Ghost

I woke up to someone shaking my arm gently. “Hey kid, we don’t know where you live. Give us directions.” I opened my eyes slowly. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on. I felt freezing and I had to pee really bad. I groaned for a minute. “Where are we..?” I asked. He told me the street names and the surroundings. “We know there’s a gas station up ahead but we don’t know where to go. Where’s your house?” I knew the street names, it was close to the school. The school was only walking distance from here. “Drop me off by the high school. It’s a few mile up from here.” I said rubbing my eyes. “Will you be okay there?” Zachary asked. “Yeah. I walk there everyday. I’ll be fine.” I said. He was quiet for a second. “I don’t know…there are a lot of bad people out there,” I cut him off. “Like you?” I asked. “We’re not that bad. If we were, we would of killed you and dropped you in a ditch by now.” He said. I had to admit, he was probably right.

“Just drop me off at the school. I’ll be okay.” I repeated. He looked un-easy at the thought but then gave in. They started up the car again and they drove me to the school. We pulled up to the fence that was surrounding it so that kids couldn’t get in after school hours.

“Hey Zach isn’t this the school your—” Dakota was cut off by Zachary punching him in the arm. “Wait, what?” I asked lost. “Nothing.” Zachary said while glaring at Dakota. I shrugged it off. “Well, whatever your name is, I hope you stay safe.” Dakota said somewhat sarcastically. “Mhm. Sure.” Was my reply. I shut the door and wrapped my hands around myself and started walking up the road. I heard someone get out of the car and run to me. “Hey! Wait!” someone said. I turned around and saw Zachary. “What?” “Don’t do anything brave.” He warned. ‘Too late.’ I thought. “What do you mean by that?” I asked. “I mean don’t go looking for your brother. Chances are you’re never going to get him back.” He said. “Seriously? That’s the last thing I want to heard right now.” I said. “I know but I just want you to know that before you do anything stupid.” “Why do you think it will be stupid?” I asked crossing my arms in front of my chest. “So you are going to do something?” he said smiling a bit. “God dammit, I hate how you people do that.” I said rolling my eyes. “It got you to tell me.” he pointed out.

“Why would it be stupid?” I asked. “Because it would be without us there.” He said. “Excuse me? Are you telling me that I am incapable of getting my own brother back?” I asked. He paused for a minute thinking. “Mmm. Yeah basically.” He said nodding. “Why?!” I asked. “Because they would tear you apart in a heartbeat.” He said smirking. “Not even…” “Really? Then why did we bust in with her holding a gun to your head in the first place? If we hadn’t gotten there you would have been dead. That woman has no mercy.” He said knowingly. “How do you know?” I asked eyeing him. He went quiet.

“Just don’t do anything stupid.” He said. He turned around and started walking away. I was about to let him walk away until I grabbed his arm. It felt strong, stiff…more tense. “Hmm?” “Then make sure I don’t do anything stupid! Help me.” I said. I needed the help. He said I couldn’t do it on my own, I know he’s right. “Help you what? Get your brother back?” he asked. I was looking up at him. Dakota honked the horn up front. I nodded. He rubbed his face and sighed then he knelt down to get to my height. Damn, I never noticed I was that short. He laid his hands on my shoulders.

“I didn’t want to have to be the one to tell you this, you seem like a really nice girl and all and I hate to crush your hopes, but he’s gone. They have him and there’s basically no way of getting him back. I really don’t know how that kid got mixed up into something like this, but it must have been one hell of a process getting him.” He said. He really did look sympathetic, his eyes were brown and I think even green as well. I felt tears start to swell up in my eyes. “How did you get mixed up into all of this?” I asked. His eyes went a little wide and his mouth went into a straight line. He then got up and turned around after looking at me again. “Good luck kid. Maybe I’ll see you around.” He said. He walked away and I couldn’t help but feel a bit lost.

I watched as the car reverse and go back the way it came. I sighed and shivered, I didn’t think it would be this chilly outside. I walked alongside the road hoping and praying that no one I knew would drive down this road. As I walked to the end of the school I realized that we had school Monday. Then…that means I have tonight and Sunday to see what’s going on.

As I made my way to my house I began forming various plans. How would I get there? A cab? What am I going to do once I get there?

I stopped in my tracks; how will I explain this to my parents? They defiantly know I’ve gone missing by now. Did they call police? Are they freaking out now? Is my brother home? Thinking of all the possibilities led me to walk to the only place I knew I could go. Jennifers’ house. I felt bad dragging her into all of this, but I had to go there. I always kept a back pack of clothes at her house anyways. I can just call my parents from there and make up some lame excuse for why I was gone nearly two days. It’s not like Jens parents were ever home anyways.

It only took ten more minutes of walking until I got to the gate to the two story house. I loved going into Jennifers’ part of the neighborhood. Everything was way more decorative and crowded. Unlike the almost empty, lifeless part of my neighborhood. I knocked on the door and it swung open. Jennifers’ wide green eyes met mine and she grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, dragging me inside the house. I was instantly consumed in a hug, almost dying of suffocation.

“Jesus Christ where have you been?!” Jennifer asked, shaking me by the shoulders. I had to catch my breath first. She looked like she was on the brink of crying. I pushed her onto the nearest couch. “Chill fool!” I yelled at her. She continued to stare at me, but taking deeper breaths this time, her eyes staring expectantly at me.

“Look…I can’t exactly explain everything, okay? Just answer my questions for now... and quickly.” I took a seat next to her. I had to get through this quickly. My time for sneaking back to the guys’ house was slowly ticking by. “Okay, what?” she asked. “Have my parents called you? If so, what did they ask and what did you tell them?” “They asked if you were with me. I said yeah, but you were out walking for a while. That was yesterday. Then they called this morning asking again. I had to make something else up and tell them you were showering. They called again a few hours ago and man, were they pissed. They said if you didn’t call them by the end of the night, they were calling the police. I guess your brother is missing too?”

My fear was met. Roman wasn’t at home. That means he went with that lady…
“Alright. Thank you so much for saving my ass. Phone?” She handed me the phone, asking no questions. I dialed the number to my moms cell phone, going over what I was going to say to her.

“Romana?” asked the hopeful voice.
“Hey mom!” I said as happily as I could.
“ROMANA VICTORIA WALKER WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!”
I had to take the phone away from my ear. I fought back the urge to laugh. “I know I haven’t called or anything mom but—” I was cut off by more yelling. After she was done with all her yelling, my dad took over the phone. He, on the other hand, was always calmer than mom. Then again, to me that was always scarier. “We’ve been worried about you young lady. We almost called the police.” I took a deep breath. This is where the lying began.

“I know, dad. I’m really sorry. I know I should have told you guys…it’s just that when Roman walked out, I had to get away from the craziness. So I came to Jens house. I’ve been going on walks and she’s been helping me with some assignments for school. I’m just gonna stay the night and go home tomorrow night. I’ll come home in a few minutes to get some stuff, but I just need to be out of the house right now…The stuff with Roman is too much to handle…I just needed to get out for the weekend.”

Even though dad was more deadly when he was mad, he was always the first to give in with me. Thank God. “Don’t ever do it again. We’ll see you in a few minutes.” And then the phone clicked off.

“You’re a terrible person.” Jennifer said. I shrugged. “Yeah, well, if you knew what I’ve been through, you’d understand.” I said. “Which reminds me, wanna spill the beans? What’s going on? What’s up with Roman?” I toyed with the idea of telling Jen everything that was going on. Then, I remembered Zachary saying these people were dangerous…the last thing I wanted was to get Jen mixed into any of it. I looked at her apologetically. “I can’t tell you…I wish I could, but I probably shouldn’t.” I said while going upstairs.

Changing clothes is probably the right thing to do right about now. Parents will notice that I’m wearing the same thing since yesterday. Once changed into a pair of sweats and a new tank top, I went down the stairs two steps at a time. “Be back Jen. Gonna go to the house to pick up some stuff.” “’Kay.” And with that, I jogged the way to my house. Of course, once I got there, parents lectured me for a bit, then allowed me to go get my shit and get out. I made sure to pack extra clothes, all black, and extra shoes.

I snuck into Romans room, hoping maybe I could find some sort of clue to where they might be. I found a folder that looked almost exactly like the one the boss guy had on his desk. There was no name on it, but there was no time to look through it. Carefully, not to drop the loose paper stuffed inside, I slid it into my bag. Looking under his bed and grabbing a tin box, I hoped and prayed to God his emergency money was still in there. Bingo. A big wad of cash was wrapped up with a rubber band. Fuck it, I’ll take the whole box. There might be something useful. Just before I left his room, a leather book was laying on the floor, open to a random page. A pencil was next to it, as if it was dropped as someone was writing. Deciding to take that too, I slid it under my sweater.

“Hey, before I leave, any idea on where Roman even is?” I asked. Mom only looked more hurt and dad took a big sigh. “No…police haven’t found anything out yet.” I looked at the ground and nodded.