Chapter 4

      The letters kept coming and coming. Though the further it went, the more clues people started to get about what The Silent Man might look like. In each letter he sent in every house, he left the color of his eyes, his weight, or easy things like his hair color. Every time people got those clues, they would take it to Sheriff Issac.

        Sheriff Issac had a clue board. The clue board had every detail they knew about the silent man. Though they had some clue about him, they were still not sure they would find him. Sheriff Issac has done anything and everything to keep the kids of Goldfinch out of trouble. From getting kidnapped or killed like Christoffer and the Edwin girls.

       

        Sheriff Issac's son Cyrus Issac has been getting involved in the crimes of Goldfinch. Even though his father Sheriff Issac has told him millions of times not to get involved, he never listened. He and his best friends, Jackson, Alice, and Sally. They always got involved in crimes.

They were kids that investigated crimes. Or as they liked to be called, teen detectives.

        Even though they have been involved in almost every crime, this one was deeper and more dangerous. And even though they have been told repeatedly not to get in this one, they always have. They never stop. No one stops them. Except for one man, The Silent Man.

                                            ~~~Cyrus's Point of View~~~

  I am never going to rest, neither are Alice, Jack, and Sally. With everything going around, our classmates getting killed in front of us, not going to happen. We keep going and digging until we get to the bottom of this. The Silent Man.

          Schools are back open, though clubs and games were canceled. As the mayor said, for our safety. Even though I am on the football team and I am a captain, I still agree with the mayor for canceling the games. It's too dangerous.

          It's Monday and I am driving my car to pick up my friends. I am headed to Alices right now. In about 2 minutes I will be at her house. Alice is one of my best friends and a really good friend of mine since we were in grade 3. We became friends when the teacher made us partners for some English presentation. I remember she was the only one doing everything. She was smart and nerdy back then. She didn't have many friends. Unlike her, I had tons of friends. Friends that I never got to keep when we went to different high schools. They were cool, but bullies. They used to bully Alice. And so did I. It was the worst. We used to make fun of her glasses. They were too big for her small face. She used to cry sometimes hiding in the corner at lunch.

              One day, I got tired of bulling her. I felt really bad for her. I started imagining myself in her spot and felt so stupid and brainless for what I have done to her, so this one time, I invited her to my birthday party. She was hesitant at first thinking it was a trap at first, but I assured her I was over it and she believed me. She came to the party and I never left her side. I offered her drinks and food. My friends were laughing at me for what I have done, but that was the last thing I care about then.

          Growing up, we spent more and more time together. Getting to know more about each other. My friends eventually got over it and moved on with their useless lives. I introduced her to my family and to my world. We went to the park every day after school together. The more time we spent together, the more I started falling for her. So I asked her to be my girlfriend at the end of grade 7. She said yes and we dated for a year and at the end of grade 8, she told me that she didn't feel the same way as I did towards her. She said she thought she felt it, but she just loved me as friends and nothing more.

            The start of grade 9 is when she changed. Completely changed into someone I have never seen before. She cut her hair short just stopping at her neck. She got rid of her glasses and got contacts instead. She grew some feminine parts and looked completely and utterly breathtaking. Everyone was just trying to be friends with her or trying to take her out. I thought she would forget I even existed, now she got everybody at her feet, but she never did. In fact, she came right to me and hugged me. A hug I can never forget.

    We had most classes together. One of them was Geography, where we were teamed up with Jack and Sally. That's when we became friends with them. We went to each other's house in turns, to study and get our project done. When our project was done, we never stopped hanging out. We went to each other's houses, each other's parties, even sleepovers. In the summer is when we started doing investigations and stuff. When we started looking into crimes, digging deep until we got to the bottom of it. Until this one. The one that is deeper than all of them added up together. We needed to dig deeper, but that is not the problem. The problem is my dad. The Sheriff's department is stopping us from doing it. They say it's too dangerous and I get that but we can't stop here. We didn't start to stop when things get more complicated. We push through everything together as we always have. Like we always will.

          I got to Alice's house just in time to see her out on her porch with her bag on her feet and eating her sandwiches that she always eats in the morning. Just when she sees my car, she jumped up and ran towards the car and got in the passenger seat of my small Jeep. She gave me one big hug and says, "Hey C, How's it going my friend?"

"Great as always, you?" I asked admiring her beauty from the top to the bottom,

"Like what you see?" She says smirking trying to tease me. It has always worked but not today. Today my mind was somewhere else. I furrow my eyebrows and started driving, which she responds with a confused look.

"What's wrong, C?" She asks confusion and worry written on her face,

"Nothing just thinking about The Silent Man situation," I say as I sigh,

"Your father still hasn't changed his decision, huh?" she asks,

"No, and I am thinking he never will," I say looking out to the road that leads me to Jack's house.

         

        When we get to Jack's, he isn't out. Late as always. I honk my car as a sign that we are here. Sometimes I think of going to Sally's first and then to Jack's since she is never late and he always is.

He burst out of the door with his bag in one hand and his jacket half worn. He had toast in his mouth.

      When he makes it to the car without his falling out and his jacket fully worn, he says, "What's up, man," he gives me a tap on the shoulder and turns to Alice, "Alice," he says kissing her on the cheek.

"Have you ever thought of being early for at least for the sake of us not getting irritated?" I ask sighing,

"What? I wasn't late today," he yells for everyone in his neighborhood to hear,

"You were by 30 seconds," I say making Alice giggle.

        I start the car heading to Sally's. We talked about school and projects on our way to Sally's. When we get to Sally's, she was already out just like Alice. She runs to the car and gets in the back with Jack. Jack was the first one to greet her.

"Hey gorgeous," he says with his flirting smirk. He told me this one time that he had a crush her. She doesn't know and neither does Alice. It was only me that he informed about it.

"Hey C, Hey Alice," she says ignoring his presence to tease him,

"Hey S," Alice and I say at the same time.

Jack pouts when he realizes she was ignoring him on purpose, which made her giggle. He smiles widely looking at her and I remember when he told me that he thought her giggle was the cutest thing he ever heard.

        When we get to school, things are slightly different. The hallways are clear, no one in sight. Jack and Sally go to their first class after saying their goodbyes to us. As Alice and I walk to our class, I feel uncomfortable, like someone is following us. When I turn around, I was right. Two guys with masks and guns are following us. When they see that I noticed them, they stride across the hallway to us. I grab Alice's hand and run, but before I could make it to the stairs, they catch me and hold my mouth with something that looks like a napkin. I gesture Alice to run and she did. The other one follows behind her and catches her before she could escape. We struggle to get out of their grip but failed to do so when we both start getting dizzy and fall on the floor blacking out.