"This is a bad idea."

Jameson looked completely unbothered. "Too bad, Anna, you already agreed to this," he said, gesturing to my brother leaning against the car door of his brand-new BMW.

My brother's serious, mysterious look broke as he waved at me like he did when he was little. It was hard to believe he was only two years younger than me; it still felt like he was 10. He would always feel like a little kid to me. 

"I'm driving," Ethan yelled at us both as we walked toward the car. "We all know how it would turn out if Anna is."

I heard Jameson's laugh in the background, but I could only focus on my brother. The corner of his eye was squinted. His left leg was lifted slightly. Ethan was hurt and he was pretending to be okay. By the position of his leg, it seemed to be a sprained ankle.  He would only hide it if someone had done this to him.

"You hobbling Ethan what happened?" Jameson looks over at me confused and my brother is sporting a terrified guilty look.

"What do you mean?" He laughs forcefully.

I walk up to him and stand right in front of him, "What happened? Tell me now."

"I tripped."

"No, you didn't." I snap back. I see Jameson from the corner of my eye walking closer to us.

Ethan sighed, "I got into a fight."

I heard Jameson snort, "clearly a big one."

"Shut up Jameson." I wack his head just before he ducks, "Ethan why did you get into a fight?"

He looked down, "A person was saying some stuff about someone I know and I got sick of it. I had to Anna. I had to."

"You fought with Christain Knox. Seriously Ethan not worth it."

Jameson looked even more stunned than I was, "Your brother can fight?"

Ethan rolled his eyes, "Says you skinny boy."

"You're smaller than me kid," Jameson retorted. "Still why are you punching that guy? He can't even spell his name."

"I'm not talking about this with you here," I turned and pointed at Jameson before going back to my younger brother, "We're talking about this later."

"Fine."

I reached to snatch the keys out of his hand, "Bad foot means no driving for you."

He gasps, "I vote for Jameson."

"Too late little boy."

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ethan hand my yellow book from the front of my bag"

He rested his hand on his chest, "I need a minute, That was traumatising."

I spin so I'm facing Jameson again, "How mad do you think Nash will be that we left school?"

"Don't worry about that yet. We have to get to the Davenport," he seems to say calmly. I can tell he is nervous. Jameson knows that he and Grayson have the same clues and whoever gets this one first is 'winning'.

"I can't tell which one is weirder, the pushy blond or the obsessive cluemaster," Ethan says as he finally hands me my yellow book.

It is covered with little stars and doodles on the cover and throughout the pages. I flip through the pages until I find the one with all the rooms in the Hawthorne house. I was practising my memory, so I wrote down a room and the exact way to get there. From secret tunnels to the objects, you should pass. I considered giving it to Avery but decided against it when Nash only made Xander show her around.

"Here," I passed the book to Jameson, "Any ideas what room the desk is in?"

"When did you make this?" He asked flipping through the pages of all the rooms.

"You were with Emily and I was bored," He stared up at me for a second. The look in his eyes brought me right back to the moment when he came home. That night. 

"Holy shit Jameson," I yelp as he lifts his shirt off. Newly sewn stitches running up his chest from his hip to his collarbone.

He groans as he desposites himself lying flat on his bed.

"Jameson."

"I can't A," He choked on his words, "Just like you can't."

I sit on the bed and cross my legs right beside his head. His face is killing me. There is so much pain. So much hurt. Jameson had never been destroyed like this. He was going to kill himself. I couldn't let anything happen to him. He was the only one who cared. He was just like her.

"Don't say anything then," I tell him, staring right into his broken, green eyes. "From now on I'm putting you on a safety plan."

He shut his eyes before opening them again, "A what?"

"You have to stick by me every day and if we are apart for a few hours you have to text me that you're fine. Also, your location stays on and you have to answer every one of my calls."

"Why," He tries to fling his arm to hit me but I catch it causing him to wince.

"I can't lose my best friend."

I spin around when Ethan taps my shoulder.

His head is tilted an inch, "Where did you go?"

"I don't know."

I watch Ethan bury his head in his hands, "Why the fuck is everyone so ominous today?"

"Jameson let's go," I tell him before hopping out of the car. Ethan jumped out and followed us, Trailing closely behind.

Jameson bumped my shoulder, "When I asked your little brother to drive us, I never expected him to come as well."

"What do you think I won't go to something I was invited to puzzle boy," Ethan snaps at Jameson forcing himself in the middle of us, "So where is the Davenport thingy."

Jameson looks down, "I think I have an idea." He walks into the Hawthorne hoe ahead of us.

"Care to explain," Ethan calls back from beside me, "Seriously how are you friends with them."

I smile, "Takes a lot of hard work," I whisper as I pat his shoulder, "Come on buddy let's go."

—-----------------------------------------------------

"I've never seen this room," Ethan said as he knelt to look at the books on the shelves. They had all been read, or solved.

"Never asked to see it," Jameson replied. He reached to the top shelf and pulled on it making it rotate.

"Holy shit," My brother looked in awe. He knew about all the secret passageways I told him about but he never understood the extent it went to. He never understood why I loved it here.

"Go on Jamie."

His eyes locked on mine, "Are you coming?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm too deep into this puzzle to back out now Jameson. I'm coming."

The stairs were dark the only light was the torch on Jameson's phone. At the bottom of the stairs, there was only one thing. A Davenport. Our clue.

In unison, we both started to search through the draws. On the last drawer of the desk, there was a ridge. I pressed it hard. I felt a key chain fall into my hand. There was no key attached but it was shaped strangely. It was shaped as the number one.

"Jameson I found it."

He stared at the clue in my hand, a smile covered his face.

"811, That's all the numbers we have. " I watched his face shift. He was thinking about the Blackwood.

I jumped when I heard Ethan's voice behind me, "Did we get here first?"

"No," I said it almost instantly. I don't know how I knew but I felt it. Something was off.

"You should move it."

I stand to face him, "Ethan it doesn't count as winning if you don't let the others catch up."

He frowns, "But they could have already come and this way there is no way they will find it."

"It's only cheating if you get caught," Jameson says standing behind me.

I walk to the stairs, "I'm not involved with this part."

"Anna."

Jameson is sinking. The puzzle is just making him drown faster. I don't want to watch it happen.

A/n 

It took me a while to write this chapter. I don't like it at all. 

I have exams coming up soon so it might be a while till the next one.

Thank you so much for reading. Everyone who is reading the story you mean so much to me. 

Hope you liked it.