Supernatural Adventures chapter 3

Supernatural Adventures
chapter 3

The next morning Dad called to the kids that it was time to go to church. As usual, they were ready to go. Erin was wearing a navy blue dress with slim silver pinstripes. Teddy had on his forest green tweed Sunday best suit. The family got in the car and drove up the street.
When they drove by the old house Teddy asked if anyone knew the story of the place. Dad answered saying the house was abandoned a few years ago and not to go there because it could be dangerous. Not satisfied Teddy asked why it was abandoned. Dad said that the family that lived there lost their children and were so upset that they left the place and never came back. He said he thought the city took over the house. Erin said that they saw someone on the porch when they walked home the night before. Mom reminded them not to talk to strangers and to always stay together when walking home. Feeling that their parents were uncomfortable talking about that house the kids decided to change the subject.
The family arrived at church. Dad handed two dollars to Erin and two dollars to Teddy for
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the collection plate. As they walked in elders who were passing out programs for the service greeted them. The parents went into the main hall and Erin and Teddy went to one of the conference rooms for teen bible study.
Erin sat next to Stacy and Teddy went to sit with Matt one of his friends from school.
“I heard that Brandon didn’t go home after the dance,” said Stacy.
“He walked home with us and when we got to the park he said good-bye and went toward his house,” said Erin.
“I don’t know. I heard my Mom talking on the phone and I’m pretty sure that’s what she was talking about,” said Stacy.
An assistant pastor started the study group and the kids came to attention. After class on the way out Erin told Teddy what she heard about Brandon.
Outside church a group of grown-ups had gathered together and were talking. One of the men called Dad over to the group. When he came back he had a look of concern on his face.
“Is something wrong?” asked Mom.
“I’ll let you know in the car. Lets go kids,” said Dad.
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While driving home Dad said he had some bad news to tell us and that we should prepare ourselves for a shock. He said that one of our friends was missing. After the dance Brandon didn’t make it home. His parents and the police looked for him all night and they hadn’t found any clues to where he could be.
Erin said their friends at bible study told them that Brandon didn’t go home after the dance. They were upset by the bad news and asked if they could do anything to help. Dad said,
“The first thing we can do is say a prayer that Brandon is safe and gets home soon.”
They could volunteer to join the search party looking for Brandon and they should try to be strong for their friends he said.
“Brandon walked home with us last night. He cut through the park and we didn’t see anything,” said Erin.
“I’ll let the police know. They might want to ask you some questions. If they do don’t be afraid and just tell them the truth,” said Dad.
“Alright Dad,” said Erin
“Listen guys, Brandon is most likely fine. He is probably at one of his friends’ house right now playing video games or something like that. Lets not fear the worst, lets hope for the best,” said Mom.
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“Yeah, he’s probably fine,” said Teddy.
Last night Teddy decided to try to solve the mystery of the missing people. Now Brandon was missing and if felt personal. He thought that if he searched the Internet for any facts about the disappearances and Erin questioned their friends for any information they had they might find something that could lead to solving the mystery.
Back at home Teddy went up to his room to start his research. He started with the old house. He found a lot of information about the house by checking the online city public records. The records listed the names and date when a property would transfer to a new owner. He checked the names of the owners to find if there were any court or police records. He looked at old news reports of strange deaths or missing person.
He found the story of the plumber who was buried alive. The plumber was dug out and survived by diving into the pipe as the wall collapsed. Teddy was happy to find that article. It solved part of the mystery and gave him confidence that he might find out what happened to the others.
He created a list of missing people from the neighborhood since the 1980s. Most of the people on the list had been found but there were 13 people still missing. He knew, from reading police
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reports, some missing people go off on their own to start a new life. They try to run from problems like bad relationships or debt. They change their name and move to another town or state and no one from their past ever hears from them again.
He learned of the 13 that 5 were over 18 years old when they vanished. He figured the 8 kids under 18 were real abductions and not missing by choice.
He decided to do a web search using keywords like: vanished, unsolved, missing, disappearances and cover-ups. In less than a second the computer linked him to over 1500 web sites. Starting at the top he paged through the first dozen sites. He was surprised that some of the web sites’ main subject was the paranormal. Most of the web sites he looked at seemed to offer legends and folklore as an answer. He soon realized that the missing people might have something to do with the supernatural.
Could it be true? Everything he had learned had told him that there was no such thing as vampires, werewolves and boogie monsters. Could there be things like the Jersey Devil, the Yeti and the Swamp Monster out there in real life?
The web sites were showing him that it might be a Vantor, a shape shifting entity that kidnaps young people. A Vantor takes kids to its
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cave and keeps them there for a long time. It binds them and keeps them alive while it feeds off of their life force. The process of draining the life force from one of the young people could take months. A Vantor is known to keep a supply of victims in its lair. A victim could spend a year or more trapped in the cave before succumbing to the loss of life force.
Teddy could hardly believe what he was reading. It was far from any reality that he understood. He wasn’t sure if he should tell Erin. She might laugh at him or call him crazy. What if it was true? He could solve the mystery and maybe find Brandon. If it was a monster snatching kids Brandon could still be alive. He thought about it and decided that if he were a victim he would want someone to try to help him and find the truth.
“Hey Erin come here for a minute!” called Teddy.
“I’m on the phone. What do you want?” asked Erin.
“Did you find anything about Brandon?” asked Teddy.
“I’ve been texting with some friends. They have been helping me gather information on Brandon but I haven’t found anything new. He cut
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through the park and hasn’t been seen since. What did you want to show me?” she asked.
“I have something on the computer that I want you to see. Remember telling me about what happened at that old house?” asked Teddy.
Erin nodded her head while she pressed the keys on her phone.
“I’ve been looking in to it and the plumber was found and pulled out of the trench alive. That did happen in the ‘80s, it was 1988. I was able to find his business phone number. I called it and talked to him. He’s alive and still working. The two kids who lived there are missing and they haven’t been seen since. That wasn’t in the ‘80s; it was more recent, anywhere from 15 months to 3 years ago. I can’t find much about it. The reports are thin and the accounts of what happened are different. Not a lot of facts. I do have their names and birth dates. Brett Stewart would be 17 and Gina Stewart, would be 15,” said Teddy
“That’s interesting but how does it help us with Brandon? Is that what you wanted to show me?” asked Erin.
“I’m getting to it. There is a lot of info and I’m trying to be quick. Another 6 kids have vanished from this neighborhood since 2002. At least two go missing every other year. It’s a
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pattern. It’s due to repeat this year. Brandon could be the first,” said Teddy.
“Are you saying someone around here is a serial kidnapper?” asked Erin.
“It’s not a someone. It’s a something. A Vantor. That’s what I want to show you,” said Teddy.
“A Vantor what’s that?” asks Erin.
“Look at this web site. There are a lot more like this one and they say the same thing. A Vantor is a shape shifter that feeds on the life force of youth. It comes out for a few weeks every two years to stock up. Young people vanish and no one knows what happened,” said Teddy.
“Teddy, come on. You know that there’s no such thing as a shape shifter,” said Erin.
“I know how you feel but you have to have an open mind about this,” said Teddy.
“I do have an open mind but I can’t believe that. There’s no such thing as monsters. What would make you think this web site is right? That it’s telling the truth? It has to be a person kidnapping those kids,” said Erin.
“I didn’t believe it at first either but it all adds up. A kidnapper would try to extort money from the family. Anything else and someone would have seen at least one of the missing kids.
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We can’t just dismiss it because it sounds crazy. It’s the only thing that fits with what’s happened. Look at the people who publish these sites. They have PhDs in psychology and parapsychology. Others are former FBI investigators, police detectives and top researchers in their field. These are credible people and if we want to find the truth we have to trust their work,” said Teddy.
“I don’t know. Let’s assume you’re on to something. What’s the next step?” asks Erin.
“I’m still researching it. These websites say that since it’s a shape shifter the only way to be sure is to catch it in the act of abducting someone or to find its lair. I’ll let you know what I find. If you want to help me, you could check the library,” said Teddy.
“I’m not sure if I believe it, but I will help you. I’ll go to the library tomorrow and see what I can find in the old myths and legend books. You’ve done a lot of work Teddy. Keep it up,” said Erin.
“Thanks sis. It has been a lot of work. I’ve been up here for hours,” said Teddy.

It’s late now. I will post more chapters tomorrow.
This short story has 7 chapters.
I’m having it edited to make it better 🙂