Chapter 36
I continued searching through the different pictures and photos and the small notes or letters here and there for the next clue.
But there was nothing.
Nothing on top of the table,
Nothing below the table,
And nothing in the drawer of the table.
... But what about in the table itself?
Before I even knew what I was doing, I had stood back up, picked up the table, and smashed it on the ground.
There was a loud bang, before suddenly it collapsed and broken pieces scattered on the floor.
"CUB? HEY, WHATS HAPPE..." Snake trailed off as he saw me sitting amongst the dirt and rubble, the others doing the same as they all came to an abrupt halt.
I glanced up at them, "It's ok...I never liked this table anyway".
"... Man, you need help" Eagle finally muttered and Snake shot him a glare before slowly walking over to me, "And why did you have to break it?".
I frowned and stared down at the broken wood, before grinning as I found a small slip of paper hidden in one of the legs.
I held it up to show them, "Clue".
"Ah" He replied quietly, still not quite getting it.
Staring at the new piece of paper, I suddenly wondered how they had gotten it into the table in the first place, but that idea quickly disappeared as a new thought came into my head.
Why hadn't the noise woken Tom?
Abruptly standing up, I dropped the note as I ran up the stairs, taking two at a time.
When I got to my room where Tom was supposedly sleeping, I stopped, taking a deep breath, before slowly reaching forward and opening the door and stepping in.
The curtains were shut, with the blind pulled down, emitting the room in darkness.
But in the dim light coming from the hall, I could just about make out Tom sitting up in the bed, his eyes wide and gleaming with... With fear.
Shit.
Spinning around, I had just enough time to see the dark silhouette of a man as he shut the door, locking it and pocketing the key, the whole time with a gun pointed at my head.
"Over by the press and put your hands where I can see them" He ordered, nudging me with his weapon.
I slowly raised my hands above my head and did as told, calmly walking over to the wardrobe in the corner of the room before turning to face him.
He walked over to Tom and put the gun against his head, "Now, Mr. Rider, the next clue, if you would?".
I stared at him.
He sighed, clocking the gun, "Read the note, or I'll blow his fucking brains out".
The next clue.
The note.
The piece of paper that was currently downstairs out of my reach.
"On the count of three, Rider" He said, "1...".
Tom whimpered slightly.
"2...".
What the fuck do I do?
"You're really pushing it Rider... 3".
"OKAY, OKAY!" I shouted, "Just... Let him go, first".
The man glared at me, "... Fine".
He lowered his weapon and let go of Tom, shoving him over to me.
The 16 year old stumbled, before clutching onto me as the man took a threatening step forward.
"Read. The. Note" He growled, pointing the gun at my head.
I slowly turned to Tom, "You need to remain calm, ok? I promise you that we're both going to be fine. And you can freak out, scream, cry for all I care later on, alright? But for now, you just got to remain calm".
He stared at me, still completely terrified, and hyperventilating.
"READ THE NOTE" the Man yelled, his finger tightening on the trigger and I turned to him annoyed, "I've got three fully armed and ready SAS men downstairs who will come running if there's even the slightest scream from up here. And this boy next to me, is panicking. So unless you want them to personally send your ass to jail, let me calm him down and then I'll read the stupid, fucking, note. Alright?".
He stared at me.
I stared right back at him.
He finally nodded.
I quickly turned back to Tom, "Ok, deep breaths. Remain. Calm. And you'll get out of this alive. Now I want you to just take a step back, take a deep breath, and close your eyes. Can you do that for me?".
He slowly nodded and gave me a small yet shaky smile before doing as told, sliding down the wall to the floor and covering his eyes with his hands.
I looked over at the man, before slowly reaching into my pocket.
"STOP" He yelled and I glared at him, "The note is in my pocket".
"And how do I know you're not just getting a knife?" He asked and I sighed, "Do you honestly think that it'll take a shorter amount of time for a knife to hit you, than for you to bullet through my skull?".
He paused.
"You're Riders son. It's quite possible" He shot back.
"Never. Bring up. My father" I growled and he laughed, "Struck a nerve did I? Good. You deserve it. Now read that bloody clue".
I put my hand in my pocket again.
"DONT. MOVE" He yelled.
"How the hell am supposed to read the clue if you won't let me get it?" I asked quietly.
"You should have already mesmerised it. You are, after all, Riders son and if you think for one second that your father couldn't do the same a-".
I spun around to face him, furious, "You know what? Fuck this shit".
*BANG*