Chapter 7

Chapter 7

He knew Morgan was dead. He sensed it the second he had hit the ground. A wave of guilt and shame ran
over him. What if I had just told him what was in the bag? Maybe this wouldn't be happening. He had just lost his
best friend. Ted wiped away the tears against his t-shirt and looked over at his mother. This was all her fault, she
was the one that started all of this.
She was sitting in the corner of the motel room, on the floor, facing the wall and smoking cigarettes. He
wanted to shove one of them right down her throat. The room was a smoke filled haze. There was only one bed,
which didnt really matter as he had been sleeping in the car anyways.
You could have saved him he had screamed at her, only to have her backhand him across his face. He
looked in the mirror through the haze and saw that the bruise on his cheek was starting to fade. His mother hadnt
eaten anything since Saturday. With today being Wednesday, he wasnt sure how much longer she would be able to
continue this charade. She had done this before though, not eaten. Went into her little trance like states. She always
came out of it after a while. He remembered she had sat in the corner of their yard two winters ago for nearly a week
and a half. His aunt had repeatedly gone out to put a blanket on her, or attempted to give her soup or a sandwich.
She would always return the next day to find them lying on the ground, the food untouched. She had come back
though, thats all that mattered. He was beginning to think hed rather she not come back anymore.
He had come home from basketball that Saturday and his mother was waiting for him the second he walked
through the door. She grabbed his arm, slammed the door shut and swung him violently on the couch.
How dare you, you. She hissed at him.
She grabbed his cheeks and squeezed them, making fish lips. How much does he know? She questioned.
He knew what she meant right away.
He doesnt know anything he said, tears streaming down his face. I was gonna show him..
She shoved him away and paced the room. She stopped briefly, inhaling deeply the cigarette between her
lips. Finally she said. Get up we are leaving
Going where? I told Morgan I was eating over his house. The look he got was incredulous. He thought
she was going to hit him but she grabbed his arm again and walked out the front door, not bothering to close it
behind.
They arrived at the motel shortly after. A run down strip of single room shacks that pretended to be
accommodating. He stayed in the car as his mother checked in at the front desk. He had noticed on the short drive
over that she had already packed her stuff. There was nothing for him. They walked into the room and she put her
stuff on the bed, saying nothing. He watched her unpack several notebooks and small bottles of liquid. He had seen
them all before, not sure what each one did however. She went to the dresser with a cracked mirror hanging above
and before he knew it he saw his three friends before him within the broken glass.
Well see how much he knows motioning for him to sit on the bed.

His friends one by one began walking into his house calling his name. They walked through his living room
and into his kitchen. They each motioned to the roast cooking in the oven and he wondered if they would turn it off,
less the house burn down. No doubt his mother had been cooking it for something she was creating, surely not to
eat.
They watched in silence as they searched his home. It wasnt until Nick left the house and went outside that
he became nervous.
Morgan and Ethan sat in his room, talking about the bag in his closet. Of course Ethan being his usual self
went into the closet which caused a cascade of towels and clothes to come crashing out.
Then it happened. The bottles crashing to the floor, the smoke, and then Morgan disappeared. His mother
by this time had gotten up from the bed and began frantically flipping through one of her many books and cursing
aloud.
Where is he? He asked his mother, perturbed . The stuff he had in his closet wasnt dangerous per say,
though any time you mixed things together you would tend to have strange reactions. He gathered this was one of
them.
I told you not to talk about this to anyone. I have no goddamn idea where the hell your friend is
It took her about two hours to finally speak to him again. I dont know how he ended up in the forest She said, the
mirror now showing him running at a sprinter's pace through the woods.
He could hear what sounded like sirens going off in the distance in the woods as his friend dodged tree after
tree. Suddenly the image on the mirror was gone. His mother went back to the corner and sat, not saying a word.
It wasnt until now, Wednesday that they left, or at least his mother left. She had come out in the middle of
the night as he slept in the passenger seat of the Dodge Colt and told him to get out. When he got out, his mother put
all her bags in the back seat, got inside, put the car in reverse and drove away. Leaving him confused and more than
a little annoyed.
It was still summer but the nights were getting colder. He didnt have a jacket, which was at home. He
looked around and saw no cars on the road, not a single person about and the street light overhead was flickering
and was soon out, leaving him in the dark. He started walking down the street. Cold, tired and pissed off. It was 3:30
in the morning and the city was silent. Quincy Massachusetts wasnt the worst city you could be stuck in late at
night but certainly not the best. He figured he was in a safe enough area that he neednt worry.
He walked along the empty streets, not in any particular hurry to get anywhere. Looking occasionally
inside a window shop, out of boredom if not for any other reason. The streets were littered with trash and empty
soda cans, which he gingerly kicked down the road. He soon came to the heart of the small city. Office buildings
now dwarfed him on all sides. The sidewalks were now swept and maintained. He saw the Stop & Shop
headquarters, a 12 story office tower two blocks away. The higher floors were lit and he could see workers milling
about. When he arrived at the front desk a security guard in a bored manner told him they were closed.
I just need to use the phone he told the pudgy black man in a suit and tie who sat behind the large desk
with security monitors flashing various images of the building. He wasnt even sure who he was going to call. His
aunt was out of the question. He could call Nick, he thought. They werent the best of friends but it was someone.

The security guard looked at him with some sense of recognition but said nothing. He began flipping
through a newspaper, looking back and forth at Ted and the pages.
Youre one of those kid, the ones on the news he said.
The news? Oh no! Were people looking for him? He thought about it. Obviously he had assumed that
people were out searching for Morgan. Him, Nick and Ethan were the last ones to see him and hed been gone since
Saturday, the day Morgan went missing. His mother had left with him in such a hurry he hadnt told anyone he was
going. He wondered if Nick and Ethan had told the police anything about the bag in his room. He knew his mother
had taken it with her when they left the house but Morgan and Ethan had left behind a room of broken glass and
sticky liquid.
Whats your name The security guard asked him, getting up from his seat and walking around the desk
towards him.
Ted suddenly panicked thinking that somehow this man may know what happened with Morgan. Maybe the
police told everyone that he was dangerous or something. Could they possibly really know how Morgan had
disappeared that day?
He thought better of it though, better to be safe than sorry. He ran out the revolving doors into the night.
The security guard gave chase, following him for nearly half a mile as Ted ducked from alleyway to alleyway finally
losing him behind a dumpster. Ted could hear the man huffing and puffing as he walked away.
He crouched behind the dumpster for a half hour, emerging into the brisk nights air, cold and tired. He had
never felt more alone than he did at that moment. The one person he could count on was dead. His other two friends
had probably been spilling their guts to the cops about all the stuff in his house and how Morgan disappeared in his
bedroom. Although the potions were mixed, it wouldnt take much investigating to find out that some of the bottles
had not so legal stuff in them. One, that he had mixed a few months ago had called for cocaine and that was more
than enough to at least get him sent to juvie, even if it was just for the potion
He hid in the shadows, whenever he would see headlights coming down the road he would dart between
buildings or a tree to avoid being seen. He felt like a criminal. He almost felt responsible for Morgan's death. Had he
told him of at least how dangerous the stuff in the bag was, maybe he wouldnt have gone looking for it again or
even mentioned it to Nick and Ethan. Then again, if Ethan hadnt gone snooping in the first place, knocking
everything out of his closet then maybe Morgan would still be alive. It was easy to play the blame game though after
the fact. In truth though, his mother was right. He should have never brought it up to Morgan in the first place.
The sun was starting to peek through the clouds. Soft purple and pink hues filled the sky. He had probably
walked 8 miles since leaving the Stop & Shop building and his legs felt it. Each step burned his calves and thighs
but he knew he couldn't stop. He was too open to everything and everyone, around here. He needed to go
somewhere where he could hide and try to get some sleep. Sleep would have to wait though. It was becoming more
and more crowded on the streets and harder and harder to avoid the passing cars. He struggled to reach the top of
the hill he was climbing but once at the top he was able to see a large cemetery below. That would have to do for
now he thought, creepy as it may be. Arriving at the bottom of the hill he found only a locked gate into the
graveyard. He sat down on the sidewalk, defeated, wondering where to go next when he spotted a police car driving
towards him. He couldnt be sure if they had seen him yet but even so he looked around him and realized that there
was nowhere to hide. So he sat motionless, hoping that the cop car would just drive by him. It did, at first. Going
nearly 50 yards to the stop light before turning around with its lights on.

Ted panicked and began to run. The cop car with the obvious advantage. There were no alleyways or
buildings to dart to this time around. The cemetery was on his left with a large brick and an abandoned construction
site surrounded by barbed wire fence that went on for nearly 3 blocks across the street. The only option was to try to
run as fast as he could straight down the road.
Stop!! Stop running Ted He heard a voice blare over the sirens. He turned around to see how far they had
gained on him, still running as fast as his legs would allow. That was when he ran face first into the large oak on
Summer St.
The police had taken him to the hospital after he had knocked himself out. He woke up in the hospital bed,
wishing and hoping everything had just been a bad dream. He quickly realized it wasnt however, as his mother
came walking into the room.
Ohh my sweet boy She cried out, tears streaming down her face. He wasnt sure what the act was all
about.
His head hurt. And he absolutely no idea what was going on.Hospital equipment buzzed and beeped around
and his only thought now was sleep.
It turns out his mother had told the detectives that his aunt was supposed to be watching him while she
went away. She had somehow convinced her sister to go along with the story. His aunt went into great detail on
how she had come home and thought that the two of them had just gone on away on a trip for a few days. When the
police had come to the house previously to question her she really didnt know where Ted and his mom were, so it
sort of made sense. Why the police didnt question further he never knew.
Ted's mom claimed he had just run away after Morgan had gone missing. Saying they had been in a fight
over a basketball game. Again with the dumb lies he thought.
The Pine Hollow Police will want to talk to him once he gets home a uniformed officer told his mother as
they were getting ready to leave.
Of course they will she said, grabbing Teds arm, gripping it hard, leading him out of the observation
room.
The car ride home was silent. They arrived back in Pine Hollow at about 5 in the evening and saw a car
parked in their driveway.
A tall man with jet black hair and a pencil thin mustache stood outside of his car smoking a cigarette. He
flicked the cigarette when he saw them pulling up the driveway and walked towards them.
What the fuck is this his mother cursed at him through the closed car windows.
As they got out of the Dodge Colt, the officer held the door open for his mother, who shooed him away.
Evening maam. Sorry to catch you so soon, with your son coming home and all but I was hoping to ask
him a few questions if I could?
Teds mom looked at Ted with squinted eyes as if warning him to shut his mouth .Sure officer, not a problem at all

They walked into his kitchen and Ted was instantly shocked. Everything was spotless. The dishes in the
sink had been done, the floor had a nice shine to it as if it had been waxed repeatedly. His mom offered the detective
a drink.
Coffee would be great if its not too much
He watched as his mother went and made him his coffee. He watched in awe as she meticulously made the
coffee for the officer. She never made coffee, to drink anyways, so he was surprised at how willing she was to
oblige. It wasnt until the officer started asking questions that he realized that she had drugged him.
Ted I need to ask where you where for three days This was the first question. Completely normal. He
watched his mom's eyes, looking straight at him. He dare not say anything about Morgan disappearing from his
room.
Im sorry. Me and Morgan got into a fight last weekend. He told me he hated me and I ran off and went up
to Quincy
The officer wrote everything down into a large notebook and asked.
How did you get there, must been have far to fly Ted didnt understand what he meant. Fly?
He looked at him confused and decided to just ask him. What do you mean far to fly
The cop looked at him dumbfounded. Look its not then I wont He wasnt sure what his mother had
given him but he was now not making any sense at all. He continued to ask question after question and Ted not
answering any of them, just giving him confused looks. Each sentence out of his mouth more ridiculous than the
last.
Jigs bosun wilberberry Franken tooth He asked him. Ted said nothing. Yet he continued to write in his
notebook like Ted was giving him the answers to all his questions. Before long the detective got up, thanked his
mother and left the house.
As the officer drove away, his mother looked at him and said It shouldnt have to be this way Ted. If I
could trust you, I wouldnt have to do bad things to people.
The words she said stung him like a thousand bees at once. Bad things to people Had she killed Morgan?
It didnt sound like she was talking about what had just happened to the cop.He got up from the kitchen table and
walked passed his mother and went up to his room. The room had been completely cleaned; there was nothing on
the floor anymore but solid shiny wood. His bed was made and opening his closet door, everything was neatly
folded the way it always had been and there, right on top of all of his clothes, was the duffle bag, filled with all of
his potions.