Be Careful What You Wish For!
I was bored. Yet again. Story of my life. You know what? I wish that for once something interesting would actually happen in my life.
Apparently, according to my friends, I have, and I quote, 'the greatest life ever!' just because I get straight A's, have loving parents with a huge house, and a little brother who isn't annoying.
But it is always the same! Here I am, sitting in Central Park, watching my eight-year-old brother Jake, play football – or should I say soccer – with his friends, just like every other Saturday for three years.
"Hey Bells! I'm done! Just gonna go get changed," he shouted, running off to the changing rooms.
"Okay, I'll go get ice-creams – be quick!" I replied, wondering if he heard me or not. "Two... chocolate chip ice-creams please," I asked the guy at the stand.
"Coming right up!" He replied, in a much too cheery tone. Once I had given him the money and grabbed the cones, I turned around, almost bumping into one of the most muscled guys in the world.
"Oh, sorry!" I paused, "Hey Emmett, What are you doing here?" Emmett was Rosalie's boyfriend, Rosalie being one of my two best friends, Alice being the other. Ever since I moved here four years ago, from England, I am still amazed that they are friends with me, the dullest person in the history of dull people.
"Can't a guy buy ice-cream for his girlfriend anymore?" he questioned, just as Rosalie walked up to stand next to him.
"Sure Em. Hey Rose, we still on for tonight?" Rose, Alice and I were having a girl's night in – we stopped calling it a sleepover after we turned sixteen, and we have them every other weekend.
"Of course! It's gonna be so much fun! Alice told me that she's got loads of new make-up from her birthday last week, and we get to try it all out!" she squealed.
"Great," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. Why did my best friends have to always want to make me over, even when we don't go anywhere? Rose, ignoring my obvious protest, continued on, "I can't wait!"
"Okay, well, I'm gonna go find my brother, so I'll see you later." I didn't wait for a reply because I knew that Jake would already be outside, waiting for me. But, as I walked towards the changing rooms, I was surprised to see that he wasn't out there, and most people were already gone. That's odd, I thought to myself, he's usually the first one out. As I was just about to shout into the boys' room, Jake's friend Sam walked out.
"Hey Sam, is Jake still in there?"
"Uh, no. He was like the first one out again," I thought so.
"Did he say anything about where he was going, like to another friend's house or something?" I said as I bit my lip.
"No, but he did say that he was really hungry. Maybe he went to get a pretzel or a hot dog?" he suggested, but I had this feeling that he was just trying to reassure me.
"Oh, okay then, see you next week Sam." Jake must not have heard me earlier then. I should wait here until he comes back, but first I need to get rid of these ice-creams. After I had thrown his in the bin and finished off the last of mine, I sat on the closest bench to the changing rooms, and waited.
I sat there for about ten minutes, until I realised that Jake had had his cell phone with him this whole time! How stupid am I? Patiently, I held the phone to my ear and listened to the annoying dial tone, until it was cut off by an even more annoying voice of a woman telling me that his phone was switched off! I could try calling Mom, to see if he went home without me. It's possible, because we only live about ten minutes away from Central Park, so he could be at home right now, but what I don't understand is why he would have done, as we always walk home together after practice.
As I kept trying to convince myself that that's where he'll be right now, my mom answered the phone.
"Hey honey, what's the matter?"
"Uh... is Jake at home with you?" I hope I didn't sound too nervous; my mom always was too perceptive.
"No, shouldn't he be with you?" Oh great. I better not say anything else; it'll only worry her more.
"Okay thanks mom, bye!" I hung up so quickly that she couldn't even fit an objection in, which was probably the worst idea I could have had in the world. Renée was not only extremely perceptive, but also a major worrier when she doesn't know what's going on. Hopefully my Dad, Charlie, will be able to calm her down – he's always been good at that.
I decided that if he didn't come back within the next ten minutes, I would go home and pray that he would be there when I arrived.
When he didn't show, I did as I said I would and took a nerve-wracking walk back home. I was going to shout for Jake as soon as I walked through the door, but I went against my instincts, in case he wasn't here. Instead, I ran straight up to his room as fast as my legs could carry me, without falling over in the process.
I threw his door open, hoping to be relieved of all the worry that was built up inside of me, only to be extremely disappointed when he wasn't there. Its okay, he's probably in some other part of the house. As I kept repeating this mantra to myself after I looked in each room of the house and came up with nothing.
I saved the main living room for last, knowing that my parents would be in there, my mom watching some reality show on TV, and dad reading the daily newspaper. Sure enough, there they were, sitting on the gigantic couch, like nothing at all was wrong. I cautiously glanced around the room, not knowing what to expect. I almost cried out right then and there when I saw that he wasn't in there with them.
Alternately, I went for the more dramatic option; I fainted. I woke up, feeling very dizzy, and staring into the eyes of my very worried mother. "Are you okay honey?" she asked, frantically searching for any sign of a bruise on my head, followed by many other questions to test my consciousness, because apparently, my word means nothing to her. Then I remembered the reason I fainted in the first place, and shook my mom wildly to get her to stop talking.
"Where's Jake?"I almost screamed at her. She sat there in shock for a second, and then composed herself.
"I assumed he went round a friend's house, considering he didn't come home with you. Now, what made you faint honey?" Oh no.
"That's just it mom! He didn't say anything to me about going to a friend's house! Why do you think I called you? I went to go get ice-creams, and when I came back he was gone! I tried calling him, but his phone was turned off! He could be anywhere mom!" I rushed out, taking a deep breath after.
"Charlie! Call the police! Jake's missing!" You could hear her voice cracking, just as she broke out into full blown sobs, and that made me upset, so I burst into tears as well, and we sat there, holding each other, scared for Jake. Where was he? Who was he with? He would never go off alone; he isn't stupid enough to do that.
"Hello. Yes, my son is missing. I think he's been kidnapped."
It's been five months now, and the few leads that the police have had have all been dead ends. But what I want to know is, will I ever see my little brother again? And what kind of monster would do something like this?