Matt's Missing

Chapter 9: The Tree

     I wake up, I still hurt, but not as much as earlier. Of course, I haven't moved yet. I open my eyes. Shiro is inches away, facing me. He must have moved in the middle of the night, but he's right there.

     Keith's alarm clock goes off. It's loud and obnoxious, but does a perfect job of waking everyone up. I hear Lance fall out of Keith's bed. Hunk groans. Shiro opens his eyes and scoots away from, his face turning red. Keith looks at us and raises an eyebrow.

     Lance stands up and looks at the clock. "7 o'clock? On a Sunday? Are you kidding?"

     "It sounds good to me." I say, sitting up. "I'd love to go for a walk or something."

     "Are you sure that's a good idea? You're still in pretty bad shape." Shiro looks at me.

     "I'll be fine." I tell him. A few days ago I found Matt's journal. He kept it in between the bed and the wall. Out of curiosity, I had read what he wrote on April 3rd, my birthday. He kept mentioning a tree in the corner of the campus. I really want to check it out.

     "Stay here for now. I'll go and get breakfast for all of us." Hunk tells us before walking out.

     Lance sits on Keith's bed, while Shiro continues to lay on mine. I lean against the wall and rub the sleep out of my eyes.

     "So, I was thinking about going to the mall tomorrow after school. Shiro, Keith, you in?" Lance says.

     "Only if Pidge can come too. He's one of us now." Keith tells Lance, who sighs and nods. "Great, then I'm in."

     "Me too." Shiro smiles.

     Hunk comes back with his arms full of food from the vending machines. He begins to pass out bags of peanuts, cookies, fruit snacks, and chocolate bars.

     "This is breakfast?" I ask.

     "It is now." Hunk smiles at me.

     Shiro offers me a bag of peanuts.

     "No thanks. I don't really like peanuts." I tell him.

     "More for the rest of us." Hunks chimes as he hands me a chocolate bar. I smile and take it. I have to admit, I'm really hungry. I've missed a day's worth of meals. I'm handed a few more snacks before I dig in. me "breakfast" tasks amazing. Before I know it, I'm finished eating.

     I stand slowly. "I'll see you guys later." I walk out. It's time to start my investigation. I've got a lead. I just need to find out if anythings there. After flipping through Matt's journal, I found that the tree was written about dozens of other times.

     I start down the hall. My body still aches, but I try not to think about it. I need to toughen up. I can't be thinking about myself. I need to find Matt. And I need to stop losing focus. I'm not here to be a part of the student body, I'm here to find my brother. I need to stop forgetting that.

     The tree isn't what I expected. There's a homemade hammock hanging from the branches. I walk over and sit on it, looking around. Pieces of metal hang around it, creating a sort of room. Shelves hand from different areas. Most of them have books, except for one, which is empty. I walk over to it. Sadly, I'm too short to see the bottom of the top shelf. I reach up and feel around. My fingers come in contact with a piece of paper. Pick it up and read it.

     "Look up."

     Above me, there is a note hanging by a thread. Literally. I reach up, but hesitate when I see blood on the paper. But the hesitation only lasts a second. I snatch the paper off the string and read it.

     "They're after me. I'm no longer safe. They're going to kill me."