"Matthew?"

My brother. Just my brother. Oh, thank goodness it was just him.

I stood still, eyes locked on his with the sinking feeling of being a deer caught in the headlights. Matthew returned my stare with a puzzled one of his own. "Alfred, what are you doing? The funeral will start any minute now." He crossed his arms, undoubtedly trying to appear as the intimidating older sibling he should be, but isn't. I sighed. Much to my dismay, he was right. I had spent so much time precariously sneaking down the hall that almost all of my time was out. I had to act, and act fast.

"Listen, Matthew, there's no time to explain, but I need you to help me out. Stand outside this door here and act as a lookout, so to speak. I'll be out in a minute, okay?" I didn't wait for answer, instead opting to run into Gran's room and hope that Matthew would back me up here.

The room was desolate and filled with an empty atmosphere. All of the personality that this room possessed had been ripped out by her cold blooded relatives, most likely in a hunt for something of value that they could pawn off for their own monetary gain. I shook my head abruptly, bringing my mind back to the present. No time to dwell on the past when there was a job to be done. My eyes quickly scanned the room and landed on an aged dresser in the far corner of the room. I dashed over to it, hoping all the while that her relatives had not gotten to going through the objects in this dresser yet. If they did, then I was royally screwed.

I hastily yanked the top drawer open. Nothing. I proceeded to the second, and third. All empty. I began to grow frantic as I searched more of the dresser, all in vain. My breath started to come faster as my hectic thoughts raced through my mind. It has to be here. It has to be. I had one job, one! Jones, you had better not screw this one up! At last, I reached the bottom drawer. I tried to steady my shaking hands with no success and opened the drawer.

In it was a white sheet, haphazardly crumpled and stuffed tightly inside. I pulled it out quickly. In my haste, something flew out of the sheet and crashed onto the hardwood flooring. I instinctively turned towards the loud crash the object had made.

The watch.

There it lay, upon the worn hardwood floor, its ornate gold engravings and shiny exterior that reflected the warm sunlight deeply contrasting the dreary, bleak bedroom it currently resided in. I never thought that an inanimate object could ever possess such beauty, but that watch surely did. It put all the jewelry I had ever laid eyes on before to shame. The watch's cover was crafted of what appeared to be pure gold, its engravings creating an intricate weaving pattern circling across the exterior. The light filtering in through the window and onto the watch didn't simply reflect off of the watch's surface – it seemed to glow, as if the watch itself had a heavenly halo. I stared at it, mesmerized.

"Alfred! Hurry up, someone's coming!"

Shit. Another complication. Just what we needed. I snatched the watch and then the letter Gran mentioned from the bottom drawer. I struggled with the sheet, trying to stuff it into the drawer quickly.

"Alfred! Come on!" Matthew sounded more urgent now.

"Okay, okay." I slammed the drawer shut, tucked the letter and watch into my pockets, and left Gran's bedroom. I closed the door behind me and turned around. A pair of livid eyes met mine.

"What do you think you're doing?" The middle aged man's angry eyes bored into me, seeming to probe around looking for an answer. My brain was racing, but I couldn't come up with an excuse. Hell, I didn't even remember who he was. An uncle? Cousin? Luckily, Matthew broke through the silence for me.

"We just got lost, sir. We haven't been in Gran's house in quite a long time."

The man sneered, his eyes never leaving mine. "I'm asking you, boy." He glared at me, waiting.

"My brother just spoke to you; the least you could do is listen. He answered for the both of us, so we have no more business here. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a funeral to attend to." I shoved my way passed the man, tugging Matthew along behind me. To my dismay, however, the man was not going to back off that easily. He placed a beefy hand on my shoulder, stopping Matthew and me in our tracks.

"Not so fast, boys. I want answers, and quickly." He tightened his grip on my shoulder.

"George, what are you doing? The funeral's starting," Aunt Lindsey called out, pausing at the beginning of the hallway. "You guys coming?"

The man, whose name was apparently George, peered down at us through narrowed eyelids, before slowly releasing his death grip on my shoulder. I resisted the urge to rub the circulation back into my arm, and instead opted for angrily glaring at George.

"This isn't over. I know you two were up to something, and I will find out what," George hissed, before walking briskly away to catch up with Aunt Lindsey.

Matthew let out a long sigh. "Wow. That was nerve wracking, to say the least." He turned towards me. "What are you going to do now?"

"Honestly, I really don't know yet. Let's just go to the funeral, and then book it out of here as fast as possible, so George doesn't track us down for further interrogation. Because I have a feeling that if he finds us alone again, we probably won't get a lucky break like the last time."

Matthew slowly shook his head in disbelief. "How do I get myself in these messes?"

I cracked a small smile. "Because you're related to me."

"Oh, yeah, of course."

And we walked down to the funeral.

Hey guys, I just wanted to thank all who have read, followed, and favorited so far. It means a lot. ^.^ Also, shout out to ArkieR for the review! More updates soon.