"Do you really think trapping Afton was a good idea?" Susie asked. "I mean, what if he manages to get out?"

Cassidy rolled her eyes. She shouldn't have to state the obvious, but it was becoming increasingly clear how unintelligent these other kids were. "You really think Henry's gonna let anyone see that mangled mess? No, he's gonna cover it right up just like everything else that happened in this place."

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Alvin was too scared to open the front door. Although the chances of his father being out cold were high, so were the risks of being seen before the morning. He decided in the end it was better to climb through the window leading to his room on the second floor.

It was a rickety old house in a rickety old neighborhood, but it was his house. The house where his mother had lived, where he had unwrapped Christmas presents with his family until he was seven years old. This was where all his best memories were, and in his eyes, they far outweighed the worst ones. Unfortunately, that didn't mean the house was still in as a good a shape as it was all those years ago. There were splints in the wooden walls, leaks in the pipes by the roof and drapes hanging on by one bolt, despite Alvin's best efforts to fix the damn thing. Thankfully, the damaged walls and the irrigation pipes gave Alvin just enough hand and foot holds to reach his bedroom. Sighing with a mix of exhaustion and relief that his father hadn't heard the noise he'd made on the climb, Alvin collapsed on his bed and stared at the roof, where a printed photo of him and his mum had been pasted. Even though it had been years since she died, Alvin still missed her. A lot.

Little did he know, he'd be a lot closer than he expected to seeing her the next day.

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It began as any usual day - Alvin woke up at around 7:30 AM, got dressed, went downstairs and tried his best to ignore his dad's drunken snoring and made his lunch for school. Then he made his way to Greenhill Intermediate and prepared himself for a mind-numbingly boring school day. It wasn't until lunch that something strange happened.

"Psst, Alvin? Over here!"

Alvin's head darted upwards. He had been mindlessly stabbing at his lasagna with his fork, thinking about nothing. Why would nobody ever let him think about nothing? The only time people bothered him was when he was thinking about nothing. 

He looked over at the source of the noise. Strangely, no one else at his lunch table seemed to have heard it. They were all still chatting away about whatever stupid thing was popular these days or something. Figures, Alvin thought. He had always thought it was stupid that nobody in the movies or the books ever noticed when two people were whispering exceptionally loudly. Yet here it was: loud whispering and NOBODY noticed.

"Alvin!" 

Alvin looked over and saw a blonde boy standing in a corner, beckoning for him to come over. Intrigued, Alvin did. He had nothing better to do anyway, and he was interested in how this kid he had never seen before knew his name.

"What?" Alvin asked as he walked over. He grimaced internally. Great way to start a conversation with the first kid to talk to you in forever outside a group of children in a shut-down pizza place. 

The blonde kid raised his hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kelsey. You are Alvin, right?"

Alvin nodded warily. This kid was pretty strange. He had never seen him before, yet he looked the same age as Alvin himself. How was this kid not in any of his classes? "Yeah, I'm Alvin. Did you need something?"

Great job Alvin, you did it again. Another point for social skills.

Strangely, Kelsey only grinned in response. "Yeah, I did. Did you happen to go to a really weird, old pizza place last night? Fredrick's or something?"

"Freddy's, yeah. How'd you know?"

Kelsey gave a pained smile. "My little brother was one of the kids there. Brown hair, one of the taller ones, green eyes?"

The strangely mature one, Alvin remembered. "Yeah, I remember him. He was pretty chatty."

Kelsey chuckled. "You don't know the half of it, mate. Anyway, he told me he left something there. Some stupid bear toy. Since he's too scared to go back there without his friends and I've never been in there myself, I was wondering if you could help me look for it. He's obsessed with the thing and I'd have no clue how to even get there."

"I don't know, man," Alvin replied. "That place was sketchy. I'd rather not go back there any time soon."

A strange look flashed across Kelsey's face for a second, so quick that Alvin only realised it was there much later. However, just as soon as it appeared, it was replaced by a look of moderate desperateness. "Please? It'll only take 15 minutes or so. I'll make it up to you - buy you some McDonald's or something."

It had been years since Alvin had been to McDonald's. He never had any money. Somehow, this Kelsey guy knew exactly what buttons to push.

"Alright man, we'll have a look for the toy. But I'm gonna want 2 Big Macs and a shake."

Kelsey erupted into a smile. "You got it man! Thanks a heap! Meet me by the gate after school."

And just like that, Alvin blinked, and Kelsey had disappeared. Geez, that kid was fast. He shrugged and went to back to his table.

If he had realised he had just signed away his life for two burgers, he might have been a little more apprehensive.

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Hey guys, SAB here. I'm happy to say that I'm officially un-discontinuing this series! I managed to incorporate writing this series into my weekly English revision, so uploads should be a lot more consistent. If you enjoy, please leave a comment so I know I'm doing something right or so you can leave some feedback. Thanks for reading!