“I’m sick and tired of all these notes, these messed up games.”
-Amy
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We were all silent. I sent Matt a wary look. He just looked down at the ground. The words Kyle had said just keep replaying in my head. Good luck. Good luck. Good luck? This just wasn’t a game of luck. If it was, well, then we were just pretty damn unlucky.
“Okaaaay,” Johnny said. “Let’s fix this and get it over with.”
“But how?” Ethan grumbled. “Oh, let me just go up to my dad and tell him “hey dad, don’t drive in your car. Some psychotic lunatic did something to the breaks in your car and if you drive you’ll most likely be unable to break and get yourself seriously injured.” And then he’s going to be all “oh, okay let me just go to the mechanics and get my breaks fixed. No need to explain why on earth some guy wants to kill me or any-”
“Ethan!”
“Sorry.” Ethan looked up at his brother. “I’m just sick of all of this.”
“I know…” he nodded. “But it’s not just going to go away. We have to find a way to fix this.”
My heart seemed to break as I saw the devastated look on Matt’s face. I didn’t know how it felt to go what he was going through, but I know if my parents’ life was on the line, I would do everything in my grasp to save them. And Simeon was like family. I wasn’t going to let Matt face this one alone.
“I have an idea,” I said. “It’s kinda out there… but it’s an idea.”
“At this point, we’ll take anything,” Matt sighed.
“Okay. We’re going to need some knives. And nails. And a paper and pencil.”
“Uhmm..?” Julia said uncertainly.
“We can slash the car’s tires. All of them. That way Simeon will be forced to take the car to the mechanic, where we will leave an anonymous tip for the mechanic to check the breaks. It’s kind of out there, but hopefully then the mechanic will check, realize there’s something wrong with the breaks, and then fix it.”
Everyone was silent for a moment.
“That is… out there…” Matt said.
I laughed nervously. “Hey, we’re desperate.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I know. Let’s do this.” He got up and started opening drawers. He took out a piece and paper and a pencil. “Here, write the note,” he handed it to Julia. “You’re the best at disguising handwriting. Amy, want to come to the garage with me? We’ll get the tools.”
I nodded.
“And Ethan and Johnny, make sure that no matter what, no matter what dad does not go out in his car.”
“Aye aye, captain,” Johnny replied. I could tell my brother was trying to keep the mood light. Well, I’ll give him props for that.
Matt and I headed out to his garage, which brought back a rush of memories. “Remember last summer, with the epic water balloon fight?” I smiled sadly as Matt looked around in his toolbox.
“The guys totally won that,” he laughed, handing me a bag of nails. He then went to another shelf and hopped up on the table, looking for something on the top.
“You’re just jealous we thought of putting food coloring in the water. Should’ve seen your face when blue water exploded all over you.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was one of my good shirts.”
“Oh yeah?” I raised an eyebrow. “The one you got for two dollars at some random market?”
“Money doesn’t matter,” Matt scoffed. “Catch.” He threw down two utility knives, and I managed to just barely catch one.
“What, are you trying to kill me?”
“I said catch.”
“Oh, my bad.”
We both laughed, heading out of the garage. It seemed like being in there made everything feel alright. Like it had been before we went away to Hamilton and everything changed. But the minute we stepped back out into the world, looking at Simeon’s car in the driveway, it all came back to me and I realized what a dangerous situation we were in. I wished I could’ve just gone back in the garage and have everything be the same again.
Julia, Johnny, and Ethan came out to join us at Simeon’s car.
“Where should we put the note?” Julia asked, holding it up.
Matt pointed to the wheel. “In between the wheel so that when the mechanic takes out the wheel, the note will fall out.” Julia nodded and folded up the sheet paper so that it was super thin.
“Dad’s inside with the other’s,” Ethan said. “They’re all talking, drinking beer, we should have time.”
“Great,” Matt said. He looked to me. “I take front, you take back?”
“Will do. I handed him one of the knives and then flicked mine open. “Here.” I gave Johnny and Ethan the bag of nails. “Make it look like the nails were what caused these.” I then went over to the back of the car and stabbed into the wheel of the tire. Didn’t even make a dent.
“You gotta put some muscle into it!” Matt called over from the front.
This time I welled up all the anger inside of me, all the hate caused by Mr. Grey. “This one’s for Kathryn,” I whispered as I slammed the knife down into the tire. It hissed as air started to come out of it. I moved over to the next tire. “And this one’s for ruining our vacation.” I watched as both the tires deflated dejectedly, no match for the knife.
Ethan and Johnny came over and carefully placed the nails under the tires. The whole thing was done in under five minutes.
“And now we wait,” Matt muttered.
“That’s one of Mr. Grey’s specialties,” I sighed. “Making us sit around and wait in fear.”
***
“I’m going to go out and get some food before the game!” Simeon called out to Elly downstairs. All of us were in Matt’s room, and instantly perked up when we heard that.
Johnny pointed towards the window and we all ran over to watch. Simeon opened the door to his car and got in, like he hadn’t noticed anything was wrong. He then turned on his car and tried to drive. Shutting off the engine, he stepped out of his car and his face look horrified when he saw his tires.
The whole situation would’ve been quite comical if it were under different circumstances. But sadly, this was all real.
“Open the window,” Julia said, and I unlocked the window and pushed up the glass so we could hear what was going on.
Simeon was dialing a number on his phone.
“The mechanic’s name is Bill Belle,” Matt said. “Fingers crossed.”
“Hey, Bill?”
We all smiled with victory.
“Yeah, could you stop by? I’m sorry this is late notice, but all of my tires are flat.” There was a pause. “Yup, all four of them. Okay, yeah, thanks! I promise we won’t keep you long.” Simeon then hung up and called out “Elly, I’m taking your car to the store! The mechanic might stop by but I’ll be back soon!”
We shut the window after that as Matt’s mom came out to see what had happened to Simeon’s car.
“We shouldn’t be worried about your mother’s car, right?” I asked.
Matt shook his head. “I don’t think Mr. Grey would risk it… ya know? Hurting my mother.”
“Let’s just hope we were right about the car. Or, I mean, Kyle was right,” Julia sighed.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
“More waiting,” I muttered. “Joy.”
Sure enough, the mechanic arrived just around the time Simeon got back from the store. We all went back and crowded around Matt’s window again, watching the scene unfold.
Patiently we waited as he changed tire after tire. It just so happened that the tire he chose to fix last was the one containing the note. When he finally got to the last tire, Simeon went inside to go get something. As soon as Bill took the tire out, the note slipped to the ground. He leaned the tire against the car and picked up the note.
We all held our breath as he read it. I could feel my heart beat racing faster and faster as the time went by. Bill looked around, as if to see who had left the note. Then he got up and opened the hood.
Simeon came back out at that moment.
“Hey, whatcha up to?”
“Here,” Bill said, handing him the note. “Found this in the tire. Thought I’d check the anonymous tip, turns out they were right. There’s something wrong with your brake fluid.”
Simeon seemed puzzled as he fingered the note in his hand. “But who could have left this?”
Bill shrugged. “Not a clue. Look, the game’s going to be on soon and so I should probably be heading home. I’ll fix your last tire and call in a helper to tow this to my shop. Thanksgiving is tomorrow, but I’ll work on it Friday. Sound good?”
Simeon nodded. “Great, thanks for all your help.”
Matt closed the window and lay back on his bed in relief. “Oh thank gosh.”
I sat down on the floor, feeling as if a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Matt’s dad was safe. Well, for now, until Mr. Grey put his next little plan into action.
During the football game, which was getting pretty intense, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Matt’s mom said, getting up from the couch. Nobody else seemed to hear her except Julia and I, because they were way to involved in the game.
“What kind of pass was that!?” my dad exclaimed.
Julia and I looked at each other and laughed, rolling our eyes. Bored of this whole thing, I took out my phone and decided to text Andrew.
Hey how’s it going?
I didn’t want to tell him about what had happened with the car. That would just mean more unnecessary worrying when he couldn’t control what was happening here.
His reply came quickly.
Fine. How’s it feel to be back home?
I sighed. Unsafe, I wanted to say. Great! Just like old times. You?
Our conversation was staged, I could feel it. It was just the usual hey, how’s it going. We weren’t exactly friends, that’s why. I guess each of us wanted to make sure the other was okay. And that was all.
Andrew didn’t reply.
Elly came back into the room, and by the look on her face I could tell something was up. I nudged Matt, who was sitting next to me. He looked up and I nodded towards his mother.
“You alright?” Matt said as his mom sat back down on the couch next to him.
She nodded. “Of course. An old friend of mind stopped by, GeorgeGrey from high school. Just wanted to say hi and all. He gave me this, for you Matt.” She held up a little white envelope. “I didn’t know he knew I had kids… Word must get around. Anyways,” his mom just shook her head. “It’s just weird I guess. Him stopping by after all these years.” She gave Matt the envelope and went back to the game.
It was starting to get hard to breath. “I need to go get some air…”
“I’ll come,” Matt said, and Julia got up too.
“Matt, don’t you want to watch the game?” Simeon called after him.
“It’s commercial; I’ll be back in a few.”
We went out to Matt’s porch and shut the door tightly. Matt jumped over the porch and onto the grass, running out into the driveway.
“Matt- what the hell are you doing?” I yelled, afraid of the look that was growing on his face.
He looked up and down the street in anger. “I know you’re out there!” he screamed. “Don’t hide your face you coward!” He held up the white envelope and ripped it in half in anger, throwing it to the ground. “Screw you!”
Julia and I both traded looks, taking a step back. Matt needed his space, he just need some time.
“And stay the hell away from my mother, you hear me! Don’t go near her, or I swear I will get that gun-”
“Matt?” Ethan stepped out from the porch door with Johnny. He looked to Julia and me. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry…” Matt collapsed in the grass, putting his head in his hands.
“Your mom,” I started to tell Ethan. “Uhm, she said Mr. Grey stopped by.”
All of us looked at each other.
“Dammit,” Matt whispered. “Just dammit. He really is alive. All this time I was telling myself it can’t be true, it can’t be, how the hell can you cheat death like that? Just how? But mom saw him. She freaking saw him with her own eyes! He’s alive. And he’s here.”
Ethan looked equally afraid of his brother as I felt inside as he raged with anger. “There’s more,” I told him. I reached over across the grass and picked up the two halves of the envelope. “Mr. Grey sent this for Matt.”
“What’s inside it?” Ethan asked carefully.
I handed it over to him. “Not a clue. Knock yourself out. I’m sick and tired of all these notes, these messed up games.”
Ethan and Johnny worked on taking out the note and putting the broken halves together in the grass.
“Matt…” I put a hand on his shoulder. When he looked up at me I could see tears in his eyes. “You know, it’s alright to cry once in a while. We all do it.”
Matt didn’t look at me. “What does the note say?”
Ethan and Johnny both stared down at it, troubled.
“What does it say?” Matt said a little louder.
Ethan cleared his throat. “Uhmm… Dear Matty, if you’re reading this then you must have successfully saved your father’s life. Now I know what you’re thinking .The beginning to this sort of sounds like Kathryn’s dying letter, except it goes more around the lines of “if you’re reading this then I must be dead.” I know more than you think I might ever know and don’t your forget that…” Ethan struggled to continue, the whole thing about Kathryn being brought up again must have really hurt.
Johnny picked up where he had left off. “Now as for Simeon… Good job, you’ve solved riddle number one. Or, as I’m guessing, Kyle most likely solved it. He’s the only one out of all of you smart enough to solve it, don’t forget I was your teacher. But don’t think you’re off the hook that easily. This is just the beginning of the game. You saw how easily it was for me to get into your house the other day, wasn’t it? I was even invited in to stay at this little family gathering of yours. It’s a pity everybody around you is so oblivious. Now now, don’t go running to your mommy and daddy. If you tell people the truth, well, then I am going to have to kill them. Won’t be any problem for me, but I just figured I’d spare you a few feelings. You’re going to need them when your father ends up dead.” Johnny looked up at Ethan, who seemed on the verge of tears.
“Is that it?” I whispered.
Johnny shook his head. “Now be on the lookout for the next clue. But this time the clock is ticking faster. Tick tock, tick tock. Daddy will soon be dead. Just thought I’d give you the chance to save him, until you realize no matter how hard you try, you are no match for me. Ever. Lots of love, you know who I am.”
Julia and I traded grim looks. I didn’t know what to say to Matt, I knew he was close to exploding. I had only seen it once before, a long time ago, but that was nothing compared to what he was going through now. He had a lot on his shoulders. He blamed himself for everything, for all that had happened with Mr. Grey. And now Mr. Grey’s making sure that Matt’s going to beat himself up over how he couldn’t save his father.
Suddenly, my phone began to buzz.
I checked to see if it was Andrew replying, but I was actually getting a call. An anonymous call. And I had a feeling I knew exactly who it was.
“Hello…?” I said, my voice shaking as I put the phone on speaker.
“This one’s for you, Matt. It’s oh-so-easy to make you angry. It’s kind of amusing, actually.”
And then the line went dead.
Matt looked around, trying to see if he could find Mr. Grey.
“You bastard,” he growled, picking up the letter and crumpling it up into a ball. “Fuck you. Fuck all of this.” He got up and started heading down the street.
“Matt!” I called after him. “Matt, where are you going? Dammit Matt, Mr. Grey’s out there!”
He didn’t answer.
The rest of us looked at each other.
“He’s finally lost it,” Julia sighed.
“I wouldn’t blame him,” I shook my head. “I think Mr. Grey’s starting to bring out the worst of us.”
____________
D'aww Matt :'( He's just so upset about life.
So yeah I had this chapter done yesterday but I totally forgot about posting it until now my bad guys. This chappy sorta just took on a life of it's own. It was supposed to be only three pages on Word but then I just kept on writing and writing... Poor Matt I just feel so bad for him and all he blames himself for all of this and why am I feeling emotional over fictional characters? xP
What's your opinion on this chapter? Yeah they saved Simeon for now... But Mr. Grey's BACK. It's official. How could it be possible? O.o
Okay so here's a little inside story. In a very very old version of Hamilton, there were these two characters named Nina and Patrick Belle, who joined in the middle of the school year. They were uhm... interesting children. Jk they were really boring characters. Anywhoo, the mechanic Bill Belle? Yeah, that's their dad. I just kinda felt like adding him in their even though he won't matter to any of you guys. There's a little food for thought ;D
Next chapter should be up sometime this weekend. I hope.
I'm still very emotional about this chapter.
Mattttttttt.
Peace out guys.
xx
Ella
Comment, vote, fan<3
p.s. here's a little sneak peak (ish)
TIM will make an appearance in the next chapter.
Yes, TIM. They guy Matt hates and Amy slept with and that whole big thing in the last book. You have been warned.