The minute I came back to the Hawthorne house from school I got a call. It was from an unknown number. I let it ring out. They called again. After they had called me a total of 5 times I finally picked up.

"Hello, who is this?" I spoke carefully into the phone.

"Hello," the perky voice repeated back, "Is this Annabelle Casey."

Whoever this person was is bubbly and full of excitement. Something about the way she talked seemed as if she just loved everything.

"Yes, this is?" I asked again.

"Oh yes, hello I'm Elodie Michels I'm one of your mother's current caregivers."

I felt my stomach drop. If she was calling about something bad she wouldn't have sounded so excited. There was a feeling gnawing at me inside. Why weren't they calling my stepdad?

The only reason they would be calling me if she asked them to.

I forced myself to continue the conversation stopping my mind from running wild, "Oh are you? Is everything okay?"

"Oh yes everything is fine I just needed to check something with you since you are her medical proxy," I could hear her slight smile as she talked.

If my mother named me her medical proxy it meant she wanted to do something without my step-father knowing. It also told me she had decided she was going to leave him.

"What did you need to check?"

"Yes, I just needed to know if you'd be okay with a transfer."

The request took me off guard. My mother had tried many rehabs all over the country she did best at the ones closer to him. Even if she wanted to leave her husband she would have waited till her rehab was done. She only had six more weeks.

"A transfer to to where?" I questioned.

"Camden house. Your mother was there a few years ago she wanted to give it another try."

Camden House was a treatment centre in Maine. My mother hated it. She would call me just to scream into the phone to get her out of there.

"Yes sure whatever she wants," I tell the girl on the phone. I needed to see where this went.

"Okay, I'll put the request in. Have a nice day."

This made no sense whatsoever. Why the hell does my mother want to go to Maine?

My phone pinged again.

Jameson- Meet me in Toby's room.

—----------------------------

I got to the room before Jameson met Xander and Avery wandering over with a sledgehammer.

"No," Avery said thinking back to the letters we all received. "Did he say something in yours?"

Jameson strolled up beside me shooting me a knowing look, "Looks like a party. Shall we?"

Avery and Xander saw us at the same time both taking a defensive stance. To each of us here it was a game we wanted to win. My team had the upper hand considering all I knew about Toby, not that I was allowed to tell Jameson just yet.

"Mine," Xander pulled back.

"Which one do you stake your claim over Xan?" I tilted my head," The wall or the hammer?"

"Both," He gritted out. I knew what this was to him. The puzzle was assumed to be designed for him to solve, something just for him, not his older brothers.

"Is that the way it is?" Jameson's eyes narrowed. "Want to wrestle for it?"

"Xander, your uncle and I know each other," Avery stated purposely trying to avoid any fighting. She seemed convinced that this story would greatly impact people. "I met Toby right after my mother died." She continued with the same story she had of her playing chess with him. It was confusing to me how she was so proud of it. There was happiness when she told the story. She loved that she did it with no knowledge of who he was. Who she thought he was.

"I should have seen it," Xander looked down fiddling with the hammer disappointment spread along his face.

"Seen what?" Avery blurted out immediately.

"You weren't just a part of their game," Xander replied finally looking up at her. "Of course you weren't. The old man's mind didn't operate that way. He didn't just choose you for them."

"Ok, we get it she's not just 'A very risky gamble', Avery was also stalked by your uncle. Can we break down the wall now?" I said looking around at everyone. The comment bugged Avery but Jameson and Xander seemed amused.

"Be patient Spots, it's still mine," Xander told me wagging an eyebrow.

"Hurry up with the explanations, then," I continued. "Tell us your deal, or give me the sledgehammer."

"Not much to tell!" Xander declared jollily a smile appearing on his face. "The old man left me a letter congratulating me for getting my hardheaded and much less handsome brothers to the end of their game. He signed the letter as Tobias Hawthorne, no middle initial, but when submerged in water, that signature became 'Find Tobias Hawthorne the Second.'"

The note had been something that Xander realised could have a hidden meaning. Something he could use.

"I guess that answers the question of whether the old man knew Toby was alive," Jameson murmured.

"If we have Toby's last known location," Xander mused, "perhaps a sledgehammering is unnecessary. I planned to search his room and see if any clues turned up, but..."

Avery looked slightly disappointed. "I have no idea how to find Toby. I asked Alisa to get the money to him right after I inherited it before I even knew who he was. He was already in the wind."

Jameson cocked his head to the side. "Interesting Annabelle isn't it?"

My gaze slips over to him, "Not really. We were going to win either way."

Jameson frowns, "Yes with the lead I found."

"Is Toby's wing the lead you mentioned earlier?" Avery asked Jameson quickly.

"Maybe it is," Jameson said, grinning eyes linked with hers. "Or maybe it isn't."

Jameson was taunting for a reason. The more he got out of Avery the more he wanted to win. No matter what he said I knew he liked her, if he could win this maybe he could admit it to himself.

"Far be it from me to interrupt banter," Xander interjected forcing their eyes to leave one another. "But this is my lead. And my sledgehammer!" He heaved it over his shoulder.

"Are you sure about this?" Avery asked Xander.

He took a deep breath. "As sure as anyone holding a sledgehammer has ever been."

The wall was rather easy to tear down, only taking a few hits from Xander to get a hold for the for of us to climb through.

The room looked exactly like it always had. There was a long hallway connecting the parts of his room lined with mirrors. I went for the bedroom first sliding past Avery as she checked out the wardrobe. There was an armoire in the corner of the room, I went for it first.

Jameson slid beside me, "What did we find?"

I raised my eyebrows, "I've possibly found something, you have found nothing."

"Same team Anna. You know something," He smirked as if he was revealing a deadly secret, "You do don't you?"

"Secrets will be revealed with time," I exaggerated watching his face shift with mild uncertainty. Jameson had no clue what I meant. I didn't either, but that wasn't the point.

"How long has this place been bricked up?" Avery called out as she wandered through the room.

There was no response needed. To their thoughts, it had never been touched not since Toby 'died'. It had to stay that way.

I ran my hands on the top of the armoire one last time finding the point to push opening a compartment filled with travel-sized liquor bottles.

"Looks like Uncle Toby was a fan of contraband," Jameson commented looking over towards Avery intriguing her to come over to look. As she walked over I backed up letting the couple have their space. It was hard to look at them when they were acting like this.

"Found a loose floor panel," Xander called from under the bed the tone of his voice was a mix of concern and excitement. When he reappeared from under the bed, he was holding a small plastic bag full of pills—and another one full of powder.

I took the bag of pills from him inspecting it. It was so sort of drug, you would be able to tell without some sort of evidence of a label. It didn't look like anything my mother took, it seemed stronger.

"Do you know what it is Spots?" Xander asked softly purposely trying not to push anything. He was good at it, better than his brothers.

My eyes didn't leave the bag, "Nope."

—-------------------------------

We split up to search the room looking through the many secret hideaways Toby had. I found several underledges or tiles holding different types of secrets. Nothing that would be helpful. Nothing I hadn't already seen before.

"Are you going to tell me your secret now?" Jameson asked bumping into me while checking tiles. He was completely in mystery mode right now. You could almost feel the determination radiating off him.

"If he was in Connecticut pretending to be a homeless man you'd think he would get caught," I muttered fiddling with a loose tile.

Jameson frowned unsure of what I was trying to say, "So you're saying he was found."

I glared at him, "He wasn't that my point. He also survived a fire while being severely intoxicated."

"He had help from someone. Someone helped him."

I nodded a light smile appeared, "Now you're getting it, Jamie."

I felt my hands slip on a tile popping it up. Jameson gave me a knowing look telling us both to be quiet. He helped me lift it. On the back of the tile, there was a poem engraved into the metal.

I was angry with my friend

I told my wrath, my wrath did end

I was angry with my foe:

I told it not, my wrath did grow

Reached for my phone to take a photo.

"Who is it by?" Jameson asked his voice not making a sound.

I nodded once knowing I wouldn't be able to say it without letting the others know. We both reach for it sliding back into place.

"Aha!" Xander said triumphantly storming into the room with Avery. "I knew you two were being too quiet."

Jameson flashed a wink at Avery as they both squatted down next to us, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

As the two of them popped the tile back open I stood up and backed away. The poem was by William Blake. I never was able to figure out what the significance was there.

Avery read out the poem leaving the room in silence until Xander spoke, "William Blake."

"Who?" Avery asked, her gaze on Jameson not leaving for a second as he paced up and down. Jameson always preferred to think on his feet.

"William Blake," I repeated with no emotion in my voice. "Eighteenth-century poet—and a favourite of Zara's."

"And Toby's, apparently," Xander added.

I doubted Xander's point, Toby was one to read long literary books but there was a difference in this poem to the rest of the literature he owned. It was a hidden message in his mind. Toby's own secret.

"He was angry about something," Avery spoke. Her face lit up a certain way when she was racing through possibilities it almost looked calming. "Something he couldn't say?"

"Maybe," Jameson replied pensively. "Maybe not."

Xander gave his phone over to Avery. "Here's the entire poem. Long story short," Xander summarized for the rest of us, "the author's hidden wrath grows into a tree, the tree bears fruit, the fruit is poisoned, and the enemy—who doesn't know they are enemies—eats the fruit. The whole shebang ends with a dead body. Very catchy."

The poem was a hint to Tobias Hawthorne, he was the one toby wanted to posen by burning the island. He wanted revenge.

"What the hell are you kids doing in here?" That question sounded like it had been ripped forcibly from someone's throat. My head whipped toward the doorway. Mr. Laughlin stood there, on the other side of the demolished bricks. He looked tired and old and almost hurt.

"Just putting everything back where we found it!" Xander said brightly. "Right after we—"

Mr Laughlin didn't let him finish. He stepped through the opening in the brick wall and pointed his finger at us. "Out."

"Do we have to?" I forced myself to say knowing it would only make it worse.

"Out!"

A/n

This chapter is kinda boring but necessary to the plot.

Thank you for reading :)