Grand Theft Autumn

Chapter Two

Pete's POV

I only had a few minutes before the police would come check out the bus, so I grabbed some of my stuff. I did a quick look around the bus to make sure there was nothing embarrassing laying out, and that was when I noticed it.

I was super oblvious, to miss this. It was sticking out from under Patrick's pillow. It was brown, and looked... Like a journal? I went over to it, and grabbed it.

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF PATRICK STUMP

It said, but then in a different handwriting, and a bit smaller, it said, 'and Lukas Frighner'. The name Lukas Frighner had hearts around it.

This journal looked really old. Not being able to resist, I opened up to the first page, It was covered in doodles, and on it, is said 2002 and some date that I couldn't make out.

I quickly did the calculations and realized that Patrick was 18 when he made this. Questions swirled around my head, but I got distracted by the knocking at the door.

"Anyone in here? Police!" I quickly got out, hiding the journal in my coat. I quickly ran into a bathroom in the arena and locked the door behind me. Should I look at the journal some more? Who was Lukas? Why did Patrick still have this journal from when he was 18? Why was it under his pillow? Why did Lukas have hearts around his name? The name Lukas sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it,

"Hey, Pete?" A voice came from outside of my bathroom stall. It was Joe. "I saw you run in here. Are you okay?" I panicked silently for a few seconds with the journal, until I put it on top of the toilet paper dispenser. I would just pick it up later. I slipped out of the stall, making sure that Joe could not see the journal.

"Yeah, I am fine." I said, and noticed Andy was here too. "Sorry, just everything has just been a blur." I said, and both of them nodded. "Have the police found any leads?" I asked, and Andy shook his head.

"Nope." He leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. "They don't really know shit, if you ask me. They have no idea what they are doing."

"Yeah, I thought so." I said, while a plan formed in my mind.

"Well, the two of us were going for a quick walk around town. Want to come with?" Joe said, giving me a worried look. I knew that look. Both of them were worried that I was going to go crazy, so they were forcing me to go along with them. I sent a fleeting glance back towards the bathroom stall where the journal was and then offered up a weak smile.

"Yeah. Sure." Before I could make any excuses for wanting to be in the bathroom alone, Andy and Joe had whisked me off out of the bathroom and towards town. We (More like Andy and Joe who were dragging me along) had opted to walk, for it was only a five minute walk. As hard as I tried to keep a blank mind, but my mind kept drifting back to Patrick. Where was he? Was he seriously missing, or just gone for the day? Who is Lukas?

"Pete?" Andy said. I snapped out of my haze and looked at him.

"Sorry, I was thinking. What was that?" I replied. Joe and Andy exchanged a look. "Guys, I am fine. Just worried about Pat, that's all." I said, rolling my eyes.

The three of us walked around town, looking for Patrick. We couldn't talk to the locals, because one, we weren't cops, and two, we could be noticed by fans, and people would start to talk. No sign of the strawberry-blond man.

I will admit, I rushed the others back to the arena. I was praying that the journal would still be there, Since the police knew nothing, I was hoping that the journal could reveal something for me. Or at least find out who Lukas is.

"Okay, Pete, slow down. We want to at least have a chance to see if Patrick is here,"  Joe said. I panicked internally and tried to think of an excuse.

"Um, I, uh, have to do something back there. See you guys later!" I said, before taking off and literally sprinting down the road. I knew that Andy and Joe thought that I went batshit crazy, but I didn't really care. All that was on my mind was the journal, Lukas, and Patrick.

The arena soon came into my view, and I made a beeline for the bathroom. Multiple people stopped me on the way, asking various questions.

"Did you see Patrick?"

"When should we talk to the fans? Should we talk to Patrick's parents and family?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Hey, where are you going in such a hurry?"

I shrugged off all of the questions, and kept speedwalking. No one was following me once I came into the bathroom, and I thought I was alone until I noticed the cleaning cart in front of the sinks. My heart froze as one of the stall doors swung open, revealing a grumpy looking man holding a journal.

The journal.

My eyes widened as the man flipped through the pages. I cleared my throat awkwardly, getting his attention. The man looked up, and frowned.

"What do you want?" He snapped. I smiled uneasily.

"That journal, please. It- um. Belongs to me." The man raised his eyebrow.

"Really? It does? Cause, it looks like it belongs to Mr. Stump and Mr. Freighner." The man smiled. "I should give it to the police, seeing how it belongs to the missing man."

"Uh- uh. No. Give it to me, please. Patrick gave it to me a while ago, before he went missing." I said, lying. The man smirked, seeing right through my lies.

"Then why would it be in here?" He asked, clearly enjoying this conversation.

"I- uh, left in there on accident."

"You know, boy, just because you are a rockstar, I am not going to give you special treatment." What was this guy's deal?

"Sir, I need that journal." He was really getting on my nerves. He opened his mouth again to say something, when I sprung forward and snatched it out of his hands. I dashed out the door, and sprinted down the hall. At the nearest turn I saw, I hid.

Panting, I sat down on the floor. Okay. I had the journal, and I needed to work out more.