Chapter 16

Ah, the trusty old notebook. It had been pretty much his only friend for the past 2 months, the one thing that he had confided all of his secrets to. It was no wonder that Wade had decided to confess his final plans to it now. Already the front cover was tattered and torn, on the verge of falling off completely and nearly every single page was filled with rants, ravings and the carefully laid plans of his redemption. As he sat at the small table in his hotel room Wade muttered to himself as he furiously wrote, making no effort to stay within the lines. Even though he had been sitting in the same position for over two hours now, he didn't even notice the cramping in his back or the dull ache in his hand as it sped over the final page until he reached the very bottom, now completely out of space.

At that, he blinked at his watch and smiled to himself. He was right on time. The sun had completely set, leaving most of the room in shadow with the only light from a dim bulb by the bed. He would be up most of the night and probably tired for his match tomorrow but it would be well worth it to finally get his revenge on them both.

Standing from the table and packing the notebook away in his bag, Wade grabbed his rental keys, wallet and room key and headed out the door to the elevators. First, he needed a quick trip to the local walmart and then...well then he could go and see his precious Callie to prepare her for her big debut tomorrow. This was definitely going to be a Wrestlemania to remember.

...

"You're letting him go? You're seriously going to just let him walk out of here? What the hell?"

"Mr. Cena, Mr. Brooks, we got his story from him and it all makes sense. We have warned him to stay in town until further notice and I already have a couple of officers that are going to be keeping a close eye on him but unless we can connect him to your sister's disappearance we can't hold him. He's already been here the required 24 hours and if we hold him any longer against his will he could sue." The officer looked genuinely sorry that there wasn't more that could be done at the moment but it didn't help the two men's mood at all. "I'm sorry about this, really I am. But until more information comes in, we have to cut him loose."

As the officer left the meeting room, they both looked at each other, the same expression of anger and disbelief covering their faces. "What the hell kind of excuse is that?"

"I know Phil. I have a hard time believing he just 'overheard' some of the divas talking about it. Something doesn't add up here and I don't like it." John replied. He had arrived at the police station an hour before after getting a call from the officer handling the case. On his way out of the hotel he'd ran into Phil and invited him along. John had been hoping he could finally get a sense of what was going on with the punk lately but, once at the station, had lost all interest for the moment except for that the cop was telling him. He didn't hold too much faith that, if this man had anything to do with her disappearance, he would stick around for long for the police to catch him in the act of anything. "They wouldn't even tell us his name."

"Yeah, cause they know we'll track him down and find our own way of getting information out of him. At least he doesn't have tickets to the show tomorrow. Soon as I saw him in the crowd I would have had to jump that barricade and take his fat head off myself." Phil let out a long sigh and looked to John. "Guess we better go tell everyone."

"Yeah...I guess."

Once they were in John's rental again he turned to Phil and studied his face for a minute. The bags under his eyes were twice their normal size and the dark-haired man was extremely pale. Then again, none of them were getting much rest lately. It still worried John though. He put the key in the ignition but didn't turn it to start the sedan, instead turning his body slightly in the seat to face Phil. "Look, I don't like to pry into people's business and I know this whole situation is screwing with everyone but...I don't know, you seem a little more...hell, I don't know the word for it. Anything you wanna talk about?"

Was it really that obvioius? Punk knew he hadn't been himself lately but, then again, most of them hadn't. The drama was really starting to wear everyone down and he hadn't thought he'd been any more depressed than the others. "Well, John...I just..."

"What is it?" John saw the hesitation in his passenger. "You know you can talk to me if you need to. I mean, I know we're not close or anything but I think CC would want us to be there for each other. You've helped out a lot since she's been gone and don't think I don't appreciate it. I...I'm here if you need it."

"I know. And it's great, thanks. But...I..." Punk stared out of the front window of the car, rubbing his hands together nervously. "I'm just not ready to talk about it yet. One problem at a time, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know. It's cool. But we're all here when you're ready."

'Yeah, everyone except the one person I really want to talk about it to' Punk thought as John started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

...

Wade was so glad to have gotten out of that store in one piece. The Walmart in Arlington was quite literally a stone's throw away from Cowboy's Stadium and even at eight at night it was packed. Even just roaming around the store and picking up the items on his list he was picked out by fans, both natives and out-of-towners that were in town for the event. There were mixed emotions among the fans about his match at Wrestlemania but whether they were for him or against him, they were all happy to be able to meet one of the wrestlers. Normally he wouldn't have minded it but he was on a mission tonight. Loading his bags into the car and starting the engine he headed out towards Callie. Thankfully he didn't have far to go.

...

They say that without sleep, a person can quite literally go insane. A day or two awake won't do too much damage other than make someone a little slower, lagging in their daily activities and forgetting small details. But after three days with rest, the brain has to begin compensating by ignoring certain other functions. First, short term memory becomes a problem, followed closely by peripheral hallucinations. If one goes even longer without sleep it leads to auditory hallucinations, paranoia and, quite often, violence and irrational fears. Dave had heard this all before and even experienced some of the first stages of the process during his early days with the WWE, trying to keep up with a demanding schedule. Eventually he had learned how to manage the time better and overcome the obstacle of total sleep deprivation, but now those words were coming back to him as he lay, once again, awake in the dark. They had made sense to him back in those days because it had actually been happening to him but now, they didn't seem to apply at all. Oh, he was going crazy alright but it wasn't the sleep deprivation that was causing it. His own mind was the culprit this time. There were no hallucinations, no paranoia, no memory problems. The crazy was being cause by his lack of contact with both Callie and the rest of the events surrounding Wrestlemania. After being banned from the events, Dave had taken refuge in his hotel room, only coming out to work out in the gym and go to the store when needed. The hermit act had seemed the most likely option that would keep him from snapping at the wrong person and hurting anyone. Lord knows he didn't need to end up in jail again. He'd learned that lesson back when he was a bouncer in night clubs. But, staring up at the dark ceiling once again, it dawned on him that his isolation with his thoughts were what was driving him insane, keeping him from sleeping. It had been four days and he had only managed to doze once while sitting on the couch staring at an Adam Sandler movie he couldn't even remember the name of.

Turning over onto his side and glancing out the hotel window at the lights of the city outside, Dave came to a crucial decision. He would go to Wrestlemania tomorrow. He would show up and to hell with anyone who tried to throw him out, Vince included. He needed to talk with John and Jeff and Phil and all the others. He needed to both give and receive kind words and hope that this would all be resolved soon. Most of all, he needed to get back to some sort of life, whether Callie would be there or not. Isn't that what she would want? Dave could only imagine what she would do if she saw him now, wallowing in his own misery in a room kept constantly dark. Slap the hell out of him most likely, before dragging him from the bed and forcing him out the door and back into the real world. Yes, he would go to Wrestlemania tomorrow and nothing was going to change his mind.

...

Callie wasn't sure if she was awake or asleep by now. She vaguely remembered Wade entering the room once more, setting down various bags and coming over to her. She remembered the moment of panic when she saw the needle he produced and jammed into her neck. Everything after that was a drugged haze that she was almost thankful for but still scared of. It was obvious he'd given her some sort of tranquilizer to keep her from struggling but everything that she could discern that he was doing to her was completely new. She felt water and could only assume he was washing her, the stickiness of the blood fading away slowly as her newly wet skin chilled her even more. Then, the clothing. He was dressing her in what seemed to be some sort of loose pants and a tank top. What was his angle here? Not that she could have asked even if she had wanted to. She couldn't even move her own head from side to side the drugs were so strong. If she was lucky, maybe he would have accidentally given her a little too much and soon she would fall asleep and not wake up. Yeah, that would be nice.

...

After he was done, Wade stood back and admired his handiwork. The drugs he'd stolen weeks before had worked better than he hoped at keeping her placid while he cleaned and dressed her. She fell completely unconscious from it by the time he brushed out her long hair and he even put a new pair of socks on her, knowing it was chilly on the cement floor and she was already starting to develop a fever. She looked decent enough even though the bruises and cuts and scrapes were still clearly visible, even in the dim light. That was all part of the plan though. The more they stood out the better. Now, all he had to do was get her to the ring and wait to the show to start. Injecting her with a little more of the tranquilizer, just to make sure she didn't wake up before the appointed time, Wade gathered up the rest of the things he would need and unchained her from the leg iron before wrapping her in a blanket, picking her up and carrying her up the stairs.

One more chapter until Wrestlemania! What's Wade planning and where is he taking Callie until then? What's this secret Punk has been harboring? And how will everyone react to Dave showing up backstage before the show? Just wait and find out!