The Burner Phone

Sam was already back by the time we returned. Stepping down from the car, we met him standing in front of the house. He looked really worried with a gloom written all over his face. His bike was damaged a bit; the front tyre punctured and the lights were broken.

"Hey Sam."

He seemed absent minded, occupied with thoughts that only him could comprehend. Completely oblivious of Drake calling out to him. I walked up to him and stood just in front of him with a smile.

"Sam?"

With a feigned smile, Sam waved at me.

"Lyla, seems you guys went off."

I noticed the blood dropping from his arm, it was covered by the sleeves of his black jacket but I could sense it even without seeing the tiny stains.

"Are you alright Sam?"

"Yeah. I am fine."

Sam left me standing and walked into the house without saying any other word. I also noticed that he was limping slightly. He grabbed on to the door for support as he stepped into the house after twisting the door knob to open the door.

"He seems a bit off."

"Don't worry about Sam. He will be alright."

I didn't know why Drake seemed relaxed about the entire situation; clearly he could see the damages on Sam's bike. Drake held on to my hand, smiled at me and gently dragged me.

"Come on, we have a lot to do."

I followed him into the house still wondering what real had happened to Sam but for the fact that Drake told me not to worry then it meant that Sam was really fine and it was probably not the first time he was in such condition.

Above all, I still had to figure out what really happening s to my father. The words of Mrs. Palmer warning us regarding the dangers of going after the Alliance kept on resounding in my ears.

"We should call the number on the phone."

"Do you think it could be someone from the Alliance?"

"There is only one way to fund out."

With a little long stare at Drake, I brought out the burner phone which I had pocketed earlier, opened the call log and dialed the number registered as Jason..

As I placed the burner phone on the table after putting it on speak out, I sat on the bed with both of my hands balancing my jaw. The thoughts of expectation clogged on the body of the anxiety which I felt. With Drake by my side, I could feel my tension reduce, he placed his hands on my shoulder standing close to me and whispered.

"You need to be calm."

"It's ringing! It's ringing!" I screamed in excitement, my eyes widened and my eyebrows lifted; my heartbeat heightened. My hands had left my jaw and rested on the table ready to call back just in case the person on the other end didn't pick the call.

"Dial the number again." Drake said gently patting my shoulder in an attempt to make me not to give up. With a hopeful smile, I picked up the phone and dialed the number again, this time I held it on my hand as it started to ring.

"Leo?" Came the deep slow male voice from the other end. I almost jumped as he spoke from his end, I wasn't sure of what to say. Just when I was about to say whatever came into my mind in my panicked state Drake gently dragged the phone from my hand.

"Jason?"

"Leo! You should be dead! The Alliance, they…they found you!"

I didn't know how Drake was able to convince Jason that he was Leo Palmer but seeing that everything was going on well, I kept mute but with my eyes glared at Drake and the phone.

"Is this really you Leo? I mean, your wife said you were killed, the police, the news!"

"I will explain everything later. Can we meet up?"

"You know the drill, we don't meet up, I only give you all the information that you need, nothing more."

"It's about my daughter Jason. She was taken!"

Jason kept mute for a while, and then he sighed heavily and spoke with a shaky voice.

"The Alliance?"

"I need you help Jason. Please!"

"I will send you a time and address."

The call dropped immediately with two beeps. Drake looked at the phone and placed it back on the table. I felt like calling back to ask some questions, I wasn't sure that Jason was going to fall for our trick but with the thought of not wanting to jeopardize the little chance I had at finding my dad, I forgot about the thought.

I stood up from the bed and paced around the room for a bit waiting for Jason to send a message but for over five minutes there was no message. The burner phone rested on the table without making any sound.

"Should we call him back?"

"Let's just wait Lyla. We don't want to scare him off."

"Ok." I said sighing with impatience. I stood at a spot thinking about the best way to deal with the situation, how we were going to be able to go meet Jason without him being aware that it wasn't actually Leo he had spoken to.

"Hey son."

"Sam! You're ok?"

"Yeah I am fine."

Sam appeared from the door which I had left wide open while in a hurry to get into the room and call Jason. He seemed better and the bleeding on his arm had cleared off.

"Eeem, I will be off for a while. New job, I just thought you should know."

"Where will you be going?"

Sam looked at Drake and at me unresponsive, he seemed not to want to tell us where he was going to be for his new job. Sam's job as a private investigator seemed to come with a lot of danger and he chose not to want to get us involved in it. He really had a lot of time on his hands ever since we decided to help at the store.

"Ok. Good luck." Drake killed the silence after being certain that Sam was not ready to tell us where he would going.

Sam turned and left still walking with a little difficulty.

"Do you think he will be ok?"

"Yeah, Sam is stronger than her looks."

Looking at Sam walk down the stairs, I could feel the sense of concern which I felt for him. He seemed to have bottled up a lot since the past years.

"Look Lyla, the phone!"

I almost had forgotten about the message we were expecting. Looking at the phone, I saw the screen come up with a buzz. Quickly I rushed to the table and grabbed the phone. There was a message and I opened it immediately; the content read '7 pm. William street, block 21'. Drake appeared from my back and looked into the screen.

"You know this place?"

"No I don't, we will figure it out together."

Drake gently held on to my waist and sat me down the bed, then he took the phone was my hand and looked closely at the message. He brought out his phone and searched for the address online. Shortly, the results popped up, it was an old factory which seemed to have been abandoned for a while from the pictures we saw.

 One of the results showed that the factory closed down after a fierce incident that took the lives of so many workers in the factory. No one else agreed to work there and the government sealed it after a lot of investigations were carried out without any results. No one knew who the 'monster' was.

"It's quite close, about fifteen minutes from here."

"What if he finds out about Leo." My eyes widened with the thought of not being able to see Jason and have him run away after finding out Drake wasn't Leo. He seemed really scared from the way he spoke and probably hiding from someone or some people which could likely be the Alliance.

"Don't worry Lyla, we will be careful." Drake tapped me on my shoulder smiling.

"You must be hungry, I am famished!"

Getting up, Drake walked down the stairs and within few minutes he was back with a box of pizza. I remember buying two boxes and putting one in the freezer.

"Here, have some." Drake extended his hand with the box towards me, I wasn't really hungry and so I scoffed.

"You need to have something, even Werewolves can die of hunger you know."

I smiled at his teasing words, he sure knew how to get me to smile. Reluctantly I grabbed a piece of the pizza from the box and took a bite. I was really hungry as the first few bites of eating awakened a little tingle of hunger in my belle.

When we were done eating, we drove to the store to begin our usual routine. Luckily, we hadn't waited so much time in our mission that morning, it was still about nine am. There was still time to catch up with some of the early customers.