Heavy Rain

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

He hesitated for a moment before explaining everything to me.

“In the summer, I had a girlfriend called Hannah. I loved her more than anything. She was beautiful, amazing, funny, and perfect,” he started, and my blood boiled with jealousy.

“We were out on a date when everything turned upside down. We were both shot out of nowhere on her shoulder and on my arm. I’ll show you the scars,” he said as he lifted the sleeve of his left arm revealing four scars. I looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Four?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yes, but let me continue. Armed men wearing black masks shot both of us once each, but they intended to take Hannah with them. I tried to save her, but they kept shooting me until I went unconscious from the blood loss. I also have a scar on my thigh but I can’t show it to you. The last thing that I saw before slipping into a dark dream was Hannah thrashing in their arms as they pulled her into their van.” A tear slipped from his eye before he went on.

“I woke up in the hospital later and doctors told me that I had been in a coma for weeks and they didn’t believe that I would have lived. I asked for Hannah but they said that she was gone. What hurt me the most was that my parents didn’t care. They didn’t even bother checking up on me when I was at the brink of death in the hospital.” His voice cracked at the end of the sentence and I wrapped my arms around him in an attempt to comfort him. He sat down on the floor and pulled me next to him still hugging me while crying.

“Later on, I received a box that contained origami figures, a note, and pictures. In the note, the person claimed that he is Hannah’s kidnapper and I believed him. He sent me pictures of her as proof after all. But she isn’t safe- what he is doing to her is horrible. Before you ask, no, he isn’t beating her up, nor is he starving her or raping her. He put her in a hole underground. The opening of the hole has strong metal bars that prevent her from escaping, but allow the bucketing heavy rain from entering. As we are talking right now, the hole is getting filled with freezing cold water, and at some point, Hannah will drown. At the rate of the rain these days, she will be dead within thirteen days maximum,” he stopped talking and I took that as a chance to take in all of the information. That was just too much to handle, and I’m only hearing it as a story! How hard had it been for him to actually live through it?

“So, is there any way to save her?” I asked.

“Yes, but they are horrible ways. Each of the five origami figures in the box has a hazardous task that I am supposed to do. He sent me a hangman figure on my phone from a private number. Each time I do one of his tasks, a few letters from the hangman are revealed. They should supposedly sum up to be the location of Hannah so I can save her. I’m so desperate to get her back that I tried the first two! But sadly, I have failed them miserably and I have almost died from the first one,” he concluded, and I gasped from the dreadfulness of the situation. Who would be cruel enough to do that?! And more importantly, why would he do that?

“What are they?”

“The first task was written on the inside of the bear origami figure, numbered '1,' along with a card for acquiring a car and an address to obtain it from. I had to go to that address and acquire the car in order to begin the task.

I arrived at the address specified and found a garage. Inside was a mechanic working on the underside of a van. When I handed him the card, a smirk appeared on his face, for the car in question had been left there 2 years ago. He also assured that the car has been tested and checked annually as specified. After taking the keys, I ventured to the third level of the basement, where I discovered the car through the use of the keyless entry system.

There was a GPS device at the driver side door that, when activated, an electronic voice instructed me to go to a specific location. Once there, I was tasked in driving five miles in five minutes on the wrong side of the freeway.

I started the task, having to make quick choices on which way to turn in order to avoid oncoming traffic, as well as pursuing police cars. But, it ended with me losing control of the car, which reeled off the road and landed upside down, catching on fire in the process. The GPS device then told me that my reward was to be taken from the third task, the key for which was inside the GPS. I took the key an went to the hospital to find out that I gained 2 broken ribs due to the crash near the task’s end.” When Ashton finished telling me about his first task, I realized how courageous he was to go through all that to save his innocent girlfriend. I almost looked up to him as a role model and inspiration at that moment.

“Wh-what about the second task?” I whispered.

“It is what I was about to do before you jumped at me and broke the glass. I’m pretty sure you heard all of it anyways,” he explained and I nodded. I felt guilty that I had ruined his task, but I preferred that over having him die.

“I will help you. We will go through the tasks together,” I said, looking up at him. His eyes widened and he shook his head quickly.

“No way! My life is already risked, and I can’t endanger yours too!” He insisted, his voice hard.

“Yes, I will! If you don’t let me work with you, I will work on my own!” I said, determined to help in the case.

“I don’t want to put your life at risk,” he said, his voice much softer this time. He put his hand on my cheek and rubbed it with his thumb. “You shouldn’t be included.”

“But I want to,” I nagged. He tentatively nodded his head and I grinned, wrapping my arms around him. I really wanted to help him find her, even if that meant that I had to lose him from my life. All I wanted was to see him happy. I knew that I made a perilous decision by insisting on helping with the case, but I just hoped that it was worth it. I hoped that joining in the painful tasks was worth it.

And that is how I, Rosie Grey, ended up in a complete mess of dangerous tasks, in a matter of life or death.

Sorry this is very short! It just had to end here.