Descent

Chapter Four

George!" I woke up to my aunt Rebecca yelling my name from a different part of the flat. " I made breakfast!"
"One minute, please." I sat up and rubbed the back of my aching neck. I must've fallen asleep on my desk. But I can't remember falling asleep. I looked across my desk for the letter and found it under the envelope. I sealed everything in a desk drawer and went to the kitchen. The immediate smell of eggs, bacon, fried tomatoes, sausage and baked beans. Compared to my usual breakfast, containing a fried slice and coffee, this was a gift from God.
We sat at the table and ate. For a minute, it was silent besides the clinking of glasses against the table and silverware against the plates. Until she spoke up.
"You know George," she started, " I know you didn't think much of us. Or that little nuisance of a town we lived in, but it was all good reason we lived there." I looked up from my plate unsure of what to say. Thankfully, she wasn't finished. "Your uncle James, or John, he moved us all there a while ago after he and your aunt were married." She looked down, "he was so happy, George." I could see her eyes filling with tears. I grabbed her hand in an attempt to comfort her. "George..." she pulled her hand away and gave a fake smile "don't you have anything you need to do today?" I didn't. I wasn't supposed to get back from Evesville until this weekend. She got up and opened the fridge. "If not you need to go grocery shopping. I refuse to live off of bread and jerky." I looked at her.
"You know, if you want me gone, all you have to do is say so."
"Ok. Go."
Good to know I'm not the biggest smartass here.
With my aunt and uncle gone, she probably needed time to herself, so, I figured I'd go see what I could do. I started walking toward the grocer on the corner, but decided there was somewhere else I desperately wanted to go first. I turned around and walked the other way up the street to catch the tram line.
I turned the corner onto a main road and saw the tram line about to move. I quickly ran and jumped on, then paid. I might not have if I didn't get caught but whatever. I sat in one of the few open seats and watched everything pass by.
The first thing that came to mind was my uncle James. "Why, out of everyone, was he killed?" I thought about this for a long time, trying not to let my mind drift to the keys. I couldn't help it. "What if they were killed just so someone could get to those keys but then they couldn't find them?" I looked down and fiddled with the watch on my hand. I had gotten it from an old friend... Sad to say he's gone now. His name was Michael Zumbridge. He was my best friend all throughout my childhood. We found the watch broken and dirty by the side of the road. It was, and is, super trashed. The glass and the clock inside are broken. The only thing relatively working was the wristband. Though it was broken, I always wore it. It symbolized Michael. Lost and broken, but was still working...
Anyway, the keys. Even though they were at home on my desk, they still clouded my mind. I had never seen any like them for one. And... that note. That note made it seem like they were for something important. But why would they need to be guarded? What was so important? Why am I asking myself these even though I don't know the answer? I may never know.
The tram jolted to a halt and I realized it was my stop. I jumped off and started walking. I still had a while to get to where I needed to go.
As I was walking, I realized that with the death of my aunt and uncle, I hadn't thought of my aunt's husband, Mr. Bream. Not surprising since I was never that close to him, but he only married my aunt a couple years ago. I think they met in a bar or something. As Aunt Rebecca would say "they met and moved into trash."
It always did surprise me that she remarried though. Before my aunt Matilda became Matilda Bream, she was a widow to another. Her husband before Bream had divorced her long before. He found out she was pregnant with her, or their first child and ran off. I would wonder where he went but, to be honest, I can't say I give a shit. Anyone cruel enough to leave a pregnant woman alone to raise a child without a father was no one that I ever wanted to be friendly with and that's the end of that.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow pass by me. My entire body went numb and I felt like falling. I pressed my hand against a brick building to my right to hold myself up and looked for the shadow. Everything I saw was blurred. I closed my eyes and stood leaned against the building for a minute, regaining myself the best I could.
When I finally felt I could stand on my own, I slowly opened my eyes and leaned on the building beside me. I looked around to see where it was. Nothing suspicious left or right. I looked behind me and saw a woman staring at me with a concerned look. I realized how insane I probably looked. I decided to walk on and pretend nothing had happened. Except... how could I forget being attacked by a shadow?