Fear Me, Dear

It has been an hour now since Josh texted Dan, and it's now 03:34 in the morning but despite the late (or should I say early) hour, none of us have gone to bed. At first we were all staying up in hopes that Josh would return home soon, but as time has passed the thing keeping us up now is worry. Worry and nerves. What if Josh got lost? What if something happened to him? What if this happened, what if that happened? So many what if's are flying through my head right now, and I can tell that the other three are having a similar train of thought as myself.

Chris is sat on what is now the Chris designated armchair, mindlessly strumming random chords and playing little tunes on his guitar as he stares into space, eyebrows furrowed slightly in worry. Whenever Chris wants to get his mind off of something he always turns to his guitar, playing it always calms him down and clears his head, he once told me that it helps him think.

Dan keeps aimlessly wandering around the kitchen and living room area, occasionally mumbling to himself. When he worries or is nervous he finds it necessary to move around and try to find something to do. I swear he has made about nine cups of tea. If I wasn't so worried myself I would have probably thrown something at him and told him to sit the hell down because he's being bloody annoying.

Max seems to be handling to be handling the whole situation the worst out of us four. It's understandable though, seeing as Josh is his best friend and has been since they were kids. Max is worrying me though. He is simply sitting silently, biting his nails. To the others it may not seem like he's having a minor breakdown, in fact it may appear that he is coping with the situation rather well. Max is silent though, and that's how I can tell that he is far from fine. Max is never silent. Even in the worst situations, he always has something to say. Only I seem to notice the state that Max is in though, but I kind of figured that that would be the case seeing as the two of us are so close. Shuffling to the side, I wrap an arm around Max and squeeze his shoulder in a comforting manner. He nods as he continues to stare at the wall. Max's actions may be interpreted by others as being rude, but I can read him like an open book, and I can tell that he is grateful for my attempts of comfort. The room remains silent, apart from the occasional mumble from Dan, and it's a good opportunity to think. All of this, this isn't at all like Josh, he would never do something like this. I decide to voice my concerns, but before I have the chance to Max beats me to it.

"I'm worried, this isn't like Josh."

"I'm sure he's fine, he is seventeen after all." I tell him, but even I wasn't convinced.

"No...something's wrong. Josh wouldn't just go to the shop and then decide to pay a ridiculously late night visit to a friend, especially without telling us and going to see said friend on such short notice. This is really out of character for him."

"Wait a second guys," The sound of a guitar ceases as Chris slams his palm on the strings, his eyes wide as if he just realised something huge. "Why the hell haven't we called Hannah yet? Didn't Josh's text say that he went to see Hannah? We can just call her and ask if he's there."

"It's late though, won't she be asleep?" Dan asks as he stands behind the sofa and rests his arms on the back.

"Seriously, I don't know if Hannah even sleeps. I'll give her a call now." Max pulls his phone from the pocket of his jumper and calls Hannah. For a few moments there is silence.

"Hi Hannah! Sorry for bothering you, but this is really important. Do you mind if I put you on speaker phone?"

Silence.

"Awesome, thanks." Max moves the phone from his ear and taps a button, holding his phone out. "Okay. Matt, Chris and Dan can hear you now."

"Isn't Josh there?"

Max's face falls instantly and I feel my heart plummet. Chris' guitar almost falls from his lap, and I hear Dan mumble 'shit' under his breath.

"Um...that's why I called you actually, we don't know where he is."

"I would have thought he would be asleep."

"Well he went out a few hours ago and he hasn't been back since. We got a text from him an hour ago saying that he went to yours."

"How strange..." Hannah's voice is distant, as if she is in deep thought.

"What's strange?" Max asks, seeming uneasy.

"He hasn't been around, in fact I haven't seen him since you guys headed home yesterday."

Once again, silence. We all share a look of what could be classed as horror as the reality dawns on us, something has happened to Josh. Chris jumps up from his chair and puts his guitar down, grabbing his jumper from the back of the chair and pulling it on. Dan tells me he's getting his shoes before he runs from the room quickly and returns moments later with both his shoes and my jacket in hand. Nodding in thanks, I hurriedly pull on my jacket and zip it up. Max hasn't moved at all, he's just simply sat there. Taking his phone gently from his hand, I motion for Chris to snap him out of it and get him up.

"Hannah, it's Matt. We're going out to look for him now."

"I can help if you guys want?" I look over at Dan and raise an eyebrow, and he quickly nods before going to the kitchen to grab his keys.

"That would be greatly appreciated, thanks Hannah. How soon can you get here?"

"About two seconds."

"Wha-"

A knock on the door interrupts me. Making my way out of the living room, I go straight to the front door and open it. Standing there is Hannah wearing an oversized black jumper that looks like a baggy dress on her small frame, and leggings. I can't help but notice her creeper-like shoes with a cat’s face on the toes. Hanging up the phone, I shout for the other guys to get their arses to the front door. Handing Max back his phone and pulling him into a quick hug which he returns, we all make out way out of the house.

"How the hell did you get here so fast?" I ask as we all stand in the front garden as Dan locks the front door.

"I was out for a walk and was walking down your road when Max called." She answered simply, shrugging. She spots Max just behind me and rushes over to hug him. No words are exchanged between the two.

"Okay, we need a plan. I mean, we can't just aimlessly wander around in the middle of the night, especially if we want to find Josh." Dan says as he puts his keys into his pocket.

"We should go to the shop, seeing as that's where we told him to go." Chris suggests, and the rest of us murmur in agreement.

"That's the shop by the alleyway, right?" Hannah asks as we all begin to make our way to the small newsagents.

"That's the one." Dan answers.

"How unusual..." She says to herself, voice quiet and distant, although it's always like that. Her voice is calm as per usual as well, surprising giving he situation we're all in.

"Unusual how?" Max asks, seeming worried about her answer.

"That's where they found Suzie..." Looking at us, she must notice the looks of horror on all of our faces. Tilting her head to the side, her eyebrows furrow slightly. "I'm guessing that wasn't the right thing to say."

"It's not particularly reassuring, no." Chris states as we all begin to walk faster. Hannah does as well, yet she still remains graceful in her steps, as if her feet aren't even touching the ground. I would go as far as comparing her to a pixie or fairy.

"I'm sure he's fine though, it is Josh after all." I add in attempts to reassure the others, but I am swiftly shot down by Max.

"Yes, Josh who is one sassy mother fucker and is likely to get in trouble because he doesn't watch his mouth sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I love him to pieces but he can be a bit...dim at times."

"Come on, we need to stay at least a tiny bit positive." Dan butts in, and we all murmur in agreement.

A few uneasy minutes pass, and my heart is beating erratically in my chest. Max looks close to having a break down, Dan keeps messing with his hat, Chris seems worried but still calm and collected, and Hannah is...normal I guess (or as normal as Hannah can get, anyway). Finally, we reach the newsagents which is obviously closed for the night. Now that we're here though, none of us seem to know what to do. Seconds pass of us all standing around doing nothing.

"I'm going to call him." Chris states, breaking the silence as he pulls his phone from the back pocket of his jeans.

"Why?" Dan asks.

"Because we only tried calling him once, that's why."

Before any of us can say anything else, Chris dials Josh's number and holds the phone to his ear. He taps his foot impatiently as he mutters 'come on' repeatedly under his breath. Then we hear it, the very faint sound of Thnks Fr th Mmrs playing somewhere nearby. I feel my heart stop for a second.

That's Josh's ringtone.

And it's coming from the alley.

"Chris, don't hang up! If the call ends, just call him again. We need to find where his phone is, because where ever his phone is he is bound to be nearby. Alright," I turn to face the other three, but there are only two. "Where's Hannah?"

"Are you guys coming or what?" She calls as she pops her head around the corner of the opening to the alley. How that girl can move without making a single sound is beyond me. Sighing, I shake my head.

"Yeah, yeah. Just stay close to us, alright?"

"Eurgh, fine." She sighs, rolling her eyes slightly. Okay, this girl is incredibly weird.

The five of us all walk into the alley, with extreme caution obviously. Hannah is an exception though, as she seem to half skip as she walks, swinging her arms. I decide to not dwell on her strange behaviour right now, I'm more focused to find where Josh's phone is located in this horrifically dark and rather unsettling alley way. It seems like we have been walking for tens of minutes, but really it must have been about three or something. The sound of Josh's ring tone gets louder the further we walk, but a few times now it has cut out due to the phone going to voice mail. This causes a few hisses of Chris' name from myself, Dan and Max to call the phone again. Then I spot it.

The glowing of what looks very similar to a phone screen on the floor nearby.

Picking up my pace, I begin to run towards it and sure enough the sound of Josh's ringtone gets louder the closer I get to it where it lies besides a mountain of cardboard boxes. We've found Josh's phone, but where's Josh. A couple of feet away from the phone, the light of a lamp post casts a very dim light on the cobblestone ground just behind the boxes. I decide to look behind them.

I'm not sure whether I am happy or not about what I've found.

Probably the latter.

There on the floor, is Josh. Just not how I hoped to find him. He's lying in a pool of blood, and by just looking at him it is obvious that it is his own. His arms are cut up, as are his clothes. Blood is spilling from his mouth, and by the looks of it he has been stabbed twice. Oh fuck, I'm going to be sick. The true extent of his injuries, I can't tell. I'm no doctor, but I can tell that whatever injuries he does have are pretty fucking bad. Diagnosis: holy shit this is bad. Then I notice his chest, which has been carved into what appears to be...letters. It's difficult to read what the letters are though, due to the shit lighting and the sickening amount of blood. V...L...O...T...L...N? No, that makes no sense. Before my brains tries to decipher the letters again, I feel someone run into me slightly. Looking to my left, I see that it's Max. He spots Josh.

"JOSH!" He screeches as he falls to his knees beside our friend.

"Someone call an ambulance!" I yell at the others, and I watch as Chris nods and calls 999 as he already has his phone out. I watch as Max goes to shake Josh's shoulder, but I quickly stop him. "Don't Max, it might make his injuries worse."

"M-Max? Matt?" Comes a croaky whisper, and the source is none other than Josh, lying there with his eyes half open. I drop to my knees beside him and Max, so that he can see me clearer.

"Yes, it's us Franceschi. Hannah, Chris and Dan are here as well. An ambulance should be here soon, just hold on." I tell him with a small smile of reassurance, although I am about ready to break down.

"It hurts..." Then he closes his eyes.

"Josh? Josh!" Max yells as he goes to shake his shoulder again. I grab his arms and pull him back and into a standing position. Wrapping my arms around him and holding him close, he starts to beat at my chest as he tries to get free. "Get the fuck off of me Matt!"

"Max, calm down. There's nothing we can do, we just have to wait for the paramedics." I tell him, stroking his hair in an attempt to calm him down. Soon, he stops struggling and just rests his head on my chest as he begins to sob.

"I'm so scared, Matt." He manages to choke out through his sobs.

"I know, we all are Max. He'll be okay."

"What if he won't be okay?" Max whimpers as I start to rock us slightly.

"He will be okay," I continue to hold him close and place a light kiss on the top of his head as I hear sirens in the distance. "I promise."