Greg was confused. What the hell was so important that the two of them suddenly vanished into thin air for? Especially right in the middle of the day? Greg tried Alan's cell phone again, and once again, it went straight to voice mail. Why the hell was he keeping it off?
Not only that, but there was the 'ghost' episode that had taken place in his own store. What the fuck was that all about? When the episode first happened, Greg was called down to talk to several of the customers, and he was calling everyone on shift to ask for what had happened.
That was when he first noticed that Alan and Rachel were both gone. Usually, Alan responded immediately to a summons, but not today. He was a no show altogether, as was Rachel.
His staff was finally assembled, and he could at last interview them. "Has anyone seen Alan or Rachel?" He asked first.
"I saw them earlier this morning."
"I know they were here just a short while ago."
"Yeah, well, he's not picking up, and he's nowhere in sight. If any of you see them, tell them to come straight to me. Now to our main topic, who was present when this...insanity happened? Customers told me that they saw some of you guys, though who I don't know."
Stacy's eyes darted. Rachel had instructed her on not to say anything, but, just how much could she hold back? She had never really been that good with keeping secrets.
"Oh for...don't tell me that it was Alan and Rachel that they saw, who are now gone. No one, no one here saw what had happened?" Greg was probing because he knew who else was there, for some of the customers gave vague but accurate descriptions. Though why she was keeping quiet, that was a concern.
Greg sighed angrily. "Fine. Get back to work." He announced as everyone began to walk away in murmurs. Before Stacy could get too far, Greg caught her shoulder.
"Except for you."
Stacy yelped, and turned to face her boss. Greg led her off to the side where they could relax and talk quietly, which made her more uncomfortable.
"Now Stacy." Greg began. "The customers said that you were there, along with two others of ours, who I'm assuming is Alan and Rachel. I need you to tell me, what's really going on? I'm assuming that because you didn't say anything when everyone was gathered is that something is going on. I need you to tell me what exactly happened, please." Greg asked softly.
Stacy was shaking a little, and her eyes were darting. But then, she spoke. "R-Rachel told me that I shouldn't say anything. That I should pretend that I saw nothing, and that I don't want to know what was really going on."
"Tell me exactly what happened. Tell me exactly what you saw and heard." Greg pressed, now concerned.
"I-I was working, putting items away when Rachel showed up with Alan in tow. She offered to help, which I found strange. In fact, it was strange that they were there at all, but, I didn't even have time to think about it."
"Out of nowhere, Rachel said something like 'my plan is this'. It was then she threw the eggs randomly into the air, and then...and then..." A pause. "The eggs broke and landed in the middle of the air! It was like they hit something solid that wasn't there! Rachel then started screaming and pointing at the floating eggs, which then vanished right before my eyes. It was here that Rachel turned to me and told me not to say anything, then she and Alan just vanished, like magic."
Greg wasn't sure about the customers. He had heard some bull stories before. But, he did know Stacy, and she always had a clear and clean head. All of the stories correlate with each other, and he trusted what Stacy had said.
Greg again dialed Alan's cell phone, which still went straight to voice mail. What the fuck was going on? He thought about going to the cops. Not about the ghost incident, of course. They wouldn't believe him on that, but, they could help locate Alan and Rachel. From the way Stacy had explained the story, it seemed like they may be in some kind of trouble, one that they didn't want to involve others with.
Then again, all of this seemed to border on the point of just plain crazy. In all seriousness, just who or what would be after Alan and Rachel? Sure, Rachel may be a little suspicious, suddenly popping up out of nowhere, but she seemed to be a reasonable enough individual. She was open, friendly, and a good solid worker for the short time she's been around. As for Alan, the guy barely involved himself in anything or anyone outside of work or his home.
Yet, Greg couldn't shake the bad feeling he had. He went outside to check the parking lot, to see if Alan's car was there. It wasn't. He then went to his office and looked through Alan's paperwork, and dug up his home phone number.
*****
Dave was startled at hearing the phone ring. Not too many people actually call the house phone since everyone used cell phones. He was also annoyed at being interrupted, for he was fully impaled inside Ashley, nude, and on the couch.
"Mmm, baby, just ignore it and fuck me." Ashley moaned as Dave faithfully returned to business.
The voicemail picked up.
"Ah yes, this is Greg Chambers, Alan Brooks' boss."
This caused both Ashley and Dave to stop. Why was Alan's boss calling?
"Listen, Alan told me he lived with a roommate, and that's who I'm attempting to reach. I haven't heard from Alan or Rachel for an hour or two now and he hasn't answered his cell phone or made contact with me at all. From what I just heard, I fear that he may be in-"
"This is Dave, Alan's roommate, what's going on? What do you mean you haven't heard from him?" Dave said as he and Ashley hovered over the phone.
"Then it's safe to assume that neither him nor Rachel have come home?" Greg asked.
"No. I've been here all day, neither of them have come back, why? What's going on?" Dave asked, both him and Ashley developing a growing concern.
"I'll be frank, I think they're in some kind of trouble. What exactly, I don't know. But it was enough to cause a strange series of events here at the store today."
"What events?"
"You won't believe me even if I tell you, but I'll do so anyway. Several people saw them puff and vanish into thin air, literally."
"What? What do you mean 'puff'!?"
"I didn't see it myself, but, ever since this happened, Alan and Rachel have both dropped off the face of the earth. Alan's cell is off and now I know he hasn't returned home. Along with that, his car is gone. Listen, I'm worried about the guy and you know him better than I do. If you find him, give me a call at this number. Even if you don't find him I want you to call me tomorrow." Greg explained.
"Yeah, sure." Dave answered.
"Thanks. I hope to hear good news." Greg said as he hung up the phone. Dave did the same.
"Dave? What's going on?" Ashley asked as Dave put down the phone. Dave turned to her.
"Alan and Rachel are both missing."
Ashley gasped. "Missing!? What do you mean missing!?"
"Alan's boss said they both just vanished about an hour or two ago. Since then, he hasn't heard a peep from either of them. And you and I have been here all day and we haven't seen either of them, so they haven't come here."
"So then, we should call the cops right? I mean, where would they go so suddenly? Especially Alan, he never wants to go anywhere."
Dave sighed. "I want to talk to Alan's mother first before we do that. Maybe she knows something. Even if she doesn't, I'd rather that she found out from me than get some random call saying that he's missing." Dave and Ashley had both met and hung out with Alan's mother in the past. Despite the somewhat insane and odd streak that she possessed, both of them had decided that they respected and liked Trish Jacobs very much.
