Longest Novel: Fall of The Republic

by morgan kingsley

In 2020, a middle-aged author, living too deeply in the past, decides to write the story of what really happened to him and his friends when he was younger, and as it unfolds, a giant conspiracy starts to show itself. An AU of seasons 1-4 that take place in the United States. Crossover with several other series for one overall universe.

34. The Lost Blade

Chapter 3: One Girl With Ten Brothers

Episode 2: The Lost Blade (Gabe)

September 23, 2022

When T.K. was done with the first document that Todd Jr. had sent him, he had started to already wonder what in the world he was going to do about that family. He was starting to kind of get glad that Todd was starting to finally take the situation more seriously. But it felt way too fucking late.

T.K. called Todd Jr. up, and then felt like he needed to have a discussion for a bit. "Hey dude, I just wanted to say that you made the right choice trying to fucking tell me the story of what you did. In all honesty, most people probably would have never bought what you said otherwise."

"I know that you have been looking into this for years, and I felt like I just needed to take the leap of faith. To be honest, I wish that I could back to the days where I never had to realize what was happening here." Todd said, and then T.K. nodded, feeling like he didn't need to fucking have this discussion for the time being.

"Just make sure that you know what you are doing when telling other people this. I made that mistake when I was your age. Trying to tell other people. And then even those who later would prove to have been a part of this whole thing the whole time." T.K. said, and then he shook his head at this.

"Either way, thanks for doing this again. I would be lost without the fucking help. Tell me when you get Gabe's done. In fact, just tell me every time you get one of ours done. That way I have a idea where you are." He said, and then with that, the two parties hung up, and T.K. sighed in annoyance as he was looking down at the phone. Knowing that as per tradition, he was going to have to find a new motel or hotel. Something he did every time he finished a episode. To give himself a fresh start, and time to lay low.

Once T.K. was done with this conversation, he felt so bad for this guy. Knowing that he went over twenty fucking years of thinking Wayside was perfect, to have it suddenly ruined so quickly because his friends would never have left it alone.

As he was driving off, he was feeling like he needed to try and tell Cody how he had been doing, and he was hoping that Cody wasn't going to be out against him, and antagonistic over just the fact that he was just trying his fucking best to help out as much as possible.

"I started to work on publishing the stories of that family. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think you might be right. They do seem to have a problem with seeing the bigger picture. It still seems like they think of this as a fucking game." T.K. sent the text, hating the fact that he was responding like this. But he felt like there was no choice.

When T.K. was getting to the next cheap hotel he could crash at for a couple of weeks, this was when Cody had already responded. "Yeah, that was the main thing I was so scared of. That they were never going to see how fucking serious this shit is. I know they mean well, but this isn't a fucking joke." Cody said, and then T.K. sighed at this.

"Let's not forget we used to do the same thing. So let's give him some fucking patience." T.K. said, and then with that, he sent the next text, hoping to get Cody to at least tone it down a bit, and give them some fucking slack.

"Yeah, I guess you guys might have been this way. But I could never get over that. You know, trying to spend years clearing my fathers name." Cody sent the text, T.K. sighed, and rolled his eyes, remembering that, since he just went through that.

"I'm sure your father really appreciated that." T.K. said, mainly just trying to hide his annoyance at this one. Not really in the mood to hear it. "But I just got to keep going. We can discuss this over dinner or something later. I'm going to be here for a while, I feel like." T.K. said, and then he sent the text, feeling like that was the last he needed to talk for now.

Once he sat down again, he opened up the second one, and he was shaking his head, feeling like for better or for worse, it was going to be his responsibility to handle what these people had seen. These people who were way too fucking young for this shit. Despite what Todd might fucking see.

Scene 1: September 24 2020 3:12 pm

I was on my way to see my friend Michael, and when I was just thinking about the school day being over, I was just glad that it was another day behind us. I was just on ultra count down mode, not wanting to screw around at all. Focus on getting the diploma, so I can move on.

As I was walking past the forest, I was thinking of all the theories that I heard. You know, about the people who went missing, or other various stories that I heard happened in the fucking eighties. I had no idea what they were though, but at the same time, I was just kind of not really interested in hearing more.

As I was walking by one part of it, that was when I was hearing a strange whistling noise, so with that, I started to walk towards it. Wondering what in the world I was even going to find there. I was just kind of rolling my eyes, not really in the mood to deal with this.

I started to walk down it, mainly to see if what I was seeing was actually fucking true, or if I was just imagining shit. Which I guess would not be fucking completely impossible. But at the same time, I guess that I was just dreading the idea of what it would be like.

As I kept walking down a bit longer, I wondered if Todd was going to be thinking that I was mentally insane for even fucking suggesting that something would be here. To be honest, I always felt like something was going on here. But I just never had the proof needed for it.

Eventually, I made it to where I thought that I heard the noises, and I was looking around, feeling like I just needed to get into strictly business mode. I looked down and I was seeing a slightly undug part of the forest ground. Knowing that this was where I needed to go, I went right to work.

As I was starting to dig up, I was looking around, and I was hoping that nobody would see what I was doing. To be honest, this whole thing felt so fucking wrong, and I was feeling like I just needed to fucking stop before too long.

The longer that I was digging, the less I cared who fucking saw men. It probably took about ten minutes, but I eventually got something that I was touching. I pulled out something that was wrapped up in a fucking set of cloth, which shockingly was still in relatively neat condition. I was confused as all hell what the fuck I was seeing.

As I was starting to unwrap it, I was looking down at what looked like a fucking hilt to some fucking weapon. As I was taking a second to remember it, I realized that this was probably proving that the legends that I was hearing about was true. The stories about that one T.K. guy from the eighties.

I pressed the red button, and ignited a blue blade. I was staring down at it, for a few seconds, really letting the reality sink in that I was now going to have to live with the fact that I knew this was true now.

As I placed it down in my pocket, I was then starting to feel like I just needed to get the hell away. As I was walking away, I was looking around, I was worried that somebody would be here, watching me leave. And that I was walking into some movie.

I knew Todd's friends had bought into that paranoia shit. Which at the end of the day, was essentially just that. Epic paranoia. Something even Todd himself had fucking said. But this was something else entirely, and I had walked right into it.

When I was out of the forest, I was walking to Michael's place, pretending to not be worried. Pretending like this was all fucking fine. But as I was walking along, a car was driving up next to me. I turned over, pretending to not be annoyed with this. But I put on a fake smile, for my own sake.

"Did you see anything lately? There are rumors of things going on in the forest. If you see anything, just give us a call." He said, and I was looking down, and I saw he was wearing those black outfits that I had heard about earlier.

"No. I guess that I was just keeping those rumors in mind. You never know if they are real or not, and I would rather not take the fucking risk to be honest." I said, and then I shrugged, feeling like I would pretend to play this role.

"Okay. Good. I have to check up around this area every couple of days, and see what is there." After he was telling me this, I sighed, not really caring what he was telling me. Then with that, he was starting to drive off. I was shaking my head, not sure what else I would say now.

Eventually, I reached Michael's house, and I was feeling like in all honesty, I needed to just fucking tell him what had happened. But I knew that if I told him right away in our hang out, then he would be a bit upset about what I was doing.

He opened up the door, and he seemed happy to see me here. "Hey dude, how are you tonight?" He asked, and then I smiled at this, knowing that he was doing well. "Sorry that I haven't been able to respond to your messages lately. Just finally taking homework seriously for once." He said, as I laughed at this, feeling like that was too close to home.

"Yeah, I totally fucking get that. Honestly, I am more worried about graduation than I am about the fucking election. I couldn't really care about that." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest. Michael laughed as he was hearing this, knowing that I was right.

"Honestly, I think that I am just scared that when we graduate, we are going to drift apart, and slowly lose our connection. I guess that I am just a bit jealous as well. Knowing that Carly always liked you much more than she ever would like me." He said, and then I looked at him, wondering what to even fucking say now.

"That isn't really something to worry about. I mean, I don't think I will date a woman until I graduate. Honestly, I just never really got the appeal of dating while I was in high school." I said, wondering if he would fucking listen to me for the time being.

"Whatever you say." He said, and then he was looking at me, as if trying to decide what to say now. You seem like you are thinking about something. Do you want to fucking tell me what it is?" He asked me, and then I looked at him, and I was sighing, not sure what to tell him.

"Just that Todd had a really fucking rough month just now. It felt like he was doing something all the time. Especially with his friends buying into all the bullshit about conspiracies in the town, and shit." I said, and shrugged as I was telling him this. Michael laughed at this, thinking it was amusing I was so worried over this.

Scene 2: September 25 2020 3:40 pm

The next day, I was meeting up with Michael and Carly, and I was no longer scared of what people were going to be thinking. After all, it wasn't like I did anything wrong by finding that fucking blade thing. It just happened to be this way, and there was nothing that I could do to change it.

I was willing to fucking show Michael at least. But Carly was somebody who I felt like it was my job to keep safe no matter what, and I was going to make sure that I fulfilled that fucking mental promise, even if it ruined my reputation.

"Got any plans for the weekend?" Michael asked me, and I shrugged, as if thinking that if I tried to do anything, people would be thinking that I was just wasting my fucking time. "If you have nothing going on, we could perhaps hang out on one of those days."

"No, not really. Everybody in my family is already doing their own thing, and to be honest, I just feel like after everything Todd has been doing, I would rather not be running around like crazy if I can fucking help it." I said, and I was shrugging as I had said this, not really too sure what to say now.

"Well, I was wondering if you would be willing to hang out, and maybe play some stuff." He said, and then I looked at Carly, and I was feeling like I just needed to find something to say. In all honesty, I wanted to be with her tonight, and just see if we could be able to do anything exciting.

"Yeah, what would you want to do Carly?" I asked, and then I shrugged, and I was seeing Michael looking like he was kind of upset with the fact that I was suddenly making this about her. Probably feeling like I was just no longer putting as much effort into our hang outs that I used to, or whatever.

"It's nothing really. I wouldn't want to get in the way of you guys having a good time." She said, and she clearly sounded like she wasn't really even wanting to have this discussion right now. I sighed, and I was shaking my head, wondering why she was so worried about tiny little shit like this.

As we were talking, I ended up getting a text from Todd, and I took my phone out. I was checking, since he never fucking texted me, so to see this was strange, to put it very fucking lightly. "Hey Gabe, I know this might seem really fucking sudden, but I was wondering if you would be able to talk to Jayson Reichenbach for me?"

To say that this text confused the shit out of me would be a understatement so fucking grand, that I wouldn't even bother trying to fucking put that into the description. "Why?" Was all that I sent back that time, before focusing on friends again.

Both Michael and Carly looked like they were kind of confused as to why I was having texts with people while I was already hanging out with them. Todd texted back right away. "This isn't a fucking joke Gabe. People are in danger, and I need you to fucking work with me. It's about that Wendee girl." He was saying, and this sudden change in topic was kind of shocking to me.

"What the fucking hell? I have no relation to her, and I never thought that you did either." I sent, and when I was done with this, I was standing up, feeling like he needed to stop fucking scaring me like this. This was all a bit much to fucking handle, in my opinion.

"What is fucking going on?" Michael asked, and he was sounding like he was getting mildly annoyed with the way that I had been doing this. I sighed, and I was looking straight at them, feeling like I would just fucking tell the truth.

"It's my fucking brother Todd. He was wanting to fucking tell me something, and I felt like I needed to reply." I said, and then I was getting another text from Todd, and I knew that if he kept this up, then things were going to just be getting much worse.

"That doesn't fucking matter Gabe. I never had any connection with her as well. But I understand that something really fucked up is happening in this town, and needs to be taken care of." After Todd was saying this, I was closing my eyes, feeling like I just needed to end this conversation right now.

"Look, I will try and fucking tell him to hold this off until later. I mean, I know that I am being a bit rude right now…" I said, feeling like I just needed to put this conversation to a rest. I was taking my phone out again, trying to just put this to fucking rest, at least for the time being.

As I was looking at both Carly and Michael, I was clearly seeing that Carly was getting a bit too annoyed with this. "You know, it's very clear that you don't want to be here right now." She said, and started to get up, and start to head off. I sighed in annoyance, not wanting her to feel this way at all.

When Carly had left that day, I was feeling like I needed to fucking show Michael what I had fucking found. I needed him to really see how fucking important this whole thing was. "So Michael, you kind of already saw that I was on edge a bit yesterday. I will show you why now."

Michael was looking like he was kind of interested in knowing what I had found. When I was pulling the cloth out, I unwrapped it, and when I was done, I decided to give him a few moments to really fucking realize what I had fucking found. When he did finally piece it together, he suddenly started to have everything flash before his eyes.

"Oh shit Gabe. What are you going to do? Are you going to be telling Todd about this?" He asked, and then I was thinking about what he was going to be doing. I just sighed, and I knew that nothing I could do would get him to listen to me.

"That is what Todd was trying to text me about earlier. He wanted to see if I would try and talk to Jayson, feeling like he might be the prime person to try and reach out to right now." I said, and I was shaking my head, hating the fact that I fucking said that to him.

Scene 3: September 26 2020 10:31 pm

That night, I was checking on the presidential election polling. After seeing Todd do it so much, I guess that I got a bit interested in it myself, and felt like I just needed to fucking see where the two candidates had been heading now.

The map was showing Trump at 398 electoral votes, and Joe Biden at 846 electoral votes. So the poll was still indicating that Biden was expected to win by a large margin. But still much closer than initially expected, and I was at a point where I had accepted it was not going to be a complete blowout.

When I was done looking at that, I was seeing that on the couch, Josiah was sleeping already, and he was having Ridge on his lap. The whole set up was so cute that I decided to take a picture of it, and I was going to be making fun of Josiah for it later.

When I was done with that, I was walking out to the front area of my house, where I took my phone out. When I was seeing that it was a text from Michael, I sighed, since in all honesty, I was not really in the mood for this at all.

"Hey Gabe, I think that maybe you should accept Todd's proposition. I fucking hate to admit it. But that might be the only person our age who has any idea at all." He said, and then I shook my head, not in the mood at all.

"I never thought you of all people would be suggesting this. But I guess that if this is the case, then maybe I should be taking the idea with a bit more earnestly than before." I said, feeling slightly let down by the fact this was happening.

"I know that it sounds crazy for me to fucking say. But I think that your brother might have a point. And besides, the idea of hanging out with the president of the company does sound kind of fun, right?" The text said, and I rolled my eyes as I read this.

"Vice president. But okay. You made your fucking point. I guess one fucking hang out might be kind of interesting. Besides, he might have something to say to me to help me understand." I sent, and I was shaking my head, unable to believe I was even saying this at all.

When I was done with this short text conversation, I looked over, and I was tired, and I was annoyed. I wanted nothing to do with this, and I was seeing Seth and Lydia talking with each other for a bit, and I smiled as I saw this.

I was then wondering if Jayson would even want to talk to me. Considering the fact that my parents were people who fucking hated this company, and had been saying horrible things about them this whole time. It just fucking felt wrong.

As I was starting to walk inside, I was wondering what I was going to do with these two younger siblings still hanging out, and having the time of their fucking lives. "Hey guys, how are you doing today?" I asked, feeling like I needed to at least pretend there was no issue.

"Doing alright. Lydia and I were discussing how the school year has been so far. Lydia was telling me that she thinks Robbie Dan is kind of hot." Seth said, and I was smiling as she was saying this, thinking she was too young to really understand the meaning of hot.

"I think you do not really understand what the word hot is." I said, and then I sat down, while Josiah was still sleeping with Ridge also sleeping. I was thinking that this whole thing was going to be a fucking meme for being to make fun of.

"I so fucking do." Lydia said, getting a bit defensive. As she was saying this, I was smiling at the fact that she was clearly having a hard time keeping a straight face at everything happening around me.

"Is there something wrong?" Seth asked, and I shook my head. Thinking that the fact that every human being alive pestering me about this shit was not something they needed to fucking worry about at all. Besides, the whole thing was too hard to believe, even for myself.

"No. Nothing. Just thinking about some things. But you do not need to worry about it at all." I said, and then I shrugged at this, hoping to make him feel better. I was seeing Todd pulling up at the parking lot. As he was getting out, I stood up, unsure of what I wanted to say.

I was starting to walk out of the house, leaving the subject off abruptly, which probably pissed Seth and Lydia off, but I was hardly fucking caring at all. As I was staring out at him, I was wondering what in the world I was even going to be telling him.

"Hey, can we fucking talk for a while? You know, about the job that I was wanting you to do?" He asked, and then I sighed, feeling like whatever he wanted to tell me, he just needed to get it over with. But I slowly nodded, no longer having the will power to fucking fight it.

I walked down to him, and he was telling me to get inside. I did, and he got in as well. As we were driving off, with both Seth and Lydia watching us, wondering what was in his mind, I was feeling like I just needed to fucking see what to tell him now.

"What's your fucking problem man?" I asked him, trying to hide the fact that the way he was acting was kind of pissing me off. "I mean, you are having me trying to fucking take down a horrible situation on my own, without any fucking help?" I asked, hoping to get him to see that this whole thing was ridiculous.

"I am not asking you to do this alone. I mean, I think you know that Benjamin is already looking deeply into this as well. I mean, I never wanted to believe it earlier… But I think everything he says is true." Todd said, and I sighed in annoyance.

"Oh yeah, the guy that beat the shit out of you, and you seem to fucking hate? Now he's your fucking chum?" I asked, trying to get him to get slightly uncomfortable with what I was saying. He looked down, kind of upset with my response right now.

"Look, I understand that you might not fucking see it, but I feel like I need to step up, and change how I have been doing things. That man knows exactly what he is doing, and I need you to just fucking work with me." He said, and I was wondering what I would even say in response.

"Why do you even think Jayson would talk to me anyways? I mean, for gods sake, this just sounds like you are reaching for fucking straws right now." I said, feeling that the bluntness of this was what he needed to fucking hear.

"Because you're the only person in this family that isn't a fucking asshole." Todd said, and I was looking at him, shocked at his bluntess on the matter. But I was feeling like he was probably right. And as he was saying this, I sighed, and felt like I just needed to consider what he said.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting you to admit that so openly." I said, feeling like I just needed to both be flattered, and shocked at the fact that he was no longer hiding shit like this.

"I know dude. I mean, honestly, this whole thing sounds crazy to me right now. I will fucking say it. But the thing is that you are the best chance to get that man to fucking open up, and not fucking hide any bullshit." He said, and I was sighing, feeling like what he said was a joke.

"If you fucking say so, I guess I will listen." I said, and then I was shaking my head. "What did you even fucking see anyways?" As I asked this, I saw Todd looking like he was never wanting to forgive himself for what he was seeing.

"I believe that she might have been sold off in some form of trafficking. Benjamin and I saw that in a video tape. One that was in the store." Todd said, and he was shaking his head, and I wondered what the hell he was even going to do here.

"Oh shit. I mean, I think we both knew that something like this could be real. But the idea that it is, just fucking makes me sick." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with him as I was saying this. "If this is the case, then I think that you and Benjamin need to be careful."

"I know that. But I need you to promise me that you can at least check Jayson." He said, and every time he was coming back to that, I wanted to scream. But I choose to remain silent at this, and nodded.

As I said that, I sighed, and I was feeling like this man was going to be making things worse. I wanted to do this for Lydia. That is all that mattered to me though. Lydia's fucking safety.

Scene 3: September 27 2020 3:20 pm

The next day, I was listening to Todd's idea, despite my great reluctance to, and I was heading on over to see what Jayson was doing. I was scared of what he was planning on doing. And I was scared of the fact that this was going to actually give me some fucking answers. Which I had no idea if I actually wanted those or not.

I eventually reached the entrance of the company hall, and I was closing my eyes, and I wondered if this was seriously going to give Todd what he had needed. To be honest, I felt like whatever Todd fucking wanted, he needed to explain in serious detail what his end game was.

Once inside the company hall, I was seeing that Jayson was talking with some random security officer. I could tell from the look on his face that Jayson had literally no interest in this subject at all. He looked over, and he was seeing me, clearly confused as to what I was doing here.

"Give me a moment. I have something that I need to check up on." After Jayson said that, the guy who was serving him seemed kind of annoyed with the fact that Jayson was relatively rudely ending the conversation like this.

Jayson was then right up to me, and I was seeing him looking kind of annoyed right now. "What are you fucking doing here? This isn't some fucking game." He said, and then he was looking at the attendant, and then he took a long and deep breath.

"I just wanted to check up on this place. My brother was telling me about it, and I just guess I was curious." I said, and then I was seeing him looking like he couldn't believe that he was even going to be forced to have this discussion anyways.

"Dude, this is not a good idea." Jayson said, and shook his head, clearly just trying to find a way to end this discussion, but in a slightly nice matter. The security officer was looking like he was kind of annoyed with the way that the conversation had abruptly ended like this.

"Yeah, never mind. You clearly do not want me here right now. I will just drop this fucking subject then." I said, not even wanting to deal with this right now. I was feeling like the fact that he was showing so much reluctance to this subject was a sign that this was just simply not meant to be.

As I was walking off, Jayson sighed, as if feeling like he was being guilt tripped into this right away. "It's not that. Just give me some time. I will need to wrap up this conversation." Jayson said, and he was sighing in annoyance, feeling like everything about this subject was just annoying the shit out of him.

"Hey, we are going to have to pick up on this later. I got something that I should attend to. Sorry for the interruption." Jayson said, and then he shook his head as he was starting to walk up to me. He was looking like he needed me to give him some real good reason to do this right now.

"Okay, what are you even here for anyways? I mean, for fucks sake. Can you see that I am dealing with something really serious." Now it was clear that he wasn't even trying to hide his annoyance. I wondered if he thought this would get me to back down a bit.

"Honestly, I want to just know if all the rumors people are making about this place are even fucking true. I mean, you got people running down your throat all the fucking time. And I guess I just want to see if Todd is justified feeling this way." I said, hoping that he would pick up on the fact that this wasn't my fucking plan, and that I just needed some fucking patience.

"Great. Your fucking older brother. I heard a lot about him when I was in school. But that's not the point. Do you seriously think my father would tell me shit when I am still in high school? This isn't some fucking tv show." He said, as I looked down, feeling attacked by his statements right now.

"My brother means well. You would understand that if you lived with him." I said, hoping to get him to fucking shut up. My brother deserved some fucking patience, since at the end of the day, he was not a bad person at all.

"That's not the point. The point is that I have no idea what my fucking father is doing, and I think you need to just find something else to help you. Besides, even if I did, my father would not approve of you being here." He said, and I was annoyed as he said that.

"But you're going to graduate in a year. I think you should be beyond the point of caring what your fucking father thinks. I am trying to remind myself that what my parents and older brother think do not matter anymore." I said, and then he was smiling as he heard this. Probably thinking it was hilarious that I was saying this.

"I think that it's not as simple as that for me. But if you want to think that, then go ahead. That being said, I guess that I can give it a fucking try. But honestly, I think that you just need to find something else. After all, my father told me he didn't even know he was the heir to the company until like a month before he took over." Jayson said, and then I laughed at that.

"I was fortunate enough to know right away. I mean, I have had my entire life be filled with people just judging every movement I have been making, feeling like they need to see if I am going to be like my fucking father or some shit. It gets rather fucking annoying, to be honest." Jayson said, sighing in annoyance as he vented that.

"If you are not involved in this, then why in the world are you dealing with those security officers in the first place? I mean, that should be shit that your father handles?" I asked, and then Jayson looked at me, thinking that I was still relatively naïve to it all.

"To be honest, I am just doing that as a formality." He was saying, shrugging, and not really seeming to be in the mood. "Truth be told, my father does want me to slowly get into the role of duty. But that is something I will have to do slowly over time." After he said that to me, I shrugged, and I wasn't even sure what to tell him.

"I guess that does make some fucking sense. After all, your father has been considered to be the hardest worker out of your families presidents." I said, knowing that ever since I was a child, he was a no nonsense type of person. Even people who hated his company, and their scandals, never denied the fact that Rob was always a hard worker.

"Don't forget. He did take the company over when he was fifteen years old. Isn't that like the age of one of your brothers?" He asked, and then I slowly nodded, feeling like I just needed to give him that much to fucking work with.

"Yeah, Josiah. I mean, it would be horrid to imagine him running a company. When he isn't rocking out with friends, he's sleeping on the couch with his youngest brother." I said, and Jayson laughed at that one. Thinking that the image was something to enjoy.

"Okay. Sure. Anyways, I guess that if you want to, we can talk tomorrow. Not related to the business. But I feel like I need to get to know you before I really do anything." Jayson said, and I shrugged, feeling like something like that was fair enough.

"Fair enough. I mean, I did come at you rather out of nowhere." I said, feeling like that was totally fair." I said, and I was feeling like this statement was fair. Jayson was looking like he was having nothing else to fucking say. He seemed like he couldn't fucking believe he was even getting himself into this.

"Tomorrow." I said, and then nodded, feeling like this was a plan that I would work with, and I was hoping that Todd wouldn't be too upset with this idea. As I was walking off, I was seeing Jayson looking like he was relatively unsure of what to even fucking say anymore.

Once I was out of the company hall, I took my phone out, and started to text Todd how things had went. I was closing my eyes, really not wanting to do this at all. But I had already started, so there was no point in fucking stopping at all.

"Hey Todd, I wanted to let you know that Jayson agreed to meet up with me tomorrow. This idea better fucking work. I am not going to be down with wasting everything on something that might not even work." I sent, feeling like I just needed to be totally honest with him here.

As I was done, I was shaking my head, and started to walk to Michael's place, where I felt I would give him a progress update as well, since I was feeling like he deserved to fucking know. "Hey Michael, so I did go on and see Jayson. We will be meeting up tomorrow. Until we know what we're doing, let's just keep Carly out of this." I said, feeling like I just needed to try and put my foot down here.

The entire time that I was walking to Michael's place, and I was wondering if leaving Carly out of the loop was really for the best, that was when I got another text from Todd. I was not wanting one from him. But I should have known. "Good. I know you do not like this. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't certain this was the only way…" He replied, and I was shaking my head at this statement.

"Todd, I swear to god if I find out that you're not also working on this, and that you're just giving me all the work, then that will be when I get pissed." I said, feeling like I just needed to be straight up honest with him as I said this.

"Give me a fucking chance dude. I am just trying to fucking help out as much as possible. I understand that you are probably worried as well." Todd said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like he did not even fucking get the half of it, with the worry.

As I was making more progress to Michael's place, and I was getting more uncomfortable with the people around me, and the fears that they fucking knew what I was doing, I got another text from Michael. "Hey, I mean, I might not like it, but I guess that I do fucking see your point. Just make sure you are doing the right thing." He said, and then I was slowly nodding, feeling his point was fair.

As I was getting closer, I got a text from Carly, which made me really fucking antsy. "Gabe, I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. It wasn't fucking fair, and I guess that I was just upset at the lack of attention." When I got that reply, I smiled a faint hint.

"It's okay. I mean, I wish that I will be able to tell you more. Maybe in a couple of weeks, when I know what is happening." I said, and I felt like this was the way to make the situation at least slightly better for them, given the issues that I was now dealing with.

Eventually, I reached his house, where I was feeling like I needed to somehow strike a real balance between my final year of high school, and graduated with a good experience, and fucking working on something that I was being dragged into against my own will.

Scene 4: September 28 2020 2:53 pm

The next day, I was meeting up with Jayson, and the whole thing was feeling so fucking wrong. As if I should have never fucking bothered with this. But Todd was asking me to do this, and I was wanting to grant him his wishes, even if it had meant throwing everything away, that I actually wanted to do.

When he was waiting for me, and he saw me show up, he looked around the area for a bit, to simply make sure that nobody saw him talking to me. When he was sure that he was alone, he started to walk towards me, smiling.

"Sorry to be doing this so fucking secret like. But I just didn't want people to learn that I was working with you. I knew that if they found out, there would be so much shit going against me." He said, and I shrugged, not sure what in the world I could even tell him now.

"It's okay. I wouldn't do this if it weren't for the fact that people are insisting that I fucking check this whole thing out." I said, and we were starting to think about what I was even going to tell him. "But to be honest, I am kind of surprised that you don't know much about what is going on here." I said, and he was shrugging at this, thinking nothing of it.

"To be honest, I think my father just wants to make sure that I have a decently normal life in school before anything else. Any time I try to bring his past up to him, he always seems to get rather annoyed. I even tried to ask him what he thought of certain cases, and he still just gets more annoyed." Jayson said, and I was shrugging, not caring what he said.

"Normal. That's a funny thing to imagine. To be honest, I think that most people in this town do not understand that. With the fact that my father decided to have kids at a age he should have been a grand parent." I said, and then Jayson sighed at this statement, thinking he needed to be honest with me now.

"Truth be told Gabe, I think you need to be looking at your father before you go around and judge other people. I mean, this man has been around everything, and he was the one who dealt with Sheldon Lee when he was younger. I Think your father is the most likely person to give you answers." He said, and I sighed in annoyance, knowing he should be right.

"Every time I try and talk to him about Sheldon Lee, he gets upset, and acts like I am bringing up this forbidden topic. So at this point, I realize trying to talk about Sheldon is fucking pointless." I said, feeling like I just needed to be straight up honest with him here.

"I guess I can see how that would be annoying. But I think in all honesty, he probably is just trying to make sure you stay safe. For whatever that's worth." Jayson said, and then something else popped into his head, as he turned around to me, with a faint smile on his face.

"Do you even know why your brother cares so much about this in the first place? I mean, he seemed like he was the exact last person anybody would come to when it would be related to looking into this town." He said, and I shrugged as he asked me this. Not sure what to tell him.

"I don't know honestly. I think it might be due to the fact that one of his friends refuse to let the subject go, and he is going around just trying to make sure his friend stays safe, or some other fucking bullshit." I said, shrugging as I told him this.

"Strange. But I guess that my other question is do you honestly have any stake in this matter, or are you just doing this out of family obligation yourself?" He asked, and I was feeling like if I told him the truth, then things would really get much worse.

"Truth be told, I do have my own reasons for it. More so of the fact that I know that the stories are true, and I am tired of fucking hiding from that." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with him as I said this to him. Jayson looked at me, finding my response to be kind of amusing.

"How do you know the stories are true, and not just something you assume?" He asked, and I was thinking about the question, since in all honesty, it was fair enough to ask. I simply shrugged, not sure what to even tell him.

"Truth be told, you can't deal with all this shit, and have so many people go missing, and rumors being made all the fucking time, without at least some truth to them all. I mean, you might not have to like it, but there is something going on here." After I told him this, he sighed, not sure what to tell me at all.

"I guess that makes sense. I guess that I just never thought of it that way. I guess in all honesty, I just felt like everything that was going on probably had some fucking reasons. And with my father insisting that I never get involved with this, I guess that I just feel fine with letting people do this on their own." He said, and I simply had nothing else that I wanted to fucking say.

"So Gabe, now that you know that I do not know anything, do you feel like you will be able to leave me alone going forward? I mean, I won't be able to give you what you want, and I think we both know that any further discussion will just be a waste of time." He said, and then I shrugged as I heard him ask me this.

"I guess that there is no reason to be pushing this subject then. I might be a bit upset. But I guess that there is nothing that I can fucking do to change it." I said, and I was clearly just trying to think of how I was going to be able to tell Todd this. I knew he would not want to hear this. But I couldn't care less.

"Thanks. I think you really have no idea how hard it is to deal with people who always think you're behind shit, and I have had to deal with rumors about my father his entire life. I guess that I am just over them now." He said, and I was slowly nodding, feeling like I just needed to let him express his anger.

"Yeah, I mean, I wish that I thought about that before I went to you." I said, feeling like being humble was the best way to go at this, and I was hoping that doing so would get him to calm down a little.

"Thanks dude. I knew out of all of you, you would be probably be the one to understand." He said, and then he was placing his hand on my shoulder, feeling like he just needed to think of things from the bright side of it.

"Say, would you maybe just want to talk at some point. You know, not about the case, and not about anything else? Just talk as two normal people. I think that might be kind of fun." He said, and then I smiled as he was saying this. Feeling the fact that he trusted me was something that I could take in stride.

"Yeah, I guess that it could be nice. I mean, especially with how this is the last year of school, and everybody is going to have to try and fulfill various goals without anybody else at their side." I said, and I was shrugging, not sure what in the world I was even going to tell him at all.

"And I don't think you would be too upset when I say that I would rather not drag your friends into it. I mean, they are kind of hard to handle sometimes, and I do not want to deal with them judging me all the fucking time." He said, and I sighed, not sure what to say to this.

"Sure. I mean, they might be a bit upset that I would be hanging out with you instead of them. Especially Carly. But I am sure that they would be willing to let it go." I said, and I was feeling like telling him this would get him to leave the subject alone for now.

"See. That's what I fucking mean. They can be so judgmental for no fucking reason, and I do not want to deal with that at all." He said, and then he shrugged, as if thinking that what he was saying made perfect sense. I sighed, not sure what else I was even going to tell him at all.

"Just don't do that every time. I think that you're going to have to meet them sooner or later, and you will have to deal with that." I said, and then I was shrugging, feeling like I just needed to kind of put my foot down at least a little bit. He shrugged, as if not caring to hear it.

When I got home, I was getting kind of tired of this whole thing, and kind of wanted a break from constantly looking around, and doing Todd's detective work. To be honest, I think he was kind of just needed to do the job himself. Or at the very least just come forward to me, and try and make a fucking plan. But until then, I was over this shit.

Scene 5: September 29 2020 2:47 pm

So the next day, I was meeting up with Lydia, since I was feeling like she just needed some time to talk to me. Especially with the fact that in general, she just kind of seemed to be a bit lost, and I was scared for her own personal sake.

"Lydia, do you need to talk to me?" I asked, and I was seeing her looking like she was kind of confused with the way that I was approaching her at the time. She sighed, seeming to not really be interested in having a discussion.

"Just wondering why people even go to school in the first place? It's so fucking annoying, and the teachers clearly do not care about their job." She said, and I was laughing as she said this. The statement wasn't even a lie, to be fair.

"Truth be told, it is supposed to teach you how to get ready for life in the world. But most people do feel like this really never happens." I said, feeling like if I was just honest with her, the better things would be.

"Honestly, it doesn't even matter before middle school anyways. Until that point, you just kind of have to kill time off, and enjoy your life." As I said this, I was starting to head to my room, and then Lydia was calling out to me. I turned to her, and I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to let her have her fucking moment.

"Gabe, why are you and Todd arguing so much anyways?" She asked, and I was thinking that if she knew what was really happening, she would fucking hate what I would tell her. I just simply shook my head, refusing to go into detail.

"To be honest Lydia, he and I just both started hearing some bad rumors of this place, and both of us were worried about the best way to go through with them." I said, and I was seeing Lydia looking mildly annoyed as she heard this.

"I just want you to get along. Seeing you guys angry at each other is sad." She said, and I was laughing as she was saying this. I figured she really didn't know the half of it, to be honest.

"We're not angry at each other. We just had some disagreements is all." After I was telling her this, I was then seeing a text pop up. I was really feeling like this was not the time. But the way that Lydia looked at me was showing she was just blown away with the fact that I wasn't checking it. So I felt like I had no choice.

"Just try and find something you can agree on." After Lydia said this to me, I was sighing, since at this point in time, I was getting kind of annoyed by it. But then I took the phone out, to see who the text was from, mainly as a way to get Lydia to leave me alone.

"Hey, this is Jayson. I looked around the school files, and saw this being your contact information. Sorry for doing that without your permission." The text said, and I will admit, as I was looking at this, I was slightly annoyed, and I wondered why he thought he had the right to do this.

There was a second one that got sent almost as soon as I finished reading that first one. "I don't plan to text here very often. Only when I feel like there is some need to discuss work. But when I do, don't fucking ghost me, and actually follow through." He said, as I sighed at this.

I felt like I needed to respond to this. "Yeah, okay. Thanks for letting me know. I got something to do today though." I said, and I was putting my phone away, not wanting to have this discussion right now. I needed to fucking focus on the class work.

"What was that?" She asked, and I was sighing, feeling like I could come up with a decent cover, if I was trying hard enough. I mean, she was not going to get what I was truly dealing with. But she needed to calm down.

"Just some stuff from classmates, relating to school. Nothing too important, to be totally fucking honest." I said, and I was shrugging as I told her this, hoping that my statement would buy myself some fucking time at least.

"I guess I understand." She said, sounding sad, mostly at the fact that I wasn't going to be there for her as much anymore, due to the fact that I had my classes to deal with. "Do you think you're going to graduate on time?" She asked, and I looked at her, wondering what her fucking point was right now.

"Of course I think I can. Why are you worried about me?" I asked, clearly just trying to hide my worry about what she was thinking here. I was standing up, and I was placing my hand on her shoulders, trying to fucking calm her down for a second.

"Well, I guess that I just heard some things, from Todd, that made me worried about you." She was saying, and then I was shaking my head, and I was thinking that I would let this subject drop. I rubbed my eyes, simply not really in the mood here.

"Let me just take you out, and we can talk about this normally. You know, away from this fucking house." I said, and then I was starting to head towards the family car. As Lydia was seeing this, she was getting both worried and excited for what I was planning.

Once we were in the car, I was starting to drive along for a bit. "Honestly Lydia, you do not need to worry about that at all. Things just fucking happen. There always seemed to be a level of uncertainty between us. But that happens when you're so close in age." I said, shrugging, hoping to shut her up.

"Are you saying that is why I sometimes argue with Jack and Henry more than the others?" She asked, and I was laughing at this, knowing that she was starting to fucking finally get it. I smiled at this, wishing she understood the half of it.

"Honestly Lydia, that is probably the main reason. People just always have a harder time getting along that way. When you're much older or younger, it is easier." I said, and then I was feeling like I just needed to fucking let the subject go for the time being.

"Todd just seems to be much more distant than usual too. Like he is trying to take on the world." She said, and I was sighing, knowing the truth of it, but I was trying my best to make sure that Lydia would not get involved with this at all.

"Honestly, I think that this is something you start to feel when you get to that age. I don't think you need to think that way. Just fucking ignore it." I said, feeling like I just need to drop the subject for the time being. I hoped Lydia was going to get the memo.

Eventually, we parked the car at some random diner, where I went out with her, despite not having any giant amount of money, and I was feeling like I just needed to just talk to her for a while. "Lydia, I will try and talk to Todd about everything soon. Explain that you're worried, and the two of us will sort things out." I said, thinking that I just needed to give her some patience.

"Gabe, sorry that I haven't been doing very well in school. I just don't see the point." She said, and I sighed, feeling like I needed to give her at least some fucking credit. She was deserving of this, more than she was wanting to hear.

"It's okay Lydia. You just started first grade. Of all the siblings, you need to worry about it the least." I said, and then I was sighing, wishing to get her to understand. "I love to see you happy. Not angry, and not worried about everything."

"Do you know how I would be able to get Robbie Dan to like me?" She asked, and I was shocked at this question. I mean, I heard she might have had a thing for him. But I wasn't ready for it at all, and I was feeling like I just needed to end this right now.

"Don't worry about him. He's a friend, and I think you should just keep it at that." I said, hoping to get her to stop this shit right now. I was sighing, and I felt like I just needed to have this subject completely fucking drop right now.

"I know, but he's so fucking nice." Lydia said, and I sighed, feeling like I needed to tell her to stop with the swearing, since she was only seven years old, and probably needed to not get into the habit before it got any worse.

"Well, just give it a year or two, and see if you still feel the same way." I said, feeling like I just needed to end this discussion right now. I sighed, feeling like I was not ready for my younger sister to be pining over people that she barely even knew.

When I was home that day, and Lydia was heading to her room, rather happy and excited, I was seeing Todd looking like he was wanting to ask me some questions. I sighed, not really in the mood for his bullshit. But I choose to not say much.

"Hey Gabe, I just feel like I might have been too hard on you lately. I guess that I just haven't been able to see the bigger picture of the fact that you have school to worry about, and that I just need to leave you alone for the time being." Todd said, and I sighed at this.

"Listen, Jayson doesn't have anything. You're wasting your fucking time with this. Just drop the fucking subject, so we can fucking move on." I said, and I was seeing Todd looking like he was kind of being betrayed with my way of acting right now.

"Gabe, just talk to me here. Tell me what has been bothering you." He said, and I sighed, not really wanting to have this discussion at all. I just felt like nothing that I would say would get Todd to see the bigger picture of what he was doing.

"He was saying that his father refused to show him anything, and that he didn't want his kid getting involved unless if he had no choice. Probably because he took over when he was a freshmen in high school." I said, feeling like I just needed to give Todd that at least.

"I guess that makes sense." Todd said, thinking about what he heard. As I said this, I sighed, hoping this would shut him up for a little bit at least. As I was walking off, I was done with this conversation, at least for tonight.

Scene 6: September 30 2020 3:20 pm

The next day, when school was done, I was driving Seth home, and I was seeing him looking like he was rather uncomfortable with everything going on around me. I could tell from the fact that he asked me to bring him home that I needed to probably take it seriously.

"So what happened?" I asked, and then I was shaking my head. I was seeing him looking at me, and he was looking like he was utterly terrified of everything that could potentially happen. "Seth, I need you to talk to me, if you want to make this work."

"To be honest, there is somebody in my class who seems like they are being abused by one of the teachers. I want to be there for them, and see if I could be able to help them out." Seth said, and then I looked right at him, scared of what he would say.

"Seth, I understand wanting to help out if you genuinely believe something like this is happening. But there is nothing you can fucking do about that. Besides, you would need actual proof first." After I said that to him, I felt like being honest was for the best.

"Gabe, I understand you might not see it if you're not there, but when you see the look of pain on her face, you can tell that this is not a fucking mis conception. I know what I fucking see." Seth said, and he was sounding like he was so dead set on this, that it felt wrong to oppose him.

"Okay Seth, I understand if you are scared, and if you want to help. And I do not want to deny your accusations without giving you a chance to explain. Truth is, Todd has been looking into this case for a while now, and I feel like this is turning him a bit obsessed." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with him now.

"If he has been looking into these things, then why has he not been willing to fucking tell us what he has been doing? We deserve to know the fucking truth." Seth said, and I was sighing, feeling like whatever he was saying was only going to translate really poorly to everything else.

"He hasn't told people because he knows that if he does, then you will probably want to get involved as well. It was a massive mistake forcing me into this. But you're eleven years old. You are still not even in high school yet." I said, and I was feeling like I just needed to drop this subject. I saw Seth looking upset with me, and looking out the window in disgust.

"Why do you even fucking think something like this is happening in the first place? Do you have any real proof to show this?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to give him a chance to prove his point. Seth sighed, and shook his head, just giving me the silent treatment.

"Well, one time, she went into the teachers office, and she had no bruises on her, and then when she left, she fucking did." Seth said, and then I was taking a second to at least consider what he was telling me. I sighed, unsure of what else I would even say to this.

"Well, okay… I guess that this can be considered some good evidence. I will give you that. Well, okay. I think that if this is how things are, then you need to make a game plan on how to go at this." I said, feeling like I needed him to open up now.

"Seth, I understand your worry. But there's nothing you can do. And the thing I need you to do is just focus on your comedy act. If you want to go big on that, then I feel like you need to just focus on making the jokes land as much as possible." I said, and then I shrugged as I was telling him this.

"Wow. Comedy act. That is what people are caring the most about right now. I never thought that I would hear somebody express interest in that." Seth said, and I was smiling as he was starting to look like he was letting the excitement get to him once again. I wanted him to feel happy. And seeing him get a genuine smile on his face, made everything better.

"To be honest dude, I think that unlike everybody else, I do see that there is potential in your performances. I just think that you might need to add a bit more adult taste to it. Make it appeal to people around you more." I said, and I was shaking my head, unsure of what I was even going to tell him. This all just felt so wrong.

"Wow. That makes me feel so much better. But Gabe, what if I go up there, and everybody just ends up hating the fucking act? What the fucking hell would I even do then?" He asked, and I shrugged, feeling like he was taking this too fucking seriously.

"Well, if those people do not like the fact that you're being brave enough to be yourself, then fuck them. Don't worry about what they think. Just be yourself, and have a great time. And besides, Josiah will be with you." I said, and then I was sighing as I said this, unsure what to tell him now.

"Yeah, fuck them. I should just go out, and do whatever I fucking want, and not have everybody hate me." After he was saying this, I was smiling at this, and I felt like everything else was going to turn out in our favor.

"And remember, at the end of the day, if you feel like this is something you have no interest in anymore, then you are totally allowed to fucking change interests. Nobody will fucking stop you at all." I said, and I was feeling like telling him this would be for the best. "And I will stand by your side, no matter what. Because I'm your brother, and brothers are supposed to do that."

"Yeah. I guess I can do that. To be honest though, I just feel like when I see you guys, and the fact that you guys have been doing the same thing all the time, no matter what, it makes me feel like I am never allowed to change anything. As if it's just a fucking joke." Seth said, and I smiled as I was hearing this. I mean, Josiah wasn't really the same person as he once was.

"Well, I mean, Todd has tried so many different things, and changed his mind so many times. And to be honest, he is probably the only person who has a normal fucking life here." I said, shrugging at the fact that I didn't need to say "aside from having ten younger siblings."

"Yeah, thanks for letting me know. I will try my best to just make the show fucking work." Seth said, and then he was getting out of the car. I was looking down, and I was thinking about the shit he told me. A teacher abusing a student? I mean, I knew there was a small chance that it was fucking true.

I got out, and I was calling out to Seth. "I think that it's actually really nice that you have something that you are so interested in right now. But I think you will need to know sooner or later that people are going to judge you no matter what you fucking do." After I was telling him this, I saw Seth looking like he wasn't too interested in hearing this.

"Why did you never get into anything when you were in high school? I mean, you should try some things out, and see if you like them." He said, and I sighed, since I was not really in the mood to hear this. I rubbed my eyes, feeling like no matter what I said, he would going to be making fun of me here.

"Well, to be honest, it just never really felt like it was something for me. I just felt like I needed to not worry about something." I said, and I was shrugging, and I was not really in the mood to have this discussion with him at all.

"Okay, if you fucking say so. I just hope that you do not feel like you lost out on your fucking chance to do something you fucking like." He said, and then I shrugged as I was telling him this. I hated this conversation, since I felt like no matter what he was trying, that I was being attacked.

"I mean, I have been making some extra friends. But I don't really feel the need to be going into that right now." I said, feeling like no matter what I was going to say, he was going to find some way to fucking judge me here. And I was getting really tired of it.

"I guess that that's good. I wish that I had some real friends who would like to hang out with me. But it seems like nobody wants to hang out with the guy who mainly does comedy shows." Seth said, and I was feeling like his way of putting himself down like this was getting a bit much. I was not wanting to hear it at all.

"If you want me to, I can try and tell Todd about what you had told me. You know, with the teacher. But don't think anything will come out of it." After I was telling him this, I sighed, feeling like nothing I would tell him would change it.

"Well, trying would be something that I can fucking appreciate. But don't fucking force yourself into this, if you are not ready." Seth was telling me, and I sighed, and I was slowly nodding, not really in the mood to hear this.

"No, you're fucking right. I should just try and see what I could fucking do to help out." After I said this, I was hating the fucking fact that I was saying this. I hated the fact that I was dragged into this, but I was not really in the mood to have this discussion.

"Well, I better go inside." After he was telling me this, he inside, and I wondered how upset he was at the stuff that I had said. I mean, I had no intention of making him feel bad. I just felt like he needed to be more careful than he had.

I sighed, and then I was pulling put my phone. I was feeling like I just needed to contact Michael once again. See what he had known, so we can make some things work. "Hey, Jayson and I got each other on contacts. Want to talk for a bit?" I asked, and Michael was not responding for a bit.

"Honestly, I think that you need to be careful with that guy. I think you will see soon enough, that he will be fucking dangerous." Michael responded, and I was sighing, since I was not really in the mood to hear him say this. I knew he was going to possibly be in trouble. But I wasn't really in the mood to argue this at all.

"I know that I need to be careful right now. But I feel like Todd is right, and that he might be the best fucking bet for this situation. And I think that I need to fucking take it." I replied, sending the text. As I sent that, I got another response from Carly.

"Want to fucking hang out with me during the weekend? I mean, I feel like we need to fucking catch up for a bit." She said, and I was smiling as she gave me the offer. To be honest, knowing that she liked me still, despite my situation, was giving me fucking hope after all.

Scene 7: October 1 2020 3:24 pm

The next day, when I was back from school, I was sitting around, and I was watching some movies with Henry. In all honesty, I hardly even talked with the kid. I barely even knew if he was still interested in things like horror movies. I kind of wished that he wouldn't be, so I would be able to move on from this whole thing.

"Henry, why do you even like things like this so much?" I asked, and Henry looked at me, and he smiled, and I was feeling like he was going to just simply not fucking answer me at all, and leave me with nothing to fucking work with at all.

"Well, it's fun getting scared." He said, and I was sighing, feeling like when he was older, and he understood what this was going to fucking mean, then he was not going to be feeling this way at all. But for now, I was feeling like I would just leave it alone.

"Besides, you like fashion anyways." He said, and then I rolled my eyes. That was something I was kind of into for like a year and a half, which to be fair is like a eon in Henry's eyes, but I kind of started to move on even during this summer a bit.

"Can you chill out with making fun of me over that? I was into that for like a year." I said, and I was sighing, feeling like having this debate was getting a bit annoying. But I wasn't going to go down this debate any further.

"Okay. Sorry." Henry said, and he was sounding like he was actually kind of regretting what he had said for a second. I could tell from the look on his face, that he was aware that he kind of went a bit too far, and I was glad he was able to fucking see this.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know that I was being a bit hard on you. But everybody was making a issue out of that during the school year. Accusing me of being gay and shit." I said, and I was hardly even fucking caring if I was swearing in front of the five year old. I was just glad the twins, Calvin, and Ridge, were all way too young to even remember shit like this.

"What is gay?" He asked, and I was looking at him, and I was wondering why he even cared for this in the first place. Then again, you would be able to make the argument of wondering why I even brought it up in the first place. I sighed, feeling like I would give him a crash course on it.

"It's when you like somebody who is the same gender as you. Like a boy who likes boys, and a girl who likes girls." I said, sitting down, not really in the mood to have this discussion any further. I was getting a bit tired of having this discussion, and I felt he was way too young for this shit.

"So if I like you, does that make me gay?" Henry asked, and I was sighing, and I knew that it wasn't even his fault for thinking this way. Honestly, I was feeling like if I wanted him to stay away from these topics, I should just stop bringing them up, even if it was a spite.

"I mean, not really. Because we're family. You know, when you have a family member, then you usually like them anyways. But like say if you like Robbie Dan for instance." I said, and I was sighing, feeling like he was way too young to even remotely have a interest in this subject.

"Okay." He said, and he was sounding slightly unsure of what to tell me here. I wondered what he was thinking as I said that. I glanced down at him for a couple of seconds, but decided to not say anything. In all honesty, I probably was thinking too deeply into it anyways. I shrugged, not wanting to discuss it anymore.

As we were having this discussion, I was getting some extra texts. I was sighing in annoyance as I was getting these ones, to be honest. I felt like people just needed to fucking leave me alone, and not press my patience any further.

This one was from Todd. "Hey, when you get a chance, I wanted to talk again. Just you and me. I know that you're probably getting mildly annoyed here. But I just wanted to clear some fucking things up." Todd said, and I sighed as he sent this. I wondered what he was fucking meaning with 'clear some fucking things up.'

"Okay, if you really feel like we need to, then I guess that we can. I hope that you're ready to deal with whatever shit will come up if people find out what is going on here though." I said, and then after I said that, I was closing my eyes, not wanting to discuss this any further.

Henry was looking at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was wanting to ask some extra questions. "Who were you talking with?" He asked, and I was thinking about his question. But before anything else could be discussed, there was a knock on the door, and I got up to answer it. Not sure what I was going to be expecting with this.

When I answered, it was one of those men in black. I was carrying Henry, although truth be told, he was getting way too old for that shit, and I was feeling like I needed to stop doing that soon. "Hello, we were wondering if you had seen anything strange lately? I heard that you were speaking with Jayson Reichenbach a bit, and just wanted to make sure that you weren't dealing with anything too bad." He said, and I sighed, and I wondered why this was even happening.

"Honestly, I was just wondering if there were some things he would be able to clear up for me. You know, since I assumed he knew what his father was doing. But I was mistaken." I said, feeling like I just needed this conversation to end.

"Okay. If you say so." He said, and still seemed kind of unsure of what to even tell me. I wondered what his issue was, and I wondered why he was even caring so much about what I was doing. "His father just wanted to make sure nothing was going on. I will tell him that you don't have much." He said, and then with that, I sighed in relief as he was starting to walk off.

To be honest, I was worried about what he was going to tell Rob. But for now, I was feeling like the longer he was away from me, the better that things were going to be. I placed Henry down. I had been kind of low key hoping that having Henry with me sort of made him less willing to make controversy.

"God damn jackass." I said, shaking my head, and I wasn't really in the mood to have a argument with this. "Sorry you had to deal with that." I was feeling kind of bad over the fact that I was mildly using my younger brother as a fucking shield, and I was feeling like this sort of made me the bad guy.

"Why was he talking to you anyways?" Henry asked, and I was sighing as I heard this. I had no idea what in the world I was even so worried about in the first place. I was shaking my head, kind of feeling like I just needed to leave things alone.

"Just something that I found in the forest. But I wonder how in the world he even knew of that." I said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like I just needed to be *a lot* more careful going forward, and not make any real issues with this. Or else things would get much worse.

Scene 8: October 2 2020 5:10 am

The next day, I was getting up rather early because Lydia was wanting to fucking talk to me. I was sighing in annoyance as she was calling me down. I looked up at her, and I was sighing in annoyance as she was looking at me. "What do you fucking want to talk about?" I asked, trying to hide my fucking annoyance.

"I want to talk to you about Robbie Dan, and how much I want to hang out with him every day." After she was telling me this, I sighed, and I was wondering why in the fucking world she was telling me this. I was rubbing my eyes, not really in the fucking mood at all.

"Robbie? Are you seriously fucking talking to me about this at five in the morning?" I asked, kind of fucking annoyed at the fact that she was telling me this in the first place. But I was feeling like I just needed to give her some fucking work here.

"Yeah, because you seem like the only person who wants to talk about this right now. He's a nice guy." After she was telling me this, I was standing up, not really in the mood to have this discussion in the first place. I could not believe that this was happening to start with right now.

"Can you just fucking see him, and try and talk to him?" She asked me, and I was looking right at her, and I was wondering what the fucking point of this request was in the first place. This was fucking crazy.

"Lydia, why the fucking hell do you think that I can get this guy to fucking listen to me? I mean, fucking Todd I could understand. Since he's dating Bebe. But there is no way in hell I can fucking talk to him." I said, and I was feeling like I just needed to place my foot down here.

"Just give it a fucking go. I need you to fucking try this." After she was telling me this, I was sighing, and I was feeling like there was no way in hell that I would get her to change the way she was talking here. "Besides, I think that Todd is kind of sick of talking to me about Robbie right now?" She asked, and I was sighing, since I had no idea what to tell her at all.

"Fine. I mean, I will see what he might want to fucking talk about." I said, and I was staring out the window, since my room had their door open while I was asleep. I was seeing one of those men in black were driving by. I was shaking my head, knowing what he was going to do would get us in danger.

"Thanks Gabe. You're the best." She said, and I was sighing, since I was feeling like her calling me the best over this was a fucking ridiculous sentiment. Especially at 5 am.

When Lydia was starting to leave the room, I was getting up out of bed, and I was going to check what that man in black was doing here. I felt like this guy needed to just fucking leave us alone. It was becoming borderline harassment here.

When I was at the front entrance of the house, he was looking up at me, and he was looking a bit worried at the fact that it was clear that he had been caught. I felt like I just needed to try and say something to him, before Lydia was calling out to me once again.

"Gabe, what's wrong?" She asked, and I was turning towards her. I was feeling like the fact that she did not know what was going on, and she sincerely was seeming to be beyond understanding what the issues were, made me just really fucking unsure.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Honestly, I am not even sure if I should be as worried about it as I have been before." After I was telling her this, I was seeing Lydia looking like she was not really buying what I said.

"Is this what has been driving Todd upset?" She asked, and I looked at her, and I was feeling like I just needed to possibly be honest with her, considering the fact that this was her older brother we were talking about, and she clearly cared a lot for him.

"A little bit. He has just wanted me to keep a tab on him, and make sure that he was doing alright." After I was done saying this, I felt like I needed to send Jayson a fucking text, and see what he was aware of here. This was something that I needed to clear up with him soon.

"Jayson, do you know why there is this fucking guy showing up all the fucking time here. This is starting to fucking piss me off." I said, and I was feeling like I just needed to be fully honest with him. "I feel like you need to fucking keep a eye on these fucking people."

"I know nothing about that. Let me see if my father knows. That really bothers me." He said, and I was sighing in relief, knowing that he was going to be taking what I said seriously. Not just pretending like I was some fucking idiot here.

Scene 9: October 3 2020 3:23 pm

The next day, I was checking up on Ridge, to do the weekly look. And I was seeing that he and Calvin were in the same room as each other. I could see that the latter was just trying his best to not seemed annoyed at everything that was going on. I took a picture of the two playing with each other, and felt like that was enough for me harassing them.

When I was talking to Robbie Dan, and I was seeing him looking like he was mildly annoyed with the fact that I was forcing him to talk to me right now. I sighed, since in all honesty, I didn't even want to have this discussion in the first place.

"Look, Lydia just wants me to talk to you, and just fucking see if there is something that is bothering you." I said, and I was shrugging. "Honestly, I am not sure what is going on, but I think she fucking likes you a lot, and she wants to see if something can work out." After I was telling him this, I sighed for a second.

"Strange. I have no idea what that girl wants with me so bad. Honestly, I think that she sees me as something completely fucking different. I'm not that great with school, and I don't really have a bunch of social capabilities." After Robbie said this, I smiled at his admitting this.

"She probably thinks of you as her first real fucking friend, and I guess that I can sort of see that. She wants to see you give her what she needs. I feel like you need to be the one that fucking tells her that this is not happening." I said, and I was trying to see how he would react to this.

"I have been trying to tell her. But I think she just assumes that I am being negative towards myself, or have low esteem." Robbie Dan said, and I was shocked that at his age, he even knew the concept of self esteem. I sighed, hoping to get him to maybe open up with me more.

"Well, Lydia always seems to try and see the best in everybody, and I think that you are just no fucking different. But in all honesty, I wonder if it might really be best to just not bother with hanging out with her too much, and just try to fucking put that past you." After I was telling him this, I was seeing Robbie Dan looking like he had not wanted to go that far.

"I don't know. I mean, my parents always seem to just be focused on work. My mom is a business bitch, who only just sees the numbers in everything, and doesn't see the value in anything else. I feel like I am wasting my time with this." He was telling me, and I sighed as I heard this.

"I just often times feel like I hardly fucking matter in her eyes. And then there is my dad, who hasn't been the same after our older brother basically just fucking stopped talking with us high and dry a couple of years ago, saying that he just felt like he needed time away from us." Robbie Dan said, and he was shrugging as he heard this.

"Our older brother was clearly his favorite. Straight A's, and actually knows how to keep job. Unlike Bebe, who gets fired within two months of her getting jobs. I mean, I love her, but she doesn't know how to keep a responsible schedule. She has never been able to do something for more than seven weeks." Robbie finished, and then he was looking at me, and I was wondering what I was supposed to be saying now.

"Sorry to hear all that. I guess that I can see how that is like. I guess I can understand what it is like having a 'business bitch mom' as you put it. Todd never felt much connection with either mom or dad, and that only started to slowly change once Lydia came into the mix. I mean, I guess that I can understand, given the stuff they both do." I said, and I felt like despite the fact that he wasn't my brother, hearing those things kind of made me want to protect him a bit.

"Honestly, I just never understand how people can clearly favor their fucking job more than they fucking favor their own kids. It feels fucking wrong, and I feel like people just need to change their outlook on life when they feel that way." After Robbie told me this, I sighed, and I felt like I just needed to fucking listen to him for a few seconds.

"If you ever needed to fucking talk with somebody, then I guess that I can fucking do that." I said, and I was feeling like I just needed to fucking be more careful on what I said. In all honesty, he might be too fucking liberal about this.

"I just wish that I was able to talk with Bebe more about this. She always seems like she is way too distant about it. Like she is scared to acknowledge that this is true." Robbie said, and I was sighing, and I wondered if maybe that was because he might have been fucking over thinking it.

"She might just be thinking that it is different than you expect. Nothing wrong with that. She probably also doesn't see how much you are hurting over it." I said, and I was feeling like I just needed to give her some fucking comfort here. Robbie was looking down, as if not believing it.

When I was home, I checked the presidential race once again. The polls were now showing Trump with 498 electoral votes, and Biden still being able to claim 746. The poll was showing Texas being able to flip to him, and their 95 votes. To be honest, I think I should have saw that coming, and this was now confirming that even if Biden won, it wouldn't be a complete romping.

Scene 10: October 4 2020 1:11 pm

The next day, I was speaking with Bebe, feeling like I just needing to fucking see what she was knowing with Robbie. To be honest, she probably could have been able to fucking give me at least some clues on what Robbie could have done to make things better.

"To be honest Bebe, I think that you will need to be there for Robbie Dan. He has clearly been affected by what your parents are doing, and I feel like that is something that you would be best doing yourself." I said, and I was seeing Bebe looking like she was kind of pissed with the fact that I was throwing daggers like this.

"I have tried to talk to him. But he wants nothing to do with it. He accuses me of being a fucking liar, and I tried to tell him to not say that about me. But he doesn't ever want to listen." She was telling me, and I was shaking my head.

"Well, then fucking make him listen. The longer he doesn't fucking listen, the worst that things are going to get." I said, and I was placing my foot down. I didn't even care if she was thinking that I was going to be a fucking asshole here.

"Gabe, why are you so insistent on making this whole thing work out differently? If I was able to fucking talk with him, then things would be so much different…" Bebe was telling me, and I was feeling like I just needed to drop this.

"Because I know that he is still way too young to sincerely understand the fact that many things are going to be working against him, and I want to fucking hep him out here." I said, and I was feeling like even though I failed my brothers, I would be able to at least deliver with Bebe.

"I guess that I can understand that. I mean, look, I appreciate the fact that you want to help me here. But the fact of the matter is that people are going to fucking judge me no matter what happens in the first place. And in all honesty, I don't even fucking blame them in the first place." She was telling me, and I felt like she was going to accuse me of something else.

"Gabe, I think that you need to be helping your own fucking brothers before you start to help me here. I mean, you also have Lydia, who is even younger than Robbie, and Jack, who is only a year older." After she was telling me this, I was sighing, wondering why I was even wanting to argue with her in the first place.

"Yeah, I know you're right. But I mean, until I figure out what I need to do with my friends, then I will never be able to do that." I said, and I was seeing her looking like she was confused at what I was even trying to tell her in the first place.

"What the fucking hell are you even talking about?" Bebe asked me, and I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to be fully fucking honest with her, and not give her any bullshit at all. I closed my eyes, and I hated the fact that I was even having this discussion at all.

"Look, I have been talking with Jayson Reichenbach lately. He is my best bet to figuring out what Todd wants to know, and what we both need to fucking know. You might not want to fucking admit it, but I need to finally fucking break through to him here." I said, and I was suddenly feeling like placing my fucking foot down was what she had needed.

"I was hoping that the shit that Todd was telling me was fucking false. But if you are talking with him, then I have nothing to fucking say." She said, and I was looking at her, wondering why she was even fucking saying this in the first place.

"I found out about a bunch of this without his help anyways. Todd just happened to also get interested in this, and I feel like I need to listen to him." After I was telling her this, I was hoping that this would be able to get Bebe to not be so fucking pissed at Todd to begin with.

"Look, Todd really is a good brother. He needs to be given some fucking credit here. He does everything that he fucking can here. Just give him a fucking chance." I said, as Bebe was clearly thinking about what I was saying. Probably trying to fucking listen to me here.

"Yeah, I guess that he would never do anything to hurt you guys, on purpose at least. I mean, I still like him a lot. I just think you looking into the mystery too is something I need to be careful on here. Especially if you're talking to Robbie." After she said that to me, I did consider what she had been telling me.

"Alright, I guess that I do sort of see what you are saying. Honestly though, after what I found in the forest, I doubt I would leave this whole thing alone." After I said this to her, I saw her clearly looking like she was trying to at least respect the honesty of what I said.

"Yeah, I guess that I can appreciate the fact that you are trying here." I said, shaking my head, hating the fact that this subject was turning into this. "Look, I just feel like as his sister, you would be the best bet to get him to fucking talk here."

Bebe sighed in utter annoyance as I said that to her. She clearly felt like I was fucking lying to her here. "Okay, I guess that I do need to maybe be there for him, financially as well as emotionally." Bebe said, and I sighed as she was agreeing to this now.

"Just make sure that you do the same thing with Lydia and your other brothers. I mean, this is not a fucking double standard that I am willing to fucking go down." She said, and I sighed, feeling like what she was saying was making some fucking sense.

"Fair enough. I mean, they probably will need one of their older siblings to actually be there for them." I said, and I shrugged, feeling like what I was saying would be able to make her feel like I was trying to at least be fair with her.

"And to be honest, I think that Todd is just too busy getting deeper and deeper into his work to really see that he is making this worse for everybody else." I said, feeling like I just needed to fucking be honest with Bebe here.

"I have been trying to tell him to fucking work less. I mean, I can see from the look on his face every time I interact with him, that he is fucking getting tired, and is just making it worse for himself." As she was telling me this, I sighed, and I really had nothing else to say.

"Do you think he might be willing to listen to you?" She asked, and I sighed, feeling like that was a fucking joke. Him listening to me was just never going to fucking happen, no matter what I wanted.

"I highly fucking doubt it. To be honest, I feel like if I try to talk to him, he would be telling me to stop trying to fucking repress him so much. And to be honest, I don't even blame him." I said, and Bebe looked at him, confused what I meant.

"Why are you feeling like you can't blame him? I mean, if he is clearly hurting himself here, then I feel like he needs to fucking see what he has done." Bebe was telling me, and I was sighing as she was telling me. I had nothing to fucking tell her.

"To be honest, I feel like the more that I talk with him, the more that he feels like I am trying to over reach, and as annoying as this might be, he is indeed my older brother, and chances are, he might be right." I said, feeling like what I said would get her to at least consider my point.

"Whatever. I feel like there is nothing going on between you two that can make this work. You guys need to just try and fucking bury whatever is happening." Bebe said, and she was starting to leave. To be honest, I just felt like I just needed to bring her back to normal.

"Bebe…" I said, and then she turned towards me, and took her green jacket off, and I was sighing. "Look, I am sorry if I am kind of being a bit of a asshole. I just feel bad for everything that is going on, and I feel like I just need to be more careful here."

"Don't worry. You're not being a asshole. I just feel like you need to give me more to work with here. Honestly, you're giving me nothing, and all you are doing is fucking judging me, and talking to me about my brother. I know how my brother is doing, and I want to change his issues." Bebe said, and I sighed.

"Bebe, you can fucking talk. You don't need to just focus on working with Todd. I mean, we're in the same grade. I probably know some of the things that you are dealing with. It isn't my fucking fault that you are refusing to fucking admit this." I said, and I was seeing her looking like she was thinking about what I said.

"Okay. Sure. I mean, in theory, you are probably right." She said, and I was sighing, and I wondered why she was refusing to fucking admit my side of things. "Maybe I should show you around, and you can fucking see how things are going."

"Your family, you mean? Would you be willing to show me your older brother?" I asked, and I was seeing her looking like she was considering what I had said. Probably thinking that what I said made some fucking sense.

"Honestly dude, I feel like this is something that you shouldn't have to fucking worry about. I mean, I have barely fucking spoken with him lately. Kind of a bit of a douche bag to be honest." After she was telling me this, I shook my head at this.

"Or maybe you just don't see his perspective. After all, if what Robbie Dan says is true, then your parents are kind of too focused on work, and are kind of assholes." I said, and I was seeing Bebe looking like she was appreciating the fact that he had said that to me.

"He's not fucking wrong. I mean, I tried to always give them some fucking credit. But to be honest, I feel like what they do is all fucking numbers and nothing else. But I guess that you probably will never see that. After all, your parents always seemed to be doing the fucking same." She said, and I sighed, kind of ready to admit that she was right.

As I sighed, I felt like it was best to admit defeat. "Let's just both say we both need to work on stuff, and promise to do so." I said, tired at this debate, and I was seeing Bebe looking like she was too tired to argue with me, so she sighed, and nodded, and looked like she was ready to drop it for now.

Scene 11: October 5 2020 4:45 pm

I was with Henry again a few days later, and this time, I had almost completely forgotten about the discussion about gay and shit. To be honest, I was thinking that maybe he had no real interest in the subject, and was just mainly trying to get a definition more than anything else.

"Hey Gabe, what were you doing, talking with Bebe earlier? That conversation seemed to be going on forever." Henry said, and I was sighing, hoping that he would not have mentioned that. To be honest, the fact that he was aware of that talk kind of rubbed m the wrong way.

"Just talking about Robbie Dan, and the fact that I just think she needs to be there for him when he is clearly having a hard time in his life." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with him as I said that. I saw Henry looking like he was feeling really bad hearing that.

"Okay." Henry said, and I was wondering why he even cared so much in the first place. I mean, he had probably never once interacted with Bebe once in his entire life, and this whole thing was just kind of fucking feeling wrong, to be totally honest.

"I mean, I think that she took it mostly in stride." I said, and then as I was starting to walk off, Henry was following me a bit. I was closing my eyes, and I was feeling like he was needing to just drop this fucking subject. His interest in this was only going to be making things worse.

"Where are you going?" He asked, and I turned towards him, trying to find the nicest way to tell him that I felt like he just needed to leave this subject alone. After all, he was only making things worse by following me this whole time.

"I am going to be discussing some work with Michael. Nothing important." I said, and I was opening up the door, and I was walking to my car, not really sure why I was even having this discussion in the first place right now.

"Alright. Sorry. I just thought it was odd." He was saying, and I was sighing, and I felt like I just needed to give him some fucking patience here. I shook my head, and then I was wondering if he wanted to come along for the ride.

"You can come along if you want." I said, and I was shaking my head as I said this. I could not believe that I was finding myself agreeing to this in the first place. Henry smiled as he heard this, and he was walking towards the passenger seat. I felt he was way too young for this, but I wasn't really in the mood to deal with this.

As I was driving towards Michael's house, I was annoyed at the fact that Henry was doing this, and to be honest, I was feeling like he just needed to fucking be safe here. If he was getting involved in this whole thing, then I had no idea what I would fucking tell Todd when he would find out. He would be fucking furious here.

Once at his house, we got out, and Michael was looking at Henry, and I could tell from the look on his face that he had no excitement with having my brother in the whole thing. He looked at me, and was clearly wondering what my fucking problem was, doing this to begin with.

"Why did you bring the fucking kid to this? There is no way he is ready for these discussions." After Michael was telling me this, I sighed, since I knew that he was right. But I just felt like I needed to leave the subject alone for the time being.

"He wanted to come. And besides, we need to talk anyways. So I have been having men in black showing up at my house, and I feel like they are really fucking cracking down on the shit going on here for once. I mean, I think, as much as I hate to admit it, that we need to start being more careful with how we handle this." I said, and then Henry looked like he wanted to know more about those men in black. As I looked down at him, I wondered if he needed to know.

"Great. Now you have people fucking knowing that you found that thing in the fucking forest, and both our fucking lives are going to be over. Even if Jayson doesn't know anything, fucking Rob and his friends do. You are going to lose your life." Michael said, and I was shrugging for a second, and hoped he would be quieter.

"You think I don't know that? And you think that we are really making it better by yelling about it? We need to be more careful here. I thought that I was making the right choice, taking that shit. I think I might just ask dad about what I found, and see what he fucking knows." I said, and I was aware that my father would fucking hate what I was going to bring him.

"Your father is probably involved in this whole fucking thing, if I am being completely honest with you. I mean, he might not show it, but I think that he probably is working with Rob." After he was telling me this, I looked right at him, and I wanted him to take that comment back.

He sighed, as if feeling like what he said was indeed way too far, but that he just needed to be honest about it. "Look Gabe, I understand having family loyalty, but the man is seventy years old. Either he is too old to fight this shit anyways, or he has been dealing with buy out deals to stay around, especially with eleven kids. You yourself said Lydia was adopted, right?"

"Really?" Henry asked, and I looked at him. It had been so long since he talked that I had almost forgotten that he had been there. I only had the faintest memory of him being there, due to the fact that I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to him.

Michael took a deep breath, as if considering what he just caught himself saying. He sighed, and then looked right at Henry, and took a deep breath. "Lydia probably doesn't know this dude. Don't fucking bring this up to your sister." After he said that to me, I was sighing in annoyance.

"Clearly we are having a hard time handling this all. Let's just fucking think things out for a bit, before we lose our minds. At least Carly is still in the clear, and has no idea what is happening." I said, feeling like I just needed to bring that up.

"That is a great fucking point. Carly better be fucking spared from this as long as possible. I mean, I know your brothers will learn sooner or later anyways… But Carly is a no fucking go." Michael said, as he was looking at Henry, and I was wondering what to do with this.

"What are you going to do with the five year old goth boy?" He asked, and then Henry was shaking his head, feeling like he needed to correct him for that comment.

"Five and three quarters. Six in eighty seven days." Henry said, and then Michael was sighing in annoyance, feeling like this was something he hardly fucking cared to fucking hear at all.

"I am going to talk to Jayson again. I know what you have said about him twenty times. I just need him to fucking talk to him, and see what he might be able to fucking say. Surely he will have something." I said, stressed out as all hell, and I was understanding that I shouldn't be dealing with this shit before I even fucking left high school.

"The main issue I have with Jayson is I am scared he will fucking tell on us to his father. When he does this, his father will fucking come down on all of us. And I feel like once he graduates, he will get more info. That's eight months away." Michael said, and then he was sitting down for a second. Taking a long and deep breath.

I looked towards Henry, who looked like he was fucking invested in every word he heard. As if this was some fucking riveting ass drama investigation. I smiled as I saw this. He clearly did not see how important this whole thing was.

"Please promise you will never tell anybody about this. If you do, then we are both completely fucked." I said, and I was seeing Henry looking like he was shocked that we were both going around, swearing as much as we had.

"Okay. This is so cool." Henry said, and I was shaking my head, thinking he was way too young to understand what he was fucking saying. To be honest, nothing about this was fucking cool at all, and I felt like he would see that this was nothing fucking cool at all. But I decided to not be a complete fucking asshole, for the time being at least.

"If you say so." Michael said, and he was sounding like he was too tired to even fucking argue something like that with him. Probably thinking Henry was way too young for something like this to be understood. Then he looked right at me, and I sighed at this.

"Just make sure that no matter what happens, you fucking talk to me Gabe. No other bullshit. This is something really fucking serious, and I am not going to be playing around here." He said, and I was slowly nodding, not really in the mood to have this debate.

"Okay, if you fucking say so, I will tell you everything." I said, and I was sighing as I told him this. Not really in the mood to argue anymore. I was tired, and I wanted Henry to be happy, and not feel like we were having a really horrible discussion about politics or whatever.

"And while I will never tell Carly out right, if she ever does find out on her own right, then I will tell her everything that I have found. By that point, the act is over, and I might as well just be honest." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest about my intentions with her.

As I was starting to head home with Henry, he was looking like he wanted everything known. "Tell me everything dude." Henry was saying, and I was feeling like this was something he would not fucking want when I started. But I was feeling like he was probably not in the mood to argue with me.

"I found something in the forest. Something that confirms all the legends of the town are true, and now I have no idea what to fucking do with it." I said, feeling like I was needed to just leave it at that. Hopefully this would give him a temporary shut up and be satisfied answer. I mean, I loved my brother, but this was something he had no business getting involved in.

Scene 12: October 6 2020 9:48 pm

That next night, I was meeting up with Carly, since she was needing to see me, and I will admit, I was rather worried that I would be caught for the lies so far. I was just keeping my eyes closed the entire time I was in my car before I left.

I knocked on her door, and she answered immediately. I was seeing that despite everything going on, she was really happy to see me. When she answered the door, I was feeling like I just needed to fucking be as careful as possible with what I was saying.

"Hey Gabe, I just wanted to really talk for a bit. Things have been going on, and I can clearly see that you are more focused on working with Michael on something than letting me know. I guess that I shouldn't be surprised. Since he's your best friend, and has been for fucking years." After she said that to me, I was feeling like she was targeting me here.

"Sorry for everything. I really had no intention of making you fucking feel bad at all. To be honest, I just feel like this job that I have been working with him on is far more important than anything else that I could possibly fucking do." I said, and I was feeling like being honest with her was the best way to help her with this.

"It's okay. I know that at the end of the day, you have made your fucking choices. I just wanted to really get to know your side of the debate. What are you doing?" She asked, and I was closing my eyes. I wanted to tell her so fucking badly. But I wanted her to be safe even more.

"Honestly Carly, I wish that I could fucking tell you. God telling you would be the best thing in the world, for both of us. But the truth is that if I do, then I could really be putting you in serious danger. Like you have no fucking idea." I said, and I was seeing her looking like this comment did kind of piss her off here.

"So you are withholding information from me?" She asked, and I could tell from the sound of her voice, that she did seem to be genuinely fucking pissed at this. I closed my eyes, feeling like I just needed to be more careful here. And not hurt her chances of trusting me more.

"Just give me some fucking time, and see how things go. When I know what I need to know, then I will tell you everything. I fucking promise. No withholding anything after that." I said, and placed my hand on her shoulder, hoping she would listen to me for once.

"Okay. If you say so. I will try and be patient with this. I do not like this though, and I will not even pretend that I do." She said, and I was sighing, feeling like I deserved this, even though I did not want to fucking admit it at all.

"Thank you Carly. I understand that things might be rough right now, and you might not like it. But this needs to be fucking done." I said, and I was wondering if I was actually fucking buying that shit at all. To be honest, I was not sure if I fucking did at all.

"Look, I just want to know what makes Michael so different from me. I thought we had something going on here. I thought that you trusted and respected me." Carly said, and I was feeling utterly attacked every single time she was saying this to me, and I was feeling so wrong.

"Okay Carly. I'm fucking sorry. I shouldn't be lying. I never wanted to. Tell you what. How about some time this weekend, the two of us just go out, and we forget this even fucking happening." I said, and then I was sighing, and I felt like everything I would say would make this better for her.

"Look, I know in the last couple of years, you have had some issues. You know, with moving on from Sabrina. I know you loved her a lot. But I guess that I just got a bit jealous of you liking her so much. I guess that I just wanted to have you like me instead." After she was telling me this, I was shocked at how she reacted.

"Are you fucking telling me that you were trying to fucking beat Sabrina in a rivalry?" I asked, and I was really trying to hold my anger back as she was saying this. I could not believe that I heard her admit this to me. I was then taking a deep breath, thinking that I needed to calm down.

"I know what I felt was fucking wrong. I admit it. But in all honesty, I just couldn't fucking handle it. I was feeling like whatever you were doing with her could have been done with me." When she told me this, I was wondering why I even had to argue this anymore. I shouldn't have to argue this.

"Regardless, the thing is that I feel like nobody simply gives a shit about Sabrina anymore. And I feel like she deserves to have justice brought forward. Even though it's been two years, I need closure." I said, and I was shaking my head as I said this. It was feeling wrong to say this.

"I mean, do you feel this way because you were the last person to talk with her?" She asked, suddenly taking what I said seriously for once. I looked at her, and I shook my head. I mean, there was nothing that I could tell her. Nothing that would help me out.

"Maybe I do." I said, and then I was feeling like nothing I could say would make this situation any different, and I might as well stop fucking pretending like I could. "Look, I feel like Jayson is going to be a great help to me putting this behind me. He has been willing to fucking talk with me, and I just need that right now." I said, as I was seeing Carly looking upset at what I said.

"Jayson? Are you seriously going to him of all people? That is fucking crazy man. Jayson probably is just using you for personal gain. And you fucking know it. Why are you falling for this?" Carly said, and then I was feeling like I needed to fucking stand my fucking ground.

"Carly, it is because he is not as bad as you guys are insisting that he is! Just because everybody else around him is a piece of shit doesn't mean that he needs to be." I said, and I was shaking my head, wondering why I was even saying this in the first place.

"Just give him a fucking chance. You'll know when you see him yourself. Just talk with him. I know that you guys will feel differently once you see him." I said, and I was shaking my head, wondering if she was really believing in this.

Carly was hearing the seriousness in my voice, and she was sighing. Probably feeling like there was no point in arguing with me anymore. As she had accepted this, she shook her head, feeling no need to continue this discussion at all anymore.

"Okay. Sorry. I guess that I can do that. I mean, I can see that this is something that really matters to you right now. And I feel like I need to try and respect that." After she was telling me this, I slowly nodding, and I was feeling like the fact that she was seeming to at least try and respect my space was something that I was so fucking happy for.

"I just wish that I had the same faith as you do. I mean, if I did, then everything would be so much easier." She said, and I was smiling as she was telling me this. I knew that telling her this was going to finally change how we were going to talk with each other for a while.

"I have faith because of the fact that my father has been working his ass off to make this work. I trust in him even when he doesn't even fucking demand it. He has been fighting this for nearly sixty years. And I feel like his work is what is going to change this world." After I was telling her this, I saw Carly looking like she knew that I was finally ready to stand up for my own beliefs.

"Doesn't your father want to retire?" Carly asked me, and I was sighing, and I really had no idea what in the world I was even going to accomplish when talking to her here.

"Yeah, he does. But to be honest, I feel like every time he tries to do that, something always shows up, and he decides to keep working here. I mean, I have no idea why he even fucking bothers most of the time. But I am not going to judge him for working on what he feels like is right." I said, and I felt like I would defend him until I fucking died, if I had to.

"Yeah, I mean, I am not like Michael, and I feel like he is still a nice guy. But I feel like he probably does need to retire, mainly due to age. I mean, we can't bitch and moan about our president being 74 when your father is the head of a private detective unit at 70." After she said that to me, I sighed, and I felt like she was right.

"To be honest, I feel like he just kind of hopes he will die on the job. Saving the town or bringing a girl back. And then he will go down as a genuine hero." I said, and I was shrugging, wondering why I was even telling her this in the first place. This never made any fucking sense to me at all.

"But what about you guys. And you're six week old brother? Wouldn't he want to be there for him as well?" She asked, and I shrugged, feeling like nothing I would say would make things sense out of this.

"Well, every fucking day counts. And I am proud of him for everything he has done so far. But I know that he really preaches the adage of every day counts." After I was telling her this, I had nothing that I could say at all to make this different.

"I mean, I guess that I can sort of see that, but what if he dies before Ridge is even old enough to remember him at all? I mean, I have a feeling everybody until the twins will at least vaguely remember him. But Ridge, or even Calvin to a lesser extent?" Carly said and I was tired of her talking like this. I had nothing to say here.

"We can fucking tell him about our dad if something ever happens like this. To be honest, it will not be that fucking hard. I mean, like you said the majority of the siblings will remember him to a degree." I said, and she shook her head as she heard this.

"Still does not fucking feel right. But I guess that you already made your mind up on the issue, and I am not fighting you on this at all." She said, and she shrugged as she said this. I had no idea what to even fucking say at this rate.

When I was talking, I got a text from Michael. I was shaking my head, kind of fucking pissed at this whole thing. "Hey, we need to meet up right now. I'm sorry if you're busy. But we need to talk." After he was telling me this, I closed my eyes, slightly annoyed at this.

"Okay. Sure. Give me twenty fucking minutes." I sent back, and then I looked right at Carly. I knew she was not going to fucking forgive me. I wasn't wanting to fucking have her forgive me. She was in the right to hate me for what I was doing. But I was not going to be relenting, when I wanted to make things fucking right.

"Carly, I need to fucking go. Michael needs to fucking see me. I promise I will tell you everything when I have a chance to. Just give me a fucking chance." I said, and then I was shaking my head. I was disgusted with the way that I was talking to her, and I was hoping she would give me just some patience.

"Just fucking go." Carly said, clearly upset with me right now. I sighed, and I was feeling like she had every right to be this way. I sighed, and I wanted to tell her everything. She needed to fucking know everything, and I deserved to be called out for this. But I headed out, leaving no choice for her to change her mind.

As I was starting to get in my car, I was shaking my head, and began my way over to Michael's place. Once she knew the truth, she was going to be in danger. I knew that this was fucking true. And I was aware that Michael also knew this was true, and I was glad he was not lying with me here.

Once there, I was seeing that Michael was having a bunch of supplies. "We're going to be going to the fucking forest, and the two of us are going to fucking look around for a while. I feel like we might as well, while we are motivated." After he was telling me this, I looked down, closed my eyes at this, and agreed.

The entire time that we were heading around, I was feeling like I just needed to try and find something to talk to him about. "What is getting you so motivated to continue looking into this anyways? I thought you didn't want to be looking into this anymore?" I asked and I was seeing Michael looking like he regretted that question.

"Look, I mean, I was indifferent on this whole thing. But when you showed me what you found in that forest, and I finally accepted that everything we heard when we were younger was true, I knew that there was no way to change this." He said, and I was slowly nodding, glad to see what that he understood.

"Thanks for seeing things my way. Honestly, I just feel like if people want to make a difference, then they need to make themselves uncomfortable." I said, and I was seeing Michael looking like he was wishing to find more to say.

"And to be honest, I know that if we do not take any action for Carly, then she could be on the chopping block. I think you do not want to see another person you care about go missing." He said, clearly referring to Sabrina.

As he was telling me this, I was feeling like I just needed to try and stop thinking about that. "I guess that you're right. I mean, I never thought of it that way. But you are right." I said, and I was shaking my head, hoping that I would stop thinking about it.

"I mean, I remember the days when you would talk to me about how much you wished that she would finally see you as more than just a friend. And when she went missing, when you went into that dark end for about three months. No longer being the nice person you used to be, until people started to call you out for it." He said, and I sighed at this.

"Sorry for treating you guys like shit. I never meant to be hurting you all about this. I just thought that I needed to be alone, and never worry about anything else." I said, and I wondered if he was seeing where I was coming from for once. He sighed, clearly unsure of what to even say now.

"I personally don't fucking care. I understand you were under a lot of stress. I was more worried about people who were not attached to you, or your much younger siblings." After he was saying this, I sighed, thinking that maybe Josiah would be the only one aside from Todd Jr who would get it.

"I don't fucking know." I said, and I was shrugging, not really in the mood to have this discussion at all anymore, and to be honest, I was feeling like whatever he was planning on telling me now, he just needed to fucking get it out of his fucking system, and stop holding back.

"Besides, I think that since that was all two years ago, it is time to fucking let go. If I keep talking about this, then my mind is going to keep coming back to it, and only make it worse for me." I said, and I was sighing as I said this, hoping he would fucking get it.

Eventually, we were seeing something on the ground. I was picking it up, and I was seeing that it was a shirt that Wendee used to wear. One of the last ones that she has worn during her senior year of high school. I sighed as I was thinking about this. I pulled it up, and showed it to Michael.

"Well, I guess that we know that she was brought her at some point. The question is when, and why." I said, and then I tossed it to him, as he was shaking his head. Not really in the mood to even discuss this at all anymore.

"Honestly, I have no fucking idea what to think of this. I was kind of assuming that us going here was going to be a fucking hail merry. To actually see this here, makes me fucking sick." Michael said, and then I was staring up at the sky, which was starting to have a minor amount of rain coming down.

"Well, I mean, with the rumors we both heard, I think we both knew this was a fucking good starting spot." I said, and I was shaking my head, and I wondered why I was even saying all this. I hoped that I would be able to show this to my father.

"Let me bring this to dad, and this can give him a fucking clue on the case." I said, and I was smiling as I was saying this. Michael looked like he was not fond of the idea, but he was willing to fucking accept it right now.

"Okay. Fine. Go ahead. I mean, I hate to say it, but he probably has a better idea what to do than either of us anyways." He said, and I was smiling as he admitted this. Even if he was not wanting to have my father work on this case, this was the best choice.

I was wondering what the plan was going to be, if my father agreed with this. Hopefully the two of us would actually pull something together. And not fucking fight or argue or scream. Just work on it and make it work.

I was thinking that when Carly would see the truth, then she would finally feel like what I was doing was right. And she would stop crying about it. I just needed that from her. To accept that what I was doing was right.

Scene 13: October 7 2020 2:54 pm

I was meeting up with Benjamin at the gas station, and when I was there, I really had no idea what in the world I was even going to tell him at all. He looked at me, and I was seeing him looking kind of annoyed at the fact that I was here.

"What are you fucking wanting?" Benjamin asked me, and I was seeing him looking like he was now scared out of his fucking mind. "I mean, it took fucking forever for your older brother to realize that I am not a fucking failure here."

"I wanted to get your help with looking around the fucking town, and making this work out. Unlike my brother, I always believed that something was going on here." After I was telling her this, I shrugged, and really had nothing that I could have said at all.

"Oh shit. Todd is not going to fucking like this at all. He is going to accuse this of being my fucking fault." I said, and I really had nothing that I could have been able to fucking say at all. "Benjamin, just tell me what you know." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I was seeing Benjamin looking like he was having a hard time buying what I said.

"Well, your brother and I saw what happened with Wendee. She was kidnapped, and she was fucking sold off to a business company. Todd has been trying to work hard on finding out what happened to her on a deeper level." After Benjamin said that to me, I had no idea what to even say now.

"Wendee. Oh god, Michael and I found out about one of her shirts being in the fucking forest, and we were planning on bringing it to my fucking father, where he would be able to use the evidence to continue his search." I said, and I was seeing Benjamin looking mildly unsure of what to say.

"Did you end up showing Todd?" He asked, and I was shaking my head, not really in the mood to show Todd something that I know would be causing him to fucking judge me really fucking heavily. As he was telling me this, I really had no idea what in the world I could have said.

"To be honest, Todd has been wanting me to talk to Jayson, and see what he would be able to fucking tell me." I said, and I was wondering if Benjamin had anything to fucking tell me here. "And to be honest, as much as I fucking hate it, I guess that I do see his perspective."

"Jayson. Strange how he thinks Jayson will have all the answers here." He was saying, and I looked at him, wondering what the fucking hell he was meaning here. Honestly, if he knew something that would make Jayson clearly innocent, then he needed to tell me.

"My friends think that Jayson is involved in this, and I feel like if I try to tell them anything that makes them innocent, they are not going to fucking buy it." I said, and I looked right at him, wondering if Benjamin would be willing to fucking tell me anything. Benjamin sighed when he heard this.

"It just all fucking makes sense when you think about it. To be honest, I think that if Jayson was involved, then he had been spending his entire life on this. He barely fucking goes out, and he hardly made any friends with his classmates here. People want nothing to do with him." He said, and I was slowly nodding, feeling like what he said was making total sense.

"I want to help him out here. But I feel like he doesn't really know what is at stake here, and I feel like this whole subject is kind of a waste of fucking time now." I said, and I was really having no idea what I was wanting to tell him.

"Anyways, I am going to bring that shirt to my fucking father, and I will tell him everything that I found. Hopefully he will fucking tell me more." I said, and then I was seeing Benjamin looking like he had really no interest in this.

"What are you doing with Todd anyways? He has hardly had any interest in talking to me about what we fucking know." I said, and I saw him looking like he was kind of feeling sad for what I was telling him. He sat down, and looked right at me.

"When he isn't doing his regular stuff, he has been spending his shifts at the video store looking at the records and tapes of that store, going through every single day, to see if something happened. He is trying to go through so much footage that even on double speed it is not enough." After he was saying this, he seemed to be mildly annoyed at this.

"I mean, I guess that I have to give him credit for having his heart in the right place, but I am worried that his boss is going to learn that he has been looking through the days Wendee has been working there, to see what he might be able to fucking find." Benjamin said, and I sat down, really having no idea what in the world to tell him.

"Well, besides, he has one of his friends, Dan, who is fucking taking this way too deeply. I mean, as a person who worked with him before, I feel like he needs to just see the bigger picture of everything that he is trying to work on." He said, and then he was shrugging, not sure what in the world he was even going to say now.

"Yeah, I vaguely remember Todd mentioning something like this, and he always seemed like he was kind of having his patience tested every time he was dealing with this." After I said that to him, I really had no idea what in the world we were even going to discuss now.

"I am surprised that they are still talking, with how tense things have gotten between each other. But I guess that is not really for me to be judging at all. Anyways, so Gabe, what are you even fucking here for anyways?" He asked, and I was smiling as he was showing some interest in working with me here.

"Honestly, with the way that Todd has described you, it seems like you know what is happening in this town more than basically anybody else, and I feel like I need your help on this." I said, and I was seeing Benjamin looking like he was happy to hear my comments.

"Tell me what happens when you bring that to your father. I want to know if he will actually help you." After he was telling me this, I sighed, since I had no idea what in the world I would even tell him. "And fucking be safe. It will not be worth it if one of you two fucking die."

"Alright. Just tell me what you find with Wendee." I said, feeling like I just needed to still make it clear that this conversation wasn't over. I eventually left, not in the mood to debate something that was going nowhere anymore.

When I was home, I was shaking my head, and I really had no idea what to do now. I felt like my father was going to have a serious discussion with me when he was here, and to be honest, I was hardly in the mood to handle him judging me for simply trying to do my best.

Scene 14: October 8 2020 8:32 pm

The next day, I went to Jayson's house, and knocked on his door. When he answered the door, he was looking shocked to even be seeing me here. And he was also looking like he was kind of annoyed with the fact that I was here in the first place.

"Gabe, what the fucking hell are you doing here? You know that if my father sees you here, he will not want me to be hanging out with you anymore at all." He said, and I sighed, and I was really not in the mood. I was bringing out Wendee's shirt, and I hoped he would fucking get it instantly.

He did, as I was seeing the look on his face go from being mildly amused to be utterly horrified. "Where did you even find that to begin with?" He asked, and then I was slowly nodding, glad that he was seeing the bigger picture.

"Michael and I found this in the forest. I think we need to bring this to my fucking father if we want to continue our fucking investigation." I said, and I was hoping he would suddenly hear what I was saying. "I am going to be bringing this to my father, and I will see if he can help me out here."

As I was telling him this, I was seeing Jayson looking like he hated what I said. But I was also seeing that he could tell deep down, that there was no way in hell that he was going to be able to argue with me at all, so it wasn't really fucking worth it.

"If you are fucking doing this, then you need to let me come along with you, and we can fucking tell him together. After all, my father is the president of Lazarus Corporation. I feel like he is partly responsible." Jayson said, and I saw him looking like he was having no desire to keep saying stuff like this at all.

After I showed him Wendee's shirt, we were heading off. As we were driving towards my fathers office, I was already seeing that Jayson looked like he was relatively unsure of how to even feel about what he was seeing. "I feel like I might need to talk to my fucking father about what he might know." He said, sounding like he was just coming to terms here.

"You said yourself that something like this will probably not even fucking turn out for the best. So I wonder why you are suddenly insisting so hard about it." I said, and I was seeing him looking like he was kind of annoyed with the way that I was talking right now.

Once we were at my father's office, I got out of the car. "If you do not want to get involved in this, then I do not fucking blame you at all. I wouldn't want to deal with this myself either." I said, feeling like I just needed to give him some comfort here.

"Let's just fucking do it." He said, sounding like he was not really in the mood to have this discussion at all. I sighed, feeling like I just needed to respect his wishes as I was getting out of my car, and heading inside. Once we were both in, my father looked up, and saw the two of us, and started to instantly look less happy.

"Gabe, I fucking told you that I do not want you in my fucking office, because this is serious shit." My father was saying, and he sounded utterly pissed. I actually was taking what he was saying sort of seriously for a second.

"Well, my friend and I were walking in the forest a couple of days ago, and we found this." I said, as I flopped Wendee's shirt down on his table. He looked right up at us, and I was seeing him looking utterly confused at what the point was.

"That is a shirt that the most recent person who went missing would wear. I saw her with it in school all the fucking time." I said, and I was hoping he would take what I said seriously for once. He sighed, kind of upset that we were having this discussion.

"Now you think she is in the fucking forest, is that it?" He asked, and I was shocked at the tone of his voice. He sounded like he was barely containing his anger the entire time that he said this. He stood up, placing his cigar down.

"I have no idea. But somebody was telling me that there was footage of her being sold off, and brought to a car. I think that this is something that could at least be possible." I said to him, and I was seeing my father looking like he could not believe that he was even having this discussion in the first place.

"Gabe!" My father said, and he was looking at Jayson as well, and I was feeling like we both needed to be careful here. "Look, I'm sorry if I am being harsh on you. I know what you are saying has evidence. Truth be told, I have been trying to take care of this since I was fourteen years old."

"Look, I understand that you turned eighteen last week, so I can't legally control what you do. I accepted that myself. What I can do is tell you that I am doing everything in my power to be able to end this on my own. And I do not want you to be checking into this at all anymore." He finished, and then Jayson felt like he needed to say something else.

"Mr. Robinson, what if we decide to be looking into this on our own anyways? You know, I think you understand that sooner or later, at least some of your kids are going to be looking into this, with or without your fucking permission." He said, and Todd sighed as he was hearing this. As if well aware of this fact already.

"If that is something that you are going to be doing anyways, then there is nothing that I can fucking do to stop you. You know this. What I can, and what I will, try to interfere with, is if you bring your siblings into this without their approval. If you do that, then this is when I draw my fucking line." My father said, and he was clearly pissed off as he said this.

"Yeah, I guess that this is fair. But it seems like you are also aware of the fact that Todd is going to be doing this anyways. So I feel like you need to just let me do whatever I fucking want anyways." I said, and I was seeing my father looking like he was utterly upset with the way that I was talking to him.

"Yeah, and the two of us have had a massive argument about it a little less than a month ago. I think that is the thing that bothers me the most right now. Knowing that you are aware of this, and you are still fucking getting involved in this in the first place." My father said, and then he took the shirt, and then he was placing it in his briefcase.

"Look, I appreciate the fact that you want to help me, and I am glad for this evidence. But I have to draw the line here. I am not allowing you in this anymore. I will just see what I can do on my own." After he said that to me, he sighed, and I clearly saw him looking tired as all hell.

I sighed, and nodded, as we were driving off. As we were leaving my father, Jayson was looking at me, and I saw him looking like he had a horrible smile on his face. "We have to go ahead, and do this anyways. You know I'm right. Let's meet up tomorrow, and see what we can fucking work with." After he was telling me this, I slowly nodding, and I decided to just drop the subject for the time being.

Scene 15: October 9 2020 10:40 pm

The next day, even though it was super late, I was still fulfilling what I promised, and met up with Jayson. I just needed to work on my school work, to make sure that I didn't waste my fucking time before I was working on something that to be honest, I still felt like was far more important.

When he was seeing me, I was seeing him looking like he was just utterly happy to see that I had not forgotten the promise that I had made. I sighed, not sure what I was wanting to believe in anymore. So with that, he closed his door, and took a deep breath, unsure what to think.

"Dude, I was scared out of my fucking mind that you decided to run away from what we were supposed to do. I guess that I just need to give you a fucking chance." After he said that, he sighed, and then thought on what he was wanting to even say now.

"Honestly, I was just doing school work. I really want to make sure that I get the stuff that I need to graduate on time." I said, and I was smiling as I said that to him. He looked at me, and he suddenly didn't seem as sure what to think anymore.

"Okay. Well, I think that maybe we need to fucking get to work on what our plans were. Sorry that I got you in trouble with your father." He said, as we were walking to my car. I simply shrugged at this, not really wanting to even think about it anymore.

"Truth be told, I feel like whatever I would have told my father, he would have been relatively upset anyways. So I just stood up for myself, and did what I felt like was for the best." I said, feeling like telling him this was for the bets. He shrugged, simply not really in the mood to hear it.

"Are you going to work with him at all anymore, or do you feel like he will never even give you a fucking chance now?" Jayson asked, and I simply shrugged, not sure what in the world I would have even fucking told him, given everything that was happening.

"No. Honestly, I feel like he doesn't want to give me a chance. Considering everything that is happening, I almost do not blame him at all. I think that I just need to be more careful with what I tell him." I said, and I was shrugging, not sure what I would have said.

"Never mind. What do you think we should do now?" Jayson asked, and I was thinking about what Benjamin told me last time, and I smiled as I was looking at him, aware that this was my chance to finally fulfill my promise to him.

"Benjamin said he wanted to meet you." I said, and I was hoping he would be willing to take the fucking idea without making too much of a issue out of it. He sighed, and decided to not fucking fight me on this at all.

As I was driving towards the gas station, I was seeing that Jayson was looking like this was the last thing he wanted to fucking hear. I wondered why he even fucking hated Benjamin so much. After all, out of all the members of the Reichenbach family, Jayson pissed Ben off the least.

"That guy fucking hates me, and I fucking know it. He doesn't even try to fucking hide it. In all honesty, I get that he might be upset at my father. But I feel like he needs to give me a chance." He said, and I shrugged, not sure what to even tell him at all. If I should tell him that Benjamin wasn't like this now.

"Honestly, out of all the people in the Reichenbach family, you seem to be the one that pisses him off the last. So I think that it might be best to just give him a fucking chance." I said, and I was seeing Jayson looking like he was trying to buy what I said.

"I will believe it when I fucking see it. No offense. But this is shit that is hard to really buy most of the time." After he was telling me this, I sighed, and I felt like there was nothing else to even fucking say now.

"Fair enough. Forget what I fucking said." I responded, not really in the mood to fucking argue with him at all. Once I was at the gas station, the two of us walked inside, and I was seeing Benjamin looking utterly shocked to even see me here.

"Wow, I never expected you to actually bring the fucking guy here. This is great news. I was hoping that the two of us would be able to discuss several things, and come to some fucking clearing." After he was telling Jayson this, Jayson sat down, and looked like he was upset at this.

"Truth be told, I am not sure if I am comfortable doing this. I know the things you have said about me before." He said, and then this was when I was seeing Benjamin looking like he was kind of regretting what he might have said earlier.

"Truth be told, some of the things I said were probably as a result of my negative mood. If I'm being completely honest, you're the only person in that family who doesn't piss me off." After he said that to Jayson, he shrugged, feeling like he just needed to be honest as he said this.

"Yeah, sure. If you fucking say so." Jayson said, still trying to decide where he was wanting to go here. "Regardless, truth be told, I want to just see what you guys are planning on doing to change this all? After all, you guys probably have something…"

"To be honest, I am still doing this because I want to make sure that my sister has a chance of being brought home. Simple as that. I don't care what Gabe is doing this for." Jayson said, shrugging as he said that to him. And I was looking down, feeling personally attacked at that.

"Yeah, his dad over there was not wanting to fucking help out at all when we showed him the evidence that we found in the forest." After Jayson said that to Benjamin, I was seeing Benjamin looking like he was shocked to be hearing that this was given to my dad.

"Gabe you see what I fucking said. This is why you need to not tell your dad shit that he will not want to fucking hear. Great, now we are fucking behind everything." He said, and then he shook his head, clearly not wanting to even have this discussion at all anymore.

"Dude, this whole thing is messing us up right now. Now we need to be more careful with our planning. I think that what I might do is go back to the library. See if anything has popped up in the last several weeks." Benjamin said, clearly tired at this.

I looked at Jayson, feeling like since we were in the starting stages of making a plan, I needed to work one with him. "So now you need to meet Michael and Carly. I want you to easily get along with them, but I have to fucking help out there." I said, and I was feeling like making this plan would help us all out.

"Alright. Simple enough, I suppose. Just make sure that if this fails, you give me a good apology." He said, and I smiled at this. I felt like the fact that this was the main thing he was worried about was showing that he was still a decent guy deep down.

"Okay. I will fucking apologize." I said, and shrugged as I said this, feeling like I just needed to fucking let this slide. In all honesty, I was feeling like he was kind of needing to take this more carefully. "So I will be doing that with Jayson while you do your library work."

"And I will try to see how Todd's friends are doing. You make sure that Todd still keeps this secret from everybody." Benjamin said, and I slowly nodded, feeling like the comment itself was strange. But I felt like I just needed to go with it.

"Tomorrow, I will introduce you to whichever responds first." I said, and Jayson was slowly nodding, and I was feeling like we just needed to continue working our plans out, for the fucking best.

Scene 16: October 10 2020 7:38 pm

Before I went to work on helping people out the next day, I was taking a progress update on Ridge, and I was seeing that he was being watched by Seth, and I ended up taking the picture of them that Todd and I had usually been taking. Seth looked like he was just kind of force smiling this whole time, but I choose to not make fun of him over it.

After I was done with checking up on Ridge, I was fulfilling my promise, and I was bringing Jayson on over to Carly's place, and I was kind of hoping that this choice wasn't going to turn out for the worst. I was feeling like out of the two, Carly would be more willing to speak with him.

I was seeing Jayson looking like he was still not too sure what to feel about this. I sighed, and I was wondering what in the world I was even going to tell him in the first place. "This better fucking be worth it. I mean, I know most people haven't been complete assholes so far. But that doesn't mean that I am going to be ready for this." He said, as I sighed, and I completely fucking got it.

"Well, if you are going to be taking over Lazarus Corporation before long, you better be at least on good terms with the people your age. After all, they are going to be the ones working with you the most." I said, and I was hoping that he would be able to fucking see what I said.

"If you fucking say so." He was saying, and he seemed like he was still not sure what in the world he was going to fucking say now. "I just hope that you guys know when you need to fucking back off, and admit that you went way too fucking far." He said, and I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to be patient for his own sake.

"Okay. I will try my best and fucking know that. But I feel like this is for the fucking best." After I was telling him this, I was feeling like I just needed to be honest with him. Jayson was keeping himself calm as long as possible, and I was happy that he was willing to even fucking hear what I said for as long as he did. This showed that he wasn't as fucking upset as he tried to say.

"Thanks for trying to show some concern. I just hope your good nature doesn't really screw things over too much." He said, and I sighed, feeling like what he was saying was making enough sense. Before we could discuss further, I eventually pulled up at Carly's house.

Once Carly was seeing that I brought Jayson here, I was clearly seeing that she wasn't too sure how happy or upset she was. She sighed, probably thinking that if this was what would happen, she would at least pretend to be happy about this.

"So you are actually going to fucking do this. I was just thinking that you were all talk about that, to be completely honest." Carly said, and she was sounding like she was just more willing to fucking take it, and not fight this, considering the fact that this was the choice I made now.

"Yeah, here I fucking am. I am going to just try and see how well this whole thing can work." Jayson said, and he was sounding like he was actually still kind of upset, but knew there was no way in hell he was going to be able to argue this at all.

"How have you been enjoying tagging along with Gabe? Has he been keeping you busy so far?" Carly asked, and Jayson was slowly nodding at this, feeling like he would just try and have some fun with this response, despite the fact that he wasn't really too happy about it.

"I mean, he has some good points, and I have been just trying to see if all the stories that are going on about this town are true. So in that sense, we both have a common goal." He said, as he looked right at me, and I saw him looking like he was still not sure how to feel about this.

"I just feel like the main thing that I differ from is feeling like maybe my father deserves a bit more credit than he has gotten. I mean, the guy has been leading this company for thirty four fucking years, and in that time, the amount of people who went missing per year has gone down by nearly fifty percent." Jayson said, and I shrugged at that, feeling like I needed to acknowledge that.

"So clearly, regardless of if you guys like it or not, my father is not really involved in this. If he was, then the rates would be much higher, and you guys both fucking know it." After Jayson said this, he shrugged, feeling like what he said was fair enough.

"Gabe has been not telling me what he and Michael have been working on. So you better be happy. At least he is fucking telling you what they are doing." Carly said, clearly trying to fucking deflate the situation, and her admission of doubt.

"Well, I feel like most of the people here just feel like they can walk over us, and not really think that they are making things worse by doing so. But I guess that you are not that interested in hearing that." Jayson admitted, and I was hearing him looking like he kind of sounded out of it.

"Carly, the main reason I refuse to tell you shit is because I do not really feel like you need to know. Michael and I are working on some really personal shit, and that is shit that I frankly think should never be discussed." I said, and I was feeling like what I was saying was going to perhaps make her fucking listen.

"What happened to the fucking days when you would always tell me everything that I fucking wanted to know? We would get along so well, and now you are lying about everything here. It just feels fucking wrong, and I feel like I am being taken advantage of." Carly told me, and I was trying to consider what she said.

"There is nothing that I can fucking do to change that. If you feel upset here, then that is entirely up to you." I said, and I was turning towards Jayson, and I felt like I just needed to find a way to end this discussion as fast as possible.

"If that is the case, then I am sorry for coming here, and bothering you. If you guys aren't talking as much anymore, then I feel like I just need to see myself out of this." He said, and then he was taking a long and deep breath, unsure of what he was even going to be saying now.

"No, don't be like that. You have nothing to do with this. I just guess that I can sometimes get a bit annoyed, as if I feel like I am not being taken very seriously anymore." She said, feeling like she needed to just be honest.

"Yeah, well I am certainly not helping it either. No matter how you slice it or dice it, I have been only making things worse for you guys." He said, and I was feeling like he needed to give himself some fucking credit here. After all, he was brought into this super late.

"Well Gabe, just fucking tell me, what you and Michael have been doing here. Is that really so fucking hard. Just fucking tell me, and I can start to move on." She said, and I was sighing, and I was feeling like I just needed to take what he was saying to heart.

"That is not something that I feel like I should tell you." I said, and I was seeing her looking like she was beyond upset with this response. Feeling like I just was fucking lying to her, and was beyond the point of hiding this fact.

"Fuck you then." She said, and she said it with such a stern voice, that I was feeling kind of bad for what happened. To the point, where I felt like I just needed to save my ass, and buy myself some fucking time. I sighed, and felt like I just needed to be fully honest with her.

"If I'm being fully honest, this was Michael's idea. He feels like this is something that you should not be getting involved with." I said, and then Jayson was looking like he needed to interfere with this discussion, as if trying to find a way to make this less uncomfortable.

"Guys, I just want to fucking know, do you feel like you guys can even fucking discuss shit with me anymore? If you feel like you can't, then I guess that I will just fucking leave." He said, and I was seeing him clearly just sounding more upset with saying this than he wanted to admit.

Carly looked at him, and I was seeing her looking like she was considering what he was saying. "Well, Gabe, Michael, and I would usually go to the skating park every Saturday. Even though skating usually wasn't our thing, it was a nice spot to meet up." She said, sounding like she was being mildly wistful.

"My father loved going there when he was younger. He said that the last summer before he took over the company, he would go there every day, despite the fact that he was recovering from a eye injury." He was saying, and Carly looked like she was kind of happy to hear that.

"That's cool to hear. Always interesting to hear about your parents actually doing something fun when they were younger. Everybody always hypes him to be a strictly business and nothing else." Carly said, and then Jayson shrugged.

"Makes sense when you have to take over the biggest company in the state when you are fifteen years old, and you didn't even know you were the heir until like a month or two before ascension." He said, shrugging as he said that, hoping Carly would get it.

"Yeah, I guess that does make some sense." She said, sounding like she wasn't too sure of what else she was going to be saying here. Then she looked right at me, and she was looking like she was curious to what I could fucking say now.

"Yeah, and I tried to tell him that he did a great job given everything that happened, but it always sounds like he has no interest in hearing it." Jayson said, and I felt like there was nothing else to continue this discussion for, and that he was probably just upset with how deeply we had gotten here, to be honest.

When I was home that day, before I was able to really settle down, I decided to check the presidential election polling, feeling like I just needed to make sure that things had updated. This time was showing Trump closing in yet again, which was not surprising me, and making me feel like he would win after all. It was showing him with 530 electoral votes, flipping North Carolina, and Biden still at 714, so winning even with the flip.

Scene 17: October 11 2020 10:30 pm

The next day, I was feeling like before we went back to school for the week, that I just needed to make an apology. One that I should have made a while ago, but I was no longer scared to fucking say. I guess that I was just scared that doing so would require me to admit that I was wrong.

When I was at Bebe's house, I immediately knocked on her door, and I was taking a deep breath, hoping that she would be willing to fucking listen to me. I needed her to see that I was not trying to make things worse. When she opened up the door, and she saw me there, I was seeing her confused as hell what Iw as doing.

"Why are you here?" She asked, both confused, and despite her probably wanting to fucking deny it, clearly slightly angry at what was happening. I sighed, feeling like being honest was all that I could be able to fucking do to change this.

"Look, I am really fuckin sorry. I messed up big time, and I should have thought about what you were feeling. Instead, I became a complete fucking asshole, and I made things worse for you." I said, and looked right at her, and I hoped she would be able to accept my apology.

"Gabe, you do not need to be feeling bad for what happened. I already fucking got over that. In all honesty, I am shocked that you feel like you need to apologize." She said, and I sighed, and I was feeling like she needed to take what I was saying more seriously. This was not a fucking joke.

"Bebe, I know that you are doing the best that you can to be a good sister for Robbie. I need to fucking see that. Instead I am just being a fucking douche bag, and I am just talking all this shit about you. I mean, I did several things wrong." I said, and I was feeling like maybe she would see that I was not messing around, and I was actually fucking taking this seriously.

"Dude, it's okay. I almost completely fucking forgot about that to be honest. I mean, some of the stuff you also said, regarding Robbie, is true. And I feel like the truth of that really hurt. So I guess that I just need to be honest with the way that I feel." After she said that to me, I sighed, and I felt like I just needed to be careful.

"Bebe, why are you making so many excuses for me being a piece of shit who treated you so fucking horribly?" I asked, hoping that telling her this would make her see that I was no longer wanting to play around. As I said this, I saw her looking confused at my reactions.

"Gabe, just fucking relax. You don't need to be upset with yourself here. We can make something fucking work." She said, and I was shaking my head, and I wondered why I was even having this discussion at all in the first place.

"Look, I don't want to be a bad friend to you, and I want to just make sure that Robbie has a good life. He really is a good kid, and I want to just be there." I said, feeling like I just needed to try and make this fucking work, as much as I could.

"I just want to make sure you're being safe. You know, with the investigation, and the fact that you clearly want to do this. I want to know that you aren't going to be getting yourself fucking killed." She said, and I was slowly nodding, feeling like what she was saying was fair enough.

"I am going to do this, because I know that in order to be a nice guy, I am going to have no fucking choice. I mean, Lydia is only seven now, but she is going to school now, and I would never forgive myself if something happened to her." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest.

"Do you think your father is not going to be able to bring home any good news? I mean, I know that you wanted to believe in your father growing up…" She said, and I was seeing her looking like she was just trying to make sense out of all of this. I slowly sighed, not sure what to even fucking tell her at all.

"I have no idea what I want to fucking believe. I mean, I know that he probably is scared for me, but he has become increasingly strict with the way that he has been doing things. I clearly know that he wants me to just stay away from this as much as possible, as much as I hate to admit it." I said, feeling like I just needed to tell her this, to make her more comfortable.

"Gabe, why did you even bring that stuff to your father in the first place? You must have known that he was not wanting to fucking help you out at all." After she said that to me, I slowly nodded, kind of trying to understand her perspective.

"I wanted to show him, because I was confident that he would fucking understand. I wanted him to fucking see that I was taking what he said seriously, and that I was not fucking around at all. I thought this was going to fucking make him appreciate my efforts more." I said, feeling like what I was saying was making me sound like a idiot.

"I guess that I do sort of see what you are saying. After all, with the way that people accuse Todd of taking advantage of things, and not being serious here, I feel like what you do makes perfect sense." Bebe said, and I slowly nodded, glad beyond all hell that she was seeing my perspective after all.

"And when Robbie grows up, and becomes a young man, I want to try and make sure he doesn't deal with this himself. I want to get it to a point where even if the girls go missing still, it is only like once every year or something like that." I said, feeling like I needed to be realistic as I was looking at this as well.

"I appreciate that sentiment. I am sure that he would, if he heard that." She said, and she smiled, and I was seeing that from the look on her face, that she was seeming to be totally genuine as I said that. I smiled as she was telling him this, and I felt like what she said was going to make things better for us all.

"Tell Robbie that even if he doesn't like me much, I do want to fight for him, and make sure that he has a good time." I said, and I was feeling like telling her this would be enough for her to translate the message over to him. As I looked at her, I saw her slowly nodding, and accepting what I was saying as the truth.

"I will fucking tell him. And thanks for showing compassion for us. And I forgive you for the fight earlier." Bebe said, and I was slowly nodding, and I felt like this was the best that I was going to fucking get here. I felt like a fucking burden leave my shoulder as she said this.

"I will tell Todd about the stuff that I fucking found, and I hope that he would be able to fucking listen this time." I said, and I was feeling like this wouldn't happen, but I was needing to give it a try. Bebe was looking like she wasn't too sure what to fucking feel at this.

I went to my fucking car, feeling like I made my point. We were speaking again, and that was what fucking mattered. The fact that she was not going to fucking lie, and she was not going to be giving a bunch of bullshit on the issues.

When I was home that day, I sat down, and I was thinking deeply about what I said. I was thinking about the fact that I promised so fucking much, and I wasn't sure if this would actually happen. But I needed to try and make it fucking work, no matter what.

Scene 18: October 12 2020 2:12 am

Later on, I was getting a knock on the door. I was slightly annoyed with this, especially when I was trying my fucking ass off to sleep, and when it was two in the fucking morning. But I decided to answer, mainly as a way to tell that person to just go fuck himself, and leave me alone.

When I answered the door however, I was shocked, and scared out of my fucking mind that it was Robbie Dan here. I was wondering what in the world I was even going to be fucking telling him. In all honesty, I knew that there was no way that I was going to be able to get away with this for now.

"Robbie? What the fucking hell? It's two in the fucking morning!" I said, as quietly, but firmly, as I could. This guy was being fucking stupid, and I was not even going to be hiding the fact that what he was doing was beyond fucking insane.

"Well, to be honest, I wanted to get your help on something." He said, and I could tell from the look on his face that he was being utterly serious. I sighed, and I felt like I just needed to be as calm as fucking possible while this was happening.

"I want to look into Labyrinth." He said, and I was feeling like I needed to put my foot down when he said that. I closed the door, and I was not going to be playing around with this one. This was taking this way too fucking far, and I was feeling like he needed to see that this was not a game.

"Robbie, this is no fucking joke. This will get you fucking killed. If Bebe ever found out you were here, she would fucking hunt me down, and probably kill me herself." I said, feeling like I just needed to put my foot down for once in my fucking life.

"I don't fucking care what Bebe thinks. I want to do this because I know it is the right thing to do." He said, and I was sighing as he said this. I was walking down the stairs, and I felt like I just needed to fucking talk to him super seriously.

"If Bebe knew that you openly fucking said that, you don't fucking care what she thinks, she would be so fucking heart broken over this. She would be wondering what she fucking did wrong to you." I said, and I was hoping he was going to be seeing that this was not something to joke with.

"I know that what I said fucking sucks. But I feel like these stories are just fucking crazy, and I want to know the truth about them." After he said that to me, I was then wondering what in the world I would even be able to tell him.

"This is fucking suicide. Do you even have a fucking plan on how you are planning on doing this anyways?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to put my foot down for once when I was speaking to him, and make him understand this was no fucking joke.

"I am going to go in the forest when it is day time, and spend a day every weekend checking things out. You know, that way in case something changes, there would have only been at most seven days between changes." Robbie said, and I sighed, feeling like I just needed to think about what he said.

"Are you going to be doing this, regardless of what I say?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to accept the fact that this was a very close reality that I was going to have to fucking accept. He was slowly nodding, not wanting to beat the fucking bush.

"Son of a fucking bitch. This is going to fucking kill us. I hope you fucking know that." I said, and I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to be honest as I was telling him this. He shrugged, simply not fucking caring less at all.

"You do not have to come along if you do not want to." He said, and I was twitching my fucking eye as he was saying this. He was a fucking insane maniac if he was thinking for a second that this was what I was going to fucking allow.

"Like fucking hell I am not going to be coming! You basically just gave me a death sentence, and I know you are going to do this no matter what. At least if I am with you, there is a small chance something would happen to me instead." I said, feeling like I just needed to put my foot down on this.

As I said this, I saw him looking like he was both sad, and happy to hear me willing to have this discussion in the first place. I sighed, and I wondered what the hell I would even do if this was to get exposed.

"Thanks Gabe. I know you do not like what I am saying. I fucking get it. But this is something that I genuinely feel like I have no fucking choice on. Lydia would have wanted this from me. Just understand that I feel like this is something that I would have done anyways, with or without peoples consent." He said, and I was sighing, feeling like the fact that he was admitting this at least made me feel better.

"You are way too fucking young to say this. And I feel like the fact that you are doing this for Lydia is something that we need to fucking discuss. I know she likes you, and I can appreciate the fact that she has crushes. But you do not need to kill yourself over them." I said, feeling like what I was telling him would make complete sense.

As I was getting my car, I was feeling like I just needed to drive him home, and not take no for a fucking answer. He was smiling as he was getting in the passenger seat as well. "Since we're already here, might as well do our first look now." He said, and I was having no idea why in the world I was even considering agreeing to this at all.

"Fuck this. Fine. Don't make me fucking regret this." I said, and I started to drive towards the forest, feeling like I just needed to be extra fucking careful here. The entire time we were driving here, I felt like I would just try and get to know him.

"Alright dude, why are you even wanting to look into this in the first place?" I asked, and I felt like if I knew his motives, then I would be able to try and talk to him, and sort something out between me and Jayson.

"Because I want to have my older siblings love me, and be proud of me." Robbie Dan said, and I was looking right at him, and I was shocked to even hear what he said. I thought that this must have been some fucking joke. He was willing to kill himself for something so fucking crazy.

"Bebe does fucking love you Robbie. You need to see that." I said, and shook my head, feeling like the fact that he wasn't seeing that shows that he needed to pick up on his social queues. Robbie was sighing in annoyance as I said this.

"She might fucking love me, but she's not proud of me. And my older brother is basically out of this family. Only shows up during summers and Christmas. Sometimes I wonder if he is even fucking alive." He said, and I was sighing as he said this.

Once we were at the forest, I sighed in annoyance, knowing that this was something we were not going to be able to fucking change anymore. I was feeling like whatever Robbie wanted to do, I just needed to play along, and stop being so fucking scared of what was happening.

"And besides, I mean, it's obvious Lydia likes me. I want to be able to feel like I deserve that level of affection." He said, and I was slowly nodding, and as he was telling me this, I was actually able to kind of respect that. Knowing that he was not just taking advantage of my sister.

"Lydia. She has a really strange ability to bring out the best in people. Makes everybody motivated to be the person version of themselves that they could. I fucking love that about her. I said, and I was feeling like if this was how things would be, then things would be so much better than they already were.

"Probably because she is the only person that is truly innocent." Robbie said, and I looked at him, and I was feeling like I just needed to try and slow down his role. But I decided to leave things alone, for the time being. Feeling like he was just trying to give me affirmation.

"To be honest, my father doesn't want her to know the fucking truth. That she was adopted. He feels like if she does, then she would never fucking forgive him, and start to hate him for the rest of her life." I said, and I was seeing Robbie looking like he wanted to say something, before he averted his attention, and started to get interested in something else.

"Isn't that where the tree house used to be, before it has fucking burned down?" He asked me, and I looked over, and I was slowly nodding, remember that story. I was smiling, impressed that he even remembered that to be honest.

"Yeah, I'm going to be completely honest, I forgot all about that." I said, and I was smiling as he was telling me this. I was walking towards the area. This was when Robbie was starting to follow me, and I was feeling like him remembering this was better than nothing at all.

"I mean, I heard that there were parties that used to be held here every time a person went missing." He said, and I wasn't wanting him to keep this discussion up. I wanted him to just fucking shut up, and leave the subject alone. For his own fucking safety more than anything else.

Once at the stump, I was looking down. The "One" that was written on the side of the tree was still there. Indicating that this used to be "mile marker one" as people used to call it. I looked right at Robbie, unsure what to even say now.

"Honestly, I feel like the fact that this is something you know so much about is something that I am scared of. I know you will fucking do this, if you want. Without my approval, if you had to." I said, feeling like the honesty of the situation was something that I just needed to address. He smiled, and laughed as I was finally getting it for once.

"What do you think you want to do now?" Robbie asked, and I looked at him, feeling like he was just trying to bait me into some form of snap or whatever. I sighed, since in all honesty, I was not really in the mood to deal with this.

"What I want to fucking do, is send you home, and make sure you do not continue this madness. But since I think we both know that this isn't going to happen, I guess that I would want to fucking just make sure we have checked everything else out before we go any deeper into this." I said, feeling like the honesty was something he needed to hear.

I hated the fact that I was even having this discussion in the first place. The whole thing was feeling so fucking wrong, and I was wanting to kill myself for even fucking having this discussion to begin with. But I knew there was no way to change it at all.

As we were walking along, I was also feeling like, as much as I hated to admit it, that I could respect the fucking balls on this man to try and make this whole thing work. I mean, if for nothing else, he was having the courage to do something that I could never fucking dream of at all.

"Besides, I think we need to discuss our conditions if we are going to fucking do this." I said, and Robbie was slowly nodding, feeling like this was something he could respect. I was sighing in relief, knowing that he wasn't just trying to argue with me.

"First off, we need to establish that you are not to be looking into this stuff when you do not have me available. When you want to work on this, come over to me instantly." I said, feeling like that needed to be stressed beyond fucking belief.

After I was making that clear to him, and he was slowly nodding, I was sighing, since I was seeing from the look on his face that he was being completely sincere. This was something that gave me so much fucking hope here.

"Second thing is that I want you to promise me that you will not play hero. This is something we are doing just so you can get the fucking answers you want. Simple as that. I will be willing to work with you say every Sunday. At least for the time being." I said, and I was feeling like this was going to be getting Robbie to feel like I was at least trying to be fair.

"And you will not tell my fucking sister what you are doing. I am not wanting her to think that this is a good idea. This is already bad enough as it is. Having her fucking go around, and think this is somehow the best way to do things is not really how I want things to fucking go." I said, and I was wondering if he would listen to me here.

"Fair enough. I wasn't really thinking that would be the best way to handle this anyways. Besides, I feel like if I did try and tell her, then she would tattle on both of us." He said, and I was smiling as he was saying this, and I was feeling like he was seeing that this wasn't some fucking game that I was going to be playing with him at all.

"Good thing that you are seeing that this is fucking serious. If you didn't, then I feel like this would be something that would completely fucking ruin everything." I said, and I was wondering what I would be able to say that would make things also more clear.

"No matter what we fucking find, you are not to tell anybody. If the police or whoever finds out, I will take the blame. I will tell them what I find. You need to remain fucking silent. Your life will be in danger the second you say something." I said, and I was sighing as I was telling him this.

"Okay. I can do that." Robbie said, and I was seeing that he wasn't sure if he was appreciating that fucking statement. Probably feeling like I was trying too hard to take everything in my own hands. But I was feeling like if he knew what I was doing, he would fucking see that this was just for his own safety.

"Good. Nice to know that you are willing to at least pretend to agree with me. That is enough to make me feel like there is a small chance we can work this shit out." I shrugged, and I felt like nothing else I could have said would make it any different.

"So Gabe, thanks for working with me." He said, and I was smiling as he said this. He sounded like he was being totally genuine. And hearing that, as well as seeing his fucking face, made me feel like I was wrong for getting so upset with him.

"You're a nice kid. I just want to make sure you see that there is a future ahead for you, if you just fucking focused on your work." I said, and I was feeling like telling him this would make him take what I was saying much more seriously for once. He was remaining silent the entire time I was saying this.

"Thanks for the encouraging comments." He said, and he sounded so sincere, that I knew that no matter what happened, I would not be able to fucking stay upset with him forever. He knew that he was stepping into dangerous territory, and he was not playing around.

"Okay. I feel like now that we discussed my terms, we had a good fucking first day." I said, feeling like I would now be at more peace, knowing that we were working together, and that he was no longer just going to give me shit or anything.

"So the 18th?" He asked, and I slowly nodded, feeling like since I had set myself up for this time, I might as well just go along with it. Knowing that there was nothing else that I could fucking do to change this. I was walking back, feeling like we were doing well.

"You have to fucking go to school anyways. Not going to let you stay all night." I said, feeling like I just needed to start to put my foot down as I was saying this. He smiled as I was telling him this. Knowing that I was pissed off enough to feel this way.

"Fair enough. Now that we have a date, I am well." He said, and I smiled, knowing that he was seeming to be very serious as he was telling me this. I could tell from his face he wasn't playing or lying.

When we were done for the night, I brought him home, and told him to be really quiet, as he snuck in, and I waited for a few seconds before I started to drive off, not leaving until I heard the fucking click of the door, and I was going back. As I was driving back, I tried to not be pissed off that it was 3:04 in the fucking morning.

Scene 19: October 13 2020 3:37 pm

The next day, when I was done with everything, Jack was requesting that I hang out with him. Given everything that happened lately, I wasn't even against it. At least it was going to be something different, and that was something that I was more than willing to fucking take.

"What were you wanting to do?" I asked, and I was feeling like whatever happened, I would just pretend like I knew what I was getting myself into. To be honest, I was having a feeling he was going to be making this about the fucking practice, and I wasn't sure if I was ready for such a thing, at least right now.

"I was wanting you to help me practice with basketball. Since the first game is going to be coming up soon, I need to sneak in as many extra hours as I could." He said, and I was sighing, wondering why he wasn't able to fucking work with Todd or something here. Since he was somebody who had at least done this at some point before.

"Okay. This is not a good idea, since I never played anything before. But if you want my help, I guess I can try." I said, sighing, since in all honesty, I was scared out of my mind on what was going to happen if I was the one there for him. But Jack didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

I drove him down to the middle school, where there was a open practice area. As he was taking the ball out, I was seeing him looking utterly excited to play with me. "Honestly, one of the main reasons I ask you is because you're such a nice fucking guy." He said, and I shrugged, not sure if that was true. But I was willing to let him have the moment.

"To be honest, I always want to see you guys getting what you fucking want in your life. Even if it means that I have to do something that I have no idea about." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with him. I tossed him the ball, as Jack threw it up to the hoop, and I saw that it was missing. Jack seemed bothered by this.

"Most of my team mates feel like I need to step up my work load, in order to make sure that I am actually delivering to the fucking team. It gets really fucking annoying when I see people clearly not believe in me." Jack said, trying again, and actually hitting the goal.

"To be honest Jack, I think you need to not fucking worry about what other people fucking say. If they do not appreciate your efforts, then they can go fuck themselves. You are actually going out there, and putting in work, something most people in your grade don't even do yet." After I was telling him this, Jack started to think about what I said.

"Yeah, but I can't help but wonder if what they said has a level of truth to it. That maybe I do need to work harder." He was saying, and I sighed, and I was throwing the ball once, seeing if maybe I could be able to pull it off. I didn't, to put a long story short.

"See, I can't fucking throw for shit. At least you are getting in the range." I said, and then tossed it back to Jack, and I saw him looking like he was clearly thinking that I purposely missed that, to try and fucking make him feel better.

Jack took a deep breath, and I was seeing that he was suddenly taking everything very seriously. I was smiling, knowing that he was not going to be making any excuses any more, and that no matter what happened, he was going to own up to the shit that happened.

He threw the ball again, and it went in. I was smiling as I saw this. I was seeing that he was going to probably start really getting these attempts to work. "Good work Jack. Just remember to fucking focus, and do your best."

"Yeah. That does help the most." He said, and then he threw the fucking ball again, and he did miss that one, but barely, and the next one he tried, worked out. And I was feeling like the more he was trying, and the more he was just zoning out from the bullshit, the better that things were going to fucking be.

At the end of his practice, I was sighing, and I looked right at him, while we were sitting down at the Burger King. I hated the fucking place, but it was Jack's favorite, and to be honest, I was willing to pretend every few fucking months for one god damn day.

"So Jack, do you feel like you are going to be ready for the game?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to calm him down for a bit. Jack looked up at me, after already taking the first bite from his Whooper, and he was smiling, suddenly getting his cheery mood back once again.

"I honestly fucking sure as hell hope so. I do not want to be the one who gets blamed if we end up losing the fucking game." After he was saying this, I sighed, and I felt like I just needed to remain silent the entire time he said that. I knew that he was really not doing well, and I felt horrible for this.

"I will talk to the coach if you have trouble, try and get him to understand how hard it is to practice when you have so many fucking people living in the house that we fucking do. I am sure for a fucking fact that he will understand." I said, and Jack shook his head, feeling like I was fucking completely out of it there.

"He will not fucking be like that. I know how these people work, and I know that he is going to not want to even fucking hear any of the excuses at all. I appreciate the fact that you want to fucking help me feel better. But that is not how it will work." He said, and I sighed, and I felt like the way he was saying this was making it rather clear that I was wasting my time discussing this.

"Okay. I guess that I just felt like I just needed to fucking try." I said, feeling like maybe telling him this would get him to calm down a bit. He sighed, and I felt like no matter what I said, his mind had already been made up here.

"To be honest, I just need to practice every day, and wok very hard every day. That is the only way that I can make it work. That way even if I lose, I might be able to say that I truly genuinely did my fucking part, and he will be able to cut me some fucking slack." As he was telling me this, I sighed, and I was feeling like there was nothing in the world I could have said to make it different.

"Just know that I will cheer you on." I said, and I was seeing Jack happier at this. He was looking like hearing me give him genuine affirmation was really the main thing that he had needed, and I wondered what I would do to get the others to see this as well.

When we were done, and we went home, I was seeing Jack looking like he was so fucking happy to be seeing that I took his request seriously, and that I didn't fuck around, or act like I wasn't really interested in being there. Even though I didn't care for sports, I wanted to fucking be there for my brother, since it was indeed a passion he had.

Scene 20: October 14 2020 6:08 pm

When I was at the gas station, talking to Benjamin again, I felt like I just needed to try and fucking see if he was even fucking caring about what was going on with Robbie Dan. When I was feeling like he would finally just see that this was fucking crazy beyond comprehension.

"Benjamin, I wanted to fucking talk to you about Robbie Dan. I feel like this man is doing something that he should have never gotten himself into, when he is just fucking eight years old." I said, and I was hating the fact that I was even having to fucking say this in the first place.

He looked at me, and I was seeing that he was having a hard time buying what I was saying. Probably feeling like I was just saying random shit. "What did he get himself into?" Benjamin asked, and I sighed, feeling like I just needed to be careful how I was wording this argument, for his own sake.

"Robbie Dan already wants to look into this town, feeling like it is his responsibility as a citizen of Wayside to do so. I have tried to get him to fucking stop, since he is fucking eight years old. But he has no interest in listening to me. You need to fucking talk to him yourself." I said, and I was seeing Benjamin looking utterly shocked to hear what I was telling him.

"He also feels like he has to, in order to make sure that his siblings are proud of him or some shit like that. I think you need to see that this has gone way too fucking deep for his own personal sake." I said, feeling like I just needed to get him to see that this was not a fucking joke at all anymore.

As I was telling him this, I was seeing Benjamin looking like he was actually taking what I said seriously for once. He closed his eyes, and I was seeing that he was just wanting to fucking say something to argue, but just simply fucking couldn't at all.

"Gabe, what are you going to fucking do to get him to listen to you? I mean, he doesn't even fucking know me, and I feel like if I try and speak to Bebe, she would not want to fucking listen to me at all." Benjamin said, and clearly sounded like this idea was starting to finally really sink in his mind.

"That is what I am fucking saying right now. You know that this man is going to do whatever he wants, and I am going to be able to fucking do anything to change it at all." I said, and I was hoping this would fucking become something that was serious to everybody else.

"And I already made him the promise, that I wouldn't tell Bebe. I promised him that she would never have to find out, so that way there wouldn't be any crazy judgment being passed along. I just wish that I do not regret fucking saying this." I said, calming down, as I said this.

"Oh great, so now you are basically giving him ammunition to go around, and go insane, without having anybody else fucking know. I mean, I know you were probably just trying to get him to trust you, but you yourself said this could be a terrible idea." Benjamin said, placing his drink down, and throwing his cigarette away despite barely even starting it.

"I was trying to do that as a way to show him that he can fucking trust me. I didn't really think anything of it at all. Besides, Todd would have done this shit anyways." I said, and I was getting a text from Todd, conveniently, as I was saying this. I sighed as I saw this.

"Hey Gabe, whenever you have a chance, I want to talk for a bit. I feel like we need to talk about when you gave dad Wendee's shirt." He said, and I sighed, and I looked at Jayson, feeling like he was the one that fucking told Todd about that.

"I guess that I can do that. When would you want to fucking do this?" I asked, feeling like I would just play along, and hopefully Todd would be willing to fucking be nice to be as I was having this discussion.

"In the next couple of days. I know your heart was in the right place, and I probably would have done the same. But dad seems to be really fucking upset at this whole thing. I think you just need to be careful going forward." His reply said, and I sent one more before this discussion ended.

"Look, I felt like I had no fucking choice. He was going to probably want to fucking know the truth anyways. So I just felt like I would help him along here." I sent another reply, as I looked at Benjamin, and took a long and deep breath.

"This Wendee discussion is never going to fucking end, it feels like. Every time I feel like I can finally move on, and just let this go, it comes up again, and I am suddenly the one who is forced to fucking deal with this shit." I said, barely containing my annoyance as I said this.

"Yeah, and I kind of hope it doesn't. Because if it doesn't, then that means that there is going to fucking be accountability for what is happening." After Benjamin said this to me, I looked right at him, and I wondered what he was even trying to accomplish here.

"Well, it is not my fucking fault that something like this is happening anyways. Anyways, to be completely fucking honest, I am more focused on this fucking Robbie Dan thing right now. I promised him that every Sunday, I would help him out here." I said, feeling like I was going to regret what I fucking said soon enough.

"Oh, fucking god damn. Well, if you are certain you are going to be doing this, then I suppose that I might be able to fucking help you here. After all, there is no reason to be fighting this if you already made the fucking choice to do this." He said, and I smiled as he was saying this. I wondered if the two of us would finally get along for once.

"I am just glad that Jayson has been willing to meet up with those friends of mine. I feel like I might start to introduce him to my siblings tomorrow. When I am not working with Robbie, I might do that, and maybe by doing this, my siblings and friends can be able to see that he is an ally." I said, and I shrugged, wondering if Benjamin had anything to say here.

"Shit. What about the shit that you already found? Shouldn't you be focusing on that for the time being? You know, since you said that that was your biggest priority?" He asked, and I shrugged, considering what he was telling me for once.

"To be honest, I am trying to make sure that only Michael knows the full fucking truth of that. I have been lying to Carly so fucking hard on this, that I am aware that she is starting to fucking hate me for this." I said, and I was feeling so much regret as I was telling him this. But there was nothing that I could do to change this.

"What about your father? You said you trusted him. So this kind of shows that maybe that is not nearly as true as you might be saying." After he was telling me this, I looked right at him, and I wondered what angle he was even playing at here.

"If my father wants to fucking work with me, then I will be more than fucking happy to tell him. But until then, I am not going to fucking waste my time on this." I said, shrugging as I said this to him. Benjamin looked like he was considering my fucking perspective here.

"Okay. I guess that I can't be upset with him trying to fucking just do what he feels like is right. After all, that is what everybody else should be doing here in the first place." He said, and he was shrugging. I wondered where he would go from here.

"Anyways, just make sure when you are playing fucking hero with Robbie, that you do not end up placing his fucking head on a platter. That is the last thing that both of us really need right now." He said, and I was feeling like I just needed to be fucking careful here. Not to hurt him anymore.

"I will be talking with Todd soon, and we are going to discuss more details with Wendee. When I feel like we discussed things enough, I will tell you more. Until then, just give me a fucking break." I said, wondering if he was even going to fucking listen to me for once.

"Alright. Speaking of which, I did try the library thing, and nothing fucking happened. I thought that we would have been able to fucking find something there. But I spent hours upon hours looking, and I got fucking nothing for once." He said, and I was shaking my head.

"I kind of expected that to happen, to be completely honest. None of this was seeming like it was going to go anywhere." I said, feeling the need to be totally honest as I was speaking to him. Benjamin still looked like it was kind of pissing him off a little bit that this was happening anyways.

"Well, nothing wrong with trying, and that was the main thing giving me motivation to continue." After he was telling me this, I slowly nodded, feeling no real need to argue with him. I felt like doing so would only make things worse. Besides, I just felt like we all made our points here.

"Okay. I do need to cut you some slack. At least you went there. I would have never went to the fucking hotel." I said, feeling like I was just needing to be completely fucking honest as I had said that. I rubbed my eyes, and I was still feeling like I just needed to be mega careful here.

"I will fucking go now. I just hope that when Robbie and I check things around on Sunday, we don't end up fucking dead." I said, and I wondered how likely it was that I was going to have to place my life on the line for this fucking guy.

When I was home, I was heading straight to my room, not even bothering with most people right now. I needed to pull this Jayson thing off, and perhaps by doing so, my work, at least for the time being, would be completed enough.

Scene 21: October 15 2020 9:15 pm

I was showing Jayson to Jack, after he had won his basketball game, which was able to make him feel much better, and less like he was going to have to defend himself to those around him. I was feeling so fucking proud of him, to be completely fucking honest.

"Is this the guy that has given you so much fucking trouble?" Jack asked, and I was seeing that he was thinking that this was still funny, and that I was wanting to hear some fucking jokes. But when he was seeing the look on Jayson's face, and my own, I was seeing him recoil, and take things more seriously again.

"Well, we are planning on fixing the trouble that this town has given everybody." After Jayson was saying this, Jack looked down, suddenly feeling no real mood to fucking joke around anymore. I felt kind of bad for him, to be honest.

"Sorry. Either way, I am so fucking happy that I won the fucking game. Now that I can have people just leave me alone, and not act like I am this terrible human being." He said, and then I was sighing, not sure what in the world I was even going to say to this.

"Well, that is until next week, where people are going to expect you to be the main guy behind the win again." Jayson said, and then he was getting down on his knees, feeling like he would stop being a asshole, and just have a good conversation here.

"Jokes aside, good job on the game. My name is Jayson Reichenbach." Jayson said, hoping that Jack would not judge him the same way many older siblings did, just on name alone. Jack looked up, and smiled as he was seeing the look on Jayson's face.

"Oh, I think I heard that name before." He said, and then he shrugged, not caring too much about it. Probably thinking that he might have just heard it one time, and stopped fucking caring over various little things like this.

"Yeah, I bet you have. Anyways, so your brother Gabe has just been showing me around all his siblings and friends. Just trying to get me used to the fucking friend group." He said, thinking what he said made perfect sense. Jack looked like he was still not too sure what he was going to fucking believe here.

"Yeah, he's the nicest one out of all of us." Jack said, and he was shrugging, thinking that there was no need to be hiding the fact that this was the distinction that many people gave me. I sighed, not really in the fucking mood to fucking hear it this time.

"Honestly, I just have more patience for bullshit than most do." I said, and I was shrugging as I said this, feeling like I just needed to be honest as I was saying this. "Besides, I just know that making a fucking scene out of things is only going to make things worse."

"Anyways, why is Gabe trying to get people to like hanging out with you?" Jack asked, and Jayson was sighing, feeling like there was only so long he was going to be able to fucking lie about all of this. So with that, he just sighed, not really seeming in the mood to argue at all.

"Truth be told, it is because my father is a powerful businessman, and people often times just instantly associate me with him. I guess that I can see why. But that doesn't change the fact that it can be rather fucking annoying." Jayson said, feeling like the honesty was the best thing he could fucking do here.

"Okay. Sorry I asked." He said, and he sounded like he was kind of regretting saying it, after seeing how serious Jayson was. "I just get way too curious." He said, and I was laughing as he was saying this, feeling like he wasn't even starting to scratch the surface on that shit.

"It's okay. You don't know any better. Anyways, I think your coach wants to speak with you." Jayson said, and then Jack looked over and smiled as he was seeing that Jayson was right, so he started to run towards his coach.

"He seems like he is rather energetic. To be honest, I think that he might be one of the ones I can get along with much better." After he was saying this, he shrugged, as he was looking like he was willing to get much more fucking serious here.

"Gabe, I understand that you are having a good time with your fucking family right now. But I think that sooner or later, you are going to have to start really telling them everything that you are doing, no matter what." He was telling me, and I was really feeling like this was going to be a terrible idea.

"Do you seriously think that I should tell my siblings, many of whom are still children, what I am doing? Todd, I get. Josiah, I can accept small doses. Seth, if he finds out anyways, but not on my own accord. But Jack and less, when all of them aren't even double digits yet? Fuck no." I said, feeling like I just needed to place my fucking foot down here.

"Lying to them is only going to make things hurt even worse. I think deep down, you fucking know this." Jayson said, and I really had no idea what in the world I was even going to be doing to tell him off. He was sounding like he wanted to just make things worse for me right now.

"Look, this is already really fucking hard to do dude. I can't keep doing this if I feel like this is going to fucking drive them all apart. I mean, I understand that you do not understand that I have a family to keep united, but I do." I was feeling like the earlier I said this, the better it would be.

"Then why are you fucking showing me around to your siblings? I mean, if you want to really fucking 'protect them' then you need to stop fucking doing this, and you fucking know it." He said, and I looked right at him, feeling like the longer he said this, the worse it would be.

"Because I want them to know you are not a bad guy. I know that you had a hard time interacting with people earlier. But this is something that I feel like you need to just let me take care of, and stop fucking arguing with me over." I said, and I was wondering if he was going to listen.

"Okay. If you fucking say so. But know that I am still having a hard time really buying all this bullshit. If I am being honest, I just think that the faster that we get to work, and stop screwing around, the better that things are going to get for all of us." As he said this, I shook my head, not really in the mood to hear this at all anymore.

Jack went back to us, and he has a shit eating grin on his face. "Oh my god, my coach was telling me that he wants to train me more, so I can be able to lead the team next game." He said, and high fived me, and I looked at Jayson, feeling like our discussion needed to pause, for now.

Once Jack and I were home, Jack looked at me, and I saw him looking tired, but also over the top happy. "Damn Gabe, I did great out there. And Jayson seems like a actually fucking nice dude, in all honesty." He said, and I sighed, feeling like I would let him have this feeling.

Scene 22: October 16 2020 10:36 pm

The next day, I was talking with Robbie Dan, who was also now meeting Jayson for the first time, and I was seeing that this discussion was kind of making Robbie unsure of how to feel. I wondered what in the world I was even going to do to make this subject at least slightly less uncomfortable for them.

"So Jayson, I heard that you are not like your father at all. Is that fucking true?" He asked, and then Jayson looked at Robbie, feeling like the way that he was being attacked by this eight year old was something that he would have never expected whatsoever.

"Look, I feel like the fact that you are hating me before you even give me a fucking chance is a bit fucking ridiculous." Jayson said, rather matter of factly. Feeling like he was needing to just place his fucking foot down for once.

Robbie was still looking like he was not too sure what he was wanting to say at all. "Look, just show me that you mean everything you say when you tell people that you are wanting to make things different." After Robbie was saying this, I was wondering if Jayson would even respond to this statement at all.

"Look, I am sorry if I pissed you off before. Let's just not fucking focus on the negative." After Jayson said this, he was holding his hand up, feeling like he was just needing to try and fucking find something, anything, that he would say in order to defend himself, over what he was being told

As he was saying this, Robbie seemed like he was willing to at least consider what he was being told. Probably felt like arguing with anybody over this, was only going to be making things worse for all those involved.

"Okay. I guess that you might be right. After all, I have no idea what you have to deal with, you know, being the fucking son of the president of that company." Robbie said, and then he looked right at Jayson, feeling like he needed to ask a very important question.

"I guess that it is all because people just constantly told me that your company was evil and shit, and I just let it get to me." He said, feeling like complete ownership was all he could do to make the situation at least slightly less bad.

"Gabe, I talked with my dad earlier. He was telling me that when you have the time, you need to see him. I think that you are officially on his radar." Jayson told me, and I looked at him, unsure of what the hell I was even going to tell him there.

"I am not sure if this is a good idea Jayson. I mean, your father probably is literally doing this as a way to make sure that I keep my fucking mouth shut. And I think we both know that is not going to fucking happen." I said, feeling like what I said would make him consider at least.

"I don't fucking care if you think it is a good idea. My father is going to make it happen, regardless if you approve or not. I think the best thing to do is just don't fucking fight it." After he was telling me this, I sighed, and I wondered why I was even having this discussion in the first place.

"After all, you are thinking it is a good idea for the eight year old who isn't your fucking brother talk to me. If his parents learn about this, they will probably hate you and I both for life." He said, and then he sighed, feeling like he was just needing to keep the full honesty as he was saying this.

"Well, to be honest, I wanted to anyways. After all, Lydia doesn't really want to talk to me much now." He said, and I was looking at him, wondering what the issue was, that made Lydia just decide to not fucking talk with him.

"What did you do to Lydia?" I asked, both in a angry, and worried tone. If he did something that hurt my fucking sister, I was going to make sure that he was not going to ever fucking do that again. Robbie Dan looked at me, as if feeling shocked that I was suddenly bringing this on him now.

"I didn't do anything. I'm just saying bro. I can see when somebody is pissed off." He said, and then he shrugged. "After all, you kind of have to when you work with people like my fucking parents. They do not hide their feelings about certain subject at all."

As he was saying this, I was taking a deep breath, and I was thinking that maybe he was right, in all honesty, and that I just needed to fucking calm down, and stop being a asshole. "Sorry. I mean, I just get scared for her own social health, is all." I said, feeling like I just needed to fucking be honest with him.

"I get it. Okay. Seriously. Relax." Robbie said, and I was seeing him looking like he was just trying to make sure that I didn't get any deeper into this. As I was looking right at him, I wondered if he was going to genuinely listen to me for once.

"Tell your dad that I accept his offer." I said, feeling like I just needed to not delay this issue much longer. As I said that to Jayson, he smiled, and I was seeing him looking like he was just happy to know that I was not going to be fucking lying at all.

"That's great news. Honestly, you do not want to see what it is like when you piss my father off enough. He can make things twenty thousand times worse than they already are." He said, and then with that, I was starting to feel like the general point had been made.

"Have you ever really pissed your dad off?" Robbie asked, sounding more kind of interested in knowing more than anything else. Jayson was considering the question, feeling like it was fair enough. But not too sure how he was going to be going at this.

"Yeah, a couple of times. Used to do it all the time when I was younger. Now it seems like he hardly even notices, or cares, if I do something really fucking stupid. Probably feels like there is no fucking point in making a issue out of it at all, so he might as well just let it go." After Jayson said that, he was having a distant reply, not sure what else he was wanting to say.

"Or maybe it doesn't bother you as much anymore, because you are so fucking used to it." Robbie said, and then Jayson was looking right at him, as if finding his insistence on the matter to be mildly annoying, but choose to not say anything at all.

"Believe whatever you fucking want. I am not going to fucking stop you. Everybody has a different way of looking at things." He said, sounding like the entire time we were debating, the more annoyed he was getting, and felt the need to just let things go for now.

"Regardless, I have no fucking mood to argue this at all." He was saying, and I was wondering what his fucking point was going to be. "Anyways, I just felt like I needed to let you know about what my father was feeling. Especially since you probably feel the same way.

"Great. I hope that this doesn't really lead to all my siblings getting into a shit amount of trouble. I am going to have the worst time of my fucking life explaining to them what is going on here." I said, and I was feeling like telling him this was just something that I just needed to be honest about here.

"Your other siblings barely even seem involved in what you are doing. That fucker right there seems to have more idea what you are doing than your fucking siblings do." Jayson said, sounding relatively pissed as he was saying this. I was closing my eyes, not wanting to fucking hear it at all.

"I mean, you keep accusing Todd of getting you started, but that is the term you need to pay attention to. He just started you down the road. You are still going down it on your own. That is something you are fucking doing on your own." He said, and I was wondering what his fucking point was here.

"Okay, I get it. You don't need to fucking say it again." I shrugged, since I was feeling like I just needed to kind of place my fucking foot down, and not be treated like absolute shit over things that I had no fucking power over, whatsoever, like at all.

After I was done with the time with Jayson, I was looking at Robbie, and I was feeling like I just needed to try and find something I could talk with him about. "Look, I appreciate the fact that you are trying to fucking keep a open eye on this. I feel like that is really impressive. But I think you need to filter your shit much more." I said, and then I was seeing Robbie looking like he was proud of himself though.

"Yeah, I mean, I know Bebe won't like it. But to be honest, I feel like this is something that I want to do for myself. Something that I feel like is right." Robbie Dan said to me, and I sighed, feeling like I would just let him have what he wanted to say.

"Do you think that Bebe would fucking tell on you?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to be honest as I said that. Robbie Dan looked like he was thinking about what I asked. Probably thinking that I was trying to lure him into a fucking corner here.

"I have no idea what she would fucking do. I honestly don't even care though. I mean, she can do whatever the fucking hell she wants, and that is not going to change the fact that I am going to still fucking do it anyways." Robbie Dan said, shrugging, and simply having a 'I don't give a fuck' look on his face here.

"Great. Now she is going to be probably planning out some revenge the second she learns, and your uncertainty won't even give me time to fucking prepare." I said, mainly just dreading what I was going to be getting myself into here. I saw Robbie looking like he was confused at my reactions.

"I don't think she would hate you forever here. I think the most she would be feeling was relatively sad at what is happening." Robbie said, and I looked at him, and I was feeling like he was a fucking liar here. I think he needed to just stop with his bullshit that he said.

"Just be sure you know what you want to do, before other people try and fucking stop you." I said, feeling like I just needed to fucking give him the truth as I said this. I saw Robbie looking like he wanted to know more, but then remained silent as he said this.

Scene 23: October 17 2020 12:27 am

I got a text from Benjamin, and I was feeling like if he really wanted to meet up with me, I shouldn't say no. But before I did, I went to my parents bedroom, and took my weekly picture of Ridge, who was deeply asleep at that moment, and then left. After I took another picture of Calvin as well.

When I was meeting up with Benjamin that night, per his own request, we were driving towards the beach, and I was kind of wondering why he was going there at such a break neck pace. The whole thing just felt so fucking strange to be so focused on out of nowhere.

"Why are you suddenly bringing me to the beach out of fucking nowhere? Are you trying to fucking confess your feelings for me or something?" I asked, and I was mainly just trying to be funny. He looked at me, and I was seeing him looking like my way of talking wasn't fucking funny to him at all.

"This was where I last saw my sister." He said, and when he said that, I instantly recoiled, since I knew for a fact that this joke wasn't fucking funny to him anymore, and I was feeling like I just needed to fucking shut up, and not be a asshole anymore.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." I said, and I was feeling like saying this, and not really fucking around anymore, was going to be something that he would respect more, in the grand scheme of things. I just remained silent, thinking of what he was going to show me.

"You couldn't have fucking known. I don't like to talk about this shit after all. To be honest though, I feel like this entire thing has completely changed my mind on life. I talked with her literally nine hours before the report was in." Benjamin said, and I slowly nodded, feeling no need to talk.

"To be honest, I sometimes wonder if it was my fault that she had went missing. If I wasn't partying that day, or if I wasn't watching youtube at that exact hour. You know, so many fucking things just come back to me, and I feel like I just need to fucking hate myself for the truth." He was saying, and I wondered what I was even going to tell him.

"Don't blame yourself on this. You could have hardly known what was happening in the long run. This is all shit that just appeared suddenly, and relatively out of nowhere. You need to give yourself a fucking break." I said, feeling like I just needed to give him what he needed to know.

"Easy for you to say. Let me tell you, if something happened to Lydia, I know you would be acting the same way that I have. Acting like I am a monster. Somebody who ruined a perfect life, because I was selfish. And I feel like that mentality is more important than anything else." He said, and I slowly nodded, feeling no desire to fight him at all.

"I guess that is true enough. As much as I hate to admit it." I said, feeling like arguing was the last thing that I should have been doing. As I was silent, I was seeing Benjamin taking that as a sign of conceding. We pulled up at the beach, and we left the fucking car.

"Honestly, I just was shocked when I found out that you and your brother care as much for this as you guys do. I thought you were just fucking around, and couldn't give less of a shit what happened with me. I mean, we hardly ever interacted, and I feel like that would have been a fair assumption." Benjamin said, and then he didn't know what to say now.

"I'm sorry I beat your brother up as bad as I did. To be honest, I felt like I was going a bit much, even at the time, but I hardly fucking cared. I wanted to make a fucking message, and I guess that I just sort of lost sight on what I was doing. I went ahead, and just made things worse." After he said that, he was sounding genuine enough, for me to not really argue with him at all.

"Well, it seems like you and Todd are talking at least. So I guess it wasn't all that fucking bad after all." I said, feeling like I just needed to find something else to continue this discussion. "And to be honest, I have no idea what you were going to do differently."

"I mean, I think that I just sort of took that as a fucking reaction to all the other shit that people had been telling me over the years. That I never cared for my sister. That I was just trying to get sympathy points." He said, staring out at the water, not sure what to even say now,

"So I tried to give the perception that I had moved on. At least pretending like it wasn't haunting me on a daily basis anymore. And until I graduated, it was working out well. I was feeling like I was starting to buy my fucking lie. It was fucking perfect. But then as soon as I graduated, and I was no longer under social pressure, that was gone." After he said that to me, I slowly nodded at this.

"I guess that makes some sense. You know, not wanting to drag issues out longer than they have been around. But one thing I can promise though, is that I feel like you should just never feel bad for what you think, and you should always just try and be honest with people, when you feel like there is something big on your mind." I said, not sure if what I told him would make any difference.

"I mean, your brother was not the only one who said that. If he was, then I would learn to just let it go. But when other people, fucking nearly everybody, says it, that is where I feel like I am going insane, and I feel like the world is just trying to let me know that they hate my guts." He said, trying to sound funnier he said that.

"To be honest, he was just somebody that never once believed in labyrinth or any of the stories about it. In a way, I can't even fucking blame him at all. I just am surprised that he suddenly turned around, and started to fight on it so soon." I said, and Benjamin took a cigarette out, not sure what to even tell me at all.

"It was all because I showed him that video tape of Wendee being taken away. I think that was the thing that got him to see that this was not a fucking joke. And to be honest, anything that I have to do in order to get him to see, or anybody to see, that this is real, and not just me, is what I will have to fucking do. I am glad that I do not have to do that with you as well." After he was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, feeling no need to fight that.

"I am just surprised that Robbie Dan is already jumping into this. Why the fuck would that eight year old fucking bastard get into something like this? He needs to let the adults do their job." He said, and I was laughing as he was saying that to me.

"I mean, we can hardly be considered adults ourselves. I mean, I just turned eighteen like two and a half weeks ago." I said, feeling the need to remind him that in the grand scheme of things, we were still not very old at all.

"I know, but legally, at least, we are. And that gives us so much more to work with than he does when he is only eight." He said, and I was feeling like he was just trying to get me to play along with what he was saying. I decided to just not argue at all.

"Whatever you fucking say." I said, not really in the mood to fight him. He made his point, and to be honest, I did not want to sour this night more than it had been. "Do you think your sister would be proud of the world you have done?" I asked, feeling like I just needed him to be honest.

"I don't know. And to be honest, I hardly fucking care at all. I want to do what I have to fucking do, even if that means, as much as I hate to admit it, that she might not approve." Benjamin said, and I was wondering what he was going to be saying now.

"I want to kill those involved. Every single one of them. I want them all dead, and I want them to know why I am killing them." He said, and I was shocked that he was suddenly taking such a dark ass tone with what he said.

"I can guarantee that your sister would not want that." I said, as he turned to me, and he shrugged simply, as if feeling like he could hardly fucking care less in the world what I would say to this. I looked down at the sand, feeling like I just needed to stop talking for my own sake.

When I was home that night, I instantly felt tired, and I felt dead inside mentally, and I was feeling like I just needed to get my weekly presidential check over with. Once again, like I had grown to expect at this rate, the polls had closed in again. This time it was showing Donald Trump with 568 electoral votes, with Biden claiming 676 electoral votes. I sighed, knowing for sure, even if people didn't want to say it, that by election night, Trump was winning a second term.

Scene 24: October 18 2020 3:44 pm

I was meeting up with Robbie, feeling that I just needed to make good on my promise to work with him on this forest hunt. As we were looking around, I hated the fact that I had actually still agreed to this, and I was wondering why Robbie Dan even wanted to get involved in this to begin with.

"Robbie, did you get in trouble, when you came home super fucking late that night?" I asked, and Robbie looked at me, and I was seeing him looking kind of confused at what I was asking. He laughed at that, as if forgetting all about that.

"To be honest, nobody talked with me. I think they were just simply too tired to fucking notice. To be honest, I think the only person I would have been worried about catching me was Bebe. I don't care what my fucking parents think." After he was telling me this, I sighed, simply not in the mood.

"Well, don't let that indifference become a issue later on. If you do, then people are going to use that against you." After I was telling him this, I was wondering why I was even explaining this to him. He was going to do his own thing, and I was going to be wasting my time even trying here.

Eventually, we were at the Lazarus Corporation parking lot. "I need to make good on that meeting with the fucking president. You can come if you want. But I know you probably won't want to." I said, shrugging, not really sure why I was having this discussion with him right now.

We were going up the elevator, and I was not shocked in the least that Robbie was forcing himself to come along with me. To be honest, I did not want him to be in this meeting, but since he was insisting on working with me, I was not going to fucking stop it.

"What do you think he will even want to discuss?" He asked, and I shrugged, not sure what in the world I was even going to tell him. "Do you think it will be related to his fucking son, and how you need to stay the fucking hell away from him?"

"To be honest, I hardly fucking care what he is going to be saying about Jayson. If that is what this is about, then I think he will have to accept that his son needs to make his own choices on this matter." I said, and I looked at Robbie, and I hated the fact that this child was forcing me into this.

"Wow. I used to think you were willing to at least pretend like you gave a shit about the fact that you were putting everybody you knew in danger." He said, as I was shaking my head, not really in the mood to have this discussion anymore.

"Look Robbie. If you are just going to be going around, and just be a asshole to me, for no fucking reason, then I am going to be dealing with this at all." I said, and then the elevator opened, and the guy was waiting for us. Smoking a cigar, and still wearing the eye patch that at this point every human being in Wayside was so fucking used to him having.

"Hello Rob. What do you fucking want with me?" I asked, and he was smiling as he heard the fucking venom in my voice. Probably thinking that the fact that I wasn't even trying to hide the fact that I thought he was a piece of shit was hilarious.

"Look, I know that you found that sword in the forest. I know you think you are being smart, and hiding it rather well. And I know that my son is starting to prefer your company over mine…" He said, and I was slowly nodding, feeling like I just needed to know the angle he was playing at.

"And I know that your friend over there is a lot like one of mine from thirty five years ago. Choosing that he will look into this. With or without help. It seems every 10 years or so, somebody is like that. I just hoped he was going to be a bit older before he was like this." Rob said, and placed his cigar down, and stood up.

"Are you ever going to take that eye patch off?" Robbie asked, and I was looking at him as if telling him to shut the fuck up. Rob was looking at him, and smiled as he heard this. Probably thinking that this guy was having a sense of humor, if for nothing else.

"Sorry. Trust me, if you saw what was under there, you would be sick forever. I have been wearing this shit since 1986, and it's going to stay that way." He said, and then he looked right at me, feeling like he was just needing to get back to the point.

"You seem like a reasonable guy. After all, at the end of the day, I run a business, and most people in this town are like that." He said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like I needed to ask him something else. Something that was on my mind forever.

"Is it true that my fucking dad adopted Lydia?" I asked, not even giving him a chance to start his offer. As I asked him this, he was laughing. Finding my sudden change in tone to be something he can appreciate. He sighed, as if feeling no need to fight this one.

"Yeah. No choice. Your mom wanted a daughter so fucking bad. And your dad over there can't produce girls for shit. I mean, you five, and however fucking many bastards he has in his seventy years of life, and not a single fucking daughter. Of course he fucking adopted her." Rob said, and I looked down, feeling like him admitting this was the last thing that I would have wanted.

"Why would he fucking do that?" I asked, and he was shrugging, as if finding the fact that I was caring so fucking much about this to be strange. "Why would he fucking lie about it all of these years? Anyways, that is the least of my concerns. There are other things we need to discuss."

"Well, I was figuring that since you were already eighteen, and therefore of age, that you would be interested in joining our business. I mean, you said you wanted to know what was going on all this time. This is your fucking chance." He said, and looked right at me, hoping I wouldn't budge.

"Not like this, and especially not with fucking Robbie Dan here, to be able to know what you are fucking planning. Surely you got to have something else here." I said, and I was seeing him looking like he was actually kind of upset with the way that I was acting now.

"Wait, what would he be doing if he joined?" Robbie asked, and Rob was smiling when he was looking at the guy. He was thinking that if Robbie was going to already know this, then things were going to be getting much worse.

"No. Gabe is right. You are indeed way too fucking young for something like this. After all, I have no idea if you are going to be going around, and talking to your god damn sister." He was saying, sounding like he was just trying to keep his worry to himself.

"Look, the matter of the fact is that I feel like you need to just stay away from my son. He needs to focus on his life goals, and you fucking running around, like a fucking lunatic, spreading filth about this town, is only going to make things worse." He said, and I was shrugging as he asked me this.

"I will if you give me a good fucking reason to not be getting deeper into this. I mean, if even half the stories that I heard are true, then I feel like you guys have a lot of shit that needs to be looked at." I said, feeling like I needed to get him to fucking back down, and stop fucking hiding from the shit he was doing.

"Well, I was thinking about your grades, and your colleges. To be honest, I think community college is the only place that would be willing to take your ass. Maybe if you let this go, I would be willing to give you a full fucking ride. Scholarships and all." He said, and I was looking down on the ground. I had no idea what to think.

Robbie looked up at me, and I was seeing that he was looking really fucking scared. As if he was worried that everything he knew about me was going to change forever depending on my response. I was then thinking about what I said.

"Look, I have made several promises here. Several promises that I can't, and frankly don't even want to, turn my back on. And besides, I never really had a interest in college anyways. If I want to go later, I will have to just go to community, and earn my rep." I said, and then Rob was looking like he was keeping his anger, no his disdain, at a mild level.

"You are turning your back on the best offer that somebody is able to fucking make you? Do you not realize how fucking selfish you are being to your family?" He asked, and I was looking at him, and I was able to give him credit for being able to show that this man had a lot of venom, when he was able to show it.

"Well, I feel like I would not feel comfortable just following through with shit that I never earned." I said, and then after I told him, he was looking like he could not believe this. Robbie Dan and I were walking out, and once back in the elevator, we fist pumped.

"To be honest, I thought you were going to say yes for a second. Well, we know he's guilty, and we just need to find incriminating evidence." Robbie said, and I slowly nodded, knowing that this was exactly what I had fucking needed.

"If it was just me, I honestly would have accepted. But I promised you, Jayson, Michael, my fucking siblings, and probably one day even fucking Carly, what I need to do. I can't do this." I said, hoping that I would get him to see that this was something I would take very seriously.

He slowly nodded, having no real mood to fight this. "Makes sense. Thanks for telling me. The 25th is our next meet up?" He asked, and I nodded to confirm we will. And this time, I wasn't even upset with this one. Now I was getting used to it.

When I was home that day, Todd was looking right at me, and I was wondering what his fucking point was going to be. "What are you doing with Robbie Dan?" He asked, and I looked at him, and shook my head. I was simply not in the fucking mood to deal with him interrogating me like this.

"I am just helping him out on some things. You know, school and shit. Nothing important." I said, and I was hoping he was going to be buying my fucking lie. I was mentally preparing for him to fucking ass blast me with shit and judgments. But he was shaking his head as he heard this.

"That guy is in second fucking grade. He shouldn't have to be dealing with this shit. Please tell me that you can fucking agree to this." Todd said, and I was looking right at him, and I was wondering what his fucking point was. I wondered why he was even trying to accomplish this.

"I know he is in second fucking grade. Do you seriously think I'm fucking stupid?" I asked, and I was looking at him, hoping he would get off my fucking back. Todd was looking at me, and I was seeing that he was furious at the way that I was speaking to him.

"Well, I just want you to see that the gravity of this whole thing is getting really fucking deep, and it is not a fucking joke anymore. What did you even fucking find in that forest?" Todd asked, and I looked at him, shocked that he was going to that level in the first place.

"I found something that proves that the stories are true. If I show you, will you promise to not fucking tell Bebe?" I asked, and I was seeing Todd looking like he was hating the fact that I was even asking him this in the first place. But I was not going to fucking budge on this.

"Fine." Todd said, and then we went to his room, and I was pulling the hilt out of under my bed, and I turned it on. As Todd was taking a second to think, he was taking a long and deep breath. "Shit. Well, I can try and contact T.K., that writer dude, and see if he might be willing to help."

"Just continue what you are doing. I will try and reach out to as many people as possible. Hopefully somebody will give us something." Todd said, and I slowly nodded, feeling like when he was telling me this, the light at the end of the tunnel would start to become seeable.

I was hoping this would all end with Lydia staying safe. And I was hoping that when I would talk to dad about this, he wouldn't fucking play around, and he would tell me what he knows. Simple as fucking that. Him lying would piss me off more than anything else.

Scene 25: October 19 2020 6:40 pm

The next day, I was working with Henry, and I was really hoping that I was going to not regret this choice at all. I felt like if I was going to work with Henry, I just needed to really pull this whole fucking shit off. Henry was looking at me, and I was seeing him looking like he had something to say.

"Henry, I really hope that you know that I am very fucking sorry for everything that is going on here." I said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like I just needed to own up to the fact that I was a shitty older brother, and that I wanted to make things right.

"Why are you fucking sorry?" Henry asked, and I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to be as careful as humanely possible when discussing this whole fucking thing. "Did you commit a crime?"

"I have no fucking idea dude. I am just focused on what I am doing to help my fucking friends. Not to mention keeping Robbie Dan out of trouble." I said, and I was seeing Henry looking excited at the mention of Robbie.

"How is he doing?" He asked, and I was sighing, since I did not want to talk about fucking Robbie Dan with my brother. Mainly because of the fact that it was seeming like Henry was just wanting to know all the details of what I was fucking doing, and I could not let him have those.

"Doing alright. Nothing that you need to worry about." I said, hoping to get him to shut up. "Anyways, I was going to be meeting up with Michael again. You can come along if you want." I said, feeling like he might as well just hang out for those. After all, he had already come once.

I started to head to my car, and I was seeing Henry looking like he was shocked to hear that I was still willing to talk with him at all. And when I was seeing that this was something I was willing to work out, I knew that he was willing to take his fucking chances.

When he was in the car with me, I started to drive off, and I was feeling like this was all something I would really fucking regret. "Gabe, what is Robbie Dan doing anyways?" He asked, and I shrugged, not sure what in the world to even fucking tell him anyways.

"Nothing important. Just checking the town out, and seeing what is even there in the first place." I said, and I shook my head. Not really in the mood to have a fucking argument with him. "It is already bad enough having this debate with him, I do not need it with you."

When we were getting close to Michael's house, I was then looking right at Henry again, feeling like I just needed to remind him what I already fucking said to him earlier. "Henry, you are not to tell anybody what we discuss. I honestly am not even sure if it is a good idea to bring you now." I said, and I was seeing Henry looking like he wasn't interested in having this debate with me.

"I honestly forgot ninety eight percent of what you discussed with Michael." He said, and when I was looking at him, I wondered what in the world I was even going to tell him at all. I sighed, just simply not in the fucking mood to argue with him at all.

Once we were out of the car, Michael was looking at me, and I was seeing him looking like his emotions were rather conflicted this entire time. "Honestly guys, I was wondering if you wanted to fucking talk for a bit. Jayson said that you met up with his father last night." He said, and I simply nodded.

"Basically, he said he would be willing to give me a full ride to any university that I want, on the condition that I stop looking into this towns mysteries. But to be honest, I didn't really want to fucking do that. I wanted to work on this, no matter what." I said, and I was seeing Michael looking like he was able to both respect this, but dreaded that revelation.

"God, you are literally willing to throw away everything for this. I guess that this is something I indeed have to respect." He said, and I was seeing him looking like he was going to regret saying this, as if it meant that I was allowed to continue shitty behavior.

"Well, I never really wanted to go to college anyways. I just never really had the interest in it. And besides, my grades were never great enough to go anyways." I said, and shrugged, feeling like I just needed to own up to the fucking truth.

"Why are you bringing him here again?" Michael asked, and this time, he just seemed more tired than angry, and I was feeling like the fact that he was this way was showing that I could be able to perhaps discuss things coherently with him in the first place.

"Because he already knows all the shit that we do. It's not like I have found anything lately. And besides, given the fact that he was already here last time, if anybody had to learn more, I guess that I would rather have it be him." I said, feeling like I just needed to be fully honest with him here.

"Fair enough. Better him than Ridge, I guess." Michael said, and then Henry was taking a few steps closer, as if feeling like he needed to stand his ground or some shit. I was finding this funny. The fact that he was needing to feel mature.

"I'm a big kid. I start school next year." He said, and then Michael was laughing about this. Finding Henry's statements to be utterly hilarious. But then with that, he was shrugging for a second.

"Anyways, so I was hanging out with Benjamin a bit. He was telling me about the time you guys had at the beach." As Michael told me this, I was shocked that this was something he was willing to even fucking consider doing.

"Have you and Benjamin been getting along lately? I mean, I would rather not have you guys talking with each other if you are not going to get along." I said, feeling like I was just needing to look at the bigger picture. He looked at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was mildly annoyed with me.

"Well, at least I think he doesn't want to fucking pull the rug out from under me, and he seems like a mostly honest person. So there is that at the least." He said, and then I was shrugging, not sure what in the world I even wanted to say now.

"I still think that the idea of you bringing the eight year old into this is a bad idea. But I guess that you already have discussed this with enough people." Michael said, and he was referring to Robbie Dan, and I was sighing in complete fucking annoyance as he was saying this. I was tired of having this discussion with people now.

As we were talking, there was a car driving by. One of those cars that the men in black drove. I was shaking my head, not really in the mood to deal with those fucking assholes. "Are you going to check out what those guys are doing eventually?"

I looked at Michael, and I was shrugging as he asked me this. "Those people always scare the shit out of me." Henry said, and then before we were able to have much discussion, this was when one of them was coming out of his car. I sighed in annoyance, not wanting to deal with this at all.

"Hey, it's good to see you again." The guy said, and I was laughing, feeling like what he said was a good fucking joke, and I wondered who was trying to fucking fool as he was telling me this.

"We all fucking know that you can't fucking stand me." I said, feeling like I just needed to try and hold my ground down. He looked right at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was wanting to fuckin fight with me a little bit.

"That is not the fucking point of why I am even fucking here." He said, and I was shrugging, feeling like I just needed to let him fucking talk, and tell me what was going on in his mind then. To be honest, I was really not in the mood to listen to this guy at all.

"What do you fucking want?" Michael asked, and then the guy was shaking his head, and he was looking down at Henry, as if finding this situation hilarious, considering the fact that we were having this giant fucking argument in front of a fucking five year old.

"We should probably not be swearing so much with the young child around. Don't want him picking up these habits." He said, and then I was honestly thinking that if he did not shut the fucking hell up, and get right to the point, then my patience was going to be completely fucking gone.

"Regardless, I was wanting to tell Mr. Robinson over there that given his knowledge on the subject already, if he wanted to fucking help me out with investigating some parts of town, I would be willing to give him some training on the matter." He said, and I was shaking my head, not wanting to fall for that for a god damn fucking second.

"Go fuck yourself Officer." I said, and he was sighing, feeling like my response was just simply not the one that he was wanting, and certainly not the one that was going to be best for us. But he seemed like he was aware that fighting this was not going to fucking be worth it.

"Okay. If that is the game you are going to be playing, then I guess that I would just have to let it go. I was hoping that the two of us would have been able to work something out. Your father was not nearly as rough with this when he was your age." As he said that, I was shaking my head.

"I don't care about what my fucking father says. You probably don't even actually know that." I said, and he was then looking at Michael, and he was smiling as he was thinking about his next reply, which I knew would be made to piss me off.

"Stay away from this guy. He can be a bit of a bad influence. But whatever, I am not going to fucking argue with you. Maybe your friend and I can work together alone." He said, and then he got inside the car, and started to drive off. I could not believe that he was bringing my friend into this.

"Don't accept his fucking offers." I said, and looked at my friend. Michael was looking like he was just shocked that this situation even fucking happened in the first place. I was sitting down, not really in the mood to continue talking about this at all. When I was looking at Henry, I had no idea what to even fucking tell him.

"I was never going to. I think that guy knows something that is going to incriminate you, and you need to be much more careful." He said, and I was shrugging, feeling like what he was saying was a really fucking obvious 'no shit sherlock' moment. But I was choosing to not be a fucking asshole here.

I then looked down at Henry, and him being here was a choice that I will admit I was regretting quite a bit. "Sorry that you had to hear all that. You shouldn't have to listen to that." I said, feeling like there was no point in saying anything else at all.

When I was home that day, I looked at Henry, and I was feeling like I just needed to be more careful with this. "Why is every hang out with you like a fucking movie?" He asked, and I was laughing at that. It was a great analogy. One that stuck home way too much.

Scene 26: October 20 2020 9:26 pm

The next day, I was meeting up with Jayson, and I was seeing him looking like he was actually kind of fucking pissed to be seeing me here. I was sighing, and I wondered what the fucking issue was. I wondered if he was going to be blaming me for shit going on.

"Why did you turn my fucking fathers offer down? Now he is going to be going against both of us, and there is nothing that I can fucking do to change it." He said, and I was looking at him, thinking it was not as bad as he was making it out to be.

"Because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to be selling my soul to the fucking devil." I said, and he looked right at me, and I was seeing that he was looking like he could not fucking believe what I had said. He was sighing, probably just thinking that I was just kind of a asshole now.

"You know, I don't judge your parents, even though they both have shit that I could throw at them." Jayson said, and I was then feeling like we just needed to get back at topic, and not be at each others throats, when that was clearly not going to be the fucking answer.

"I know that you can. I never once denied that you could. But I feel like this is going beyond everything we could have ever possibly fucking imagined." I said, and I was wondering if I would get him to fucking open up at all.

"Let's just get to work." I said, and I was starting to drive towards Mezmers. Or at least where it used to be. Jayson was looking right at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was wanting to fucking fight me for this.

"You know that fucking place shut down, so there is nothing you are even going to be able to fucking find there anyways?" He asked, and he was now just sounding more confused what the fucking plan was here. I wasn't even fucking blaming him for not fucking getting it. But I was feeling like I had no fucking choice right now.

"I mean, I know it fucking shut down. But I think that if we go there, we might find something. Like a random folder that was left behind." I said, going there, and I was not going to be taking no for a fucking answer. I saw Jayson looking like he couldn't believe what we were doing.

"My dad used to not like going here. He said it brought him back memories of when he was younger. You know, before he had to become the president of that company. He always sees that time period as the greatest time of his entire life, and never is shy about talking highly of it." He said, and smiled as he said that to me.

"My dad doesn't tell me shit about his youth. All I know is that he used to be friends with a guy a few years older than him named Sheldon. Says that they started to disagree with each other after a point, and that was the main thing that drove them apart." I said, and I was shrugging as I thought about that.

"To be fair, I think it is almost required knowledge to at least have heard of that Sheldon guy, if you live in Wayside. It seems like that is always the one person that everybody goes to when talking about this place back then." Jayson said, as I shrugged, simply not really caring at all.

"Well, I think that the fact that my dad used to be really good friends with him does kind of interest. Makes me wonder why in the world he was even involved with him to begin with. I heard that the Sheldon guy caused a lot of trouble." I said, not sure if that was true, just what I fucking heard.

Once we were in the restaurant, the lock was barely even fucking placed on at all. As if they were just barely even caring about what happened to this place anymore, and were not even going to try pretending like they did.

"God, it just feels so strange coming to a place that used to be so lively, and seeing it fucking empty. I wonder what will be replacing this place." I said, letting the idea run in my mind. I looked at Jayson, wondering if he was curious as well.

"I think my dad was talking about another business office. As if we need even fucking more of those, considering the fact that he already has like twenty million of them." Jayson said, sounding kind of pissed off at that.

I was in what used to be the main business office, and Jayson was slowly behind me, as if feeling like he would just wait to see if something would show up. I was looking around the drawers, just trying to not worry about the fact that we were technically breaking a law by being here in the first place.

As we were looking around, there was indeed one folder that was not taken out. Way in the back, as if the person who owned this place was just trying to pretend like it was never really there. When I pulled it out, I was seeing that it was a file regarding some girl from almost sixty years ago.

"Ashley." I said, and was unable to make out her last name. As I said that, I was seeing Jayson looking like he was thinking about something else. I looked at him, wondering what was going on in his mind, but I wasn't wanting to be a complete asshole about it.

"I think my dad told me about that. A girl who was murdered in the mines once. Doesn't really explain much though. For all we know, this might not even be that Ashley anyways." He was saying, and I was sighing, not sure what to even tell him then.

"Surprised he even mentioned that. Given the fact that you claim he has a terrible record of not telling you shit about the things he was going through when he was younger." I said, and then Jayson looked like he was wanting to just clobber me.

"Well, I think that maybe you should take that home. Show it to somebody. Put incriminating proof on the fact that people involved with Mezmer's were involved in the missing case of Ashley. I mean, sure it's been sixty years, but that's a fucking start." He said, and I was sighing, knowing that he was right.

"Okay. Sure. I guess that it will be better than nothing." I said, and I was feeling like any argument that I wanted to have with Jayson was gone out of my wind pipes now. I was just simply not in the mood anymore, whatsoever.

When I was done for the night, and I was at Jayson's house, I placed my hand on his shoulder, and felt like I needed to just try and make this whole thing not as bad for him. "I'm sorry if I made things worse between you and your father just now. That was never my fucking intention. I just felt like I needed to take things my own way." I said, wondering if he would accept my apology. He sighed, and smiled.

"It's okay dude. Just be more careful when you talk with him. He might not be so willing to let shit go if you keep doing this over and over again." After he was telling me this, he got out of the car, and I felt like I just needed to let him have his moment.

Scene 27: October 21 2020 12:25 am

As Bebe was leaving that day, I was feeling like I just needed to talk to her for a bit. I was hoping beyond all fucking hope that she was willing to remotely talk with me, and not be just a hostile piece of shit or anything like this.

"Bebe, I feel like I need to try and fucking talk to you for a bit. You know, about your brother Robbie Dan. I know that I have been kind of harsh on you lately, and I just want you to know that I do not want anything to make you believe that I do not have his best interest in heart." I said, and I was hoping she was going to be able to fucking see that I was telling the truth.

"I have a hard time really knowing what I want to fucking believe anymore, and that is the fucking truth. I mean, you have been hanging out with him a lot, and I should be glad that he is having a great friend that can watch over him. But this all feels sudden, and strange." She said, and I was nodding as she was telling me this.

"I guess that makes certain amounts of sense. To be honest, I feel like I just tried too hard to be there for him, and show him that I was not going to be a miserable asshole, but I might have made things worse for you. Bebe, I just need you to know that I regret every word of what I said back then." I said, and I was hoping she was going to be seeing that this was the fucking truth.

"What are you even doing when you hang out with him in the first place? Can you at least give me that much?" She asked, and I was sighing, and I wondered if this was something that I should be admitting in the first place, or something that I should fucking hide.

"Well, he was telling me that he was wanting to work on self improvement, and just try and become the best version of himself that he would possibly be. He is honestly doing this for you, and for everybody else that he knows." I said, and I was hoping that telling her this would make her feel so much better. She looked at me, shocked to hear this.

"He never needed to do that though. Why would he feel the need to say this?" Bebe asked, and I was hearing her sounding like she was so fucking saddened at this. I was feeling kind of bad. Knowing that I might have made things worse for her, by saying that, instead of making some random shit up on the spot.

"I just felt like you deserved to know, since as much as I might have said otherwise at one point, because I can be a asshole at times, I know that you really do fucking care for the guy, a lot. I just feel like I can be a bit of a asshole when I talk though." I said, hoping that I was not fucking just fighting a losing battle as I was telling her this.

"I wish that I had known that this was how he had felt, and I would have maybe fucking tried to tell him that he did not need to fucking do this. That I already loved him for being the guy he was. Despite how hard it is to talk with him, I know he was taking the promise he made Todd very seriously." She said, and I looked at her, wondering what she meant.

"Promise? What fucking promise?" I asked, and Bebe was looking like she was genuinely shocked that I hadn't known about this. She sighed, feeling like she would just be honest with me then. And I would see what I would have to tell Robbie when this conversation came back up once again.

"That he would keep Lydia safe during the school year, no matter what happens. He said that this was something that he felt like he would be able to do better than anybody. I have no idea why he was taking it so seriously. Especially since Todd himself would probably say he was just asking that on a whim, to make sure that Lydia was at least relatively well off." She said, and I was sighing as she had said that to me.

"Oh shit. Why the fucking hell did he say anything like that? I mean, that is so fucking vague, and can be taken a billion different fucking directions. I guess that he might not have thought of that when he said this." I said, and I was balling my fist, so fucking angry at this point, and Bebe was looking at me, really fucking confused what my problem was right now.

"Dude, chill out. It's really no big deal. Sorry for even saying it. I didn't think you were going to be as upset about it as you were." Bebe said, and she was looking like the thoughts in her head were really fucking conflicting. I sighed, and I knew she was just simply trying her best to make me feel better.

"Let me try and see if I can talk to Robbie, and make something different. He really trusts me so far." I said, and I was seeing her looking like she was just trying to figure out why I was suddenly adopting such a serious response.

"Okay. I guess that I can allow that. I mean, I am not like my parents after all. I am not completely fucking rejecting the idea of people coming along, and lending me a helping hand. I feel like they have always been extremely stubborn for that." Bebe said, and I was feeling like there was no way in hell that I would be able to fix this all myself. But I knew that I needed to try.

"And when I am done talking with Robbie, I will talk to Todd perhaps. Maybe I can get him to see things different." I said, and then Bebe and I left the house, as I figured I would walk with her to the car. She looked at me for a second, trying to find something to say, to make this whole thing at least slightly different. I had no idea what her end goal was here though.

"Todd is not a bad guy. You need to give him some fucking leeway. I think he just really wanted to make sure that nothing happened with Lydia. I totally fucking get it. You know, if she was my sister, I would react the same way. Simple as that." She said, and I was sighing, thinking she was not really seeing the issue that I was having then. Because that wasn't it.

"That is not all that is going on. I tried to talk to him so far, and he was telling me that he was wanting to fucking tell him about the monsters in town. You know, the things that people accuse are behind the girls going missing. He is fucking eight years old, and he already wants to know." I said, hoping she would fucking see it.

She suddenly got it in her head what I was fucking talking about. "Gabe, why the fucking hell is he even fucking thinking about that? Oh shit. I mean, I thought that since the grinder went off last about two months ago, he would have kind of let it all go. But I guess not." She said, and I was slowly nodding, glad that she was seeing the truth to what was happening.

"Okay. I guess that maybe I was looking away from this shit way too fucking long. Sorry that you are having to deal with this shit right now. Well, I would rather have you fucking be honest with me about it though." After she was telling me this, I was then wondering what in the world her fucking game plan would be now.

"Gabe, I am sorry that you guys are dealing with everything right now. I mean, having a new brother would already be enough to drive one crazy on a regular fucking day. But this is something that goes beyond everything else." Bebe said, as she was thinking about that.

"It's only been two months, and I already wish that we would go back to the days when it was just Todd having parties with his friends, where I was still at the pizza shop, and the biggest fear in life was if we were going to get caught drinking beer. Those seem like wonderful fucking days now." She said, and smiled as she was thinking about that for a second.

"Two months. Wow. It's crazy that it has only been that long. But on the opposite side of the coin, it's crazy to believe that Ridge was already born two months ago. I still feel him coming home was like just a week or two ago." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest as I was telling her this.

"Now, I don't know what you are doing, and what will happen between you and Carly, but I feel like you need to fucking own up, and tell her what you found. She deserves that much, and I feel like when she finally knows the truth, then perhaps things will improve greatly." As she was telling me this, I considered what she was saying.

"Carly. Fucking god damn it. Fucking Carly. What was I fucking thinking with that shit? I think that if I tried to talk to her at all, she would just brush off every fucking word of what I say." I said, and I wondered if this was something that I might have had coming or not.

"Yeah, I can see from the way you speak about her, that you want to fucking make things right. And I think you need to just do that, before anything else." She was telling me, and I was feeling like what she was telling me was all that I could fucking handle.

"I got to admit, I am shocked that you fucking know about that." I said, and I was smiling, and I was feeling like maybe Bebe was deserving more fucking credit than I was giving her. If for nothing else, she was rather observant. And that was something that I needed to admit.

"And Gabe, I thank you for trying to be there for Robbie, and not fucking lie to him, when he needs people to just be there for him, no matter what. I think that is possibly the best trait about you. Knowing when to put your feelings aside, for the good of those around you." Bebe said, and I wondered why she was even fucking saying this in the first place.

"I can never give up on somebody, no matter what. Even when I know it is probably for the best for me to do so, for my own personal and mental health." I said, and I was wondering why I was even having this discussion in the first place.

"Well, I really do need to get going. There was only so long that I told my parents I would be, and they are still upset at me for getting fired." Bebe said, and she was leaving, and I was taking a long and deep breath, feeling like now that I knew my mission, I was now to try and fucking make it work out for the god damn best.

When Bebe was gone for the day, I was then sighing. I was wondering what it would going to be like when Todd and I talked later. I was wondering if he would even want to fucking hear it. I was hoping that this was going to all be something he would see, and fucking realize that he placed way too much pressure on him for no fucking good god damn reason.

Once inside, I was wondering what I was going to do about Carly. I knew for a fucking fact that what she was telling me was true. And I wanted to fucking do this. But I was feeling like doing so would only have made things just much more complicated. And I did not want Robbie Dan to lose me.

Scene 30: October 22 2020 2:18 am

Before I was able to go to bed, Seth was calling out to me. I was slightly annoyed with this from a pure sleep perspective. But given the fact that I haven't really interacted with him in nearly a fucking month, I felt like he had every right to be a bit annoying with what he was wanting to do.

"Seth, what were you needing?" I asked, and to be fair, it was mostly just trying to hide the fact that I indeed was a little bit annoyed at him. Seth was looking so glad to see that I wasn't just brushing him off, and that I was actually wanting to fucking talk with him for now.

"I have been having some nightmares lately. You know, about the missing girls, and imagining when Lydia will be one of them. Or the fact that when Ridge is older, he will be the one who will have to deal with this." He said, and I was looking down on the ground, and I was feeling so fucking bad for him as he said this.

"You know, Ridge is still only two months old." I said, thinking about how it was two months to the day now, and I was mildly finding it amusing that we were having to have this discussion right now on this specific day.

"I fucking know that, Gabe. I'm not stupid. But I feel like with everything that is going on, people are starting to just lose sight of what needs to be focused on." He said, and I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to let him talk.

"Seth, let me tell you right now that Todd is doing everything in his power to make sure that everything turns out well for you guys. Never fucking doubt that even fucking once." I said, and I was taking a long and deep breath, wondering why I was even saying this.

"Sorry. I guess that maybe I am just letting everything get to me. You know, the fact that most people over the age of twelve hate my comedy." Seth said, and I was wondering why this was bothering him so much. He was still trying his best, and with every year, it would better.

"Forget what those fucking assholes say. Just think about what makes you happier. And whatever that is, I will support this." I said, and I was seeing Seth looking like me telling him this was still enough to make him feel so much better.

"I guess that I can fucking try." He said, and sighed, not really sure what in the world he was even going to get out of fighting me here. "I knew that you were going to be much more willing to talk with me about this than fucking Todd." Seth said, and I sighed, not really wanting to turn this into a fucking competition.

"This is not a competition Seth. Todd is doing a great job given everything that is happening. I think he needs to have a bit of patience given to him." I said, and I was hoping he was going to fucking listen to me here, since I was never wanting people to think that Todd wasn't a good brother.

"Okay. Sorry. I guess that sometimes I just get a bit annoyed." Seth said, and as we were talking, we were seeing the black fucking car driving by once again. Seeing this was pissing me off beyond all fucking hell. I was wondering when these people were going to just fucking drop this subject.

"Is something bothering you?" Seth asked, and I was looking right at him, wondering what I was even going to be saying at all. "Is it those strange guys again? As Henry says, those creepy ass fuckers?" He asked, and I slowly nodded.

"I just wish that they would fucking take it with me, and not be fucking doing shit to you guys. After all, you have done nothing fucking wrong, and they are punishing you for it." I said, and then Seth was looking like he was wanting to say something new.

"Could he be checking things out, for when Lydia grows older? After all, she is a girl." Seth said, and then I looked right at him, and I was wondering why in the world he was even fucking suggesting something like this. I didn't want that to be a discussion in the fucking slightest.

"Don't fucking say shit like that again. People are going to be fucking coming after you, and accusing you of so much fucking crap." I said, and then I was seeing Seth looking like he was confused at the way that I was reacting here. Thinking that I was being way too fucking scared.

"Don't get upset at me for fucking telling the god damn truth." Seth said, and I was feeling like there was no way in hell I was going to get him to fucking see what I was saying. Nor did I even care to fight with him. I sighed, and I was then looking at him.

"As for the comedy. Just fucking give it time. Seriously. Give it fucking time." I said, feeling like I just needed him to really fucking hear what I said. As I told him this, he sighed in annoyance, not sure what to even tell me anymore.

"Fine. If you fucking say so. That doesn't change the fact that I want to know what you mean about you saying that Todd will take care of it." He said, and then I shrugged, thinking that I would give him a very generic run down.

"Todd has been working very hard with friends to pull this off. Simple as that. Once he has a idea what is going on, it will be game over." I said, and I was seeing Seth looking like he was still not buying it, but choose to not fight it.

Once Seth was heading to sleep, and I was smiling, knowing that deep down, he was still a great fucking brother, and somebody who truly fucking would do everything he can to make things right, I smiled, as I was heading to bed, and I was feeling like the fact that Seth was a good brother still was a sign that I just needed to never give up hope on humanity.

Scene 29: October 23 2020 4:19 pm

The next day, I was meeting up with Michael, since I was feeling like I just needed to fucking confront the things that had been bothering me lately. I knew that sooner or later, he was going to be willing to listen to me. He was going to have to, for Ashley's sake.

"Michael, I know you want to fucking protect Carly, and I do as well. But sooner or later, she is going to learn the fucking truth, and I feel like when she does, the best thing to fucking do is man up, and fucking tell he the truth." I said, and was seeing Michael looking like he was rather upset with me even saying this.

"God damn it Gabe. Why are you trying to just get everybody you fucking know killed? I thought that this was something that we fucking agreed on, and you are now doing this? Carly should not fucking know what we are doing here. If she does, then she will never even forgive us anymore." Michael told me, and I was sighing, feeling like he just needed to stop whining.

"And you know how those men in black are thinking. They want you to join their fucking company. How will fucking Carly react when she learns of this? She will never fucking forgive you." He was saying, and I knew deep down, every word of what he said was true.

"To be honest, I feel like they might have some good points. And if it will keep Lydia safe, then I guess it might not be the worst thing in the world. After all, they have been running a business for a fucking living. Perhaps they know what they're doing." I sighed, not sure what to think.

"What are you planning to do with that fucking energy sword? Let's fucking start there." He said, and then I sighed, and I was feeling like I was just needing to tell him the truth, that Todd already fucking knew about it.

"I already had to show Todd it. He doesn't really seem to enjoy it all that much. But I think that now that he is accepting everything, he will just be working with that Benjamin guy." After I was telling him this, that was when another car was pulling up. I was shaking my head, not really in the mood.

"Hey assholes, get in my fucking car." A older guy, also wearing black, probably forties or so, with a mustache, and had a voice that clearly showed he smoked way too many fucking Marlboros since he was younger. I knew from the sound of his voice, and his look, that he was not going to be taking no for an answer. I sighed, and got in the car with Michael.

Once we were in his car, we were starting to be driven away. Michael was looking utterly terrified. That was the first time in my entire life that I was seeing him looking like he was genuinely thinking that he was about to confront death in the face.

"You guys know that you are really running up a lot of fucking issues with my associates. Trying to just essentially keep you guys under fucking track." He said, and then I was sighing. I knew that this was going to be his fucking plan.

"Well, maybe you should fucking tell us what is going on here?" I asked, and then he was gripping his steering wheel really fucking tightly. I felt like I was playing with fire a bit, but I hardly cared in the slightest.

"I can't. I just simply run this sector of the towns finances. I mean, even if you think this is a fucking messed up business, or you don't like it because who fucking knows why, this is a business nonetheless, and it is the way that things are currently fucking being done here." He said and I was shaking my head, thinking that he was a fucking liar.

"God damn it. So basically you're just fucking talking big, and you are not really giving us jack shit. Why am I not fucking surprised?" I asked, and then I was sighing. "Look, I am just wanting to keep my fucking sister safe. I mean, she started school this year, and I would rather fucking die than see her go missing." I said, and I was feeling like I should not have not said that. As this was something I was more than confident they would be willing to arrange.

He even gave me a look of 'be careful of what you fucking wish for'. As he was giving me that look, I was aware that he was wanting to fucking do this really fucking bad. But then Michael was then thinking about another reply here.

"Is it true that the girls really are just fucking running away?" Michael asked, and he was looking at me, as if finding his comment kind of hilarious. As if feeling like he was unable to believe that Michael was not fully placing things together yet, and in a way, almost feeling kind of fucking bad for what he was hearing.

"You really don't know what you are simply fucking rejecting, do you?" He asked, and then he parked the car at a pier, and as he did this, I had a million fucking thoughts run in my head. A million questions on what he was going to be fucking doing.

We both left the car, not even fucking wanting to hear him fucking say it at all. I felt like whatever he was going to do, if we just provided very fucking little, or even no, resistance, at all, then things would be better for both of us.

"You see that right there?" He asked, and pointed a bit ahead of us. We were looking at a abandoned car, and I was thinking about that a bit. Considering the fact that it had been there for a couple years. Since I was fourteen, I believe. But I didn't give a shit about it too much at the time.

"Is that a fucking mile marker?" Michael asked, as he was looking at it a bit deeper. This guy was nodded, as if glad to see that we did have some fucking common sense after all. Not fucking just acting like we had no idea what was happening.

"Okay, so it seems like you guys do have some fucking common sense after all. Now that you see this, what would be the first thing that would come into your mind logically?" He asked, and I was thinking about what he asked, and I sighed, knowing what he was trying to fucking reach for at this fucking point.

"That she fucking killed herself." I said, referring to drowning. As I said this, I was wondering if this was a set up, or something genuine, and that I had made a fucking mistake this whole time. At this rate, I was willing to fucking man up enough, and admit that I might have been wrong.

"Bingo, you fucking asshole. Seems like you are starting to see where we are coming from after all. She left her fucking wallet, and her fucking possessions behind. Probably did it to provide some fucking closure to her family." He said, and I was slowly nodding, kind of considering what he was saying, at least a little bit.

"Was her body ever fucking found? That was four years ago. When Naya Rivera died a couple months ago, she was found within a fucking week." Michael asked, and then the guy was smiling as he heard this, finding Michael's observation to be a very interesting one.

"Well, a body was found a few months ago. You know, when somebody goes missing, the immediate stress seems to wear off after a couple of weeks, but you know, police patrols. The body was confirmed to be of a woman, although she had so decayed that by that point, it is very hard to confirm who she was. So until further denial or confirmation, this is the best we will get." He said, and I was sighing, feeling like that was going to be the best we can get.

"Kay. I guess that I will have to fucking take it." After Michael said this, he was looking at me, and I was seeing that he was wondering what I was going to be saying here. I was wanting to just simply survive, and that was all that mattered right now.

"Okay, so some of them were probably sincere. I still don't like it. But I will drop it. For now." I said, making it a clear point that this was in no way permanent. He sighed, feeling like that was something he was willing to take.

"That is all I need. You need to stop this fucking game. This is serious shit, and you need to treat it as fucking such. I am not going to be playing around with this anymore. This is your last warning." He said, and went to his car, and started to drive off. When he was gone, I looked at Michael, and shook my head.

"I have a feeling she wasn't the one found." I said, and Michael was slowly nodding. But then he was sitting down, clearly seeming to just not want to even think about what was happening now. He seemed disgusted at this whole thing, and I couldn't even blame him.

When I was home, I was thinking deeply about what Michael was telling me. Deep down, I knew he was fucking right. He always was fucking right, but I was refusing to fucking admit it. It was like I wanted to fucking just show him that I knew what I had been doing for once in my life. But that was a fucking lie.

Scene 30: October 24 2020 9:04 pm

The next day, I was meeting up with Lydia, and I was feeling like I was feeling like no matter what in the world I was even going to tell her, she was going to just assume that I was attacking her, and that I hardly fucking cared for what was going on with her.

"I was thinking about how I was going to convince Robbie Dan to hang out with me next weekend? Do you think you can help me?" Lydia asked me, and I was feeling like this question was going to be a really fucking awful way of going at this. I felt like she just simply could not see that I was really fucking busy in the first place.

"I have no fucking way of being able to do that. I mean, I have no idea who Robbie likes in the first place, and that guy always seems to be fearing every possible worst outcome known to man kind ever." I said, and I was laughing at this, thinking that this was exactly what Sheldon was like, if all the rumors about him were true.

"Can you bring me to his place?" She asked, and I was thinking she was fucking insane for saying this. I was shaking my head, and I was feeling like she just needed to fucking stop right there. But I was seeing from the look on her face, that she was not playing around.

"Yeah, I guess that I can fucking do that." I closed my eyes, and I was feeling like this was going to take a while for me to really work out. As we were heading to my car, I was wondering if Lydia was actually going to make this work out with him or not.

I was starting to just drive towards his house, and I was seeing that the look on Lydia's face was of utter fucking delight. I wondered what she was thinking in her head. And I was feeling like no matter what I would say, I just needed to fucking tread really fucking lightly.

"I find it nice that you still like him as much as you do." I said, and I smiled as I said that to her. She was looking right at me, and she was probably finding my comments to be rather strange. Probably thinking that I was wanting to be happy.

"He has been a great friend while I have been trying to deal with school so far." After Lydia was telling me this, she sounded really fucking defensive. I was sighing, and I felt like I just needed to fucking shut up, at least for the time being, for her sake.

"And besides, you have been working with him lately. You should know how he is like." She was saying, and I was shrugging, feeling like what she was saying was fair enough. We had been working together a shit ton lately, and I feel like I just needed to show some patience.

"Yeah, that is true. But it is mainly for business and shit. Boring crap you wouldn't want to deal with." I said, and shrugged as I was saying this, feeling like I just needed to be honest with her. She crossed her arms, as if showing that she was beyond the mood to argue.

We made it to his house, and I was telling myself to just fucking calm down, and not worry over this. We got out of the car, and I was wondering if Lydia just needed to talk to me for a bit, or if I would just stay silent. I choose for the latter, for her sake.

She knocked on the door, and when she did, this was when Robbie looked at her, and I was seeing from the look on his face that he was clearly fucking tired. I sighed, and I was just hoping that Lydia knew what she was fucking doing, or else she was going to make things worse for everybody.

"Hey Robbie, I was hoping you would be willing to talk for a while? Do you have anything going on?" She asked, and he was looking like he wanted to make sure that I knew that he was never going to fucking forgive me. I was shrugging, feeling no need to say anything else.

"Honestly, I was just trying to slowly get ready to go to bed. But if you want to talk for a bit, I can fucking talk." Robbie said, and he was sighing, not sure what in the world he was going to even get out of it if he was just simply arguing anyways. Lydia said, and she had a pouty face with his reaction.

"Hey, I can't fucking be that bad. Give me a fucking break." She said, and then Robbie sighed, simply seeming to not really be in the mood to handle this. He was slowly nodding, and decided to just simply let the subject go, and not fight it at all.

"Do you need any help with school?" He asked, feeling like that was the best first solution to go for. Lydia was looking let down that he was instantly assuming that this was the main thing he was instantly going for. But she decided to just not say anything at all.

"Honestly, I just wanted to hang out for a bit, and get to know how you have been lately. After all, you seem to always be focused on something else." She said, and then Robbie Dan simply didn't know what to say.

"I'll be gone for a bit. Just don't stay out too late. Just have either Bebe or I bring you home." I said, and I was starting to drive off, feeling like it was now Robbie Dan's choice on how he was going to be handling this. He looked over as I was driving off, as if unable to believe that I was doing this to him right now.

When I was done with making them talk for the night, I was feeling like I just needed to be ready for my meet up with Robbie Dan the next day, and I wondered what his weekly fucking plan was going to be. In a way, I was both dreading, and also kind of anticipating, what we were going to be dealing with.

Scene 31: October 25 2020 10:09 pm

The next day, I was meeting up with Robbie, as per promised, although I was tired as hell, and I was really not wanting to do this right now. I was feeling like this was a bad fucking choice. But I guess nobody could fucking really care or get it.

We were looking around the forest, which he requested that time, and I was wondering if Bebe or anybody else was going to be calling me out for hanging out with him this late at night, and calling me out for the idea that this story officially makes no more fucking sense."

The entire time we were walking in the forest, I was feeling like I just needed to ask him a question that he might not appreciate, but I felt like I just needed to fucking ask, no matter what. "So Robbie Dan, I was wondering if you were getting along with Lydia, or if you would rather just have her give you a fucking break." After I was asking him this, I was seeing him shocked that I was even asking this in the first place.

"To be honest, I think she is a nice person and all. But I think that she needs to give me some fucking space. She kind of is a bit fucking pushy." After he was telling me this, I was shrugging, not really thinking about it. He honestly didn't get it.

"Man, you have no idea, if you think that you have seen her being pushy yet. She can get downright crazy about it." I said, and I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to be honest as I was telling him this. Robbie laughed as he was hearing me this say this, finding my comments about my own sister hilarious.

"Why does she act like that though? I mean, it can be a bit annoying, to be honest. I mean, I know that I gave Todd my word. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't want some fucking space. At least a little bit." Robbie Dan said, and then I was looking down, and I was seeing that there was a camping tent, that looked like it had not been used in a while. I was looking at the number, and realized that it must have been that one time in May.

"What the fucking hell? How has nobody noticed this? I mean, a fucking camping tent in the forest. Which is still nearly at the fucking road? Why are they not even fucking trying to hide it anymore?" He asked, and I was sighing, feeling like I just needed to keep my thoughts to myself.

"Robbie, I think that this is becoming way too fucking real for you. I know you're not going to run, but I still feel like I need to say it…" I said, and I was seeing Robbie looking like he was just trying to decide how in the world he would react here. I looked at him, wondering why he wasn't having any genuine reaction.

As we were talking, there was a loud noise. I turned around, and I was placing my hand to my back pack, ready to use this weapon if I had to. I was looking around, and I was seeing a fucking monster running by. I looked right at Robbie, and I wondered what he was thinking.

"I'll hold it off, and you better just get the fucking hell out of here." I said, and I was seeing Robbie looking like my idea was fucking insane. Probably thinking that the fact that I was throwing things away for him was totally fucking unfair.

When I was seeing the monster coming towards me, I brought the hilt out, and turned it on, ready to fucking use it if I had to. I was seeing Robbie looking like he was so amazed by this. Probably thinking that he had just seen the coolest thing in the entire world.

The monster ran towards me, as Robbie was slowly backing away, and I threw a tree branch to get it to stay away from Robbie. As they were starting to run off, I was looking right at Robbie, and was telling him to fucking run off. He listened without arguing this time, for once.

I slashed the blade down on the monster, and sliced off their left arm, and then I stabbed it right into their chest, making sure that they were truly destroyed, and when I was done, I looked around, hoping that there was not a god damn second one. I just truly did not want this.

Robbie was starting to walk up to me, and I was seeing the smile on his face growing wide. I couldn't believe he was still finding this fucking funny. Nothing about this was funny, and I just needed him to fucking end this bullshit.

"That was like so fucking assassins creed dude. Where did you learn to fucking fight like that?" He asked, and I was sighing, not sure why I would even bother saying anything. I didn't want to fucking do this. I wanted him to just let it go.

"I don't know. Fight or flight instinct." I said, and I was shocked that he wasn't talking about the fucking lightsaber. Or energy sword. Whatever. I was sighing, since I really had no idea why he even fucking cared at all.

"Whatever it was, that was awesome." Robbie Dan said, and I was smiling as he said this. Hearing him think that well of me was something that I would take with me. I wondered if he would continue acting like this later.

When we were done for the night, Robbie looked at me, and I was seeing him looking utterly fucking tired. Probably thinking that I was not really showing any signs of caring at all. "Gabe, thanks for giving me a chance to fucking do this, and not just brushing off every thing that I fucking want to do. I hate it when people just do that." He said, and I was sighing, and I was feeling like I just needed to remain silent, as he was telling me this, for his own personal sake.

Scene 32: October 26 2020 1:46 pm

Later that next day, I was seeing Carly walking up to me, and I was seeing from the way she was wanting that this was not something that I was going to get out of. I was closing my eyes, feeling like I just needed to be utterly careful about this.

"I don't fucking care what excuses you have right now, you are going to tell me everything you fucking know." She said, and I was seeing from the way she was talking, that this was not a fucking joke. I sighed, feeling like there was no reason to fight this at all.

"Okay. But not here. How about the band practice room, since school isn't over for a while longer." I said, and I was seeing her looking like she was accepting that response. It was a opening, and she knew to just fucking accept that for what it was.

Eventually, before too long, we were in the band practice room, where I was mentally taking a deep breath, and told myself to just fucking calm down, and not be so worried about what was happening. This was all going to fucking work, and I just needed to rely on things to be better.

"You have been lying to me for a month now. You have something you know, and you keep fucking lying to me. I feel like that needs to fucking end right now. If you want to be friends with me still, you need to respect my wishes." She said, and I was feeling that she was clearly showing that she clearly did not get the bigger picture, which was my main issue.

"Okay. You're fucking right. As much as I fucking hate to admit it." I said, and I was calming down, and I was feeling like the fact that she was still willing to even fucking talk to me at all anymore, was a sign that no matter what was going on, things could be a lot worse.

"Anyways, so the truth of the matter is that I am looking into what is going on with Jayson because he and I both realize that his the things that were said about T.K., all those rumors, are totally fucking true." I said, feeling like I was just needing to be honest with her here.

As I told her this, I was seeing her looking like she was needing me to genuinely elaborate further than I had been. As I was seeing this, I was getting mildly annoyed with the way that things were going. I was feeling like this was all just a slow fucking push back.

I was pulling the hilt to the laser sword out of my back pack, and I was showing it to her. As she was looking at it, I was seeing that she was finally getting what I was saying. I sighed in relief, knowing that she was no longer bullshitting at all. And that she was seeing that this was serious business.

"Gabe, is that it? You found out stories were real?" She asked, and shrugged, and rolled her eyes, feeling like I was a hopeless fucking cause, and this was fucking showing it. I looked down, and I was feeling like she was clearly not fucking getting it.

"It is not that fucking simple Carly. Why are you unable to fucking see that? There is some serious shit happening here, and that is why I was so scared to fucking tell you. Those men in black are after me now. They are after fucking Robbie Dan of all people." I said, and this was when she was gawking at me, shocked to hear what I just fucking said.

"Robbie? He's fucking nine." She said, and then I corrected her further, telling her he was eight. As I was saying this to her, I was seeing her looking like she was finally appreciating the bigger picture, and appreciating the fact that this was not a fucking joke.

"Nobody is fucking safe Carly. You need to fucking see that. This is not a game, and never has fucking been." I said, and as I was telling her this, I was then feeling like finally putting my fucking foot down about this was the best thing that I could do to make this issue better.

"But at least now I know why something will happen if I fucking die. I will be ready for something like this. And if I go missing, then I know that it is because of the fact that you are doing something right." She said, and I was blown away at this fucking shit.

"Are you fucking kidding me Carly? This is the way you are reacting? What the fucking hell is wrong with you?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to not hold back what I was thinking at all. As I said this, I shook my fucking head, disgusted at this response.

As we were talking, I was looking out the window, and I was seeing that the man in black was walking by, and when I was seeing this, I knew that I was going to be in a lot of fucking trouble. I was closing my eyes, and I felt like I just needed to fucking scream, and end this shit right now.

"What are you fucking seeing?" Carly asked, and I was glad to be seeing that she was actually taking my wishes seriously for once. I sighed, and I was wondering why in the world I was even having to deal with this in the first place.

"That fucking bastard is back. I am going to have to do what I can to fucking stop him. Promise me that you will accept that what I am saying is right." I said, and I was seeing Carly looking like she was offended by my request. She sighed, and nodded, and accepted the fact that I was not going to be playing around at all.

I got out of the band room, and Carly was thinking about things for a second, and then she started to follow me. I was not in the mood for this, but at the same time, I was not really in the mood to fucking argue with her either. So I just simply sighed, and decided to fucking let it go for the time being.

The guy was seeing me here, and it was the one that tried to give me the work offer when Michael was around. At least it wasn't that piece of shit from earlier. I was holding my hand out, to make sure that Carly did not try and stop me from what I was doing.

Michael was coming by, and he saw what was going on. He suddenly started to lose all the color in his face. He knew what was fucking going on, and I was aware that I would have to explain so much fucking shit to him, that he would not forgive me at all.

"What the fucking hell are you doing here? I thought that we would agree to not have these discussions at my fucking school?" I asked, hoping that I would get him to fucking back off. As I was saying this, he smiled at the fact that I was clearly out of my fucking wits.

"You have something that my bosses are interested in." He said, and Michael was now aware that even if Carly didn't get the run down just now, she was going to have to fucking find out anyways, so there was nothing that was going to be done about this.

"I understand that you think this is a fun fucking game, and that people find this to be cute. But our patience has fucking run out, and your time playing looney, and acting like you are the greatest hero is done. Now give me the lightsaber." He said, and I was laughing that he noticed the similarities.

"What if I refuse?" I asked, and then he was shaking his head, unable to believe that I was even fucking thinking of something like this in the first place. He looked right over at Carly, and then at Michael. I looked up at the security cameras, to make sure that I wouldn't get in trouble.

"I have men on their way over here. If you refuse to cooperate, then I will have no choice but to take force, to stop your fucking shit." As he was saying this, I realized that nothing he was saying was for the reaction. He was going to fucking do this, no matter what.

"Don't fucking do it Gabe! You're going to let them win if you fucking do!" Michael yelled, as I was pulling the hilt out of my pocket. I was feeling like if I was going to get myself killed, then this was something that I was going to have to fucking accept. Whatever I would have to do in order to keep my friends safe.

"Simple as that." The guy said, and before I was able to hand it over, three other men in black ran into the building, all holding guns out, and they were running towards Carly and Michael. I could not believe that they were doing this, despite the fact that I was literally going to give them exactly what they fucking wanted.

They grabbed both Carly and Michael before I was able to do anything. "What the fucking hell!?" I asked, and I was looking at the first guy again. "I was told that if I gave him what he wanted, then he would be willing to let them fucking go." I said, feeling like I Just needed to fucking put this discussion to a fucking end.

The one with the mustache pulled a gun out, and shot the first guy in the head. As the guy fell down to the ground dead, he looked at me. "We were given a change of orders. We're directed to take both your friends, regardless if you work with us or not." He said, as they were both starting to be dragged away.

"Maybe this will teach you to not mess around with things that you were never meant to get involved with. When you grow up, you must accept the consequences of your own fucking actions." He said, and then he was looking at the dead guy.

"At least you gave me a excuse to clean that piece of shit out of my life. He always was more tame compared to everybody else about his standards. Always tried to make deals with people to get them something when we can't mess around like this." As he was done saying this, he was starting to head off.

"You are not going to fucking get away with this!" I yelled at him, and then he was smiling as he heard this. He turned around once again, as if feeling like he would try and find something to say, in order to make me really get how big this fucking picture was.

"I already fucking have. If you do not respond within forty eight hours, I am required to kill both your friends." He said, and then when he was out of the school, I was looking down on the ground, and I could not believe that this was even fucking happening in the first place. This whole thing just felt so fucking wrong, like you would have no fucking idea.

I was starting to run out of the school, holding the hilt of the lightsaber out openly, not giving a shit who knew at all anymore. I was seeing the cars starting to drive off, and I was telling myself all the ways that this was a fucking whole new level of crazy. And that this was certainly going to be getting me killed.

I called Todd, and I was feeling like I just needed to tell him everything that was happening. "Those fucking men in black! They fucking took Carly and Michael, and are planning to kill them unless if I give them all the info we gathered." I said, hoping that he was going to take what I was saying seriously, and not accuse me of over reacting.

"What the fucking hell man?" He asked, and I was sighing, knowing that he was seeing that this was a fucking disaster, and he was not going to be fucking around. I was wondering what I was going to do when people knew what was going on here. My life was going to be fucking ruined.

"I will try and look for them. You just try and gather up as much as you can in order to report this to the fucking police!" I yelled, and Todd was remaining silent at this, feeling like there was no way in the world that he was going to change my mind, and he wouldn't even bother trying.

When I was done with everything, I finally went home, and Todd was looking up at me. I was seeing from the look on his face that he was utterly sad to see me like this. He looked like his shame and guilt was completely fucking immeasurable. I was shaking my head, not really in the fucking mood to hear what he had to fucking say. He hugged me, and was just simply wanting me to feel differently about what was going on now.

October 7 2022

When T.K. had finished this episode, he had shaken his head. At least Todd pretended to not want to look into something like this. But Gabe was beyond the point of being able to be negotiated out of this, it had seemed, and T.K. can see where Todd was coming from now.

As he was driving towards Cody's place, after checking out of the motel, T.K. was wondering how long it was going to take before Gabe would find himself dead. He hated having those fatalistic thoughts, but at the end of the day, when he knows what is happening here, he knew there was nothing else he was going to change about it.

Once at Cody's place, T.K. texted Todd, feeling like he needed to fulfill his promise. "Hey, I ended up finishing that second episode that was about Gabe. Just decided to keep my promise. Will start on Josiah's tomorrow." When he was done, he ended up sending the text, and he was shaking his head at this, before he knocked on Cody's door.

Todd sent a reply text right away, and T.K. smiled with the fact that this guy was at least trying to fucking be open about communicating lately. "Thanks for letting me know. That really makes me feel better." He replied, and T.K. was feeling like the fact that Todd was willing to throw his happiness away for the book was a major sign of progress.

T.K. then knocked on Cody's door, who opened it up right away, and looked like he hadn't slept in like a fucking month. T.K. smiled as he was seeing this, clearly thinking that his fatigue was a sign that he was still putting in a lot of work lately.

"Hey dude, how have you been lately?" After T.K. asked this, he was clearly feeling like this was all formality, and that there was nothing else to fucking get out of it. "I have been working on those documents. I just hope that me putting those stories out will help those kids leave the subject alone." He shrugged as he said this.

"I hope that you're right. Those guys are probably going to fucking go around and act like they're fucking heroes otherwise. But regardless, I have been making a plan on what to do now." After he said that to T.K., T.K. shrugged, feeling like he just needed to fucking hear it.

Once inside of Cody's house, this was when there was a large set of photos, all leading towards the current president of Lazarus Corporation. T.K. was thinking that it was really kind of ridiculous that he spent this whole time working out evidence, just to point it to this guy already.

"Look, I know that you used to eb really good friends with Rob. We all were. But I believe that in all honesty, he is actually not just still working in this business, but he is actually expanding it. I think he lost sight of whatever happiness he used to have." Cody said, and T.K. was thinking about what Cody was telling him right now.

"Truth be told, I feel like his promise that he made was a lie. He wasn't going to change what had happened, and he was only going to drive it further down. Everybody in this town is suffering as a result of what is going on with him." He said, and then T.K. sighed as he was hearing this.

"I think you need to see him for yourself, and confirm if this is true. He worked harder than everybody else before him. I think he deserves a chance." T.K. said, and he was shaking his head as he said this. "I feel like he was probably also too young to know what he was doing…" T.K. said, hoping to make Cody at least consider what he heard.

"T.K., I understand that you haven't seen him in nearly thirty years, but Rob is not the person you once knew. He is not this massive freedom fighter anymore." He said, and then T.K. was shaking his head, feeling like this whole thing was fucking wrong, beyond comprehension.

"I just feel like when I last saw him, he had better intentions than you are giving him credit for. This is not the way he would have done things, unless if he had no fucking choice." T.K. said, hoping to get Rob to fucking shut up at this point.

"If you believe that he is this fucking saint, then I feel like that might be kind of the fucking issue right now. He was able to get you to think things are different than they really are." Cody said, and then he was shaking his head, wondering why he was even fucking fighting Gabe at all.

"Fine. I will see him soon. Besides, I have another thing on my agenda that I need to cross off while I am here anyways." T.K. said, and Cody instantly knew what he was referring to, and Cody was feeling like this was going to be how things would fucking end now.

T.K. looked at Cody, and shook his head. "You do realize that you are going to be getting yourself fucking killed, and I just feel like I failed you because of this." T.K. said this, and then Cody shook his head. He was looking like he was caring less as time went on.

"That is my fucking choice. And in all honesty, I don't even fucking care. Those files need to be fucking leaked, and I don't even fucking care how." He was telling T.K., and then T.K. started to leave Cody alone. He felt like he was a fucking failure of a friend, and he was tired of hiding these thoughts.

When T.K. was done with hic catching up, he was then pulling up at the new motel, and he was thinking about how he was failing to keep his promises, and that this was something that he had kind of accepted at this point. He left the car, and got his room reservation, before he went right to work on Josiah's episode.

He was aware that deep down inside, there was a good chance that these older two siblings, especially Gabe, were going to fucking just never take what everybody says into consideration, and he would try to pretend like he was the hero of the day anyways. And when that happened, T.K. would be aware that he would have failed in his duty protecting people.

There was another text that he was getting. This one from his wife, and he was closing his eyes, feeling like whatever she was going to tell him, she just needed to get this over with, and stop fucking acting like they were at odds with each other. "T.K., you need to fucking tell me when you are coming back. Everybody is wondering what you are doing right now."