Lukas's POV

After James had woken up, we were all back together again. Although, not the same...
Analiese seems relatively fine other than going to sleep, which is a bit odd, but hey, we're not complaining. But James...He's been here 2 days, and about 3 or 4 times a day, he'll scream or panic or cry spontaneously until we calm him down. We didn't know exactly why, okay well, we knew why, just not specifically why. He refuses to leave Analiese's side, especially at night, he refuses to go outside, he's afraid to go back to school, even though we don't know when he'll go back to school. He even makes sure that all the doors and windows are locked. He's actually started scaring me and Jesse.

Yesterday we brought James to the police station so that he could tell them what happened. He struggled, crying and breathing heavy. That was our first time hearing James talk about what happened too, and we couldn't believe what we heard. I couldn't decide wether to be proud of James or horrified for him. He talked about the chain on the wall, the recorder, their living conditions, and lastly....the most mortifying thing....the rope. He was suffocating....that's why he had those bruises on his neck...he was being strangled. Unfortunately, the police couldn't get enough information to try and locate the place James and Analiese were held. James only said that they were surrounded by trees, driving on a gravel road, were in a very old house, and were locked in a basement. He didn't have a specific enough description, since there we about a hundred 1900's abandoned houses with that description. He said that he couldn't think of what the outside of house actually looked like since he had forgotten after 9 long days of not seeing anything but the basement. But something that shocked me was how smart and brave he was. I mean, James is a smart kid and is incredibly mature for his age, but they way he talked to Cain was incredible. He asked about Cain's life, and used the information he gained to try to convince him to stop what he was doing. Even going so far as to beg Cain to hurt him instead of Analiese.

I called Jeremy and invited him to our house. I wish it could've been under better circumstances, but unfortunately that's not the case. When he arrived, the moment he saw James, he could see the distress in his eyes. He understood the horrors that Cain had put him through just by looking at him. James hesitated, taking a step backward, then looked behind him to look at Analiese playing on the couch. He walked over to James slowly, and knelt down next to him. Saying in a calm voice,

"James, I'm very glad that you're home. But you needn't be afraid of me. I'm going to try and help you catch Cain as much as I can. May I ask you a few questions?" Jeremy reassured him. There was a long silence as James thought, but eventually he nodded, though not without giving up the unsure look he gave Jeremy. Jeremy and I both agreed that the first thing we needed to figure out was where Cain was. Now we know that James doesn't know much about the place that he was held, but maybe Jeremy can figure out something no one else can. He does know Cain better than all of us after all. Jesse and James sat on the couch next to me while Jeremy sat across from us.

"James, can you describe the place you were at?"

James sighed, "Um...it took what felt like 45 mins to get there, on a gravel road that was surrounded by trees. Uh, the house. It was old, very very old. It had a very old athletic too, I think I said it might have been 1970s?" James said. Jeremy squinted in response, but otherwise stayed silent.

"And what about the inside? What did that look like?"

"It was dusty, and riddled with cobwebs. It hardly had any furniture, and I don't think there was any electricity. But...uh...there was wallpaper with ugly cherubs on them. The Basement..." James once again hesitated, trying to swallow his fear of that place. "...it was just as you'd expect. Empty, cold, dark..."

Jeremy's eyes widened as James mentioned the cherubs. We made eye contact, and he subtly cocked his head to the side. Jesse, Jeremy, and me, all stood up. But I grabbed Jesse's hand and she looked at me, a bit confused. I sat her back down and told her to stay. "Why? I want to hear what Jeremy has to say aswell."

"Honey, if we both leave the room then James might panic. It'd be worse if he was left alone with Analiese. Please, stay here with them. I'll tell you after." I warned her. She reluctantly sighed before agreeing to stay. I smiled and kissed her forehead. I left the living room and went into the James' room with Jeremy. This was the first time I had gone in his room since he went missing. But surprisingly, the torment that washed over me anytime I had looked at it had now washed away just as fast as it had came. It now served as a reminder that I had my son back and how strong he really is. Jeremy looked me in the eye and said, "At first, I didn't know if I'd have any clue about where Cain could be lurking. We had so many different hideouts during our time together. But the place that James has described sounds almost identical to the last place we resided before our last misadventure."

"Mr. Porter...I know where it all happened..."