His Lifeline

Chapter 18: Celebratory Ice Cream

The first thing I heard when I woke up was voices. My eyes were too tired to open, so I just laid there with my eyes closed. I tried moving, which didn't work. I felt my hands tied to smooth, cold metal. Then I realized I was sitting upright. The voices stopped talking, though I wasn't sure what they were saying in the first place.

I tried opening my eyes, but they wouldn't open; I didn't have the energy. So instead, I listened. There was a scraping of a chair, so I assumed someone sat down.

"Where is Gabe Ugliano?" there was a gruff voice, and it slowly grabbed my heart in terror. I haven't seen Gabe since Thursday night. I couldn't really answer this guy's question, and I was minorly freaking out.

I felt something hard connect with my stomach, and I gasped.

"I'll ask again, where is Gabe Ugliano?" I figured talking would be my best bet. I wasn't sure what had hit me, but I knew I didn't want to be hit with it again.

"I don't know. I saw him on Thursday, but he wasn't there Friday night," another hit. Seriously if you want people to answer, why hit them when they speak?

"Who are you?" ok, I knew that this was bad news. These must be debt collectors or something, so it might be a bad idea that they learn my name. Taking a deep breath, I decided to play it like I thought they meant my relation to Gabe.

"I'm his step-son," another hit which made me cough since it had hit a few bruised ribs.

"Well then, maybe you know where he has his money? He was supposed to repay us two weeks ago. So you're either going to cough up where he is, or you're going to be his replacement" my throat closed up. This is bad, shit shit shit. Maybe if I tell them where some of his buddies are, they'll leave me alone. I took a deep breath.

"Um, well, I don't know exactly where he is," a punch to the face" But, wait, I know a few places he might've gone" there wasn't a punch. I figured they were waiting for addresses.

"Spit it out."

"Um, I don't know addresses, but I know names."

"Good enough, get him a piece of paper and pen. Also, take his blindfold off."

As soon as the blindfold was taken off, I realized that it had restricted my efforts to open my eyes. I blinked as the light in the room blinded me. I heard the slap of a paper and pen on a table, and I looked up. There were two men, one sitting and one standing. I tried to lift my hands but realized that my hands were still strapped to the chair. The man sitting waved his own hand exasperatedly, and the one standing came up and unstrapped my right hand.

I lifted it and leaned awkwardly to write down the three names I knew, Jared Columbine, Reese Saren, and Felix Garder. I dropped the pen and then looked at the man sitting across from me. He read over the names and handed them to the guy standing. Panic welled up in me as I waited to be released.

"Alright, kid, we're going to let you go, but know that we'll be watching you. That is until we either find Gabe or his trail goes cold. If you go to anyone and spill what has happened here, you're dead along with the person you told." the man sitting waved his hand again and the one standing walked up to me and punched me hard, knocking me out.

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When I woke up, I found myself sprawled on the floor near my front door. I wasn't sure if that was a dream, but the throbbing of my cheek from where the guy knocked me out made me believe it really happened. I stood up shakily and grabbed my phone out of my hoodie. Looking at the time. 5 am Wednesday.