Nowhere to be Found

By Christian Durbin
It was a beautiful morning with the sun shining through Jamess window, but it seemed as if
life couldnt get worse. His parents died in a car crash with a semi last week. His perfect older
brother, John, wouldnt leave him alone. All he wanted was some peace and quiet. James got
out of bed with some difficulty because of an injury he got climbing a tree. When he got
downstairs his brother greeted him with a good morning, but James just ignored him. They ate
breakfast in relative silence. His brother tried to start a conversation as usual, but had no
success. Eventually he gave up.

When John finally left, James could feel some relief. Finally, there was nobody bugging him
or asking why he was so sad. He could finally think in peace.

The day passed like any other day with James trying to entertain himself. Playing card games
with himself, running around outside, and greeting the occasional neighbor who walked by.
Then his crazy neighbor walked by and said hello, but James ignored him as usual. There was
something about the neighbor that bugged him. He was old and smaller than average, but he still
seemed to be so confident. What really bothered James was his eyes. The sharp blue eyes that
seemed to know all. Adding to his unease, his brother wasnt home on time like usual. In fact he
doesnt come home even a couple hours later when the sun was setting. Had James not been so
preoccupied he probably would have sat in wonder because the sky was so beautiful. It was like
a perfect piece of art. Clouds seemed to pop out of the red and orange sky. It was like a tie dyed
shirt with perfectly white spots. Then James was lying on the ground. His eyes were closing no
matter how hard he tried to keep them closed.

The next morning James woke up in confusion because he was in his bed. Not only that but
he couldnt hear the usual clatter of his brother making breakfast in the kitchen. When he got
downstairs his brother wasnt there. He wasnt in his room when James checked. In fact James
checked the whole house and couldn't find John. When he went over to his neighbors house,
they said they hadnt seen John leave or even come back yesterday. After learning this, James
decided it was time to report this to the police. After that was done, James really didnt have
anything to do except sit and wait. The anxiety was horrible like a heavy boulder on his
shoulders.

The next day James didnt get anything from the police when he contacted them a second
time. He decided he was going to strike out on his own, so he got onto his brothers motorcycle.
On the way down his driveway, his crazy neighbor shouted his name. James ignored him and
just kept backing down the driveway, but his neighbor actually got in his way and said, Stop
this moment! What do you think you are doing? Youre going to get yourself arrested.

James replied by saying impatiently, Im going to find my brother.

Well youre not going alone, his neighbor countered, There is no way you are going
anywhere alone.
 Well then who is going to search for my brother with me? James asked.

Im coming with you, his neighbor said with a serious voice as if he was his father or
brother.

James thought that this was going to slow him down, but there was no way to shake this guy
off. The neighbor took the silence as an okay, so he got on the motorcycle and said, Well start
this thing up already.

James reluctantly started the engine, but the neighbor said, Wait a minute. Youre not driving
this thing.

They switched spots. Then surprisingly Jamess neighbor was able to drive the motorcycle.
Before James could say anything about where to go, his neighbor drove to where John worked.
James shook his head in wonder. His neighbor smiled and said, It is important to pay attention
to those around you.

When they got inside, the neighbor asked for the manager. When the annoyed manager came,
the neighbor asked when he had seen John Hillerd last. The manager replied by saying that he
had left in the middle of his shift saying he had something to do in downtown Tuscon. James
and his neighbor stared at each other because that wasnt the friendliest of places at this time.
James and his neighbor left the store and immediately headed for Tuscon which was 30 miles
away. They didnt have much time if they wanted to find John unharmed. When they finally got
there, they headed for the police station. They asked if anyone had seen a dark blue Honda
Civic, and if anyone had seen a clean cut, 5 foot 11 inch, brown haired, brown eyed, 17 year old
male. The police said that someone had reported a person in a large black coat leading a
teenager into a building. James and his neighbor asked where the building was and headed out
for it.

The building looked as if it was going to fall down. Windows were boarded up, there was
trash littering the road, and even though it was mid afternoon almost no sunlight shone in the
alley. The smell was the worst part. It was as if a skunk had sprayed a rotten, musty smell
throughout the whole alley. James gagged when he walked into the alley way. They approached
the building and hesitantly knocked on the door. When nothing happened they tried the door
handle and found it unlocked. They entered and the horrible smell followed them. They
checked the whole building and found nothing until they reached the basement. In the basement
they found blood everywhere. It was as if a little kid had gotten a hold of a few cans of paint and
spread it everywhere. James couldnt take it. He ran outside and threw up. The neighbor came
out surprisingly calm and collected. He went around and knocked on peoples doors that were
outside the alley looking for someone who knew something. Finally he found someone who
knew something, but they wouldnt speak a word for fear that someone would come after her.
After some coaxing they got some answers. She had followed the line of vans that had taken all
of the teenagers. They had gone to an abandoned hangar in the middle of nowhere.

They went back to the police station to ask for some help and the chief officer said that they
could have 5 armed officers. Then they went to the middle of town with a speaker phone and
asked if anyone else had lost someone and wanted to help find them. To their surprise about 30
people came to them. They discussed their plan to rush in to look the missing teenagers after the
police officers take out the armed people. Once everyone was ready to go a couple hours later
they left. Everyone had butterflies in their stomach, but the need to get back their friends and
family covered that up. Once they got there, it seemed too quiet. The lights were out in the
hangar and there was no noise except for the wind blowing against the cars and the building. At
first nobody moved. Then everyone got out of the car at once. The noise of closing the car
doors made everyone jump. There was no way that if there was someone in the hangar that they
hadnt heard that. They all entered and the police turned on their flash lights. It was a horror
movie in real life. All of a sudden gunshots rang out and people in all black were jumping down
from the balconies. It was a disaster. Everyone was punching and pushing and the police were
trying their best not to shoot anyone unarmed. There seemed to be an endless amount of armed
people; they just kept coming. Finally after what seemed to be forever, they stopped coming.

Almost all of our army was on the ground. Everyone was injured, and after some inspection
police found the teenagers. Everyone that could get on their feet rushed over there. James could
see John even through all of the blood on Johns face. At that moment James realized there were
only 7 teenagers there. There should be plenty more. Then they heard the start of engines, and
James realized the armed people still had a lot of the teenagers. James rushed to John anyways
and both were moved beyond words. John asked, How?

James replied by saying, Ill tell you later, and went to look for his neighbor. When he
couldnt find him after searching the hangar multiple times, he came to the conclusion that the
kidnappers had taken him. James couldnt take it anymore; he fell to the floor and started
weeping. It didnt take long for John to come over because he understood what was wrong.

The next day John told his story. I was going to speak to the person hiring at LoctiTech, the
computer company. I had to park on a side street since there was no parking. Then they came
right when I pulled onto the road that the alley was on. I got out of my car, and they dragged me
into the building. After that all I can remember is getting knocked out, and waking up in the
hangar. I was a dead man if it werent for you. John recalled. The rest of the day was spent
trying to find out more about their neighbor. They had eventually figured out that their neighbor
was a military vet from WWII. He served in the army for 10 years. His name was Captain
Marcus DeWare. After serving in the military Captain DeWare became a police officer for 7
years. After that he had multiple different jobs before retiring. This information made it seem
like James never got to know his neighbor like he should have. In bed that night, James thought
to himself that this isnt over yet.