Part 2: I Discover the Labyrinth

We walked for a while, and the entire time that I was following him, I was thinking about how I was going to try and make small talk with him to get to know the guy. But I felt like it was just fucking impossible to do this, since he was too young to really connect with me. I couldn't really be able to fully connect with him since he was not nearly old enough to be connected with. He was just simply some form of young guy who didn't really have all that much to talk to me about besides this strange labyrinth. Maybe when I had done this activity with him a little bit, then maybe he will be willing to talk to me about what the hell was going on in his life. Maybe then he would actually be willing to give me a couple of details about how he had found about this so called labyrinth.

"I am going to be going to prom in a couple of days. That is going to be very exciting." I said, trying to make at least a tiny amount of small talk. I knew that this was going to be something that Todd probably didn't care about. I didn't really care though. There was just a part of me that was still letting this whole thing sink in. The fact that I was actually going on this date. I could really not believe it. I couldn't believe for a fucking minute that fucking Emily was willing to go out with me.

"That is cool. I wished that we were able to have prom at our school." Todd was just obviously lightly referencing his younger age, and I shrugged as it was something that was probably going to be over hyped anyways. Something that I would go to and then realize was a massive waste of time or something like that. I was fearing that this was going to be what I was going to be facing soon.

"Just find a girl you like. I think that you could have the skills to get a girl who you might like." I was saying, just trying to be nice more than anything. I didn't even know the guy. How the hell was I supposed to know if he was able to have actually have a good chance or not of slaying some fucking poontang? I didn't know any better, and there was no way that I could even pretend that I did.

"I already am sort of involved with somebody. As long as I don't ruin what I have with them in the next couple of years, then I will be set for life." Todd said, and I laughed a little at that. Not at him for saying this. But the fact that he was thinking that he could keep up something with a girl from middle school years down the line. I mean, I wasn't a fucking man who can have the best logic in relationships, but even I knew that this was virtually impossible. Even I knew that he was shooting for the fucking stars.

"If you can manage to still be dating her in a couple of years, then trust me, you really hit gold there young guy. I can't even fathom what it must be like to actually even come close to being with somebody for that long." I said and then I thought about Emily and I were probably only going to be a thing for tomorrow and then for the prom and that was going to be all that there would be to it.

Before I had even known it, we ended up talking for a while. I told him about Emily and then Todd was telling me about the girl that he was trying to date. In a way, it was almost a pleasant conversation. I was sort of forgetting that I was setting myself up for a giant quest that I was still thinking was probably at least a good chance at being a lie. I mean, this whole labyrinth thing was just probably a place in town that had not been talked about in years and now was found by this Todd guy. I thought that he was just excited to show somebody else his findings, and that was why he picked me. He must have read one of my school pieces or something. Or hell, he probably just randomly picked me for all I know. Or maybe he happened to be my next door neighbor and I never even noticed it before hand. Now that would be somewhat funny if it wasn't showing that I was kind of a dumbass.

Eventually, we had reached the front of the school that Todd was saying we needed to go inside of. "But seriously though, how the hell are we going to get inside? Have you even thought about that once?" I asked, wondering if this was planned out at all or if he was going in blind thinking that all the problems can be solved with just a bought of good luck.

"I have thought about it. I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't think of this." Todd said and I groaned in annoyance as he said this. It was kind of annoying that he was acting like he was some great planner. I seriously didn't think he was a great planner if he thought that bringing me along was a great idea. But then he proved me wrong when he told me to follow him for a few more seconds.

I didn't really want to follow him any further, but I thought that he must have been knowing what he was doing if there was one exact entrance that he knew all about. He showed me this area that was covered with grass and twigs. It was for all intents and purposes just a bundle of stuff covering something up. That or it was a giant large pile of sticks. Todd picked them all up and it took him about three minutes or so until it was done. WIth each branch he removed, what once started off as annoyance slowly started to turn into actual genuine interest. I found myself looking forward. Wanting to know what exactly he was wanting to show me.

Eventually, I found exactly what he was wanting to show me. It was something that looked like a escape trap door. My mouth dropped. Todd looked at me. "Now are you finally willing to listen to me?" He asked and he was being nice enough about it considering the case. I nodded, as if I wanted to desperately know any secret that was going to be shown down there. So with that, Todd opened the trap door and he looked up at me one more time before going in. "Just make sure that you are ready for what you see down here. You will probably not like what you will find." Then with that, Todd got down inside of the area below. I waited for another couple of seconds, debating if this was a good idea or not. But before I could have been too smart to tell myself off, I went right inside of the secret area below.

I looked around, trying to process what I was seeing. The reason it was so hard to process was because I could barely see anything. I really had to try hard in order to make the darkness mostly visible. I wondered why the area was so dark. Then I started to hear crying. I started to hear what sounded like pleading.

I looked at Todd, trying to show him that I was utterly confused about what was going on. But Todd held his finger up in a 'don't talk right now' way. I then kept my mouth shut. Not wanting to annoy this whole situation any further, I could tell that he was starting to feel a bit more safe and he lowered his finger.

"There are guards here. We have to be extremely careful about what we do here." Todd said, and that was the main thing he would be willing to say about it at the time being. I started to follow him further and every time we would make about five feet or so of progress, I could see that there was something of a door. I could hear that there was some form of disturbing silence in most and a sound of misery in others.

"What is this place?" I asked, wondering if I found a prison in this town. For the really bad people. For the people so bad that they deserved to be trapped here for life. I was terrified over what the answer was. I was even more terrified for Todd's lack of an answer. If even he could not tell me what was going on, then that was a good sign that this was something truly deeply too broken and too disturbing for the people to be allowed to know.

"I think that us even finding out that this place exists is pushing our luck. Fuck actually trying to figure it all out." Todd said, and for the first time in the entire time we were here, I could tell why Todd had taken me along. He was scared out of his mind, and he wanted to have at least somebody there to help him feel a little bit safe. Make him feel like he wasn't in danger at every second of the day. I was annoyed at the fact that he picked me to do this job, but I knew right then and there that no matter how annoyed I may try to act, I could not really get all that angry at him. He was just a scared middle school student.

But before I could let this fact sink in any further, I heard something that chilled both of us. Footsteps. I knew Todd told me that there were guards here. But I didn't really want to believe in it. I wanted to believe that I at least had a relatively safe bet being here. I wanted to believe that I actually had a chance of not getting in any real danger when I was here. I then looked right at Todd, and I took a long and deep breath.

"How the hell are we going to get the hell out of here? Have you ever even thought that detail out at all?" I asked, and I was being as loud as I felt like I could have been without going into a full on yell. Todd shook his head, and then I was getting really fucking pissed at him. He brought me here. Risked me getting in danger. Showed me the most fucked up thing in town, and then tells me that he didn't even come up with a game plan to keep us even remotely safe. How the hell was I not going to get angry at this guy for the way he was taking this whole situation.

"Listen Sheldon, it's not my fault that this is what is happening. I had no idea what this place is. We can always go up that trap door. But we both need each other to get up there. I can tell that neither one of us are nearly tall enough to get out of here on our own." Todd said and then I sighed in frustration. As much as I hated to admit it, I knew that Todd was right about that one. There was no way that we would be able to get out of here on our own.

"Well maybe we can both work with each other to get out. Like I step on your hands, and then I get up. Then I drag you up? I think that this is the best we can really come up with." I said, and I was thinking that maybe that would work. I just hoped that Todd wasn't some dumb ass who would try and claim himself to be a germaphobe.

Todd seemed to think about this for a moment. He was actually thinking that this may work out. Then he nodded, as if thinking that this was better than the alternative of finding a totally different escape. So with that, we were already starting to head on out of this scary place. The entire time we were heading to the trap door, I was telling myself that I was going to get my revenge on Todd for dragging me along for this ride, to make him understand that I do not appreciate people who throw my life in danger just because they needed some confirmation on some crazy conspiracy. Although now that I thought about it, the less certain that I was that this was just a conspiracy. And the more certain that I was getting that this was a fucking fact. I was no longer mad that Todd had led me down here. I was only made that he took away my innocence of not knowing that this was actually a real place in this city. That was what I wanted to get my anger out on.

As we were just about to leave the labyrinth, I heard a voice calling out to me. I knew that it was me. The fact that there was a woman who seemed to be my age, give or take two years saying "Sheldon... Is that you?" Really gave it away. I looked at Todd and I could tell that he heard this as well.

He gave me a 'please don't tell me she is trying to talk to you face' and then I thought that I would be better to just ignore this. But then I was thinking about how there was something of this voice that really struck out to me. I knew that I needed to find out who the voice belonged to. Even if the answer itself was going to kill me inside.

"Just give me one minute." I said and then I walked to the door that was about three away from me on the right. The entire time I headed there, I was trying to really point that voice down. I wonder how she knew my name. I wondered how she knew I was here. I didn't really think that I was being that fucking loud the entire time that I was down here. I thought I kept myself a relatively quiet tone.

Eventually, I reached the door and I looked through the tiny pupil. I could see that it was a woman that I went to school with. Either that, or now that I was trying harder, somebody I knew from years ago. Somebody that had been reported to be dead all this time. I couldn't fucking figure it out, and that was what was scaring me. "Sheldon, it's me, Gwen. Please, help me out." She said and it was nice to know that I was right about my first theory, but killed me to know I was wrong about my second theory. Gwen bullied me and was an utter asshole, but even she deserved better than this.

"I will get you out of here Gwen. Don't even worry about how you treated me in the past. I won't want anything in return. I want to help you. I just can't right now. I need to prepare myself. I plan to free this entire fucking place. Just... give me one week." I said and then I was staring at Gwen heavily. She was staring at me back, and we were having an unintentional staring contest. Then she nodded, as if she decided that she was going to believe in me. She made fun of me for sort of being a nerdy guy. But she never once said that I was a liar.

"Sheldon, I believe in you. If you can get me out of here, I will never make fun of you again." Gwen said and then I waved my hand down as if to show that I didn't really care about that right now. That this was totally not important to me at that moment. Saving her was a thousand times more important than the promise of her not making fun of me anymore.

"Sheldon! We don't have that much time!" Todd yelled, not even giving a damn that people can hear us. I then nodded and ran right towards Sheldon, I then saw him bring his hands up and then I stepped on them and got myself through the trap door. Then I brought my hand forward and I dragged him as best as I could up there through the trap door. I was having a decent work out as I was pulling him up. Try pulling up a one hundred and ten pound thirteen-year old from inside of a fucking cellar underground and tell me that it is easy. It really fucking isn't.

Once we were outside, I looked right at Todd. I now had a certain resolve to me that I never thought that I would have. I had a resolve that I knew nobody else would dare to have. "We need to go back down there some time. I need to save those people. They need to be saved." I said, and I could tell that Todd was scared of my reaction. He was scared of how much I was going to let this eat me up.

"I don't know if I ever want to go down there again." Todd said and I couldn't help but argue with that. We started to run away as fast as we could for about three to four minutes. Once we were certain that nobody was pursuing us any further, then I looked at Todd. "But I think that you feel like you have to go there..." Todd said, finishing the thought he had a moment ago and then I nodded. Todd knew exactly how I felt about the situation, even though he had no idea how he could help me.

"I hope that you don't try and get yourself killed from trying to save those people a little too hard. I mean, there comes a point when you just have to see that it is not worth it anymore." Todd said and I couldn't believe that he was the one who was saying that it was not worth it. He was the one who had brought me here. Now he was the one who was telling me that this was a bad idea. "I mean, do you really want to do something that let's be real here, will almost guarantee your death?"

I thought about Gwen a bit. I thought about the other people who had suddenly gone missing out of nowhere, or had been reported dead. I was thinking about how there could have been a small chance that they had been here the whole time. Just hidden from the general public. I thought that there was a chance that maybe Riley could have been there. I thought that if Riley was down here, then I should at least try and bring her out of there. I should at least try and make sure that she was safe once again. But at the same time, was it better to just believe in the official story and not test it any further, or did I want to know more?

"I get that you probably have no real huge real to be invested in figuring out the truth about that place, but I do to be honest. I think that maybe I actually have a chance on figuring out the truth of my family. I want to figure out if this can help me out. If you want to help me, that would be great, but I can see why you would not. As much as I would hate to admit it." I said, and then I thought on how it was probably going to be a foolish hope to find anything there. If there was something my father was right on, it was that she had been missing for so long that in all reality, she could have been dead this whole time.

"But would you want to be the next one who gets trapped down there? Would you want your family to wonder what happened to you because you were too unsafe and too big on the idea of being some great lord and savior that you end up being the one who dies?" Todd asked, and he was looking at me in a way that was showing he was wanting to challenge me to this dispute. I thought about it, and then I looked down.

"I don't really know if I would want that. But I want to be living a lie even less. If I can find out what is down there, find out why those people are missing, why they are down there, then I can finally be able to possibly move on with my life. Maybe I can actually be able to move on enough to where I can function like a normal fucking human being." I said, and then Todd decided that he was just going to remain silent on this one. He decided that there was no real reason to try and fight me on this anymore. As much as he had hated the idea of just letting go of the whole matter at hand.

"Fine. If you want to go around on a suicide run, then go ahead. Just know that I am probably not going to be going on even more of a suicide mission than I already have. Trust me, if you know what I have been doing lately, you would actually understand why I am acting like this. Why I think this is a terrible idea." Todd said and then after he had said that, I just looked forward. I knew deep down that this was a terrible idea, but I felt like doing nothing was even worse.

"You know, maybe whne you have something that can solve the fucking secrets of your own fucking family, then you would understand why I feel like this is so needed for me. Then maybe you would see why I care so much about this." I said, and then after I said that, Todd just remained silent. He decided that he did not really want to fight with me on this. He was, in fact, getting really tired that I was still on the subject. "I'm sorry. I'm just really riled up right now. There is a part of me that thinks that this is going to give the answers that I think I would actually need." I said, finally hoping that Todd would forgive for me for the way that I had been acting.

"Do you think that you will ever be able to forget about this stuff sooner or later?" Todd asked, trying more to just catch up a normal conversation, and he wasn't really trying to make me triggered. He was just trying to get a grip on his mind here. I thought about it. I guess that if prom went really well, I could have been able to forget about it. But I doubted that this was not going to be the case. There was no way that prom was going to be this amazing.

"Maybe some day down the road. Maybe if I just smoke myself away, just forgetting about all of the issues going on, then things can finally be forgotten. I doubt that I would be this lucky though. I don't really think that the lord would want me to have the blessing of being able to forget about this. I think that this would actually be the exact opposite of what the lord wants of me." I said, thinking about how much the lord must have hated me. As I was smoking a cigarette that was inside of my pocket this whole time, I had to ask the question I never really wanted to ask, but sadly had no choice of asking given what I had seen.

Was there even a lord after all? Was there even a person who had been watching over us? To care for us? To help us when the time was needed? I doubted that he was there, and I doubted that we would be lucky enough for him to come along in case something like that were to happen. I think that they probably approved of this entire situation.

After all, the lord, if there even was one, would probably have come down here and brought down a holy punishment to all of those would would dare do this if he didn't approve of this if he even existed at all. That was when I had to really accept the fact that even if he did exist, he didn't care for us. But I wanted to stick to the less evil alternative that he didn't exist.

Todd was looking at me. He could tell that I was having a bit of a personal crisis in my mind as I was really letting these thoughts come to mind. I could tell that he knew it was smart for him to just remain quiet about it. As if him even asking was going to open up the pandora's box that was my feelings.

"Want to come home? If you want to stay the night, it is late enough to where I doubt anybody would really object to it. But I think you would probably be smart to get out of my house when it is early morning. You know, to make people avoid questioning what you are doing in a guy's house who is like three to four years older than you." I laughed a bit, thinking that this would get me in so much trouble with the law if people found me with this guy in my house.

"Yeah sure, I would rather not have my parents wonder what I am doing. I think that they would probably just assume I am hanging out with one of my friends right now." Todd said, and I wished that I had that going for me. If I was out during the night, most people would assume I was hanging with Dakota. And if they found out that I wasn't, I would get in so much trouble for lying that it wouldn't even be worth leaving the house if it wasn't actually going and stay the night at Dakotas.

We started to walk towards my house, and we were mostly doing in relative silence to make sure that nobody was listening to our conversation. But once we were inside of my house, Todd got in first and I came in second. Then the two of us were considering the idea of talking even further on the matter. Although both of us were also fine with the idea of just letting the subject drop and just letting each other sleep.

"Todd, do you ever regret moving to this town?" I asked, finally touching a subject I felt like we could have actually been able to equally participate in. I thought about what my answer was going to be. I knew that there was some things that were not fucking perfect. But at the same time, I thought that maybe there was just too many good things in it for me to full on regret something. "I don't regret being here. I just wish that I knew about some of these things before I got to grow to love the town. I really did grow to love the place. As if it was the one town in the world that I was never going to think had anything bad going for it." I said, thinking that it was a little bit silly for me to feel this way. That it was something that was basically impossible to actually like in a place that had absolutely nothing wrong with it.

"I don't regret moving here at all. The people that live here are great people. I think that once you really get to know everybody who lives here, you will realize just how amazing that they all are. I mean, yeah sure, some of the adults are a bit scary, but the teenagers and young adults are nice people." Todd said and then I laughed at that. It was strange how in most places, the teens were the ones who were considered to be the troublemakers with no problems. But in this town, it was one of the few cases in which the teenagers were actually the somewhat decent ones. "I want to live here until the day that I die. Knowing that we live in such a great place."

I am pretty sure he was thinking that this place was perfect. Then again, he had lived here for less than one year, while I had been here for nearly seven years. And besides, I think that maybe he benefited from the reality that was just painted upon this town. The reality I was not really so sure if it was the truth or not anymore. As much as I hated to admit that.

"Do you have any fucking grasp on what is going on in this town? I mean, have you really talked to the people here? Have you actually really gotten to know everybody? Are you sure that you haven't been affected by the image that the people who owned this town have painted for everybody to see?" I asked, and then I was wondering what Todd was going to say. I didn't want him to feel like I was just trying to ruin something. But I wanted to make him aware that things were not always the way that they seemed.

"I think that despite the fact that I have been here for less than a year, I know more about it than you do. I have been aware of the problems going on in this city from the day that I fucking moved here. I am aware of what is going on here. But at least unlike you, I am able to see the good. The genuine good. Not the type of good that the people have been trying to set you up with from the day that you have moved here." Todd said and while I hated the attitude that he had, and the way that he was treating me, that perhaps he was right. That perhaps I did need to know more about the town and the truth of the town before I started to judge him the way that I have been so far.

"If you know what the genuine good of this town is, then would you mind telling me what it is? I feel like it is really hard to find something good about a place that seems like it is all a lie. But I guess that there is some. There is prom soon, and I think that this will be a good dance. There is also Dakota and the friendship I have set up with him. I have made many great memories of this town. I really appreciate the memories that have been given to me here if for nothing else. I also made a few other friends here and there, and they are also nice people as well. I have good memories of them." I said, and I was thinking about a few people that I knew back in the days of elementary school. And if prom went well, then there was the chance that my first kiss with Emily would happen. Hell, maybe even me having sex with her would be able to actually happen as well.

"Well, it is just that. The people that you made friends with, and the memories that you have made with them that really count. It seems like you actually do know what you are talking about. But those memories are pretty much the only good things about this town. The memories that you make with your friends." Todd said and then I could tell that neither one of us wanted to argue any further.

"I just wish that I can add prom to that list. I just wish that prom will be something that is even half as good as people want it to be. If it is not, then I would feel like I have been exposed to an entire culture of fucking lies." I said and I wanted Emily to like me back. I didn't want this to be a sympathy acceptance that she had given me.

"Just don't worry about life. Just enjoy the night. Have a good dance with Emily. Maybe if you just pretend for a couple of more days that life is the way that you think it is, then you will be able to have a good memory to add to it all." Todd told me thinking that this was as simple as it needed to be.

"I don't really know if it will actually be that easy. But if you really insist that it is just that fucking simple, then I will not really push the issue any further." I said, and then I was wondering how exactly he had been exposed to all of the problems in this town so quickly after he had moved here. I was barely exposed to it after all these years. How did he get exposed to it in a matter of mere months or weeks? It seemed to make no fucking sense honestly.

"I don't think it will work. But I think that it is worth the try. I think that you need to give it your best effort to just try and live a normal life." Todd said and I was just not really caring anymore. Besides, I really actually was getting tired at that moment. I decided right then and there that I needed to go on and get some sleep.

"Hey, I am kind of tired right now. I have had a pretty crazy day. I found out more than I really wanted to know. So please, we can continue this later. But I need to go to sleep now." I said and then I took off my hoodie and placed it on my floor as I laid down face on pillow and was asleep. I didn't even hear when Todd left. Although I could clearly tell that he did at some point as the window was now wide ass open when I looked up.

When I had woke up, and saw that the window was opened, I was starting to think that maybe I imagined the entire conversation. But no matter how hard I tried, I knew that it wasn't that way. I looked down at the maroon hoodie that I carelessly placed on the ground last night and realized I was right. I didn't imagine any of it. I didn't imagine getting accepted to a date. I didn't imagine getting the blue suit, as I saw when I looked over, I didn't imagine my conversation with my father, and therefore I didn't imagine the labyrinth.

I put the hoodie on and then I put on my back pack and then I started to walk out of the room. I saw that my father was looking at his reading materials and usually the only time of the day I would see my mom was her just sitting down and doing her own paper work. I decided not to say anything as I walked out of the house.

I went through the school as usual. Just the daily five class routine. Once school was over, I looked at Emily and I was ready to ask her on the date tonight. It would be sudden, but it was just to get to know her. I mean, tomorrow was prom. So pretty much everything was already going really fast in the first place.

I was considering what I needed to do next. I was considering if I needed to go along and just pretend that what I saw yesterday never happened, and just act like everything was still all nice and perfect. Or if I should actually try and figure out what the hell had actually happened. I mean, I knew that if I talked to my dad about it, he would be getting dangerously close to not wanting to even handle my sight anymore. But maybe if I had casually mentioned it. Pretend like it was a rumor I heard, and nothing like what I had dealt with in real life, then perhaps he would be more willing to believe what I tell him.

I did however think that I was probably getting into territory that actually was none of my business. That was another thing I needed to consider. As horrible as that place may have been and probably actually was, to be honest, was it really any of my business at all? Was it really anything that I needed to get involved with? Or could I have just pretended like it was all a terrible dream, even if I knew it wasn't. But then I thought about Riley and how there was the very small chance that this could help me find her. Or the truth to what happened to her.

If that was the, I had to tell my dad that I at least heard about it. I didn't care how he would react. I didn't care if he would not believe me. I didn't even care if he would get angry at me. I needed to let him know what I was aware of. I started to feel what I thought could have been hope on where Riley was this whole time. This was my first time I was even able to pretend and entertain the idea of having hope. And if it was true, and if I could actually be able to figure out what the hell had happened to my sister, then you sure as hell bet I was going to do it. Especially if it made my father actually get legit proud of me for once in his life. And not in the 'oh you passed a math test, I guess I have to pretend to be impressed' type of proud.

After I had made that choice to talk to my father about it, when I was home from school, I got out of the hoodie that I was actually starting to like and think contrasted well with my white shirt, and then slowly got into my dating suit. Then when I was done with that, I walked to where my father had been working. I was ready for any outcome, and I was ready to take it on like a man.

"Hey dad, I was wanting to talk to you before I headed on that date with Emily. I just wanted to have some time to really catch up with you." I said and while I was mainly trying to have the balls to tell him about the labyrinth, there was also a level of truth to what I said about just wanting to get to know him a little bit more. He was my fucking father, and the worst part was that I barely even really knew him. It made me feel terrible that I knew this guy for so long, and yet I barely had any real idea on his life before he had me. Or what his life was like when he was working seventy hours a week.

"Yeah Sheldon, what were you wanting to talk about?" My father asked, and there was the faintest hint of a smile on his face. I had an extremely hard time processing if this was a real face of happiness or if he was just pretending to be happy.

"Well, I was wanting to get some dating advice for Emily. I don't want to look like a utter fool when I see her soon." I said, deciding to play it in the safe territory for the time being. I felt like regardless of how he would feel about the whole labyrinth ordeal, that he couldn't deny me at least this. Besides, it was true. I did need a lot of help.

"If Emily talks about something that you are not interested in, just pretend to be interested. Don't plainly express that you don't care. And if it is something that you are currently not interested in, but you feel like you could be later, then truly express that you could get into this later on. Make her feel like her values and the stuff she enjoys actually matter to her. If you can do that, then she will really start to like you better for who you are." My father said and then I asked the obvious but silly in hindsight question.

"What do I do if I start talking about something that I am genuinely interested in, but she has no desire to hear about it? Do I expect to see the same treatment from her in return? Or is this a thing where it only is a standard for the man?" Okay, it felt like a decent question at the time. I mean, I was not at all well traversed in the dating scene.

"If she doesn't like the subject you are talking about, even if you like it, then just deal with it. You just have to accept the fact that she doesn't like the same stuff as you sometimes. I know that can be hard to adapt with. But when you are on a date, pleasing the woman is more important than making sure you have a good time. You are her date. You need to make her feel appreciated." My father said and I was letting the words sink in when he delivered the part that shocked me. "You do it because when she feels like she has earned your respect and trust, then you can be able to convince her she is ready to have sex with you. Then you bring her over and show that you are the alpha."

I was shocked that he was telling me to behave myself at a date just exclusively for the sake of sex. I felt like it was a bit of a mindset that I felt like could be a little bit dangerous. After all, he was basically telling me to use her. Or at least that was how I was taking the message. If that was not what he had meant, then he certainly worded it in a way that could make anybody feel differently. But then my father placed his hand on my shoulder. "Besides, she won't really know the difference on if you care or not. So even if you are phoning it in, then it will work out."

I thought about it, and then I took a long and deep breath. There was a part of me that felt the desire to change the subject before I would let this go down even further in the shit hole than it already has gone. "So dad, I was also wanting to ask you about this... But have you heard of a place called the labyrinth. It is a place that I heard about at school. Is it real?"

I saw the look on my fathers face turn from one of mild excitement and investment to one of pure dread. I could tell that he did indeed know about this place. I just felt like I needed to really egg him on a bit for him to tell me the information. "Sheldon, I don't know what has gotten into you the last couple of days. But I do not want to hear you mentioning that place again. It is a false rumor. There is nothing like it. But it is a false rumor that we are not proud of because when people hear about it, they associate the town with that and act like we are not nearly as desirable as we actually are." My father said and I knew I needed to drop the subject.

"I don't really think this is a rumor. I think that it is the truth. I feel like we just need to look for it." I said and I could see that my father was getting dangerously close to telling me to leave for good.

"I should be heading out soon anyways." I said, thinking that it was best to capture what little respect I had in my fathers eyes and walked out of the house. My father told me before I left that I was allowed to take his car. So I just grabbed the keys and got the hell out of there before he would be able to even consider the idea of telling me to just walk there instead as punishment for bringing up the labyrinth.