Chapter 6: 27th July 1991, Saturday: Part 6

Without saying another word, Dominic abruptly stood up and left the dining room with the pager in hand. The expression on his face as he paced past George was quite unsettling, he certainly didn't look like the sort of man who was about to pleasantly welcome a house guest. George hadn't ever seen Dominic get particularly angry or stressed before. His foster father had always remained composed even when Ellie had 'accidentally' scratched one of his most priced sports cars. So what could have been so worrying about a random stranger knocking on his front door?

And George wasn't alone, Amanda looked to be just as concerned as he was. She gently placed her knife and fork back on the table, dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin, and turned to address her confused step-children. She was clearly trying to hide it but George could gather from her subtle body language that something was definitely wrong.

"There's no need to worry. Your father, Dominic, is just going to see who it is and then he will be right back. In the meantime... George, you can help yourself to Dominic's plate. Ellie, would you like me to make you some more pancakes?"

Her awkward movements seemed awfully similar to an event that had occurred around 8 months ago. Amanda had taken an exhilarated Ellie and an indifferent George to the park to play and make friends. It was just another day of tedious kids' stuff until everything went south. In a bold yet idiotic attempt to prove her bravery to him, Ellie had fallen off a climbing frame and dislocated her shoulder. It wasn't anything severe but boy did Ellie scream her head off. The waterworks coupled with the agonised wailing had sent Amanda into a real full-blown panic.

An ambulance was called and within a couple of minutes, all three of them were in the emergency department. Whilst a doctor was reinserting Ellie's shoulder back into its socket, George was paying close attention to Amanda. She looked composed on the surface, calm and collected on a passing glance. But on further inspection, he found all sorts of little nervous tics. All of which, Amanda was currently exhibiting while trying to reassure him that everything was fine.

Whilst George was trying to work out why his foster parents were lying to him, Ellie nodded her head enthusiastically at Amanda's suggestion. Amanda then proceeded to pick up her daughter's plate and headed back to the kitchen. This left George and Ellie alone and, more importantly, unsupervised.

Ellie leaned over the table and whispered, "Hey George. Wanna go and see what Dad's up to?"

George was broken out of his speculation and wondered what his annoying step-sister was going on about. He couldn't afford to be distracted at a time like this, anything could happen and he needed to be prepared.

"What do you want now?"

"Shhh!", Ellie looked over her shoulder before continuing, "we should go and have a look at what's going on whilst mum is busy making me pancakes."

His eyes lit up after hearing her suggestion. For once in his life, George could honestly say that Ellie had a not-too-shabby idea. In the worst-case scenario where they got caught, he could blame it all on her. It wouldn't even be a lie to say it was all her idea. He was just a protective brother, trying to look after his disobedient sister.

"After you, my lady."

The two of them gingerly placed their cutlery on the table and carefully stood up from their chairs. Their actions were taken with the main priority of not producing a single sound. Amanda might have been in her fifties but her hearing was still excellent, escaping without detection would demand absolute silence. Luckily for them, there were two ways out of the dining room. One was via the kitchen and the other looped back around into the living room. Considering Amanda's location, their choice had already been made for them.

George and Ellie had successfully escaped their foster mother and were now navigating through the disorienting corridors. Even after living in the house for nearly a year, George still found this barn conversion ridiculously easy to get lost in. Especially the routes which he used least often, such as the one he was presently walking on. Whether it be the absurd number of tiny and seemingly pointless rooms or the fact that every door and corridor looked uncannily similar, this house felt like it had been designed to lead people astray.

Locking himself in his room for ninety per cent of the time that he had resided with the Linwoods may not have been the smartest choice for odd situations like this. Fortunately, Ellie was here to save the day. Not only had she lived in the house five years longer than George, but she had spent most of that time 'exploring'. Or as the rest of the family would call it, finding places to hide stolen treats. Regardless of her reasons, Ellie's questionable navigating skills were now proving themselves indispensable. All he could do was follow behind her and hope she knew where she was going.

Ellie must have been guiding him in the right direction because George had just heard the front door close with an alarmingly loud bang. Needless to say, slamming doors wasn't normally in Dominic's character. Also, his step-father had taken the fastest path whereas Ellie and himself had gone the scenic route. Why had Dominic taken so long to reach the front door? He had been practically powerwalking out of the dining room, there was no way Ellie's little legs had managed to catch up in that short amount of time.

Nevertheless, the two of them finally reached the entrance hall. Ellie instantly ran over to the window beside the front door and threw the curtains open to have a good look outside. George would have followed after her but he was far too distracted by the door ajar to his left. This was the first time he had ever seen this door open.

There were a few rooms in this giant house that George and Ellie weren't allowed to enter. These rooms remained locked at all times and he had never caught his foster parents ever entering or leaving one. Since it had no bearing on George's plans, he had respected those rules and had never thought about breaking into one to find out what was inside. It's not that he wasn't curious, but he didn't want to risk blowing his good-boy act over some worthless investigation.

This partially open door led into one of those highly restricted rooms. It didn't take long for George to put two and two together. Dominic must have briefly entered this room and left right after, that's why he had taken longer to leave the house. Technically, he could push the door wide open and have a look inside without breaking the rules. The temptation to have a peek inside was too high. He needed to know why his foster parents were so on edge.

After analysing the pros and cons, George pushed the door open and looked inside. The room was on the smaller side, roughly 15-by-15 feet and it smelt of iron filings. The lights were off and there weren't any windows which made the room especially dark. The only thing giving off any light was the 9 CRT monitors stacked in a 3-by-3 formation at the back of the room. Each monitor was displaying a different bird's eye view of the house's surroundings in black and white. George scanned each monitor and spotted Dominic talking to a slender man on the driveway around 10 yards from the front door.

The resolution was so poor that he couldn't distinguish any features that might give away who this 'surprise' visitor was. The fact that the man was around Dominic's height did help George rule out some potential candidates who might deliver his letter. Whilst inspecting the presumed-to-be security room, George called out to Ellie who was still looking out the window. There was a good chance that she could see better than he could through the cameras.

"Ellie, what does the stranger talking to Dominic look like?"

"It's hard to say, Dad is kind of standing in the way."

"Really, you can't see anything at all?"

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"Well, I can see a bit. It's a man at least. And he's wearing a suit."

"That doesn't exactly narrow it down."

"Why does it matter, do you think you might know who it is?"

"Never mind that. What does he look like?"

"Err... He's got brown hair, I think, and a moustache too."

Now George was really confused, he couldn't think of any candidates that fit that description. Maybe he had been wrong, this visitor might not be here for him after all. It was feasible that all those months of waiting had left him a little too keen to leave and had distorted his judgement.

Ellie stood up on her tippy toes and excitedly exclaimed, "Oh! That's not all. That man has got a big scar on his face. I wonder how he got it?"

George's body froze after hearing those words, all the hairs on the back of his neck stood up simultaneously. Only one person he knew fit that description but it couldn't be him, it can't be. George needed to check for himself to be absolutely certain, his plans might have to drastically change if his prediction was right. But at that very moment, the door slammed shut in front of him. George followed along the arm firmly grasping the door handle and saw a very furious Amanda staring back at him.

"What did you see in there?!"

George nervously stuttered, "n nothing...The door was already open and the lights were off..."

"Never mind that! Stay behind me and do not leave my sight. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mrs Linwood."

Acting rebellious at a time like this wasn't going to do George any good. Going off Amanda's 180-degree attitude change, it was for the best that he did as he was told. His foster mother then tightly grabbed his hand and pulled him to the front door where she also apprehended Ellie in an equally vice-like grip.

Ellie squealed, "ouch! That hurts."

Amanda was having none of it, "the same goes for you. Do NOT wander off again, do I make myself clear!?"

Ellie lowered her head in submission, "yes, mum."

Clearly having more trust in George than Ellie, Amanda let go of his wrist and opened the front door. The first thing he heard was the heated argument between Dominic and the obviously unwelcome visitor.

"If you don't explain how you know my address in the next 10 seconds..."

"Look, Mr Linwood. I'm afraid the answer to that question is going to take a little more than 10 seconds to explain. If you could just calm down, I'm sure we can..."

George locked eyes with the man intruding on his family's property. Ellie had been accurate in her description, she had just neglected some of the finer details. The strange man was in his early thirties and was wearing a worn-out brown suit covered in patches. He had a short moustache and the start of a rough beard, his thinning light brown hair had been neatly combed back. His most distinct feature was undoubtedly the two large scars running diagonally across his face. This man was not a random stranger and George knew exactly who he was.

A flustered Remus smiled with relief after noticing George staring back at him.

He hastily introduced himself, "and you... must be George Linwood. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard great things."

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