When Garth opened his eyes, he noticed that he was lying on his bedroom floor with a young woman that he didn't recognize working to undo the shadow-like chains around his legs. Before he could even ask who she was, she spoke.
"Morning, sleeping beauty. Glad to see you're alright. My name's Maddie—Maddie Stoner."
After blinking for a few minutes in sheer bewilderment, Garth asked, "What the hell are you doing here? Who are you?"
The young woman sighed, brushing a long piece of tan-coloured hair behind her ear as she struggled to remove the chain. "Weren't you listening? I'm Maddie Stoner. I'm here to help, as is my associate, James Hart. Look, once I can get these chains off of you, James and I will explain everything. By explain, I mean James's mouth will move like a duck's butt for a few minutes and I'll just smile and nod."
By the time Garth could think straight enough to figure out what she had said, she was already finished undoing the chains and helping him up.
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Right or wrong, black and white…cross the line, you're gonna pay…in the dawn, before the light…live or die by shades of grey…
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"Garth!" Betty Jo cried when Maddie and Garth had entered the living room, throwing her arms around her husband. "Thank God you're okay…we weren't sure what was happening!"
Dan jumped up from the couch where he and Kimberly were sitting and threw himself at his father's legs, making Garth stumble a bit. "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy," he chanted. "I was good! I kept Mommy and Kimby safe from the strange man!"
"He was very brave," Betty Jo said, grinning a little bit to show her amusement at her son's proclamation, "but the young man who tried to explain the situation to us was no threat." Garth chuckled and looked around the living room.
"Hey, where's Brittany?" he asked. A young man with brown hair and light hazel eyes—Garth guessed that this was the man who had tried to explain the situation to Betty Jo and the children—cleared his throat a bit, attracting Garth's attention.
"Uh…Mr. Algar, I checked out her room to be sure that she hadn't been attacked as well…and I found this…and, the Mirthmobile's gone, too…" He handed a piece of white paper to Garth, the latter feeling his stomach sink before he even looked at it.
Garth, Betty Jo, Kim, and Dan—
Look, please don't think I don't appreciate what you all have done for me…I just don't want to leave Aurora and move to California, so I'm leaving to find my Mom tonight…
Thanks for everything,
Brittany Campbell
P.S.: Garth—I'm sorry that I had to read your email to find out where Mom lives…
As Garth reread the words over and over, the brown-haired young man tried to comfort him. "Garth, you and Betty Jo have done wonderfully with raising 3 children…taking Brittany in was very kind of both of you, and she did appreciate it…she just wanted to find Cassandra…" Realizing that his words were taking a turn towards unhelpful, he trailed off lamely as Maddie put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"James," she softly warned. "Let's explain this quickly and go…we need to find Wayne." The young man, James, nodded.
"Please, Algars, sit," he urged. When all four were seated, he spoke again. "Picking up from where I left off with Betty Jo and the kids…last night, when Garth was speaking with Wayne's spirit, a mysterious shadow attacked them both, absconding with Wayne and leaving Garth on the floor after rendering him unconscious."
"Wh…Wayne's spirit?" Betty Jo interrupted. "As in Wayne Campbell?"
James nodded. "Though killed in 1993, he is currently working to return to life, but while deciding if this was the right thing for him to do—probably hoped to reach his decision by speaking with Garth—he was taken by the shadows…we haven't been able to find him yet."
"Who's 'we'?" Betty Jo continued. "And…why, thank God, didn't that thing kill Garth?"
"I am James Hart—God's right-hand-man's-right-hand-man's-right-hand-man, sort of. My friend and associate, Madigan Stoner, is a guide-in-training…after ample training, she will lead newcomers to heaven. We're just sort of behind-the-scenes people…only people with special cases like Wayne meet us.
"As for why the shadow didn't kill Garth—and I'll pass the thanks on to Him—" James pointed up towards the ceiling meaningfully "—Maddie and I think that the 'shadow', as we seem to be calling it, wasn't expecting to run into Garth…he just wanted him out of the way momentarily, so rather than take the time to kill him, he just rendered him unconscious…plus, he doesn't seem to register you as much threat, any of you." After this, there was a pause in which Betty Jo hugged Garth and her children tightly, grateful that none of them had been hurt by that thing.
"What was so special about Wayne?" Kimberly spat, putting venomous tones on the name—she had never met Wayne, but she knew enough about his past with Garth; he and her father had had a row shortly before his death. That alone angered her enough—that he hadn't even had the decency to make up with Garth.
"Kimberly," Garth cautioned gently, knowing the reason for her anger and putting a hand on her arm.
"Well, Wayne was not supposed to die on June 26th, 1993," James countered, either ignoring or not seeing the girl's anger. "We believe a young man named Matthew Bowman was the cause for his death, travelling back to 1993 and running Wayne down before returning to the present."
Kimberly leapt up. "Matthew Bowman?! I knew that guy was trouble! I knew it from the minute that Brittany agreed to get that car from him!"
"Congratulations," Maddie snipped, "that's absolutely no help to anyone now!"
"Maddie," James muttered, with a sidelong glance towards her, "not now."
"But why," Garth asked, "would he want to kill Wayne?"
Maddie and James exchanged a silent look. "We…we don't know," James admitted frankly. "We're…sort of hoping Wayne can figure out why while we work here…and that we can save him before Bowman kills him. Again."
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Right or wrong, black and white…cross the line, you're gonna pay…in the dawn, before the light…live or die by shades of grey…
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When Wayne finally came around, he saw that he was in a dank, dirty basement, alone. There was no light at all, save one weak lightbulb, hanging over Wayne's head. One of the first things he noted was that he was chained to a chair, held fast by the same chains that had attacked him and Garth back at the house. Though he figured it would be futile, Wayne struggled with all of his might to free himself of the chains. Nearly 23 minutes later, it was pretty clear that Wayne wasn't getting out of this one. Angrily he tried to kick his foot, which was chained to a leg of the chair.
A familiar voice floated from the darkness of a corner in the basement. "You amuse me, Campbell," its owner chuckled wryly. Wayne sighed when he laid eyes on his captor after the latter stepped into the dim light from the lightbulb.
"So, it was you, Bowman," he muttered.
Matthew Bowman frowned. "You just won't stay dead, will you?" he growled, standing before his captive. "You should've just given up back in 1993!"
"I suppose I'd be dumb to ask just how you killed me then?"
"Boy, you are thick," Matthew laughed, though the laugh held no mirth. "I time travelled and ran you over, moron!"
Wayne, who at the moment was a bit more annoyed with Bowman than worried for his safety, rolled his eyes. "I got that part," he sighed. "I meant more like how you time travelled and ran me over!"
"Yes, I was getting to that," Matt smirked. "I found a way, through my close connection with the spirit world, to travel back in time…once there, I found you pretty easily…hotwired a car, and just mowed you down…you never saw it coming…I debated about running Garth down, too, but from what Benjamin told me, he didn't mean much…" His smirk grew at the obvious anger on Wayne's face that came from insulting his best friend. Before he could form an angry retort, Matt cut him off.
"Oh, what do I mean by 'close connection' with the spirit world?" the young man said. "I've always had a powerful sixth sense, even as a child…so strong, in fact, that when I sensed you in this era, I could find you easily. I knew it was you, on top of the car when I took Brittany to the dump…and I saw my chance to kill you again." At this, for some reason, he frowned a bit. "Frankly, I was a bit confused as to how you could be back, seeing as how I'd already killed you years before…but one day, while looking at a manga in a bookstore—Yu Yu Hakusho, I believe?—it came to me, through the plot of the story…a plot which is strangely parallel to your fate," he mused, pacing.
Wayne gritted his teeth and again strained to free himself. At his efforts, Matt looked up and sneered a bit. "Forgive me for not explaining sooner, but those lovely chains adorning your wrists and ankles…they're shadow chains, forged from the very darkness and evil of this world. Very convenient in that, if wrapped around a spirit, they force said spirit back to reality by bogging them down with the evil of the world…damn near impossible to break, too, unless you're an angel, or assisted by one…and your little angel friends won't be able to find you, Wayne," he chuckled. "I've ensured that the house is protected against spirits of any kind, so they won't be able to get in…provided they even find you."
Bowman abruptly ceased pacing and pulled a gun out of his waistband. "Since you're real once again, it'll be that much easier to finish you off. And this time," he bared his teeth, "there's no escape."
((A/N: Hmm…I'm almost not as happy with this chapter as the others, but I'm not quite sure what I could've done to change it for the better…not implying it's perfect—far from it; I'm just saying I have no idea what I could've done…oh well, I needed at least one dry explanation scene:-\ I'll try to make up for it by putting chapter 11 up soon!))