“We’ve got a general location but it’s not exact. We’ll be sending out officers right away but unless you can provide an address it might take some time.”
“I said I didn't know. It’s a big group of cabins,” I blew out a breath of frustration and tried to explain the large collection of potential gun-wielding maniacs but she remained perfectly calm, telling me to let them worry,blah blah blah. I got the feeling she thought I was high or pranking her and finally just hung up, unable to keep talking. They were on the way, that’s what mattered.
I looked at the phone, hesitating a moment before typing in the next number. I already thought it was a bad idea before I pressed the call button.
I kept doing this stupid shit to myself far too often but I was a sucker for hope. Or perhaps this was the final chance I was giving her. If she didn’t help me now, she never would and I could forget she existed for good. Move on.
“Hmm hello?” A woman’s voice filled my ear. I tensed, anticipating the outcome.Please, I begged in my head,just this fucking once be there for me.
“Mom,” I said.
“Brandon? This isn’t your number,” she said. I heard voices in the background. She started to respond to someone. I pressed my palm to the ground and it felt cold.
“Hannah,” I said, trying to get her attention back to me. “I’m in trouble. I need your help.”
“What? Why did you call?” She asked, too distracted by what was going on around her to listen. Surprise, surprise. I gripped the phone harder and ground my teeth. People were calling to her in the background. The noises were loud through the phone. She was likely at some house party, more concerned with staying high than her own kid.
“I need hel—”
“Sorry, I’m going to have to call you back,” she said.
“No, I need help!” I said louder, anger leaking into my voice. She wasn’t going to even listen.
“You always figure it out. That's what I like about you. So independent. I’ll talk to you soon,” she said before the line went dead.
“Fuck!” I barked, pulling my arm back, ready to throw the phone through the forest. I sucked a breath through my teeth and stopped myself. I couldn’t risk breaking it. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to expel the rage that boiled up inside me.
Jesus, why did I even think to call her? My fucking masochistic tendencies were at it again. I looked down at my body and fingered the gaping blood-stained hole in my shirt.
I set the phone down and quickly grabbed the tattered remains of my shirt, tearing it down the middle and flinging it away. Then I picked up the phone and texted my sister.
“It’s Brandon.” I sent it but then didn’t know what else to say. I’m in the middle of the fucking mountains? I’m okay? I wasn’t okay. “Are you okay?” I asked her.
I didn’t wait for a response. I didn't know how much time I had. I was already antsy to move. I called the Nix band manager, Harry.
“Harry Trello speaking,” he said, sounding worn thin.
“Harry, its—
“Brandon. Jesus Christ! What the fuck is going on. Where are you all?” I heard his chair squeal from sudden movement. I imagined him shooting forward at his desk.
“I don’t know. We… “ I took a deep breath. “We’re about an hour away from the campground we stayed at. We took a highway going west and ended up at a cabin park. It’s fairly big, about twenty cabins, tucked into the Appalachian Mountains.” I heard him typing on his computer.
“We’re being held captive by the group here.” The typing stopped.
“What?” He asked.
“We’re—” I sighed. “It’s a cult. They have me and Caspian and some of our friends.”
“Where’s Matthias and the others?” He asked, immediately picking up I didn’t mention them. A lump formed in my throat. “Brandon? Where are they?”
“They… they aren’t here,” was all I could choke out. It was silent for what felt like forever, Harry’s heavy breath was loud through the phone. He could tell what I meant by how I said it.
“Okay,” he finally said. “Fuck. Okay. Shit, do you have any more clues to where you are?”
“I don’t even know what state we’re in… wait. The man, Ben. Fuck,” I snapped. I tried to swipe my hand through my hair and instead tangled my fingers in an antler. Christ, how was I going to be able to go back? I swallowed. The hunger was getting more insistent again.
“Sasquatch Inc. Ava Luna had a contract with them. That’s who has us. I don’t know how much of all that was a lie but there should be an email trail.”
