Vigilante by Choice

Chapter 37: Missing

Groceries always gets my mine off of problems. I also knew that we were low on milk and eggs. So I ran to the store, got the things I needed and was on my way. The walk home was quiet.

I walked up to my unit and saw the door was wide open. Great, these children don't know how close a door. I looked around and saw no one was there.

I knew what this was. Hide and seek. "Jeb, Rory, Rose, Jerry, I'm home! Come on you guys, come out wherever you are. Seriously you guys, where are you? Don't make me get the beef jerky out." I opened the cabinet and saw Rose sitting by the cookie jar. "Rose, what are you doing up here?"

"Ask Jeb." Rose whispered putting a cookie in her mouth.

I whispered back. "Where is he?"

"Down there." She pointed down at the cabinet right by the stove.

I lifted Rose up. "Ok, down we go. Jeb? Why are you down here?" I asked Jeb.

"They came here." Jeb mumbled staring into the distance.

I waved my hand in front of his face. "Who did?"

"They did." He said, staring off into space.

I stood up and looked at Rose who was eating more cookies. "Where are Rory and Jerry?"

"Moo!" I heard a muffle cow noise from the cabinet by the fridge.  I opened it and saw Jeremiah and his stuffed cow. I picked him up.

"Hey there little guy. Now Rory, game's over. You won. Come out." I walked around to the rooms while carrying Jeremiah.

"She's not here." Jeb said speaking louder.

"Jeb, where is Rory?" They were playing a game. I could play along.

"They took her." He repeated himself, looking up at me.

"Who took her?" I looked him trying to read his face.

He pointed at the wall behind me. "They did." I turned around to see the wall was torched. Epsilons.

I felted my stomach drop."How? Stay here." I put Jeremiah on the couch and hustled down to Faye's apartment. "Faye! Faye are you there?"

"Yes." Faye opened the door. Wow, she smells good. No! I'm angry at her. I don't want her anymore. I need to worry about Rory.

Get to the point Tobias. "Have you seen Rory?"

She had a look of confusion and concern on her face. "No I haven't. Hasn't she come back from school yet?"

"Yes she got home and called me. But I got home and she wasn't here." My voice was losing the cool as I started to realize that Rory was nowhere around.

Faye put a hand on my cheek, turning my head to face her. Her voice was smooth. "Tobias, calm down did you check every-"

I burst. "Yes I check everywhere in the apartment. She isn't there." I stepped away from her a bit.

"Toby, what if they come back?" Jeb stood at the door of the apartment.

I turned to face him. "They won't come back." I said calmly.

"The security cameras! We could check those." Faye suggested.

I started to walk towards the stairs, grabbing, Jeb, Rose, and Jerry on my way. Faye was right behind me. "I've got it." My voice was bitter.

Faye shrugged her shoulders, her hair bouncing. "It's fine, I can help watch them."

I can't be distracted by her beauty. "I have it under control."

"Tobias." She questioned putting her hand on my shoulder.

I brushed her hand off of me. My voice cracked. "Please, leave me alone."

Faye stood there, just as broken as me."Ok."

I turned to the gang. "Let's go down to the lobby, you guys."

I picked up Jeremiah and started walking down stairs. When we made it down to the lobby I put Jeremiah in one of the chairs and walked up to Vincent. "Tobias, how can I help you?" He said in his jolly voice.

"I need to see the footage from the security cameras." I went straight to the point.

He gave me a confused look. "What for my friend?"

Why did he want to know? "Just show it to me now." I slammed my hands on his desk.

He nodded. "Ok, alright. The one right outside of your unit?"

Why was he stalling? "Yes that one."

"From what day?" God, another question!

"Today! About an hour ago." I was shouting by now.

He pulled out his computer and started typing away. He looked at me, a little confused. "There is nothing from that time."

This doesn't make sense. Someone had to have tampered with this video. "Who came here today?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." Vincent was a bad liar.

I jumped over the counter and gripped his shoulders. "Vincent, who went into my apartment?" I questioned again.

"I don't know." His reply was the same. He was lying once again.
I need to know. She was my partner in crime, well justice. "They took Rory. They took her and I don't know why. You need to let me know why they took her. Please." I could feel tears running down my face.

Vincent looked scared. "They said they would kill me."

I shook him. "Who said that?"

"The Epsilons." He whispered. Damn, I knew it.

"Why would they do that?" I asked, hoping they didn't know about me bring the Guardian.

Vincent loudly mumbled his words. "I don't know, they didn't tell them anything. I didn't know who they were going to take."

I shook him relentlessly. "Why did you let them take her? You could have stopped them!"

He started to tear up."They would have killed me! They already scarred my body." I got out my phone to call the police.