Other Half - Bennoda

Ch. 9 - Joe

A/N: It's been awhile since I updated this fic - I'm gonna start at it again, but I'm switching to first person POV!

Phoenix, Brad, and I drained the three of our accounts and withdrew our entire savings. The three of us together had enough for the ransom, but we all silently knew this wouldn't end anything. We were stuck in a horrible situation that ended up with a dead body.

Jim's death will forever haunt me, I will never get the image of his blood stained body out of my head or my attempts to revive him. Phoenix tried to console me over what I saw as we waited for tomorrow, when we hoped to get our friends back, but I couldn't be eased. I was so worried about my friends turning up like Jim, never getting to see them again. All three of us were worried out of our minds and stuck close to each other all night.

"I don't think they'll be back after the ransom," Brad admits what everyone is thinking, it instantly catches our attention.

"I hope they'll be let go," Phoenix muttered worriedly, but shook his head in agreement.

"They won't be. Half a million dollars is an unusually low ransom, don't you think? I'm pretty sure most people believe we make millions, they didn't really ask much for what they did," Brad thought aloud and it made sense, but also frightened me. There wasn't a chance they were going to be let go tomorrow, we were pouring out all of our money into false hopes.

"What do you think is going to happen tomorrow?" I join in their conversation and their faces turn pale.

"Who knows? They'll probably set up a location for us to put the money, say they'll release Mike, Chester, and Rob somewhere else, but they won't and just take off with the money. They'll probably ask for more or release just one of them," Brad guessed, then shrugged. "I'm fucking worried sick though. I can't stand not knowing what they're going through."

"Well not knowing is better than knowing for sure they're being tortured. Rob said he was fine, they hit Mike a few times, but they're okay. We better keep our hopes up or else we won't know what to do," Phoenix sighed, clearly as stressed out as the rest of us. It pained me to watch my friends go through this, it was hard seeing Phoenix act this way especially.

Him and I always had a great bond. We'd prank other people, laugh loudly together, rage at video games - this was a complete opposite of us now. The others would say we were the most lively and obnoxious friends they had ever seen, neither of us have ever been this serious our entire lives. I wondered what was going through his head, this was probably the worst situation either of us had ever been apart of.

"If we keep our hopes up, we'll be fucking devastated if they turn up dead," Brad argued Phoenix's point, but I had to side with my best friend on this one.

"If we don't keep our hopes up and they die, we'll be fucking devastated anyway, either way that wouldn't end well. We have to hope," I butted in and Brad seemed to understand, nodding. We all decided to try getting some sleep and passed out next to each other.

We woke up to Brad's phone ringing, he answered groggily before immediately snapping out of it. His expression caused Phoenix and I to stir out of our exhaustion. He told whoever called he would be there soon before setting his phone down.

"We have to go to the police station, it was the kidnappers - they gave me a location. They told me to deliver the money there alone and they would release Chester, Mike, and Rob at the nearest bus stop," He stated and immediately started getting ready, but Phoenix and I had questioning looks. "Come on, guys, we only half 45 minutes."

"Brad, wait, what if it's a trap?" Phoenix spoke out silently shared fears. "What if they're luring you out, distracting us with hopes of our friends somewhere else, and they take you too? That would definitely raise their ransom."

"That's why we're going to the police, getting help. I'll take care of the exchange and have some cops on standby, you two and other officers will go to the bus stop. I want to catch these fucks, the cops will probably arrest on site."

"Dude, what if the cops don't move in fast enough? They said alone, aren't they going to kill the guys if you're not? It's all too risky," I joined Phoenix's side again and Brad sighed. "Let's just get to the police station and see what they say."

"They said they listen to the abductors at first to ensure the victims safety, but they could easily take you and have even more leverage on the situation," Phoenix recalled, Brad sighed again. I could tell he was extremely stressed out, especially over Rob.

"Well, Mike, Chester, and Rob needs me to do this. If we don't go through with it at all, they'll be killed, so don't worry about me or the exchange. We're going to get them back, I fucking swear."