Keep On Searching For You

I wasn't one to really complain about body pains but the pain was so strong that I couldn't take it anymore. Earlier this morning, I got beat up by Cody and his gang. I just realized that things seem to be moving quite fast. And I also realized that Mrs. Gomez was right about everything all along. She's smart enough to find out who took her daughter. Sooner or later, she's going to find us with people who could help her out. I am getting quite worried about Garrett, Pat and Kennedy. Where could they be now? I reached out for the food that they left for us last night and started eating my meal with my own hands for they didn't provide us with utensils.

“Good morning, O'Callaghan,” Summer greeted.

“Not much of a good one for me,” I replied letting out a soft laugh.

“Why? What happened? Was I stuck in a deep sleep?” she asked, curiously.

And so I told her what happened this morning as detailed as possible. “So, early in the morning, Cody woke me up by throwing me to the other side of the room with a spoon in my mouth. He held me with full force, alright. After that, he picked me up with his right hand and tied me up to the wall and punched my abdomen over and over with a metal stick,” then she pulled up my shirt just a few inches above my stomach to look at the bruises and scars I got. When she pulled it down, I continued, “and then he put four ice cubes in my mouth and poured sand all over me.”

“Well, that explains the sandy clothes,” she said jokingly.

“And then,” I continued, “he punched me a whole lot of times and that explains the extremely huge bruise on my right cheek. He even made me remove my shirt and made scars on my back with a cutter. After that, he kicked me once again and I was left unconsciously lying on the cement.”

I was looking down the whole time I was telling her the story. So when I finished, I looked back up at her and she was in tears. Her face was red and her eyes were filled with water slowly overflowing and falling down her cheeks. She was looking right at me and when her eyes connected with mine, more tears trailed down her beautiful face. I hate seeing her this way. I shouldn't have told her. Fuck, John. Why are you so stupid? Summer and I are already stuck in this hellhole and here I am messing things up even more.

Fuck, Summer. Please stop crying. I love you. It's alright. We're going to be okay. Why can't I get those words out of my mouth? What if all this time, she had feelings for me and she was just waiting for me to tell her first? My life story is completely fucked up. Right at this moment in my life, I shouldn't be thinking about that. I should be thinking about how we're supposed to get out of this place. I should be thinking about making Summer happy even though we're stuck in this misery.

“Stop crying, Summer. I'm—” I paused for she cried even harder, “Hey, stop crying. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I only made things look worse than they already seem.”

She didn't respond verbally, instead she responded physically. She moved closer to me and wrapped her arms around me and rested her head on my chest and cried even more. I didn't care if she got my shirt wet with her tears and her snot. I am always here for her and I promised her that. I won't leave her alone. I'm sharing this misery with her. I wrapped my arms around her and rocked her back and forth.

And then it hit me. Words started circling my head and slowly turned themselves into sentences that all made sense. I told Summer that I had to get my bag. It was just there. Untouched and unnoticed by Cody. Fortunately, Cody and his gang had bad kidnapping skills so we had (limited) freedom inside this huge room. I got a pen and a tissue paper and went back to sit next to Summer. She calmed down a bit which is good. I jotted down the words that popped out in my head and when I finished it, I kept it inside my pocket for safekeeping.

“What was that you were writing?” Summer asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just my thoughts about a new song, maybe,” I replied.

“May I read it?” She asked as polite as she can.

“It's probably going to be on the new record. We're going to start recording next month so I guess I won't make you read it yet,” I teased.

“Aw, come on. I'll be the judge,” she said as she poked my ribs.

“No reading until the guys have read it already, remember?” I replied.

“Why do you guys even have those rules?” She joked.

We were interrupted by a dude who was thrown into the room to share this misery with us. Turns out, it's Jared. He scratched the back of his head before attempting to stand up but apparently he failed. I got up and walked towards his direction. His eyes were closed but he was breathing heavily. He gritted his teeth in pain for he had a huge scar on his right arm. I called Summer for help and she got my bag and pulled out a clean shirt so I can wrap it around Jared's arm so that the blood would stop flowing. He looked at us with apologetic eyes but unable to speak. I knew exactly what he was apologizing for. But I'm keeping that idea all to myself for now.

“John, please—” he paused, “please for—forgive me. I didn't kn—know what the fuck I w—was doing,”

“Jared, it's alright. Be glad that you're not in that stupid drug trance anymore,” I replied.

He nodded in reply and closed his eyes once again. We had to wait for them to bring in food before ewe can clean Jared's deep scar since it's the only time we get a whole lot

••••

It has been 9 days since I first got here. Jared's better and he can walk properly again. Summer was.... Okay. Just a couple of days ago, Cody asked us if there was something we wanted from the outside world. I didn't want to be a pathetic bastard so I told him that I wanted a guitar so that we can still carry on with the new record. He was kind in the kidnappers category but at least he got me a guitar.

“Hey Jared, I wrote a new song,” I said.

“Oh cool. Got a tune for it already?” Jared asked.

“I was thinking about that yesterday and I got like, a tune for the intro in my head,” I replied.

I started humming the tune while Jared tried to play it on guitar and he got it right on the third try. I started singing the first verse and he started playing random chords on the guitar and then we got a tune. The only thing we have to work on now is the chorus. The verses are easy cause we just repeat it.

“Writing a song in the middle of a kidnapping crisis?” Summer teased as she sat next to me.

“Yup. I'm surprised by the hospitality Cody has been giving us,” I replied.

“So am I. A part of me thinks he's gay for you,” she teased once again as she let out a loud laugh.

Jared and I both looked at her awkwardly. She got the message when she said, “I'm sorry. I was just kidding.”

We went back to writing the song while Summer watched and listened. After about 3 hours, we finished writing the song. And then Summer said, “Sing it from the top.” And so we did.

“I'll say this once again
You people you are my friends
The devil he can't come in
Tonight, that's right
Looking for misery
But she found me
Lying naked on the floor
I was headed insane the devil told me his name
But he's not welcome here anymore”

Summer looked amazed. I was glad it made her happy, somehow.

“Tell me what do you see?
When you're looking at me
This sense of responsibility is killing me
Inside yeah
Looking for misery, but she found me
Lying naked on the floor
(Stay away, sweet misery)
I was headed insane, the devil told me his name
But he’s not welcome there, anymore
Stay away, sweet misery
Stay away, sweet misery
The pressure’s building with time
I made it up in my mind
I’ve got excuses for all these things that I tried in my life
Looking for misery, but she found me
Lying naked on the floor
(Stay away, sweet misery)
I was headed insane, the devil told me his name
But he’s not welcome there (he’s not welcome) anymore
Stay away, sweet misery
Not welcome anymore
Stay away, sweet misery.”

“It's really beautiful,” she said.

“Thanks,” I replied.

Right at that moment, our food arrived. Jared looked nervous out of his wits when he saw Cody enter the room. I have no idea what Jared has been through before he was thrown in here with us but I am bound to find out.