Graffiti Boy

Chapter 9 - The Suicide Incident

I was going to die.

Well at least pretend to.

I wasn't allowed to say goodbye.

In order to make my suicide appear as realistic as possible, I needed the appropriate reactions from Riley and Blair. I thought it was sadistic, Eli and Dad, however, thought it was an ingenious plan.

I don't know who or what on earth implanted the idea into Eli's mind but Eli figured that if Xavier thought I was no one longer alive, then the threats would disappear and I'd be all right. And if the threats didn't stop then we would be able to figure what Xavier was after.

There was just one small little problem.

I wasn't allowed to leave my house.

If anyone saw me, word would get around and Xavier would know I was still alive. So I was house arrested. The only people I could see were Dad and Eli. In fact, Eli had somehow convinced Dad that he should move in with us temporarily. Next thing we knew, Eli had claimed the guest room.

I had "killed myself" after coming home from my birthday party. Dad and Eli had (now this is going to sound completely morbid) went to a morgue and found a fairly recently killed girl who looked similar to me. The girl had the relatively same petite figure as I did, the same dark brown hair and she even had hazel eyes. Her facial features would have been a concern, but it seemed like whoever killed her had done everything they could to demolish her face.

Eli and I hung out in Dad's room until all the reporter's had finally left our house. Dad told the reporters a bunch of lies. He'd told them that he came home and found me lying face down on our driveway. Then realized that I wasn't breathing and lifted my head and saw that my entire face was bruised and bleeding.

I felt guilty about everything we were doing but Dad and Eli assured me it was for the greater good.

The next morning, news of my death had spread across our small city.

The news reporters claimed that I killed myself because I was missing my mother. I never enjoyed watching the news because in Victoria the only thing you'd see on the news is death, suicide, or murder. Today, however, I watched it for a good hour.

It hurt me to see Riley, her eyes bloodshot from crying, she was sobbing and screaming. Blair was there too, her eyes were swollen. I was surprised to see Adam and Stiles were crying too. I didn't think they thought of me to be such a good friend of theirs. I also found Scarlett sobbing, she was saying things like "I never thought she would kill herself." I couldn't tell if she was faking it or not. I had never gotten the chance to ask Eli if she was working for Xavier or just totally psychotic.

The only benefit that came from all of this?

I didn't have to worry about studying for my exams.

➸

After coming home from my birthday party, Eli and I had squeezed in another training session. He had kicked my ass, again. Today we were going to continue to train, what with me having all this free time to just lay around. Today, however, I was determined to get back at him.

I threw a punch towards Eli's jaw, he narrowly dodged the blow. I elbowed him in the collarbone. He gasped in pain. I swung a fist at his chest, causing him to stumble back. I kicked his shin. I was about to strike another fist when Eli grabbed my arm, the one that had gotten stitches and an idea hit me.

"Ow, Eli, you're hurting me," I cried, lying.

Eli's eyes widened with concern and he immediately let go of me, "Are you o-"