“I felt so powerless with Mr. Grey”
-Matt
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After my mother had stopped clinging to my dad, we all drove home in mostly silence. The car crash had become the elephant in the room, and suddenly nobody wanted to talk about it. Besides one or two little mentions on the injuries or the damage to the car, talk mostly revolved around what to do about Thanksgiving. For obvious reasons, a turkey had never made it to the oven.
“We might just go out, as strange as that sounds for Thanksgiving.” Amy’s mom had one hand on the wheel and the other was holding her husband’s hand. “I’m sorry that I didn’t start making anything, I was just a little nervous with everything.”
“It’s okay, Mom, nobody was expecting you to do anything.”
“Well, still.” She pulled into their driveway. “I think everyone is coming over here now, so you can all go in.”
“There’s something I realized I have to tell you,” Julia whispered once we got into Amy’s room. “I probably shouldn’t have kept it from you to begin with, but I was scared. I couldn’t help but tell Amy: I felt too bad, but I can’t keep this from you any longer. Imagine if that car crash had done more than put your arm in a sling? I can’t be keeping secrets.”
“What is it, Julia?” I raised an eyebrow and tried to calm my nerves. It couldn’t be that bad, right?
“Mr. Grey...He, uh…” Julia’s voice lowered and her eyes darted around the room nervously. “Hold on.” Lifting up a piece of paper and a pen, Julia scribbled something down onto paper. “Just to be sure.”
Mr. Grey wanted me to fight with you all or else he would go after the rest of my family.
“Don’t freak out though, Matt. I know you want to blow a gasket over all of this, but don’t. He just wants to mess with our heads, and he was probably planning this crash all along. Even if I didn’t ‘fight’ with Amy he would have done the same things. He wasn’t going to change up his plans if I hadn’t listened.”
I considered Julia’s words, but they didn’t take away the surge of anger I felt whenever Mr. Grey was mentioned. Anger and panic. I felt so powerless with Mr. Grey. Everything that he did was so unpredictable; unstoppable. We had only gotten lucky that Kyle realized the coke in the brake fluid; otherwise we never would have been able to stop Mr. Grey on that. Julia was probably still afraid that Mr. Grey was going to do something to her parents, but she wanted to be strong and face the problem.
“I…I think I am going to take a walk.” I stood up and slowly backed out of the room. “I need to clear my head.”
“Are you sure, Matt?” Amy sounded almost like she was begging me to stay inside, but I needed to be alone for a little while. Thoughts of Mr. Grey were clouding my mind.
***
I should have expected what happened next. Last time I went for a walk to clear my head I ended up running into Tim at the park, so it was only expected that I would run into someone else at the park this time. I had never prepared myself for this one though.
I didn’t expect to have to face the reason I left; the girl who I had been close with since I was young. But, of course, she was walking straight towards where I was standing, and I was stuck in place as if I was nailed down.
“Matt!” Kelly ran at me with wide eyes. “I can’t believe it’s you!” My mouth had dropped open and all I could do was stare at her. I had gotten over her already, but it was still a huge shock. This was the girl I had loved. In a way, I would probably always love her, but I was younger and hadn’t experienced the things that I have now. I now know what kinds of people are out there, and I am not as naïve or innocent as I once was.
“Hello, Kelly.” My voice sounded stiff and cold, so I quickly corrected myself. I wasn’t angry with her, I was just feeling tense.
“I…wow. It’s been so long.” She looked me up and down, still seemingly surprised that I was actually there. I couldn’t blame her, I was feeling the same way. “What happened to your arm?”
“Oh,” I looked down at my sling. “There was an accident the other day, but I’m fine.” I knew that if I got into the details I wouldn’t be able to control my actions, so I just brushed it off.
“How have you been?” Her voice was a quiet whisper.
“Fine, I go to a boarding school with Amy and Julia now. Ethan and Johnny came too. It’s…different.” I danced around the topic of school and quickly turned the conversation onto her. “How are you?”
“Good, good.” She trailed off and avoided eye contact with me. The conversation had become too formal and awkward. I didn’t want to be there any longer, and I was pretty sure that Kelly felt the same way.
“Look, I have to go, but it was nice seeing you.” Before she even responded, I bolted from the scene and started home. The day had been full of enough drama, and the last thing I wanted was to dig up my past with Kelly.
As I was walking home, my phone went off. An unfamiliar number was calling me. Convincing myself that it was probably just someone from school, I lifted my phone to my ear and answered.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Matthew.” My feet stopped and my eyes darted around. That voice was all too familiar. What was Mr. Grey doing? “I bet you didn’t expect me to call you, huh?”
“Where did you get this number?” I demanded.
“Oh, calm down, boy. You know I can do anything I want to. Haven’t I proven that already?”
“I want you to leave all of us alone!” A few people nearby shifted their eyes to where I was shouting, but I disregarded that.
“Well, if that is what you wish.” He paused. “I’ll leave your family alone, along with Amy and Julia’s, I guess. Maybe I have caused them all enough trouble for now. Maybe I should stop bothering you, huh?” I could see his sick smirk in my mind.
“I want you to stay away from-wait, what?” The words slowly processed in my mind and I became confused. He was backing down? That couldn’t be right.
“You got your wish, Matty. I won’t hurt you guys, and I’ll stop going after you.” A small beep in my ear told me that the call had ended: Mr. Grey had hung up.
His words couldn’t escape my mind though. Why was Mr. Grey giving in so easily to my request? What did he have planned next?
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Hey everyone! Uploaded a second time, as promised!!
I am STILL IN SHOCK about WINNING THE WATTY AWARD!!! IT IS SO AMAZING!!!
My parents have promised a celebratory dinner, and I just can't stop screaming excitedly whenever I think about it.
So, Kelly and Matt?? Remember their little past? If you don't, it is explained back in Part Three of Book One.
Remember, when Mr. Grey was under the cabin the whole time...
Well, I hope everyone is okay after that snowstorm, we got about two feet or so where I live, pretty crazy.
xx
Ella
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Chasing Shadows
Mystery / ThrillerIn book two, things are not what they seem. They thought things were bad before, when their teacher tried to kill them, but why does it seem like things have worsened after his death? Trust is put on the line as family is now at stake, and they have...
