“Are we there yet?”
“Not yet honey,” Tom replied.
“How hard is it to find a party?” Charlie asked. She was wearing a unique looking dress, and over the top earrings.
“I’ve looked at the GPS thousands of times,” Tom said. “We should be there any second now.”
Tom and Charlie had been dating for five months now, and a friend of there’s had invited them to a party.
Now, there relationship wasn’t the best in the world. Charlie and Tom probably had a couple of fights per day. But that didn’t stop them from trying to love each other. Even if it was hard for them.
“There it is!” Charlie screamed.
“What is it?”
“The party, stupid!”
“See, I told you we would find it!” Tom cheered.
“Just go ahead and park the dumb truck!” Charlie complained.
The two found a parking space, and went towards the front door.
“Well, look who we have here! The Troubles!”
“Very funny, John,” Tom said.
“Nice mansion! I just can’t wait to look around it!” Charlie said.
The two walked into the mansion, followed by John.
“Say, where’s your twin sister?” Charlie asked.
“Bell? Eh, she’s somewhere around here,” John answered.
“I’ll go look!” Charlie giggled, running off.
“How’s you’ll relationship going?”
“She’s just so hard to understand sometimes!” Tom said. “And she gets mad over the smallest things. For instance, I had trouble finding this place…”
“Dude, it’s a huge mansion. You should be able to see it from miles and miles away,” John laughed.
“Anyways, she got mad at me for it! I just don’t think we’re going to last any longer, John. I think I might break up with her tonight,” Tom said.
Johns eyes opened wide. “You can’t break up with her tonight! Heck, it’s a party! Party’s are fun, not sad! Just, do it tomorrow!”
“I guess your right. Say, where’s the food?” Tom asked.
“That one room with the huge doors, down that hall. Not the first though, Gramps hasn’t hired anyone to fix it yet,” John explained.
“Well, okay! Thanks!” Tom took off, walking to where the party was. When he arrived, he was greeted by the owner of the mansion, John’s Grandpa, Kevin and his wife, Marie.
“Hello there, sonny!” Kevin said.
“Hi Mr. and Mrs. Pennybags! Nice to see you!” Tom said.
“How’s the lady doing?” Marie asked.
“Just ask John. He knows the whole story,” Tom said. He walked past the two, then entered the party. In the middle of the room, was Charlie and Bell.
“I wonder if he’s going to propose!” Charlie wondered.
“Now she thinks I’m going to propose to her?! Heck, I was going to break up with her!” Tom thought in his head. “What am I going to do?!”
Tom quickly hid behind some velvet colored curtains, where he could listen to Charlie and Bell, out of sight.
“Well gee, I don’t know. We’ve only been together for five months,” One of the girls said.
It was hard to tell who was speaking for Tom, since the girls sounded a like.
“Well why else would you have a huge party for? I’m just glad you suggested we have it here.”
“Well it sure is nice for these types of occasions! When do you think he’s gonna do it if he does?”
“I think just under an hour. That’s when the cake is going to be brought out!”
“I’ve got to get out of here!” Tom thought. “I’m not ready for a wife!”
Tom ran out from behind the curtains and headed towards the door.
“Tom, where are you going?”
“Charlie! Um, why do you ask? I wasn’t going any where,” Tom answered.
“Good! There going to bring the cake out! Come on!” Charlie said. She grabbed Tom’s arm and took him back to the party room.
The cake was brought out by the butler, and Mike, Bell’s boyfriend went up to it.
“Cutting cake, which is something you do regular, is something that we can do anytime just about it. In fact, when you have a relationship, it’s similar to a cake, it’s got many layers. Some people say that relationships are hard, but when you have one with an amazing person, it’s as sweet as cake,” Mike said.
Bell blushed, as Mike continued, “So, Bell, I’ve got a little question for you.”
Mike knelt down on one knee, and pulled out a box.
“Oh my gosh! Your going to propose!” Bell screamed.
I was able to catch up with the police, and rode with one of them in their car.
Finally, we had made it to the woods. The police quickly jumped out of their cars, and ran in different directions, in groups. I was with two policemen, and we were heading to the west.
“So, how do we find him?” I asked.
“We keep searching till we find him,” the policeman said. “Pretty simple kid.”
We walked for a good while, then, I noticed something in the sky. Smoke was coming up from somewhere. So naturally, I told the policemen.
“We’re getting close to something,” one of them said. They took off running towards the smoke, leaving me behind.
I started to run as well, but was clearly out of shape. I wasn’t much into sports as the other boys. Never been good at them either.
“Hey, wait up you guys!” I yelled. They weren’t too far ahead of me, so I could still see them.
We kept on running until the smoke came closer. The smoke was coming from a small wood cabin, which the fire place was lit, since smoke was coming out of the chimney.
“Call for back-up,” The policeman said. “We’re going to need to surround the house.”
Shortly, the rest of the policemen had surrounded the house. Then, they started knocking down doors and breaking windows.
“Come out with your hands behind your backs!” A policeman yelled.
Running out of the door, came my little brother, Josh. He was crying tears of happiness and so was I. He ran right into my arms where I gave him a massive hug.
“I’m so glad your okay,” I said.
“Me too,” Josh said.
“Is the guy who kidnapped you in there?”
“I think he’s trying to make a run for it,” Josh answered.
Thinking back upon that day, I’ve learned that you have to be careful with your surroundings. Now, I’m 16, and Josh is 14. I make sure to keep close eyes on him, but hey, he’s growing up, and he’s learning to fend for himself.
The End
The police kept an eye out for the guy who followed Josh. It didn’t do them much good, since they never found him.
The next few days, I made sure to stick to my brothers side. If the police couldn’t even find the guy who followed Josh, I wanted to make sure my little brother was safe. If he went to Jacobs house, I was going too. Luckily Jacob has an older brother who’s a good friend of mine, so I’m never bored.
That next Thursday, I had band practice. Last week I had made Josh sit through it with me, then we walked home with no problems. For some reason though, when I went to the bus stop to get Josh, he wasn’t there. The bus Him and I rode was still there, so I ran aboard.
“Why hello there Peter! What can I do for you?” Mr. Stevens asked.
“Is my little brother on here?”
“Josh? I didn’t see him come aboard,” Mr. Stevens told me. “Didn’t you say you two would be walking home?”
“Yes, he’s supposed to wait for me,” I said.
“He walked out with me,” Jacob said, standing up out of seat.
“Where’d he go?” I asked my brother’s friend.
“Some guy walked towards him, took his arm, and walked off with him,” Jacob said. “ I didn’t think your Dad would be here for another week.”
“Because that wasn’t Dad!” I yelled. “My brothers been kidnapped!”
“I’ll call 911 right away!” Mr. Stevens said.
“Jacob, think you could come with me?” I asked. “I’ll walk you home and everything.”
“Well my house is just two houses down from yours,” Jacob said. “But, why?”
“I need for you to show me where Josh and that guy went.”
“Okay! I’ll text my Mom about the new plans.”
“Hello? Operator Lady? Yes, I’d like to report a missing kid. Who? Josh McFinkle. His Mom is at work. She should be able to come down to the station when I call. His brother will be there shortly to tell details. Thank you,” Mr. Stevens finished then hanged up. “Jacob, go show Peter which direction they went, then hop aboard and I’ll take you boys to the police station. I’ll also call your mother.”
“Thank you,” I said, then ran out the doors with Jacob.
“They went that way, to the left.”
“And to get to our houses you go to the right,” I said.
“No duh Sherlock,” Jacob said.
“Watch it!” I yelled. “At the end of the street, did they turn right or left?”
“Left again,” Jacob said.
“But that leads to the woods,” I said.
“I know that.”
I made notes of this new information, then Jacob and I hopped on the bus and took off.
We sit next to Mr. Stevens. He kept his eyes on the road, but managed to talk to us. “I called your mother and she’s on her way to the station. She should be there by the time you boys get there.”
“Are you sure we aren’t interrupting dropping kids off?” I asked.
“Right now we’re still ahead of schedule. Ironic ain’t it?”
He continued driving until we got to the station. Jacob and I hopped out, and ran inside.
At the desk was Mom and Jacob’s Mom.
“The police need some information,” Mom said. “I’m hoping you boys have it.”
“From school, Josh went left, then into the woods,” I said.
“The woods?!” This isn’t good,” Jacobs Mom said.
“Be quiet Marie! You’ll scare the children!” Mom whispered.
“Okay, the police are on there way over there,” The receptionist said.
“I want to go with them,” I said.
“Son, it’s too dangerous,” The receptionist said.
“He’s my brother,” I said. “He may not of waited for me, but I still love him, and I want to help find him.”
The receptionist looked at Mom. “Stay safe, sweetheart. Call me when you find him.”
“I will Mom,” I said, and ran out the doors.
Read Part 3, The Finale, to find out what happens!
I have a wonderful little brother. His name is Josh, and he is the best brother in the world. We play games together, sleep in the same room, have occasional fights. Heck, we do everything together.
Josh is only two years younger then me, making him 12. I do have an older sister who is 22, who is eight years older then me and ten years older then Josh. My sister and I have never bonded like me and Josh have, probably since we’re both boys.
It was a Tuesday night, 6:00, and I was sitting in my room playing on my phone. I heard my door open slightly, and I could feel this person was taking a quick breath of air.
“Peter, where’s Josh?” My mom asked me.
“I thought he was over at Jacobs house,” I answered.
“I called his mother and she said Josh never showed up,” Mom said. “Peter, I’m worried.”
“Don’t panic yet Mom, I’ll just text him real quick,” I told her. I grabbed my phone and went to my messages. I went over to Josh’s number and texted him, Where are you?
“He should be responding any minute now,” I reassured my mother. “He always answers my texts.”
I looked at my message, and noticed it had been delivered. I waited for a couple more seconds. Nothing.
“Has he answered you yet?” Mom asked me, with worry in her voice.
“Not yet. Maybe he’s just thinking of something to say,” I said. I didn’t admit it, but I was slowly becoming worried. This isn’t like Josh. He always answers my texts!
“I’m going to call the cops!” Mom yelled.
“Hold your horses, Mom! Give him time to answer me!” I told her.
She walked back in my room, and sit on my bed. She looked frantic, trying to calm herself now but failing.
Finally, I seen where Josh had read my message. “He read it!”
“Oh thank goodness!” Mom yelled, standing up and clapping her hands.
“He’s typing! Let’s see, he says,” I started. “Don’t worry I’m fine. I’ll be at the house in a couple minutes. Thankfully I lost him.”
“Who’s him?” Mom asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I’ll wait and ask him when he gets home. He said he’ll be here in a minute or so.”
“I guess I better continue with the dishes,” Mom sighed. “It would be nice if you kids helped!”
“I’m a teen Mom, not a kid,” I replied.
“Your still my sweet little Peter,” Mom smiled. She exited my room, and I followed her. I went to the living room, and sit at the seat where I could see the door. Again, I waited. Still, Josh wasn’t home.
Now it was 6:37, and Mom had finished the dishes and swept the kitchen floor. She was starting to get worried once more.
“Did he text you again?” Mom asked.
“Nope, nothing.”
“What should we do?” Mom questioned.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and there was a dirty and sweaty Josh. His pants had rips all over and his hair was all ruffled. He had bruises covering his left arm, and some type of wound on his right. He was huffing and puffing like crazy, like he had seen a frightening sight.
“Oh my baby!” Mom yelled. She ran right to him and gave him a hug.
“Dude, where the heck were you?!” I asked him.
Josh, being at that age, was somewhere between his grown up voice and his baby voice. I’d always tease him about him sounding like a mouse squeaking. That night though, it was different. More, manly.
“He was following me, and I couldn’t shake him off me! Finally, he left. I made a mad dash to here, never looking back,” Josh cried.
“You should’ve came right home, then we would’ve called the police,” Mom told him.
“I didn’t want to put you two in danger, especially with Dad on his business trip,” Josh said.
“Well I don’t care what you say, I’m still going to call the police!” Mom said. She walked into the kitchen to get the phone.
“I think tomorrow we need to ride the bus to and fro from school,” I told my little brother.
“Smart thinking,” Josh said.
Read Part 2 to find out what happens!
Dear friend of mine,
I know it’s been quite some time since we’ve seen each other. Let’s see, it’s been since we graduated from school in 3037. Those were the good days, weren’t they mate? Here in my town, things have been improving. They’ve finally came out with the latest model of the flying cars! Do you have one of them? I have the 8th model, the one that came out in 3054. Ive also settled down with a little family of mine. Two beautiful children of mine, one just entered the teenager years. I’ve heard those her the rough part of raising kids. I bet you have a family, don’t you Bert? Well at least dropping off them at school is easy. All they have to do is go through the tube, and continue walking till they get to school! I’m so glad they invited that! Say, Bert, who’d you marry? I bet you married that one girl, who was in about all of your classes. I remember you always had a crush on her! You know that one girl, Samantha? Well that’s my beautiful wife. Did you know, that Walmart is upgrading them robots who check you out?! I’m so thankful, because when I last went, the robot stopped working! Luckily everything got straightened out though. Remember how when we played football the ball would always get holes in it? My son was telling me how now he ball instantly patches it self up and airs it self back up too! Isn’t that neat! Maybe when you write back to me, we could try and get together again and play some football. Hopefully we won’t break any limbs! I hope you do write back. I’d understand if you don’t though, since we haven’t see each such other in years. But I do hope you do. I’d love to get together some time and catch up.
See you soon! Robert 5-14-3089
John, The Grandkid’s Version I remembered it happening like this. Some friends and mine were wondering around the mansion, when we heard this terrible racket. Being the young teenagers we are, we ran towards the area we heard the sound from. Standing in the middle of the room was this horrifying beast with being red eyes and taser sharp teeth’s. It looked like a combination of a bear and a wolf. My friends and I started running, and the beast followed us. We started running towards the safe room, which had boards up on its doors. Annie quickly started pulling them down, throwing them behind us hoping that it would hit the beast in the head…
“That’s not how it happened stupid!” Marie screamed.
“I wouldn’t think old people would believe us young ones,” John stated.
“Be nice to your grandma, young man!” Marie said. “This is how it truly happened.”
Marie, The Wife’s Version There was a party that had been thrown by my wonderful husband, the owner of the mansion. The food and drinks were simply marvelous! Of course all of the teenagers were running around the mansion being dumb as usual, while us adults and elders were having a blast partying! My husband and I had lots of fun chatting with some of our old friends. I remember seeing that there was a group of adults who had drank too much, and thought it be fun to break things around the room. Before you knew it, windows were broken and curtains were torn.
“I may have not been in there but I can assure you that’s not what happened,” The butler said.
“Whatever,” Marie scoffed.
“Well if you know what happened why don’t you tell,” Scott, the detective said.
“Well I will!” James the butler said, getting out of his chair.
James, The Butlers Version Master had requested I serve tea for the people in the party. The tea had been drunken all, so I agreed to his request. I made the tea and placed it on my silver platter. I walked into the room where the party was. I seen Marie and the master talking with some guests, and John running off with his friends. As I started walking around the room, it started to shake! Windows managed to be broken, and people tore the curtains from panicking. The guests were starting to take cover underneath things, and I did the same. I ran underneath the food table, and tried to figure out what was this horrible thing. It soon came to me. An earthquake!
“That’s not how it happened either stupid!” Marie yelled.
“I swear it was a beast!” John exclaimed.
“Beasts don’t exist, sonny,” Marie said calmly.
“You’d have to see it to believe it!”
“Well what was that shaking?” James asked.
“This has been going on for too long!” Kevin, the owner of the mansion yelled. “I’m sure Scott is tired of hearing you people bickering! Now this is how it really happened!”
Kevin, The Owner/Master’s Version As it’s been told in all of these other versions, I was at the party with my wife, visiting with some friends. John ran off with his friends, and James went to go get more tea. Now, I’d love to know where you folks have been getting these crazy ideas from, for none of them ever happened. You see, when the guests started arriving, they went to the wrong room. The real party room was all set up for a party, with great food and great lighting. For some reason, the guests went to the old party room, where the windows are broken and the curtains are torn. You see, none of your stories happened. There were so many people at the party, that no one noticed the room was worn down. I brought the food and drinks to the old party room, so no one would realize.
“I guess my work here is done,” Scott said. He got up. And headed to the door.
“That’s why you always pay attention to small details,” Kevin said. “You never know when it’ll be important.”
“Now, I know what your thinking. You want to murder me, right? But why murder me? What did I ever do to you?” I asked.
“You took something that I could never get back,” The murderer said.
“Look, I don’t even know you. How am I supposed to know what I took from you!?” I asked him.
“You took my true love for your own,” He said, “And you knew that she was perfect for me!”
“My wife? If you want her you can take her,” I told him. “Just, please don’t kill me!”
“Taking your loved one isn’t enough. But taking your life is,” The guy walked closer to me, with his sharp pointy knife in his hand.
We were in a small room, with no windows or light. I had been sitting in a chair, and the murderer had been walking back and forth in front of the door. Of course, the door was locked. Only way for me to escape my impending doom was to convince this loon-tic to not kill me. How to do that? I have no idea.
“Listen, can’t we, I don’t know, talk about this?”
“There’s nothing left to say,” The guy said.
“Well, if you do kill me I’d at least like to know who my killer is,” I said. “I don’t think being killed by an unknown man would look good on my permanent record.”
“I’m surprised you don’t recognize me,” The guy said.
“I haven’t ever seen you in my life,” I told him. “Who are you?”
“I’m your twin brother Jack, I’m surprised you didn’t remember me.”
“I haven’t seen you in years Jake! And why want to kill family?”
“You took my happiness away by marrying Amy. You knew she was meant for me. We were best friends, and had entered the dating faze. Then you came along,” Jake said.
“You liked Amy? I always thought you two were just friends,” I said.
“Enough chit chat! I’m ready to get this over with!” Jake yelled. He raised his knife and started running towards me.
I couldn’t do anything. I had been roped to the chair, and this type of rope was too thick to break with just your strength. Just my luck that I’d forgotten my pocket knife.
“Please don’t!” I yelled.
I closed my eyes tight, and hoped the pain wouldn’t last very long. Then, I heard a voice say something. But it wasn’t Jake.
“Hands behind your back now!” A policeman yelled.
The door laid on the floor, obvious that the policeman had kicked it down.
Jake instantly dropped his knife and froze. “H,h,how?”
Then, my wife ran through the doorway holding up her phone.
“How’d you know?” I asked her.
“Remember when I needed to use your phone last night?” Amy asked.
“Of course,” I answered.
“I installed a tracking app, so that way I would know where you were at all times. When you didn’t come home at your regular time, I started getting worried. I looked up your location, and from there on the police handled the rest,” Amy explained.
“And I could’ve gotten away with it, if it wasn’t for your dumb wife!” Jake yelled.
“We’ve heard that phrase enough buster. Start moving,” The policemen said.
The policemen took Jake and walked out the door with him. From that day on, I never seen or heard about my twin brother, and I’m pretty glad. Now I make sure that I always take my phone with me.