We Change, We Wait

I woke to someone shouting my name among other things. I opened my eyes only to be blinded by the bright morning light filtering through the window and the open curtain that shouldn’t have been open in the first place. Once I registered where the fuck I was and who was screaming at me I decided to attempt to listen to what he was saying.

“John, get the fuck up! Nobody can find Annie!” Jared yelled again. I shot up at that and almost hit my head on the bunk above me. I got out of the small bunk and pulled a shirt. I had on my shoes and was following Jared off the bus minutes later in my ratty old sweats. I couldn’t think of anything, or anyone, but Annie. She was never the kind of person to just get up and walk off without telling someone where she was. She always had her phone and she always answered it unless she was sleeping. I had my phone in my hand and tried calling her phone. It rang for what seemed like forever before I heard her voice telling me to leave a message.

“Annie I swear to God if this is a joke I will kill you. Please call me back as soon as you get this you’ve got us all worried sick. I’ll see you soon, I love you, bye baby,” I told her before snapping my phone shut. I started out almost yelling into the receiver but I lost steam at the end. We met up with the rest of our search party which looked to be most of the bands on Warped Tour. Mayday Parade, RJA, All Time Low, Hey Monday, Paramore, and the rest of Midnight Sunrise were there among many others. When I walked up they all looked to me and Garrett came and put his hand on my shoulder. I’m sure I looked horrible from just waking up. I had been trying to conceal the panic I felt. This just wasn’t like Annie and I had a bad feeling. “How long has she been gone?”

“We realized she was gone at three forty five but we figured she just went on a walk. She started doing that when she couldn’t sleep a few months back. Tyler and I went back to sleep and when we woke up about an hour ago she wasn’t there again. I called her phone and got the voicemail which was just weird because she always answers her phone and that’s when I went to get Garrett and you,” Cage explained. I nodded absentmindedly, I was already thinking. Wondering where she would have gone, my mind landed on the only place you would have any hope of seeing the stars and I started towards it without a word to anyone. There was a speck of luck in this madness; we had today and tomorrow before we left for the next stop.

When I got to the hill I went under the tree. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. I tried her cell again and heard the familiar ring tone. I whipped around to see it lying in the grass. I bent down to pick it up while closing my phone. I picked hers up and slid it open, the picture almost made me smile. Almost. It was me and her; I was kissing her cheek while she had a wide grin on her face. Under different circumstances I would’ve smiling but now I felt more like crying once I realized what may have happened to her. My phone rang as Garrett and a lot of the people who were helping look came up the hill.

“Hello?” I asked; I didn’t recognize the number.

“John O’Callaghan?” A deep voice asked.

“Yeah, I’m John, who is this?”

“That’s not important. You have one hour to be at the park downtown and I would suggest you be alone. In the park you will find an oak tree in the far corner, there will be a box on the lowest branch, inside will be a clue. If you aren’t there in an hour then the box will be gone and so will she,” he explained.

“What are you talking about?” I asked incredulously.

“John, oh my god, you have to help me please!” her voice flooded my ears.

“Annie! Where are you?”

“I don’t know, please hurry John, I don’t know what to do. I’m so scared,” she whimpered.

“I’m coming to get you baby, don’t worry. I won’t let you go, I love you,” I promised.

“I love you too.” I heard a click and cussed. I explained to Garrett as I was walking to towards the buses. I didn’t know how I was going to get downtown but I would find a way. Alex Gaskarth had been following close enough to hear.

“John, take our car, you’ll get there faster,” he told me as he tossed the keys. I caught them and headed in the direction he pointed. I easily found the car and was on the street minutes later. I found the park quickly, there were signs everywhere. Once I got there I saw that there weren’t very many people. I walked to the far corner, the only corner with a tree in it. I walked around the tree and on the backside, on the lowest branch just like he said, was a small box. I opened it and inside was a picture of an old warehouse and a small slip of paper with a typed phone number on it. I called the number, it rang only once.

“Good job, John. I’m surprised you got there so fast. You found my little picture then. You have an hour and a half from the time this call ends to find the right warehouse in the industrial park on the far side of town. You’ll find out what to do from there,” he told me before ending the call again. I wanted to scream but instead I took off running back to the car. I got in and pulled off towards where I thought the industrial park was. My phone went off and I flipped it open.

“What?” I answered not caring enough to say hello.

“We called the cops, where are you?” Garrett asked.

“On my way to the industrial park, I’ll explain later. Don’t send anyone to follow me because the fucker might hurt her. I don’t know what’s going to happen or what he’ll do so I’m just going to do as he says for now. I have to go or I’ll wreck.” My words came out in a rush and I hung up before he could protest. All I could think of was Annie and how I’d just gotten her back. I hated this man, whoever in the hell he was, for taking her away from me again. I pulled into the industrial park and slowed down; I pulled out the picture and started my search. I still had forty five minutes until he did I don’t know what to Annie. I was not going to let him hurt her. I found the right warehouse and got out of the car my phone rang as soon as my door closed.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Well, you’re alone, I’m proud of you. You really must care for her to have everything done so quickly. Why don’t you come in and join us?” he asked before hanging up. I ran to the building and burst through the door. There was single spotlight on in the very center of the room. That wasn’t what made me stop dead in my tracks.

Suspended fifty feet in the air over the hard concrete by only her wrists was Annie. She had a blindfold on and tape over her mouth and her ankles were bound together. Her head turned toward the noise my entrance had made. I couldn’t make the words leave my mouth; I couldn’t call out to her. I could barely move. My phone rang.

“You look terrible by the way. I’ve set up a sort of test for you John. Annie hangs exactly fifty two feet and seven and half inches from the gravel directly below her. If you can follow all the rules then she’ll be lowered slowly to the ground so you can claim her. If you can’t pay attention, however, she will be dropped to the ground. Its funny how gravity works isn’t it. If dropped from that height she will break both her legs and sustain a concussion at the very least, but she’ll most likely die.”

A tear ran down my cheek.