How to Kill a Man in Thirty Seconds

Chapter 18: The Last Supper?

Fear filled me initially, my heart quickening in my chest but I relaxed when I noticed he was not alone.

A young boy accompanied him. The boy appeared about my age, and was frail, with knobbly arms and legs. His black hair was short cropped and his long face had a pale complexion, his pale blue eyes sunken into his skull.

He appeared a bit sick.

"Charley, this is my brother Ethan," Isaac told me with a smile as he swung his arm over the boy's shoulder, "Ethan, this is Charley. You might remember her from when you were little?"

"No, brother," Ethan laughed. He then added under his breath, "And I'm sure she'd feel very awkward if I did." I laughed, instantly liking him. He seemed to be a jovial kid and by the manner in which Isaac chuckled every time he uttered something, the old man seemed to think so too.

It was not long before we had made ourselves comfortable in the living room. I had been worried about which safe topic to dwell on, until mum arrived to save me, but I realized then I had fretted in vain.

Ethan Evans liked to talk a lot.

He began by dissing Isaac as a teacher, then as a brother and then as a man.

"Do you know, this one time last year," Ethan told me, grinning from ear to ear, "at our little cousin sister's birthday party, he ate all her cake and got kneed in the groin by a five year old."

Isaac's hung his head in shame, before he laughed, "I apologized, Ethan. I really didn't know it was the kid's birthday cake; they hadn't put the candles on it yet!"

I burst into laughter, watching the brothers' playful banter. Regardless of his brother's creepy vibes, I was starting to like this kid.

Dinner was a surprisingly pleasant affair.

Afterwards, I found myself sitting by the kitchen table, exhausted. My fingers fumbled into my pocket for the photograph I had recently discovered, and I gazed at it in silence. Mum and Isaac were talking outside while Ethan had informed me that he felt drained. The poor boy looked it too, so I had offered my bed up for a quick nap.

It was while I was lost in my own thoughts that the front door opened and Isaac wandered in, clutching a glass of wine in his hand. With his haphazard walk and unfocused eyes, he had apparently drunk a little too much. I wasn't sure if it was the smartest conclusion but after some good conversation, I was beginning to believe that Isaac could quite possibly be a decent man; he really did seem to be awkward around any kid besides his brother, which made his questionable actions towards me... somehow less questionable.

"Your mum's got a call from work," he informed me with a sigh, before grabbing a stool and planting himself on the opposite side of the counter. His gaze fell on the photograph I had been staring at and he reached out to take it, his gaze flickering over the familiar faces on it.

"I forgot we took this," a smile, tainted with sadness, suddenly appeared, "I remember this day. It was a good day."

"Were these my father's closest friends?" I asked curiously, and added excitedly when he nodded, "What were their names? What were they like? Tell me everything."

His gaze shot to me, gaze filled with surprise and I sank back into my seat like I had been slapped, "Sorry, I'm just really curious."

"No, no," his hand shook drunkenly in the air, "Don't apologize." Isaac didn't look away for a second before his gaze flickered back to the picture. "Hmm..." he grinned, "If you really do want to know..."

He suddenly jabbed his finger at Morgan, and once he had started, there was no stopping him, "do you know this man was a real badass when he was younger? Always skipped school, missed every exam." Isaac grinned innocently like a child that had remembered it was Christmas. Exhilaration filled his face as long forgotten memories rushed back, "Morgan used to ride this big motorcycle around so fast we were positive he would end up killing someone. Hell, Charley, he used to smoke and drink in the school backyard even though you could get beat up for it back in the day. He was like that all the way into college until he dropped out. He was the kid that everyone feared, but secretly envied just the same."

He let out a long sigh, "Morgan's come a long way since then."

I frowned, "What about the two women?"

"That's Samantha," Isaac replied, pointing at the blonde haired woman, "We called her Sam. She was pretty much Morgan's partner in crime." He chuckled upon remembering, "She was one of those people who just loved being young and living in the moment, I guess. Sam was head cheerleader, and probably the most popular girl I knew. She was always so happy, it made us really want to be around her." He swallowed, "Problem was when we all grew up, and she wasn't ready to move on from high school. You know, Charley, even until the day he died, your dad was trying to help her."

I didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but Isaac didn't wait to explain either.

"The other lady is Valeria," he added referring to the woman with the raven black hair. She was looking directly at the camera with her inky black eyes. Even in the picture, she seemed to carry an aura of fearlessness which made my hairs rise on end.

"To be honest, none of us really knew too much about her," Isaac admitted, and my brows rose in surprise, "She moved into town across the border from Mexico, during the last year of high school. I remember Anthony was always closer to her than any one of us was. The two were very ambitious so they hit it off well together I think. But the rest of us, we never really got her."

Saying so, Isaac downed the rest of his wine in one swift motion. 

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A/N- Thank you SO MUCCHHHH for all the likes and comments! They have made me very happy! Thank you so much for finding this story and reading it, especially for coming this far with Charley!

To be honest, I don't know if I'm going too slow with the mystery but I think things will definitely get more interesting when Anthony's friends come into the story. I'm so excited!

So many doubts come into my mind while I'm writing this, about whether its good enough or if I'm just wasting my precious time, but all of your feedback just keep me going<3<3

But I'm open for constructive criticism too :D

Will update soon!

Mindy.