DARKNESS FALLS

George's pov

"Hello, George," a trembling voice said as I answered the call from an unknown number.

"Who is this?" I asked, curious to know who was on the other end of the line.

"It's me, Ruth," She replied.

"What's wrong, Ruth? Your voice is shaking," I said, a wave of concern washing over me.

"I got a call this morning from a kidnapper who said that Charlotte is with them," she said, her voice breaking with emotion. "I don't know what to do."

"Wait, what?" I stammered, my heart sinking in my chest. "You mean my Charlotte has been kidnapped?"

"Yes, she was taken this morning," Ruth sobbed, her voice thick with emotion. "I don't know what to do."

I struggled to take in what I was hearing, my heart was beating really fast.

"Calm down Ruth, I managed to say even though I'm also scared my love is in the kidnappers' den. " How did it happen?

"I don't really know George but I think she was taking her daughter to school". She said,

"Wait, her daughter" I asked, my mind was reeling with so much confusion. 

Ruth's story wasn't making sense, and I was starting to think that Charlotte had been hiding something from me.

I had been suspicious of Charlotte for a while now. Last week, she told me that Loretta didn't want to go back to her mother after the holiday, and would be staying with her instead. I didn't question her at the time, but now I was starting to wonder if there was more to the story. Could it be that Charlotte had been hiding something from me all along?

"George, I called Loretta her daughter since she's like a daughter to her" Ruth's voice brought me back from my thoughts.

"So who is Loretta's mom?" I asked.

"George, does that matter now? Charlotte is in trouble, let's do something" She said.

"I will put a call through to the police and the search will begin" I said even though I was confused but I need to save my love first before anything .

"What about Loretta?" I asked.

"I've called her school and I was sure she is safe," She said.

"You have her school line?" I asked, feeling even more confused. I thought Loretta just started school, so how could she have her school line already? I wondered if there was something I was missing, like Loretta had been living with Charlotte all along.

"Um, um," Ruth hesitated, her voice betraying a hint of deception. "I accompanied Charlotte to her school last week when she went to register her so we were both given the school contact," she finally said. I could tell there was something she wasn't telling me, but I didn't want to press the issue right now.

"It's ok, I will do something right away" I said and we hung up.

I called the police and told them about the kidnapping, explaining the situation and they promised to do whatever they could to help find Charlotte. 

I was so worried about what could have happened, and my mind kept racing with possibilities. A part of me was starting to suspect that my dad might be involved in the kidnapping, given his anger and disappointment at my refusal to marry Sandra. 

I gathered my courage, marched into my dad's room and confronted him directly about the kidnapping.

 "Dad," I said, immediately he asked me to enter. "I need to know if you had anything to do with this. I know you're upset about me not marrying Sandra, but this is not the way to solve the problem."

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Did you kidnap Charlotte?" I demanded, my voice was shaking with so much rage.

"Who's Charlotte?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"She's the woman you kidnapped, the woman I want to marry" I shouted back, my voice trembling with fury. I could barely believe he was pretending to not know who she was. I was so angry and confused, and I just wanted answers.

"Stop this nonsense!" he roared. 

"How dare you accuse me, your own father, of kidnapping someone? How dare you? I don't even know who this woman is". His voice was shaking with anger and disbelief. I could tell he was deeply offended by my accusation, but I couldn't back down now. I had to know the truth.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I reached into my pocket and pulled it out, glancing at the caller ID. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it was a private number. I definitely believe it would be the kidnappers.

 I hit the answer button and put the phone to my ear. "Hello?" I said.

A deep, menacing voice came through the phone. "We have your girlfriend," it said. "And we want to kill her because of your disobedience."

"What do you mean because of my disobedience?" I asked.

"I'm not in for all your foolish questions, next time try and be obedient" the voice said.

"But you should punish me instead," I said.

"Yeah, It wasn't about her," the voice said. "It was about you. You see, we know you and Sandra were supposed to get married. But you chose to be with Charlotte" He said.

I felt my stomach churn. This couldn't be real. But as I looked at my father, standing there with his head bowed, I was confused. A part of me wanted to believe he was innocent, but the evidence was stacking up against him. 

"Did my father send you?" I asked, looking over at my father, who had a strange look on his face.

"I'm afraid we can't disclose that information," the voice said in a monotone. "But I can assure you that if you don't see Charlotte again, you'll do what your father wants."

I felt a chill run down my spine. They 

were trying to blackmail me into doing something. 

"That's very stupid," I said, my voice rising in anger. "I would never marry Sandra, no matter what happens to Charlotte. And if you harm her, I'll find you and make you pay for it. I swear it."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I heard a loud noise over the phone. It took me a moment to register what it was, a gunshot. 

"What was that?" I asked, my voice trembling. But before the voice on the phone could answer, I heard another gunshot.