TURBULANCE

Chapter 3. The Trip To Hell

Josh closed the door firmly behind him. He had lost various things he had bought at the the shops due to what had happened. Josh had so many questions looming in the back of his mind. But he had no one to ask. He walked into the kitchen where his mother was preparing dinner, trying his best to look and act normal.

"Hey mum. What's cooking?" He asked, as normally as he could.

"Just some meat." Stephanie replied happily. "Josh, you look like you've seen a ghost." Josh didn't know how to answer that. So he aimed to change the course of the conversation quickly.

"Oh mum, you're acting odd. How can I possibly see a ghost? Anyway, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." Stephanie replied with a quirky smirk. Josh didn't even bother.

"Are we by any chance, going to.. America tomorrow?" Stephanie gave him a hard glare, followed by a look of confusion.

"How did you know?" She asked. Josh didn't know how to answer.

"Ummm last night I was vacuuming your room, and I came across the tickets." Josh replied while trying to pull off a cheeky smile.

"Oh, that explains how clean it is. Well I was going to surprise you tomorrow but yeah, we're going for two weeks, it will be awesome fun."

"Oh, cool. Thank you heaps mum." Josh hugged Stephanie, and headed off to his room. Josh could only form one clear thought, how did that figure know about the trip? Josh felt like crawling in a hole and just dying. It would save him a lot of time since he would surely die the following day. Josh went to his room to attempt to find the Book of R. He searched for a while, to no avail. Josh was annoyed and confused. He couldn't find this book, and he had no idea why he was even looking for it. He didn't really know what the point was, so he decided to call it a night despite being only 4:30 in the afternoon.

The following day...

"Josh, wake up! We have to leave soon!" Stephanie yelled across the house.

"Coming mum." Josh replied with annoyance. Josh had never been more scared in his life. He couldn't find this book, he couldn't bring himself to tell his mother, and he didn't know who the figure was, let alone what he wanted with the book. Josh arose from his sweaty bed, fear in his mind. He packed whatever he thought he needed even though he knew he was going to die.

Upon arrival at the airport...

"C'mon Josh, let's go through the security check!" Stephanie was extremely egar. Josh constantly glanced around, not daring to blink. But then some reassurance settled on him. If this figure was true to his word, he would have to cause some kind of chaos, alert everyone. Josh started to breath easy as he passed the security check. He was given the ok to go ahead. He followed his mum. They arrived at their gate, and sat with their body's facing the runway. Josh was looking around with fascination. Ever since he was a kid, Josh had loved planes. He enjoyed watching them depart and land. He could do this for hours and not get bored. As he was looking he noticed a dark spec approaching on the runway. Josh instantly thought the worst. He began to panic. It would occasionally pop in and out of shadows and appear closer each time. Josh froze with fear, when his phone rang. He picked it up, a blocked number. He answered,

"Hello?"

"Josh, you have failed me." The figure was at the other end of the line, "now you will die."

"Listen, I don't know who you are, what you want from me, or why you need this book so much. But I do know that you better leave me alone. Or else." Josh replied as fiercely as he could, even though he was utterly horrified.

"You call that a threat Josh? I know more about you than even you know. I will kill you. Have a nice trip. Viper out." Josh learnt that the figures name was Viper. He then hung up. Josh didn't like the sound of the name.

"Who was that Josh?" Stephanie asked with curiosity.

"Just a friend wishing me a good trip." Josh lied. He hated lying, especially to his mother's face. Josh feared. Like no fear he had ever experienced in the past few days.

"Flight 4263 to America, will be boarding now. Last call." The voice over the speaker instructed.

"C'mon Josh, we don't want to miss our flight!" Stephanie said with excitement.

"I do." Josh muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Stephanie asked.

"Nothing." Josh lied again. He picked up his bags and followed his mother to the lady who collected their tickets. She gave Josh a great smile, and Josh replied with an equally great smile, even though he didn't mean it. Josh realised that there was no turning back now. Nothing he could do. He was prepared to face his death, 30,000 feet in the air. He accepted the probability of his death, and embraced it.