"This is so unlike him," she remarked. "I bet he's with Lizz...that girl."
Victoria said nothing as she doodled on the paper that she wrote all the clues on.
"He would totally know what to do," Miranda said as she comforted her crying baby.
Victoria just continued to stare at the paper that she had decorated with stars and hearts. After the initial excitement that Matt might still be alive, she was left in almost a kind of shock that he was still gone.
"Oh, Matt. Where are you?" she said quietly.
The garage door burst open and Danny walked in, home from work.
"I just heard about the explosion. I actually saw it on the way home," he exclaimed before he saw Victoria sitting at the table. "Have they found Matt yet?" he whispered quietly to Miranda.
Miranda slowly shook her head to answer no. Danny turned around to face Victoria, who was now ripping the edges of the paper into small bits.
"Hey. How are you doing?" Danny tried to say casually.
Victoria looked up at him, her eyes welling up with tears and her lip quivering. Before she could say anything, she burst into tears.
"Oh dear," Miranda said, handing Lizzie to Danny, and rushing over to Victoria. She took the seat next to her, and clasped her hands.
"He's dead," Victoria sobbed. "He's dead, and we had our whole lives to live together."
"He's not dead," Miranda comforted her. "You talked to him after the explosion, and I know that we can find him with these clues."
"But what if we can't? You've looked at these clues. The're impossible."
Victoria buried her head underneath her folded arms.
Miranda shot Danny a look of desperation, as if to say help.
"Let's go over them again. Maybe Danny can see something," Miranda suggested.
"It's no use. Where is he?" Victoria wailed.
"He's dead, Lauren. The screen is completely black."
Lauren and Lizzie sat close to the TV screen, studying Matt's channel.
A tear ran down Lizzie's cheek.
"I was too interested in what Gordo was doing, and I didn't see what happened to him," Lizzie cried. "Omigosh, I wonder how Victoria's holding up."
Lauren just sat there, staring at the TV screen.
There soon was a knock on the door, which Lizzie answered with a greeting to come in.
The older Victoria Smith poked her head in the doorway.
"I just wanted to see if there were any updates," she said quietly.
Lizzie immediately jumped up and ran to give her a giant hug.
"My family is falling apart. Both my mother and brother dead..."
Her words were lost in her sobs. Victoria only hugged tighter, trying to help her make it feel better.
"How's Victoria doing?" Lizzie managed to choke out.
Victoria shook her head solemnly.
"Not very good. She's still in a state of shock," she answered. "Your friend, the one with the baby, is helping her. Their going to try to find him."
"But they can't, Victoria," Lizzie cried. "He's dead."
"We don't know that yet," Victoria replied. "We still need to have hope."
"Lizzie! Come over here!" Lauren exclaimed. "I see something."
Both Lizzie and Victoria rushed over to the screen.
"Look in the upper right-hand corner," she explained. "See that shred of light?"
"Uh-huh," Lizzie answered.
"If he was really dead, the screen would be completely black," Lauren continued. "He must just be somewhere dark or something."
The shred of light got bigger, as it appeared to be a door like shape. Sure enough, it was, and a figure emerged in the doorway.
"Where is he, and who is that?" Lizzie wanted to know.
The three sat on the edge of their seats with bated breath as the figure clicked on a flashlight. They still could not make out any specifics, but they could see that it was masked and that he was carrying a gun.
"Matt," a voice from the figure spoke. Lizzie could not help but notice the eerie familiarity. "Tell me what you know."
Slowly the figure began to unmask himself. As he revealed his face, Lizzie saw who it was.
"Dad?" she said, stunned. "What's going on?"
Sam Mcguire slowly walked towards Matt.
"I'm not telling you anything," Matt yelled. "Until you tell me the whole truth. Starting with your affair."
Quickly, Sam pulled out his gun and shot Matt in the foot. Matt yelped in pain, but tried not to look down at the wound.
"What happenening?" Lizzie sobbed. "Why is he doing this?"
"You're crazy," Matt yelled. "What happened to you?"
Sam pulled out the gun again, but only as a warning this time.
"You really want to know?" he said menacingly. "I'll tell you the whole truth."
After her sudden burst of emotion, Victoria had ran off "to be more alone." Actually she had just went to the park in the neighborhood, sat on the swingset, and slowly rocked back and forth.
Her whole world was falling apart. She couldn't relate with her parents, who decided to stay an extra night because her mother wanted to buy new clothes with Donovan. Matt was gone, maybe just temporarily, but maybe forever.
She couldn't help but think of their plans to get married. How perfect it all seemed. The actual thought of happiness just made her cry even more.
But she looked at her watch. 10:08 p.m. It was getting really late, and cold outside as well. She pulled her sweater tighter and shivered, despite the fact that it was only May.
It was getting a little too quiet for her own tastes, but she still didn't want to go back.
"I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known," she sang quietly, trying to break the silence. "Don't know where it goes but it's only me and I walk alone."
Her attempt was not working. Gradually, she sang the continuing bars of the song, getting increasingly louder.
"Sometimes I wish someone would come and find me. Until then I walk alone," she yelled into the darkness.
She began to feel a little better, but she could not help but think that she used to not walk alone. She had Matt, and times were great. Summer was coming, they loved each other, and they were going to be alright.
Thinking about those things, she was overcome by an immense feeling of hope. They would find him, she knew it. As she turned to go back to Miranda and Danny's apartment, she saw a familiar figure.
"Feel better?" Miranda asked, strolling on the sidewalk.
"A little bit. Thank you so much for what you've done," Victoria replied. "I mean, we hardly know each other."
"Seriously, it's no problem," Miranda said, sitting on the swing next to her. "Hey, do you want to stay with us tonight?"
"I'd love that. Thanks," Victoria immediately responded.
"Alright. Let's go home."
"Tell me what happened, Dad," Matt answered.
Sam took a deep breath, gripped his gun tightly, and the screen went dead.
"Omigosh," shrieked Lizzie. "HE KILLED MATT!"
Lizzie sobbed violently, running to bury her head in her pillow.
"Wait," Lauren said, picking up the remote. "There's nothing on any of these channels."
Lizzie looked up and saw that it was true; every channel was the same. Completely black.
"You did remember to change the batteries, did you?" asked Victoria.
"It needs batteries? A heaven TV?" Lizzie asked in disbelief.
"Strange but true," Lauren asked. "That was a close one. We all just need to calm down."
"I'll run down and get some really-" Victoria volunteered, but she was interrupted by the telephone.
"Hello?" Lizzie answered.
"Lizzie Mcguire?"
"Yes?"
"Please come to the main foyer. There's someone that would like to see you urgently."
