Other Half - Bennoda

Ch. 7 - Brad

A/N: Lmao I lied, I'm posting another part after just two days. You know what? I'll update whenever lol

"Give us our friends back, assholes," Joe snapped at the phone after him, Rob, and Brad had gone to the police station and they called the assailants, putting it on speaker for everyone to hear.

"Joe, shut up. You're going to make things worse," Brad nudged him harshly.

"I'd listen to your friend, Hahn," One of the perps agreed on the other line. "There aren't any cops listening in, right?"

"No, it's just us," Phoenix lied for the rest of them, but they seemed to buy into it as they continued the conversation.

"You got our ransom?"

"Yes, we're willing to pay for it for our friends' safe return," Brad replied cooly. "You haven't hurt them, right?"

"Why don't you ask for yourself? Well, Rob?" A different man said and there was some shuffling.

"Hey, guys," Rob said softly and Brad's heart leaped out of his chest as he heard his best friend's voice. He was overwhelmed with joy to hear him again, afraid that he would never get the chance. He was extremely thankful the drummer was alive and talking to them.

"Rob! Oh my god, are you okay?" Brad couldn't help blurting out worriedly, earning a chuckle from the assholes listening in with Rob.

"Umm... Yeah? Kinda. I don't know. I mean, they haven't hurt me, but they're threatening us and it's really scary. Please help us," Rob pleaded and it made Brad's heart sink into his stomach.

"We're trying, man. I promise we'll get you back," Brad swore and Phoenix couldn't help butting in.

"Where's Mike and Chester? Are they okay?" The bassist asked, his voice laced with concern.

"They hit Mike a few times, but they're okay. They were left behind," Rob said vaguely and Brad assumed he didn't really know where he or the others were. "Please pay the ransom, please. Drain all of our accounts, I don't care, just get us the fuck out of this. Please, guys-"

"Okay, that's enough. Blue, take him back to the others," One of the douchebags interrupted the drummer and revealed the 'name' of the other assailant. There was movement on the other side, then silence, until he spoke again. "When can we get our money?"

"When can we have our friends back?" Joe shot back, but was immediately turned down.

"As soon as we get the money," He muttered. "Look, I don't care how you boys get the money, but I suggest you gather it quickly before your friends are turned inside out. You have until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? But-" Brad started.

"Hey, do want your friends back? I suggest you do as we say. You saw the dead body we left behind, we're not messing around," He growled menacingly. "We won't hesitate to kill your friends or hurt them."

"You won't get away with this, you can't. How do you expect to just walk away with half a million dollars and no consequences for what you're doing?" Joe asked, becoming angry at the man for threatening his friends. Brad knew Joe was especially sensitive since he discovered Jim's dead body, he was afraid of another one turning up in the same gruesome manner.

"We've been planning this for a few years. Trust me, we've thought of everything," The man confidently replied, Brad could sense his smirk. "Like I said, you have until tomorrow."

He hung up.

"What the fuck do we do?" Joe sighed loudly in irritation and hurt. "Drain all our accounts? Pay the ransom?"

"Yeah," Brad shrugged, but nodded after. "It's all we can really do."

"What if they're lying? What if they say they're going to give them back, but after we pay up, they don't?" Joe's brain jumped to the worse and Brad could feel his anxiety radiating off him. "We don't know for sure if they're telling the truth."

"It's the only thing you can do, it's a start," A police officer butted in. "These men are dangerous and it'd be better to do as they say rather than testing them, that's how dead bodies turn up. We play by their rules for as long as we have to in order to keep your friends safe."

"We don't even know for sure if they're okay. We only spoke to Rob and he could've been forced to lie," Joe pushed forward as Phoenix remained silent, his head in his hands. Brad sighed.

"I know, Joe, but like the officer said, we can't risk them getting hurt," He pushed and Joe eventually sighed and nodded. "We'll stop by our banks today, drain our accounts, have the officers come with so we can pull out of Mike, Chester, and Rob's... we should have enough all together."

"If we don't?" Joe asked.

"Then we ask fans for help - we'll ask for donations, they'll help," Brad shot down his fears again. "Tomorrow, we come back here and call them. We set up a day to exchange the cash for our friends and where to go. We'll get them back."

"We fucking better, dude. I miss all of them and it hasn't even been that long," Joe muttered and Phoenix let his hands fall away from his face.

"Me too. I just hope they're okay," Phoenix added, the others nodding in agreement.

They were all incredibly worried about all of them, but Brad was most fearful for Rob, his best friend. He was terrified that the phone-call they just had would be the last time he heard the drummer's voice. He was scared of never seeing him again. He wanted to be the best man at his wedding and be an uncle to his children. He wanted to grow old side-by-side with his best friend and let him know just how much the guitarist appreciated him - how loved he is by everyone. He felt he wouldn't be able to go on if Rob didn't make it through this. He needed his best friend and would do anything to get him back, including making himself and everyone else broke. It was more than worth it because his friends were priceless. Brad, Joe, and Phoenix would give up everything in order to save Rob, Mike, and Chester.