Chapter One: Swift

Justin finds that his younger sister has been kidnapped.

Justin

 

"Happy birthday!"

   How many times have I heard this today? I guess if it was my birthday, I'd be happy to hear it this often. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. Today was my younger sister Bree's thirteenth birthday. I had a flash-back to my thirteenth birthday four years ago, and how I'd snuck out of the house to go have fun with my friends. I remembered Bree, who was only nine years old at the time, had snitched on me. Basically, I wasn't let off of punishment until I was nearly fourteen years old.

   "Thanks, Mom," she grinned and hugged Mom.

   I sighed, and quickly swallowed my pride.

   "Happy birthday, Bree," I smiled and hugged her.

   Unlike most guys my age, I adored my sister. She'd always been incredibly sweet, and never gave anyone a problem. The fact that my sister was so understanding made us very close. I told her everything, and vice versa. There was no one in my life more important, yet at times, she could be the annoying little sister every guy has to put up with.

   "What time is your party?" I asked, sitting on the arm of our couch. "Eddie's coming over at six."

   "For what?" Mom asked, sitting next to me on the couch. "It's your sister's birthday. You should be spending it with her."

   "It's okay, Mom," Bree shook her head. "My party isn't until tomorrow afternoon. Everyone's busy today."

   "Great," I shrugged. "Then what do you want to do?"

   "Can we just drive?" she beamed, sitting beside me on the arm of the couch. Her legs were dangling back and forth quickly. "I think it'd be fun just to drive for a while and talk."

   "Sure, I guess," I chuckled and walked over to the coat rack to grab my keys. "Where do you want to drive to?"

   "Anywhere. Just drive." she giggled, skipping out the door to my car.

   "Don't get lost," Mom warned.

   "I won't," I promised. "She's safe with me."

 

 

"We're going to crash! Slow down!" she begged, laughing and gasping for air.

   "No, we're not! Don't worry!" I laughed with her. Her eyes were tightened shut as she grabbed everything she could for support.

   "Justin, you're crazy!"

   "Fine, fine, calm down, I need gas." I pulled into a Speedway station and instructed for her to remain in the car.

   "Hurry, please," she sighed. "I hate being in the car alone."

   "Why?" I laughed, gathering money out of the compartment between our seats. "We're in the middle of nowhere. There's practically no one out here."

   "I know, but still. I'm really paranoid."

   "I'll hurry," I nodded, assuring her everything would be okay.

   Inside the store, I bought a cup of coffee for Bree. She loved coffee, but Mom never let her buy it. I thought it'd be a nice birthday treat. Before going to pay for gas and coffee, I went to grab a bottle of coke for myself. A short girl was standing in the soda doorway. She backed up after grabbing a bottle of sprite and accidentally bumped me on her way.

   "I'm sorry!" she smiled nervously. "I didn't see you there!"

   "No worries," I shook my head, giving her a calming laugh.

   She gave me a weird look, tilting her head to study me.

   "How old are you?" she asked, a puzzled look striking both of our faces.

   "I'm seventeen. Why?" I shrugged, raising an eyebrow.

   "Sorry, I just never see teenagers out here. My dad owns a motel down the street, so I come around here a lot. There's never anyone my age out here without their parents." she explained.

   I could tell she was nervous. Girls only babbled like that when they were really nervous, or so I'd been told by my best friend, Eddie.

    "Oh," I chuckled. "How old are you?"

    "I'm seventeen, too. My parents homeschool me." she revealed.

    Homeschooled kids were weird. One transferred to my school once, and he spent his time in a corner reading weird books and playing games on some kind of small hand-held device.

    "That's cool," I lied. "I'm driving my sister around for her birthday, and I just needed gas." I admitted.

    "That's so sweet!" she beamed.

    "Yeah, but I think we're getting lost. I'm sure we'll find our way home, though." I lied.

    This girl was pretty. She was sweet, and awkward, so I'm sure she had no knowledge of this fact. Her skin was light caramel colored, she was quite possibly mixed. Her eyes were huge like my sister's old teddy bear's, and she was thin, yet had a nice figure. It was impossible not to admire her looks. She was gorgeous.

    "I believe I have a road map in my car. Do you want to borrow it?" she offered, batting her eyelashes.

    "What are you doing with a road map in your car?"

    "I take drives a lot, and I've been lost before. It's nice to keep a map with you." she explained. "You can mail it back to me."

    "Sounds like a plan," I winked. "My name's Justin, by the way."

    "Mine's Katie," she placed a hand on her hip.

    As I strolled out of the store with this girl, she told me about how the last person she'd met ran away from her just because she was homeschooled. The guy was apparently a huge jerk, and he was very judgemental.

    "Do you hear that?" she paused, standing perfectly still.

    "Hear what?" I looked around.

    "It sounds like...muffled screaming." she walked slowly towards the direction of my car.

    The truth was, there was a sound of muffled screaming. It was growing louder and louder, until I spotted Bree falling out of the car.

    "Bree!" I raced over to her, but before I could help her, I felt a hand push me to the ground.

    A man, dressed in complete black, and a ski mask, had my baby sister at gunpoint.

    "Back up, or she dies," he growled.

    I did as he was told.

    Katie was holding onto my arm tightly, breathing hard and shaking like a wet dog.

    "Let me go!" Bree begged, trying to wiggle out of his arms. "Justin, help me!"

    "You try anything, she'll die. I'll make you watch." the man warned.

    A few seconds later, I realized that Katie was no longer attached to me. She was behind him, creeping up closer. I shot her a catious look before keeping my stare on my sister.

    Before I knew it, Katie jumped onto his back, trying to steal his gun. Bree had immediately run into my arms, and I held her tightly. We attempted to escape with the car, but the man had already thrown Katie to the ground, and was chasing after us. He grasped my arm tightly, wrapping something around my mouth.

    "No!" Katie tried to help Bree into the car, but the man put a stop to that.

    He went back to me, tying me up with rope. Katie wouldn't give up, so he tied her up, too. I felt terrible about this happening. Nothing was processing in my brain, except for the fact that I had to save my sister.

     The man bent down and punched me so hard that I was knocked unconscious.

     

Author's Note

try to remember that this is my first mystery, and this is only chapter one. I'm only going to publish one chapter a day, for now. Give me constructive reviews!!!:)

Reviews

[Thomas Fleet]

You've done a very well job with building up a sense of suspense and mystery. This is your first mystery, you say? I can only imagine how entertaining your future chapters on this story will be. You have great grammar and punctuation, no mistakes from what I can see. You express your ideas clearly and vividly; I was able to clearly comprehend it without being at all confused. I admire most the realism in this story, which adds to the suspense. Great work. I look forward to reading more.