In Pursuit of the Taken

"Wake up, you fool! You're going to be late for class."

That was the voice of his sister. Joe was stubborn about not waking up. But when he finally looked at the clock, he realized that even if he ran for 30 minutes, he would still be late. He quickly got up and grabbed his skateboard, heading downstairs. Although his sister had prepared a nice breakfast for him, he ran out the door.

"See you later, sis!"  He smiled as he looked back at his sister.

"If I ever make you breakfast again, my name's not Zoe! Don't come back to this house, you fool!"  Zoe shouted after him. Joe could hear her yelling faintly as he skated away.

"Yeah, you always say that,"  Joe said, laughing.

As he rode his skateboard on the usual 20-minute route to school, he had plenty of time to think. He was listening to the song "Krobak – Broken" on his MP3 player, a song he had come across online two days ago, and once again, he got lost in thought. Ever since losing his parents in a car accident three years ago, he hadn’t been able to fully adjust to his changing life. They had moved from Newcastle in the north of the country to the southernmost town of Setin. His sister was both working and taking care of the house. He felt so bad for her that he tried to help in every way he could. He believed that doing good for others was what kept him going, but he also thought that his life would never be truly happy.

Just as he was about to start feeling sorry for himself again, thinking about his dull and boring life, he remembered the match he was going to watch with his best friend Oliver. After school, they were going to watch the game together at Oliver's house. This thought cheered him up a bit, but when he saw the Setin High School sign, his mood dropped again.

As he walked into the school, he noticed the school's football team practicing on the large field next to the building. He was debating whether it made more sense to go to class or join the practice. The song he had listened to on the way had put him in a bit of a down mood.

"Whatever, I didn't really want to go to class anyway. Playing some football before tonight's game could be fun,"  he said, and ran toward the field. He saw the football club coach, Cooper Park, taking notes on the sideline. Joe really likes Coach Park and enjoyes talking football with him.

"Hey, Mr. Park, good to see you! If you don't mind, can I join today's practice?" Joe asked.

"Hey, Ledson, good to see you too, kid. Of course, you can join. You're definitely better than at least half the team."  Coach Park and Joe both laughed.

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Park,"  Joe was about to say, but Coach Park interrupted him.

"Do you have the proper shorts and jersey for practice, though?"  Park asked.

"Yes, I bought a jersey and shorts for tonight's big derby. I'll wear them."  said Joe, and immediately went to practice.

Six hours had passed, and the final bell rang. As Joe was leaving the field with his things, he saw Oliver waiting for him outside. Joe walked over to him, smiling.

“What’s up? Did they tell you to 'find Joe' again?”  Joe was laughing.

“Hah. Seriously, I'm tired of it too, but even though they know where you are, they always ask me to bring you. It's like I'm your babysitter or something,”  Oliver replied, then added.

“Principal Ward wants to talk to you. So, they asked me to bring you to his office. Let’s put on your leash and get going.”  Oliver teased Joe as usual, and they headed back to school.

The two of them walked together to the school. The principal's office was in the administrative section on the top floor. As they went upstairs, the change in the atmosphere and the tension they felt made them nervous. The strange colors of the floor and stairs only added to their anxiety. Yet, St. High School was known as the calmest and most peaceful school in the city. The duo reached the third floor and quickly arrived at the large black door at the end of the corridor. This was the door to the principal's office.

“That door looks like it leads to hell,”  Joe said, feeling scared.

“Come on, knock, and let’s get this over with,”  Oliver said calmly.

Joe knocked three times and they went inside. Principal Benjamin Ward was sitting calmly in his chair, reading a book. But as soon as he focused on Oliver and Joe, who had just entered, the room’s atmosphere became instantly terrifying.

“You wanted to see me, sir?”  Joe's voice was trembling.

“Bennett, you can leave,”  Ward said in a calm tone, and Oliver left without saying a word. Ward turned to Joe.

“Look, Ledson, I’ve warned you many times, and this will be the last. I'm sending you back with a simple punishment again, but if you skip classes one more time, you’ll have to go back to Newcastle.”  Ward wasn’t angry, but he was very serious. “Understood?”

“Yes, sir,”  Joe was very scared.

“Now, go get today’s literature syllabus and do a review in the literature classroom downstairs,” Ward said.

Joe nodded in agreement and left the room. Outside, he exchanged a glance with Oliver, and they both started laughing.

“HAHAH, even the scariest man in the world is fed up with you,”  Oliver was laughing hard.

“Seriously, he didn’t even want to answer me,”  Joe was laughing too.

“So, what punishment did he give you?”

“Go to the literature class, review the syllabus, and all that. The infamous 1.5-hour detention class. Meanwhile, you can prepare the house until I get there,”  said Joe.

“So, it’s all left to me again, huh? Alright, try to come before the game starts,”  said Oliver, and left the school.

Joe then picked up the syllabus from the teachers’ lounge and headed to the literature class. The teacher on duty that day was his homeroom teacher, Carl McKate. They exchanged smiles, but since talking was prohibited in detention, Joe silently took his seat. At that moment, he noticed another student in detention, Lucas Foster. He wondered what the brightest student in school was doing in a detention class. The rumors about Lucas’s strange behavior over the past couple of weeks must have been true. But Joe didn’t dwell on it and started reviewing the syllabus.

After 1.5 hours, Teacher Carl allowed them both to leave. Lucas quickly and strangely gathered his things and left the classroom. Joe felt concerned about him and began to follow him from a distance. When he looked outside, he saw that it was raining and messaged Oliver to bring him an umbrella. He waited with Lucas at the school exit for the rain to let up, but Joe couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Hey Lucas, are you okay, man?”  Joe asked calmly.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,”  Lucas was trying to brush Joe off completely.

Joe realized that Lucas was uncomfortable and didn’t ask any more questions. Soon after, despite the rain getting heavier, Lucas suddenly left the area where they were waiting and headed towards the school’s back yard. Joe found this strange because the back yard led in the opposite direction from Lucas’s home. Joe discreetly followed him. When Lucas reached the exit of the school’s back yard, a purple car arrived at the same time. Joe sensed something was wrong, but he was too scared to move.

A man in a coat stepped out, knocked Lucas unconscious, and threw him into the back of the car. Due to the rain and the man’s hooded coat, his face was obscured. As the car began to drive away, Joe ran toward it. He couldn’t catch up to the car, but he managed to get its license plate number. He quickly noted down "STN 0811" on his phone. When he returned to the school’s main yard, he saw Oliver waiting for him.

“Hey, where’ve you been? I’ve been waiting for you for like 5 minutes,”  said Oliver, but he noticed something was wrong with Joe.

Joe was out of breath.

“We need to go to the police immediately, right now,”  Joe was struggling to speak from the shock.

“What the hell? What’s going on, what happened?”  Oliver was starting to panic.

“That man, that man kidnapped him. Someone kidnapped Lucas.”

“Who’s Lucas? What do you mean kidnapped? Explain it properly, you idiot!”  Oliver snapped, panicking in the moment.

“That bright kid, Lucas. You know, the one everyone’s been talking about for the past week. He was in detention today too, and he was acting really weird. We were both waiting outside for the rain to stop, but then he suddenly started moving like he got some kind of command from outside. The rain was pouring down, and when Lucas suddenly headed toward the back yard, I couldn’t make sense of it, so I decided to follow him. When I got there, a car had also pulled up, and he was kidnapped,”  Joe explained fearfully.

“Are you sure it was a kidnapping? Maybe it was just his parents,”  Oliver tried to think positively.

“No, the man got out of the car and knocked him out. He grabbed him by the back and threw him into the back seat. How could that be his parents? We need to go to the police immediately,”  Joe’s anxiety was growing with each passing minute.

Oliver was still in shock from the situation. Knowing Joe’s tendency to panic, he decided to take him straight to his house. On the way, Joe didn’t say a single word. Oliver was aware of the seriousness of the situation but knew that calming Joe down was the priority. When they got home, Joe looked like he was about to faint. Oliver immediately laid him down on his bed and tried to get in touch with their other friends. Soon after, they also received news that Lucas had gone missing. Additionally, Oliver’s parents reached out, trying to find out what was happening. However, Oliver didn’t want to reveal what Joe had told him. He didn’t want to be the one to cause a panic. A little while later, Joe’s sister Zoe called Oliver.

“Hey, Oliver!”  Zoe sounded worried. “Where’s Joe? He said he was going to your place for the game, but I haven’t heard from him. This doesn’t have anything to do with that missing kid, does it?”

“Calm down, Zoe. Joe’s with me. He was tired from classes and is taking a nap. We’re going to watch the game together,”  Oliver tried to reassure her.

“Phew. That’s a relief. Alright, could you please tell him to come home after the game? With everything that’s been happening lately, I really want him here with me,”  Zoe said.

“Sure, I’ll let him know, don’t worry,”  Oliver replied and hung up. Just then, Joe woke up.

“Was that my sister?”  Joe asked.

“Yeah, she’s worried about you.”

“Bless her. She was already telling me to come home this morning,”  Joe said with a laugh.

“What are you planning to do?” Oliver asked, curious.

“About what?”

“What you saw.”

Joe recalled the incident he witnessed. The shock of the moment hit him again, but this time he was able to think more clearly.

“Get up, we’re going to the police right now,”  said Joe.

The two quickly got ready and headed to the police station. However, when they arrived, the place was in a state of chaos. Two people had been taken into custody related to the incident, and the entire department was focused on interrogating them. Oliver and Joe approached the front desk. The elderly woman there didn’t seem particularly interested in them.

“Hello, I want to report something about the kidnapping today,”  said Joe.

“This is not the place for children right now. Please go home. Kids like you keep calling us every minute to tell us something about it,”  said the receptionist.

Joe and Oliver understood the situation. Since Lucas was well-known at school, everyone was worried about him and trying to share what they knew. The two realized that arguing wouldn’t help and decided to let things run their course. Kidnapping cases had severely tarnished the reputation of Senit Town about seven years ago. However, the town’s residents had felt somewhat relieved after news spread that the person responsible for the kidnappings had been killed. But from that day forward, the whole story was about to start all over again.