A sick sense of déjà vu coated the atmosphere.

"That's what I'm trying to do!"

"You are beautiful,"

Carter liked to think he was a reasonable man.

He patted the boy on the head, like one would to a dog, and finally left.

~TOSO~

In a small house on a small plot of land lived a young man, striking out on his own for the first time. So far, it wasn't going so well. He had managed to get a job in the city, which was a bit of a drive but not an unreasonable commute by any means, but it was long hours and the pay was a bit unworthy of his efforts, he thought. Still, work was work, and it just barely made his rent and food affordable. He supposed that one shouldn't be living like this; working and nothing else, but what else could he do? He refused to go back home like a lost dog. It wasn't like his home life was awful, no, it was just the opposite; he had doting parents that cared for his every need and then some, but it was suffocating. He craved the freedom to make his own choices and money and food like a caged bird craved flight through the open skies. He wasn't ungrateful of all that they had done for him, not by any means, he just wanted to prove that he and he alone could make something of himself.

If there was one thing Kasey was, it was determined. He was going to make a life for himself away from home, and no amount of somewhat scary neighbors would change that.

~TOSO~

Gill wished he could drown in his bed sheets, where he shook uncontrollably. His stomach was flipping inside of him like an animal grazed by a car, nerves firing off, commanding body parts to spasm and convulse without reason, sending the poor creature to toss itself along the road in a horrifying display of death throes.

He wanted to be sick, to rid himself of every vile and toxic substance inside of him but he couldn't move his body and inch, not even to go through the unconscious motions of gagging.

He felt pressure from everywhere, on his sides, on his head, on his heart, pressing down on him as if some invisible force was trying to fold him up and put him away. Somewhere where he couldn't be found, where he would slowly shrivel and die.

And that was completely fine with him.

~TOSO~

Carter poured himself over file after file. He knew what he was getting into when he was first hired for the case, sure, but the amount of paperwork on his ex-client was abundant beyond means. Despite his rigorous schooling, English was not one of his expertise and several forms were in the cryptic language. He decided that tomorrow for sure he would head back to the island, someone there would surely know something that his neutral sounding forms did not.

He hated the thought of returning to the place where at least one would surely, at the very least, balk if not utterly attempt to kill him upon his arrival. There have been several times in the past where he has regretted his career choice. He never had a say on his own opinions on whether something was right or wrong; his job was to defend a wrong until it became viewed as a right or vice versa. He was rarely on the correct side of justice, as he had became known for defending those who spent more time than not on the opposite side of the tracks from when he was forced into a series of serious criminal cases when he first got into the profession. He screwed himself over majorly by actually working on those cases instead of quietly letting mobsters go to their fate.

~TOSO~

Shamefully short chapter, I know, but I'm trying my best to stay motivated to write this . I promised an ending, and goddamnit you guys are going to get one!

insanitywhyme: Ah, thank you! You are too kind. (./.) I'm sorry this update has taken so long, and I'm even sorrier about its embarrassing word count. Thank you for your support, though!

As always, if you see a mistake or have any questions, please let me know through the reviews or through a PM. I will try my best to answer you!

Thanks for reading, I will continue to try to do my best! Don't give up on me, please!

-distressed writer noises-