IMPORTANT A/N-Hey Halloween Thief lovers! Alyss Mei and I are back… with the seventh chapter of Halloween Thief! After reading this AMAZING chapter, you will go out of with questions answered…and new questions whirling around in your head. We'll just have to see! Haha, hope you like the chapter! And, remember the 50 reviews challenge is still ON! So far, we got 30 reviews! That's amazing! Thank you all so much, continue reviewing the chapters and giving feedback!
P.S- I was listening to Breathe by Taylor Swift while writing this chapter, so there is a little chance I may have written the lyrics by accident. So, sorry about that! But if I didn't then… alright goody for me! :D
Part 1: Kim's POV
Hearing Jack screaming (admittedly, like a girl), it made me want to join him in a shrieking contest. It was awful. It was tragic. I was afraid my hair had turned white from fear. It was…well, maybe you'd like to hear why exactly. Allow me to recap my side of the story. Hopefully (or maybe not) you'll understand why I'm scared to death. Here goes…
"Jack! Honey!" Jack's mom exclaimed, trying to get him to calm down.
"Granddad!" he screamed, sweats beading at his temples. He shot up from the cot and looked around frantically, his eyes rolling from side to side. He was turning left and right, yet it seemed like he couldn't see us, despite the fact that we were standing right in front of him, screaming right back.
I grabbed his hand and he seemed to instantly relax, his shoulders slumping and the tension leaving his body. I too felt my worry slipping away…I could feel my hand tingling. "Jack, it's okay! It's just us. Are you okay?" It seemed like a pretty dumb question- of course he wasn't.
"You okay, bud?" Rudy stepped closer, pretty much restating my redundant question.
Jack clutched his head and swayed slightly, almost as if he was dizzy. "What happened? I feel like my head was bashed in with a club."
"I got a call from Kimmy, here," Mrs. Anderson began. I ignored the nickname for now. "Saying that you were arrested. Now I know…she wasn't kidding. I'd never thought I'd live to see the day that my precious, baby son would get locked up in a cell."
"Mom…I didn't do it," Jack said firmly. "I swear. You have to believe me. Marcus…he had this tape with me apparently 'confessing' to the crime. I never said that! Nobody believes me- you HAVE to!"
"Jack, you're wrong," Rudy stated. "Kim and I believe you. And so does Milton, Jerry and Eddie."
"Okay, I'm really confused," Mrs. Anderson said. "Who's Marcus? And you never told me about these certificates and awards being stolen."
"Why would he tell you, if he stole it?" a familiar, wheezy, snarky voice said. I whipped around to see Officer Collins, standing there, clutching a bag of potato chips. Okay, I officially DESPISE her. How could she put Jack in jail? She knows perfectly well that Jack didn't do anything…he was helping out the whole time.
"And who are you?" Jack's mom asked, impatiently.
"Officer Collins… how ya doing?" she said, holding out a greasy hand full of crumbs. Jack's mom looked at it in disgust.
"Hi, nice to meet you," she said half-heartedly. There was a moment of awkward silence. Jack and I exchanged looks of irritation.
"Well?" I asked irritably at her.
"Jack's case is pretty serious here," she began. "I'm afraid he's going to be in the slammer for a while…but hey, it's not so bad! We're actually one of the better prisons in town- 3 meals a day, padded cots…we just removed all the rats from the cells…."
"There is no case with me!" Jack said, frantically. "I'm innocent! INNOCENT!"
"Alright, calm your cheese!" Officer Collins exclaimed, holding out a hand.
"Calm his cheese?" I repeated, completely confused. "Who tells someone to calm their… cheese?"
"Look, there's nothing I can do about it," the lady-cop replied. "It's out of my hands." She shook her arms dismissively and shrugged her shoulders.
A heated urge to scream back at her filled my body. I took a look at Jack, who had sank back onto the cot, head in his hands. I was determined to get him out.
"No, how 'bout you look," I snapped, my voice filled with venom. "I'm tired of your 'I-don't-give-a-care' attitude. You're a police officer- you're supposed to protect the people. And I'm not the only one who thinks you're not doing your job. Now," I motioned towards Jack, "you have a perfectly innocent civilian who's been accused of theft and vandalism. He hasn't even had a trial, you just locked him away in some rat-infested cell, based on inaccurate evidence. So, you do your job to the fullest of your ability, or you're going to be in a heap load of trouble."
I didn't even know how I was to get a cop in trouble, but my speech worked. Officer Collins looked terrified. "W-why don't I make you a deal?" she stuttered, scrambling to get the words out. "I'll give you two days…he'll have to stay in the slammer, but I won't put it on your permanent record. If someone turns himself or herself in, saying it was them and not you, I'll let you out."
I brightened. "Thank you-"
"Wait," she stopped me. "But…if no one shows up, or we haven't found anything…he'll be sentenced to jail."
I frowned again. "But he's innocent!" I exclaimed. Why wouldn't this lady understand?
"From your point of view. But how do I know he's not lying, and the evidence was true?" she replied.
"So you don't think the evidence was true?" Rudy piped up, pointing out her choice in wording.
"I'm a cop, I'm not supposed to take sides," she replied, effectively evading the question.
I groaned. Now she decides to be evasive! Mrs. Anderson looked positively unsatisfied with the turn of events- even though it was giving us a little leniency. "I will not have this! I'm not letting my son rot in here for the rest of his life!" Her eyes started to water.
"Ma'am," Rudy protested. "You don't have a choice. All we have to do is cross our fingers."
"I'm getting my lawyers," she mumbled angrily. She turned to Jack. "Jack…I know you're innocent…don't worry sweetie, Mummy's not going to stand for this! I'm going to-"
"Yes, we get it! You're taking it to the stinking lawyers, now get out!" The cop ushered her out the door. Mrs. Anderson scoffed, but left the building, the heels on her pumps clacking loudly against the linoleum floor. I suppressed a laugh at Jack's mom's behavior.
"Yeah, my mom's annoying," Jack agreed, rubbing his temples.
"I'm going to go talk to Wanda about this," Rudy said, also exiting the jail cell. Jack turned to me with worried eyes. It was just him and me…but this time I was almost glad to be alone with him.
"I'm worried, Kim," he said.
"Jack, I'm scared too…" I admitted. "I don't want my best friend in jail for something he didn't do. I'm going to look for those thieves… don't worry. I promise."
"Hey, I want to help you too!" Jack whined. "But I know I can't. Without me, you'll end up in serious trouble! What if something happened to you? What if-"
"Jack!" I exclaimed. "I'll be fine! I know how to take care of myself…you don't need to be so overprotective."
Jack's face grew angry. "Well, considering your parents are gone and don't even know that you're turning fourteen on Friday, I'm pretty much the only person you have to be the overprotective one!" I could my feel my face growing red after he said that…just when I almost forget about my parents, he of all people bring it up…as an insult.
"Whatever," I said. I was fuming with anger now. I couldn't believe he just said that. So much for a good friend, I thought impulsively. "Good luck spending the rest of your life behind bars, Jack!" I grabbed my bag, and started heading out, when Jack caught my arm. I turned back and faced him. His chocolate brown eyes gave an apologetic stare. I could feel myself melting as soon as I saw him.
Wow, Kim… just wow.
"Kim I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said that." He said. "I just care about you…I know your parents are never around and all…I just want to be a good friend." First off, I was glad he didn't mention Dylan. But mostly I was thinking how sweet and stupid he was…. Sweet because he cares about me…stupid because after knowing me for almost a year doesn't still get my full potential. But I felt guilty for saying that to him…you know, what I said before. Sometimes, I just get mad and blurt things out that I don't really mean. I looked into his eyes, and gave him a sympathetic look.
"It's okay," I said. "You just care about me as a friend…I shouldn't be taking that as a negative thing. But maybe you care about me a little too much…" I raised my eyebrows, conveying that I was only teasing. He chuckled weakly.
"Just please don't go in too deep with finding the thief," Jack said. "I don't want you getting hurt or anything."
"Wha… ugh, fine," I said reluctantly. "I won't go in too deep,"
"Good," He said smiling. He sat down on the cot and lied down, groaning in agony. It reminded me of how he was screaming "granddad" as he woke up, earlier.
"Jack?" I asked him. "Why were you screaming Granddad when you woke up?"
Jack got up from the pillow, and started looking at me now, with sad eyes. "I didn't tell you, did I?"
"Tell me what?" I sat on the cot and ended up face-to-face with Jack.
"Well-"
"JACK! WHERE ARE YOU BUDDY?" Jerry's frantic, slightly muffled voice boomed through the doors.
"He's in there," Officer Collin said lazily, audible smacking noises filtering through as well.
I heard a rumble of noise, and looked over at my shoulder to see Milton, Jerry and Eddie crashing into the cell, looking crazed.
"Ah, Christmas Nuts!" Milton said. "We're late, aren't we?"
"This is so horrible," Eddie said his head in his hands. "I can't look!"
"Jack…oh my god, look at you, bro! You're eyes are all red…your forehead's sweaty, and…ooh, ever thought of showering in this dump?" Jerry covered his nose. I smacked his shoulder and gave him a sharp glare.
"So, what did the cop say?" Eddie asked.
"Can you leave?" Milton said.
"Did they find the real thief?" Eddie asked again.
"Are you guys dating?" Jerry asked smiling. I smacked him again, this time much harder. Jerry cringed and stepped backwards, hiding behind Eddie.
"Shut up, Jerry!" I said, my face turning red. Jack stiffened next to me and stood up, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.
"Okay!" Jack said. "Officer Collins said that she's giving us two days, to find out the real thief. If you guys don't find any evidence proving that I'm innocent, I'm going to be sentenced into jail."
"What? This decision of that Lady-Cop is so irrational!" Milton said, shaking his head.
"Whatever, Milton," Eddie said. "The point is that with the two days' time we have to prove Jack's innocence!"
"Yeah!" Jerry agreed. "Watch us come to you with the certificates in one hand, and the thief in the other!"
I smiled half-heartedly along with them, but highly doubted if we were really going to catch that thief…in two days…or in other words…the day before my birthday.
Now you understand why I wanted to scream along with Jack.
Part Two: Milton's POV
Okay, remember how Jerry said that we'd have our certificates in one hand and the thief in the other by Thursday? Well… today is Thursday….and my hands are empty.
In fact, everybody's hands are empty. Trust me when I say this, we worked really hard catching that thief…we came in before school to look around…we stayed after school…we even grabbed random students by their collar and began to interrogate them- well, at least Jerry did, even though half of the people couldn't have been a suspect. We talked to Marcus-I hate that kid, by the way-and he swore to us that Jack said those words. He overheard him in the hallway. Why would he have said that, talking to no one in particular?
It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense this week. Arthur keeps shoving me and Eddie every time he walks past us in the hallway. Truman however has this look of panic whenever he sees us…tinged with guilt and pity. As for Kim, she's been completely disoriented for the past two days. Eddie, Jerry and I were starting to worry about her. She'd come into school with messy hair, and black circles around her eyes, as if she never slept. She must have been really worried about Jack.
I decided to go to her house and check on her. We were going to the police department anyway, to see if we could get more time to catch that thief. Jerry, Eddie and Rudy were already on their way. I figured I should get Kim, and check on her as well.
I parked my bike (which happened to be completely, and totally, AWESOME) in her driveway, and hit the doorbell. It took her a while to open the door, but she did- looking worse than ever. When she saw me, her shoulders relaxed and she smiled a tiny bit. Well, I do have that effect on people!
"Hi Milton," Kim said, stepping aside to let me in. "What are you doing here?"
I walked inside her house, looking around…it seemed to have been the first time I ever even saw Kim's house…or any girl's house.
"Well, we were all heading to the police department," I said. "We were figuring if we could get more time for Jack."
"What's the point?" Kim said hopelessly. "They won't give us any time, and Jack's going to sentenced in prison…we pretty much let him down."
"We can at least try," I said soothingly. "Hey, maybe your parents can help out! I mean, they own so many businesses, they could maybe bail Jack out! Jack's mom would bail Jack out, but the police won't let her. Apparently, they won't take family support for this case. But your parents aren't related to Jack! See, I'm so smart!" I said proudly.
Kim looked up at me, and I noticed for the first time, that her eyes were filling up with tears. Was it something I said?
"Let's just go to the police department…there could be hope after all," she said half-heartedly. She ran outside to grab her skateboard, and I followed her, and shut the door.
"Hey…Kim, wait!" I whined. "You know I don't catch up very fast!"
But Kim ignored me, and continued riding on that stupid skateboard of hers. In a rush, I climbed on The Milton Mobile (my bike) and pedaled fast to catch up with her. We ended up racing to the police station, but Kim never cracked a smile. She seemed really upset… but why? Tomorrow's her freaking birthday; she's supposed to be excited! Well, then again I'm not sure if this birthday is going to be fun for her, considering her to-be-boyfriend might spend the majority of his life in jail.
After a while of pedaling, we FINALLY made it to the police department. Without even glancing at me, Kim parked her skateboard near Rudy's car. Jerry and Eddie came out and rushed over to me.
"How's Kim doing?" Eddie asked.
"Not good," I sighed. "She seems really depressed…and come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen her like this!"
"Yeah, I know right?" Jerry said. We heard the sound of doors slamming open, and saw Kim rushing into the building, trailed by Rudy.
"We need more time for Jack!" I said.
"But how are we going to do it?" Eddie asked. "That cop is so rude...she took half my burrito the other day!"
"Ugh, we should've stayed longer in school!" Jerry said.
"Hey, we stayed as long as we could!" I said. "But that is one smart thief. And I even asked Marcus if he could help us and-"
"Why would you ask him?" Eddie said. "He's the one that caused this! Officer Collins was about to give in, but he stepped in and ruined everything! Jerk!"
"Yeah, seriously bro…not so smart now are ya?" Jerry teased.
"Let's just get in, you toad!" I insulted. Jerry gave me a mocking face, and we three rushed in the building, and saw Kim and Rudy arguing with Officer Collins, with Jack clutching the bars, and involving in the conversation as much as he could.
"Hi Jack," I waved weakly. I couldn't bear seeing HIM of all people behind bars. I turned and saw Kim almost screaming at Officer Collins.
"What's wrong with you?" Kim started, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
"Excuse me, but I am doing my job!" Officer Collins defended. "I gave you two days! We haven't found him, and you haven't! That ultimately proves that Jack is indeed to blame!"
"Kim…hold on I got an idea." Rudy said, with a smolder. He got closer to Officer Collins.
"Uh…what are you doing?" Eddie said, his eyes widening. He looked as if he was being told to break out his cello and dance.
"Hey, Wanda," Rudy said, overly casual. "You…me… date Saturday night!"
I think we all almost threw up when he asked her out. I mean, seriously, Jack is about to be in jail, and Rudy's asking Officer Collins on a date? That's just messed up.
"Oh, I'm flattered," Officer Collins giggled. "No one's ever asked me out before! Not even for my senior prom!
"All it takes is one empty jail cell, Wanda" Rudy said coolly. OH, now I get what he was doing! The rest of us smiled at Rudy's smart move. Unfortunately, Officer Collin's "flirty" smile disappeared into a frown.
"Nice try, BUB!" Officer Collins smacked him. "Jack's committed his crime…and now he's got to do his time!" I glanced at Jack, who was staring at the ground desolately. He definitely looked like he could use a good shower- his hair was mussed and his face looked distraught.
"And to think I was going to take you out somewhere nice! Humph!" Rudy stomped.
"I don't want short men!" Officer Collins retorted.
"How dare you call me short?" Rudy gasped.
"Dude, you kind of are short," Jerry said. Kim smacked him.
"You're not helping Jerry!" Kim hissed.
"I'll allow you to say goodbyes to your little criminal," Officer Collins said. "But make it quick! Jack needs to go to the court house to decide how long he's going to be staying in jail." We followed her to Jack's jail cell and she let us in. We all looked at Jack. He looked like he wanted to cry.
"Jack…" I began. "We're sorry… we tried our best."
"I know you did," Jack said. "I don't blame you guys."
"But because of us, you're going to be in jail now," Eddie said sadly.
"Well, we can't do anything about it now, can we?" Jack asked. "It's not your fault. I don't know how the thief framed me for saying that. I swear, I never said that."
"We know," Jerry said. "But don't worry, we'll try and bail you out!"
"Guys…" Jack said standing up. "I don't want you spending money on me. According the police officer, you need to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars to bail me out."
"I don't have that kind of money!" I said.
"Me neither!" Eddie said.
"Exactly," Jack said. "So, this is it then…I'm a criminal."
"Well then…this is goodbye," Jerry said. He gave Jack a hard hug, with his signature-man-clap on the back and pulled away, his eyes red. "I'm sorry buddy."
"I'm going to miss you, Jerry," Jack said. Eddie and I went up next and gave him a hug. I knew this was going to take me a while to process the fact that my best friend was actually going to be in jail. And I don't even know when we were going to see him again. I could feel my face turning pink…a sign that tears will be arriving shortly.
"I'll miss you guys too," Jack said. We patted him and walked away. Rudy came in next and hugged Jack.
"This isn't over Jack," Rudy said. "We'll find a way." He pulled away and gave Jack a sympathetic smile. He smiled back, but knew that this was indeed the end. The only person that was left to say goodbye to Jack, was Kim. It was like she was frozen…even she couldn't take this in.
"Kim…" Jack began, but Kim just ran towards him and squeezed him tight. I could tell she was trying to fight back tears, but they still streamed down her rosy cheeks. That was the first time we ever saw The Kim Crawford actually cry. But we knew it wouldn't be appropriate to tease her about it… we all pretty much heartbroken.
"I'm going to miss you," she choked out. Jack squeezed her tighter, tears trickling out of his bloodshot eyes. We slowly walked out of the jail cell, knowing they needed some time alone. We couldn't help but look at their dramatic moment.
"I'll miss you too," Jack said, still clutching her waist. "But I'll always be with you…you just have to remember me," They pulled away and locked eyes. Jerry and I exchanged looks… this was it…they were going in!
"How could I forget about you?" she said, a bittersweet smile curving on her face. "You're the probably the most annoying person I've met."
Jack wiped the tears from her eyes. "Well, I know I'll never forget you," They were leaning in; they're faces inches apart when a sudden yelp came from the door.
"HOLD EVERYTHING!" I heard a very familiar voice. "JACK ANDERSON IS INNOCENT! I KNOW WHO THE REAL THIEF IS! I HAVE ALL OF RUDY'S THINGS!" We all turned to look at who shouted it. The boy stood still, with his spiky dirty blonde hair, and his slight chubby body, his nasally voice of his echoing throughout the building. We all knew who it was, and were horrified and relieved at the same time to see him with a huge pile of papers in his hands.
It was Truman.
A/N- Oh. My. God. Huge cliffhanger! For those who don't like cliffhangers…well…get used to it, because the next chapters will have the most shocking cliffhangers, you will be in the edge of your seats, just DYING to know what's happening! So, recap: Jack and Kim almost KISSING? Jack almost sentenced in JAIL? But the biggest question of all… TRUMAN? All will be answered in the next chapter… well maybe not the whole Jack/Kim thing…I don't think they'd want to talk to about that it would be very awkward… but TRUMAN will definitely be answered in the next chapter, and stay tuned, because in the next chapter you will find out who the THIEF is! But just know, that the next chapter isn't the last one…there's still more to come. PLEASE CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW AND REVIEW! I'd love to see who you all think the thief is… is it Truman? Arthur? Officer Collins? All will be answered! BUT PLEASE REVIEW FOR THE 50 REVIEWS CHALLENGE! Thanks for reading! :D
PEACE. LOVE. HAPPINESS.
-Taylor and Alyss Mei