Forlot: True and False - Book Four {Completed}

Chapter Ten

My mouth dropped open. So did Gretel's and Nigel's. Did that girl say what I think that she just said?

Margie pulled away from the hug and gripped her sister's shoulders. "A-a murder?" she stammered. "As in...someone was killed? Here? In Forlot?"

She nodded. "And it was Hugo. Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Hawk, Sarah, the monsters, and I were watching a new show that was airing, when the news interrupted the program. It was breaking news. The reporter revealed details about the situation. There was a murder at the Zeolex lab. The body was identified as Hugo Maxwell. We could not believe it."

"I...I cannot imagine that. H-how was he killed?"

"From a gunshot wound. He was shot in the chest. On the side where his heart is. There was no way that he would be able to survive that. And they found a gun near him."

Margie covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. She muffled, "What a way to die."

More people scurried out of the mansion and over to us. We saw Nigel's mom and his sister, a human boy, another human girl, and...monsters?!

I thought that I was mistaken. I thought that my own eyes were playing tricks on me.

But no.

There were four ghosts. Three puppets. A huge wolf. A tall guy with a sword. And they all looked scary.

"Ah!" I cried, pointing at the group of monsters. "Monsters!" My sister and I hugged each other tightly.

Nigel was also shocked to see monsters. He began walking backwards, and then tripped - he must have tripped over thin air because I saw him trip over nothing - and fell on the grass.

"Mom...there are monsters behind you," he warned his mother in a soft voice.

"I know," Mrs. Sanders replied. "They are Mr. Hawk's friends."

"Yeah. It is okay," Margie encouraged us. "Remember those friends that I mentioned earlier? These monsters are my friends."

"Margie is the Monster Protector," the blonde girl stated as she walked over to Nigel and helped him up. "She protects and defends the good monsters. By the way, I am Sarah."

"Nice to meet you," Gretel said as she pulled away from me.

Sarah introduced the rest to me, my twin sister, and Nigel. There was Scarlett. She and Margie were sisters. The ghosts were Riley, Sage, Lin, and Leen, and the puppets' names were Tippy, Skippy, and Tappy. Willy was the wolf's name, and Zeke was the man who had the sword.

"Any questions?" Sarah asked us.

"I have one," I blurted out. "Margie said that Lean was dead." I motioned to Leen. "But here she is."

Leen gave me a sickening glare and crossed her arms. "I am Leen Stevens," she corrected me. "The one who is gone is Lean Share. Share!"

"...oh. Oops." I could feel my cheeks getting hot.

Sarah giggled. "Accidents happen. I would think the same thing too." She gently grabbed the human boy's wrist and led him over to us. "This is Stanley." She smirked. "He and Margie are soulmates."

"No, we are not!" the Monster Protector protested.

"Deny it all that you want, but the readers know the truth."

I examined Stanley. He seemed...familiar to me.

That is when it hit me.

He looked just like Nigel.

I am not exaggerating. They both had the same hairstyle. The same clothes. It was pretty disturbing.

I was going to tell Nigel of my discovery, when he said, "Hey. You are wearing the same type of clothing."

Stanley chuckled. "I see. What a coincidence."

I had a doubt that it was a coincidence.

"Kids, thank you for returning to the mansion as soon as I texted you," Mrs. Sanders thanked us. "The killer is still on the loose, and I was worried that you might run into him or her."

"No problem," I said. "We would have come later if not for—" I was cut off by Margie.

"We made a friend."

"A friend?" Mrs. Sanders was intrigued.

"Yes. She is in the car that is behind us."

Scarlett had a confused look on her face. "What car?"

"The car..." Her words drifted off when we realized that there was no car in front of the mansion. "...where did she go?"

"Where did who go?" Sarah asked.

"Our friend," Nigel responded. "She was here."

"She must have left," Mrs. Sanders guessed. "Let us all head inside and get lunch ready. And Mr. Hawk is not here right now. He is at the lab where the murder occurred to see if he can help. But he will return very soon."

Margie, Nigel, Gretel, and I waited until everybody was in the mansion. We wanted to see if Ava was still around. But if she was far away from the mansion, then we would wait until tomorrow to see her.

We searched for her. No luck.

That is, until we got to the back of the mansion...

We spotted the car. Ava remained in the driver's seat and was talking on the phone. Her window was down, so we overheard her conversation.

"Caleb, how many times do I have to tell you? If a girl asks you out on a date, you go out with her! So a girl named Cindy likes you? Why would you need a diaper? You will not ruin your underwear!" We walked over to her car, and she noticed. "I will come back to the house. Just hang in there. Jeez!" She hung up and looked at us. "Hi."

"Hi, Ava," Margie said. "Did you move your car from the front to the back?"

"Yes. Before they came out. You should remember that I do not trust some people."

"But you can trust them. They are trustworthy."

"The day that I trust people is the day that all fictional characters know the truth. That they are fictional. Think about that."

With that, she started her car and drove down the hill.