Georgie's brown sneakers touched the first step of the big yellow and black bus. He held onto his purple dinosaur backpack firmly. It was brand new, too! It had a small head at the top with a smiling T-rex. It had a lime green color outlining it and a slightly see-through pouch in the same color at the front. The small ginger smiled brightly at the bus driver, who looked like an overweight middle-aged man who was, in reality, probably 29, and took more steps into the bus.
As the manual doors began closing, he looked back one last time. His mother, also a ginger, and father, a brunette, were both waving. His mother a little teary eyed. It was his first time on a bus alone after all. He walked through the narrow walkway and searched for a seat that wasn't already taken. He ended up sitting in the middle of the bus next to a girl with braided black hair and braces.
He smiled at her, and she smiled back. She gave him her hand to shake, and he shook it.
"Hi, I'm Tanya!" she grinned really wide. Georgie giggled.
"My names Georgie." he stated confidently.
"Cool bag, here's mine." she pulled a pink, sparkly bag onto her lap. it had a little unicorn tag.
"Cool." he cooed. They continued talking for the entire ride. After a few minutes of driving, the driver stopped half a mile away from the school. He got off, and noticed Tanya didn't. He figured she must have been going to a different school. She poked her hand out the window and waved bye to him. He waved back. As the bus drove away, he noticed he was the only one to get off the bus.
He shrugged and walked along the sidewalk, humming to himself. He looked around and saw a tall man in a hood approaching him. He felt a slight feeling of dread, but being a naive kid, he didn't think anything of it and kept walking. The man eventually caught up to him and called him out. His school was barely in sight and Georgie was tired, so he stopped.
He turned around and looked up at the guy. He appeared to have a slight beard and had dark blue eyes with bags under them, though his hood made distinguishable marks impossible to see. The man smirked and crouched to Georgie's height.
"Hey kid," he started. His voice was dark and obviously being made to sound lower than it actually is. "Headed to school, all on your own?" he tilted his head in feigned curiosity.
"Yup, I'm a big kid." he said proudly and the man fake pouted.
"Big kid, huh? Well, do big kids still like cats?" he put his hand under his chin and stood up again. Georgie's expression immediately changed. Georgie loved cats. He had one at home, his name is Snickers, and he always seemed so lonely to the little boy. Maybe, if this man had a cat, they could both hang out together.
"You have a cat?" he asked, needing to know.
"Yup, but she's asleep so she's still in my car. Wanna see her? I can take you to school afterwards if you'd like." he offered, and Georgie felt like he shouldn't, but did anyway.
"Okay!" he smiled.
After a few minutes of walking alongside the man, Georgie saw a big white van parked at the side of an abandoned looking road. He paused for a moment and rethought his decisions. The man noticed and squeezed his hand, and he continued walking.
"What's your name, mister?" he asked as they stood a few feet from the running vehicle.
"Mathew." he said, plainly, practically dragging him forward now. Once directly behind the vehicle, Mathew opened the back of the van and turned to the boy.
"Get in, kid." he ordered, motioning him to the large space filled with boxes. It was a dark and gloomy looking place. There was even an admittedly large reddish-black stain on the carpeted floor.
"Where's the kitten?" he asked curiously, refusing to enter the van. Mathew grunted and face palmed before pausing for a moment and smiling.
"He must have crawled behind one of the boxes, why don't you go inside and find him?" he smiled, laughing to himself cruelly. Georgie bought it and Mathew helped him inside. Once inside, Mathew shut the door. Georgie didn't pay much attention to that and searched behind box after box for a feline creature.
Mathew eventually entered the van and took it out of park mode. He double checked all the locks and glanced behind him. Once he saw the kid was there, he smirked and started driving in the opposite of the direction of the school. After finding nothing, Georgie stood up and tapped Mathew from behind.
"What is it kid?" he questioned roughly.
"Your kitty's not here." Georgie sighed, slightly disappointed.
"Oh. He must've escaped. That sucks, now, doesn't it?" he tried acting sad, but seemed to have given up his act.
"Shouldn't we stop to try find it?" Georgie almost begged.
"We definitely won't find it." Mathew chuckled. Georgie rose an eyebrow.
"Why not? My mom says you'll find anything you look for, as long as you look hard enough." he affirmed.
"There is no cat, alright kid?" he finally says, squeezing the steering wheel tightly as he makes a left turn out of the town.
"This isn't the way to school mister." Georgie sat, worry starting to overtake him.
"I know that kid." Mathew said. He laughed openly and loudly in the child's face, grinning monstrously. Georgie whimpered at the noise.
"Where are we going Mathew?" he asked, and Mathew frowned.
"My house, where you'll meet your new older brothers." he smiled again. Georgie looked confused.
"Brothers?" he tilted his head. His brown eyes squint. "My dad says I'm an only child."
"Yeah, I'm you new dad now, alright?" he doesn't leave much room for discussion, but Georgie finds one anyway.
"But I already have a dad." Mathew takes another right turn.
"He isn't your dad anymore. And you don't have a mom anymore, so don't ask. You're never seeing either of them again, okay?" he turned to the boy, who was now sniffling with tears in his eyes. However, he doesn't speak further, instead he sits down and curls into a ball.
After another few hours they arrive at a house in what seems to be a different town. The atmosphere is different. This place had a lot more nature than he was used to. Mathew turned to him again. "Don't scream or cause a scene, alright? If you do, rest assured you'll be punished, understood?" he glared at the crying child.
Georgie nodded slowly and sniffled. Mathew turned the car off and got out. He walked around to the back and opened the trunk area. Georgie slowly came out and Mathew gripped his hand tight, dragging him to the back of a house at the end of the neighborhood they were in. It was a two-story house and was a cream color on the outside walls with a burgundy roof.
They entered through the back door and entered a kitchen. Mathew threw the boy inside and quickly locked the door with three different locks. He grabbed Georgie's hand and walked in a living room and Mathew let go of his hand again to take some keys out of his pocket and open a door under the stairs. Georgie looked around the room.
The walls are a pale green, and the furniture is neat and clean. There is a large sofa a bit further away from the stairs and it is sitting in front of a box screen television. The door is opened, and Mathew tells Georgie to go inside. Georgie looks at his now kidnapper with pleading eyes, but he does not waver. Georgie reluctantly entered and slowly walked down the stairs, Mathew closely behind him.
Once down there, he sees what Mathew meant by 'big brothers'. Mathew smirked.
"Meet your new brothers, Georgie."
YOU ARE READING
The Recruits
Mystery / Thriller'Everyone seems normal, but we all have secrets.' The year was 1986. All Georgie wanted to do was get to school, but he never made it. Instead, he was kidnapped and forced to live out the rest of his years in a basement surrounded by people with sim...
