In The Blink Of An Eye

Secret Clues

They all wish me a good night and tell me to stay strong and we log off. However, no sleep will be happening tonight. I can't get him out of my mind for a single second. What kind of person would I be if I even thought about sleeping? I tell Richy to get some rest as I set up a place for him to sleep on the couch. I begged him to sleep in my bed. I felt bad enough that he had been there for me the whole day, but he refused. Once I leave him, I go into my bedroom, close the door, and begin to think. What is the next step I take? Where do I begin?

I don't have much time. As a matter of fact, how much time do I even have?? How long before it's all too late, and I never get the chance to see him anywhere besides bars and closed windows and doors? As I think of him, tears begin to roll down my face. This is the first time I feel worthless and hopeless. The first time we were looking for Hannah, I had Jake. He helped me get through it all. How do I do this without him right now? As I cry and hug the pillow tight, I hope that when I close my eyes, all this will be over. That this is just a horrible nightmare I will wake out of.

As I am laying there, I remember it. I remember something that I can't believe I almost forgot about. Jake, our conversations... omg how did I forget about this. I take my phone and open the messages between him and I. As soon as I see his name on my screen, the tears begin to fall down my face again, but I continue. Through the tears, I go back to the beginning of our conversations, and I begin to read.

This time, slowly. I observe every single one of his words. Every one of his emojis. Every single text one after another, I go through making sure I don't miss anything. I remember that Jake had been sending me secret clues throughout our messages of the locations where he had been. How do I pick up on all the clues without missing one? What if I make a mistake and mess all this up? I swear a thousand questions ran through my mind, and I didn't have an answer for even one. While reading the text, I slowly begin to feel my eyes getting heavy and weary. I can feel how tired I am, yet I refuse to sleep.

I don't know if it was my imagination playing tricks on me or if I was actually starting to lose my mind, but I could hear him. His actual voice called out to me. Not that robotic, virtual computerized voice I had gotten to love, but him. His actual voice, which seemed impossible as I had never heard before. I blink and clear my thoughts, and it's still there, that same voice. "Close your eyes, get some sleep, and I'll be in your dreams tonight. You'll see my face and you'll know what to do. Remember, you're the key to solving this mystery, too."

What is happening? How can I be hearing him so clearly as if he was right there in my bedroom. I look down on my phone and see a voice message that I have never seen before. It was on and playing. It was from Jake, and that was the voice I was hearing. But how? When did he send me this? There was no date or time when the message was sent, but it couldn't have been long ago. I went through these messages a hundred times just in the last couple of hours. I run out of my bedroom and into the living room screaming.

"RICHY, WAKE UP! IT'S JAKE."

He jumps off the couch in confusion, looking at me, and he says; "What do you mean it's Jake? Where? When did you talk to him? Wait... what time is it?"

"Don't worry about the time right now. He sent me a voice message, but I don't know how or when. It must have been before they got him. I haven't seen it before. Here, listen."

"So he knew they were after him again?"

"No! There is no way he knew they were after him. He would have told me. He sent me a text the day we were supposed to have our first date telling me how excited he was to see me. He wouldn't have lied."

Richy just stays quiet for some time as he sits there. It's almost four in the morning. What was I thinking just waking him up like that out of his sleep. I can't just sit around and do nothing. I feel like every minute I waste doing nothing is a minute. Jake loses his freedom. I think to myself for a few minutes and that's when I get an idea. It's a crazy and dangerous idea, but it's something.