{ Dylan in Sidebar }
CHAPTER 6
Thethree of us run out of school, unsure of how we’re going to get to our destination. ‘Wait stop,’ Glaze and I turn around to face Jude, ‘how are we going to get there. Dylan and I walked to school, how did you get here Glaze?’
‘In a car,’ Glaze said finally after looking back and forth between us.
‘Lead the way then,’ I stated. Glaze hesitated before breaking of into a sprint in the direction of her car. We took many turns and curves before reaching Glaze’s car. We stop in front of a row of vehicles; she took the keys out of her pocket and clicked the unlock button. Bright lights flashed from a cherry red Volkswagen kombi. Just by glancing at the car you could tell it was very old. It looked as if it had been past down generation to generation. Glaze turned a deep beetroot red and admitted, ‘My Dad can’t afford to buy a new car, and it’s all I have.’
‘It’s awesome!’ Jude yelled with a big smiled plastered on his face. I looked between my best friend and my new friend. Such an odd combination. One so shy and quiet, afraid she would be judged on her thoughts and opinions. The other loud and obnoxious, never knowing when enough is enough. ‘Glaze you drive, it’s your car,’ I directed to her. She nodded and climbed into the driver’s seat, settling herself into the chair and turning the car on. ‘SHOT GUN!’ I whirl around to see Jude racing towards the front seat. I let him pass and see him ease himself into the front seat. I open the back door and scramble into the back seat. Both Glaze and Jude’s heads turn towards me and ask simultaneously, ‘Where are we going?’
‘I’ll tell you the directions and you will follow, understand?’
‘Let me guess, we’re going to your parent’s grave,’ Jude speaks.
‘No.’
‘Then which grave are we going to?’ Glaze inquires sweetly.
‘My brother’s.’
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As soon as Glaze drove the car into a parking space I rushed out and walked towards the graveyard. I could hear Glaze and Jude calling my name, I wanted to stop but my feet dragged me forward. A part of me knew I had to keep moving and find out the truth, the other part of me wanted to stop and take a breath, figure out what is going on in my life. I don’t have time for that though. Glaze and Jude catch up to me and walk besides me silently. It stays that way until we reach my brother’s grave. His tombstone is old and a little chipped away. No one visits anymore meaning all the flowers have withered and died. We all stand quietly until Glaze whispers, ‘How?’ I turn to face Glaze and her face is full of confusion and worry. Jude is looking between Glaze and I, wondering whether or not I will tell her. ‘This is my twin, Vaughn, one night he was sleeping in his bed and the next…he disappeared…or something like that.’ I said. Glaze looks at me pity in her eyes; she opens her eyes about to say something when I cut her off, ‘I don’t even remember him…I don’t really have a connection to him.’ Glaze shut her mouth and returned looking at the tombstone, ‘Now what?’ she asked.
‘We’re at the grave, now we have to go right,’ Jude says.
‘No, we can skip that I know where we’re going,’ I state. I start walking in the direction of the elm tree, of my elm tree. This is the elm tree my parents and I would sit under when we visited my brother. It was like our little sanctuary that would prevent people from looking at us with pity eyes and giving us their condolences. As soon as we reached the elm tree I looked up. The elm tree had grown so much, the leaves looked even less olive then usual and the tree bark was beginning to peel. I turned around to see Jude sitting there impatiently and Glaze gazing up with amazement in her dark mysterious eyes.
‘Now what?’ Jude raised confused and pissed off.
‘I’ll be honest with you…I don’t know,’ I responded.
‘There has to be something around here,’ Glazer said trying to increase our spirit. I stared around trying to find something that would grab my attention. When I saw Vaughn tombstone and the etching engraved into it. ‘The key is hidden beneath the surface.’ Suddenly I remembered…
FLASHBACK
‘Son pass me the box.’ A small boy with blonde hair waddled over to a small wooden box with a gigantic metal lock on it. ‘Here Dada,’ the little boy burbled stumbling over a bit while carrying the heavy box to his Father. Once he handed it to him the toddler sat down and looked up at his Father. ‘Daddy, what’s in there?’ The Father looked up at his son and gave him half a smile. ‘Things that belonged to your brother and might be helpful in the future.’ The child nodded and watched as his Father buried the timber box right under the elm tree. The Dad looked up once again to his fair son and said, ‘Don’t tell Mum we did this, OK? This will be our little secret.’ The boy gave his Father a big grin and nodded placing his finger to his lips making a shh sign. The two men stayed quiet while the Father placed the box into the gap and began digging the dirt back into the hole.
END OF FLASHBACK
‘Dylan, Dylan are you there man?’ Jude said shaking my shoulders. I blinked and my vision became clearer as I saw Jude standing in front me a crease between his eyebrows and Glaze standing behind him with a worried look across her face. After standing there for a few seconds I realized the two were waiting for an answer.
‘Come back at midnight tonight and bring a shovel and a bolt cutter.’
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Action"It's good to be different." Dylan is a special kind of person. Ever since his parents died in a freak 'accident', he's been looking into their death. With the help of his crazy best-friend Jude and beau...
