Gone in an instant

Chapter 7: Thursday, 3:20 PM

There seemed to be an eternal pause from the time I knocked until the time I answered, but in reality it was just a few seconds. An older woman opened the door, I assumed it was her grandmother. “Hello?” The lady said politely but somewhat confused. “Hi...um...We came to see the Petersons...I think they live here.” I said to her. In the background I heard a familiar voice, “Josh? Is that you?” Charlotte’s mother asked. I smiled a little, “Yes! Hi!” I said, as she opened the door wider and hugged me. “Hi Mrs. Peterson! We've missed you guys so much!” I said to her. Then I saw her. Charlotte was standing in the doorway of the entry room, smiling. Holy Crap, she was even more beautiful than I remembered. She had long brown hair with with gorgeous light brown eyes. They were currently blinding me in sparkles. “H-hi.” She squeaked out shyly, giving me a small wave. “Hi Charlie!” I semi-shouted to her. “How are you?” She asked as we walked across the room to meet each other. “I'm good, I'm even better now that you're here!” I said as she gave me a hug. “Oh my gosh I have so much to tell you!” She said to me, her smile hadn't left her face but as she looked past me into the front door. “What's your Dad doing here?” She whispered to me. I smiled a bit. “I-I have a lot to tell you too.” I said and our smiles returned.

After saying hello to the rest of her family we went to the living room in the basement and caught up on each others lives. We hadn't talked to each other for over a year except for a few brief phone calls because my Mom didn't approve of me making friends with a girl even though we were best friends. We had told each other things we've never told anyone else and we shared everything with each other. And I mean everything. Now we were telling every last detail of the past year. We were laughing and smiling the whole time. Then she asked, “So why are you here?”

I stopped smiling and stared at her for a second. “My family.” I said, I must have looked like I'd seen a ghost because asked, “Are you alright Josh? What about your family?” Worry was apparent on her face. “They're...They-they're gone.” I stumbled out, again blinking back a few tears. “Josh, what do you mean they're gone?” She asked back, I could hear the worry in her voice, “My family. I went to school and then I got called to the office and then the police showed up and said my family was gone. They had no leads, barely any evidence, and so they thought it was me. I had to run away so I found my Dad and he thinks he knows who did it and so now I'm here hunting down the people who took my family. I'm getting my family back. Will you help me?” I blurted out in just a few breaths. I could feel more panic and sadness arise inside me, but I forced it down. Charlotte looked shocked. “I-I'm sorry Josh, I-I don't know what to say. I-how? How can I help you?” She said, confused, scared, and worried all at once. “You-you could come with me?” I said it as if it was a question. Again, she looked shocked. But this time by my question. “What!?! How could I do that? I can't just leave my family like that!” She said, she seemed a bit mad, but she took a deep breath and calmed down a bit. “I'm sorry. But how Josh? I can't just leave my family like that. You know that. I would really love to. But I can't.” She said sadly. “It's okay. I understand.” I said, she must have noticed how upset I looked because she smiled suddenly and asked, “When do we leave?” I couldn't help but smile back, “I don't know, you have a back-pack, right? Oh of course you do. Pack some necessities and I'll check with my Dad, okay?” “Okay, I'll meet you back here, sound good?” She said back. “Sounds great.” I answered and took off up the stairs. I saw her Mom in the living room, “Where's my dad?” I asked. “He left to go get some gas and some other things, he should be-” There was a knock on the door. I opened it up to see my Dad. “Dad! When do we leave?” I asked him. “Oh, um...At 9:00 Pm, in about an hour and a half. I think I'll take you to movie first though. Sound good?” He asked, “Um...Ya sure! When do we leave for that?” I asked back. “I figured so, it starts in twenty minutes, I already bought tickets, does Charlotte want to go?” She appeared from around the corner. “I would love to! Can I mom?” She asked, her mom nodded and turned to my Dad, “Thanks for inviting her.” She said. Charlotte and I looked at each other knowingly. She ran downstairs and emerged with a shiny white purse. I looked confused, then I mouthed to her, “Is that the back-pack?” , then I smiled as she nodded and said, “Thank you Mr. Johnson.” My Dad smiled and nodded.

We hopped in my car, I let my dad drive and Charlotte and I sat in the back. My Dad spoke, “Does she know what's going on Josh?” I answered, “Yes, she's coming with us.” “Perfect. You guys know there isn't really a movie, right?” We both laughed and nodded while saying, “Yes!” Then the seriousness settled in and everyone went quite. The drive was again silent. My Dad typed something into the GPS. We were headed to New York City.