Gone in an instant

Chapter 14: Monday 2, 12:00 PM

I woke up in a hospital room. I was in one of those stupid hospital gowns. My leg felt better. Much better. I pulled the sheets down and saw my leg was stitched up. They had done surgery. Crap. Now I couldn't walk for a few days at least. Maybe even weeks! I was stuck! My family was out there alone with my psycho grandpa...and Charlotte. I couldn't bear to think about her. Were they all together? Where were they all? So many questions. My head began to hurt thinking about them.

My thoughts were interrupted by a nurse who walked in. She just told what they had done in surgery. They had pulled the damaged muscle and tissue back together and then sown everything up. She continued talking about the side effects of the anesthesia but I sorta zoned out there, my attention was grabbed when two police officers walked in. I felt myself go pale. “Can we ask you a few questions, Josh?” They asked. 'Crap! They knew who I was!' I slowly nodded. “Thank you, what were you doing out in the woods of New Jersey?”

“I was trying to save my family.”

“I see. Who were you saving your family from?” He asked, his tone totally neutral.

“My grandpa and his goons, they were taking my family away from me again, they were dressed up like police officers and they had a helicopter that they took my family away on.”

“Okay, why weren't you on the helicopter?”

“I couldn't tell you. It's almost as if my grandpa wants me to save them...again.”

“You say again, have you saved them already?”

“Yes! That's why I'm here! I saved them and then my grandpa took them away again!”

“There's another girl missing that was close to you, Charlotte Peterson, was she with your family?”

“Yes. I picked her up on my to New York to help me save my family, she is captured now too.”

“And they're all still alive?”

I hesitated. Not wanting to believe to worst. “Y-yes. I-I believe so.” I answered, trying to push any doubt out of my mind.

“How about you Josh? How did you end up shot?”

“I was left behind with two other 'Police officers'. I fought them but one shot me. Then they left I guess.”

“Josh, your story makes sense so far, we identified some of the blood at your house, some of it was your sisters, but more of it was from another man, it was your grandfathers blood. We think you're telling us the truth, we're going to help you Josh. We found this in your pocket,” He said, pulling out the note from my grandfather, “Can you help us decipher it?” He asked. “I can take you there.” I told him. “No Josh. You have to stay here and heal, we're going to save your family.” “You can't if you don't know how to find them. I go with you or you don't figure it out.” I said challengingly.

“Fine. We're going to leave as soon as possible, when is the latest we could leave?” He asked.

“A week.”

“Good, we're going to put you under some very intense rehab for this week though, to heal you and strengthen you as much as possible before we leave. Is that okay?” I nodded. “Good. Thank you Josh, get well soon.” The officer said, then they left. Inside I was screaming in joy! They were going to help me! They believed me! This time I wouldn't have to get my family back alone!

One Week Later

I was walking through the forest behind my house, an entire SWAT team was following close behind me. I could walk now, my leg was still super sore and it hurt after awhile but I could walk. The rehab was so intense I swore several times my leg was going to fall right off. I was now decked in full SWAT gear, it was the smallest size they had, and it was pretty heavy. They gave me and MP5 to use. I even got all the little gadgets that they did like a tazer, flash-bangs, and a this thing they called a wand that allows me to look underneath doors.

We were soon at the creek and I began to search for the boulder. The team still following close, talking quietly among themselves. I saw it up ahead and began to run. The team didn't, however, they began to walk quicker. I reached it and saw it, the tiny little note sitting on the ground.

When it's all said and done,

And you have finally won,

To get back those that you love,

You'll have to go high above.

Grandpa.

I read the note. Then my mind began racing. High above? High above where? And what did I win? I thought for a minute more. I won the championship game! We played the game at the BYU's LeVell Edwards Stadium! He wants me to go to the top! I turned to the chief of the team, “We need to go to LaVell Edwards Stadium. We need to go on top of the press boxes!” He nodded and retold the message to his team. I put the note in my pocket and we went back to the truck. Half an hour later we were at the stadium.

We had a few men go and get a manager of some sort to let us into the building. They came in about 15 minutes with a short, older man who was wearing a BYU Sweatshirt and some nice, dark blue jeans. He pulled out a key and opened the door. “Good luck?” He said, hesitantly. We made our way to the press boxes. On our way we heard a helicopter that sounded really close outside, but didn't think anything of it. We found a janitor, who I assume was a student who got paid to work here because he seemed about that age, to come with us and unlock doors. He looked amazed, confused, and surprised all at the same time. Eventually we came to a door that had a sign saying “Roof Access”. The man unlocked the door and I ran up the stairs. Again, the team didn't run with me. They didn't even quicken up this time. I ran up and burst through the door, which was oddly unlocked. I was surprised to see a helicopter sitting there. And even more surprised to see several large assault rifles trained on me from men positioned all around the roof. And then I was even more surprised to hear an explosion and screaming from down the stairwell. The team was gone.

“Ah, Josh, nice of you to join us. You really are an exceptional boy, aren't you?” My Grandfather's voice asked from behind me. I whipped around and trained my MP5 on him. “Now you and I both know how unwise it would be of you to discharge that weapon right now. So I'll ask you once, or you can get that lovely sensation of being shot again, drop the gun.” He said. I realized he was right. I slowly lowered the gun, then took the sling off from around my neck and sat it on the ground. “I see you came to get your family. But what I really need isn't your family Josh. I need you. And your father. You see, I need someone I can trust to take over the company in my stead, and right now your father looks more trustworthy than you. But the problem is, the person who loses this challenge cannot be left alive because they would know to much and be dangerous to let loose. So your father and you will compete for your life to prove your loyalty to me. You will be put through some challenges to see where your loyalty lies. The first challenge is to find and kill your father. He is searching for you to do the to you right now. Don't think about running Josh. We're going to program you with a microscopic chip that will track your every move. You won't be able to remove it without killing yourself so don't even try that. We will equip you with a limited amount of supplies and a clue. Do you accept or do you choose to die here and now? Also, there are a few men from my closest circles also competing, you'll have to out-do them. One more thing, if you win, your family and little miss Charlotte will be let free. If your Dad or one of my men win, well, they will be allowed to take care of them as they please. Do you accept?”

I shuddered, I wouldn't have accepted, but if I didn't Charlotte and my family were as good as dead.

“I accept.”