Chapter 63: Chapter Twenty - Cooky Conundrums & Cliche Cliffhangers-2

I snatched up the paper, quickly looking at the words scribbled inside. Meet me at the park at five. I promise, everything will be explained and every question answered. - Keegan A smile split my face in two and I nearly jumped for joy, but refrained so I didn't look stupid in front of the other customers. Finally, after months of this back and forth and wondering about the mastermind behind the letters, I would finally know the motives and I would be able to pick his mind in person. And man, was I excited. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I swiveled around in my office chair in my bedroom, staring at the ceiling as I waited for my alarm to go off. I had taken off from work a little early, using one of the sick days I had saved back Thinking of what would be taking place at five PM sharp made me all jittery and excited. Well, excited would be putting my feelings quite lightly. Ecstatic and jubilant seemed a bit more appropriate. After months of the Oliver enigma being left in the dark, everything was coming to light and in just over an hour, I would have all my answers. Stopping my chair, I pulled open my desk drawer, the one full of the weird notes and Oliver's letters. I pulled out the letters and laid them out on my desk. One by one, I read the letters, smiling at my favorite parts and chuckling at the jokes that were made. I tried to imagine Keegan, sitting on his bed or at a desk, pen between his teeth as he tried to work out the next line. Or the furrow in his brow as he read the books and scribbled down his thoughts on them. It wasn't too hard to imagine. After all, the two of us had been sitting together and reading for a couple weeks. The imagery was still fresh in my mind from the other day, completing the scene in my mind. A content sigh left my lips as I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. Soon, everything would be out in the open. I would miss the letters, but having the real thing left Shuffling the stack of papers back into the drawer, my eyes went to the notes next. Biting my lip, I laid them out in the order they were received. Counting them as I went along, I realized there were close to twenty notes. All of them ominous, some creepy and some downright threatening. I gulped as I read them, the same feeling of trepidation forming a knot in my stomach and sticking there, unmovable. I tried so many times to wave them off as unimportant and something that didn't require the immediate attention. But more and more I felt the need to tell someone. Mainly my family and by extension, they would know exactly what to do. Sighing, I made the decision that I would call my parents into my room and tell them everything. After all, I was still just a kid. Sure, graduation was coming up, but that meant nothing. I still needed my family. I still needed their support and guidance. I couldn't handle this problem on my own, not in any way. I let out a groan, swiveling in my chair to face the door. Snack time. I thought to myself, standing up and stretching my muscles. Taking several steps forward, I reached out and grabbed the handle. But no sooner did I touch the metal did I freeze. I frowned, listening for the noise again. Nothing huge, just big enough. Maybe mom was home? I quietly opened the door, listening. "Mom?" I called out, pulling out from behind the door completely. No response. Shrugging and deeming the noise as unimportant, I started down the hall. Until I heard a creak from the lower level once again. Now that...that was not a figment of my imagination. Backpedaling, I slipped into Eddie's room and grabbed the baseball bat from the corner. He went through a small baseball phase. It only last two weeks before he threw in the towel on that endeavor and moved to something more his speed, like ripping apart computers and putting them back together. I left Eddie's room, baseball bat in hand. Peeking over the banister next to the stairs, I searched for anything out of the ordinary and paused to listen for anymore noises. Half of my brain, the half filled with common sense, told me to run out of the house and get help. The other half, the stubborn and determined half, told me that I could take whatever I should encounter. After all, I had a big chunk of wood that I could crack over someone's skull if the need arose. What did I have to worry about? That half of my brain seemed to win out and I tip-toed down the stairs, ready to attack. The first thing I did was push myself against a wall as I scanned the living room for any danger. If someone wanted to attack me, they would have to do it from the front, where I could see them and have somewhat of an advantage. The living room seemed clear; nothing out of the ordinary there. I continued this routine, checking the hallway and the closets along the way. Still nothing. At that point, I started to feel a bit foolish. My imagination worked overtime all the time. Of course it would project something bad as I read those stupid notes. Walking into the kitchen, still with caution, I scanned. It was empty. Of course it was. Rolling my eyes, I put the bat on my shoulder and walked to the fridge for a soda. Grabbing hold of the handle, I noticed a note on the door with my name on it. I snatched it up, thinking it was from my mom. Upon opening it, my heart leaped in my chest and the note fell from my hands. Game over. What game? I didn't even know I was playing. I gripped the baseball bat harder as I pulled it from off my shoulder and into a batting form, backing away from the fridge. Fear rose up inside me as I realized that the person who had been sending me threatening and creepy notes currently hid somewhere inside my home. I turned to run and only took several steps when I ran into a person. Screaming, I swung the bat around, trying to clock the individual over the head. As I tried attacking what I now knew to be one guy in his late thirties, another hand grabbed my shoulder from behind, pushing me face first into a wall before a rag was placed over my face. Despite the serious predicament that I managed to find myself in, I couldn't help but roll my eyes dramatically. Chloroform? Seriously, was that all bad guys used? They couldn't have like, stuck a needle in my arm with some sedative? A groan slipped though my lips as my knees began to buckle under my own weight, the chemical under my nose taking effect and causing my efforts to remain free to be rendered completely useless. Little black dots started to fuzz all over my vision. Now, I didn't take any courses on health, but from my reading experience, those little dots meant I was about to pass out. Well, isn't that just awesome. As I started to fade out, literally only one thought crossed my mind. This is so cliché.