Don't Leave Me... Again |[TMF]|

19. Light beam

Jake's POV-

I heard his shaky voice on the other side of the phone. My hand tightened around the phone, as I looked at Mason. My jaw parted open. It was a voice I had not heard in years, a voice that I had thought was lost forever, a voice that I had given up all hope of ever hearing again.

It was Drew's voice.

It was a weak, hoarse, barely audible voice, as if he was hurt, as if he had been through something terrible.

"Drew?" I wanted to ask, but nothing came out. Just my mouth opened and closed
Another laugh came and suddenly it stopped. It was silent for a few moments. "That's enough." The voice boomed.

There was a large slam echoing through the phone. A slam of a door being shut.

I took a moment to compose myself, then asked the guy on the phone, "What do you want?"

The guy on the phone laughed, a deep, throaty chuckle that sounded more like a growl. "What do I want? I want you to suffer, to feel the pain of losing the one you love, to feel the fear of not knowing where he is, to feel the desperation of wanting him back."

I swallowed hard, a sick feeling rising in my stomach. I knew I couldn't let this guy get the best of me, I couldn't let him see me break, but right now, all I could think about was getting my boyfriend back, alive and safe.

"Where is he?" I asked, my voice steady, my heart racing.

"Oh, that's the fun part," the guy said, his tone turning cruel. "You have to find him."

I felt a surge of anger, my blood boiling. Who did this guy think he was, playing with our lives like this? What kind of sick, twisted game was he running?

"I'll find him," I said, my voice low, my gaze steady. "And when I do, you'll wish you had never messed with us."

The guy on the phone chuckled again, the sound echoing in my ears. "We'll see about that, won't we,"

"Look, Sterling... I'll say this only once. Figure it out and you'll see him and the others. Run out of time and well you know," He laughs maniacally "Pew." He ends before hanging up.

My eyes are still wide, as I slowly take the phone away from my ear. I don't know if I should be happy; clicking my heels together or crying and screaming in the corner of the room. He's alive!

But for how long...

I slowly turn my gaze from the wall to Mason. But he takes his cue and leaves the room. A notification ping rings from my phone. I take it from my back pocket and check what it was. It was a message from a random number.

I cautiously opened the message, but it was only a paragraph. First glance, I thought it was some bills or taxes that were needed to be payed. But as I read further each word more violently written than the other. It was the clue. The clue that the guy was speaking about.

My heart started to race as my eyes scanned the words again and again. I couldn't understand it. They were random words. They didn't make any sense.

The minutes seemed to tick by in slow motion as I poured over the words, trying to figure out what they were telling me. I felt like I was in a race against time, like I only had so much longer before Drew's life was in jeopardy.

I refused to let that happen, refusing to let the fear and desperation take over. Instead, I took a deep breath, trying to clear my head and focus on the task at hand.

I could feel my heart racing, could feel the sweat forming on my brow as I kept trying to crack the code. No one was going to get the best of me, I refused to let anything happen to Drew.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, a small pattern began to emerge in the mess of words. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give me a starting point. I knew I had to move quickly, had to find Drew before it was too late. There were numbers at the end of all this. I might be making this up and imagining things, but they might be coordinates.

I jumped and sat at the desk, my adrenaline pumping, ready to follow the trail I'd uncovered. I wasn't going to let anything or anybody stop me, wasn't going to let anything happen to Drew. I was going to save him, was going to bring him home safe.

I was determined, I was committed, and I was not going to let anything stand in my way.

I logged onto the computer searching for my answers...

And there it was...

A forest?

No, this isn't right. It can't be. I grabbed my jacket and headed out of my office. "Mason Mercer. Casey Jones. You guys will come with me." I say firmly, swinging my coat over myself. "I am not going to make the same mistake that I made few years back." I mumble to myself.

In an instant, the two were at my side. We walked out of the building. I explained to them the situation and they were keen to help. The only thing I didn't understand was that the clue apparently lead to a forest, unless I misread it.

Casey unlocked the car and we all got in. I told her the place that we were heading to and drove.

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A/N: I just had a huge writers block. This chapter took me 6 days to write 😭

I need honest thoughts about it. Does it make sense? Was it interesting?

Guys the craziest thing happened to me 2 days ago. I literally should write a book on all my small situations. What do you think?

-Lemon