Chapter 20
"Why are you so gloomy Hermanito?" asked Marcos one night. Matt was putting a small ice pack on his face, right where his father punched him. Marcos placed his arm around Matt and placed his head on his.
"Don't worry little hombrecito. We'll leave this shit hole and find someplace else to live." said Marcos.
"Where in Oregon can we move to?" asked Matt.
"Anywhere but here. I'm tired of living like this. I don't want you to see you suffer." said Marcos.
"So just the two of us?" asked Matt.
"Yeah. Just us two. You know where I would like to live in? Portland! That's a place I would live in." said Marcos.
"But that place is full of hobo joes and strip clubs." said Matt.
"Yeah, so?" said Marcos.
"Forget what I said." said Matt.
"You little pervert. You want to see mamitas in bikinis." said Marcos.
"No I don't!" said Matt.
"Yes you do! Yes you do!" said Marcos, tickling Matt on the ribs.
"Stop that!" cried Matt, but he was laughing. Laughing and hurting at the same time. He loved Marcos with all his heart.
"I love you Marcos." said Matt.
"And I love you, hermanito." said Marcos.
Matt wondered into the night, looking back at that moment. He was walking in the familiar neighborhood of downtown Hillsboro, all covered in snow. No one was outside. It felt so eerie walking into the town, with no cars, no people coming out. It was all empty. Matt practically had Hillsboro all to himself. It was cold, but not too cold for Matt. Perhaps he had felt this coldness before. Very deep inside.
He walked on ahead and it felt like he was walking for hours. How much time passed, he did not know. He wasn't sure if Tyrone would even go after him. Would he though? Perhaps. But Matt knew he was being a drag to them all. Was he though? Was he a charge for a white family? Tyrone was white. Destiny was white. Sam and Natalie were white. He is by far the only Mexican American kid they knew. His skin was light brown, and his hair was dark brown, almost black. The only thing were his eyes. They were green as jades. This was natural. Perhaps somebody in his family line wasn't really from Mexico, but from a different part of the globe? Who knew. Matt never really knew anything about his family, and perhaps he never will.
He wondered about his grandparents. Were they still alive? The parents his mother heartlessly abandoned? And if so, what about the parents of his father? Surely Matt had family somewhere! But he knew nothing of the life his parents left behind. He had so many questions that were never answered and perhaps they never will. As he continued walking, he began to wonder about Marcos. Did he knew anything about the family? And why on earth was Matt thinking about family?!
Matt then found himself in the apartment complex where he grew up in. He looked up and saw the building. There were lights on, meaning people were living inside, cozy in bed or perhaps in the couch watching TV. Families were probably together that night, or friends found each other. Who knew.
Matt then saw the balcony where he would sit with Marcos. The apartment was already owned by someone else. He could tell by the toys left outside and the plants that were there. Matt bit his lips and turned around, not bearing to see this. He decided to continue walking.
"Matt. You have to run." said Marcos. He was bleeding on his chest.
"I can't leave you!" cried Matt.
He held Marcos on the head and cried so hard, his tears landed on Marcos's face. Across the room was their father, who killed himself with his own gun. And of course, his mother, also dead on the ground from across the room.
"Please don't go. No te vayas." said Matt.
"Matt, you have a whole life ahead of you. You must go out! Find a new family. Make friends. Live your life! I'm sorry I couldn't take care of you as much as I could. But you need to get out of here." said Marcos.
"I can't leave you." said Matt.
Marcos smiled softly. "I love you so hard, I want to keep you holding my head forever. Te quiero mi hermanito." said Marcos as he blew a kiss and closed his eyes and he gently passed away.
Matt screamed out in horror and the neighbors were crying outside. "Call the police! I knew that chamaco was going to hurt his kids! I just knew it!" cried one neighbor.
"Those poor ninos!" cried a lady.
Matt then did the unthinkable. He quickly ran outside and ran for dear life into the streets of Hillsboro, leaving his beloved brother behind.
Matt kept on running. This time, he was being chased. Not by policemen. Not by neighbors. He was being pursued by demon hounds. He ran as he heard their barks. They somehow materialized after seeing Matt's grief. Perhaps. Matt did not know where they came from. He heard their barks, turned around to see them and they were large doberman-like dogs with red eyes and pointy ears with sharp teeth.
Matt didn't think twice, but decided to run. The barking was getting much closer and Matt was starting to panic. He ran and ran as fast as his legs would carry him into the snow. He then ran into downtown Hillsboro. He was hoping to find a building that was open, but all of them were closed and the hounds were on his trail.
"Get away!" he cried.
The barking grew louder. Matt quickly ran towards the plaza where the Saturday Market would be, but he was running out of ideas. He knew the dogs would chase him no matter where he went. He then stopped and turned around to see the ferocious monsters coming towards him.
"Please. End it." he said softly.
The dogs then paused and they surrounded Matt all around him. He stood his ground, and closed his eyes. He imagined Marcos coming to greet him. He was waiting for him to arrive. Just then, a miracle happened. A wonderful miracle.
Bubbles appeared out of nowhere and made loud clicking noises! He had jumped from Matt's hoodie, for he was there the whole time Matt was running around town! Bubbles was in his large form and began to kick the demon hounds all over. Just then, Morso himself arrived and got on top of a hound.
"Hello! Fancy seeing you here cutie pie." said Morso. And with that, he bit the hound's ear.
Destiny also arrived and hit the dogs with a metallic baseball bat. She hit the dogs on the face and then one of them tried to bite her ankle. "Just try and bite me you bad dogs you!" she cried.
Matt then felt somebody pull him to safety. He looked up to see Tyrone, holding him to his arms.
One of the hounds pounced on Tyrone and bit his shoulder. Tyrone let out a groan and Bubbles kicked him away.
The demon hounds huddled together and howled. Destiny, Bubbles and Morso covered Tyrone and Matt while they saw a terrible sight.
Where the hounds were howling, a dark shadow emerged. A shadow with a skeleton face and large deer like antlers.
"I am a Grim Reaper. And I have come to take the boy away, for he has cheated me not too long ago!" he said in a deep yet hollow voice.
"A Grim Reaper? There's more than one?" asked Destiny.
"Yes. There are grim reapers in every country and culture. This guy apparently is an Oregonian Grim Reaper. And yes, he is part of our hidden world." said Morso.
"Well, what can we do to stop this guy?" asked Destiny.
"I'll do the talking." said Morso as he stood up.
"The kid is under protection by a Mothman. He's involved in a vision. You know you can't do anything to interfere with a Mothman's prophecy. You can lose your special reaper privileges." said Morso, puffing out his chest.
The grim reaper laughed. "This Eternal Winter is such a blessing. You see, inhabitants from Rood Bridge Park cannot interfere with me. This means that this place is lawless. And since it is, I can do whatever I want!" said the reaper.
"Screw this crap!" cried Tyrone. He then grabbed the whole jar of salt and threw it on the grim reaper. The jar broke and the reaper screamed in pure agony as the salt burned his body. The hounds were also jumping in fear as the salt burned their feet.
"Run for it!" cried Morso. Bubbles held everyone on and he ran away into the night.
"Let's go to another McDonalds! I know, the one on 185th avenue! That can take us to the freeway to Mt. Hood!" cried Morso.
"Is food all you can think of right now?" asked Destiny.
"Yes! If it weren't for our runaway, we would have had full bellies!" complained Morso.
Matt hugged Tyrone and cried. "Now look what you've done! You hurt his feelings!" cried Tyrone.
"Hurt his feelings? He ran away? And for what?" cried Morso.
"Hillsboro was his hometown. His family died here." said Tyrone.
"Oh." said Morso, his eyes widening in surprise.
Bubbles then stopped. Apparently, there in front of McDonalds at 185th Avenue. A plaza full of stores. How they got there, they never knew. But Bubbles sure ran fast to get there.
