Disclaimer: I don't own SWAC nor the quote from 'Suite Life', or a quote from the 3rd Harry Potter movie. And this was already typed last week like the last chapter, since they were originally one chapter. After my Physics exam passes, I'll be able to completely finish off the story. And I apologize if the chapter here sounds bland, like 'he says/she says' with not much variety in vocabulary--my mind REALLY got confused by how to 'solve' this mystery so you guys wouldn't get confused. But when I finished typing this last week, I completely 'EEEEPPPP!" Like, I was able to solve a mystery--well, partially because I created it, haha. And on a random note: I'd be so happy if Chad, in the show, did what Oliver did in the latest Hannah Montana episode last week--where he and Lily kinda broke up because he was hitting on all the girls when he was famous by the 'America's Got Talent' thing. And so when Oliver made up with Lily at the end, it was SO incredibly sweet! And I was thinking like 'If Chad and Sonny got together, and then broke up, I'd love for them to get back together like how Oliver and Lily did!'
Recap: The two crept back into the tunnel, now deciding to take the other passageway they passed early on. It hadn't taken that long as it did the first time when Chad this time propped open the trapdoor, easing into the darken and burnt room before he helped Sonny out.
Chad quickly wiped off the soot and dirt from his white sexy pirate shirt that lowered enough for his tan chest to peep out. "Whoa, where are we?"
Instantly, Sonny drew out her flashlight—though dim, it was able to cast out and illuminate their surroundings.
Sonny gasped horrifically in awe. "This is James Esser's room!"
Chad's nose wrinkled up before he began complaining. "How is it that you know everything?!" he hissed.
Sonny pointed over to the emblazon yet incinerated door. "Cuz there's a sign there."
"Oh."
Sonny, noticing how much the moonlight seemed to magnify with all the mirrors around the room, nearly having the room eerily lit up, turned off her flashlight and placed it into her bag, which she gently placed on the floor. The whole room was disgustedly morphed into that similar of an old crisp morgue. The fire had made every thing stench like rotten wood. The canopy with the, what could had once been a rich, very fluffy bed, were charred as were each wooden wall. Nearly all of the wooden floorboards creaked and were broken in. The only objects seemed to be in minimal damage were those of metal, and even then, the metal casings and tables were a bit deformed.
"You search there. I'll look here," she stated and for once, Chad did what he was told.
It was as if someone had already ransacked the place after the fire occurred 50 years ago. Some mirrors were smashed, dressers taken apart, shelving dangling around.
Chad looked around the spider-filled cabinets. "Someone's been here...recently," he stated before shuddering as his hand contacted the cobwebs.
On the floor though, Sonny bent down, finding a metallic box. Inside was a crumpled letter. Carefully unfolding the ancient and deceased letter, she read to herself: "Watch Words with W." Under it all, she found a sort of initials of a J and E.
"AHHHHHHH!" Chad screamed, having Sonny whip her head in fear over to him. What she saw amused her: the heartthrob was kicking around, his frenzied arms dancing about as if he were a puppet, and his strings were in the jaws of a running dog.
Hearing her non-covered laughter, Chad stopped, in frozen fear. "There was...this...this thingie!" He whined high-pitched.
Sonny pursed her lips jubilantly. "Thingie...really, Chad," she grinned.
Glaring unmercifully at her, Chad straightened his collar. "There were bats," he disdainfully corrected, though Sonny continued to smug.
"Well, looks like we were wrong, Chad—you do fit right in here," she giggled. "Those bats will feel like their brother has joined them."
Again, Chad shook his head unbelievably.
"You'll be sorry when I'm an international movie star and you are the one who'll be stuck with all those … grossiest bats."
Sonny scoffed. "Why would I still be in this room?"
It was Chad now, who smirked. "Oh no," he sappily smiled. "I was talking about your friends," he meekly challenged sarcastically.
Sonny, her anger deeply bottled up, could only breath deeply, being the nice girl that she was.
"At least I know how to talk right," she calmly stated. "No wonder Tween Weekly says James Esser's like you—he couldn't spell either!"
That's when it hit Sonny. She dazed, recollecting a recent memory.
~*~Flashback~*~
Zora picked up one of the movie cases closest to her reach. "When you Wants To'?" She read the movie title's name. "Geez, you'd think they'd have better writing skills back then!" Zora enlightened as she tossed the video to the pile.
~*~Flashback~*~
"Oh my gosh..." Sonny gasped slowly, her eyes widen. It all made sense now. "Chad, that's what Esser was referring too—the W's! I'm sure of it!"
Chad groaned. "Sonny, what are you talking about?" But she was too far ahead of him—it all clicked in, she reached her epiphany, basking in the new-found information. It seemed to her that she had traveled so far, and yet when she spun around to face Chad, he stood in the same confused expression.
"Chad, find all the movie titles that start with a 'W'," she demanded.
Chad narrowed his eyes. "Quit bossin' me around!"
"Do it!" she snapped.
"Ok, ok."
Quickly making her way over to him, the two sprawled over all the 50's stuff, peering through boxes of authentic 50's movie film when one case dropped from Sonny's hands, sliding under the burnt bed they sat by.
Sonny reached out, her hand feeling through under the unknown of underneath the bed, making a disgusted face as small crunchy dead bugs crackled under her light touch.
"It's stuck," she grunted.
"Lemme do it," Chad sighed, being the muscles of the team.
The two exchanged places, with Chad yanking hard on the stuck box when he heard the wooden board crack and split.
"It..." he grunted, trying to reach further without seeing. "It fell in!"
Soon enough, with his face as red as a strained tomato, took a heavy breath as he managed to pull the case back in...now with a metal box hooked near the side of the film casing. Inside was a delicate leather journal, its pages yellowed by age.
"What's this?" Sonny questioned lightly as Chad began to rub his aching muscles, not happy one bit.
Chad quickly snatched it, wanting to at least be in on what Sonny was chirping about. He skimmed through the passage, finding dates, a writing in smooth calligraphy that was rare now adays. Clearing his throat, he began to read an excerpt:
"Isn't it unbelievable how love can be found before your eyes? I'm catching myself falling for my make-up artist, Marly Jean. What an angel she is. My heart cannot wait to obligate her to marriage. I have told her she is the inspiration for my next movie—"Where the Road Knocks." Do you know what she told me, that doll? She tinkered her laugh—the one that is so childishly cute—and said did she, 'Why, you compare me to a road? You beast!' And I tell her, 'nay, my love. You are the knock. You are the signal to new adventures—the glorifying sound of a new day. You are the oncoming light that blesses my soul.' She is my knock on the road…my road knock."
It felt as if an eternity had passed, as Chad and Sonny had gone back in time and back again. Slowly they gazed up to look at one another, both deep in thought.
"Chad," Sonny quivered, her lips trembling. "Say that again!"
But Chad broke out of the spell, snapping out. "But it's long!" he whined.
"Read it!"
"I already did!"
"Chad!"
This time, he smirked. "Why? You're falling for me?"
Growing tired, Sonny snapped. "No! Now read the last line."
And he read, heaving that he would never do what she said after tonight. "She is my knock on the road…she is my road knock…road knock…Rodnoc….Studios?"
Again, the two looked at one another—both reaching towards the same conclusion. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sonny slowly smiled, which soon after Chad's retort, fell off her face.
"Well, right now I'm thinking how amazing I am, because you just don't find handsome guys like me!" Chad smiled in a love-struck fashion. "But if you're talking about something else besides me, do you mean that Chihauhaus have huge ears?" he widely grinned. The way he was addressing the situation, it was Sonny now who gawked at him, gaping.
"Because compared to their little bodies," Chad continued his rant, "they're ginormous! I shoved one once and—"
"Would you stop it!?" she shrieked out loud, repetitively smacking him with the very delicate diary. "Don't you realize Ms. Rodnoc is Esser's true love?" she tried calming herself down, handing the diary back to Chad. "The one the old newspaper articles always talked about!" she hissed. "Keep reading."
Chad flipped over to the next page and began to read again: "I have told Marly Jean that I will turn down my possession of the studio; I have written that it shall go to Senior Condor instead. Marly Jean did not seem keen to this idea—instead, she became truly aggravated! She said she would like to manage my studio if I didn't wish to. The thought! A woman of mine to run an establish man's job. I told her, 'There's no place for a woman in an industry,' I said."
Scurrying through the pages, Chad tried finding the next entry. "And the next one seems to be written the day of his death," Chad muttered, analyzing the date.
"Marly Jean is gone. She says she will be back for my premiere—how else will I look amazing as I do without my make-up artist?"
Sonny impatiently tapped the page to gain Chad's attention. "Do you notice how there's some tension between them right before his death?" she stated in awe as Chad's eyes narrowed when he flipped the page over. "You don't just go from 'love of my life' to 'average make-up artist'. Something happened between them."
Chad muttered as he analyzed the back page. "The paper said she was probably with another man. That's one rare rumor that turned out true, then."
He then moved the journal over to Sonny's lap next to his own. "Sonny, look at this message. Wasn't it in that crumpled piece of paper you just had?" Sonny stretched her head forward, just enough to catch sight of the same message talking about finding 'W's.
Sonny then took the journal, looking through all the pages—for every excerpt, James had initialed with a 'J' and an 'E'...they looked scribblish, not detailed at all—just plain 'J' and 'E' that appeared stuck on each other. Then what was the ghost's sign it left whenever it left a message?
"Why did he write his signatures a bunch of times and cut some of them out?" Chad questioned softly when they reached a page in the journal that had multiple 'JE's' scribbled and as if someone had cut the JE's at the bottom of the page out. (A/N: view: http:// img . photobucket . com / albums / v479 / talukderr / je . jpg)
"Quick, did you find all the movie cases?"
Chad rolled his head off to one direction. "Almost. They're over there."
Sonny scampered off towards the adjacent side of the bed, trying to finish their original task of collecting all the film casings that started with a 'W' when she let out a 'ha!'. Chad turned, wondering what could had made Sonny so excited. She kneeled down beside him.
"I knew I've seen his actual signatures before!" the Random pointed over to one of the movie cases that had started with a 'W'. Underneath one of the words in the movie title was Jame's sign, a cut-out of from his diary. "This is the real Esser signature," Sonny's words rushed out in enthusiasm. "That means the sign from the ghost were all fake."
Nodding his head, Chad diligently began aligning all the 'W' movie cases side-by side, pulling Sonny's notebook from her pocket and began to write the words that had Esser's initial under it.
Sonny of course had not noticed Chad's touch or she would had obviously blushed. No, the girl's mind raced even further, piecing all the evidence together. "Ms. Rodnoc is Marly Jean," she expressed certainly. "She was 17-years-old 50 years ago—if she were still alive today, she'd be as old as the Rodnoc owner. Chad, it all fits!" A solution then dawned on Sonny. "We could even ask her how it all happened!"
But Chad's features now looked shocked from what he came across from the secret message in the cases. "Not according to this," he whistled.
In confusion, Sonny leaned over against Chad, reading from what he came up with. In her notepad, he had written out each movie title that had started with a W and then underlined the word that Esser had initialed:
"Why Me?" "Who Wants To?" "What Kill Happiness?" "Where the Road Knock"
But when Sonny read the last movie title, something didn't sound right...then she knew...
"Esser custom-made these," Sonny's voice was suddenly hushed. "He knew something was wrong." Furiously, her fingers scurried over finding the journal excerpt they had just read. "Here, Esser said 'I have told her she is the inspiration for my next movie—"Where the Road KnockS'—with an s.
She then muttered to herself. "But the stamp on all the ghost's messages doesn't make sense…they're not anything similar..."
Chad scoffed, upset that Sonny would rush off to her own little world of thoughts when he had just laid before a very serious clue. "Here I go, trying to make you proud of me, and you don't even notice? Did you even read what the message said?" he said in an annoyed manner.
Sonny cooed inside. "Awh, you wanted to make me proud?"
Chad's glare only answered her.
"Oh," Sonny looked at him. "Sorry." She then read the underlined words in order, when her eyebrows creased. "Me Wants To Kill Rodnoc?"
Chad shrugged. "Seeing as he died first, I'd say the message's 'Rodnoc wants to kill me.'"
As he awkwardly stood up, Sonny looked up to him sadly. "It all makes sense," she lightly smile, though she couldn't help but feel disappointed in how Esser's love story came to be...where instead of a happily-ever-after, the woman had caused her own ending, causing the man's ending as well...
Chad then brought Sonny back into her sense."Let me see that stamp thing," he ordered softly. When she did so, Chad quietly paced over to near where the broken mirror stood. Though of course, a mirror to him meant time for some 'Chadness'—so he could do the only thing a Cooper could do...bask in the glory of his reflection.
Smirking at himself, fixing his hair, it was then that Chad noticed seeing the reflection of the SR stamp in his hand as well...on the mirror...it was an RS...(A/N: view http:// img . photobucket . com / albums / v479 / talukderr / ghosttrademarkcopy . jpg)
"Sonny?" He panicked over, having Sonny eagerly join him. The two both stared at the mirror. "What?" Sonny called out.
"What two letters does the stamp show you?" he calmly asked.
Sonny wrinkled her nose. "An S and a R."
Chad patiently nodded his head. "In what order?'
Slowly, Sonny placed it together. "R...S..." she whispered, her voice quiet enough that it sparked fear between the two, "Rodnoc Studio...". As Sonny noted the letters, Chad turned over the stamp, so that they noticed how the 'RS' part was on the back, seeing the stamp as molded inward, so that the 'SR' was molded outward. Sonny gasped. "It was right in front of our nose the whole time," Chad cautiously stated.
"Not directly, at least," Sonny mentioned.
Chad nodded. "We were right about it being backwards though, just not SR."
Before he slipped the rubber stamp back into the bag, Chad held the object in demonstration. "If you have a mold that says 'RS'...which was imprinted on the inside of the stamp..."
Sonny finished in exclamation. "Then it'll turn out backwards!" Chad nodded again, this time only genuinely smiling. "Exactly."
A thought occurred to Sonny though. "But if that's the studio insignia for Rodnoc Studios, then why would it be backwards? You'd think they'd want people to see their initials."
Chad shrugged. "My guess is that one—they just turned over the mold backwards to stay hidden so we wouldn't find out or two—they're idiots."
The girl couldn't hold back her smile. "Good guess." She then remembered something and looking back at it, Sonny grinned, feeling like an idiot. "When I accidently bumped Ms. Rodnoc, she had a fancy little signature that looked like some sort of spirit. Now that I think about it, the ghost's sign had similar decorative traits usually girls only pulled off. I should had known..." she shook her head.
Her head turned when she felt Chad's hand on hers. "Hey," Chad encouragingly smiled. "None of us knew. But now we need to solve this, right?"
Sonny blushed, biting her lip on the side. "Right."
It was wonderful indeed to have all these information, but now what? What was Marly Jean Rodnoc's motive?
This question did not have to be directed out loud for the two stars to simultaneously think about that.
Sonny mumbled to herself as the two quietly sat near each other on the burnt yet still comfy bed. "Ms. Rodnoc killed him 50 years ago...but what's she doing now?"
Chad thought. "Well, let's start from the beginning: They fell in love—"
Sonny continued. "But in reality, Rodnoc only liked him for his money."
The teen heartthrob then eagerly stated excitedly. "But he dropped the studio," he pointed out. "So there'd be no way to get it when he was ...around," Chad wrinkled his nose, at the word he had substituted for 'alive'.
"So she killed him off," Sonny clapped her hands, "easy as that, then waited all these years until she could buy it off from the new owner—Senior Condor."
Chad waved his finger excitedly at Sonny, smiling such a way that was similar to his 'conceited' face. "And Condor's dad did good...now Mr. Condor himself is doing better—we're doing great, so her own way to get this place is to force us to leave. And she has to act even quicker because she's going out of business, remember? And once she loses her studio, well," Chad gave out a smug smile as he shrugged, "she can't exactly buy ours then."
Sonny awed. "But if she were able to get our studio, then she'll have complete control! How devious!" she gave out her toothily grin.
Chad couldn't help but grin also. "And special effects to make the ghost makes sense—she's the head of the place so she had every right to make her team do it."
Chad pointed his finger at Sonny. "I bet you a Tween Choice Awards she…," but then Chad couldn't help but chuckled. "Who'm I kidding, you guys'll never win a Tween Choice Award!" Clenching her teeth and fist, the girl could only tightly smile. "Back to what you were saying, Chad!"
"Well, I just feel like Rodnoc only wants to buy this place to burn it all up—"
In unison, they replied—"The fire insurance!"
She grinned ecstatically, her mind basking in this newly imbibed information. "How does insurance even work?"
Chad shrugged, his 'full-of-it' attitude becoming quite full. "Well, you certainly have to own something to begin with," he rolled his eyes.
The girl bit her lip, thinking as she paced back and forth in the room while Chad sat on the floor. "If Rodnoc had married Esser, she would had been entitled to his property, assets...his studio too."
Her face jerked over to look at Chad. "Chad, her fire insurance wasn't recent. It looked old," she shuddered.
Chad's eyebrow raised suspiciously. "Like, 50-years-old?"
"Maybe," she nodded. It all began to make sense, the evidence connecting to each other like one big circle. "That means she's had this planned from the beginning—planned that if she ever were to marry him, she'd kill him right off...and it's still her plan now. If we got kicked out, she would probably set all our studios on fire, just to get the money that should had been hers!"
Silence edged between the two as Sonny and Chad gazed at each other, brought with sudden understanding. The two began to think—how could someone be so cruel? Be so inhumane to treat someone who loved her like that as just something disposable? The moonlight glow in the room only enhanced the now-soothing romantic feel of being together when Sonny broke it off; apparently not everything was answered.
"But how could an old lady get away with all of this?" she snorted.
The two quietly sat and thought when Chad softly responded. "She used her actors. They're young, strong, agile—"
Sonny gave off a weird look towards him. "Really, Chad. Agile? This from the guy who says 'thingie' and 'grossiest'?" she laughed. Chad grimaced fondly at her.
"Look, I'm just saying that anyone's who's too sweet for their own good always uses people."
Sonny was in the middle of playing with the purple passion flower from the bag, playing with it in her fingers smiling child-like and innocently, paying no attention until his words hit her mind, having jaw-drop in disagreement.
Chad meekly grinned. "No offense."
But Sonny's strained smile nearly had him scared. "You know," she sarcastically smiled, "just because someone says 'no offense,' doesn't make it NOT offensive!" she argued.
Chad shrugged, which Sonny realizes he does too many times for his own good. "Fine. Offense granted," he grinned stupidly.
"Fine," Sonny retorted.
"Good," Chad shrugged—see what she meant?
Sonny then sighed. "Good riddance."
And just like sudden mood swing, she beamed again, bubbly. "Oh my gosh! Chad! We solved it! We solved the mystery! What am I talking about!?" she laugh. We just solved two mysteries!!!"
Before long, Chad found Sonny flinging herself into his arms, her hands snuggly wrapped around him. He couldn't help but smile and return the hug back, letting his wary soul rest on her warm and dependable shoulders.
But Chad's warm blue eyes sensed something...movement. They were caught...and not by their friends, or someone else who insisted that their rivalry stayed true. No—someone menacing was watching them, and perhaps him and Sonny only had a few moments to escape. Sonny on the other hand had no idea for why Chad would not let Sonny out of her arms, as she began to budge, trying to get out, but to no avail—Chad clung on tightly to her, suspending her activity. He continued to spy behind Sonny's back.
"Sonny," Chad's voice suddenly sounded ragged with worry on Sonny's ear, "run towards the light when I tell you; get out," he spoke harshly. "They're wearing night vision goggles...that's how they've been able to creep up on us in the dark with all the messages. Don't let them find you," Chad used his breath to hide his words from other ears, his message only intended for Sonny.
Shocked by the sudden overturn, Sonny's eyes widen, confusion all throughout her mind, unable to grasp on the situation at hand. "What?"
And just like that, Chad shoved her away. "Go, now!" With a head start from Chad's shove, Sonny found herself sprinting through the darkness of Studio 13 as fast as she could when she heard a loud metallic clang from behind that rang for several more minutes, along with a grunt.
...Chad was just attacked by a masked person...
A/N: I'm pretty sure we have one more chapter left now =)
