Disclaimer in chapter 1

Chapter 2

Tyler climbed the fire escape until he reached the sixth floor. He walked over to one of the windows and climbed inside.

"Yo, Bryce, what's up?"

"Watcha want?" Bryce said not turning away from the game he was playing.

"Is that how you gonna treat your, boy?" Tyler asked.

"What do you want, kid? I'm busy," Bryce asked again.

"Let me borrow your video camera," Tyler stated. Sitting on the bed, he reached over to the desk next to the bed and picked up a toy.

Bryce put the controller down onto the floor for a moment and turned to face Tyler. "Awwwww... Hell... No..."

"Come on..." Tyler pleaded.

"You must be smokin' something if you think I'm gonna let you borrow any more of my stuff," Bryce said. "Every time I lend you something it comes back all messed up. Remember my Method Man CD? Or how about my jacket? Or my brother's Gameboy? You know if he sees you he's going to kick your ass.."

"I'll be careful with it," Tyler said.

"That's what you said when you borrowed my CD player. That same CD player came back to me in pieces. I just got that thing a week ago, and you know what pisses me off even more...?" Bryce turned back around to play his game.

"No, what?" Tyler accidentally broke the toy he was holding. Not wanting to make his friend madder than he was. He threw it under the bed.

"You broke my Meth CD again.. I just bought it to replace the first one you broke," Bryce said.

Tyler could tell he was getting mad, but he really needed the video camera. "This is important."

"I don't care. Now get out before I call my brother," Bryce said.

Yup he was definitely mad. "You wouldn't."

"Try me..."

"You're bluffing," Tyler said smugly.

"Peeeetttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..." Bryce yelled.

"Whhhaaaattttt!!" A voice yelled from the other room.

"Shhhhh...!" Tyler cringed. The last thing he needed was to have Peter see him. Peter would beat him into a puddle of melted Jell-O. "Okay I'll leave."

"NEVER MIND," Bryce yelled back to his brother. Turning back to Tyler, Bryce spoke again. "Don't come back either."

"What?" Tyler was shock. This was his best friend.

"You heard me," Bryce said.

"It's like that?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah it's like that," Bryce said. Walking towards the window he opened it all the way. He then stood in front of it with his arms crossed.

"Aiight then. It's been nice knowing ya."

"I can't say the same."

Tyler climbed back out the window.

"Wait..."

"You want to apologize?"

"No... Give me my shirt back."

Tyler took off his jacket and placed down on the fire escape. He removed the shirt he was wearing.

"Here." Tyler threw the shirt into the window. He grabbed his jacket and ran down the fire escape.

Once down on the street and about a block away, Tyler reached into his pocket and pulled out a small video camera. Pushing the eject button to see if there was a tape inside, he smiled as his luck prevailed. There was a tape inside labeled 'SERENA BIRTH AN FIRST STEPS.' Serena was Bryce's baby sister. Oh well, he thought. He stuck the tape back into the camera and hit record.

He pulled out the newspaper and read. 'GIRL, 4, FALLS OUT WINDOW.' Samantha Owens, 4, fell out of a third floor window yesterday morning. She received a couple of scrapes and bruises with a slight concussion. The doctor who treated the girl said that it could have been worse and that the grass she had landed in had broken her fall.

Crap that happened already.

He read the article next to it. 'DELIVERY TRUCK FLIPS.' A delivery truck of Pepsi products over turned yesterday afternoon. No injuries. That would be cool to see. Crap that happened already. Was there anything useful in this paper.

Looking further down the page he saw another article. 'MAN KILLED BY BUS.' An unidentified homeless man was struck and killed by a city bus around 6:00 last evening. Witnesses say the man was chasing a shopping cart that had rolled down a hill into traffic.

This is what he needed. He would film the accident then sell it to all the news stations, and maybe Real TV. He looked down at his watch. There was plenty of time to get there.

Bryce picked up the shirt and looked at it. He noticed something on the side of the shirt. "What the hell is this... Tomato sauce..."

"That asshole," Bryce said. He looked on the desk for his video camera. It wasn't there. "That asshole..."

"What's up?" Peter asked him.

"That asshole took my camera." Bryce said. He looked around to see if anything else was missing. He looked under the bed and found the broken toy. "He broke my Parka Mulder toy... that asshole."

"Who are you talking about?" Peter asked. He watched his brother look around the room.

"Tyler."

"You mean the idiot that broke my Gameboy?" Peter asked. Bryce nodded. "How long ago did he leave?"

"I dunno, five, minutes ago?" Bryce said. He couldn't believe Tyler stole his camera.

"I'm going to kill him. Bryce, watch Serena."

Tyler arrived early on the corner of Hillside and Main. Looking for a good spot to stand, in he saw a car parked on the corner. Deciding that was as good a place as any, he leaned on a Lexus.

"Hey kid, get off my car." Chuck yelled.

Tyler didn't even notice that there was someone in the car. He quickly got off he car and leaned on the lamp post instead. He watched a man run up to the car and speak to its driver.

"Did you find him?" Chuck asked.

"No. There are so many kids out here." Gary said. "It could be any one to them." Gary looked around at the bus stop there were several teens standing there. He looked across the street. There were more teens standing in front of a store. "I wish I had a name or a description."

Tyler listened to their conversation. He wondered who they were looking for. He looked down at his watch. It was just about time. He turned the camera on and pointed it towards the hill.

Stan stopped in front of the garbage can and reached in to remove the recyclable bottles that were thrown inside. He turned around towards his shopping cart and noticed it was rolling away from him. Not wanting to lose it, he chased it.

A few seconds later a shopping cart rolled down the hill. Behind it he saw a man chasing it. Tyler swung the camera the other way to get a shot of the bus, that was stopped at the light.

He took a shot of the cart roll down the hill.

Then one of the man.

Then one of the cart.

Then one of the cart hitting the Lexus.

What? That wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to roll into the street.

"MY CAR!!" Chuck yelled. He got out of the car and ran to the passenger side. He pushed the cart out of the way and it rolled into the street.

Gary ran over and stopped the cart from rolling any farther. After returning it to its owner, he walked over to Chuck.

"My car..." Chuck said.

"TYLER!"

Tyler looked behind him and saw a furious Peter coming towards him. "Oh snap! Peter." He had to get out of here. He was about to run but Peter grabbed him.

"Hello, Tyler. I think you have something that's mine," Peter said, after he hit him once.

"Ow... That hurt!" He yelled.

"Hey what are you doing!" Gary said. He tried to pull Tyler away from Peter, but the older teen wouldn't let go.

"Who the hell are you!" Peter asked angrily. A crowd began to form around them

"Let me go!" Tyler said, as he squirmed around. Still holding onto the camera, he turned on the spotlight and momentarily blinded Peter, then kicked him in the shin.

Peter yelped in pain and let go of Tyler. He was about to grab him again but Gary grabbed his arms.

"Let go of me," Peter said. He squirmed around and Gary lost grip of his arms. Once free, he took a swing at Gary, hitting him in the eye.

Gary hit the ground, momentarily dazed.

"PETER!!" A voice yelled from the crowd.

Peter turned around to see his mother. "What the hell are you doing!"

"Um... mom..." Peter stammered. "I was just..."

Peter's mom helped Gary up. "I'm sorry... Mr...?"

"Hobson." Gary extended his hand to shake hers, while he held his eye with the other hand.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hobson. I don't know what this was about, but I must apologize for my son's behavior." she said. She turned back to Peter who was just standing there staring at his feet.

"Boy! Didn't I ground you? What are you doing out here! And where is your brother and sister?" she asked.

"I was just..." Peter was about to say.

His mother interrupted him. "I don't care! Go home!"

"But mom..." Peter was going to say something.

"I said go home!" his mother said again. "And don't talk back to me. Here..." She handed him the bags she was holding. "Take these with you."

"Yes ma'am..." Taking the bags, Peter walked away.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Hobson," she said again. She then followed her son home.

"OKAY THERE'S NOTHING MORE TO SEE HERE!" Chuck yelled. The crowd began to dissipate. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Gary answered. He touched his eye and winced, knowing it was going to be black and blue in the morning. "Where's the kid?"

"He ran off as soon as you grabbed the big kid's arms," Chuck said. "The ungrateful brat..."

Gary didn't say anything. He was already used to people running off after he saved them.

Tyler looked down at the article, which changed. In its place was an article about out of date text books in public schools.

Who was that guy? True he prevented me from getting beat up, but he also messed up my plan.

He would never finish his plan at this rate. Never make the tape and never make any money.

There's was only one more article that didn't happen yet. He read the article again. 'FIRE IN THE WAREHOUSE DISTRICT.'- A fire ripped through the warehouse district around 9:40 yesterday night, killing a security guard and injuring six others, including three firefighters. Police and fire officials are still investigating the fire calling it suspicious, but they have no leads.

Walking up the stairs, Tyler jumped over the turnstile. He then waited for the train. This was it all or nothing. Maybe he could steal the newspaper again. He knew were he had gotten this one from, but what were the chances of someone getting tomorrow's paper every day? If they did, would they be living at a hotel? Wouldn't they have made themselves rich by now? Maybe they would be mad that he stole the paper. If they found out maybe they would kill him. Maybe the paper came from future seeing aliens. Maybe it's a conspiracy by the government to alter the news. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

Gary managed to save the kid. The article disappeared and in its place was an ad for sneakers. He looked at the adjacent page and noticed something new had appeared. 'FIRE' continued from page one. He scanned the remaining paragraphs hoping to find some clue to where the fire was. There were none. All it said that the kid was going to be buried on Monday.

"Meow."

Gary looked down to see the cat as it ran in one direction. He put the page back into his pocket and followed the cat.

The cat looked towards the steps to the EL. Making sure that Gary saw him, the cat ran up the stairs.

Gary paid his fare and continued to follow the cat. When he reached the platform, a train was pulling into the station.

The cat ran onto the train.

Gray just followed. He looked around to see the cat sitting on one of the seats. The cat just looked at him.

"Meow."

"Gary! Where are you going." Chuck jumped through the train doors just before they closed behind him. "Why are you riding the El? I have my car."

Gary pointed to the cat. The cat made himself comfortable on the seat.

"I guess he wants us to take a ride," Gary said as he sat down next to the cat petting it.

"Do you know where we're going?" Chuck took a seat next to Gary.

"No clue," Gary said. He looked out the window and began to wonder himself. Taking out the page out of is pocket, he showed it to the cat.

"Meow."

Gary looked at the cat again. He put the piece of paper in front of the cat. "Is this where you're take us?" He asked the cat.

"Meow."

"What now? Where's the cat taking us?" Chuck asked. He looked at Gary and then the cat.

"He's taking us to a fire," Gary said. He handed Chuck the piece of paper.

Chuck read it. "This doesn't say much..." Chuck handed the paper back to Gary.

"I know," Gary said. "But what do you want me to do. The cat wants me there."

"You mean us," Chuck said.

"Meow."

The cat got up and ran to the train doors as the train pulled into a station. Gary and Chuck followed as it ran down the stairs and into the street to a row of warehouses.

"Now which warehouse goes a blaze..." Tyler mumbled to himself as he wandered around in the dark. He held Bryce's camera in his hand and turning it on, wondering how the tape would come out cause it was extremely dark out here. He found the little button that turned the spotlight on the camera and started to film.

"Ahem... This is Tyler Hughes speaking. This is what the warehouses looked like before the fire." He spun the camera in a panoramic shot of the warehouse around him.

"There's going to be a fire. This place is going to be reduced to ash. I think." He paused the camera and pulled the paper out of his pocket. "Damn it's dark out here." He strained to read the article. A flashlight beam shined on him.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" someone yelled.

Tyler looked up from the paper, he saw a security guard with a flashlight coming towards him.

"Hey kid! What are you doing!" the guard yelled.

Not wanting to be caught, Tyler ran. He looked behind him to see that the guard was giving chase.

He needed to lose the guard or he wouldn't be able to make money from this. Tyler spotted a nearby dumpster and climbed on top of it. He jumped up and grabbed the sill of an open window and hoisted himself through.

Tyler continued to run through the warehouse until he found a staircase, but he could still hear the guards foot steps behind him. He spotted a row of boxes. Tyler dove behind them and quietly watched as the guard looked around.

"Hey kid I know you're in here. I can hear you breathing," the guard said. He beamed his flashlight towards a row of boxes.

Tyler held his breath.

"I don't care. I'm going to let the rats get you. They're the size of cats," the guard said. He swung his flashlight towards another set of boxes.

Rats? Tyler felt something crawl across his leg. He pulled himself into a tight ball and waited. He hoped that his mind was playing tricks on him and it wasn't a rat. The guard said something into his radio, that Tyler couldn't hear. All he could think about were the rats.

"Okay kid. Stay in here. I don't mind," the guard said. He spoke into his radio, then left.

A few moments later Tyler came out from the box where he hid. After catching his breath, Tyler turned the camera back on again. He sat on the floor and put the camera in his lap after he turning it towards his face. "How do I know this you ask? I have tomorrow's paper!" He took the paper out of his pocket. He was about to read the article to the camera, but stopped. The headline changed.

'FIRE IN THE WAREHOUSE DISTRICT.'- A fire ripped through the warehouse district around 9:40 yesterday night, killing two and injuring six others, including three firefighters. Police and fire officials are still investigating the fire calling it suspicious, but they have no leads. The dead included an unidentified teen.

Why would the headline change? An unidentified Teen? Could that mean me? Tyler stared blankly at the paper. Was he going to die? He didn't want to die.

After sticking the camera back into his pocket, Tyler looked around to find a way out. He couldn't find the staircase. In his haste to get away from the guard, he didn't pay attention to where he was going. He wandered a couple of more minutes, until he felt the ground shake around him. A few seconds later there were flames everywhere.

Gary and Chuck arrived to see the warehouse erupt into flames.

"Hey did you two do this?" Two security guards ran towards them.

"What?" Chuck said. "We just got here."

"We were looking for this kid," Gary said.

"A kid?" The security said.

"Yeah, he's my nephew. We got into an argument and he ran out. We chased him this way," Gary lied.

The guard turned to the other one. "Hey Judy, didn't Tom say something about a kid?"

"Yes, he did, Mike. He said he was chasing a kid though warehouse four," Judy said.

"Which one is warehouse four?" Gary asked.

"The one that's on fire," Mike said. "Thinking about it, I wonder where Tom is...?"

"Call the fire department," Gary said as ran into the warehouse.

"Hey wait...!" Judy yelled.

"Gary!" Chuck called. "Don't go in there!"

Gary covered his face with the sleeve of his jacket. He carefully walked in and saw someone laying on the floor. It was the security guard. He grabbed the man's arm and put them over his shoulder and began to drag the man towards the door. Once outside the guard began to cough. Gary put him down on the ground.

He pulled Gary down towards him. "There's... cough... a kid ... in there. I saw... cough... cough... him. On the third... floor.." Tom said.

"I called the fire department," Judy said. "Tom? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine... cough," Mike said trying to breath. "There's a ... kid..."

Gary ran back towards the warehouse. He had to find the kid.

Tyler looked around the room was engulfed by the fire's flames. He finally located the staircase, but when he stepped near it collapsed. He looked around to find most of the windows were boarded up and everything else was on fire. He jumped backwards to avoid a falling beam. Standing there for a moment, he realized he was trapped. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Tyler looked up. Something was creaking above him. He saw a support beam swinging down towards him. He instinctively put his arms up to cover his head.

"Hey kid look out!" A voice yelled.

Tyler felt someone knock into him. He looked up to see the man who saved him earlier. Who was he? What was he doing here? Was he following me?

"Hey you're the kid from earlier," Gary said.

By the look on his face, Tyler realized that he was as shocked as he was. Maybe he wasn't following him after all.

"How did you know where to find me?" Tyler asked.

"There's no time for that. Come on, kid. Let's go!" Gary said. He pulled Tyler off the floor and pulled him towards a corner of the room.

"How the staircase collapsed," Tyler said.

Gary picked up a chair that was on the floor and threw it through one of the boarded up windows. After removing the remaining boards, Gary looked out of the window. He saw a small roof, that they could reach, if they jumped out the window. "Come on, kid. We're going to have to jump." He pushed Tyler through the window. After Tyler landed safely, he climbed out. The two of them ran to the edge of the lower roof and looked downward. All they could see was smoke and what looked like a dirt parking lot.

"Looks like we're about a story up," Tyler said. "I think we could jump down." He climbed onto the edge and looked down, without hesitation he jumped. Landing on the ground, Tyler looked up to the roof where Gary still stood. "Hey jump, man."

Gary was about to jump. Unfortunately the roof he was standing on, crumbled beneath him.

Tyler just watched as the man had fallen through the roof. He heard voice coming from the other side of the warehouse. Not wanting to get caught. He ran.

The police and fire department arrived shortly.

"What's going on here?" A familiar voice said. Chuck turned around to see Detective Crumb.

"Fishburn! You what are you doing here?" Crumb said to Chuck.

"Who me?" Chuck asked.

"Don't be cute," Crumb said.

"I was with Gary. He wanted to see a warehouse," Chuck said.

"You told us that you were looking for you nephew," Judy said confused.

"Hobson?" Crumb asked. He could feel a headache coming on as soon as he heard that name. "Where is he?"

"He's in there." Chuck pointed towards the fire.

"Why am I not surprised." Crumb said. "What is it now, a kitten?"

"A kid," Mike said. "He pulled Tom out of the fire and went after some kid who was inside. I hope he's okay."

Crumb liked Hobson. True the kid was a little weird, but he was a good guy. "I hope so too."

He felt guilty, sort of. The guy saved him, twice. The least he could do was see if the man was okay. He turned back around to see if the man had gotten out. Maybe he could get some footage of the fire. He reached into his pocket and pulled the camera out. He shook it and it made a funny sound. He pressed the power button and looked through the lens. It was still working but the lens was cracked. He turned around and ran back towards the warehouse.

Once in the front of the warehouse, he stopped. There were cops everywhere. He didn't want to stick around now. Oh screw that guy. He shouldn't have gone into the warehouse. Tyler ran off. This time he never stopped.

Gary was momentarily dazed. He looked around and noticed that he landed in a large wooden crate that was filled with Styrofoam. Luckily the box wasn't on fire. He climbed out of the box and looked around. All he saw nothing but smoke and flames.

"At least the kid got out," he thought to himself and hoped that there wasn't anyone else in the warehouse. He tried to get up but he was having trouble breathing. Forcing himself up out of the box , Gary staggered in one direction. He really hoped that the door was that way. Closing his eyes, Gary stopped and fell to his knees and began to cough uncontrollably. He couldn't walk anymore, it was too hot and the smoke was too thick.

Gary felt something lift him off the ground, but couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. He was placed onto something soft and something was over his face. When Gary opened his eyes, he looked up to see Chuck standing over him.

"Gary!" Chuck said.

"Uhh..." He couldn't speak. He was tired, but he forced himself to sit up. That's when he realized he was sitting in an ambulance.

A fire fighter walked over to the ambulance. "Hey. Did you get the kid?"

Gary nodded. The paramedic pushed him back down onto the gurney. He didn't argue. He just went to sleep.

Tyler got home and put the camera onto his bed. The audio video cables from his Nintendo and connected them to the camera. He turned the TV on and pressed play.

There was nothing but static.

He opened the camera and looked at the tape. It melted. Throwing the camera across the room, Tyler went to sleep.

Gary awoke at the hospital a little after midnight.

"You're a very lucky man, Mr. Hobson. You've suffered minor smoke inhalation, and passed out due to the heat." The emergency room doctor said to Gary. "We're just keeping you for observation. You can go in the morning."

"Hobson. Should I ask why you were at the warehouse?" Crumb asked as he walked into the hospital room.

"Detective Crumb... I was..." Gary said trying to make up something.

"On second thought... I really don't want to know," Crumb interrupted. "Anyway, we caught the guys who set the fire. Turns out to be an insurance scam."

"Did you find the kid?" Gary asked.

"No, but one of the fire fighters saw a kid running away from the warehouse."

Gary nodded and went back to sleep.

Epilogue… A week later.

Tyler walked into the Blackstone Hotel. He was stopped by Boswell. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Um... yeah, I'm here to see my grandma." Tyler said. "I know where I'm going."

He rode the elevator up to the sixteenth floor. He walked up to room 1611. The slightly ajar door was covered by yellow tape. He pushed the door open, and looked into the room. Everything was charred.

"Tyler?"

Tyler turned around to see his grandmother standing behind him.

"What are you doing here so early?"

"I just came here to see you, Granny," Tyler lied. "What happened there?"

"There was a fire yesterday, the only room to get burned was that one."

"Oh."

Tyler realized that he would never see the paper again.

"Come on." She led him into her apartment. "Tell me what you've been up to while I was on vacation."

The End.