Chapter 10

                                  ~~~    Cyrus's Point of View    ~~~

    On our way back to Goldfinch, the only thing we could do was sleep. Jack and I switched places a couple of times while one of us drive and the other sleeps. It was a 6 and a half hours drive back to Goldfinch. We expected the black cars to follow us on our way back like they did the last two times, but there was no sign of them. Right the second we got to the hospital we ran to my mother's room. She was lying on the bed while my dad was sitting on one of the chairs. They were both asleep and we didn't want to wake them up so we decided on getting some breakfast until then.

We are currently on our way to the cafeteria to eat something while my parents rest. I barely said two words on our way to the hospital and until now. I can tell my friends are concerned about me but I can't think of that right now. The only thing I can think of is how to get rid of this evil man.

"Hey, honey, I have missed you so much," Alice's father, Mr. Henry surprises me by speaking very sweetly as he walks over to the table we are seated in. No 'Where have you been?!'? No 'Are you okay?!'?

"Hey, dad? I missed you too. What are you doing here?" Alice asks when he seats in front of us,

"Cyrus, I am so sorry. I am sure Josephine will be just fine, kid," he says rubbing the back of my hand trying to make me feel better. The only thing it makes me feel is worse. I blink trying to keep the tears from falling,

"Thank you," I whisper back to Mr. Henry,

"Alice, um...Theo called, he is coming into town today and he will be staying with us for some time," Mr. Henry says. Theo sounds kind of familiar, but I don't know where-,

"Uncle Theo?!" Alice yells making my eyes go wide. Aka the Silent Man.

"Why are you shocked?" Mr. Henry asks as I pocked her under the table so she won't say anything,

"Nothing, it's just been a while since he came. I just missed him is all," she clarifies,

"Yeah well, he says he misses you too. Anyway, I have got to go pick him up right now. I was just here to check on Josephine. Would you want to come with me to pick him up or do you want to stay?" Mr. Henry hesitantly says,

"No dad, I will stay here with Cyrus," she smiles at me which I return back,

"Okay," Mr. Henry says as he walks away,

"Wait!" she yells making him stop on his tracks,

"What's wrong?" concern is written on his face,

        She runs and hugs him tightly and says, "Be careful, dad," tears spill out of her eyes and Mr. Henry wipes it away with his thumb,

"I will and always am, don't worry about me, honey. You be careful," he says,

"I will," she lets go smiling at him and walking back to the table as he makes his out of the cafeteria,

"Okay, no I must be having a nightmare," Alice says,

"This isn't true. You guys heard something different right?" she utters,

"I don't understand what is going on," Jack says making us look at him in shock,

"What?" he says confused,

"Have you been living under a rock," Sally continues, "Alice's uncle is coming into town. Uncle Theo. Her dad is going to pick him up right now," She says shaking her head at Jack,

"So what? Her uncle is coming into town, and?" Sally smacks the back of his head making us laugh for a second. For that slightest second, it seemed as everything was just normal,

"Ow!" he scowls,

"Her uncle. Uncle Theo. Aka the Silent Man. Aka the guy, Cyrus killed," Sally yells making my eyes go wide,

"Shut your mouth, Sally," I look around to check if anyone heard but everyone seems to be minding their own businesses,

"Sorry," she says,

"Wait how is he alive then?" Jack asks,

"That's what we are trying to figure out," Alice answers terror written on her face,

"Okay, we will maybe your mom might help us figure this out. Let's check on her," Jack says as we start walking to the room she is staying in,

"How would she help us? Do you have a plan?" we walk to the door and stop to talk before going in,

"No not a plan, but maybe she might tell us who shot her? Even if not tell us like exactly who it is, she can explain somethings about him, like his hair color or eye color and stuff. If it's the same as her uncle's then... I don't know we will do whatever is next," he says as he enters the room,

"Son," dad says running and engulfing me with the biggest hug,

"Dad, I am okay. I am totally fine," I say looking back at my friends who seem to be standing awkwardly at the door,

"Did you just get here? Have you eaten? How long have you been driving? Where did you stay before you came here?" Dad says completely worried clearly,

"Dad, relax. I am totally fine. We got here in the morning when you were sleeping so we went to the cafeteria to eat something. We haven't been driving that long. Just 6 and a half hours. We stayed at this friendly town before we came here," I turned around to smile at my friends at the last part and they smiled back knowingly,

"I am glad. They said Josephine will be fine. She will wake up soon. We will just have to wait a little," Dad says walking back to his chair,

"Mr. Issac, do you happen to know what time she was shot?" Jack says taking a seat beside me,

"I am not so sure. It was around 11:30 that her friend called me to tell me the news," Dad says shaking his head,

"But dad, if you saw the note, why did you leave her alone in the house?" I ask,

"I told her to come to the station with me, but she said she will be fine. I told her it was safer there, but you know your mother. She is pretty stubborn, she said no. I couldn't forcefully drag her out of the house. I had to rush to the station cause someone brought in the same note as hers," he has his head down the whole time he says that,

"Hey dad, we are going to go get some coffee. Would you like anything?" I ask him more of wanting to go out so I could talk to my friends alone,

"Just get me coffee. That's all I need," he says just because I asked,

"Dad, you haven't eaten breakfast. I am going to bring you something to eat too with coffee," I say getting up to get out after hearing him mumble a 'thanks'.

We walked to the cafeteria in silence and bought dad's breakfast and coffee for all of us. As soon as we got out of the cafeteria I say,

                                                                "I am going to tell him everything. Maybe they have a way of connecting everything more than us. You know except for your uncle,"

"I agree, but as you said, don't include my uncle before we clarify anything," Alice replies,

"Guys?" I turn around to Sally and Jack,

"Sure I guess. I mean they are better than us," Sally says and Jack nods agreeing,

"Alright let's go," I lead them back to the room, ready to spill out anything and everything that happened.

"Here you go," I say giving dad his food and coffee as I get in the room,

"Thank you," he says back,

"Dad, there's something we need to talk about," I say,

"What is it?" his expression changes into worry as soon as the words came out of my mouth,

"Um...This whole thing happened at school. On Monday. We were at school but the hallways were surprisingly empty. We thought that we were late so we just went our separate ways and walked to class though unfortunately, Alice and I got kidnapped," his eyes go wide as he hears that, but I continue, "We tried to run but not before they caught us. Then they put something looking like a napkin on our mouth and we passed out. When we woke up, we found ourselves in this white and bright room, tied to the chair we were sitting in. Then we saw this man in front of us. His back was turned to us so we couldn't see his face. Then he was like 'any last words?'. He was going to kill us. And I am so sorry dad but I had a gun. I took a gun out of your bag just to protect myself and my friends. So I shot the guy three times and we somehow managed to get the rope off our hands and legs and got out. We called Jack and Sally so they could pick us up while we fought the guards and got out. Right when we were about to get out, this guy shot the window in front of me and the window shattered and a piece got in my stomach," I say as I lift up my shirt to show him the scar and his eyes go wide when he saw my scar, "They helped me in the car and we drove away to Sally's uncle since he is a doctor. On our way there, I passed out cause I was losing too much blood. Then I woke up while we were driving and my stomach was stitched and done. We were about to go back home but not before we saw two black cars following us out of nowhere. So we tried to get as far away from them as possible. They shot the back window of Jack's car. And they kept shooting but their attempt didn't seem like to kill us. They were trying more to stop us. So I pulled out the gun and shot the tires of one of the cars which completely stopped. They were going really fast so right when one of the cars stopped, the other one hit the back of the one that stopped. They both stayed there and we got as further away from them as possible. It was pretty dark when we were a hundred percent sure they weren't following us so we got a hotel for the night and stayed there. The morning after, we ate our breakfasts and got back on the road once again to come back to Goldfinch,"

"Well, let's just say, we only went like two miles before we saw the same black cars following us again. That's when we called you for help. Then they threw a rock in the car with a note that said that we got no help anymore and that they got you and your crew. They told us that if we left town and went to Geonfourche, they would let you go and no one was going to get harmed. So we did. It was such a weird town,"

"The 1920s town?" Dad says laughing slightly,

"Yeah, you know it?" I ask surprised that anyone would know it,

"Yeah, I visited it once. It's pretty cool," he says,

"Well, we bought drinks but they didn't accept our money cause they thought it was forged. They thought that we were making excuses by saying that it was 2019 so we don't pay so they just let us go without paying. Then while we were looking for a place to stay in, this friendly man let us in his house and told us that he was from the city and was just here to visit. He let us stay there for the night but before we even could you called us. And well, that's pretty much what's new for the past two days. And dad, as I told you, it was just for protection that I took the gun. I wasn't trying to steal anything from you. I am so sor-" I was cut off before I could finish,

"I am proud of you. Why do you think I thought you how to shoot perfectly? Just so you could play around with it? No, for self-defense like this. And I don't mind you taking the gun for this kind of stuff unless you play around with it, which I fully believe you don't," he says

"Of course, definitely not," I say,

"Hey guys," mom says waking up,

"Mom are you okay," I say at the same time as dad holding either side of her hands,

"I feel better, thank you," she says smiling.

We took a break from the topic of the Silent Man and talked about other things to make her feel better. We bought her favorite Caramel Cappuccino and sat there talking and laughing once again like nothing ever happened and everything was normal.

"Mom, can I ask you a question?" I ask getting back to the topic of the Silent Man,

"Yes, sure," she says as she sips her Caramel Cappuccino,

"Do you remember what he looks like? The man who shot you?" I am ready to get back to reality more than anything,

"It was dark but I saw his eyes. They were blue. Crystal blue just like Alice's," she says pointing at Alice's eyes as Alice looked like she was about to explode out of madness,

"And his hair? How tall is he?" I dig trying to get more information out of her,

"He had light brown hair. And he was probably just as tall as you," she says,

"Do you remember anything else?" I ask as if that wasn't enough information,

"No, those are the only things I remember. He had blue eyes, light brown hair and as tall as you,"

That's it. It is him. The one and only, uncle Theo.

.

Also known as the man that kidnapped us.

.

Also known as the man coming over to stay in Alice's house for long.

.

Also known as the man that shot my mom.

.

Also known as, The Silent Man...