"Now, firstly," Charles says. "I'll read this out...
(A/N: If stuff about death triggers you or anything, please skip this (I don't want you to be upset))
"My dearest family,
If you're reading this, it's because I am not here anymore. I want you to be brave, most importantly. I will always be here, even if you cannot see me. Stay strong for me.
Firstly, Y/n, darling. I have a few things for you. I leave for you my mother's gold necklace, which has been passed down from generation to generation. There should be a personal letter included in the box, too. Also, half of the money in my bank account is yours - the other half will be split between our other relatives.
And (father's name), I'm not leaving you anything. I hate you, frankly. I once loved you, but you ruined our relationship, really. I hope you're happy.
That is all.
(Mother's name)
You look over at your father, who looks shocked, then furious. His eyes are bulging in their sockets.
"What?!" he demands, clenching his fists. "I get nothing?"
Charles shakes his head slowly, slight sympathy in his eyes. "I'm afraid so, sir. You may leave now, if you like."
Your dad bangs his fist on the desk suddenly, making everyone jump, and a pot of ink fall off it, splatting all over the floor.
"Let me rephrase that," Charles say with gritted teeth. "Please leave."
Your father scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Are you f***ing kidding me? I get f***ing nothing?!"
Charles sighs. "Security!" he says loudly.
Two burly men come rushing in.
"Please escort this man outside," Charles says to them, gesturing to your dad. They nod and do as he says.
You watch as your father walks sullenly out of the door, with the two men close behind him.
Charles sits down at his desk again, and folds his hands on the top of it. "Sorry about that. Anyway, where were we?"
You open your mouth to reply, but Charles cuts you off.
"Ah, yes. Here is the necklace," he says, handing you a medium sized rectangular box.
You take it with shaking fingers, lifting the lid off it and peering inside.
The necklace is clearly very old. It's probably looked better in the past. The gold is slightly dirty and there are a few chips in it.
You go to close the lid again, but a piece of paper catches your eye. This must be the note that your mother was talking about. You unfold it, scanning your eyes over the yellowish paper.
Y/n,
This is for you. It is a great piece of history, so please look after it. It is probably worth a lot of money now, but it'd be better to keep it than sell it, yes? I'm sure you agree with me.
Enclosed is also my bank account number, as I said before, half of the money is yours.
Goodbye, my darling. I love you.
You sigh. You'll probably just sell the necklace, it's not like she'll care, now.
"Is everything okay?" Charles asks softly, placing his hand on yours comfortingly.
You nod, biting the inside of your cheek. "I'm fine."
"I'm sorry to be rude, sir, but is that everything we need to talk about?" Dan asks.
Charles clears his throat and looks down at the paperwork on his desk, scanning it. "Yes..." he says eventually. "That's all. Best wishes for you both, and I'm sorry for your loss."
You nod in acknowledgement, hooking your arms into your crutches and getting up from your chair.
Dan picks up the box with the necklace in it and walks beside you as you both exit.
He places his hand on your upper arm and squeezes it reassuringly. "You alright?"
"I'm fine," you repeat, giving him a small smile.
*le time skip*
You scroll through Tumblr, not really paying attention to the posts. Dan's voice at your door makes you jump.
"... Um, what's your mum's address, again? I just need to collect my car..." he says awkwardly, choosing his words carefully.
You give him the address. "What about the stuffed up pipe?"
"I'm sure I can get someone to help me," he replies with a shrug, coming over to your bed and sitting on the edge of it.
"Do you want me to come with you?" you ask, silently hoping he'll say yes.
"Nah, it's okay. You relax here. I'll be back in about an hour, okay?"
You nod reluctantly and kiss him. "Yeah, see you then."
Dan gets up and leaves, and you sigh again and resume your pointless scrolling.
"Are you alright?" a timid voice at your door asks.
You raise your head from your laptop screen to see Minty, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. She looks concerned.
"Yeah, I guess so..." you reply. You shut your laptop lid and look back up at her.
She comes over to your bedside and extends her arms out, tilting her head. "Do you want a hug?"
You chuckle at her, gratefully accepting. After a few moments, she pulls back. Suddenly, her eyes light up.
"I know what would cheer you up!" she says excitedly, clapping her hands together.
"What?" you ask, the corners of your mouth turning up slowly.
"How do you fancy a game of Cards Against Humanity?" she suggests, smiling cheekily.
"Yeah, sure," you reply. "Do Dan and Phil have a set?"
"I don't know, but I have one in my overnight bag."
You raise your eyebrow at her.
"For emergencies," she replies, with a light laugh. "Like this one."
*le time skip*
You, Phil and Minty are all sitting on your bed, playing Cards Against Humanity. You're not really scoring it, just having fun.
"What ended my last relationship?" Phil reads out. "Oooh... I have a good one."
Minty laughs to herself as she looks through her collection of cards.
You pull out your own card, ready to read it out. "Is everyone ready?"
"Yup. You go first," Phil says to you.
"Michelle Obama's arms," you say, bursting into laughter afterwards.
"A tiny horse," Minty says, looking shameful.
You boo her. "Is that the best one you had?"
She shakes her head. "I'm just saving the best one."
"Queer lesbian Jesus," Phil pipes up.
You're all nearly crying with laughter at that one. In the distance, you hear the front door of the flat open, and someone come up the stairs.
"Hello!" you call out to them, assuming it's Dan.
Nobody answers. A few moments later, Dan comes into your room, looking weirded out.
"What is it?" you ask, concerned.
He doesn't reply, just hands you a piece of dirty paper, crumpled into a ball. "Look at it," he says quietly.
"Dan, what's wrong?" Phil asks, putting his cards down.
You unfold the paper and smooth it out as best you can between your fingers.
ROR NGX YOUXKT OE GXZ?
EQSS DT.
(phone number)
You look up at him, confused. "This is a load of gobbledegook, Dan. Why did you give this to me?"
"That was what was stuffed in my exhaust," he says simply.
"Do you think it means something?" you ask after a short silence.
"I don't know."
"What is it?" Phil asks. "Can I see?"
You hand the piece of paper to him. He looks at it and furrows his eyebrows. Then he shows it to Minty. She has the same reaction.
"It must be some kind of code... I have no idea what, though..." she muses. She stares at it for a while longer, then hands it back to you.
"Maybe there's a clue in the letter you got earlier," Dan pipes up.
"From my mum?" you ask. "You think-"
"Yeah, I think she stuffed up my exhaust," he interrupts. "Remember how suspicious she looked when she came downstairs again from 'the bathroom'?" Maybe she was outside while we were in the kitchen."
You nod slowly. "Yeah, that does seem likely..." You reach behind you and pull the letter out of your bedside drawer, beginning to read it again.
"There's something on the back," Minty points out.
You slowly turn it over and begin to read it to yourself.
So you think you're an internet kid? Solve this.
OD FGZ RTQR. LXKHKOLT.
A/N: If you're bored, try and work out the code! If you get it, please don't put it in the comments (it might spoil it for other people), but pm me it if you like :3
I'm sorry this is so late, I don't really have a proper excuse... I just haven't really got round to writing as much as I would have liked to?
Also, I've been sleeping really s*** recently, which makes me feel like I've been dragging myself along the ground every day. Nice, huh?
And, this school year is quite busy for me. I'll probably be getting a lot more homework than before, which means less time for what I like doing, which means less writing of this story.
So if I don't update in ages, I apologise in advance ;-;
Ily all, and thank you if you've read this far ^3^ *hugs*