Chapter 1. Late Nights
Seth's POV
I had to have been laying in bed for at least an hour and a half at this point. As tired as I am, for some reason sleep would not come. I guess it would be one of those nights were my thoughts just raced until dawn appeared. It had been awhile since one of these episodes occurred. To make matters worse my phone had been constantly buzzing for the last 10 minutes. I had placed it on silent not wanting to be disturbed by the person behind the unrecognized number. I had about enough with the damn thing. Snatching the phone up ready to give the person on the other end a piece of my mind, my heart stopped once I heard the voice on the other end.
"Seth? Seth, please tell me this is still your number.". The voice was barely audible between the sniffles and the strain from being exhausted. Still, I knew that voice from anyone's. "Annabelle, is that you? What's going on? Are you ok?". I hadn't spoken to Annabella in nearly 5 years.
Being the little sister to my grade school best friend, I had known her most of my life. She would often tag along and was our biggest nuisance. Right after graduation her brother, Barrett, had joined the marines. Unfortunately, he died during his first term. Soon after that, Annabelle and I became close. At first, it was just 2 people mourning the loss of a loved one. However, it sooned turned into being each other's support system. Then one day we were an item. I'm not even sure how it happen. However right before I joined the main roster, she just disappeared. She left a note wishing me luck in conquering my dreams and stated that she loved me. That was all the note said though. After 5 years of dating, all i got was good luck.
The note angered me. I always thought about what I would say if we ever crossed paths. But hearing her on the phone right now...she sounded broken. All, i could do was ask if she was ok.
Annabelle: "Seth, I really need your help. I didn't know who else to call.".
Seth: Where are you? What's going on?
Annabelle: I don't know where I am. I just drove, but I'm really scared.
Seth: Baby, just think. Did you see any signs which may give you a hint of where you could be. Are you still in Iowa?
I heard her talking to someone in the background. I could not make out what she was saying, but I was becoming scared. I had already risen from the bed gotten dressed and grabbed the keys to the rental car when I heard her clearly again.
Annabelle: I'm at a Quality Inn, in Brookhaven Mississippi.
As she rattled off giving me the address. I couldn't help but wonder why the hell she was in Mississippi. Thankful we had a house show in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. So I was only about 2 hours away. However, Monday Night Raw was in New Orleans. But I really couldn't worry about that right now.
Seth: Okay, are you safe? Can you stay there until I get to you? i'm only a couple hours away.
Annaelle: I think so.
Car Rides
It was already past 1 AM, and I was exhausted. For those reasons alone I had dragged Roman from his slumber to tag along . Typically I would have opted for Dean as he was always on the go. However, I knew he and Renea needed some alone time. Pissed would be an understatement If i had to describe Roman's face when he swung open his hotel door. But the look faded when he saw my sense of urgency. While pulling out of the hotel parking lot, I explained to him that Annabelle had called and gave him a run down of our conversation. He had met her a handful of times during our NXT days. He was also there during her disappearance. Following my explanation for waking him up, the ride was silent. I'm sure we were both deep in thought.
I couldn't understand why she would call me after all this time. After she disappeared, i tried for months to contact her. I called, wrote, email DMed. I nearly tried everything possible rather than hiring a P.I. Nothing. For 5 long years, there was nothing. I wondered even more why she was scared. From the moment I've known her as the 7 year old kid sister to my best friend, she was always fearless. I remembered when Barrett and I was in the 7th grade, we dared her to ring the doorbell of Mr. Ritter. Mr. Ritter was the mean old man that lived on the end of our block growing up. There was an old tale of him capturing any child who stepped foot on his property. Even in the 3rd grade, she skipped up his steps and rang the doorbell.
Roman: You okay?
Seth: Not really man, it's been 5 years. I can't help but think something is seriously wrong.
Roman: Yeah, but she said she was safe. Don't worry too much about it ok. You'll only drive yourself crazy.
Brookhaven was by far one of the smallest towns I've ever been in. Pulling into the quality Inn, I couldn't help but wonder how she ended up here. Roman was following behind me as I got out. He simply stated "just in case" when I threw him a glance. Walking into the hotel, I saw her Her back was too me, but I still knew it was her. Her curls were thicker. She appeared to have gained a few pounds, but in good places. She was currently twisting the ends of her hair. That was something she always done when she was nervous. I couldn't believe after 5 years she was in the same room as me. What shocked me more was what was sitting next to her.
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