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“Where is she!?” I yelled at the top of my voice as I paced back and forth across the huge living room.
“And am I supposed to tell you?” A deep voice from the other end of the line asked in a mocking voice.

“Listen. Either you tell me where she is, or I will-”
“You’ll do what?” He cut me off. The intense situation turned into a deep silence, as I didn’t answer his question. I stopped pacing around.
  

“What can you do Mr. Asher?” He asked once again, and I still didn’t open my mouth to speak.
“If you call the Police, I will not hesitate to kill her.” The man said with a wicked laugh. Sobbing and crying of a little girl could be heard in the background. Julie.

“Quiet!” The man scolded at the crying voice. I clenched my jaw tight and my hands, unconciously wrapped around my phone tightly. So tightly that it was close to being crushed.

“What do you need? Why are you doing this?” I asked calmly, and before I knew it, I was already crying.

Tears flooded my eyes as I crouched down to the clean and white floor. I leaned my back against the sides of the couch. I shut my eyes as tears flowed through them. The tears felt like hot stinging blades. I didn’t even bother rubbing them off, knowing that the tears would just flow again.

Each day my daughter goes missing, It feels like my dead heart is finding its way towards its grave.

It's hard. The only reason I wanted to live was because of my daughter. She was the light of my life, the light that shines so bright, that it never vanished. A light that pierces the darkest of times. But now, that light, is facing darkness itself.

“Oh, nothing much. Just taking the revenge from years ago.” The man said casually and nonchalantly.
Revenge? What revenge is he talking about? I pondered for a moment.

“What revenge? What nonsense are you spitting out?” I raised my voice.

“Oh, you’ll see. Quite soon in fact.” The man replied in a mysterious voice, leaving me to wonder. He laughed hard, causing me to distance myself from the phone because of the loud laughter.

“Do you need money? I’ll give you money. If you need billions, I’ll give it to yo-” I got cut off once again.

“Why would I go through all this trouble over a few measly paper dollars?” The man answered with a slight chuckle.

“Anyway Mr. Asher. I feel like I’m wasting my time. So toodles!” The man exclaimed with enthusiasm.

“Wait!” I stopped him before he could hang up. I heard him groan loudly.
“What?” He snapped. The irritation and contempt was almost palpable.

“Let-” I swallowed the thick saliva down my throat and shut my eyes for a moment.
“Let me talk to my daughter.” I requested.
The man clicked his tongue. A few moments passed by as I finally heard the voice that I wanted to hear this whole time.

“Daddy?”
The sweet and gentle voice of my six year old daughter was heard.

“Julie? Sweetie? Are you alright?” Concern was evident in my voice as I quickly stood up. My head started to feel dizzy and I felt I was going to collapse. I held a table’s edge for support and to balance myself. I held my head with one hand and rubbed my temples with my fingers.

“I’m scared, Daddy…” Julie said with a soft voice. Her voice cracked and I could tell she was trembling.

“Its okay, Julie. Daddy’s your superhero, right? He’ll save you.” I calmed her down and tried my best to lighten her mood a bit.

“Yeah…Daddy’s my superhero.” She repeated in a very small voice. I could tell she was crying, but little did she know, I was crying as well.

I wiped the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand roughly, and sighed heavily. But that just brought more tears.

“Daddy?” Julie called out. I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. There was a lump in my troat that prevented me from replying.

“Daddy?” She called out again. I sighed heavily and finally, I spoke.
“Yes sweetie?”  I answered as I shut my eyes.

“I love you.” Julie finally said. This was unbearable. I sobbed out loudly and I couldn’t control it anymore. I know that as a father, I was supposed to be strong for my own daughter, but this was different. I haven’t seen my daughter since God knows when.
“I love you too Julie.” I said after gaining some courage.

I looked at the photo frame that was placed on the table. It was a picture of Julie and me. Julie’s mother was never in the picture, because she was never in our lives in the first place. She left us long ago, leaving me to take care of Julie by myself.

I struggled financially back then. We barely had enough to eat. Victoria, Julie’s mother, couldn’t handle the pressure, so she left us. A small world this is, really.

“Daddy? I have to tell you something.” Julie informed.
“What is it, sweetie?” I answered back.

“Th-”
She was about to speak when suddenly, the call ended.

“Julie? Julie?!” I called out. That monster must have ended the call. I stared at the phone for a bit, and threw it across the room, smashing it to bits and pieces.

I walked to another large room that had a desk. I sat on the chair and rested my elbows on the table’s smooth surface. I buried my face in my hands and cried heavily, and before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep while crying, as I have been doing for ages…

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