A couple of adolescents were taken from the



streets of New York City on October 14.



Victims Addyson Ayre and Darian Michaels



were suspected to have been walking the



the streets around 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM.



Police suspect foul play. If spotted,



witnesses are urged to go straight to



the authorities. Male victim, Darian



Michaels, was last seen wearing a dark,



navy blue t-shirt with jeans. The victim



is 5 '9' and has dark hair and dark eyes.



Female victim, Addyson Ayre, was last seen



wearing a white Paramore t-shirt and sweat-



pants. The victim is 5 '3' and has blonde



hair and green or blue eyes. A reward for



Darian Michaels' safe return is being offered



by the family. Addyson Ayre's family has



yet to be identified.






For more information see page 6.

Madelyn sat at an empty kitchen table, newspaper in hand, a half eaten piece of toast in the other. She was intently reading the most recent copy of the New York Times.

At sixteen, she was used to taking care of herself. Since her mother was no longer in the picture, Maddie lived alone with her full time police chief father. Her dad practically lived at the station, so most days, she had the apartment to herself.

So she spent most of her hours two floors down at her friend Hannah's place. Hannah's mom treated Maddie like a daughter, which was much more than she had received from her actual mother.

A sharp knock on the door pulled Maddie away from her reverie and back to her paper.

“Come in!” she called, shoving the remainder of the toast in her mouth.

Hannah came through the door, bags under her eyes and an energy drink grasped in her hand. Maddie offered her a chair at the kitchen table as she got up to go fetch something from the kitchen.

“How bad was it?” Maddie asked as she rummaged through the refrigerator.

“It was worse than last week, Mads,” Hannah rested her head on the back of her chair and closed her eyes, “Sometimes I wish Cami would just move out, ya know?”

Maddie nodded sympathetically. Cami was Hannah's nineteen year old sister who had gotten pregnant about a year ago. The baby was now three months old and very colicky.

Maddie brought Hannah some left over coffee cake and a cup of orange juice. Color started to return to Hannah's cheeks as she began to eat.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, mouth full.

Maddie nodded.




Once Hannah was finished eating her breakfast, they hurried out the door to school. Living in New York City, a car was unnecessary, so neither of the girls bothered to get their license. Or learn to drive for that matter. So, they walked to school every morning. The walk wasn't too long, but they always stopped for a coffee on Mondays. Maddie had insisted it was the best way to start the week and Hannah didn't argue. So they made sure to leave early this morning.

In line at the counter of a local cafe, Hannah turned to Maddie.

“Look,” she hissed under her breath, “the booth in the corner.”

Maddie directed her attention to the corner of the room. There was a boy sitting there. His dark hair hung over his eyes as he stared down at the menu.

“Cute, right?” Hannah smirked.

Maddie shrugged.

“Oh, come on!” Hannah shoved her shoulder, playfully and laughed, “You so think he's cute!”

Maddie turned around and gave the boy a once over. He was well built and tall. The kind of guy who Maddie guessed looked nice in a pair of skinny jeans. There was nothing that struck her with any interest, however.

Maddie shrugged again.

Hannah stuck her bottom lip out, like she always had when she wanted to get her way, “Fine, if you don't think so, I'll just go talk to him.”

Maddie gave Hannah an annoyed look as she flounced off to talk to the kid, calling, “Order me the usual!”

Maddie stared after her, unbelieving, until the lady at the counter snapped at her, “Hey, your holding up the line!” Maddie then turned and ordered their coffee and made sure to give the cashier a generous tip.

Two coffees in hand, Maddie approached the booth in the corner of the room. Both Hannah and the boy looked up at her. This made Maddie even more annoyed.

“Hey, Hannah,” she sneered, “it's nice to see you again. You remember we have school, right?”

“Maddie, this is Scott. He goes to the a prep school in Jersey. Hot right?” at this, Scott flipped his hair out of his eyes and looked up at her. This annoyed Maddie even more than Hannah saying “Jersey.”

“Yes,” Maddie replied, rolling her eyes, “it's oh-so-very sexy. Can we go now?”

Hannah huffed and then puffed her chest out, “Fine,” she turned to Scott, “Call me later?”

“I'll make sure I do,” was what he said.

And with that, they left the cafe.




Maddie walked home from school alone.

It wasn't because Hannah was irked with her about what happened in the cafe that morning, although she was, but it was because she preferred to take the long way home, which passed the station. Even though she didn't have much time to spend with her father, she still loved him, which was much more than she could say about her mother. Maddie still couldn't find the forgiveness in her heart to give to her mother. She despised the woman with a burning passion. Just the thought of her made Maddie clench her fists as she pushed through the station doors.

Ben, the man sitting at a desk near the front, greeted Maddie as she walked in. She made her way to her dad's office with a doughnut in one hand and a coffee in the other.

She pressed her back up against the door to shove it open.

“Hi, Dad,” she said as she skillfully balanced the coffee and kicked the door closed.

“Hey, hon,” he said reaching out for the doughnut, “You know you don't always have to do this everyday. Soon I won't be able to fit through the door.”

Maddie knew these were just words of kindness to her. Her dad, of course, wanted her to come by everyday and bring him a doughnut. You know what they say about cops and their doughnuts.

“It's no problem,” she said passively, “You up to anything today?”

“Nothing. Just a few missing kids,” he scratches his head, “It's odd. This has been the fourth kidnapping in a month, all within a street next to each other, and we can't find any leads?”

“Patterns?”

“Only neglect,” he said and when Maddie gave him a look of confusion, he added, “Their parents.”

Maddie nods. She knew this made the victims the perfect target. No one would notice them missing right away.

She picked up the paper that was lying on her dad's desk, “Is this from today?”

“Yup,” he said, still staring down at his work.

Maddie scanned the article. It was the same one she had been reading earlier this morning. She saw the excerpt her father had circled in red ink. Her eyes fell upon the images of the victims. The girl looked slightly disoriented in her picture. It wasn't a school picture. It looked like she had taken the picture herself.

She then looked at picture of the boy, Darian, and stopped. Her jaw dropped.

“Dad?” she said.

“Yeah,” he muttered, still not looking up.

“Have any of these kids been found?”

“No,” he said and pauses, “Why?”

Maddie shakes her head, “No reason. Just wondering,” she managed to say.

Her father looked her square in the face, his eyebrows furrowed into a straight line, “Maddie if you know or have seen this kid, you have to let the police know.”

“Oh, I don't know him,” she denied, slowely inching her way out of her fathers office, “See ya' tonight, Dad!” she called, as she ran out the door.

She left the station sure of several things.

One, Darian Michaels was not missing.

Two, she had to find Hannah.

And three, she had just lied to her father for the first time.

Darian Michaels was not who he said was. In fact, he didin't go by Darian now. He went by Scott.

And Maddie was almost certain that wasn't a good thing.