How Do I Mend?

Chapter 12: Can This Really be Happening?

Tharn immediately went into a panic when he saw the text from his roommate. He composed himself quickly and called Techno. Frustratingly, it took two calls before Techno answered.

"Ai'Tharn." Techno was his usual, cheerful self. "How's..."

"Where's Type?!" Tharn interjected.

"Huh?" Techno was confused. Granted, the two of them had decided to stay in their own rooms that day, so he wasn't expecting anything odd to occur. "I'm not sure. I'm binge-watching a show today, and he was going to study. We were planning to meet up at dinner."

"Ai'No!" Tharn nearly yelled, "Go to our room right now. He texted me a few times, but his last message just said 'Help!'" Tharn was trying to stay in control, but he was getting more and more worried. Tharn remained on the line as Techno sprang out of bed, running to the other dorm.

"No one answered, should I look for the RA?"

"Do it now!" Tharn urged, "I'm coming home!" Especially lately, Type was a very light sleeper. If he was in the room, something would be wrong for him to not answer. Tharn did not want to imagine what would be happening if Type was not in the dorm.

Tharn immediately threw his things into his bag and gathered his bandmates. After telling them there was an emergency and he needed to go back, they tried to convince him to stay. Tharn was pushing into a full panic, so he relented toward his desire for secrecy and gave them a quick rundown of everything that had happened since school started. Tharn was scared; he needed to get back.

"Okay, okay," Michael, the leader said, "let me make a call. We'll all head back and help."

"Should we call campus security?" their bassist asked. Tharn was no entirely sure yet. Should he ask them for help or wait for Techno?

The band headed back to campus after settling things in Austin with the band they were supposed to open for. When they got to campus, they were met with a visibly distraught Techno and a few police officers. Techno had made the call to involve authorities when they found nothing in the dorm room, followed by numerous unanswered phone calls.

When Thran arrived, the police had just finished searching the Kinesiology building. They had found Type's smashed phone in the hallway and were looking though security footage around the building. The next revelation shocked everyone. The camera footage showed an older man loading, which seemed to be Type, into a black truck. Tharn, being privy to the footage, proceeded to faint.

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Type was slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. He was in a dark room, and he could smell slight hints of sewage. There was very little light, the mild rays were coming in from the far right of his vision. That was all he could see. He could also feel restraints on his body. His arms were above his head, yet he was not sure if he was lying down or standing. His mind was still fuzzy.

As he became more aware, he could tell that he was lying down. He looked up slightly to see his hands bound to a pipe on the wall behind him. As his eyes ventured down, he saw his ankles and legs were bound as well. His vague memories came back, and he braced in fear. There was no way! Halfway around the world, it could not be possible. Type heard a creaking sound and looked on in horror.

It was true, and the nightmare was only beginning.

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Back at school, Tharn was coming to. He was lying on the floor in the security office, looking into the concerned faces of Techno, his bandmates, and several officers. His mind was in a jumble, so he spoke to Techno, asking if the video had been real. Met with curious looks from the people surrounding him, not expecting to hear a different language being spoken. Techno solemnly answered that it was all real and attempted to calm Tharm with a slight hug to his shoulder.