Hey guys, sorry for the wait gap. School started up and I've been having less time to write. Hopefully you guys don't mind waiting a little bit more, more information at the end of the chapter.

"I know that, whoever finds this, you're going to be surprised, scared, maybe in shock. I don't know. But you have to be calm. Whatever you do, remain calm. Team Saber is watching, always, and they will be able to pick up on any little action you do. You should be okay in your homes and in any private residence but the second you're on the streets, it's anyone's game.

"If you work for anything related to the police or criminal justice or whatever, please be careful. You guys are probably my best bet. If it's just one person, keep it to yourself. If it's a group, keep it that way. Restrict their internet, use wiretaps and security cameras to the extreme, I don't care. Just don't let it come from your hands."

The camera's battery was dead, of course. However, as far as they could tell, it was still in good working condition save for a couple scratches and flaked colour on its bottom.

Derek was still skeptical even when they stopped by the retro electronics store to pick up a charger. The camera was old, very old, and the odds might not be totally in their favour should the data inside be corrupted in any way. Although, after they left for the precinct, Brian could sense a little gleam in Derek that suggested his doubt was fading.

He felt the same way although he had a shortage of uncertainty. In fact, he knew this was going to work. No two ways about it. The camera had somehow fallen behind the desk and got roughed up a little bit, but that didn't matter. It would work. It would fucking work.

And as he sat behind his desk, watching the little yellow light on top wink at him ceaselessly, that thought process only strengthened.

"You stare at that thing long enough and you'll go bug-eyed," said Derek.

"What are you, my mother or something?" he replied, turning his attention over to his partner.

"If I was, and knowing your history, you would've been grounded a long time ago."

He laughed, "Sames goes for you, man."

Derek waved him off, "So is it charged yet or do I have to keep snapping you out of your childish fixations every five minutes?"

"No, it's not, and also-" Brian flipped him the bird, he was flipped right back. "How could you not be excited about this? Whatever's on this camera could blow this case wide open. We could get a picture, a name, maybe even motives…"

"That's considering there even is anything on there."

"Well, don't jinx it, asshole. I'm feeling confident."

Pele mumbled in his sleep, turning himself over to his back in his makeshift bed before rolling over to the other side. Brian reached down and scratched behind the Growlithe's ear.

"Out like a light, eh?" said Derek.

"You'd think he had a power outage or something." He brought himself back up, took a glance at the camera, and then said, "So? You got the money yet?"

"No, but I bet you wish I did."

"Damn right, now c'mon, make wit' da dough," he said, putting on a mobster voice that got a chuckle out of Derek.

"Alright, let me guess… Hank 'The Blade' Dawkins? From 2015?"

"Close, I was going for Cody 'Polka' Polark from 2014."

"Oh, they practically had the same voice anyway."

"That sounds like another layer to the case to me, wanna add it to the file?" Brian asked, knowing the answer that would come.

"Big nope on my part, I'm not falling down that rabbit hole of shit and insanity again."

"Fair enough, fair enough." He leaned back in his chair, keeping his eye on the camera. A sigh escaped him, that little blip they had between each other back at the Silverline was far behind them. Boy, was he glad for that. Now, the case was all that mattered, and that was good.

"Hey, I was thinking after work we head on over to Buck's for a nice cold one, how 'bout it?" asked Derek while typing something on his computer.

Brian thought it over, Buck's was their go-to choice of a bar if they needed to wet their whistles. It was considered a bit of a dive establishment but had good clientele and fights were rather rare. Then something else spoke up in his mind and he said, "Nah, I think I'll go clean tonight."

The typing stopped, "Really?" The voice wasn't ill-willed, only surprised.

He leaned up, "Yeah, I don't know, I just.." he took a breath, "Yesterday was the most clear headed I'd ever been in awhile. I know how that sounds but it's true. Personally, I don't really want to get wasted all over again, at least not today. I kinda like how I'm feeling right now."

Derek scratched his head. "Huh. Definitely didn't think that you, of all people, would turn down something like that. Are you going fully sober?"

He shook his head, "Nah, probably not. I'll still go out with you on the occasion, but no more binging."

"I think I could get behind that, though that only leaves me with more money you can steal right out of my pocket."

"Maybe you should be safer with your bets."

"Well, next time I-" He was cut off by a sudden ring. His hand went into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. As he read what was on the screen his eyes went wide and then he sighed. "Sorry, gotta take this." He added, smirking, "It's the missus."

"Ah, no problem. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Derek nodded, "Yeah, well, let's hope not. The last thing I need is for Nicola to tell me that I left the stove on for the third time." He stood up and walked off to answer his phone.

Brian watched his friend go into the break room and bent down to pet Pele again, the Growlithe pushing his head up into the palm. Whether that was signify affection or the annoyance of a hand shoved at you while you were sleeping was unclear. Though, as Pele continued to snore, emitting pleased noises as he did, it revealed itself to be the former.

To think, just two days ago, he was freaking out over something he hallucinated, something he knew wasn't real. It was harsh for him to force himself to think that, yes, Matthew was dead. But it was something he had needed to accept for a long time and never gotten around to. Perhaps that's why he had kept drinking for all those years.

Maybe, but who am I to tell? I'm no shrink, nor would I want one, he thought.

He looked over at the camera and got a jolt to the system. The winking yellow light had turned a solid green. Its screen glowed bright with its brand logo and then turned back to black. A smile crept to his face.

His hand went the camera and held it close. He almost didn't want to turn it on, in case there actually was nothing. But he pushed through, touching the power button to be once again greeted by the logo. It stayed only for a moment before a menu appeared before him. Only two files were on the camera and they were both dated to January 19th, which matched the date of the incident, but one of them was a few seconds while the other was four minutes.

Should he wait for Derek on this? It was his case too, after all, and he would definitely want to see what the videos held for it.

No. I'm the one who suffered during this case, I'm the one found the camera and I'm the one who wants to solve it more. The tone he had thought that with had a surprising amount of animosity that came with it.

Using the controls on the side, he highlighted the video that was a mere six seconds long and pressed play.

It started off rather plainly, he was given an in-your-face look of a large winter coat before the person wearing it backed up and-

Oh Arceus… Oh fuck… Oh fuuuccckkk…

Derek came back some time later but Brian didn't initially notice. He was staring at his monitor which still held the home screen on it, the wallpaper being of him and Pele playing in the snow. It were as though he was drifting between the boundaries of shock and comatose.

His partner's voice was what brought him back, "Hey, you alright there, Brian?"

His eyes fluttered and all of a sudden he was lost in a coughing fit. As he steadied his breathing, he saw his Growlithe was looking up at him again, giving him the look he had been haunted by for the last few days.

"Um.. U-umm.. Yeah… I just… kinda got lost in my thoughts for a second.. Sorry to freak you out." He scrambled for something to throw Derek off his scent. "S-so what did Nicola say?"

"She just called to say that she loves me. Then we went on for a few minutes, pillow talk and that sort of thing."

That didn't sound like he was telling the truth but that didn't matter because- Wait, wait, wait. A few minutes?! He had been staring into space for that long?

"Enough chit-chat, let's get into that camera. It's charged, right? I'm not being fooled by that green light?" asked Derek, grabbing it off of Brian's desk.

"No, it-it's all charged."

He fiddled with the buttons in a similar manner that Brian himself did and his positive expression took a nosedive. "There's nothing here."

"Really?" said Brian, trying to be inconspicuous.

"Yeah. Shit, I guess I really did jinx it, huh?" He shrugged his shoulders and exhaled before getting a glow back in his eyes. "Maybe…"

He turned the camera over on its side and picked at a tiny tab with his fingernail to get it up. "That explains it, no SD card."

"That's… but- but that doesn't make sense. Maybe it's from someone else."

He shook his head, "Jeremy said that it's the slow season right now and he hasn't had any guests in that particular room since late november. Which makes me think someone actually took the SD card out. I don't know if it was Jeremy or someone else."

"Yeah, it sounds r-right. Hey, could you be an awesome guy and get me a coffee? I could really use one right now."

Derek nodded, "No problem and Brian?"

"Hmm?"

"I get that you were really into this case, but it's not over yet, don't get down in the dumps just because of this."

Brian smiled, it was fake but it seemed to work, "I get it, just a little bummed out."

He walked away and Brian was finally able to let go of his breath. He put his hand over his pocket, making sure it was still there. That the thin, little, square object hadn't somehow disappeared from him.

The SD card was still there.

"Growl.. Growlithe.." said Pele.

He looked down, "Hey there, little buddy. Want another treat?" He reached over to the bag of treats on his desk and took one out. "You're getting one for doing nothing, I'd say that's a good deal." He held it out to him.

But Pele didn't accept the treat, instead he gave him that look again. The look when he knew that something was wrong.

"Stop it, Pele. Or else you don't get the treat." Though, even just a few seconds after his statement and he saw Pele still giving him the look. He knew the Growlithe wouldn't stop.

10 hours later

She knew that this was a dream. From the moment she saw the scenery around her she knew it was so.

The walls were wood, bark actually, as they were in the hollow of the largest tree in the forest. It had a peaked entrance on either side of it and the ceiling gently tapered off to a point. There was enough room to stand but she and the rest of them there were sitting attentively.

They were all still Riolu, including herself. She was sitting between two others who she didn't know well, and didn't expect to. The one who they were all facing was none other than Elder Arphal. He sat in a meditative position, barely a gray fur to be found on him but still had all his tribal markings and personality with him.

It wasn't just a dream, it was a memory.

"Now, I want you to concentrate on my aura," he said in a warm tone, "I'm aware that some of you still may be unable to see it due to your age but I must urge you to try."

One by one, they closed their eyes and Shali followed suit. There were those who hadn't developed a strong aura sense yet but luckily enough, she wasn't among them. As soon as she focussed a smidge of concentration, his aura illuminated her vision. It was a seamless palette of red and orange that made her feel calm. Oddly enough, it almost seemed too easy for her, she felt as though she hadn't even tried.

"Do you see it?" asked Arphal.

"I- I do!" shouted Kaya, "I do! I really see your aura!"

That shook her concentration and for a moment the aura disappeared but it returned full force quickly. Kaya was one of them who had never gotten a hold of aura sensing so to hear suddenly proclaim that she could now see it was interesting.

He gave a hearty chuckle, "Yes, it seems you do. Now you may open your eyes, children."

And so they did. Some gave Kaya a rude stare, most likely for causing them to lose focus, and then shifted their attention to the elder.

"I don't want any of you to be angry with Kaya for her abrupt shouting. It was her first time seeing aura, correct?"

"Yes, elder," she replied meekly.

"Do you know why she saw it this time?" he asked the entire group.

Save for the wind whistling through the hollow's entrance, only silence had responded.

Arphal spoke up, "To answer that, please concentrate on someone's aura, but not mine, and try to see it."

Shali closed her eyes again and focussed on the Riolu to the right of her. It didn't come out as easily as the elder's did. Actually, it even seemed to flicker in and out of focus, it's focal point always shifting. And the longer she tried to get it back to a crisp image, the more dizzy she felt. In her practice, it had always been to look at an aura briefly and determine what it meant. Never had she looked at an aura this long and yet, when she saw the elder's there had never been this effect.

She opened her eyes and saw that she had double vision. Even while sitting, she nearly fell over and had to place her paws on the ground for balance. All around her, the Riolus had their heads in their paws or were laying down, breathing heavy and slow.

"I take that the experience was a less than pleasant one," he said. "Continue taking deep breaths until your sight clears. I can assure you it will help."

After about thirty seconds of breathing, much of which was filled by complaining due to headaches, which Shali could relate to, the group was well again.

"What did you see this time?"

"Dahinda's aura was so blurry and freaky looking!" said someone.

"Hey! Yours was too!" replied someone, presumably Dahinda.

"Was not!"

"Was so!"

"Please, children, calm yourselves. This is not the time to be fighting one another," he smiled, "I'm sure you know that sparring is tomorrow. I appreciate the spirit in both of you but it has no place here, do we understand?"

"Yes, elder," they replied in unison.

"Very good." He scanned across the group, seeing if anyone else would make any comments. When he saw no takers, he spoke. "I am certain that everyone who did indeed try their hardest to see aura found the same results as Dahinda and Rowta did. The aura being, as Rowta put it, 'freaky-looking'."

Some snickers arose but were quickly struck down by Arphal's stern yet affable look. He continued, "This is completely normal for you to see."

Shali raised her paw, "But yours was so… smooth."

"And yours will become that way as well. But you are all still children and your auras will change and fluctuate rapidly. Don't be afraid of it, every creature who has ever graced our world has gone through this phase. As you move through childhood and adolescence your aura will stabilize. You all will become the Lucario you were destined to be." He stood up, stretching his limbs. "And during this transition, a few of you may experience a greater change than others." He looked at Shali, "You will most likely be one of them."

She felt dread coming over her. What kind of change was he talking about? Was it good? Bad? Whatever it was, she wasn't looking forward to it.

It seemed the elder had picked up on her troubled state of mind. "Don't be worried, Shali. It won't affect you in any way, I promise that."

She relaxed, but only tentatively, "What is the change?"

"I take that your father hasn't told you of it yet?"

Her father hadn't told her a lot of things. He had almost always been preoccupied by tasks the tribe had given him. Even when there was free time there was never that… connection between them for there to be something as genuine as a father-daughter conversation. "No, he hasn't."

"I see… Well, your father has an extraordinary aura power which he uses commonly for the benefit of our tribe. He has the ability to bind aura. To diminish the power or even halt whoever he locks in on." He bowed his head in thought, "Your family was one of the few in our tribe who was blessed by Sphaera so many generations ago."

"Hey! My dad said something like that too!" a voice said.

She looked over her shoulder to see a shiny Riolu behind her. Had she been the older and more experienced version of herself that she was currently, she would have taken extra caution whenever Azen was in the same room as her. But this was the past, where she was rather blissfully unaware of who was really talking behind that child's voice of the shiny.

Arphal nodded, "Yes, Azen, your family had also been blessed alongside Shali's."

Azen jumped up, "Tell me! Tell me what cool power I have!"

"Hmm… Yes… I do suppose you wouldn't know considering circumstances," the elder said in a very low voice which Shali picked up on. Azen's parents had died due to a raid from another tribe, her own mother had perished the same way.

"Your family had gained the ability to… resist anything related to aura."

"I… I don't get it.." he replied, losing enthusiasm.

"Perhaps… a demonstration will help." He beckoned Azen forward. "Rowta, you can come up as well."

Both Riolus weaved their way through the group and stood before the elder.

"Rowta, you can go over by the wall. And Azen, stand by the entrance."

They walked to their opposite sides and faced on another.

"Well, it appears sparring has come rather early. Rowta, I want you to throw an aura sphere, I don't mind how strong it is. And Azen…"

"Yes?" He listened.

"... Try to get hit by his attack."

A very loud and unanimous 'What!?' rang through the hollow, Azen's voice being the loudest among them all. Surely he was joking. He wouldn't blatantly try to get a student hurt, would he?

"Please do not get the wrong idea, children. Azen, I know it sounds very odd but I ask you to trust me for this, okay?"

Azen hesitated but nodded. "Okay."

The elder looked back over at Rowta. "Attack when you are ready."

The Riolu by the wall began charging a small, translucent, electric-blue sphere of aura. It wavered in his palms from the distress he had. Aside from a choice few, Shali was not one of them, their aura spheres as they were now were not condensed attacks of energy but rather a brief light show. That's not to say damage couldn't be done but it would be the equivalent of a slight punch.

Rowta took a last hesitant glance over to Arphal, and was given a nod of confirmation. Azen closed his eyes tight. The anticipation was wearing away at everyone. Shali could hardly keep her eyes on it.

The aura sphere left Rowta's palms like an arrow, carving its way through the air and focussed like a laser beam on its target. It hit. A bright light followed by an explosion that echoed through the hollow and pained their ears.

But as they could all see, Azen was apparently unscathed.

The shiny opened his eyes and frantically looked over his body. His search found nothing. He was completely fine. "It… It didn't even hurt…"

"This is what your aura resistance does. It is an ability that prevents any damage that anything related to aura causes to you," said Arphal, nodding.

He looked at his paw and formed an aura sphere in it. "So… aura doesn't hurt me?"

"That… is correct, Azen. You can sit down now."

At this point in the memory, Azen would cease his aura sphere, and sit down and the lesson would carry on for a little while longer.

But that didn't happen. Instead the aura sphere got bigger and bigger. It emitted ghosty forks of blue light not unlike lightning. Now it was nearly impossibly big, too big for a meagre Riolu, even for one as strong as Azen.

No, the memory had deviated now.

"I'm not sitting down," said Azen. He fired the sphere, faster than any Shali had seen before. It hit Rowta square in the chest, flinging him against the wall. He slid down and lay limp on the floor.

The dream was now a nightmare.

"Azen! Stop!" shouted Arphal. In an instant, he was over on the shiny, pushing him to the ground and holding his arms down.

The Riolu's eyes narrowed in a death stare. A blinding white light engulfed Azen and he turned into a Lucario. A stark, crazy smile took over. "You can't stop me, old man."

Azen's arm glowed white and sent Arphal reeling with a sky uppercut. The elder flew up and hit the ceiling of the hollow. He came back down in a crash, kicking up dust around where he laid.

Panic had set in now, everyone was scrambling around each other to get to the exit. Shali was one of the few managing to keep ahead of the crowd.

Unfortunately, that meant she was one of the first to nearly run into the now towering Azen.

The Lucario charged two aura spheres and fired them at the two Riolu in front of Shali. Both of them were blasted back and smashed against the bark, sharp cracks ringed through the hollow.

She felt the fear freeze her in place. Azen moved forward, the echoes of his steps boomed like thunder. He reached down and closed his hand around Shali's throat, effectively cutting off the airflow. She thrashed in the grip, desperate to get that one, even infinitesimally small breath of air. But she couldn't.

Leaning down, the shiny Lucario spoke in a growl. Coarse but all the more lucid. "Mine," he said.

In his spare hand, he formed an aura sphere. This one the big one he had killed Rowta with.

The light was blinding but she couldn't look away. It got bigger and bigger and bigger.

"You. Are. Mine."

He fired the sphere, and then…

Then she was awake, staring at the ceiling of her and Matthew's hotel room.

She was breathing. There was no chokehold on her. Actually… she felt like she was the one choking something. Her eyes darted left, and saw the deathgrip on her spear, which she had put beside her bed when she began sleeping.

Beyond that was Matthew, who hadn't woken up. His sleep seemed to be deep and dreamless. Oh, how she envied that.

They were on separate beds, Matthew choosing to take the bed closest to the door. It was odd to Shali, sleeping on a bed. She had spent her entire life resting essentially wherever she could. It wasn't bad to her, that was just how she grew up. Suddenly transferring over to a bed was, much like the soccer game, interesting. Not necessarily good or bad, just interesting.

Before she had gone to sleep, she had the idea to sleep with Matthew. Surely, considering it was terribly cold outside, he would be shivering through the night much like he had been the last few days. Yet, before she could even give a second thought, he was dozing.

He was still in that same position now. His white hair was splayed over the pillow. He didn't even bother drawing the comforter or a blanket over his body, which was still fully clothed.

Mine.

She gave her head a shake, trying to get that voice out. It was only a nightmare after all. Nothing in there was real or could hurt her.

Right. That's right. I'm okay, she thought. But that didn't quite convince her. That memory was so clear and vivid, even the monstrous turn it exhibited didn't seem to stray too far from the realm of possibility.

You. Are. Mine.

Her paws were shaking. Not noticeable at first, she became increasingly irritated by it. Even with the safety of the spear in her hand they still shook. She laid her paws in front of her, laying the spear across her lap. She looked at them, perhaps trying to stare them down into conformity.

Not much to her surprise, they didn't comply. If anything, it got worse.

What was she missing?

She kept looking at her paws and noticed the symbol on her right one. Then she saw the one on Matthew's.

To respect and care. That was one of the vows they had done together. And in the forest, they promised each other they would follow them.

She put the spear aside and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She looked at her symbol, then at the paw that bore it. It was still shaking. She pushed forward and moved it towards Matthew's.

Two inches away from his hand, she stopped. Was this wrong? Should she just wake Matthew up and tell him what she wanted? He had been relatively understanding so far… would he even mind if she did it anyway? And she didn't want to ruin his sleep after he had gotten so little of it over yesterday and the day before…

Her paw moved forward and ate up the last two inches. They connected. It was so simple, her paw laid on top of his, not even squeezing in the slightest bit. But for whatever reason, her shaking stopped. Almost too abrupt for the comfort to set in.

Though she didn't need to, she slowly began closing her paw around Matthew's. That feeling of completeness, it pushed all the thoughts of Azen out.

She looked at him. He was sleeping soundly away, no hint of awakening any time soon. His aura was similar. It was calm, serene, not worrying about whatever would happen next. How he could be this way with the threat of Team Saber over him she would never understand.

But that didn't mean all of his aura was uniform to that nature. Neo's little portion of instability. Albeit calmer than usual, it still gave her unease whenever she saw it.

"What? Am I really that unattractive?" a voice suddenly spoke.

Shali jumped. The shaking was back.

She had seen Neo physically only once before. But back then, Matthew had been aware of it, and he had a good grip on the situation. Now he was asleep, and she was seeing his twin she never wanted to see. At the base of Matthew's bed he stood.

And he was gone. Poof. Nowhere to be seen.

She looked back and around for any sign. Nothing. Her eyes rested on her paw, which was now disconnected from Matthew's hand. She reached back over, hands shaking even more vehemently than before and reconnected.

Just like that, Neo returned, arms folded across his chest, wearing a peculiar smile.

"You shouldn't be so scared. You saw me before, I couldn't do anything then. What would I do now?" he said.

Her thoughts, scattered with the presence of Neo, were nevertheless coherent enough to understand the logic of the situation. He was right. But she wasn't about to trust him so quickly.

"Why are you here?" she asked quietly, keeping a firm grip on Matthew. Ready to squeeze hard enough for him to wake should she need to.

Neo paused for a few seconds before speaking again. "I'm always here, you should know that. You've been keeping tabs on me. I'd be almost flattered if it weren't for the fact that you absolutely hate me."

Shali growled, "Yeah, you're right. I do, and nothing is going to change that."

He shrugged, "Well, it's not like I can change your opinion anytime soon. I'm pretty sure you'd tune me out pretty damn quick. Can I ask why though?"

"You're garbage. Your aura is wrong, it shouldn't exist at all. I don't know what brought you into this world but it can go burn in hell. The world wouldn't lose anything if you disappeared," she spat, then made herself stop. She was getting too loud. Matthew might hear.

Neo smirked, let loose a brief giggle, and burst out laughing. "Oh! Oh my Arceus, you are terrible at lying!" He went on for quite awhile, doubling over and almost falling on his knees. His laughter tapered off eventually, although the attempts Neo made at speech afterward were plagued by the resonate murmurs of hilarity. "That's a l-little harsh, sorry. Heh. But it's more of not telling the whole truth."

She bared her teeth, toxicity ready to pour out. But she stopped herself. Neo was right. She hadn't told everything… but how did he know that?

"Come on, Matthew's psychic and I'm always with him. You haven't made the connection?" Neo said, almost sounding smarmy.

Just like that, she instinctively used her aura bind but only directly at that little piece of Matthew.

Visually, there wasn't much change in the posture of Neo but he was locked in, there would be no more mind reading for him to do. That smile though. He still had the fucking smile.

"If you read another word in my head, and it'll be the last thing you do," she said, low but dead serious.

"You don't want me in Matthew's aura because it's the only thing stopping you from liking him."

She was perplexed, "That's not true, I like him. He's my friend."

Neo giggled, "Right. Sure." He unfolded his arms and gave a scratch on the back of his head. "Look, I might appear and sound like Matthew but I can assure you, I am possibly the furthest thing from him. Don't let your perception of me affect him."

Her confusion deepened, what in the world was he talking about? She knew from the get-go that Matthew and Neo were different. The spectral twin had said as much. She still liked him, but what did that have to do with anything? Did even matter if she liked him or not? He was her friend and that-

Oh. Oh, no. He can't possibly mean…

"No, You're wrong, he's my friend, and only to that point."

Neo smirked, "Whoa, hey, I'm not trying to accuse you of anything."

You fucking liar, she thought.

"Leave, Neo."

"Alright," he said. He turned around and began fading into transparency. He became opaque again suddenly, "But one more thing. You might want to tell Matthew whatever you were going to say sooner rather than later. I have a feeling once he picks up momentum it's gonna be hard to stop him." Then he was gone.

"Hmm.. Shali? W-Why're you up and… Jeez.. Are you trying to take my hand off with that grip?" muttered a tired voice.

She pried her sight from where Neo once was and saw Matthew, eyes barely peeking out, looking at her. A little lower, she realized her paw was squeezing so hard that his hand had turned white.

"S-sorry." Her paw eased and a healthy pink returned. The thought of letting go came to mind. The thought of the continuous shaking did too. Like that, they still remained connected. "I had a nightmare."

"Oh, shit," he said quietly. His eyes opened a bit more and he sat up in his bed. He ran his fingers through his hair. "You okay?"

A smile, regardless of how small it was, came to her. "Yes, I am."

He nodded understandingly, "Alright, that's good. Did… you want to talk about it?"

She briefly considered it, then said, "No, I think I'll be fine." And in part, that was true. The way his hand was on her paw, she was fine.

"Fair enough," said Matthew. He sat forward a bit more, "So… are you gonna keep holding my hand or something?"

Again she loosened her grip, and the brief tremor in her paw she felt made her tighten it back up. Her smile quivered, "I-if you don't mind… I kind of want to.."

He replied with a simple hand wave, "No problem. Anything you need, I'm here."

Shali's smile came back up to full strength, "Thank you."

They were connected for a long while.

Brian looked at the SD card in his hand.

For the love of Arceus, just put the fucking thing in, he thought.

He had no idea how long he had been sitting in front of his laptop, the debate whether or not to place this evidence, this stolen evidence, had been going on for so much longer than he wanted it to. The light of the crescent moon shined in his bedroom, illuminating the computer and the desk it sat upon.

The fact that it was stolen was really more of a footnote in the grand scheme of things. It was just… did he really want to see Matthew again?

Of course you do. What did you spend seven years of your life doing?

Sure, that was all too true. But he had moved on, it may have taken some time but it had happened. Whenever he involved himself in anything related to Matthew, it had dragged him down. The scary thing was that whatever Matthew had on here would inevitably lead him down the path that he had briefly treaded across. If a few seconds of video caused this much havoc for him, what could four minutes do?

Does it matter? Realizing you could never find Matthew was the thing that sparked those tendencies.

That was true. But guess what? Realizing Matthew was and most likely still is out there resparked them. Damnit, Matthew was a friend but he could have lived without knowing he was still alive.

How can you even say that? Maybe you want to live your life but it's never going to change what you've found.

Sure. It might change, yes, but ultimately it was for the best.

Really? You really think that? Is the constant pressure that Matthew is alive really not going to affect you?

No, he wouldn't let it… This stupid SD card, it was not worth the trouble of all this. What was even the point except the fact that Matthew was on it… And he probably talked too… And…

Fuck.

He slid the SD card into the little slot and secured it's position with a small click. The computer gave a little jingle and the device icon appeared on his home screen. He moved the cursor over the icon, highlighting it and then put his head in his hands.

"Shit… Just do it, Brian," he told himself. His hands clenched into fists and then relaxed again.

He clicked the mouse twice and it opened up with a display of folder labelled 'videos'. Clicking that led to the two files he had seen before, instead of run time, he could see one had taken up much more memory.

"Arceus, help me."

He pulled the cursor over the larger file and clicked it. The video player opened, buffered, and began playing.

It started off very much the same as the smaller video. A closeup of the parka, Matthew backing off and eventually sitting on the bed.

"My name… is Matthew Elgin Alexander and… I guess I'm supposed to be dead. At least that's what everybody has been thinking for the past six years…" said Matthew.

Arceus, he even fucking sounds the same.

"Well I'm not. And whoever group or person finds this video, don't show it to anyone else. Trust me with this, the things that I am about to share are never to be spoken about openly. You'll see why."

Please, Matthew. Please tell me this is worth it.

He was numb. But anyone would be while watching the video. Four minutes suddenly felt like hours as Matthew told him that every single thing that happened around could just be the byproduct of some clandestine organization he had never heard of. Team Saber? Neo-humans? What the fuck. What the actual fuck. He could barely keep his eyes on the screen. It didn't help that Matthew had white hair, apparently had psychic powers and a fucking alternate personality, yet was talking as smoothly and calmly as he was. The only fuel he had was the desire to learn more. The desire that entailed this relentless, almost masochistic, ball of initiating madness growing in his head.

"I have to repeat myself… Please, do not take this video public... For your sake and mine, please don't…"

He found himself unconsciously nodding at this statement. It was almost as if he had entered a semi-hypnotic state, simply going along with whatever Matthew said.

Then Matthew reached into his bag. Brian knew what it was even before he saw it. It still caused him to suck in his breath when he saw the black muzzle of the pistol.

"I… I have to do this to attract people, okay? Others don't know about my ability and if I just fire randomly… it'll blow over fast. People will come, the police might too… Hopefully someone will find this… Someone not with them."

Again, he nodded. But it was becoming too much, too much to handle now.

As though answering his prayers, the recording abruptly stopped.

He immediately got up and grabbed his phone. He went to the phone app and called the number at the top of his list. It rang for a very long time before he eventually got an answer.

"Hello?" a very exhausted voice said. He only now realized that it was ten at night.

"Derek, you still good to go to Buck's?" he asked, quick and blankly.

"Brian… It's so late, man… We'll go tomorrow."

"Tonight. I'm going right now. If you wanna come, go ahead."

There was a brief silence, letting Brian hear his own heavy breathing.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked.

He tensed, "Yes… Yes, I'm fine. And I'm going. Are you?"

Another silence, "Yeah… I'll be there. But you pay for my first two drinks as payment for stealing my five hundred."

"Fine. See you there."

He hung up, stuffed his phone in his pocket and headed out of his bedroom. His only stop was in the kitchen where he had hung his coat on one of his chairs. Before long, he was ready to walk right out the front door.

But Pele was standing in front of him.

Despite some lights being on, most of the house was still dark. This didn't hinder Brian from seeing the Growlithe's shiny black eyes, nor that look, that fucking look, which he was giving him.

"Move out of the way, Pele," he said.

Of course he didn't move.

He took a few steps forward, testing the waters to see if Pele would actually physically try to stop him. He doubted it but was nonetheless careful.

"I'm leaving, buddy. I'll be going to Buck's with Derek. Probably home around midnight."

Pele didn't respond, he only continued to stare.

He's not going to attack me.

He moved forward, stretching his arm over Pele and opening the door. It swung halfway out before smacking against the backside of a particular Growlithe.

He's just trying to stop me.

He sighed and bent down. He took Pele into his arms, feeling no resistance from the canine, and set him down behind him.

I'm sorry, buddy.

The door opened fully this time. He stepped through, looked back briefly, felt remorse, and shut the door, sealing the house.

In the darkness, Pele sat, unmoving of where Brian had placed him. He whined, wishing Brian had listened to him. What are you doing, Brian? I don't even know this Matthew but he couldn't have wanted you to do this, right? he thought.

The car outside started with a low grumble. Pele hung his head in failure.

Hey guys, time for me to give you a bit of a heart-to-heart.

So, as I've said at the beginning, school is starting again. Not only that, but this is my senior year and as of me writing this, I have already applied to five different universities and colleges for next year's fall semester. Things are kind of getting stressful for me and I absolutely hate it. I understand this is my future I'm getting into but goddamn, I wish I had gotten a bigger warning of how hard it was going to be.

As I'm sure some of you are wondering, my writing may become less often as on top of graduation, there are many other things that I am a part of and have a duty to.

Honestly, writing is so fucking awesome to me. I really like being given an idea or coming up with one on my own and just writing about it. To me, it's practically therapeutic. Yes, with all the stuff I have, there will be less time but that does not mean I am going to quit writing. Far from it, in fact.

The only thing is, and I'm sure you've heard it before from other writers, the fact I almost feel burned out at some points. In this chapter for instance, I was writing the beginning and near the end of Brian's section, I could feel myself slowing down but as soon as I started writing Shali, I was at top speed again. However, nearing the end of that section and I ended up in the cycle again.

My fear is that if I continue on this trend I may feel permanently burned out about this story. And I don't want that, as I love this story as much as you.

So I propose this:

I have an idea in my head, a oneshot, to be exact. And I am going to work on it right after I finish typing this author's note. My thoughts are that if I let my creative juices flow on another project, I'll be able to touch on concepts that I may want to implement into Binaural as well as giving me more time to plan out how I want the 10th chapter to go (planning on being a long one, maybe more than 10k words).

Maybe some of you really like this story and want to see it updated faster. And I'm here to say that it's really hard for me to give you that. I'm no professional author who can crack out three thousand words per day. I'm a student who only has a few hours a day to put a couple hundred words down. Even when I have free time, I don't want to always spend it writing, there's much more to life than that. So... Sorry.

Anyway, the working title for the oneshot I'm planning is "Stained Glass". Take that as you will.

TL;DR: Life's busy, feeling a little burned out sometimes, planning on working on another project to keep the creativity going, next chapter's gonna be quite some time away, sorry I can't update sooner.

Alright, that's all from me.

Please leave a follow or favourite if you enjoyed and feel free to review! I love reading all comments and criticisms.

Peace!

- Minusbomb