Chasing Shadows

Part One ~ Chapter Sixteen

“That was what made me angry, the fact that he had kept it a secret to protect me.”

-Matt

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Standing on my doorstep was one guy I never thought I would see there again; Tim. He had been pounding on the door for almost five minutes, but I had yet to allow him to come in. Why should I? This was Tim, the complete asshole who wanted to make everything in my life shit. Well, why would I want him around? But I was curious as to why he came to my house. Curious enough that I was actually considering opening the door.

“Matt!”Amy’s voice carried down the stairs from where she was in my room with Julia, Ethan, and Johnny. “Are you going to answer the door? You’ve been down there a while!” I sighed, wishing I had not come down in the first place.

All of the adults were at Julia’s house, probably talking about the car crash still. We had been home alone when I heard the knocking, and my first instinct was always an ounce of fear that it could be Mr. Grey. Sighing, I decided that I probably should open the door for Tim. If anything, just to see why he would show up on my steps.

“What do you want?” I demanded before he had even opened his mouth.

“Calm down, Matt. I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here.” He sneered. I tapped my foot impatiently, not caring if it looked rude. “Are you going to let me in?”

“Why should I?”

“Suit yourself.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

“What is that?”

“Calm down, I received it this morning. Precious little Kelly has been kidnapped by someone, and we are supposed to find her together.”

“Excuse me?!” My eyes widened and jaw dropped open in shock. A tint of rage too, but for the most part it was just shock. This had to be the work of Mr. Grey; why else would this specific girl be kidnapped and why else would we be told to find her?

“You heard me. We have exactly two days to save her before he kills her.” Tim pushed past me into the house. “Now, can we hurry up here?”

***

            “What do you mean he kidnapped Kelly?” I saw Tim rolling his eyes next to me as I explained the situation once more to the rest.

            “He sent Tim a letter explaining. He took Kelly, and we have two days to find her before he kills her. Tim has to help.” My brother shot Tim a glare as I said the last part.

            “Why would you want to help?” Tim scoffed in return, claiming he had ‘his reasons’.

            “Look, Tim, could you give us a few minutes,” I said through clenched teeth. “Just go sit on the couch or something, maybe watch a little TV.” He shrugged and trudged out of my bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

            “This has to be Mr. Grey,” Ethan whispered. “We all know it is. He knows all of our little secrets, and he must have overheard you telling everybody about Kelly and Tim while he was under our cabin in the mountains.”

            “I know, but I still don’t get how he could be doing all of these things.” I tried to understand how somebody could live through the fall he had, but it was still lost on me. Plus, there was a funeral and everything. “The car crash the other day, and now this. Everything seems so…calculated.”

            “Right,” Ethan mumbled. I studied him carefully. Something was up with him, and same with Johnny. They definitely had something that they were not telling me.