It was Halloween and after a long night of giving trick-or-treaters candy and explaining to them that my cannula wasn't a costume and, actually, helps me breathe, I decided it was time for bed. It took me a while to fall asleep, heck, these days? It always took me a while to fall asleep. Every time I shut my eyes Augustus Waters would haunt my dreams and every night would be the same; I would wake up uncontrollably sobbing, my parents would race into my room (probably scared that I couldn't breathe) and comfort me until I fell asleep once more and I would wake up the following morning with my mum staring at me, as if she had been there all night, hoping I hadn't died in my sleep. This night was particularly difficult. I laid awake thinking what Augustus and I would be doing. I pictured us both in costumes. Augustus dressed as Max Mayhem and I would wear my This is not a pipe tee shirt and become Anna. We'd pick up Isaac and then we'd drive around for a while; laughing and joking. And it wouldn't be much, but it would always be perfect. I eventually fell asleep only to wake up a few hours later to the sound of my cell phone ringing. I opened my eyes and squinted as I looked at my clock. “2:30? Who the hell is calling me at 2:30 in the morning?”, I croaked. I reached for my, still ringing, phone, looking down at the caller ID. Augustus's face lit up the screen and the words 'Augustus Waters Calling' were flashing at me. Mr and Mrs Waters had put Gus's cell phone in a box in his bedroom with some of his other belongings. My heart raced and my eyes widened as I just stared at the screen for a few seconds. “Hello?”, I answered. All I could make out was someone breathing heavily. I was furious. “If this is your idea of some sort of sick joke, its not funny!”, I said angrily before hanging up. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep only to be woken up, yet again, ten minutes later by my cell phone ringing once more. This time it was Isaac.
“Hazel?”, I heard his sleepy voice.
“Yeah?”
“Do you have Gus's cell?”
“No? Why?”
“This is fucked up. Someone just called me from Gus's phone”. I sat up quickly.
“What? What happened?”, I asked.
“It was just someone breathing”
“I got a call from his cell about ten minutes ago. It was the same thing”, I told him.
“Do you think someone could have stolen his phone?”
“I don't think so. His mom told me she put it in a box with his wallet and stuff in his bedroom”. We were silent for a moment. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Someone must be pretty messed up to steal a dead guys phone and then call his best friend and girlfriend. And if it was some sick jerk who had stolen his cell phone, I wasn't about to just lay in bed and let them get away with it. “I think I'm gonna do some investigating”, I told Isaac.
“Pick me up in five minutes”
“What? Isaac, you don't have to-”
“No, I want to. You can't be doing this stuff on your own, what if its some sort of psycho? And besides, I have experience in Counterinsurgency”. I laughed.
“Okay, I'll see you in five”, I said before hanging up. I switched Philip for my oxygen tank and got dressed before sneaking downstairs, as silently as I could, and taking my mom's car keys before leaving the house. Isaac was already sat on his porch with his cane when I got there. “Hey Isaac”, I whispered. He gave me a slight nod before I helped him up and lead him to the car as quickly as possible. I drove to the mall and parked in the deserted car park.
“Okay. So whats your plan?”, Isaac asked.
“I heard of this app a while ago. It can track phone numbers”, I told him.
