Other Half - Bennoda

Ch. 5 - Phoenix

The next morning was brutal as Phoenix awoke with a painful headache from drinking so much. He was surprised he managed to pass out considering the events from the day before. He noticed Brad and Joe were still asleep and wondered when they had finally succumbed to sleep. He groggily got out of bed and dug out some medication from his bag for headaches. Taking two, he downed them with a glass of water and went back to see his sleeping friends.

He was extremely glad Joe hadn't been taken, but he felt horrible for the guy. He had walked in on something horrible and had to recount his story several times. His best friend was permanently scarred by what had happened and Phoenix wasn't sure how to help him, especially while worrying about his other friends that were abducted. Just as he was about to wake the guys, he got a call.

"Hello?"

"Is this Dave Farrell? I'm the leading officer working on the Linkin Park case," A man informed him and the bassist frowned, almost like a pout.

"Yes, this is. Is there any updates?" He asked, not sure what to expect after only one whole night since their friends' disappearance.

"Yes, we've received a ransom requesting 500k for their safe return," He responded and it was great news to Phoenix, who immediately went to wake the others.

"Come on, Phi! It's too early," Brad instantly complained upon awakening.

"It's about Rob, Chester, and Mike. The cops got a ransom asking 500 thousand for their return," Phoenix clued the others in, who sat straight up and completely forgot about their headaches caused by their drinking last night.

"Half a million dollars?" Joe frowned, that sounded like more than what they could afford.

"We can do it," Phoenix told the officer without hesitation.

"We'll see if we can get in touch with them, I'll keep you and your friends updated," He promised before hanging up.

"How are we going to afford that, Phi?!" Joe snapped at him after he set his phone down.

"We'd do anything for them, Joe, we'll find a way."

"Did you ever think about what would happen if we can't get the money in time? How Rob, Chester, and Mike could get hurt or most likely killed for this? Now we have to get that money or they'll all be dead!" Joe had tears in his eyes. "Jim already died from this, I couldn't take it if one of the guys did as well. Jim was enough, more than enough."

"I know you're worried, Joe, but this is all we can really do to help them. It's better than sitting on our asses and doing nothing," Brad sided with Phoenix, much to Joe's dismay. Phoenix and Joe rarely fought, but when they did, it usually wouldn't last long. This, however, was different.

"How do you know this will help them and not kill them? Dave, you can't just talk to the cops and make decisions about this by yourself, you need to talk to us first because this concerns everyone. We write our music as a family and if one person doesn't like a song, it's out. We need to bring that form of communication into this horrible situation because if we don't, we might as well already consider them dead!" Joe snapped and Phoenix fell into silence.

"I'm sorry, Joe. I didn't think of it that way. I'll talk to you guys next time first, I'm sorry," Dave sighed and Joe went to hug him.

"It's okay, I'm sorry for getting mad," He apologized, which made Phoenix hug him tighter.

"It's not your fault, Joe. We're going through a lot, especially you. You saw some shit I'm really glad I didn't have to see, but entirely devastated that you had to, you have every right to be stressed about this," Phoenix pulled away and gave him a reassuring smile. "We'll get them back though, we have to."

His phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is the lead officer again. I'm going to have to ask you boys to come into the station. The assailants refuse to talk to anyone who's not in your band," The cop informed Phoenix, who sighed deeply.

"Cop said we have to talk to the people who took Rob, Chester, and Mike - that they won't talk to anyone else," Phoenix told his friends, remembering what Joe had said about making decisions together. "We all go?"

"Obviously," Joe sighed. "I wonder why they insist on talking to us."

"We'll all come, around what time?" Phoenix asked the officer.

"Whenever you're free. I'm very busy at the moment, so I'll see you when you get here," The officer said before hanging up. Phoenix sighed and set the phone down.

"So we can go whenever, though I'm pretty sure we'll want to start getting ready to leave now. The sooner we can gather the ransom money and give it to these assholes, the sooner we can get Chester, Mike, and Rob back," Phoenix filled the others in, who nodded in agreement.

As they each got ready individually, Phoenix lost himself in thought over the situation. He was incredibly worried about his friends and feared for their lives. He hoped Brad, Joe, and himself would be able to get enough money to pay the ransom. He also was concerned that they wouldn't be returned after paying or that any of them would be hurt before they could get the money together. He was also worried that his friends who were taken would have big, sassy mouths that could get them killed. He didn't know what to do to help his friends - not the ones who were missing or the ones who were still here. He couldn't comfort them the way he wanted to and he couldn't bring his friends back just through pure will. He felt lost and alone, though he was grateful his best friend, Joe, hadn't been taken. He still felt like his family was missing and wasn't sure if there really was a way to bring them back.