Part 56

Third Person POV

Three weeks had passed since that day and Josh was still wondering what was on that paper because whatever it was has made Justen become more distant and secretive. Josh was scared for his boyfriend but couldn't really do anything unless Justen let him in. Josh has voiced his feelings to a majority of his friends but they can't do anything about it either.

Justen, on the other hand, was scared out of his mind. The morning Justen got the paper, Josh's dad had spoken to him. Most of the things that he said were about how Justen was garbage and was worthless. However, one of the things really hit home. Josh's dad said that Justen had to do a favor for Josh's dad or die. Justen wanted nothing to do with this task but Josh's dad insisted. Josh's dad gave Justen three and a half weeks to complete this favor. If the favor wasn't completed by the end of the three and a half weeks, Josh's dad would send someone out to kill Justen. As much as Justen didn't want that, he listened. Well, only for part of it.

Justen stayed away from Josh as much as possible so Josh wouldn't know what Justen was doing. Justen had almost all of the things done for the task when he realized that the task wasn't for anything good. Josh's dad gave Justen the task to get Josh's dad out of the trouble he was in. Justen knew that Josh's dad was in jail and was already in enough trouble, but Justen couldn't help but try.

It didn't matter how much it tore Justen apart, he had to listen to the message on the paper. Now, Justen was back in his low place and couldn't tell anyone or else that would result in death. As much as Justen wanted to talk to Josh, he had to avoid him for their own safety.

Justen's dad, David, was worried about Justen and didn't know how to tell people. Finally, however, David picked up the phone and called Justen's sister, Natalie.

"Hello?" Natalie asked, answering the phone.

"Natalie, it's me," David said.

"What's up, dad?" Natalie asked, knowing that her dad didn't call her on a normal occasion.

"It's Justen," David said. "I feel as if he has slipped into a dark place again and I don't know what to do."

"Well, has he spoken to you about it?" Natalie asked.

"No," David said. "But that's what I fear most about him, I fear that Justen isn't going to talk to me about it and just let it fester inside of him until he can't take it anymore."

"Can I talk to him?" Natalie asked, her too now fearing for her little brother's safety.

"Not right now, he's at school," David said.

"When he gets home tell him that I absolutely need to talk to him," Natalie said. "And if he tries to argue tell him that something happened to me."

"Will he call you then?" David asked.

"If you heard that something bad happened to your sister, would you call her?" Natalie asked.

"Of course," David said.

"Well, now you have your answer," Natalie said. "Well, I have to go, my professor is going to be mad if I'm late for his lesson."

"Oh, right," David said.

"Yeah, I'll talk to you later though," Natalie said.

"I'll talk to you later," David said.

"And don't forget to have Justen call me," Natalie said.

"I won't," David said. "Bye, Natalie. I love you."

"I love you too," Natalie said before hanging up.

David sighed and hung up the phone on his end. He just wished that everything would be okay, especially for Justen.