Gone in an instant

Chapter 5: Wednesday, 9:00 PM

I was driving up the street to where this “Perez Roofing” was. It seemed like an odd place to have a business. A quite neighborhood with a retirement home across the street. I looked at the house in front of me. Three stories with about a six foot wooden fence all around it. The house was in good shape, but it was old. I walked up the gravel path and onto the front porch. Then I rang the doorbell for floor number one. Nothing. I rang it again. This time a heard a door open and someone punch some keys on some sort of security system, then they unlocked the door and opened it. It was a women, she looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. “Um...Hello?” She said politely, “May I ask who you are?” She said very kindly, I no longer felt scared. “I-I'm Josh Johnson, I'm looking for my father Lucas...Johnson, that is, Lucas Johnson.” I corrected myself, and looked stupid. “Oh, you're Josh? He talks about you all the time, he lives on the third floor, if you go up these steps there will be a door at the top. At will have 3 on it. You'll know it when you see it. Good luck.” She said with a smile then she turned around and went back into her apartment. I went up the stairs, again, everything was a blur. I saw the door, and knocked.

I heard footsteps coming down some stairs, then the door opened. “Come in, come-...Josh?” My dad said, shocked. “H-hi, Dad.” I stammered, looking up at him, he looked no different then the last time I saw him, “What are you doing here? How did you find me? Come in.” I started up the stairs. The apartment was nice, light wood floors, white walls decorated with different paintings. “I came here because I need your help. Mom, Jessie, Harry, and Luke they...they were...taken...” I said, whispering the work 'taken'. “What do you mean taken?” He asked, looking confused and shocked at the same time. “I mean gone. Gone in an instant. I left for school and then they were gone. They just disappeared and the police think I did it! I need your help to find them.”

He looked as if he were realizing something. “No. They wouldn't have done that! Son, you have to stay here. I've been around some people, people I shouldn't have. I thought I had left them but they wanted me back, this is their way of getting to me. They are the reason I had to leave you guys. I need to stay here and lay low. I have to leave. I-” I interrupted him, “I'm coming with you.” I said boldly. I wasn't staying here, that's for sure. “No, you have to stay-” I interrupted him again. “I'm going.”

“Fine.” But you're going to need a gun. I've got plenty.” He said to me, relenting. “I've got three Glocks, I'm super good with them.” I bragged. “You're going to need more than that. But take those too. What do you want? An AK47? M4? I've got both.” I looked at the closet he had. It was full of guns, but I saw the M4 and knew that was the one I wanted. “I think I'll take the M4.” I said. I could feel fear rising inside me, but I suppressed it. I couldn't believe how quickly everything had escalated. Something was wrong, something was very, very wrong. I could feel it.

My Dad must have realized my hesitation, “You know son, you can stay here. You don't have to go with me, I just-” Again I interrupted him, gosh I was being rude, “No! I'm going! I didn't drive 2,000 miles to sit around at your house!” My Dad looked surprised at my outburst. “Hey, I know how hard this must be for you, but you have to keep calm. This is only going to get more confusing for you. We leave tomorrow morning at 10:00. You can sleep in the spare room right across the hallway. Have you eaten dinner yet?” I shook my head. “Well, let's get you some. We've got an awesome Pizza place around here, you in the mood for Pizza?” , I nodded, “What's your favorite kind?” “Cheese.” I answered, he looked a bit surprised. “Just plain old cheese? Come on! Okay, I'm going to order, you can sit down in the living room to wait if you want, I just got Madden 2013 if you want to try it out, everything is on, just pick up a controller and go ahead. Have fun!” I walked into the living room and sat down as my dad went down the hall to the kitchen. I didn't remember him being this happy, loving, and fun. I wonder why he left Mom. He came back. “The pizza will be here in about 30 minutes, they're usually faster but it's super busy tonight, wanna play with me? I'm going to be Pittsburgh though.” He said, pointing to the TV which had the title screen of Madden on it. I smiled. “Sure, but I wanna be Pittsburgh!” “Alright, we can be on a team.” He said. So we played, and won, against the Ravens, we both hated the Ravens as any person from Pittsburgh does.

When the game was over he shut everything down, “It's time for bed. We've got a long day tomorrow, we're heading to Philadelphia . It's a little over a four hour drive and I think there is someone there you'll want to see. Well, goodnight Josh.” My Dad said, giving me a hug. “Goodnight Dad.” I said, and then headed to sleep. My head was swimming, wondering about the next day. I think I knew who he was taking me to see in Philadelphia, but how would he know her? I hadn't seen her in two years. Her family had visited there and then decided to stay. We used to talk each other but my Mom stopped that for some unknown and stupid reason. I was really hoping I would see her again. I hoped this is who my Dad was talking about. Then my mind moved on to other people we would be seeing. The people who took my family. Was going to have to...no...I couldn't do it. Could I? Could I really take a life?