Chasing Shadows

Part One ~ Chapter Nineteen

“Mr. Grey held the reigns.”

-Matt

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            Nobody came running after the explosion. Both Kelly and I stared at his body for a while, unsure of what to do, until I hear a meek voice float in through the window.

            “Matt?” Came Amy’s whisper. “What…what happened?”

            My silence remained for a bit until I found my words.

            “I think…I think Tim is dead.” My voice rose up in the end, like a question, and I heard everyone scramble below.

            “Should we come up, Matt?” Julia was speaking now. I bit my lip and glanced at Kelly. She was still confused though, and her focus was on Tim. I swallowed roughly before replying.

            “I think…I think we will come down now instead.” I helped Kelly up and we went over to the still-shattered window. The concerned faces of Amy, Julia, Johnny, and Ethan stared back at me.

"You were, uh...you were kidding about him being dead, yeah?" Amy asked hopefully.

I rolled my lips into my mouth and jerkily ran my hand through my hair.

"There was an explosion." Kelly spoke up. "Right where he was standing. It happened when he opened the door." I mouthed to Kelly that she should go down, and she turned around and stepped through the window to the ground. I removed the sling on my arm and gripped the sill to get myself outside.

“You should leave that on.” Ethan’s eyes were locked on my arm, and I rolled my shoulder around. Wincing, I complied and put it back on. It made me feel like I wouldn’t be able to act quickly if needed, though, so I preferred having it off.

“Is Tim really dead?” Julia stood on the tips of her toes to peer in the window and get a better look.

“We didn’t actually check for sure. I don’t think either of us wanted to get close enough.”

“What should we do?” Amy kicked a pebble from the ground. “Can you just leave someone in a motel room like that?”

“It’s not like we haven’t left dead people places before.” Johnny muttered. His sister shot him a warning look, and he glanced at Kelly before shrugging and rolling his eyes. Kelly wasn’t even paying him any attention; she was just constantly checking over her shoulder, as if Tim would reappear.

“That was a little different.” Amy hissed. “We were in the woods, and he had kind of been trying to kill us. He just forgot the details to his plan and it killed himself.”

“Like this is any better?!” Julia exclaimed. “Anyways, he wasn’t dead. He’s obviously still alive, if this is any proof, so we didn’t really leave him dead.” My head darted left and right, suddenly aware that Mr. Grey really could be anywhere.

“Look, we should really just get out of here.” I muttered, ushering everyone away from the window we had broken.

“But we can’t just-.” Amy cut off her brother with a look that clearly said to shut it or she would not hesitate to slap him upside the head.

“Let’s go.”

“Maybe I will call someone to get a ride, actually.” Kelly looked between Tim’s car, the shabby motel, and where I was standing. “I should probably do that. Matt, we can talk about this another time.” Her eyes bore right down into mine, leaving me no choice but to nod my head. “I have your number, expect a call.” She seemed to have somehow recollected herself within seconds, and she was no longer looking as if she was about to collapse from what had happened.