Chapter 235 - Keeping Secrets
On the weekends, Amy would often find herself doing nothing these days. She was too afraid to go out on her own ever since Raven had abducted her and Stacy. Even if the fifteen-year-old teenager did want to go somewhere… who could she go with? When thinking about this, her heart just sank deeper.
Today was just one of those days when Amy felt like her life was cursed. Even more than usual. Her eyes were puffy and slightly sore underneath due to how much she had been rubbing them, and she had nearly emptied out the box of tissues on the table.
‘Ah damn… Gary is going to get annoyed at me for wasting this many tissues.’ Amy thought, looking at the box. Imagining his angry reaction, she couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought. Thinking about her brother was the only thing that cheered her up these days.
‘Where did Gary even go? Was it just a coincidence that he asked me about Stacy yesterday? Did he somehow already know that she’s… dead.’ Unwilling to keep thinking about her former best friend, who was now deceased, Amy tried to focus on something else.
Unfortunately, her mind jumped from one bad thing to another, in this case the bloody clothes she had found. As much as she tried not to think about them, throughout the day, whenever the girl would end up using her own wardrobe, she ended up looking at her brother’s where the clothes had been left.
‘Why didn’t he bury them or burn them by now? Did he keep them here because he wanted me to know?’ The high school girl sulked, feeling the heavy burden of having to keep such an important secret. Usually, it was bearable, but with today’s news, it felt far heavier than before.
At that point, Amy had gotten up and grabbed her phone. Perhaps it was because she was trying to keep her mind off Stacy's death, but her mind was now filled with Gary. She wanted to know what had happened that day.
Amy didn’t plan to get involved in whatever he was doing, but she at least wanted to learn the truth. No matter what he had done, she knew that her brother must have done it for her, but at least she wanted to share that burden with him… even if he might never learn that she did.
‘Besides, knowing him, he might be out doing something crazy to try to cover this all up… Yeah, if I leave him on his own, he’s just going to get in more trouble. I have to help my brother out!’ The teenage girl tried to justify her behaviour.
Scrolling through her contacts list, there was one person who Amy believed would have an idea of what Gary had been up to recently. If she was lucky, then he might even know the truth! Someone who was as close to Gary as she was.
The high school girl wasn’t in a waiting mood, though, so rather than send a text, she had decided to give him a call instead. After a few rings, the other side had picked up.
“Amy!!! What’s wrong? Did something happen to Gary? Is he okay? Oh no, he didn’t try to hurt you or anything, did he? Amy, talk to me!”
With the storm of questions, Amy was forced to pull the phone away from her ear. She switched over to loudspeaker mode, something that Tom had seemingly already done on his side, judging by the way he had shouted.
“What are you talking about, Tom?” Amy questioned. “Gary came back fine yesterday… And why would he ever hurt me?”
There was silence on the other end, which gave Amy time to think about what Tom just had said. Clearly, he was acting strange and panicked for a reason.
‘It looks like he really does know something.’
The reason Tom was over the top worried was due to him not having received any news from Gary. After the strange events at school, he had seen the look on Gary’s face. He knew his best friend long enough to understand that he planned to do something crazy, such as raiding the red colour gang.
Tom already had his suspicions that Gary was behind the attack on the grey colour gang, and with the approaching full moon, he was worried that his best friend might allow a certain side of his to take over again.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to startle you. I guess you must have heard about it by now. How the red colour gang gathered us all in school. It’s all still fresh in my head, and I was worried about that hot-headed brother of yours.
Anyway, how are you holding up? I’ve heard about what happened to your mother. My condolences.” Tom tried to come up with an explanation for his behaviour. However, suddenly, realisation hit him that he was talking to his best friend's sister… and SHE had been the one to call HIM!
‘Damn it, he’s changing the subject. How do I get him to talk about Gary again?’
“Oh, he told you about that? Unfortunately, she’s yet to show any signs of waking up again. Mum’s not doing any worse, though, so I guess there’s that. I’m as okay as I can be, I guess. However, Gary has been acting weird ever since.
“He’s been going out a lot and coming back late. Not sure if it’s connected to that, or if something else has happened. I was wondering… as his best friend, do you know anything about it? Something that he might be hiding, perhaps?” Amy asked, but when she said the last few words, her tone of voice indicated that she already knew what he was hiding.
‘How much does she know? … She clearly knows at least ‘something’ … could Gary have told her about him being a Werewolf?’ Tom panicked and didn’t say anything. Of course, this just made him all the more suspicious on Amy’s end.
“So it looks like you do know.” Amy finally said. “Look, Tom, I found… ‘some things’… and I really don’t know how to deal with it. Gary doesn’t know that I know… but I just don’t know what to do about it…”
Suddenly, the teenage girl started sobbing on the other end of the phone, and Tom couldn’t help but do something to make her stop. He knew that Amy was a pure person, someone who always helped Gary no matter what. As his best friend, Tom knew that the Dem family lived a troubled life, and now carried the secret that her brother was a Werewolf… it must be crushing her inside. As such, Tom came to one conclusion to help her get over this problem.
“Why don’t we go see Gary and ask him?” Tom suggested. “If you already know about it, then there is no need for him to hide from you, right? He should be the one to tell you. It’s best if you both get all those things sorted, it will probably make you both feel a lot better. Besides, hearing it from him, there won’t be a chance for any misunderstandings.”
The truth was, Tom also wanted to ask Gary some questions. Whether he was the one behind the attack on the grey colour gang, and what exactly he had done after school yesterday. Unfortunately, ever since he had become a Werewolf, Gary could be scary at times. Tom hoped that with his little sister present, she could serve as the backup that he would need.
“Okay.” Amy sniffled. “But Gary isn’t even here, and I don’t know when he will be back.”
“I have a good idea where he might be. He’s been working at a place called the Wolf’s Pool Club. Even if he’s not there, his co-workers should know where we might be able to find him. How about I pick you up and we go there together?”
With a plan agreed between the two of them, the call ended there. Tom held his phone for a second in his hand, as his face started to feel a little hot. Looking in the mirror, he could see his cheeks blushing.
‘I’m going out, with just me and Amy… I mean she’s only one year younger than me, no problem there, right? But then again, her brother is Gary… if I did something to upset her…’
An image appeared in Tom’s head of Gary transforming and almost biting his head off there and then… Shaking that thought, he reminded himself that it wasn't a date, just two teenagers of the opposite sex looking for Gary.
‘Right… just because it’s ‘not a date’, it can’t hurt if I wear my best clothes, right?’
Eventually, Tom turned up at Amy’s house, and looking through the peephole she confirmed it was him.
“What are you wearing?” Was Amy’s first question as opened the door. Tom wore something that resembled a suit and even had a tie on. “You look like you're going for a job interview.”
Embarrassed, Tom quickly undid his tie and placed it in his pocket. “Ah, my bad. Actually, I just came from an intern interview at my dad’s place… Eh, since you sounded so serious, I kinda hurried here, without a chance.” Tom explained, scratching his head in embarrassment.
Closing the door behind her, the two of them set off, and after walking for a while, it wasn’t long until they both eventually stood in front of the place known as the Wolf’s Pool Club.
“So this is the place where Gary has been working and earning money?” Amy asked.
“Yeah… Let’s go find out what secrets your brother has been keeping.” Tom answered, walking forward.