End Wars: A Hi5 Studios Story

Brandon's Story: Chapter 11

*Wood's P.O.V*

Chills tingled down my spine, making me involuntarily shiver. My breathing became erratic, my heart beating wildly. 

"Brandon," I said, my voice cracking on the way out. 

I turned around to face him, willing my body to stop shaking, but my hands, which were upward in a defeated way, shook so hard I had to put my hands down.

Brandon moved closer, his hand on the holster of his gun. 

Matt and I walked quickly backwards, terrified of what he might do. 

"Wait! Wait!" I exclaimed, my eyes wide with both fear and anger. 

My body was filled with adrenaline, and I decided I needed to try and talk Brandon out of whatever he wanted to do with us.

Brandon paused, looking at me like a lost little puppy he found on the streets. I didn't believe he was pitiful. Not at all.

"Brandon, please. Don't hurt us. If you didn't want Matt to find anything or see anything, you shouldn't have taken him with you in the first place!" I yelled at him, my voice finally finding strength enough to not have it crack.

Brandon looked at Matt, then back at me. I could tell he was angry with me for saying that, but then his eyes relaxed. He gestured toward Matt. 

"I just wanted to be friendly, show Matt around my establishment. I didn't think he would start snooping around!"

I scoffed, laughing, though nobody else joined me. "So you wanted to just show Matt around? Why not anyone else, huh? You got something planned, Brandon?"

He sneered at me, shaking his head so his blonde, curly hair flapped across his face, covering his blue eye. "If I did have something planned, I wouldn't just tell you." He paused, a thoughtful look across his face. "That would be a very stupid idea. And I'm not stupid."

I paused, looking around the room, but it was completely empty. I didn't know what to say next. The adrenaline that had washed over me was almost gone. I could feel it leaving, draining me of energy. 

My eyes darted back to Brandon, and a single thought crossed my mind, but then I immediately decided against it. 

"I could fight him," I thought. But then my eyes went to his gun, and I knew that wouldn't be possible. Before I even got to where he was, he could grab his gun and shoot me and Matt in a matter of seconds. Okay, so bad idea.

"You don't need to kill us, Brandon," Matt said, his voice soft and quiet. I could tell by his voice that he was nervous. Don't blame him. I was nervous too. "We won't tell anyone what you're planning to do."

I scolded him in my head for saying that, but kept my face composed. We needed to keep Brandon off the fact that we knew something abut what he was going to do and focus on something else. But I didn't interject. I let the conversation continue.

Brandon chuckled, his laugh echoing across the room. "Oh yeah? I don't need to kill you?" He laughed some more, his hand covering his mouth as he was giggling. "Well if I let this important information get out, I will no longer have a job."  

There was silence for a moment, then Matt asked, "What job?" 

Inwardly I sighed. Really Matt? We needed to try and get off this topic and out of this place, not keep him on this. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. Maybe Matt had a different plan than I did. Maybe I'll just follow his lead, try to figure out where he was going with this tactic.

Brandon shook his head and sighed, his hand moving towards the hair that was covering his right eye. He moved his hair so it was no longer covering his eye and then he looked at Matt, then at me, then back at Matt. "You see, I didn't start this establishment. One of my superiors did. I won't tell you who my superior was, but let's just say he figured something out. Something very good for our company. Something that would change everything." He paused, looking down at the floor sadly. 

"What was this 'something'?" Matt asked. I could tell from his voice that he was curious. Ever since I worked at Hi-5 Studios,  I could always tell when curiosity overcame his fear. He was almost always curious. Anything that didn't make sense or was out of place, he always wanted to find out more. I was like that too, that's why he hired me. 

"You don't need to know that right now. You'll learn more things later. I promise." 

Something about the way he said this made me anxious. It sounded eerie, like he knew something probably not good was going to happen.

"Anyway, this superior of mine, who I was very fond of by the way, he died mysteriously on the day I was promoted to a high-level security guard."

Matt paused, his eyes narrowing. "H-How did he die?" 

Brandon paused, looking melancholy. "They told me it was a car crash. That he had been drinking and veered off the road and hit a tree." Brandon paused again. "But I knew better. I knew that something had happened."

I scoffed, nervous energy rushed through me. I started laughing. "Okay, so what? Why are you telling us this?"

He rolled his eyes, his eyes darted to me. "You were always a slow one, weren't you Woods?"

"Wait," Matt said, his voice with a hint of doubt. His eyes went to my back. I could feel he was staring daggers into my back. "How do you know Brandon, Woods?" 

I couldn't speak. I couldn't tell him. I couldn't tell Matt that I used to be friends with this guy. Then he will no longer trust me.

"Okay, Matt, I knew him okay? But I hate him now. You know that!" 

Matt ignored me, his eyes going to Brandon. "Okay, Brandon. So, what's going to happen to us? What are you going to do know that we know your big secret?" 

Brandon smiled, and he looked like a clown, his smile went all the way up his cheeks. He stared at me, malice in his eyes. "Something's going to happen to you. And it's way worse than what happened to my superior."