riding but tried to see what she was barking at. She kept running alongside him but kept barking at something in front of him. Billy looked up and before he could swerve he crashed into something black.
Billy looked up from the floor and saw a black car in front of him, that was not there when he looked down at Harper. He tried to get up but he heard a voice telling him to be careful.
“My goodness are you ok young man?” A man with a mask walked over and leaned down to his level.
“Yeah, I’m ok thanks. I didn’t see your car, I'm sorry.” Billy said, rubbing his head.
“You have a cut on your face, do you want some antiseptic spray?” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a spray bottle.
“It’s ok.” Billy said, trying to stand up but the man held his shoulder.
“I insist. Close your eyes.” The man sprayed Billy’s face despite his protests and Billy stumbled back.
Immediately, he began to feel dizzy and nauseous then the man’s hands on him trying to drag him away. When he tried pushing the man away from him he heard Harper barking at the man and jumping on him.
“stoop… off… get off…me.” Billy slurred trying to push him away and heard the man scream.
Billy looked down and saw Harper latched onto the man's leg, biting down hard and drawing blood. Despite the pain in the man's legs he hobbled to the back of the car and threw Billy in there.
“Just close your eyes. Griffin will love having a friend.” Hold on. Griffin? As in Griffin Hopper-Stagg? Kidnapped Griffin?
That's when it finally clicked for Billy. This was the Grabber. He was getting kidnapped. He was gonna end up like Griffin, whatever had happened to him.
When the doors to the back closed the last thing he heard was a thud and the whine of Harper. He wanted to check on her or help her but his eyes became as heavy as weights and he couldn’t help but close them for maybe the last time.
***
Back at the Showalter residence, Mrs Showalter had woken up to the sound of nothing. Normally she would wake up just as the kids were about to leave for school and the kids were normally loud.
She thought that maybe they had left early for school so she got up, went to the kitchen and began making herself a cup of coffee. After she had made it she sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.
“mummy?” A small voice called out that definitely did not come from the TV. She turned around and saw MJ standing in her pyjamas with her teddy bear.
“MJ? Baby what are you still doing in your pyjamas?” She said, pulling her into her lap.
“I d’know.” She looked down to her lap.
“No baby, I’m not mad at you, where is Billy?” She asked, propping her on her side and walking towards the other kids room.
“ Do you know if he woke the others up?” She asked opening the door to the twins room and MJ shook her head.
“Jasmine? Charli? Are you guys still here?” She called out and saw two heads poke out of their blankets.
“Mum?” Jasmine called out in confusion.
“Ok girls, you gotta get up ok, mum’s driving you to school today.” Mrs Showalter said, moving towards Dylan’s room.
“Dyl, you awake baby?” She said loudly and again she saw another kid's head pop out of the blankets.
“I am now.” He said, spinning out of his bed. “Where’s Billy?”
“I think he went to school early, baby, he has tests coming up so maybe he’s studying. Get ready for me please.” She walked out of his room and set MJ down on the chair in the kitchen.
“Mummy. Billy is school?” MJ babbled out meaning ‘Is Billy at school’.
“Yes baby… I hope so.” She muttered out with a forced smile.
***
Chapter 5: Bye Bye Billy
Summary:
“What. What did you find, over!?” Officer Langston with Bruce said hurriedly.
“we found his dog… she’s gone… over.” The crackling of the radio stopped and Officer Langston looked at Bruce.
“That enough proof for you?” Bruce deadpanned at him.
Chapter Text
The missing 6- Billy Showalter 2
Bruce had spent the whole day waiting for Billy to ask Vance about the van, actually he spent the whole day waiting for Billy to show up.
He was quite concerned since Billy spoke about the van then didn’t show up. Though Bruce thought that it was probably because he was speaking with the police. When the last bell went Bruce walked his sister home then walked over to Billy’s house, just to talk to him.
It took him a while to find Billy's house but when he did he walked up to the door and knocked 3 times. When no one answered he knocked another 3 times and while he waited for someone to answer he looked around the yard.
He snapped his head back to the door when he heard the door open and saw a woman standing in medical scrubs and a young girl on her side, drinking a yogurt.
“Hi? Can I help you?” She asked obviously in a hurry to go somewhere.
“Um Hi, are you Mrs Showalter?” Bruce nervously ran his fingers through his hair.
“Yes I am, and you are. Actually, can you hold on one second.” She waited for Bruce to give her a quick nod before he turned around and spoke to someone. “Marcus! You have to hurry and get the kids ready for soccer and gymnastics or else we won't make it to work.”
“Ok go on sweetheart.” She said turning around back to Bruce.
“Um, I was just wondering if Billy was here?” Bruce asked, looking around again.
“Oh you a friend of Billy’s?” She tilted her head, lowering the little girl to the floor and she ran off somewhere.
“Um yeah.” Bruce said weirdly since he didn’t know whether he and Billy were friends or just sometimes friends.
“Oh well he’s probably either still at school or making his way home.” She smiled sweetly at him.
“School?” Bruce furrowed his brows.
“Yes, he left earlier for school today?” She said slightly, letting her smile slip.
“Mrs Showalter, Billy didn’t show up to school today.” Bruce tensed his shoulders.
“What do you mean?” She asked, completely losing her smile.
“I thought he came home and told you about what he saw, so you took him to the police station to tell the police.” Bruce explained quickly and Mrs Showalter put a hand on his shoulder.
“What did he find…?” She said quietly.
“... He was doing the newspapers and he saw the black van Vance Hopper-Stagg described to the police and he was going to ask Vance about it at school.” Bruce explained and watched Mrs Showalter's face falter.
“How do you know this?” She said taking her arm back and putting it on her own arm.
“I was going for an early morning practice and he rode past me. We talked about it and then he rode away to do his last street.” Bruce said, remembering their interaction that morning.
“Ok um- ok I have- police- I have to call them- do you have anywhere to be?- You're probably gonna have to put in a statement since you saw him last- probably the last who saw him-” She was going to keep her messy conversation going but Bruce cut her off and put a hand on her shoulder.
“I can make a statement, Mrs Showalter.” Bruce said, holding her shoulder.
***
Mrs Showalter had called the police and half had been sent to her house and the other half had gone on a search for Billy.
“So early this morning around 5:00 am-” The police officer waited for Bruce to nod his head -which he did- before continuing. “On Hargrove street while going to do an early morning practice.”
“Yes, I did.” Bruce groaned since this was the 20th time they’ve asked him.
“And what did he tell you he saw?” Another officer said.
“He told me that ‘He saw the black van Vance Hopper-Stagg saw’ you know the one with ‘Abracadabra’ on the side.” Bruce explained.
“Well when we confirm that Billy is missing we can look into this.” An officer said standing up and the other followed.
“What do you mean ‘when we confirm Billy is missing’? He obviously is missing.” Bruce stood up and walked to the officers.
“Well he could be with friends or he could be with relatives. We just can’t confirm he’s been taken by-” The officer stopped talking when talking about the Grabber.
“By who? The Grabber?” Bruce said sassily.
“Bruce, son, I know it’s hard losing a friend but-” The officer began speaking but was cut off by the crackle of his walkie-talkie.
“Officer Langston, come in, over.” A voice crackled over the radio.
“This is officer Langston, what do you need, over?” Officer Langston said in front of Bruce.
“We’ve found something we think is related to the Showalter boy, over.” That made Bruce’s eyes widen and Officer Langston look over at him then back at his walkie.
“What did you find, over?” He said back quickly.
“Well we found a phone with a young girl we suspect to be his younger sister as the screensaver, a red bike with newspapers, black balloons and…” The officer talking stopped, which made Bruce and the officer confused.
“What. What did you find, over!?” Officer Langston with Bruce said hurriedly.
“we found his dog… she’s gone… over.” The crackling of the radio stopped and Officer Langston looked at Bruce.
“That enough proof for you?” Bruce deadpanned at him.
“We’ll look into this, we’ll be in touch Bruce.” Officer Langston said walking to his car.
Bruce turned around and looked at Mrs Showalter who was sitting on the couch, hands holding her mouth, eyes red, silent. She had been sitting on the couch ever since the cops got there, occasionally talking to the officers that would ask her.
“Mrs Showalter? Can I do anything for you?” Bruce said slowly strolling over to the couch and sitting down with a gap between them, giving her space.
“no. no thank you. I will be alright, sweetheart.” She mumbled looking up at him.
“Ok. Well I should be going, my mum probably wants me home now.” He stood up and walked towards the door.
“Bruce.” She called out, stopping him at the door.
“Yes, Mrs Showalter?” He turned around and saw him staring at him.
“Could I- I have a hug…?” Her voice cracked when she asked which only made Bruce feel worse for her.
“Of course.” Bruce walked back over to her and was pulled into a hug by her. She held him tight and quietly sobbed into his shoulder.
“We’ll find him Mrs Showalter I promise.” Bruce said, rubbing her back.
“Thank you and please sweetheart, call me Carli.” She pulled away, wiped her tears and gave him a small, tight smile.
“You should go. Your mother will want you home.” She walked him to the door and waved him goodbye.
“Bye Mrs- Carli.” Bruce walked away, quickly speedwalking home.
***
After the night, Griffin had huddled himself into the corner, he only ever moved when he needed to throw up or when the man came down and did things.
The man had this rule of sorts.
When he did a good job in what he wanted, the man would give him basic necessities like a blanket or a clean shirt or shorts. It was disgusting but whenever it did happen at least Griffin got a blanket to hide himself more in the corner.
He thought he was going to die in that basement, whether it was from the man or himself. He didn’t want to give the satisfaction of killing him and the silence was killing him. The room was silent, no water dripping, no fan spinning, no regular background noises. Though he would hate it if someone else got kidnapped and had to go through this.
Griffin was sitting in the corner of the room next to the mysterious black phone on the wall, when he heard the door lock click. Despite the fact that he was already in the corner he tried shuffling himself further into the corner.
“Hey pretty boy, I’ve got a present for you.” The man's sick voice called out from behind the door and Griffin furrowed his brow in confusion since he hadn’t done anything in two days, though obviously he didn’t answer the man.
“I think you’ll like him.” That sentence made Griffin freeze. Him? What did he mean ‘him’. Before Griffin's head could spiral into a tornado, he saw the man walk in with someone in his arms, bridal style.
He dropped the boy -who was obviously passed out from something the man used- on the mattress on the floor and kneeled down to him, brushing his hair back to see his face.
“Such a pretty boy, just like you.” He said looking at Griffin still huddled in the corner then looked back at the other boy, ruffled his hair so it was messily laid on his forehead.
“When he wakes up you two can get to know each other.” He said while he walked out, and locked the door. Griffin noticed that when he walked he was limping, being careful on his right ankle.
Griffin waited a few seconds to make sure he actually had left before he shuffled over to the mattress to see who the boy was and if he knew him. When he reached the mattress he saw the boy had blonde hair and he was wearing a white T-shirt, a red letterman and gray jorts.
He pushed the boy’s hair away from his forehead and he saw who the boy was.
Billy Showalter.
The boy he had a science experiment with last year. He was a guy that actually spoke to him. If Billy saw him in the halls he would say ‘hi’ to Griffin and have a conversation with him unlike everyone else who didn’t even know he existed.
Billy probably forgot he existed. I mean he had been in a basement for the past month and everyone probably forgot about him after a week or two. He kinda had a crush on Billy since the science project but knew that it would never since they were just friends.
He saw Billy squirm a little in the bed and Griffin moved back over to his corner and waited for him to wake up.
***
An hour or two later when the effects of the spray that the man used on Billy had definitely worn off Billy slowly sat up rubbing his eyes. He tried looking around to make sense of where he was but he could barely see the wall across from him.
The room was dimly lit from the moon that came through the window at the top of the room. The walls were stone and the cracks in the walls had black mysterious stains on them and Billy came to the conclusion that he was in a basement.
Why was he in a basement?
How was he in a basement?
Then it all came back to him. The black van, the creepy man with a mask, the ‘spray antiseptic’. The man had purposely drove his car in front of Billy, lied to him about trying to help him, and then kidnapped him.
“How the fuck did I fall for that?” Billy says standing up and running his hands through his hair.
“...don’t beat yourself up about it. I feel for it too.” A small, croaky voice came from the corner and Billy whipped around. He saw a small boy huddled up in the corner with a blanket.
“...Griffin?” Billy said, moving towards him.
“yeah.” His voice sounded like he hadn’t used it since he’d been taken.
“Holy shit. Are you ok? What has the grabber done?” Billy said down from across Griffin.
“Who?” Griffin said, pulling his knee away from his chest.
“Oh um- you wouldn’t know- the man who took you- us, people call him the Grabber.” Billy explains to Griffin.
“Oh.” Griffin responded looking at the floor.
“...Are you ok?” He asked quietly, knowing it was stupid asking a kidnapped kid if they were alright.
“yeah.” It was obvious to Billy that Griffin hadn’t spoken for a while, hell maybe he hadn’t spoken since he was kidnapped. It became more obvious when the door clicked open and Griffin’s eyes widened, slightly shifting closer to the wall.
“Hiya boys. Are you making our new friend feel welcome, Griffin?” The ‘Grabber’ asked Griffin but he knew he wouldn’t get a response.
“What’s your name beautiful?” He walked forward and pet Billy’s hair and out of the corner of Billy’s eye he saw Griffin squirm when the Grabber touched Billy.
“why?” Billy said roughly, waiting to sound as tough and manly as possible.
“Well I need something to call you silly. Or I can give you a nickname…” Billy could hear the smile on his face and it repulsed him.
“No way. I’m Billy.” Billy swatted the hand out of his hair and moved back to Griffin.
“So feisty… I like that.” The grabber held his hand and looked down at Billy. “Unlike Griffy, he’s not so chatty.”
“I don’t blame him.” Billy said sassily and felt Griffin slightly tug at Billy’s shirt, signalling him not to test him.
“And you’ve got a smart mouth. We’ll have fun.” The smirk on his face was almost audible.
“Why don’t you come upstairs with me?”
“Why don’t you go suck a dick.” Billy flipped him off but to his surprise he saw the Grabber’s eyes shift into a joyful shape.
“oh I will.” The Grabber kicked him in the stomach and when Billy doubled down in pain he picked him up and dragged him upstairs. Griffin put his hands over his head and tried to block out Billy’s attempts to get put down.
Griffin hated that he didn’t warn Billy but he didn’t have the chance. By the time Billy woke up, the Grabber had already come down and was planning on Billy.
An hour later the door slammed open and the Grabber walked in with Billy slung over his shoulder. The Grabber threw Billy onto the mattress and left the room, doing up his zipper.
Griffin looked over at Billy and saw him balled up into a circle, hysterically crying while hugging himself. He slowly crawled over to Billy and saw him better. His shorts were ripped and had weird liquid on them, he had no shirt on just his red letterman.
Griffin wondered if this was what he looked like the first time it happened. He put a hand on Billy’s shoulder and cringed when he felt Billy flinch against his touch.
“It’s…it’s just me.” Griffin’s voice was still hoarse but it was reassuring as well.
When Billy heard his voice, he looked up at Griffin with tears still flowing down his face. Griffin looked at him again and quickly walked back over to his corner and grabbed the blanket he got as a ‘reward’.
He threw it over Billy, who had moved to sit up against the wall. Billy looked over at him and the look in his eyes shattered Griffin. His once hopeful and happy eyes had shifted into a sad and traumatised stare.
What startled Griffin was when Billy quickly latched onto him, pulling him into a tight hug. After the shock of it, Griffin wrapped his arms around Billy and gave him the type of hug he wanted when he was first assaulted.
“He- I- I didn’t want to-” Billy began saying in between sobs into his chest before Griffin cut him off.
“I know… i know.” Griffin stroked his hair softly while he spoke to him.
The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable, it was comforting. They stayed in that position for hours and surprisingly for the first time in a while Griffin had fallen asleep. They both woke up to the sound of the door opening and the Grabber setting down a tray of dinner in front of them.
After he left, Billy and Griffin both moved toward the food and Billy was wary of the food while Griffin stuffed his face like he hadn’t eaten in days. When Billy tried it he gagged and dropped the handful of food making Griffin giggle for the first time since he was kidnapped.
“This is shit?” Billy smiled slightly at the sight of Griffin smiling.
“I know but it’s all we get for till tomorrow night.”
“Oh and it’s not sprite, it's actually water. He’s a stingy fucker.” Griffin spoke again, pointing at the bottle labelled sprite, a slight smile remaining on his face.
***
The next morning Griffin woke up to the sound of the door opening. When he noticed Billy was still asleep, he carefully moved to face him without waking Billy up.
“Hiya Beautiful, good sleep?” The grabber strolled over to him and Griffin noticed something in his hands.
“Still not talking huh?” He put his hand on Griffin’s thigh and sighed.
“Well, I just came to give this to our dear friend Billy but I think it’ll be better if you gave it to him.” He placed the paper on Griffin’s lap and walked out the door.
Griffin waited a few seconds to make sure he was gone before he slowly unfolded the piece of paper in his lap.
MISSING CHILD
Name- William (Billy) Jacob Showalter
Age- 15
Birthday- February 12th 1963
Gender- Male
Day of Disappearance- July 31st 1978
Physical Description- 5’4, blonde/brown, short hair, teal eyes, caucasian, skinny, long scar underneath right knee cap
Last wearing- White T-shirt, grey knee length jean shorts, red letterman, white nikes
Last seen by- ‘Best Friend’ Bruce Yamada
Went missing…- Boy was delivering his last round of newspapers and had previously seen the van ‘Vance Hopper-Stagg’ had described. He was going to report it after he finished his newspapers but went missing before he had the chance.
Griffin looked down at Billy after he read through the missing child's report. Billy was sleeping so peacefully, so much more calm then yesterday. Griffin couldn’t blame him though, no kid goes through that without being traumatised.
No kid should go through that
This missing person report made Griffin realise how real this was. Sure it was real when he was being beaten, or assaulted, hell it was real when he was kidnapped but now that Billy was in there as well, he couldn’t pass it off as a bad never ending dream.
Billy and Griffin were taken by a rapist kidnapper in a basement no one knew where and could and would kill them at any point if he pleased.
This was all real.