Annabell and Wyatt drove up to the house. He didn’t think he would ever see this place again. As they walked up to the porch, he started thinking about what Annabell had done for him. If it wasn’t for her, he would have died out there. He stopped. Annabell looked at him with a puzzled look. “Will you marry me?” he asked. “What…?” “Will you marry me?” he asked again. “Yes” said Annabell.







Three Months Prior





Waytt and Annabell started off their morning the same way they’ve always done when he has to leave. She makes breakfast while he packs his suit case. Annabell always dreaded these mornings. They ate in silence, cleaned up in silence, never exchanged a word. Annabell walked Waytt to the door. She looked at him, eyes full of tears. “Please don’t go…” she begged. “Everything is going to be okay” he reassured her. He knew how much she worried about him. She would tell him about how she was afraid he wouldn’t come back home, that she would never see him again. She hugged him tightly. “I love you” he whispered. “I love you too”. She cried as she watched him walk away.

Now she was all alone. Nothing to do but wait. Wait for a note saying her boyfriend had died, or wait until he finally comes home. She’s done this many times before. She just tries to keep her mind busy, because the more she thinks about it the more concerned she becomes. The next few weeks were rough. Every phone call she got, every knock at the door, she thought it was them coming to tell her that her boyfriend, the love of her life, is not coming home. But as the days went by, it got easier and easier. She started receiving letters saying where he had been and how he was doing. She became less worried. A week passed and she hadn’t received a letter. At first she thought it just got lost on its way to her house, but another week pasted and she got nothing. She heard a knock at the door. Her heart started pounding. She opened the door. It was the last person she wanted to see, General Sanders. Her heart sank. “I’m so sorry...” he started. This couldn’t be happening, not to her. She collapsed to the floor, sobbing. “Where is he” her voice trembled. “We left the battle field and came straight back to the base. When we took count he wasn’t there.” “What do you mean he wasn’t there?!” she demanded. “Where else could he have gone?” “I don’t know. We were in a rush so he may have gotten lost on our way back…” “So he could still be out there. He could still be alive.” “Ma’am, that’s highly unlikely…” She stood up. “Where was the last place you guys were? Who all were supposed to be with him?” “I’m sorry but I need you to fill out some paperwork before we give out any information.” “Excuse me but that’s my boyfriend out there. For all we know he could be fighting for his life and all you’re worried about is paper work?” she screamed. “The paper work has to be filled out before we start a search. It’s procedure.” “And how long will that take? A week? A month? By the time all that is done he will be dead, and there will be nothing I can do about it. If you’re not going to help me find him then I’ll do it myself. All I need to know is where you were last.” “I can’t tell you that.” She just looked at him. “Then ill figure it out on my own.” She shut the door with him on the other side. How was she supposed to figure out where he was? She thought of all the letters she got. Each one had the names of different places. The last place they were and the place they were going to. She ran to the kitchen and started going through the papers on the table. She finally found the letters and went to the last one she received:
My dearest Annabell,

We’ve been on the road all night and haven’t gotten much sleep. They have us on guard duty all day. There isn’t much time to do anything. I barely have time to write to you, that’s how busy we are. We just left a towncalled Barbelo in Estonia and we’re on our way to another town called Tabbris inLatvia. We haven’t had much activity so we may be coming home early. I miss you so much. I can’t wait to finally see you. I have a surprise for you. Hope to see you soon.



Love,

Waytt









She had it. Now all she had to do was figure out a way to get there, and where the places are located. She left a message on her parent’s phone telling them where she is going and what she is going to do, grabbed their emergency money stash, and she left.

She arrived at the air port and got a ticket to Estonia. As she was boarding, all she thought of was Waytt and how she was going to find him. She’s never been to Estonia, let alone heard of the place. She doesn’t even know where to start.

The next day the plane arrived in Estonia. Annabell had to find a bus that would take her to Barbelo, and then she could start asking the villagers questions. She walked to the front doors of the airport. Luckily, there was someone already going that way and offered to give her a ride. “What’s your name?” asked the guy. “Annabell.” She answered “What’s yours?” “Felipe. Where are you coming from?” “Texas.” He looked at her with a puzzled look. “That’s in the United States, right?” “Yes. Why?” “What brings you way out here?” “My boyfriend is in the military and he went missing. No one wants to look for him. The only way they will look is if I fill out a bunch of paper work and that will take too long, so I came myself, hoping I wound find him.” He looked at her with wide eyes. “Well, you’re an amazing girlfriend if you would come all the way out here by yourself to look for him.” Her eyes started to water. “I would do anything for him, even if that means coming to an unfamiliar place to search for him.” the rest of the car ride they were silent. When they pulled up to the village, she got out and thanked him and he drove away. What is she supposed to do now? She didn’t have a clue. She could start asking people questions, but who? She felt a tap on the shoulder. She turned around. It was a small woman with dark brown hair and green eyes. “I take it you’re not from around here” said the woman. “No I’m not” said Annabell. “Can you help me? I’m looking for my boyfriend. I received a letter saying here was here.” “What was here for? We have a lot of visitors that come here throughout the summers”. “He’s in the military and they were supposed to come through here” she answered. “Oh. They haven’t been here for days. Did he say where he was going after he left?” “Yes. He said he was going to a village called Tabbris in Latvia. Do you know where that is?” she asked. “It’s about 25 miles from here”. Annabell looked down. What was she supposed to do now? “If you need a ride, there’s someone here who brought some fruits from there. I think he would be willing to take you; you just have to find him. His name is Carlos.” “Thank you so much for all of your help. It means a lot.” She smiled and walked away. Now all she had to do was try to find where Carlos was. That shouldn’t be so hard, right? But before she did anything else, she had to find a place where she could eat. She hadn’t eaten since she left her house. She walked into a little restaurant. All eyes on her. She found a seat in the back of the building and a waitress came over to her table. “What would you like?” asked the waitress. “Something cheap, this is all I have”. She held out the five dollars that was in her pocket. The waitress looked around and said, “How about a burger” she suggested. “And it’s on me”. “Thank you so much”. The waitress went to the counter and came back with the burger. “So, what brings you here? You’re obviously not from here.” “I’m looking for my boyfriend. He went missing” said Annabell. “Oh. I’m so sorry. If there is anything I can do-““Actually, there is. I need to find a guy named Carlos. Have you seen him anywhere?” the waitress pointed over to a rough looking man. “He just got here before you arrived.” Annabell walked over to where the man was sitting. She tapped him on the shoulder. “Who the-“. “Oh my gosh. I am so sorry. This woman told me that you just came from Latvia and that you may be able to give me a ride there.” The man looked at her with a weird expression, and then smiled. “I would love to give you a ride”. They both finished their meals and went to the truck.

On their way there he started asking questions. “What’s your name? Where are you from?” “My name is Annabell and I’m from the United States.” For some reason, Annabell felt a little uncomfortable. Carlos would just stare at her for a moment, then look away with a grin on his face. She thought it was a little weird. When she would try to talk, he would start telling her how pretty she is and how lucky her boyfriend is. Now she started to get weirded out. She looked at him. “Please stop saying that to me” She demanded. “Saying what? That you’re pretty? It was just a compliment.” He put his hand on her knee. She pushed it off. “I know but I don’t feel comfortable with you saying that and I would appreciate it if you would stop.” He looked at her with a look of anger. “You will not tell me what to do in my own truck!” he yelled. Now she was really starting to get scared. “Stop the truck” she screamed. “I want to get out”. “Oh, you’re not going anywhere” he replied. She looked at him with horror on her face. This couldn’t be happening to her. Not this too. She tried to open the door and jump out, but Carlos grabbed her and yanked her close to him. “Where you going sweetheart?” tears where flowing down her face. “If you ever try to leave again, I’ll make sure you never see your boyfriend again” he whispered in her ear. They pulled up to an abandoned house. He came around to her door and opened it, pulled her out of the truck and started pushing her toward the house. When they got inside he closed the door and locked it. Then he looked at her with a creepy smile. “What shall we do now?” he asked as he pulled hr close to him. She jutted her elbow into his stomach hard and he fell to the floor. This was her chance to run, but she heard a noise coming from the other room. It sounded like a cry for help. So she ran to the other room. As she entered the room she gasped. The man that was lying on the floor in a pool of blood was Wyatt. She rushed over to him. “What are you doing here?” he asked in surprise. “I came for you” she answered. “We have to get out of here. He’s going to be coming soon. She helped him up and stated walking down the hallway, but then she stopped. She heard footsteps coming from the other way. “Is there another way out of here other than the front door?” “There’s a back door in the kitchen. We can go out there. There’s a main road just to the left. If there is someone driving by we can them to call the cops.” They ran to the other door and darted out into the back yard in the direction of the road. They saw a car coming and flagged it down. “Do you need help?” asked the man in the car. “Yes. We need you to call the cops. Right now!” the man got out his phone and called the cops as Annabell and Wyatt got into the car. “We need to get out of her. Can you take us to the closest town?” “Yes”. Now they were on their way home. “I told you everything was going to be okay” kidded Wyatt. She just looked at him and smiled.