Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews as always! Enjoy this chapter!
Fullmetal
Chapter Ten
The gang gathered around the hole in the wall. Not a word was said. Gordie looked at Chris, who glanced to Abby, who stared up at Teddy. Still no sound. Fifteen minutes, and still nothing. Abby inhaled quickly, holding her breath. Chris leaned forward, peering into the hole. Still nothing.
"Hey guys," Vern popped up on the opposite side, causing everyone to jump about three feet.
"Vern!" they all whispered in unison. Abby bit her lip taking deep breath. It worked.
"It worked," she whispered, and Teddy nodded.
"'Course it did Harris," he said, elbowing her in the ribs lightly. Abby smirked, pushing him lightly with her shoulder. Chris nodded and both he and Gordie agreed she should be a detective of some sort or another.
The plan was simple. Vern climbed into the laundry bin, and when the maid went into room 305, he quietly get out, and hide. Then, when it was all clear, he open the door, and they all slipped in quiet as mice.
Chris led the way, opening the hall door for them all to slip out. First Chris, he quickly slipped out of room 303 and into room 305 with ease. Gordie followed quickly, and Teddy and Abby were last. Abby shut the door, watching as Gordie and Chris slunk into the nest room.
"Can I help you?" came a voice. Abby and Teddy spun around. A woman was leaning out of a room. Abby shook her head and glanced to Teddy. She worked up her most sincere smile and waved lightly. "I don't think I've seen you around here before," the woman said, inching out of her door. "Are you here on business? The sights cant be it, not much to see in Castle Rock I'm afraid." she said, hugging herself with a shawl. Abby searched her mind quickly, and finally answered after a long pause.
"Oh, of course, I'm sorry. I'm…Ana, and this is my….husband, Henry," she said, grabbing Teddy's arm. Teddy looked up confused, and she elbowed him in the gut.
"Ah….ah, yes! Yes, of course. Hi there," Teddy said, wincing as he did so. The woman nodded, smiling kindly.
"We are on our honeymoon. We're newly weds. We like the country, isn't that right…dear?"
"Um, um, yeah…darling?" Teddy said, giving a sheepish grin. The woman nodded. She then proceeded to tell them she'd been living there for some time now, and always found peoples lives interesting. She also told them to try and keep it down, and that she slept lightly. "Right…right," Teddy said, glancing to his 'wife' "Ana and I will try and keep quiet," he said. Abby lightly stepped on his foot, causing him to wince and cough.. "Ya know, newly weds and all," he said, quirking a brow and winking. "Honeymoon."
"Ah, yes…well, I'll let you go then," and with that, the woman huddled into her room, shutting the door quickly behind her.
Abby spun around, punching him in the shoulder. Teddy laughed, quickly dodging her and slipping into room 305. Abby glanced back and finally slipped in behind him, the empty hallway echoing as the door quickly clicked shut.
"Teddy, your disgusting," she said, pushing past him. Teddy rolled his eyes, laughing in his own little way. Chris and Gordie tried to stop themselves from laughing. They'd listened in the whole time. "Grow up," she sighed, meeting Vern at the hole. It was in a spare closet, not even big enough for someone to notice. She glanced through it and turned around, facing the four chuckling boys. "Come on. We have work to do you homos," she said, giving a slight roll of her eyes.
The room had been lived in, that was for sure. That, or the maid really sucked at her job. Abby spotted a hastily scrawled letter on a side table, and strode towards it. She picked it up, glancing over it.
My dear Caleb,
I know its hard for you to understand this, but I'm leaving you. I'm tired of your ridiculous treasure hunts, and having no home, no money, and no lover. I promised you three years ago, to be with you through sickness and health, and now I'm breaking it. I'm sorry, please try and understand, its for the best.
Sincerely, Darla
Abby placed it down, and looked up, watching her four friends scourge the room. Teddy motioned for her, and she came up beside him. He was pointing a table. The table held a very large map, with X marks like the one in the murderer's room. The were exactly the same, except this one was much larger. Teddy pointed to the Harlow road, and drug his finger along until it landed on a red X. "Hey, this is where the Dennison kid was found," he whispered loudly. Everyone gathered around. He pointed to another, "The second victim was here," he said, and continued identifying landmarks. "The old church, the warehouse," he whispered, until he had counted about fifteen marks. Abby glanced to Vern who was watching the door.
"Anyone coming Vern?" she breathed, Vern shook his head. She tensed up, rolling the map into a scroll and holding it. "This is it guys, I know what's going on," she said. Everyone exchanged strangled glances. She showed them the letter. "This person is a treasure hunter," she said. Gordies eyes lit up.
"He must be trying to find the Revere Treasure!" he whispered excited. Everyone hushed him. "Denny told me all about it," he said, glancing to Chris who nodded rapidly.
"Ya, ya! Thomas Revere! Back when the town was first founded, Revere was one of the richest guys around."
"Ya, and when he got old, he stashed it, somewhere in Castle Rock," Gordie said, glancing to Abby. "On his deathbed, he gave them directions," Gordie finished, crouching down to look at the back of the map.
"What were they?" Abby asked quickly. Gordie pointed to some faint letters on the back. She flipped it over, and unrolled it, reading the inscription aloud.
In the darkness it waits,
In the vile grime in which I worked,
No heir to except.
A vacant structure houses its contents.
A thousand soldiers guard the sum.
An unmarked path.
A fork in the road.
Everyone looked over the words, silently trying to solve the vague description. Teddy sighed, slumping. Abby looked up, and flipped the map over. "That's it! He was looking for old houses, buildings," she said, everyone nodded, smiles spreading like wildfire. Teddy stood up.
"We can find the treasure," he said, his eyes lit up. Vern shook his head.
"No way man!" Chris sighed, glancing to Abby who was busy contemplating the idea. Gordie mused, and finally spoke up.
"What about the murders? What about the guy, the knife? Dennison?" He looked around at everyone, and everyone had the same reaction. Total confusion. Abby sat down in a chair, scratching her chin. Gordie was right, this was no damn coincidence.
"Well, Gordie's right, what if this is too dangerous? I mean, there has to be a connection to all of this," she sighed, propping her chin onto her hand. She quickly got up, striding to the hole in the closet. She spun around, "I got it!" Chris approached her.
"What? What is it?" he said, confused. Everyone approached her, wanting to know exactly what she meant.
"Alright. Here's my theory," she breathed, taking a sharp breath. Vern still standing at the door, looked in her direction, listening quietly. "This guy, um, what was his name?"
Teddy picked up the letter. "Caleb."
"Right, Caleb. Well, he went looking for this treasure, the Revere treasure right?" everyone nodded. "So, lets just say our suspect, the guy next door, followed him! He cut a hole in the wall, stalked Caleb, got all his information, and finally killed him! Now he had all the information to the treasure, and no one in his way." Abby smiled lightly.
"What about Dennison?" Teddy spoke up.
"Well, somehow, I think Dennison was blackmailing him, and he was just another bump in the road. He met up with our suspect to trade money for information, and got killed!"
"That sounds good," Chris said.
"Ya! That's got to be it!" Vern said nodding. So everyone agreed, Abby's deduction was correct. "So what now?"
"We go to the police," Chris said simply. Teddy shook his head, walking to the map and pointing at it.
"Come on guys! We got riches right here! All we got to do, is step up and take it!"
"Teddy, there is already two dead people, maybe three. Its too dangerous." Chris replied quickly.
"Oh come on Chambers, think about it! We find this stuff, you'll never have to work at that shitty garage again!" Teddy said, his eyes aflame with ideas. Abby smirked, shaking her head. She was unsure of what to do, really. On one hand, get famous, on the other, get famous ad rich, and maybe even dead. She stood up.
"I say we do it," she said quickly. Teddy nodded, looking to everyone else.
"Hell ya!" Teddy shouted. "Come on Gordie! Verno!"
Finally, after much persuading, everyone agreed upon finding the treasure. Though, a lot of hesitation and second thoughts ensued. Everyone picked up what they could. A compass, map, paper, and a few other tools that would come in handy. They all piled up by the door.
Vern poked his head out, scanning the hallway. He quickly slipped out, followed by Chris, Teddy and Gordie. Abby took one look at the room, and followed.
As she reached the hallway, Abby parted her mouth to shout, but was quickly silenced by a hand. A sharp pain hit her head, and she slipped into darkness, reaching out to grab anything, until her fingers went numb, and everything darkened.
"Wake up," a voice whispered in her ear. Abby moaned, flicking her hands. They were numb. She tried to move them again, but quickly realized it was useless. She parted her eyes groggily. "There we go," she voice whispered again. It was really familiar, but right now, Abby wasn't sure if she were even alive. Her eyesight was blurry, but quickly adjusted. She mumbled something, and felt her body being hoisted up and pushed against a wall. Finally parting her eyes, Abby saw none other than Ace Merrill. Her first instinct was to run, or at least fight, but she didn't budge. "Hey there doll," he said a cigarette loosely hanging from his mouth.
Glancing past him, Abby saw her four friends, all tied to chairs across from her. Ace quickly grabbed the collar of her shirt, throwing her in her own chair. She quickly steadied herself, glancing around. All the Cobras stood snickering around the room. Where was she? She rubbed her eyes, and looked up to a very pissed Ace. "Glad your awake," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his knife. "Wouldn't want you to miss the fun," he said, taking a drag from his cigarette.
"H-how?" she managed to say. Ace gave a chuckled, the Cobras exchanged glances.
"How. We followed you little shits, and heard every last word you said inside that room," he said, the blade flipped up from his knife. He brought it to her neck, and Abby glared at him, trying to seem as fearless as she could. "Thanks again, for all the information. Now we're all going to be rich and famous, and you….you and your friends will all be floating in the river," he smirked. He took a final breath from his cigarette, and flicked it away.
"You gonna kill us Ace?" Chris said from behind him. Ace spun around, smirking.
"Morning ladies," he said, looking over the four boys. As Ace turned, Abby inched her hand to the bag by her side, praying to god no one noticed. Ace approached Chamber, "Yes Christopher. Yes I am," he said with a smile. Chris glared at him with furrowed brows.
"Really? What makes you so confident you can out smart us. If I remember correctly, we already beat you, three times," Chris said smirking. Chris shifted, looking around the room for his brother. He wanted to ask, but Ace answered for him.
"He really didn't like the idea, us killing you, so we took care of that," Ace said, running a finger along the edge of his blade. Abby unbuttoned the flap to her bag, and looked up, watching Ace stride towards her again. "But that's alright, Eyeball didn't have the sack to kill your little girlfriend either. He's weak, Chambers," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "Anyways, I'm tried of talking, lets get this over with," he sighed, crossing the room to pick his first victim.
"Not all of have as much trouble with girls as you Ace," Teddy smirked. Ace quickly cut the binds around Teddy and ripped him from his chair. He pushed him against the wall and brought the switchblade to his neck. Teddy winced, feeling to cold metal on his throat. "Go ahead Ace, kill me," Teddy said, glaring at the Cobra.
"My pleasure," Ace said, pushing the blade in. Quickly Abby sank her fingers into her bag, gripping the cold metal of the Colt 45. With numb fingers. She jumped up, backing into a corner and firing a round at the roof. Everyone shouted, backing away, including Ace. He was still holding Teddy by the arm when he did so. Teddy's throat was bleeding slightly, his eyes dull, as if he'd looked death in the face. "You gonna shoot me Abby?" Ace sneered, looking at the girl with a smirk. Abby nodded, pulling back the hammer. Cold sweat began to collect on her hands, her body swaggered slightly. "Like you tried to kill you moms killer?" he snickered. Abby froze. How did he know about that. Teddy looked up, shocked, the four boys exchanged glances, "Ya, I know,. Everyone knows," he said, gradually taking steps near her. Abby's hands shook and she shook her head.
"Shut up Ace," she whispered, the sting of tears collecting in her eyes.
"You had him right were you wanted him, but you let him go."
"Don't listen to him Abby!" Chris shouted, ripping at his chair. Abby's eyes swelled, her hands shaking. She shook her head, pointing it at Aces head.
"Don't move Ace," she said, adjusting her grip on the weapon. Ace laughed lightly.
"Give me the gun Abby," he said, holding out a hand. Abby backed up.
"Don't move! I swear to god I'll shoot you," she said, taking a sharp breath. Ace paused, titling his head.
"Give me it, before someone gets hurt." he said gently. Teddy looked at Abby shaking his head.
"Shoot him Abby," he said hoarsely. Ace shoved Teddy.
"Shut the fuck up Duchamp," he fumed. Abby glanced in the others direction. Her heart seemed to slow down as those terrible memories resurfaced. As she stood there, the room was silent, although she saw everyone's lips moving. She thought back to that moment.
She heard something downstairs, and quietly walked down them, creaking the steps as she did so. The house was quiet, but some commotion was happening down in the living room. As she reached the foot of the steps , she saw her mother on the floor, in a pool of her own blood. Yes she lied, she lied to everyone, including herself. She remembered the night of her mothers death.
She started around the corner, and saw a gun on the floor. In the living room, and a man stood over a desk, rummaging through it.
That night, it was rainy. Her dad was away on business, and they forgot to lock the doors, thinking nothing of it. Her mother had been awake, waiting for her father to return home. Now she was dead, and the man who killed her, was robbing their house.
Abby reached down, grasping the gun in her hand. Her dad insisted on owning it, exactly for this reason. The gun as so heavy, but she held it up, pointed at the thief. And just like Ace was doing it now, he soothed the little girl, and she dropped the weapon. He quickly lunged for it, and shot her in the side.
She was there, for a long while. It seemed like forever. Red and blue lights flashed in the window. A knock on the door. And then, blackness. Dark, cold blackness.
Abby looked up, a sudden movement tearing her from her memories. Ace had lunged forward, trying to take the gun from her frozen hands. Before Abby knew it, she had fired around, the bullet hitting Ace square in the leg. He shouted in pain, and fell to the floor. Teddy quickly stepped over Ace, and grabbed Abby, leading her to the others. She paused, watching the other Cobras run out the door to their cars. She glanced to Teddy who was untying the others. She stared at Ace, who was holding his blood soaked leg. She finally reached a point where she could move, and quickly helped Teddy with the ropes.
They ran out the door, realizing they were in an old abandon house the entire time. Abby paused, glancing back as they ran down the sidewalk. "Come on Harris!" Teddy shouted, running back to grab her hand. She quickly accepted it, and took off with her friends. She took another look, and watched Ace stumble out the door to his car. As Abby turned back around, she ran directly into Teddy. He was looking at a car. He let go of her hand, and quickly jumped into the drivers.
"Teddy no," Vern said, refusing to get in.
"Fine verno," Teddy said, rummaging through the wires under the wheel. He quickly stuck Abby's knife into the ignition and turned it. The car roared to life, and Teddy shifted the gears. Vern groaned and ambled in, plopping beside Gordie in the back. Chris jumped over the side into the back seat, and Abby slid into the front beside Teddy. "Woo-hoo!" Teddy shouted, stepping down on the gas to peeling into the street. Abby leaned over the side to see Ace getting into his.
"I hope you drive well," Abby said, and quickly they took a sharp turn. She slid across the seat, hitting the door. "Shit Teddy, we're gonna die," she shouted, gripping the leather seat with her fingers. Teddy laughed insanely, taking another turn, the wheels screaming as he did so. After the house was out of sight, Abby relaxed, sinking back into the seat.
"Eeehhheee," Teddy snickered. That laugh was unmistakable.
"Where to?" Teddy said, glancing to Abby. She reached for the map in her bag, and unfolded it. Looking up she pointed to a spot.
"Here."
Abby, Vern, Gordie, Teddy and Chris all stood before the small shack. There it was. The last place to be searched.
"What if he's in there?" Vern shivered, referring to the murderer. Abby gave Vern a serious look.
"I have a gun Vern," she sighed, pointing to the bag on her shoulder.
"Oh right," he fidgeted nervously, smiling sheepishly. Teddy pushed him lightly.
"Come on Verno," he sighed. Vern took a deep breath, mumbling small reassurances to himself.
"Lets go," Chris said, leading the way. Everyone followed quietly, only exchanging looks and unsure glances.
The porch was old, and ready to cave in, and there as absolutely no door. It was apparent, the place had been here for a very long time now, and probably should be demolished. Chris paused at the door, peering inside. "Alright, we're going to split up, everyone pick a partner" he said. Gordie and Vern went together, and Teddy said he was going wherever the gun was going. Chris said he'd go alone. So it was settled. Chris took the hallway, Gordie and Vern took the right, and Teddy and Abby took the upstairs.
Chris cautiously watched everyone slip from sight. The hairs on his neck prickled, and he slowly walked into the hallway. The shadows loomed before him, stretching their dark fingers out, as if to snatch him up. He touched the walls on either side, awkwardly stepping into a wide room. He saw an old rocking chair slowly rocking back and fourth, an open window letting a small draft into the room.
Vern followed Gordie quickly, jumping at anything that moved. The room they entered was a living room. Part of the floor was caved in, and a tipped over table missing a leg, lay sloppily on the ground. An old magazine lay on the floor beside a beer bottle, and to no surprise, Cobras was painted in red on the far wall.
Abby touched the banister, sliding up the groaning stairs carefully. She glanced over at Teddy, who seemed just as nervous as she was. She jumped, a stair falling under her foot. Teddy grabbed her and helped her the rest of the way up. "Thanks," she whispered, continuing her way up the flight of old wood. As they reached the top room, Teddy turned to Abby.
"Thanks, for you know, saving me," he whispered. Abby shrugged.
"No problem," she answered, approaching an old desk. Teddy followed quickly.
"Is it true? All that stuff Ace said," Abby paused, and glanced at him, her eyes listlessly blinking a few times. She nodded slowly. Teddy felt as if he had just met her. All those things she never told them. He touched her shoulder lightly, and she looked up, "You okay?" She nodded, walking away to search a pile of papers on the ground. Teddy stood there, looking at the ground. He felt a bit of resentment towards her. She lied. He told her the truth about his dad, and all, and she lied. Well, sort of. He quickly followed, grabbing her arm. Abby spun around.
"Will you just leave me alone Teddy? Really," she said, backing away with a venomous glare. Teddy furrowed his brows, slightly bristled.
"Fine, I'm only trying to help."
"I don't need your fucking pity." The two faced each other with sneers and thin lips. Their eyes glaring into one another, resenting, as usual.
"I'm trying to be your friend."
"I don't need you. I don't need anyone." Abby's voice was filled with scorn, and hate. "I made it just fine without your help," she said, turning away from him. Teddy persisted.
"You are being a real psycho Harris," he said, now facing Abby as her back was against the wall. She crossed her arms, avoiding his eyes. "I was wrong about you, your just like the other bitches here," he said, glaring her down. Abby shoved him away.
"Shut the fuck up Duchamp," she hissed. Teddy was furious. He was only trying to help out, and she was getting all defensive! She seemed to do that a lot. Particularly to him.
"Why don't you make me Harris. it's a free country," he said sneered. Abby tried to push by him, but he quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
"Teddy, let me go," she said, glaring at him. Teddy removed his hands, and she stood there, as if rooted there.
"What are you going to run back to your old man?"
The next thing she said, was totally out of line, and made her feel like total and complete shit. "Not all of us have shitty fathers who burn our ears off." Teddy's eyes dulled, and he felt a short fuse explode inside. He wanted to hit something. But, he just walked away. Abby felt terrible, her heart jumped up into her throat. "Teddy-I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm just-" she didn't finish, Teddy turned around and interrupted her.
"Forget it."
"I really am, I was out of line," she said, approaching him. She looked at his eyes, and just to do that shattered her into a million pieces. "You have a good father Teddy. You do. I'm just a jerk-" Teddy looked up.
"Harris, don't you get it?" Abby looked up surprised. Get what? He started towards her. "You can be out of here in three years, maybe even two. Leave all of us behind, and be a singer just like you wanted," he stated. This was a stretch, even for Teddy. Where was the insane, daredevil she knew? She didn't understand at all. "What I'm saying is…your too good for me Abby. You can have anyone you want. Hell, I'd expect you to pick Gordie, or, or Chris, but not the four eyed retard missing half and ear," he said. Abby's eyes swelled, but she kept quiet. "You are going to get big, and famous, and leave this little shit heap behind. You don't need someone with a record dragging you down," he said.
"But, Teddy…"
"I like you Abby, a lot. More than. You're a good person, a great friend, and the craziest chick I've ever met. When, I'm around you, I just, mess up. Ya know? We always fight, it'd never work. We'd end up killing each other." Teddy explained, smirking little. Abby let a little breath, holding back a torrent of emotions that had been bottled up since the train incident. "Two days ago, I would have taken advantage of you. I'm just not the right guy," he said, shaking his head. Abby understood, somewhat.
"Teddy, it doesn't matter to me. I don't need al that. I don't need to get famous and have money. I need you," she whispered in the dark, the moon surfacing on the horizon, peaking through the window. The two didn't see it happening, but it did. Before Abby knew it, she was embracing Teddy Duchamp and crying little sobs. Ugh. Even the thought of it made her feel all vulnerable. She hated that. A moment later, they were sharing a passionate kiss, and she swore he was laughing, though she wasn't completely sure. The two broke apart, a fit of laughs was the cause. Abby glanced to the stairs and saw Gordie and Vern smiling broadly.
"Shame shame," they laughed, pointing at the couple. Abby flushed with color.
"Piss up a rope Lechance, cant ya see I'm busy?" Teddy said, gesturing towards Abby.