For You

August 1st, 2011
6:45 PM
Location – Thunder Bay, Ontario
Jordan

Eric and Tanya picked up pizza that night, but no one really ate, due to the fact that no one was even hungry what so ever after the events of this afternoon. Everyone is tired, upset, emotionally drained, and wishing they were there to help prevent the incident.

We’re all huddled in the living room of my parent’s house. I’m sitting on the couch with Jared, who has the seat reclined backward and is attempting to fall asleep. I look to my left to see Maria sleeping with her head on my shoulder. I look over at the bigger couch to see Lindsay trying to sleep on Marcs lap with Makayla’s head on Marc’s chest as Marc tried to sleep but wasn’t succeeding. I look over on the floor to see Joe watching TV. Mrs. Mariani and my parents are with Eric and Tanya sitting at the table behind me. It was like we were one big family right now, everyone was here with one another.

Everyone but Azalia was here.

We had the news on the T.V., but so far nothing about the escaped convict or Azalia has popped up. I rub my forehead with my free hand. I really couldn’t remember anything about this guy and it was pissing me off that I couldn’t remember anything.

I get up and rest Maria’s head onto the couch and walk over to the window we had that looked over our backyard rink. It was then I began wondering if Azalia was okay, if he hurt her, raped her, hell, if he even attempted to or succeeding with killing her. It was really sad that I had to be going through this event. I always felt bad for people who had to go through this, but I never imagined that I myself would have to go through it.

“You okay?”

I see Jared standing next to me out of the corner of my eye. We both stare out into the back yard where our rink was dismantled. I don’t say anything, only because I don’t know what or how I am feeling right now. “I don’t even know Jare,” I begin as I keep staring at nothing. I don’t even look at him, but from the corner of my eye, I can see he feels hurt, lost, sad, you name it, he is probably feeling that emotion. “How are you holding up?”

“My best friend is missing, how do you think I’m holding up?”
“I know, I think we’re all feeling the same.”
“Why’d it have to be her?”

I really wish I knew the answer to this question myself. Why did it have to be her? I would’ve rather been in her place right now only so I knew that she was okay. She didn’t do anything to deserve what happened to her. Hell, we were just arguing outside. It was like she was picked at random. “I don’t know Jared, I can tell you though I wish it were me not her.”

“I know you do,” he sighs. “What if they don’t find her?”
“If they don’t find her I’m going to go find her myself.”
“What if…”
“Whether she’s dead or alive Jared, I will kill this man with my bare hands.”
“You really do love her, don’t you?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“GUYS!”

We turn our attention away from the window when we hear Marc yell for everyone. “THE TV!” He yells as we all sit around the T.V. to see a female news broadcaster talk about the escaped convict. I sit in front of the T.V., I needed to hear about this one, I needed to know if he had her or not.

“If you are just tuning in, convict Spencer Bradley has escaped from the Ontario Penitentiary last night,” she says.
“Didn’t he rape those teenage girls in Toronto and kill one of them?” Jared asks.
“He killed three of them,” Eric corrects him.
“Shh!” I say.

“For those of you who do not know who Spencer Bradley was arrested for the murder and raping of three teenage girls back in March.”
“Can you just show us his ugly face please!?” I yell.
“Are you okay?” My mom asks.
“I maybe going crazy, no big deal,” I sarcastically say, without turning my attention away from the T.V.

“If you have seen this man, contact the local authorities, immediately.”

I’m taken a back soon as his picture is plastered on the T.V. screen. I’m staring at a man in his late thirties, maybe early forties. I’m staring more closely at the T.V. now, as I’m looking at a man with a mess in his long, Jesus hair, pale skin, and gray-green eyes. You can tell by the look on his face that he is crazy and most likely belongs in a mental institution. “Guys…” I slowly say as a feeling came into the gut of my stomach.

“Jordan, are you okay?” Eric asks me.

I get up as the feeling in my gut is getting worse. A sense of seeing this guy somewhere comes over me, and I beginning to feel light headed. “Jordan, you look like you’re gonna pass out!” Marc yells at me as I feel my eyes roll to the back of my head.

“JORDAN!” I hear Maria, my mom, Tanya, and Lindsay yell before everything went black.

Flashback

July 29, 2011 – August 1, 2011
Location – Thunder Bay, Ontario
Jordan

“GUYS! THERE HERE!”
“Jared you’re acting like a little kid on Christmas day!” My dad yells.
“Shut up, I haven’t seen my best friend since May!”

I don’t blame Jared for being this excited; I was pretty excited too, considering I haven’t seen Azalia since April. Her and her families were coming in for a week so we could all get together before training camp. Everyone was excited; it was like we were one big family.

“Are you actually going to tell her?” Eric says to me as he sits on the porch with me.
“Maybe, I’ll surprise you all.”
“Dude, hurry up and tell her before she moves on.”
“Eric, she loves Marc, who will never leave Lindsay for her.”
“Please, I’m pretty sure she is over Marc.”
“Highly doubt it.”

We watch them all pile out of the car as Eric and I stood up. I feel Jared push me over as I grab the railing for support. I watch her jump into Jared’s arms, she looks happy to see him. Then again, the two of them are inseparable. Hell, I’m pretty sure they’ve told people they are related when the two are together.

I walk down to them and say my hellos. I finally get to Azalia, who is just looking at me. “Hey you,” I smile but I noticed something odd about Azalia. She wasn’t smiling back. She looked upset, as if someone did something to hurt her feelings. “So…no hug?” I try to joke.

“Hi Jordan.”

With that she walks into the house with her duffle. Everyone stops what they are doing to watch. We all watch her walk past Marc without even acknowledging his presence. It was weird and not typical of Azalia to just walk past Marc. Last I checked, she was madly in love with him. “Is she okay?” I ask to no one in particular.

“She was fine the whole car ride here, she’s probably just tired,” Makayla says in her defense.
“Tired my ass,” I mumble under my breath.

A few hours later we were sitting at the dinner table, listening about their car ride from Chicago to Thunder Bay. Azalia is sitting in between Maria and Jared, but she isn’t talking. Hell, she isn’t even eating that much. “Aren’t you going to eat?” I ask her. She doesn’t look at me; she just sits there and looks at her phone.

“I think I’m going to go lay down,” she finally says.
“Is everything okay?” Eric asks her.
“I’m fine…really, just tired.”

With that, she retreats to the guest bedroom and no one sees her the rest of the night. My mind triggers to Marc and the fact that he is most likely fucking with her head…yet again and she’s realizing that he’s never going to dump Lindsay for her. I turn my head toward him and shot him a glare that he doesn’t see.

The next day rolls around and we all go tubing on the lake. She still won’t look at me or talk to me for that matter. I’m not sure what I did, or if I even did anything, I just know something is wrong. When dinner came, she hardly ate again and went upstairs due to her being “tired”. I roll my eyes when she claims she’s tired.

“Why don’t you be a man and find out what’s wrong?” Eric says to me that night as we sit on the deck.
“I know what’s wrong, Marc is fucking with her head.”
“If Marc were fucking with her head, I don’t think she’d take it out on you.”
“I’m going to kill him if that’s the case.”

The next thing I knew was it was today, the day I had no idea would be the day from hell. I walked into the kitchen after a shower to find everyone but Azalia sitting at the kitchen table in their swim gear. I’m in no mood to swim or go boating; I’m in no mood for anything really. “We ‘re going to attempt to go water ski, want to join?” Jared smiles.

“No.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m not in a good mood. Where’s Azalia?”
“Upstairs, she’s reading a book.”
“Is she coming with?”
“No.”
“Of course.”
“We’ll be back later, in the meantime though, find some happy drugs.”

With that they all leave as I just sit at the kitchen table. I apparently needed “happy drugs”. I didn’t need any drugs; I just needed Azalia to stop treating me like a doormat and act normal again. I didn’t do shit for her to be acting like this.

A few hours rolled by and everyone was boating still, while Azalia was missing in action. I decided to attempt to go for a walk, to clear my mind and maybe find the courage to tell Azalia in a calm matter I loved her. I barely made it to the end of my street when I not only heard the door in the garage close, but I heard someone yell, “Jordan!”

It was Azalia.

I turn my head to see her walking toward me, wearing a pair of jeans and a gray tank top. She barely has any make up on and her bangs are swept to the side, covering part of her eye. I walk a little closer to her, as I try to contain myself from having a nervous breakdown or a rampage. “Hi,” is all I say, because to be quite honest, I’m fucking pissed off.

“Jordan, I know you are pissed off at me—“
“You know damn well I am pissed off at you. What did I do for you to treat me the way you have been for the past two days?”
“Absolutely nothing.”
“Then why are you acting like this?”
“Jordan…I…I don’t know how to tell you this…”
“I knew it.”
“What do you mean?”
“When are you going to understand?”
“Understand what?”
“HE IS NEVER GOING TO BREAK UP WITH HER!”

The look on her face is complete shock. She looks upset and I knew for a fact this was going to get ugly and I was probably not going to have a chance to tell her that not only do I love her, but also I’m sorry I’m yelling at her over this. She’s finally brining her face to mine, and the look of pure anger is written all over her. She walks over to me and slaps me across the face. “You really think I’ve been avoiding you because of your damn brother?”

“When are you going to admit to me that you love him?”
“When you stop be a jackass we’ll talk about it.”
“How the actual fuck am I being a jackass when you’ve just been a bitch to me for the past twenty four hours? Explain that one, why don’t you.”
“Jordan, I’m not avoiding you because of Marc.”
“You don’t have to lie to me.”
“I’m not lying.”
“You damn well are lying to me.”
“See Jordan! You’re being a jackass. I came out here to apologize and tell you why I’ve been avoiding you, but forget it, you’re being a child.”
“How am I being a child?”
“Just shut up Jordan and don’t talk to me the rest of the week.”

I watch her head toward the garage. I knew now that I had to say something. I needed to stop her from going back into the house. Plus, there was no way I couldn’t leave her alone for the rest of the week. “Azalia wait!” I yell after her as I run toward the garage. She turns around as I stop, I had to tell her before it was too late. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What---“

She stops talking and her skin tone goes from olive to pale white. She looks like she just saw a ghost. She stands still, she doesn’t say anything and her eyes are overlooking my shoulder. “Jordan,” she gets out, but they way she says my name sounds like there is a chill in her voice.

“Azalia, what’s wrong?”
“Who is that?”

I turn around and see a man standing in my parent’s driveway. He looks familiar to me, as if I’ve seen him before. He has long, Jesus looking brown hair, gray green eyes, and pale skin. The look on his face makes him out to be someone who looks like they belong in a mental institution. I turn to look at Azalia, who is still standing there, still looking pale white. “Stay there,” I tell her as I begin to walk over to the man. I stop a few inches away from him, maybe even a good foot away. “What do you want?” I yell at him.

The man doesn’t say anything; he’s just staring at me as if he wants something from me. I feel my stomach turn into knots. We just stare at each other and I began to get the feeling Azalia is scared out of her damn mind. “Get the fuck off my drive way,” I yell at him. He doesn’t budge. “I said, get off my drive way,” I repeat.

I turn my body around and look at Azalia, who is surprisingly still standing there. She still looks petrified, but she doesn’t want to move. “Azalia, get in the house now!” I demand at her.

“I’m not leaving you out here Jordan.”
“Azalia, get in my fucking house now.”

With that, I march over to the man and lay him one right in the face. “JORDAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” I hear Azalia yell as I watch the man grab the side of his face with his free hand., as I see a little bit of blood forming. He then looks at me and gives me a devious smirk, and that’s when he lost it. He pushed me, and in typical Jordan Staal fashion, I pushed back.

That’s when he lost it.

“JORDAN!”

I hear Azalia yell as I feel his fist hit my face. I remember losing my balance, due to the fact that it felt like I was shot in the head. It was at that moment I smacked my head on the driveway and blacked out for a good minute. What woke me up was someone screaming. It was a high pitch scream. I looked up and saw I was lying on my stomach.

“JORDAN!”

I look up and see Azalia over the mans shoulders, reaching her hands out for me. “JORDAN! JORDAN I NEED YOU!” She’s yelling for me as I extend my hand, in hopes I can grab hers. The screams grow faint and all I can hear is, “JORDAN!” The figure with Azalia fades in the distance and I drop my arm down, roll onto my back, and close my eyes.

Present Time

“Jordan!”
“Will someone get a wet towel please!?”
“Dude wake up!”
“I really hope he didn’t hit his head again.”

I hear the voices of Tanya, my mother, Eric, and Maria as I try to snap back to reality. I finally open my eyes to see Tanya holding a wet rag to my forehead and my mother checking my pulse. “Oh good, you’re alive!” My mother cried as I watch Tanya remove the wet rag from my face.

“Please tell me you didn’t hit your head again.”
“He has her,” I mumble.
“Huh?” Tanya begins. “Who has who?”
“Spencer…has…Azalia.”

The whole room goes silent as I finally get up. I look around to see Marc holding Lindsay, Eric holding Parker, Mrs. Mariani standing there with my dad, while Maria, Makayla, and Joe are just looking at me as if I went nuts. “Are you sure?” My dad finally says.

“I’m positive. When I past out, the whole incident replayed through my head, he has her.”
“I’m calling the cops,” Eric begins as I cut him off.
“No, only because they are not going to do shit. I’ll find her.”
“And how the fuck do you expect to do that when we have no idea were she is?” Eric yells now.
“Boys, language!”
“I don’t know, I’ll figure it out Eric.”
“Well, you’re not going by yourself,” Marc says.
“And who says I want you to go with me?” I yell back at him.
“Guys, I think we’re just better off calling the cops, it’s not like we can call her and be all like ‘Azalia, where are you?’ because odds are, she doesn’t have her phone,” Jared yelled, trying to prevent another outburst between Marc and I.

I look over at Jared after those words came out of his mouth. That was a genius idea. “Jared, you’re a genius!” I yell as I pull out my cell phone. I look up to see everyone looking at me. I hear Eric clear his throat as I look for Azalia in my recent calls list.

“And what exactly made Jared a genius?” He asks.
“Azalia ALWAYS has her phone on her, I don’t know why we didn’t think of this in the first place.”
“You just better hope to God she answers that phone,” Marc says.

I put the phone to my ear and listen to the ring on the other line. I felt my heart pound as if it were going to erupt out of my chest. “C’mon Azalia,” I say under my breath as I keep listening to the phone ring. It was at that moment it stopped ringing. I wasn’t sure if the call dropped or not. That’s when I heard it, I knew she was safe, for now.

“Jordan, is that you?”