To the Moon and Back

Hours later my phone vibrating in my pocket wakes me up.

I pull it out and see that it is 3am and that I have three missed calls from a blocked number, there it goes again, I wonder if this could be Lisa trying to talk to me and if I should deny but then I have the feeling it is something important and I take the call.

"Alex?" I hear on the other side and I recognise it's Sharky.

Although I am still half asleep and there is a throbbing pain inside my head I instantly have to smile, that is before I notice she is crying.

I frown, what could possibly have happened.

"Sharky? What's up, are you crying? What happened?" I get alarmed because she does not respond but I can hear her sniffing and sobbing.

"SHARKY! Please tell me what's going on? Where are you?" I listen to the sounds on the other side trying to figure out where she is calling me from, I can hear voices in the background but they are pretty low and I can't make out anything they say.

"Alex, there is no time to explain, please, you have to promise me something." Her voice is shaking.

I wait for her to go on but I don't hear anything so I say. "Of course, I promise. Anything. What is it?"

By now I am in complete panic, something terrible must have happened.

With the phone tugged in between my ear and my shoulder I get up and go to my wardrobe to look for fresh clothes. I try to get dressed while I still listen to her on the phone.

She answers trying to sound as clear as possible speaking in an urgent and desperate voice that makes my stomach churn with fear.

"You have to go to my place and get Luke, please take him and look after him. He has got nobody else, please don't let them get him and put him down." Now she starts crying again and I can hardly understand what she says.

"SHARKY" I scream into the phone.

"Goodbye, Alex " is all I hear before the call breaks up.

"FUCK" I scream throwing the phone onto the bed. Tears are streaming down my face. I have no idea what's going on.

I am about to take my car keys when I remember that I left the car at the bar.
Shit.
Everything is going wrong. So I take my phone and with trembling fingers I am calling a taxi which takes ages at this time of the night. I wait in front of my house pacing the driveway like a madman.

When the car finally arrives I jump in and tell him the address of the bar, even the driver notices that I am freaking out and asks. "Is everything okay with you bro? What happened?"

I bury my face in my hands "I don't know" is all I can say.

When we reach the bar I jump out of the cab and throw some dollar bills through his window.

Then I jump in my car and race to see Sharky.

I finally arrive at her place and run up the stairs taking two at a time but when I open her door I see the apartment empty but looking like always I don't know what I had expected maybe evidence of a fight or an assault.

Luke notices and comes running towards me he seems pretty content and happy, not terrified or disturbed in any way. So what the fuck is going on? Where is she?

I pick up the dog and turn to leave when I see the camera still mounted on its tripod I follow an impulse when I open the side lid and take out the memory card.

As I leave the building I see her friend EX-OH running towards me his eyes are wide and he is panting.

"Hey Space" he greets me by my 'street name'. "You are Sharky's friend aren't you? Have you seen her?"

"Why?, what happened, do you know where she went tonight?" I hold him by the arm and only notice that I was probably gripping him too hard when he looks at me with a frown.

I open my fist a bit but not letting go altogether.

"I don't know, bro. We met as usual with the crew and everybody picked his spot but she never returned. I tried to call her but she won't answer her phone."

Oh my god, why am I so stupid? I didn't even try to call her on her phone, so I pull out my phone and hit her contact. The phone rings but she doesn't answer.

"Which spot did she want to go tonight?" I ask EX-OH.

"Same as with you, she said that the piece wasn't finished yet."

Without a word I turn and walk to the car. I put Luke on the passengers seat and we start out into the night. The whole drive I pray that I might find her there, maybe she fell and hurt her ankle and can't walk, maybe she lost her phone and can't call me. I hit the steering wheel in frustration because that all doesn't make sense to me.

I park the car on the curb and take Luke and skid down the gravel side strip to the foot of the bridges pillar where she sprayed her piece the other night.
I look at the wall and I notice that beside the shark she had done the last time there is a new image, it is of a rocket with a guy wearing a snap back looking out of the round window and underneath she had sprayed my 'street name' SPACE.

I look around completely lost because I cannot see her anywhere and my tears start rolling down my face again.

I try to call her again but when my phone starts ringing I can hear a faint vibrating sound behind me. I turn around and try to make out where it comes from when I see her phone lying on the ground beside a bush, lighting up with the call. I read the contact when I pick it up and it says 'Space Bae' on the display.

I just sink to my knees and start to cry, wiping my nose and eyes on my sleeve because I try to find some sort of clue in the dark that would tell me what happened here.

I find a couple of spray cans but we might have lost them the last time when the police was....

Oh. My. God.

Notes

What! What?