Matthew Lipport

Almost done with this chapter. Going to edit tell me what you think.



















Chapter One: Matthew Lipport





         Today was supposed to be a happy day, the last day of eighth grade for Matthew Lipport, but all he could think about was his mom. She had been missing since he was a little kid. As he thought about her, he suddenly realized he had no memories of her. Most of his friends would talk about celebrating birthdays or going on vacation with both their parents. They all smiled while saying how fun their mom had been during the car ride or planning the party. All of his memories involved his dad, William, trying to make up for the absence of his mother.

         Matt sat in his chair thinking about himself not that he had just turned thirteen or that he had his mother’s green eyes and his father’s brown hair but, what he was supposed to do with his life. He couldn’t imagine sitting in school or working for the rest of his life. He knew there must be more.

         He headed to the cafeteria to grab some lunch. While he waited in line his best friend Frank walked up next to him. Frank had blonde hair and was a few inches taller than Matt.

“What’s up, Matt?” asked Frank in his usual energetic voice.

         “The usual,” replied Matt. “Just thinking.”

         “Oh sounds thrilling,” commented Frank as they sat down and started to eat. They both looked up suddenly as someone dropped their tray. All around them cheers from other students went up at the expense of the embarrassed student. “It’s going to be nice to get out of here for a few months. So any plans for the summer?”

         “Nope, nothing big anyways. How about you?” answered Matt.

         “Notta thin…” Frank tried to answer as he took a bite of his roll. As they finished their lunch and headed back to class they made plans to get together later.

Back in class Matt watched the clock slowly ticked away Matt looked around the room. Since it was the last day everyone had been given free time to do what they wanted. A group of kids in front were playing paper football while another group in back chatted about there plans for the summer. He looked to his left and saw Dawn Shaffer. She was playing with her long blond hair. Matt considered her his first crush but never had the nerve to ask her out. She looked up and their eyes met. His face quickly turned red and he turned his head away quickly.

         Finally the final bell rang ending the school day and everyone ran for the door. Well almost everyone, Matt slowly got up and walked out of the building. As he passed through the final set of doors out of the building a cool breeze hit him and he actually let out a smile. He finally was able to think of freedom from school for a few months.

         “Matt come on we have to go home,” his dad yelled from the car quickly ending his escape from reality.

         “Coming Dad,” replied Matt looking up quickly. As he took one last look around he caught a glimpse of a man behind a tree but before he could look again the man was gone. Matt blinked his eyes hoping to see the man again but there was nothing. He had goosebumps on his arm and had an odd feeling inside of him.

         “Matthew!” yelled his dad.

         “Sorry,” exclaimed Matt as he jogged down the stairs toward the car.

As Matt got into his dads old beat up car he wondered if he was seeing things.

“Everything ok?” his dad asked.

“Ya, I’m fine,” muttered Matt as he put on his seat belt.

         “So how was your last day of school sport,” inquired his dad.

         “It was boring. We didn’t do anything,” answered Matt.

         As they drove away Matt peered over his shoulder and looked at the spot he thought he saw the man. He turned back around in his seat convinced that someone had been behind the tree. Within ten minutes the car pulled into their driveway. Looking at his house Matt was reminded of the work still needed to be done outside the house. They had moved across town to this small ranch style house after his dad got a new job. No matter what the outside looked like Matt was proud of the work he and his dad had done on the inside. His favorite part of the house though was the yard; their old apartment in the city had no yard.

          “I have to go to the station for a little bit and finish up a report. If you want you can take a bike ride into the center of town,” said his dad as he shifted the car into park so Matt could get out. Matt nodded his head in acceptance knowing his dad’s job was demanding. His dad was the chief at the local fire station and often had to leave because of some emergency.

         Matt walked towards the door as his dad sped off down the street. He stuck the key into the lock but didn’t turn the key. He had a strange feeling like someone was watching him. He swiftly turned around but there was no one there and he dismissed the feeling as he walked in the house. Then he thought about the man he had seen and decided it would be smart to lock the door. He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels and settled on a movie he had never heard of.

         All of a sudden he was in an abandoned building. It looked like it was once a warehouse. He shivered and had the feeling that something bad had happened here. He looked up and saw that the rafters were covered in spider webs and that many of the glass windows were broken. The only light in the building came from the full moon. He started walking down one of the long aisles toward the other side of the building. He felt something small rush past him. He cringed at the thought of a giant rat scurrying past his leg.

                He saw a door at the end of the aisle and walked at a much quicker pace to reach it. He looked in and standing in the middle was what looked like a black ball except it had long black tentacles that made it look like the head of some football players. He stared at it but all of a sudden it let out a terrible screech and ran at him. Matt’s reaction was to run away; he felt he had never sprinted this fast before. The thing was actually gaining ground on him. Out of nowhere another one of the creatures jumped on Matt and he threw it off as he continued to run.

                He turned into one of the side aisles hoping to lose the two creatures. He stopped to catch his breath and as he turned his head around there were dozens of the creatures running around on the ground. He could hear some noises on the rafters and higher shelves of the warehouse. Then there was another piercing screech and Matt started to run again. He couldn’t do it these things were too fast but he had to try. He sprinted but he tripped on a metal pipe lying across the aisle. Next thing he knew he was covered in these monsters. All he could do was scream.

                Matt woke up with a fast heartbeat and covered in sweat. The movie wasn’t over but Matt didn’t care because he was still extremely frightened. He decided he didn’t want to be alone after seeing a man earlier and now this dream.

         He grabbed his bike and started off down the street. He twisted his neck around to see if anything was behind him but the street behind him was empty except for a few birds walking on his neighbor’s yards. He decided he would ride to Frank’s house and see if he wanted to go into town. He also decided to pick up his pace because he was still a bit frightened.

         He arrived at Frank’s house and rang the doorbell. He turned his head around to make sure no one was around. Frank’s mother opened the door.

         “Hello, Matthew. What are you doing here?” she questioned looking a little surprised.

         “Hi, Mrs. Knot. Is Frank home?” Matt quickly asked.

         “Yes, he is.  Frank, your friend’s here!” her voice boomed up the stairs.          

Matt nervously looked around as he was waiting for Frank. Frank came up to the door and saw Matt. Matt saw that Frank was a little surprised and Matt knew this was because they hadn’t planned on getting together for a few days.

         “You want to go into town?” Matt quickly asked before Frank could say anything.

         “Well you know, I have tons of other plans,” joked Frank. “Come on. Let’s go,” Frank ran over to where his bike was and grabbed it.

         Neither one of them said a single word the whole ride. Matt just like the company but could tell Frank was still confused. They rode past the fire station and Matt saw his dad’s car sitting in the parking space out front. He thought about going in and explaining to his dad what he had seen. This idea was quickly put away, he felt more comfortable telling Frank first.

         When they reached the center of town they decided to sit at one of the picnic tables. Frank was about to say something when Matt interrupted.

         “I saw a man,”

         “There are lots of them around,”

         “No, this one looked like he was watching me,”

         “That can happen,”

         “This guy was behind a tree,”

         “I see. What did he look like?”

         “I only saw the outline but then I heard some noises in my house and felt like someone was watching me,” Matt urged.

         “It’s probably nothing,” reassured Frank still not convinced and now looking around watching cars go by.

         “You’re probably right,” Matt responded even though he was convinced he had seen someone and knew that Frank was uninterested. He decided to not bring up his dream because he considered it just a nightmare. They decided to go to the sports park and see if there was anything going on.

         Once there joined a pickup basketball game. Matt was dribbling up the court and sped past his man. He drove to the hoop but as he lifted his feet off the ground for a lay-up he saw a man leaning against a shed. Matt thought that this was the mysterious man who had been spying on him. He started to sprint towards the man to try and identify him.

         “Hey, How’d you miss that lay-up and where you going?” demanded Frank.

         Matt didn’t answer and kept focusing on the man. He wanted to know who he was and why he was watching him. When he was close enough to see the man he realized it was just a park employee on a break. Matt felt disappointed and relieved at the same time. He started to think maybe it wasn’t anything; maybe it was just his imagination running wild.

         He decided it was time to leave but he would stop in at the fire station if his dad was still there. As he rode his bike out of the park he truly believed that he hadn’t seen anybody. Now the only thing to worry about was how he was going to be spending his summer vacation.

         He pulled up to the station and leaned his bike against his dad’s car. He walked up the stairs leading to his father’s office. The door creaked open loudly. The room was empty he decided to look around since it had been a long time since he was last in his dads office. On the wall there hung old newspaper clippings and some photos of his dad. He walked closer to his dad’s desk and sat down in his chair. He glanced at the desk and saw a photo of his dad in uniform with his mom. He stared at the picture trying to imagine what his mom was like. He imagined a beautiful and energetic woman. He started to feel a little uncomfortable and decided to walk down to the garage.

         He walked past the bright red fire trucks that must have been recently washed. Matt ducked underneath a wire and continued walking towards the back. He found his dad in back rolling up some hoses.

         “Need any help, dad?” asked Matt as he leaned on a support column.

         “Sure. Grab that hose over there and roll it up,” answered his dad a little surprised to see Matt there. “What are you doing here?”

         “I went into town with Frank and decided to stop by,” replied Matt as he walked over to the hose that was laid out on the ground. He started to roll up the hole when he suddenly stopped.

         “Why’d you stop? Is anything wrong?” asked his dad a little concerned.

         “What was mom like?” questioned Matt who was now staring at his dad. His dad looked up from the hose a little worried about how he was going to answer a sensitive question like that.

         “Well Matt, let’s go sit down,” They walked over to a fire truck and sat on its bumper. There was a long awkward pause while Matt waited for his dad to speak. “Your mother was a beautiful lady who had all the energy in the world. She could make anyone laugh even at the worst of times. She loved you very much and I’m sure she would be really proud to see what you are growing up into,” he was forced to turn away to hide the fact that his eyes were watering up with tears.          

         “Thanks dad,” said Matt as he got up and walked out the door.

As he went to grab his bike he looked across the street and there was the man leaning up against a tree staring at him. Matt turned around to run and get his dad but his dad came out the door first.

                “Sorry about that Matt, It’s still a tough subject to talk about. How about I make you an awesome meal tonight?” said his dad. Matt was about to tell his dad about the man but as he turned around to look across the street again no one was there.

                “Sure dad. That sounds awesome,” replied Matt who was now convinced there was someone watching him.