Guilty of Innocence (Chapter -3)

“I’m takin’ off!” Chad called, his skateboard in one hand, his helmet in the other as he headed to the front door.“To school, I hope!” Brandon called back, coming out of the kitchen and hurrying after him.

Chad stopped at the door, sighed and turned to his uncle to reply, “Yes.”

“Liar,” Brandon blurted. “You don’t have your backpack.”

“Oh, I need money,” Chad remembered, ignoring the man’s observation.

“What for?” Brandon chirped, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’m gonna buy something for Nicky, and I need lunch money,” the teen shrugged. “Preferably a hundred back would be good.”

“In your dreams, boy,” Brandon scoffed, pulling his wallet from his pocket and opening it to thumb through it. “I’ll give you…fifty.”

“Damn, spoil her, why don’t you?!” Chad chuckled, reaching for the money but Brandon quickly pulled it away with a raised brow of amusement.

“I could give you twenty and let you starve for the day,” he taunted and Chad gave a blank stare to his uncle.

“Like her present is gonna be more than ten bucks,” the teen retorted.

“It will if it’s shiny,” Brandon assured him, handing him the money. “Try to stretch it, ok? I don’t get my next check till next week.”

“Ah, the setbacks of an out-of-work artist,” Chad sighed, turning to the door again as he pocketed the money.

“I’m not out of work, boy,” Brandon snapped as he glared at Chad.

“Right, right,” he replied, heading out the door. “See ya, old man!”

Brandon watched from the doorway as the teen started skating down the sidewalk, putting on his helmet as he did. He occupied his mind with figuring out what to get for Nicky. It was the least he could do for her since she was ditching school on the day of the Exit Exams. Something…sparkly, he decided. She wasn’t that much of a sparkly girl, but he felt she deserved it.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked up her number, still skating down the street.

“Chadworth,” she greeted, and he heard the smile in her voice.

“Nicole,” he replied. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Mom and dad went to work early today. I’ll be waiting outside.”

“Gotta make a stop,” he smirked. “I’ll be a little late.”

“Oh, fine,” she retorted. “See you when you get here, then.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Be there in a bit.”

He hung up, still smiling and skating down the street. His phone started ringing and he frowned at it before looking at the caller ID. It was a restricted number. Taking a chance, he answered it and pressed it to his ear, stopping at the corner at the end of the block.

“Hello?” he answered, cautiously.

Silence followed, but sensed someone on the other side of the phone.

“Hello?” he called again.

A heavy breath followed this time, making him frown again. The breath turned into an eerie chuckle that sent a chill flying up Chad’s spine.

“Who the hell is this and how did you get this number?!” Chad snapped, masking his fear with anger.

“How about you just call me Mr. Nemo?” a man’s deep voice finally responded. “It’s Latin for—”

“No name,” Chad finished. “I know. What do you want?”

“You’re a smart boy, Chad,” Mr. Nemo commended. “I imagine you’re quite the trivia nut, aren’t you?”

Chad felt his blood run cold and when he didn’t say anything, the man on the other end of the phone gave another eerie chuckle.

“H-How’d you know my name?” he breathed above a whisper, his heart thudding in his chest, a cold sweat starting on his face. His hands started shaking, almost losing his grip on his phone, but it was soon in a death grip again.

“I know a lot about you, Chad,” Mr. Nemo replied in a dark tone. “You’re not going to school like you should, and you’re making your poor friend, Nicky suffer with you by making her ditch with you. What will your parents say?”

There was a pause as Chad felt his heart clench in sorrow, but the man continued, “Oh, that’s right. Your parents are dead.”

Anger soon took over his senses. Chad could hear it in this mystery man’s tone that he was making him. To hell if he was going to let this creep stalk and mock him.

“Who the hell are you?” he growled into the phone.

“Temper, temper,” Mr. Nemo warned, tauntingly. “Can’t have the police using that against you.”

“What do you want?” Chad ground out, glancing around to see if any police were around.

“I wanted to talk to ya, kid,” Mr. Nemo replied. “Tell me, you and Nicky seem really close. Are you two dating?”

“That’s none of your damn business,” Chad snarled. “You talk about Nicky or my family again and I’ll—!”

“Hang up?” Mr. Nemo taunted. “That’s about all you can do. I’m so scared.”

“You call this number again, I’m calling the police!” Chad threatened.

He hung up the phone, shoved it into his pocket and started down the sidewalk again. His phone went off again and he growled as he pulled his phone from his pocket only to find that a restricted number had sent him a text.

“Damn jerk can’t leave me alone!” he growled, stopping at a crosswalk and pressing a button on his phone to open the text.

If I were you, I don’t think I’d go to the people who suspect me of killing my own parents. I know you didn’t do it.

“Big deal,” Chad muttered. “Just sayin’ that to get me to talk to him. Creepy old bastard.”

Another text came in and he opened it with a sigh.

I know you didn’t do it, because I did.

Chad opened his eyes to see a frantic, worried face with wide emerald eyes and chocolate brown hair that fell around his head. Her lips were moving, but she sounded so far away.

“Chad!” she was calling, shaking him as her voice became clearer. “Chad! Are you alright?! Chadworth Michael Stiles, you answer me right now!”

“That’s not my name, Nicky,” he finally groaned, sitting up and placing a hand over his eyes to guard them from the blinding sun.

“Thank God you’re alright!” Nicky breathed, throwing her arms around his neck, making him grunt when she slammed against his chest. “When I didn’t see you I headed to your uncle’s place. I found you on the ground! What the hell happened?!”

Chad suddenly remembered what he’d looked at before he’d fainted and shot his gaze around him on the ground.

“What?” Nicky frowned, trying to catch his gaze. “What’s wrong? What’re you looking for?”

Chad didn’t respond as he still looked around on the ground. His eyes landed n his phone, still open and laying on the cement. He grabbed it and stared wide eyes at the screen as Nicky frowned at him and sat next to him to look at the phone as well.

“Who sent you that?” she wondered. “Who did what that you didn’t do? Who is this?”

“Mr. Nemo,” Chad breathed, still staring at the phone.

He suddenly shot his gaze up and looked around as Nicky asked, “Who the hell is that?”

“No time,” he snapped, closing his phone and shoving it into his pocket as he stood, grabbing Nicky’s hand to drag her to her feet with him, “We gotta go.”

“Go where?” Nicky demanded as he let her hand go and found his skateboard to mount. “What happened, Chad? You’re kinda freaking me out.”

“I’ll lead,” he assured her, turning on his board to face her and patting her helmet, a serious look in his eyes. “Just follow me, ok?”

He turned and shot down the street, Nicky shooting after him, hastily. His phone went off again but he didn’t answer it. Nicky frowned at him as they glided down the sidewalk then pushed herself farther down the cement to drift next to him.

“You gonna answer your phone?” she wondered, but he just shook his head.

“I know who it is,” he murmured, darkly. “I don’t wanna talk to him.”

“Who’s this Nemo guy?” Nicky asked.

“I’ll tell you when we get there,” he replied.

“Where?”

“Somewhere safe,” Shad looked at her as they stepped at another corner and smiled reassuringly as he said, “I promise I’ll buy you something sparkly later.”