GH5 16: Lunch-Break.

1:17 PM

Inside the 19th century Victorian home, Seth, Copper and i sat alone in the kitchen at the mid-counter on stools, with Seth sitting across us on the other side, as he and i ate fries and chicken strips we had gotten from 'Popeyes' Chicken'. Everyone else, with Adriana, was eating in the dining-room. Too worried and exhausted from searching the woods for Connor, to no avail, Chelsea and Adam decided to get something from a restaurant after the police and town's people left, minus Seth, as they were both too tired to cook anything. When they asked us what we wanted, we all chose 'Popeyes'.

Seth dipped one of his chicken-strips into one of his two packages of Hottie Sauce and then took a bite of it.

"Do you think one taste of that sauce would hurt Copper?" I asked.

"I don't think a whole package of this stuff would. But i do think it would make him thirsty for water." Seth said.

"Is it that hot?" I asked.

"You wanna try it?" Seth asked.

"No, thanks. I'm not a big fan of hot stuff like you are." I said.

"Yeah, but you've been very supportive...and calm. Both of which are very important in a time like this." Seth said.

"I just can't wait 'til we find Connor." I said before getting one of my fries, dipping it in one of my two packages of ketchup, and eating it.

"Me neither." Seth said before dipping his chicken-strip into the package of Hottie Sauce and taking another bite. "Mm. I gotta say...this Megan person must be some cook. Her name is even on the packages of this hot sauce."

"Megan isn't a cook, she's a singer. Popeyes' Chicken promotes her sauce." I corrected.

"Well, thank you, Megan singer." Seth said.

"Isn't that sauce really spicy?" I asked.

"Uh-huh." Seth answered before dipping his chicken-strip in the Hottie Sauce a third time and taking a bite.

"Hey, Seth, what was that idea of your's again?" I asked.

"What?" Seth asked.

"You know, your idea on how to get rid of the mystery guy in the walls of this house." I reminded.

"Shhh!" Seth said. "We can't talk about it here. He might be listening to our conversation."

"I don't think he cares that i told a little kid about him. No offence, by the way." I said.

"None taken." Seth said. "But why can't we just go to the police and tell them what's going on?"

"Because...as i said earlier in the woods...that creep threatened to take you and Harper if i told anyone about him. And i'm pretty sure that means the police too." I explained, reminding Seth of the possible danger he and Harper could be in. "And besides...even if i did tell the cops, there's no way they'd believe me. And why would they? No cops are gonna believe that a supposed long dead serial child killer is responsible for Connor's disappearance. It even sounds crazy when i say it."

"Okay, true, but you do know Harper and i don't live in this house, right?" Seth said.

"I'm sure the creep in the walls is aware of that too." I said.

"Come on. I mean, why don't we just let the police handle it? I'm sure they can give me and Harper protection until this guy is in their custody." Seth said.

"Look...i don't wanna risk it, okay? Cause that creep lives in the walls of this house, and he could easily listen in on me calling the cops and then he could head over to your place and Harper's and take both of you like he did Connor." I said.

"Okay, guess that would be a good point...if this creep knew where Harper and i lived." Seth said.

I got another one of my fries, dipped it in the ketchup, and ate it. "It's okay, i know what to do."

"You do?" Seth asked.

"Yeah. Of course." I said.

"Well, great, i'd love to hear it." Seth said.

"What if we tried to catch the guy in the walls ourselves? That way no one would be able to doubt us." I said.

"Well, that's better than contacting a ghost hunter, a monster hunter or a paranormal investigative team." Seth said.

"They only deal with cases that involve ghosts, monsters and the paranormal." I said.

"Oh, yeah." Seth said. "Well, how 'bout this? I'll call my Mom on my cellphone and ask her if it's okay for me to spend the night here and then tomorrow, you, me and Copper will look around the house for those hidden passageways, tunnels or whatever Harper's research called it." He said. "Deal?" He asked, offering his right hand.

"Deal." I said, accepting Seth's right hand, with us sealing the deal with a hand-shake.

"Well..." Said Adam as he entered the kitchen. "I just got off the phone with the sheriff."

"And?" I asked.

"What did he want?" Seth added.

"He wants me to come down to the station right away and bring a picture of Connor so he can make copies of it and turn them into flyers to put up around town." Adam said.

"Okay, so...what does that mean?" I asked.

"It means that Connor's been officially declared missing." Adam said.

Seth, Copper and i just sat at the mid-counter silently. This scary, un-real situation...was starting to become real.

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