Act 4: The Lost Page

It was one minute to midnight; Timothy watched the clock for when he could make the call. The numbers morphed to twelve on the dot and instantly he connected the call.

At Ms. Ancer’s hotline, Barry took his seat behind the crystal ball and the hotline lit up. “Man, that was quick.” The lights and cameras turned on and instantly Barry was on television. “Hello caller, how can I help you?”

“I need help finding the missing girl.”

“Ah, yes Giselle.”

“Can you tell me where she is?”

“Yes…” Barry answered. He looked pass the camera to Ms. Ancer. “She is somewhere around your location.”

“Around my location? Like by where I am now?”

Barry shuts his eyes, “In the town you live in.”

“Really, is she going to leave anytime soon.”

“She will not cross any town borders but will not be in town in two days.”

“Two days, will she be alive?”

Ms. Ancer ran her hand over her neck, indicating that he should not answer the question.

Barry closed his eyes to find the answer. “Wow that’s an interesting question.” He opened his eyes, “Uh, how do I put this?”

On the other line, Timothy knew that Giselle was a spirit and might not be a living creature in general. “Wait, will there be a…”

“I know what you going to ask, yes there will be. I don’t see how it is connected to the girl though.”

“Uh, well…”

Barry shivered intensely as he tapped into the universe to find answers. “Were you told something by an outside source?”

“Outside source, as in another psychic?”

“No outside source as in…” the call dropped. “Hello caller, hello.” Barry’s composure broke and he stood up.

Ms. Ancer was directing him to sit back down. The psychic’s deduction pieced together something so otherworldly that his induction did not prepare him for. The boss called for a commercial break. She walks up to the table, “What’s the matter with you?”

“I saw the future.”

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, oh boy did you see me firing you?”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Whoa, fire…ing, uh yeah, and I think I can see the reason…”

“What reason is that?”

“This missing girl case.”

“What about it?”

“I’ll keep myself composed; can we get him back on the line?”

Ms. Ancer goes back to her spot and before the program comes on, Barry texts Timothy to call back.

“Alright everyone, we are going to milk this call,” alerted Ms. Ancer.

The call that should have gone through the operators went straight to Barry. His phone ringing got lost in the ringing of the other phones. Barry picked up the phone, “Hello caller.”

“Hi, about the girl’s whereabouts…”

“One thing, whatever that source told you, I would take it seriously, I don’t know how to classify it.”

Ms. Ancer was upset by the words ‘I don’t know.’ She mouthed to him, ‘You do know.’

“Caller…”

An operator went up to Ms. Ancer, “This call was never put through by any of the operators.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, that the caller is not paying standard messaging rates.”

“Wait a minute, how the hell is this person talking to Barry? Are we being hacked?”

“I don’t know but I…”

Ms. Ancer silenced the worker, putting her hand up. In her thought she produced a question, “How are our ratings.”

The worker skimmed social media for people’s comments on the program, “It seems about fine, but we could make more profit, if the caller was charged with the standard messaging rates.”

Ms. Ancer’s greed got the better of her, “You’re right, disconnect the call.”

“Will do ma’am.”

Timothy was on his couch taking notes on what Barry was telling him. Then a knock came at the door, right on schedule. “Hold on, I have to get the door.” Timothy muted his phone. Looking through the peephole he saw Roscoe, “Let’s go, right on time.” He opened the door, “Roscoe how’s it going!”

“Roscoe smirked, “Is that you on the T.V. doing the missing girl case?”

“Yeah, what did you find out?”

“The Loving Hands Friendship House has the girl from the play.”

“How’d you find out?”

“I have my sources.”

“What do they want her for?”

“I don’t know, my source couldn’t tell me that.”

“Do you know where they are located?”

“Uh, yeah at…”

Timothy heard Barry’s voice over the phone, “Hold on.” He put the phone to his head, “Yeah I’m still here.”

Ms. Ancer told Barry to end the call. “Sorry you were taking too long, I have to end the call,” Barry said. The hotline went on commercial break.

“So where is the girl?”

“Roscoe!” A woman yelled from across the street.

“Oh crap, my girlfriend woke up, I got to get back.” Roscoe ran back to his house in a hurry.

“Fuck.”

Timothy went back to the call to see that he has been disconnected. “Aw damn.” He called the direct line again, but Barry did not pick up. “What the hell! Barry, I need you to pick up.” In panic he texted Barry the truth, ‘Barry I was approached by some people after I lost the girl and they said they would burn the town down if she was not returned back home.’ A text came back, ‘I can’t help you through the hotline, they’re on to us. But I will help you after school.’ ‘Thank you.’ Timothy replied. He then sent a message to Gloria, ‘Me and Barry are going to search for Giselle I would appreciate if you came and helped. She is in the town btw.’ No reply.

The program came back on

After the program ended, Ms. Ancer approached Barry. “Come to my office.”

“Uh, Miss, I am tired, and I have school tomorrow.”

“I understand, I’ll make this quick.”

Barry felt unwelcome news coming on, “Can we do this on the way.”

“Fine, your psychic, do you know what I’m about to tell you.”

“Hopefully not what I’m thinking.”

“For your stunt tonight, I’m going to have to let you go. We will give you your final payment via direct deposit on the next pay day. Good night, Barry.”

He walked out without saying a word but recalled his vision for the previous day. He closed the door behind him, “At least I know why my pay got shorted… aw well I miss the hassle, in a couple of days,” he said to himself.