happened and the boys went further. Slowly opening the door, they stepped into a room with very pink walls and there was a shattered mirror in the middle of it. Jim’s attention got caught by a bat at the foot of the bed. He picked it up and Mark said in a hushed tone:
“That must be the bat, that someone used to shatter the mirror.’’
Jim nodded in response. They explored the rest of the second floor but did not find anything interesting. When the boys were making their way down, they heard a sound coming from the basement. Jim and Mark looked at each other and nodded their heads again – they agreed silently to investigate, who or what was making that noise.
They were almost in the cell they were once captured when they both noticed a man in it. The boys couldn’t see his face, only his back. Mark saw the key of the cell on a little shelf on the right. Jim hit the man with the bat and shut the door. Mark grabbed the key and locked the cell just in time because the man jumped up to his feet and turned at the boys with the most surprised look on his face:
‘’What do you two think you are doing!? Are you two crazy?’’
The boys were about leaving the cell but after his words they turned back. And then they understood - that was not the man they expected to see, but somebody else.
‘’W-wait, you are not Patrick…,’’ Mark murmured. The old man was also shocked:
‘’You know my brother?’’
There was a long pause until the boys nodded their heads and the man sighed. After a few seconds he started speaking:
‘’Yes, Patrick is my brother. He lives in a Retirement home but he seems to hate that place and due to his mental condition he keeps escaping and coming back to this house. I live in another country. As soon as I heard that he had escaped once again I booked the flight, came here and got him back. I am truly sorry for any discomfort that he caused you.’’
Mark stepped forward with a confused expression and asked:
‘’We saw the headstone in the cemetery. What was that?’’
The man thought a bit and then cleared up:
‘’Patrick is named after our father!’’
The boys told about everything that happened to them last week and the man apologised one more time. Once everything was clear the three of them went their separate ways. The boys came back home safe and decided to have a sleepover. The night was filled with laughter, video games and snacks.
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