The Best Short Story In The World

[Petey]

Lynne was walking home from a track meet when a car pulled up next to her. The car was a reddish-brown color that looked like it was rusted instead of the color of the car. Lynne knew better because she knew whose car it was and he wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near her. “Is there anything in particular that u want or is this a random act of disobeying the law again?” Lynne asked as politely as she could muster, walking even faster to get away from him. “You know you’re not supposed to be anywhere near me so leave my sight before I call the cops on your ass.” Lynne started to cry and as she did it started raining.

“Come on,” the guy in the car started, “This is really important Lynne please talk to me right now and the police can‘t do anything to me I‘m obeying the law this time. Just come with me and I promise that no harm will come to you or your family. That’s all I can say for now. I have got to run but know that I am always going to be watching you and you mom to make sure that the both of you are alive when this is over,” and with that he was gone.

Lynne took out her cell as soon as she saw that he had left and she dialed her mom’s number. “Hey, it’s raining and I need a ride home. Can you meet me at the gas station please?” Lynne started walking to the gas station but decided against it. Now that mom is out of the house I can sneak in so that no harm can come to her while I am around her, she thought to herself. It’s my fault that she is in this mess and I’m not going to be the one that kills her. I may just go to Michael’s house and keep my family out of this. Michael will help me fight this thing but I’d hate to bring harm to him. If anything would happen to him I don’t know what I would do. God, please help me out so I may know what it is I am to do. Lynne was so lost in thought that she almost missed the fact that her cell was ringing. With the song that was playing she knew who it was and what line they were calling from since each one has a different ring tone. “Hello.”

“Hey babe just called to ask why you are standing out in the rain. You know your mother doesn’t like it when you do that.” Lynne realized that she was standing outside Michael’s house, She had assumed that he wasn’t home since he had called from his cell but Lynne guessed his cell was closest and he wanted to make sure she stayed there for some reason. “Come inside and your mom can pick you up here.”

“Sweet I wanted to talk to you about something anyways so don’t sweat it I’ll be in a jiffy.” Lynne quickly hung up her cell and ran into the house and all the way up the stairs to Michael’s room. She called her mother from his private line so she would know where Lynne was. “Hey mom, I’m at Michael’s I think I’m gonna spend the night here so he and I can talk about some things I’ll be home shortly to get some clothes. I should be there and gone before dad comes home. I would hate for him to ground me right now.” Lynne waited for her mom’s response before saying, “Thanks mom I’ll see you in a bit. Love you. Bye.” Then she hung up the phone. “Hey Michael, my mom has given me permission to spend the night but I need a ride home to beat my dad so he doesn’t ground me.”

“Lynne you do remember that your father died last month right?” Michael decided that she needed to hear that again since she always seemed to forget that he was dead and wasn’t coming back into her life.

“HE IS NOT DEAD AND YOU NEED TO STOP SAYING THAT HE IS.” Lynne screamed at the top of her lungs.

“OK Lynne if that is what you truly believe but seriously why hasn’t be been home for close to a month now if he isn’t dead?”

“He hasn’t been home because he job has sent him to a different part of the world for a couple months. Can we please go now so I make sure I beat him there or do you want him to get so pissed off at me that I get grounded you know I’m not supposed to spend the night at a friends house after a track meet even if it is on a Saturday.”

To protect his feelings for her and to make sure that he is not the cause of any emotional pain in her life, Michael decided to drop his argument. “OK we are gonna head over now.” And with that Michael escorted Lynne home to get everything she needed.

Not knowing what to say to Michael, Lynne looks away for a sec while she collects her thoughts then turns back. “Michael I’m sorry I yelled earlier but its just that my mom said that he cheated on her and left her when I was a baby but realized that he was to stay here and watch me or he would have no custody over me and he wanted me real bad so he went along with it. I want everything to be perfect for him and the only way that I would be able to do that is if I hang out round here so I don’t bring my mom any trouble.”

Michael was really confused now. “Why would you bring your mom any trouble? You two have the best relationship out of anyone else I know. I don’t believe in anyway could you possibly bring your mother any harm.”

Jen quickly thought of an answer for him. “Scott stopped by earlier when I was outside and said that he had something that he needed to tell me but he is not allowed within two feet of me unless he is in a vehicle on the road and I am not right next to the vehicle he is in. I was wondering if you would be able to call him here and see if he will come and talk. It’s the only way that he would be able to talk to me in private. He may let you stay when he tells me what he meant by it. I believe him but can’t speak to him. I was a little rude when we spoke but that was because he isn’t supposed to be talking to me.”

[Petey]

“Hey, it’s not a problem. I’ll call him and ask him to come hang out or something……just sucks that he can’t spend the night at someone else’s house……..not even sure he will come over this evening…..it being so late and all.”

“Oh, he will come, trust me. This is just like in a movie I saw sometime, I can’t think of the name of the movie but there is one line that I can’t get out of my head………..‘If you build it he will come’…………that is sorta what is happening now except you don’t have to build anything.”

“Hey Scott, what’s up? I was wondering if you would like to come over for a little while this evening.” Michael had called Scott’s cell phone. “My parents are fine with it. They said I could invite up to five people since they won’t be home.” Michael paused so that Scott could respond, then his eyes got a glow to them and he said, “I could invite her over but she is still really upset over her father’s death. I’ve tried to get her to come over at random times and she doesn’t want to be where her mom isn’t. I tried to get her to come over as she passed my house today after her track meet but she gave me the runabout like she usually does anymore.” Michael paused again and Lynne was starting to get really anxious about whether or not Scott was gonna come over or not. Then Michael started talking again, “OK then. If what you have to tell her is that important then come over and tell me and I’ll let her know tomorrow when I see her again. Bye.” Michael then hung up the phone and turned to Lynne, “OK Lynne, he is on his way over but he can’t stay long.”

Lynne quickly said “Thanks Michael. I’m so glad that you are my best friend.” Then she gave Michael a hug and kiss on the cheek right then and there. Then blushing, she asked, “How long do you think it will take him to get here?”

Michael, still surprised by the kiss he had received, didn’t know how to answer her, so he thought for a moment then said, “Well it depends on which way he comes. If he walks, he should be here in about 20 minutes. It would be more if he drove but I don’t know how long that would take him.”

“Would I have time to make something for him before he got here then?” Lynne was wondering where to take it from there, then she said, “I still like him. That was the reason I had the restraining order put on him in the first place. I don’t want what happened to Matt happen to Scott also. He was…….no is…..one of those people that start off as friends then sooner or later…..or just sooner……that you start to like more than a friend and I was so worried that Scott would hurt me the same way as Matt did when he moved and I didn’t want that to happen……” Seeing the look in Michael’s eyes, Lynne quickly said, “Michael you know I would never do that to you. You have been my best friend for like ever now and I would never put a restraining order on you no matter what.”

“WOW……..after that I don’t know what to say…….I suppose I could say I know you wouldn’t do that to me………I’m so glad that you value our friendship and I hope that it stays true……..if you want to bake something for Scott you had better do it now………that way I can make it look like I’m home alone……..still need somewhere to hide your track stuff that you didn’t take home with you when we went to get your clothes……..” Michael walked around looking for a place to hide her stuff so Lynne went down to the kitchen and started baking.

Scott arrived 20 minutes later and went straight up to Michael’s room. After half an hour Michael came down to the kitchen. “OK Scott and I are ready for you now. Your track things are in my mother’s bathroom. Still don’t know why this house has four bathrooms when only three of us live here and I wonder why my parents don’t use the same one but oh well on with the show right?” Michael walked over to Lynne and locked his arm with hers and escorted her up the stairs into his room. Michael entered first with the food then Lynne followed. When Lynne entered Scott jumped up off the bed and tried to get out of the room while maintaining his distance from Lynne. “Scott would you relax and sit down. I need you to listen to me right now. Lynne is here because I asked her to stay the night before I called you. It was her idea to invite you here. She wanted to hear what you have to say so I tried to make it sound like she wouldn’t be here so the cops that are following you….” Then seeing the look on Scott’s face, said “…….Yes I know the cops are following you and the reason they are……..anyways the cops that are following you wouldn’t know that Lynne was trying to break the restraining order that she herself had placed on you. She was in the kitchen when you arrived so as to not scare you away when you got here.” Michael handed Scott the snacks. “Here she made these for you.”

[Petey]

“Michael, if he doesn’t want to stay don’t make him. Scott, if you want to leave then leave, otherwise tell me what you were trying to tell me earlier or do both I no longer care. The only reason there is a restraining order is because I like you more than a friend and I didn’t want to lose you as a friend the same way I lost Matt nor do I want to get hurt that bad again. I am trying to keep my distance away from the ones that my feelings have more power over my actions since Matt moved.”

“The reason I said I could save your family……or what is left of it…….is because I can. There is a guy going around who is killing people’s families at random and I think he has targeted your family. He never attacks a family more than once a month and only one person a month. Last month there where two deaths……..some thirteen year old who was the only one left alive in his family………and your father. I think your father was there when the guy did the thirteen year old since they were found in the same place and their deaths weren’t that far apart when the coroner got a hold of the bodies. Now that it is a new month either you or you mom is going to be next on his list. This guy has done his homework with every family that he has killed and I’m sure he did it with your dad as well. He won’t stop until everyone in your family is dead now and your mom needs to have someone with her who is not in your family which is why I wanted you or her to come with me to a secret place that I have. It is where I have put everyone that I have helped so far. They all thought the same as you are thinking right now until he showed up at their houses. Now they all are hiding from him…….actually I think he thinks that they ended up dead anyway…….but they want to see their families again and they don’t want to come out until he is put away. I have been giving them papers so they can read and see if they recognize him. I don’t know what he looks like so I can’t tell you who to watch out for. I just wanted you to know that he has targeted you. Just like he targeted the people I have already helped and I really want to help as many people that I can before there is no one left to save……..this pattern of killings are very unique which is why he hasn’t been captured yet…….the cops haven’t figured out which family member he is going to go and kill which is where I come in…….the cops asked me one day why I keep going to a certain places and I told them that it was for the safety of the people I call my friends. I have a lot of places to hide people and when one spot gets too big I move some to other places. I try to make sure that no one from the same family is at the same place so I can keep most of them alive if he were to find one of my hiding places. I have made it my life’s job to keep people alive and I will keep my friends alive no matter what. Matt didn’t move, he went into hiding because his family was targeted. Now he is the only one in his family that is still alive and it is all because of me. I want you to really think about it and have Michael give me a call when you make up your mind about what you are going to do.” He turned to Michael and said, “I’ll hang around my place after school until May so if you know by then call me there otherwise try to find me in person. I keep my cell off now that I am helping others and I don’t want anyone to know where I am hiding everyone.”

“Scott, don’t worry about it. I would never let anything bad happen to Lynne. I don’t want to ever lose her and I sure won’t have some nutcase come and take her from me.”

“What would happen if I just happened to leave the country and never show up again?” Lynne wanted to use her knowledge of different languages to hide her just so she didn’t have to go into hiding and fear of losing something as dear to her as Michael.

[Petey]

“This guy likes to leave the country with people that he kills. That is how he killed some of the people. Most of the ones that were out of the country where the ones with PO boxes and they went on vacations with their whole families so it ended up looking like it was a family accident do the US couldn’t do anything about it. That is when I decided to save people by warning as many as I can. Most of the people I have warned didn’t believe me until someone else in their families dies. I can only find the people he will most likely kill by when different people are killed and what families they are in.” Scott stopped at this point and listened then he went downstairs. When he came back up he said, “There is someone outside your house and I really don’t think he wants to come in. I have a feeling that it is the creep who has been killing people so you might want to make up your mind on what you are going to be doing and I hope you make it soon. If you choose to come with me you will have to convince your mother to come also because I can’t have people coming with me that wouldn’t want to come willingly. I wish you luck on your decision. Michael why don’t you show me around this place so I know where everything is in case I have to come in the middle of the night to get Lynne and take her from your house if she is here some night that she needs to leave. Lynne why don’t you stay here and think about what I have told you and make up your mind on what you are going to do.”

“I don’t want to be here by myself if there is a guy like you described outside. He might find his way in here and kill me while you two are away.” Lynne started crying again.
Michael, being the loveable friend that he is, tried to convince Lynne that she was actually safe in his house. Lynne don’t worry about it OK? Nothing will get you if I can do anything about it.” The guys had planned for Scott to leave Michael’s house and go over to Lynne’s to try to convince her mom to go with Scott to Scott’s secret hiding places before the man strikes Lynne’s family again. Lynne’s mom knows what happened to Lynne’s father but won’t tell Lynne in fear that Lynne would want revenge. “I’ll be back in a second or two so the dude won’t have time to get in here and kill you because I have nothing below my window besides the lake. You know that and the dude would have to be stupid to use the front door as it would be locked this late at night and if he broke in we would hear the alarm and come running.”

Lynne thought about it then said, "Yeah Michael I guess your right. I should be alone awhile so I can think and come up with the answer to what I’m going to do myself but just in case please hurry back.”

Michael looked hurt. “Why would I lie about something like that. Babe you know that I would never let anything happen to you. It’s more than my life for that to happen and I will be back in a couple seconds I promise.” Then Michael and Scott went downstairs to sneak Scott out. When Michael went back upstairs a couple minutes later, Lynne was sitting on Michael’s computer talking to her friends on messenger. Michael quietly walked behind his desk chair and looked over Lynne’s shoulder and he noticed that she was saying nothing about what Scott had said to her so he put his hands gently on her shoulders so she wouldn’t jump then said, “Scott decided to go home for the night but thought it was best if you stayed here until he could figure out where to put you. We know what you have on your mind and figured that you would be willing to go with him. He is also trying to get that restraining order removed so it could be that you wouldn’t do anything to him.” Michael took the mouse and signed her out of messenger then signed off the computer then said, “Let’s get some sleep now.” Michael then kissed the top of Lynne’s head.

“Jen, wake up Jen,” Jen awoke with a start in the middle of the night to find Anakin standing over her. “We gotta be going before my PO wakes up and come here to get me for my meeting.”

“Does Hayden know you have come to get me?”

“Yeah, we talked last night before I left and I told him that before the night was over that you would have left and soon he may have to go into hiding too.”

“No, if Hayden goes into hiding let him go with me.”

“I can’t take him now cuz then the dude would know I’m onto him.”

“If my Hayden dies than I too die.”

“I didn’t know you felt that way about him,” Anakin said with a sad sound in his voice. “We could bring him along if we are careful. I have already taken your mom to a hiding place so she is safe.”

[Petey]

“Will I get to see her before I hide myself?”

“No, I have e-mail that everyone uses but doesn’t know. They relay the message through me and I tell the people who they want to know about or tell something to.”

“Anakin is that you talking to Jen,” Hayden was awaking from his troubled sleep for having to let Jen go off into hiding.

“Hey dude. Get some clothes on your coming with us.”

“I can go with Jen,” the words were out of his mouth before he could do anything about them.

“Before we leave I need to get this straight and the both of you are going to learn something too. Jen, you like Hayden right?”

“Hey dude that right.”

“And Hayden, you like Jen right?”

“Hey dude. What’s your point?”

“Well I guess that I won’t separate the two of you when I take you to the place I had as a spare.”

“We get a place to ourselves,” Jen and Hayden said it like it was a round.

“Yeah and Hayden you will have to tell your folks something so they would know that you left and may not be back for a long while.” With that they went into hiding.

They were in hiding for 10 years where Anakin had hidden them and 10 years in different countries so that he wouldn’t know what country they were in.

The year is 2005 and we have interviewed Jen Christensen. She was hidden for twenty years from a guy who spent his life killing others. She had three kids with her husband Hayden. Her children are Padame, Jen Jr., and Hayden Jr. Now here is what she thought of the whole thing. “We spent twenty years hiding when we didn’t need to. We thought he was going to get us if we were in one place too long but he was given the death penalty three years after we went into hiding. We didn’t know our children until they were the age of ten. We had a thing going so that Anakin knew when I’d give birth and he came to take the child when it was born. We were hidden for two years when Padame decided to come into the world. I didn’t get to see her after she was born. Jen Jr. was born when we were four years into hiding. I wish I could have seen her. Anakin had to have doctors come in and make sure I was alright. Anakin told us that another birth might kill me so he was separating us. We saw each other again six years but I wished for it to happen sooner except Anakin didn’t tell me where he was. The year we started to travel the countries Hayden Jr. was born. He was born while we were in the Czech Republic. Our children grew up with different languages and still speak with a mix of languages today, I wish we would have had time to teach them one language and I’m glad that Hayden and I knew different languages well enough to travel to all the countries we did. We first went to the UK for a week. After we travel for months just to get to the Czech Republic. We tried to end our journey in France but ended up in Germany where we got on a flight to come back to the US. We had a good time and loved it. About three yers after we came back Hayden Jr. died of pneumonia. Jen is starting college at the age of 21 and Padame is finishing her last college year this fall at the age of 23. Nothing is the same as when I left. I’m leaving for Germany in three hours.

It’s been twenty-five years now since I had to hid and that article for the news. I realize just last night that those twenty years was a long time to hide and the twenty-five years til the article was even worse.

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