7 A.M.
Aaron Lim woke up to the sound of his alarm; he felt excited and happy about this day and had a feeling it was going to be a great day. He took a shower, brushed his teeth and got dress in his school uniform. As he went out of the washroom, he noticed that his 18-year old brother, Paul, was still asleep. “Gege (older brother in mandarin),†Aaron was trying to wake Paul up, but Paul tried to swat him away, “Gege, PAAUULL, wake up man, I’m going to be late for school.†Aaron screamed to which Paul indeed woke up to. “Ahhh, it’s so early and your already pissing me off.†He looked annoyed, Aaron looked down in disappointment. “Go get me my t-shirt in my closet, and hurry up.†Aaron quickly obeyed him and ran to their room to get his t-shirt. The two shared a room, they live in a small apartment, and Paul, being the oldest and just getting out of school, could only pay the income, just enough for the two brothers. Their parents died in a car crash 5 years before. But even with that, the two brothers loved and cared for each other dearly, one behind the other’s back. Aaron, came back, still with his head down, he still looked sad now and looked at his brother with a disappointed look, he passed the t-shirt to Paul and Paul quickly put it on, his short black hair was still messy but Paul was a good looking boy. He had an athletic built, tall (around 5’11), his almond shape brown eyes gave a nice feature to his smooth light tan skin. Aaron was like a carbon copy of his brother, except skinnier, smaller and had a lighter skin tone. But he hung his head down still, hoping that his brother would notice him.
“What are you doing Aaron, why do you look disappointed?â€
“Nothing. I was just hoping that you would remember.†He replied with a sad voice.
“Remember? Remember what?†he took something out from under the table that Aaron did not notice,
“You think I’d forget about your birthday?†he gave a wrapped gift to Aaron, who smiled and hugged his brother. “Alright, open it later after we go to the arcade, remember I promised you I’d take you there right? And beside your grown up now, you shouldn’t be disappointed at your cool older brother.â€
“What does that have to do? I still think you’re the best. But okay then, but hurry up I’m going go be late for school.â€
It was Aaron’s birthday, and he was turning 13.
8:30 A.M
(in the bus)
“Alright, I’ll pick you up later from school, if anything happens call me on my cell phone okay, ask one of your friends to borrow a phone or whatever, I’ll be at school around 3:30 alright?â€
The bus stopped and within walking distance, Aaron’s school was there, the kids we’re all going in, Aaron waved at his brother goodbye and the bus drove off.
4 P.M
Aaron was still waiting for Paul with his friend Kevin. Kevin was a rich little kid, with a rich father who owns a big company. He wore the school uniform like Aaron, and a bright red hat he was known to always have worn. Like Aaron, he had a cute Asian features.
“Aaron, you sure Paul is coming, it doesn’t seem like it.â€
“I don’t know, He promised he’d be here for 3:30.†Aaron looked worried.
“It’s 4 now, I think we should go. He promised to bring you to the arcade right?â€
“Yeah. Hey Kevin, can I borrow your phone?â€
“Sure.†He passed his phone to Aaron, and Aaron took out a piece of paper with numbers scribbled onto it.
The phone rang for a couple of second before he heard Paul’s voice.
“Hello? Who is this?â€
“Paul, It’s me, Aaron, I’m using Kevin’s phone…Where are you?
“Oh Aaron, I’m so sorry something came up at work, they asked me to take care of it, I promise you I’ll take you to the arcades next time okay?â€
“What, no Paul... you said you were going to take me today.†Aaron looked really disappointed.
“Aaron, come on man, your old enough to understand these things.†And Paul hanged up the phone.
Aaron looked really sad now, and Kevin wanted to do something about it.
“You know what, I’ll take you to the arcade, it’s Friday anyways and there’s nothing else better to do, come on, my driver will drive us there.â€
With that, Aaron called his brother to get his permission, he told Paul that he was going to be home around 8.
5 P.M
The boys were having a blast at the arcade, playing so many games, playing against each other and what not. It wasn’t until they decided to try out this virtual game, in which you wear a helmet and play as the character you see, while the audience watches you play through the TV screen. Kevin went first, he put his hat on Aaron’s head while he put on the helmet, and he played, the two boys were enjoying and laughing so much, that they didn’t notice someone was approaching them.
A man approached them, pushing a baby stroller along; people around him did not notice there was not in fact a baby on it. The man took a good look around, looking for someone, and he found it. His target was that of a boy wearing a red hat. It could’ve been anyone but he knew it was the right target. He quickly walked towards the two boys, and the play area was away from the public the virtual game was tucked in the corner, covered by other games and whatever.
He walked behind Aaron, took out a cloth and hand gagged him. Aaron tried to scream, and pull the hand away from him, but it was too strong, he could smell something strong, but a few seconds of struggling, he went unconscious. The man put him in the stroller, put a blanket over him and went out of the arcade.
7 P.M
An hour past since then, and Aaron woke up on a cold wet floor. He didn’t know where he was, there were no windows, and the room was big, Aaron tried to stretch out his arm, but he couldn’t, he soon realized that he was handcuffed, his arm was behind his back, his feet was tied to together by rope.
“HEEEELLLLLPPPP†Aaron screamed for his dear life, only to be answered by the door opening and a man holding a roll of duct tape.
“Shut up kid, No one’s gonna hear you hear except me, but I want to shut you up, cuz I hate annoying little kids†the man told Aaron, he had a calm voice.
“Who are you? What do you want fro-mmmpppphhhhhhh?†Aaron was afraid. The man wrapped duct tape around his mouth multiple times as Aaron tried to scream for help. He could not see the mans face, the light was too dim, and the man covered the light from Aaron’s eyes. The only thing Aaron could see is the thin silhouette of the man. He must’ve been young.
“Kid, you’re gonna make me rich.â€
“MMMPPPHHHHHâ€
The man walked away after taping Aaron’s mouth, he went toward the door and left Aaron alone. Aaron could not believe this was happening. He started to cry, the only sound he could hear was his own whimper and muffles through his gags. After a few minutes the man returned, he had a phone with him. He dialed a number and the phone rang loudly. A man on the other side answered.
“I have your son, get 10 million dollars in 48 hours if you want to see him alive.†He said with his calm voice.
“What do you mean? My son is right here beside me. I have no connection with whoever you have. Don’t call here again.†Said the man on the other line. “Dad, who was that?†the voice was familiar to Aaron. It was in fact, Kevin’s voice. The kidnapper ended the call. He looked pissed now. He looked at Aaron for a few second and bent down to unwrap the duct tape from Aaron’s mouth.
“Call your father; any cries for help, I’ll beat you to death.†Aaron was frightened. He had no choice but to do as he was asked. Aaron looked at his captors’ handsome face. He did not expect his captor to look like the way he was, except for the fact that he had a huge scar across his right cheek. The kidnapper threw the phone at Aaron. He knew that he had no choice but to call Paul. It wasn’t after a couple of calls that Paul answered. He did not tell the kidnapper that he had no father, but either way, his brother was the father figure in his family.
“Paul, Help me plea-“before Aaron could finish, the kidnapper took the phone.
“I will give you 48 hours to raise 1 million dollars. I will call tomorrow for further directions. Time will start at exactly twelve o’clock. Goodbye.†And the line was cut off.
The kidnapper quickly regagged Aaron, and left him alone for the night.
10 P.M
Paul was pacing around; he still couldn’t believe what had happened. He had no money, and he did not know how to get that much money that quickly. He then heard a knock on the door, and quickly rushed to open it. It was Paul’s friend Ken.
“Hey Paul, you sounded really worried on the phone when you called. What’s wrong?â€
“I just needed to relieve some stress, I can’t waste time, I need your help.â€
TBC
Thanks for reading guys, feedback is much appreciated. I know there wasn’t a lot of TUG, there’s gonna be more TUG in the other one xD
