Chapter 3 - Taken
Back outside, James had caught up with his sister and punished her with a 'noogie'. The two of the were riding the bus home in a bit of silence which surprised James a little. Knowing his sister, she always seemed to have the latest gossip. Although she rarely gossiped with her friends, she found it very easy to do so with her brother. "Don't tell me you're still mad about the noogie?" James turned to his sister beside him and asked. Janet shook her head before looking at her brother. She looked to be contemplating about whether she should say what was on her mind. She shook her head to get the thought out. When had she never told her brother anything. "Back at Alice's place. Did it seem like there was someone else there? Besides us, I mean." James looked at her sister with slightly widened eyes for a while. "I knew it seemed weird. Forget about it." She looked down slightly dejected.
Everyone who knew Janet knew how much she loved the supernatural. Ghosts, ghouls and goblins. Anything that went bump in the night, she absolutely loved it. It was quite unfortunate that it became almost like an obsession, causing others to make fun of her, or think she was just weird. However, this time she really did feel something. In fact, she usually did feel something, but because others made fun of her, she just kept it to herself. She did not like being called weird all the time by others. The room earlier felt particularly heavy at one spot. As if someone or something stood there.
James pulled his sister closer to him and stroked her hair gently. She did not really mind, but it hurt her that her brother felt that way too. "Don't tell anyone this. Ever." James whispered to her sister. Janet froze slightly. That statement could have meant to not say to others lest they made fun of her. But her brother was not the type. He could have also said that to make her feel better, but Janet knew her brother was not the type. Although not a straight shooter, he would not say things just to make others feel good about themselves when they were wrong or messing around.
She had a few questions but now was not the time. Hearing the seriousness in her brother's voice, she subtly nodded her head. "You don't have to be so serious. Your big brother will never let anything happen to you." James spoke as he kissed the top of her head. Janet smiled and leaned in closer before taking out her phone, playing with it. With that, the bus ride was silent all the way to their destination.
…
Matthew Greggory was a man who worked hard to provide for his family. A therapist who had passion in his work and thus was very good at it. If there was one thing that he loved more than his work, it would be his family. His loving wife and newborn baby girl. He was a man that considered himself lucky to have found the wife that he did, and even luckier to have gotten such a beautiful baby girl.
His work was about a bus ride away from his home, which was about an hour and a half drive, but always made him worried. How fast could he get home if there was an emergency? He had planned for how quickly he could get home if and when such emergencies ever presented themselves when his wife was pregnant. Although he never needed to use them, it did not matter. It was better safe than sorry. Now, he only sometimes wondered if he should use one of those measures to get home quick to his loving family.
He chuckled to himself at the thought while he finished packing his things. Another successful day at the office and he couldn't want to get home. This time however, his last session with his patient run a little bit longer. Even though the time was up, he stayed by his patient's side to continue the session a little bit longer, and as such he was now a little late to catch the bus. 'Maybe I really should buy a car like Lina always says' He thought to himself as he rushed out of his office and greeted the receptionist. "Have a goodnight Rachael." He rushed past her as her response echoed out the hallway. It was one of the usual routines for them so Rachael the receptionist did not mind in the least.
It was almost 7pm. Matthew Greggory hurriedly made his way to the bus station. If he missed the 7pm bus, he would have to wait a full two hours to catch the last 9pm bus back home, which he did not want.
He kept hurrying along, all the while looking down at his watch. What he failed to notice was that the more he walked, the less people he found he found around. Five or so minutes later, Matthew started to notice it. It was almost 7pm, nowhere near the time for the streets to clear the way it had. Matthew was having a bad feeling about what was happening. The whole situation felt like a prank and It was strange.
Matthew took his phone from his pocket to check if there had been any evacuation notices. Unfortunately for him, he had no cell service. The situation was getting more and more strange. He had never had bad cell service with where he was before. Looking at the way things were going he made a quick decision to go back to the office.
Matthew started to run in the direction of the office as fast as he could. After more than five minutes of running, he finally noticed an even more odd situation; He was not getting any closer to the office. In fact, it looked like he had been running in circles for the past five minutes. Matthew stopped running. His breathing heavy and his heart pounding so loudly in his ears that he could no longer hear anything else apart from that. Not that he would have anyway, everything had turned completely silent.
Suddenly Matthew Greggory stopped in his tracks. Bathed in perspiration, he pulled out his phone one more time with shaky hands. He lit the screen as it slightly brightened the surroundings. At this point, Matthew could barely see ahead of him. Even with the light from his screen, he could only see less than a meter in front of him. He just stood and stared at the picture on the screen as the darkness steadily encroached. In just a short while the darkness had already covered all but his face, which continued to swallow him without stopping. "I'm sorry, Lina." Were the whispered words that surprisingly echoed in the darkness before it completely swallowed him, leaving nothing behind.
Right after the lights returned along with the busy street of passerby. Two men slowly walked to the spot where Matthew had disappeared. One dressed in a simple black T-shirt and shorts. He looked to be decorated in various types of Tattoos. The other wore an expensive looking black suit with well combed hair and sharp eyes. They both looked to be the same height. "That was boring." The one with the tattoos spoke in a slightly high-pitched voice. "Where was the crying. The 'SOMEBODY SAVE ME.'". he screamed out loud emulating a terrified person which earned him more than a few questionable stares from passerby, but the person did not seem to care in the least.
The one in suit beside him nodded to his counterpart. "This one has a lot of spirit. Such a shame. Someone like him would have made a fine addition to our ranks. But he will still make a fine sacrifice as well." The one with the gruff voice spoke out. His partner nodded his head repeatedly in response to those words. He then turned to look at the people giving him questionable looks. His gaze contained a strange lust as his body trembled. "Calm yourself, Joseph." The one in the suit spoke to his friend with the tattoos, who was apparently called Joseph.