Chapter 8
The Bogey Man appeared before Grinsworth the Gnome, minutes after he left Tyrone's place. Upon seeing the gnome, The Bogey Man's eyes widened and he clenched his teeth.
"Enchanted Salt." he said under his breath.
"The kids are protected under the law of Imani." said Grinsworth with a raspy voice of irritation.
The Bogey Man folded his arms. "I can wait. The end will be the same. I can wait." he said.
"The salt will keep them safe from you! So says the Mothman." said Grinsworth.
"I don't care about your forest laws. I only care for one thing only. I will open the door. Once I do that, I will be the most powerful being in the world." said the Bogey Man.
Grinsworth chuckled. "Good luck with that. So many have tried, and not one single soul could open the….whatever it is you want to open." said Grinsworth.
The Bogey Man turned around, while his cape flew under Grinsworth's pointy hat.
"The salt won't keep them safe forever. I have other ways." he said aloud.
….
The following day, Tyrone got up early and prepared breakfast. He quickly made some eggs with ham and got some orange juice he had left. He then looked at his watch and quickly went upstairs to wake Matt up.
"Morning Matt. I need you to wake up buddy. Come on down." said Tyrone from the bedroom door.
Matt woke up slowly and managed to get up. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt, and he wore boxers with squares on them. He quickly went to the bathroom and got himself ready while Tyrone waited for him.
"I'm getting ready for school, then afterwards, I'm going to be working," said Tyrone.
"Right! So what are we going to do?" asked Matt.
"Let me think. Why don't you meet me at work at four in the afternoon. That way, you won't be alone at home most of the time." said Tyrone.
Matt raised an eyebrow and joked. "In other words, you don't want a Mexican boy to be walking around your house."
Tyrone chuckled. "No! Not that. I just want you to be safe."
"I'll be safe. I used to punch this one guy who stole my lunch money at school." said Matt as he puffed out his chest.
Tyrone once again chuckled and shrugged. "Will you be strong enough to face evil bogey people?" he asked.
Matt folded his arms. "That sissy can try. I'm not afraid of him." he said.
"Well, I am. And if what the gnome said was true, then the salt's power will protect you. Gosh it sounds weird when I say it out loud." said Tyrone.
"I know. Everything is weird now." said Matt.
"I'm not sure what is going on, but while things calm down, we should do that," said Tyrone.
"Yeah. Until the Mothman finds a family for me." said Matt solemnly.
Tyrone ruffled Matt's hair. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure the Mothman will find you a safe home. I'm sure he knows about your family history. He might have seen visions of you or something." said Tyrone.
"And is that supposed to give me comfort?" asked Matt.
Tyrone shrugged and he grabbed his backpack.
"Okay, here are some ground rules," said Tyrone.
"Here we go," said Matt.
"Don't leave the house until four in the afternoon," said Tyrone.
"Okay." nodded Matt, folding his arms.
"You can watch TV or play on the laptop that used to be my Dad's. He downloaded some game emulators. You can try them out. Absolutely don't go in my room. That's off limits. And that's about it. Oh, and no ordering take out." said Tyrone.
Matt chuckled. "That's it? No stealing, no playing loud mariachi music?" asked Matt.
Tyrone rolled his eyes. "Yes, anything to be quiet and out of sight." said Tyrone.
"Dude, relax. It was a joke." said Matt.
Tyrone shook his head. "I don't like those kinds of jokes. So cut them out. And meet me at the corn dog place at four. Don't forget." said Tyrone.
Matt nodded and Tyrone turned around to open the door. "Matt, I know my Spanish sucked yesterday. But… I wasn't mocking you." he said.
"Dude, it was a joke! I know you're a good guy! It's just me joking." said Matt.
Tyrone turned to see him and smiled. "You are such a weird kid."
