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.

2. The Falls (remaster in progress)

April 9 2021

When T.K. was done with writing the first episode of his story, he was standing up, and he was kind of annoyed with how long it had taken. Eleven days to get just one of these done, and he was feeling like he was never going to be getting this whole thing done. Before he was thinking too deeply about it, he sent the document to his publisher, hoping that this would at least be published upon his death or something, and that with each published episode, readers would get more and more interested in actually knowing what really happened.

He also sent Joe the document, as per promised, and closed his eyes as he was wondering if Joe was really wanting to get involved in this at all. Or if he was going to read this, and probably just tell T.K. that he wanted out of this really fucking badly.

He started to walk off, and he was walking to his front door, for his next bi hourly cigarette break, this was when his wife was walking to him, and he was feeling like what she was wanting to ask him something that he wa snot going to really enjoy hearing, in the every fucking loving slightest.

"Hey T.K., do you want to tell me about the book you have been writing anyways?" She asked, and T.K. was shrugging, simply having no interest in having this discussion at all. "I mean, Lucas has been kind of getting in my business about it for a fucking week now. I think you need to give me something."

"I don't know what you should fucking tell that fucking guy. I mean, he's too young to understand the matter of what was happening." T.K. said, and he was seeing her looking like she was kind of upset with the way he was talking at that moment. He was heaidng back to the store, to pick up more materials, and his wife was placing her hands on his arm, as a way to get him to stop fucking moving.

"Just tell him that I am writing a biography, since I feel like that is something that my readers fucking deserve." T.K. said, and then he was getting in his car, and as he was driivng off, Joe finally texted him back.

"Do you think you will try and contact the others about perhaps getting them to help you out?" Joe asked, and T.K. was thinking about that. It was a great question, and T.K. felt like he needed to be fully honest in his texts. After all, they were still a fucking team, no matter what else was happening.

"I am going to perhaps talk to Tai first. I think he would be the least likely to be a hostile asshole over it. But I think Matt would barely even want to talk about it, and with Mimi and Izzy, I think that the former probably has genuine PTSD, and Izzy is always fucking working. I guess maybe Ken and Kari would be willing to work with me. I think Cody will work with me, on the condition that it is to pardon his father, and I am frankly shocked that Davis even talks about it as much as he does." T.K. sent the text, feeling like he just needed to leave it alone with that, for now.

"So basically a fifty fifty. Okay. I guess that makes some fucking sense. Well, regardless, I'll just keep in contact with you, and let you know how things are here." After he said that, T.K. sighed, and shook his head, as he got out of the car, not really in the mood to continue talking about this.

Before T.K. ended the conversation, he felt like he needed to send one final text, as a way to make it clear to Joe that he was not trying to take advantage of him. "Thanks for being there for me. My only regret was that I never went into this sooner, when people might have been more willing to help me out."

Once T.K. was in the store, he wondered how Davis had ever been able to forgive him, given everything that happened. To be honest, the fact that the two even still talked every year or two was something he was amazed by. He never fulfilled his promises, and he felt like a fucking asshole.

Never more than two weeks have gone by where T.K. did not think about Yolei, and the fact that she was gone, and that Davis had truly given up everything for her. Yolei's disapperance frankly changed Davis's entire character, and every time Davis and T.K. talked about it, T.K.'s heart fucking broke a bit more.

As soon as he bought his next three packs, and his twelve pack of Monster, and his Boars Head sandwich, he got another text from somebody he wasn't aware of. He was reading it, and decided to play along, despite being really not in the mood at all about it.

"Hey, this is Todd Robinson Jr. I heard that you were colleagues with my father a few decades ago. I'm his oldest son, and I was wanting to tell you some of the things that happened in Wayside lately." The text said, and T.K. was sighing as he read this. He didn't even know the guy had any kids at all.

"Okay. Go ahead. I am working on another book, so I guess that I can fucking help you when I need." He said, and then with that, he was starting to hang up, since at this rate, he was really not in the mood at all. He felt like this guy was far too young for this. But if it was material for the book, then it would have to be good enough.

"Thanks dude. I know that this might seem sudden, but I knew that you are probably the only person who would be willing to fucking help me out. And I am fucking scared out of my mind what is even fucking happening in this town. I'll tell you something else later." Todd said, and then with that, T.K. sighed, not really in the mood to be having this discussion right now in the first place.

"So Todd, why are you getting into this anyways?" T.K. sent in the text, feeling like he needed to see what the mans intentions were, and if they were as good as Todd might have been trying to lead on.

"I have been trying to talk to my dad about it, especially as a private detective, but he just always tells me off. And my twenty first birthday is tomorrow, and at this point in time, I feel I am too old to be hiding behind this whole thing anymore." Todd sent in the next text, and T.K. sighed as he read that one.

"Trust me when I say that I wish that I was as old as you were when this whole thing ruined my entire fucking life. You have no idea how much everything I have ever done has been thrown down the drain because of my actions." T.K. sent, feeling like he just needed to try and be honest with Todd here.

"Well, my youngr brothers and sister are getting interested in this, and I am starting to see that some of them are obsessed here. I feel like if I don't take the job for myself soon enough, they will be throwing away their entire fucking lives." Todd's text said, and T.K. was shaking his head, feeling like this was a bad conflict.

"Go ahead with what you need. But I need to talk to your fucking father too. That man is the only person that I can still trust in Wayside." T.K. said, remembering all the times that they had worked together, and despite what his son was thinking, he was sure that Todd Senior was just doing this with the best intentions in mind.

"Send me what you need later." T.K. replied, and then he left the text conversation, as he was getting out of the car, and then he was sitting down on his chair. He looked right at his wife, and he was seeing her looking like she was still not happy with this at all.

"I hope you know what you are fucking doing. I really fucking do." She said, and then T.K. slowly nodded, feeling like he was able to fucking see where she was coming from. He hated this fact, but he was not going to fucking argue with her at all. He wasn't even sure if it was the best bet either.

"How about I print off every finished document when I am done, and I give them to you. Do whatever you fucking want with it, but when you feel like Lucas is fucking old enough, then go ahead and let him read the entire fucking story. That way he can choose what he fucking believes here.

"Okay. I guess that I can fucking accept that. It's better than fucking nothing at all." After she was telling him this, he was laughing, and he was feeling like when she had said that, she had made her fucking point, and there was no point in even fucking arguing with her at this.

"So T.K., I know that you are not going to tell me your story right now, but I do want to know, is this related to the friends you had back then, that you said you do not fucking talk with anymore?" As she was asking him this, T.K. was feeling like he just needed to fucking respect her fucking question, and not be a complete asshole here.

"Yeah. To be honest, what happened to my friends is all a part of this. I wanted to do what was right, but I ended up paying the price of it in a couple of fucking weeks. I mean, I should have taken one of their statements more fucking seriously." T.K. said, referring to the Kenta conversation. He would never fucking forgive himself for not taking her more seriously the first time. No matter how many years had passed, he wished he took more action about this.

"That was all so long ago. You need to give yourself some fucking credit, and stop hating yourself so fucking much. I mean, I am sure that she would fucking forgive you if you just simply apologized." As she was telling T.K. this, he was laughing as he heard this. Not because he actually thought it was funny, but because she was not aware of what had even fucking happpened at all.

"The fact that you think that shows that you really do not see what is at fucking stake." T.K. said, and he was turning around, and popped up a new document, as he was pulling out a cigarette. As he was shaking his head, he wondered why his wife cared about this so much.

His wife was thinking about what they discussed, as she walked off, and T.K. was thinking about the next episode of his story. He wondered if his wife would ever really understand why he was still never forgiving himself for the mistakes he had committed when he was younger, or even when she knows the context, tell him that it was still so many years ago that he needed to let it go. But he started it, and did not give it a second thought.

---

Episode 2: The Falls

Scene 1: Melissa's Promise (Tai's POV)

June 11, 1986, Later Afternoon

Now that it has been a while since the grinding noise had gone off, I was able to sort of think again, and not be thinking about the grating blast at my ears. My eleven year old sister Kari was looking at me, as if feeling like she just needed to talk about something.

"Hey Tai, can I ask you something?" She asked me, and I was looking at her, not sure what her goal was going to be. I rubbed my eyes, not sure what the point of this was. "What do you know about that grinding noise? It has been bothering me a lot lately."

"Kari, I have no idea. I never once looked into it. That is sort of like the main mindset that people have. Just leave it alone, and pretend like nothing fucking happened." I said, and I was seeing her looking like that was not exactly what she wanted to hear.

"Well, I just want to see if you would be willing to check it out, and see what the hell is going on here. Hearing that noise scared the shit out of me." Kari said, and I was hearing from the tone of her voice, that she was being totally serious. When I saw that, I sighed, knowing that I couldn't say no.

"I can try. No promises though. I mean, I have no idea where to start." I said, feeling like saying that, and just leaving it there, would be enough to make her want to make her want to drop the subject for the time being, and stop constantly crawling down my spine.

As I sat down, I was thinking of a conversation that I made with one of my friends. The girl that I have a crush on too, once Kari was gone, and willing to accept my promise for the time being. I was wondering why I brushed off this promise for so long, when it was one of the most important ones I could make.

I was sitting down at the town well, waiting for Melissa to show up, wondering why she even asked me out here in the first place. To be honest, the whole thing sounded fucking wrong. But at the same time, I wanted her to be happy.

To be honest, I was kind of hoping she would declare her love for me, and we would be able to go on a date. I placed my hands at the back of my head, wondering what it would be like to finally go on an date with Melissa, and to show her that I loved her.

Eventually, she was there, and I was looking at her, and I was seeing how breathtaking she was. I was trying to just find a way to contain my excitement for what was going on. But I just told myself that I needed to fucking stop, before I completely made her feel too uncomfortable at this.

"Hey Tai, thanks for showing up. I was worried that you were going to be a no show. Considering the fact that we hardly talked too much." After she was telling me this, I was smiling at her. Just knowing that she was still willing to at least show some cordialness with me was enough to keep me going.

"I was wanting to ask a very important request for you. And I understand if the answer is no, but I just need to know." She said, and I looked at her, and I was wondering what angle she was planning on playing at right now.

"I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to look deeper into the whole missing people situation at Wayside. I mean, I know that I am probably never going to be in danger or anything. But to be honest, I'm scared. I want to just know that somebody in this town is showing a sign of actually giving a shit, and willing to change it." After she was telling me this, I was looking at her, wondering what she expected me to do.

"Melissa? I mean, I feel like such a thing will be impossible." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and I was looking at her, feeling like she would fucking hopefully see that this was something that I was not going to be playing around with. She closed her eyes, looking kind of upset at this.

"Come on. I just need a person to tell me they care about this situation enough to do something about. I think you're one of those people, if you just look deeply enough." She said, and I was closing my eyes as she was saying.

"Well Melissa, what exactly do you expect me to do? There's not much I can gather for you." I said, feeling like I just needed to be firm with the fact that I was feeling like this whole thing was fucking bullshit. She was looking like she was just wanting me to fucking stop.

"Just promise me that you will look around, and see what the hell you can be able to find. I mean, besides, you have a younger sister that you are trying to watch out for. I think that she would appreciate it if you tried to find the truth as well." Melissa said, and I considered that for a second.

"Yeah, I guess that you might be right. As much as I fucking hate to fucking say it." I said, and then I was shaking my head, wondering why in the world I was even fucking falling for this shit to begin with. "Melissa, I have no idea what I can do. I will be honest. But I can see what I might be able to fucking find."

"Well, I just have a feeling that one of these days, I am going to be the next victim. And to be honest, I would be so much happier knowing that somebody that I trust is willing to at least try and make a fucking difference." Melissa said, and I was happy to hear her admit that about me.

"Don't fucking say that about yourself. There is no fucking reason for you to be thinking that you are going to be the next fucking victim." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with her as I said this. Melissa was looking at me, feeling unsure what to say.

"I didn't say the next one. I just said one of the next ones. And to be honest, in the town we live in, I think we both know that sooner or later, everybody is going to fucking run out of luck. There is no reason to be so fucking upset about it." She was telling me, and I was shaking my head at this.

"I guess that with everything going on, that might be fucking fair. Okay. I guess that as much as I hate to fucking admit it, I do sort of fucking see what you are fucking saying." I said, and I was sighing in annoyance. I hated to admit it, but I suppose it had to be done.

"And to be honest, I guess that I do have to be thankful for every day I get here. Every time that goes off, I have that fear it will be my turn. And then nothing happens, and then I am able to live life at least relatively normal for the next couple of months, and be happy once again." She was telling me, and I slowly nodded, getting how she was feeling.

"And as much as I hate to admit it, despite the fact in large part my heart aches for those girls who are just going missing, I do feel a sense of relief knowing that at least it will not be me this time. To be honest, I just have to be happy for that much now." As she said that, I had no idea what the hell I was even going to be saying to this.

"I guess that makes sense. You pity the people involved, but you are happy for life. There is nothing to fucking be sorry over. That makes perfect fucking sense, honestly." I said, and I was not even fucking telling her that to make her feel better. She looked at me, shocked to hear me say that to her.

"Well, I mean, I think that it's the fact that I get these feelings literally just mere days after cases sometimes, and that my mind stops thinking about what the families are doing. I feel like that is where things go fucking wrong. The fact that I only find myself caring a little bit." Melissa said and I was sighing, and I felt like even if I did not agree, she was being fair.

"Just don't beat yourself up too much over it. I mean, I understand you feel a certain way, and I am glad that you feel comfortable enough to talk to me about that, but I think that you need to just see that there are bigger things you can be scared over." After I was telling her this, I saw her looking like she was trying to consider what I had been telling her.

"At least you're not telling me off, or acting like I'm not allowed to feel certain ways, because it is partially bringing myself down. It is like people are just fucking scared of me being allowed to have a fucking opinion." She said, and she held my hand for a second, and I looked ahead of me, thinking about how glad I was to feel this way.

"I promise the next time the grinder noise goes off, I will keep a very close eye out, and the second I learn you are the one who is gone, I will drop everything that I am doing for you." After I was telling her this, she smiled, and then placed her head on my shoulder, where I started to get a boner.

"Just make sure that you will be ready for any outcome at all. No matter what." I said, feeling like I just needed to really get her to fucking see that, no matter what. She sighed in annoyance, but choose to just let it go, for the time being.

I looked up at the sky, and I was letting the reality of what she was telling me sort of settle in. I was feeling that since she understood how things were with Kari, that I might as well just go along with what she was saying. It was annoying, and I fucking hated it, but I knew better than to argue. When she was gone, I thought of the promise that I had just made, and I wondered if I was ready for it at all.

When I was done thinking about that promise that I had made Melissa, and started to realize that what I said to Kari was just a way of getting further in that promise, and make my sister finally love me, I knew that I had no choice but to do it.

One thing that I knew though, was to fucking go and check the waterfalls though, first. I had no idea how to put it, but I was convinced that they were going to be the first place that I needed to check. And if for nothing else, I was sure I would be covering ground that nobody else had before.

I just hoped that by doing this, Kari and others would be able to fucking see that I was trying my best to fulfill my end of the deal. My best to actually do something that fucking mattered for once. This was what I needed to keep me fucking going forward.

---

Scene 2: Tai Confidant Scene 1 (T.K.'s POV)

June 17, Afternoon

When Tobias and I were done trying to get to talk to Ocho, but him not being there, that was when we were walking by. I was getting kind of tired of this, and I was feeling like there was no point in even fucking bothering this anymore. As I was thinking this, that was when I was seeing some older guy walk to the forest.

I was hearing the entire time he was walking in that direction, him saying stuff like "this is fucking crazy, this is fucking crazy." I looked at Tobias, and I was wondering what was going on, that caused him to constantly say that a bunch.

Tobias and I walked up to him, since I was feeling like this was a fucking chance that we would be able to have in order to corner him, and get him to tell us everything that was going on. "Hey, it's not safe to go in there." Tobias said, feeling like that would be a way to start this conversation. I looked at him, feeling like that was not the way to make this point.

"I don't fucking care. I told my sister that I would check stuff out here, and I guess that I now have no fucking choice but to look." He said, and then he sighed. "Why do you even fucking care anyways? You're clearly probably buying those stories about monsters and skinned men."

"My cousin fucking went missing, and I assume that this is a good place to start fucking looking for her, you asshole." Tobias said, and that was when I was seeing the other guy instantly realize what was going on. He sighed, feeling like he had gone too far with this.

"Oh shit man. I didn't realize that was you. Sorry about that. I should think about what I say." He said, and then he was taking a deep breath. "Look my name is Tai. I have a younger sister, Kari. I promised her that I would at least check the grinding noise, to bring her peace of mind."

"But yeah. I think that if you don't really want to have the patience to deal with me or anything, after what I just said, I guess I understand." He said, and then I was looking at Tobias, and I wondered what Tobias was going to be saying to this.

"Well, I mean, if you are going to be checking into this, for your sisters sake, then I feel like we can fucking work together. You know, since there is no reason to be hostile for no fucking reason." After Tobias said this, I was feeling like I might as well just go along with this now.

"My name is T.K. I'm just fucking helping my friend out with this." I said, feeling like I was just needing to make it clear that this was no pleasant situation, and I was still mainly focused on fucking work. Tai walked in the forest with us, thinking about what he wanted to say.

"Look, how about we just fucking work together? You know, until something comes up. I think that I will cover the waterfalls. That is the best thing to do so far." After Tai was saying this, I was looking at Tobias, and I wondered what Tobias would think here.

"Did you try and tell Kari that you didn't want to really do this?" I asked, feeling like this was something that everybody was like when they were first getting into this. Tai sighed, and nodded, feeling no need to lie about how he felt.

"It's such fucking bullshit. I hate doing this. But truth be told, I also made a promise to somebody else. Somebody who I really care about." After Tai said that, Tobias was hearing the wistfulness in Tai's voice, and started to get a smile across his face.

It was the first time I saw Tobias smile in any way since this whole thing started. "A girl named Melissa, that I currently have a crush on. I told her that if she were to ever be put in danger, I would try and fucking save her." Tai said, and then he shrugged, feeling like there was no point in hiding this anymore.

"So basically, you're saying that the power of boners is stronger?" Tobias asked, and then Tai looked right at him, and shook his head. Simply thinking that if Tobias was just going to be acting like this, then there was no point in even arguing with him at all. This was something that he just felt like he deserved better than.

"Wow. You had to find a way to completely fucking ruin it. But anyways, yeah. I guess. But the truth is that I have my own reasons, and I think that should be enough for you." He said, and I was seeing him looking like he was just kind of barely keeping his patience in tact as he was saying this.

"I also promised my younger sister Kari that I would try and find out the answers as well. I have a feeling that she is just trying to push me to be the best man possible. But I guess that you guys don't really care about that." Tai said, as I was wondering how my life would be different if I had a sister.

"My friend Davis said that he feels like his entire outlook on life would be much different if he had a younger sister that he was forced to watch out for." I said, feeling like I could get the sentiment across, while not giving details away of the fact that it was actually happening.

"I think I know that guy. He seems like a nice enough guy, but also seems to be in his own fucking world. Not to mention, he is always trying to impress that girl Yolei." Tai said, and Tobias looked down, feeling kind of sad over hearing that. I wondered if I should tell him about what happened with Yolei. Maybe Tai would show a different side to his presentation.

We walked a bit further into the forest, and started to trip up a little bit. "God this is disgusting." I said, and looked right at Tai, shaking my head. "Now why the fucking hell do you want to go to the waterfalls anyways? Nothing is fucking there." I said, or at least, I didn't think that there was. Tai looked at me, as if feeling like he was able to appreciate at the fact that I was invested at least.

"That's because something is fucking there, you idiots. If you do not fucking trust me, that is something. But something is fucking there, and it just has always given me the wrong vibes." Tai said, and then Tobias was stopping in his foot steps. Thinking about something, as he looked down, and saw his shoes completely ruined.

"Fucking great. Anyways, I think Tai might be onto something. I heard stories about that one guy at the gas station, Sheldon Lee, and he said something about how he found the scarf of one of the missing girls there." Tobias said, and then Tai looked at me, and shrugged, as if feeling like this made his fucking point.

"See… My fucking point proven. Something is going on there, and we need to fucking look. But to be fair, the forest is rather large. If you want to do other shit instead, then I will be fine. Maybe in two or three days, we can fucking meet up, and try and discuss our progress." Tai said, and I was sighing, feeling like this was a pretty set in stone situation.

"Okay. I guess that can work. What do you think, Tobias?" I asked, feeling like this was a team effort, and he was the closest thing to a leader we had, and he was slowly nodding, feeling like this was a great fucking idea, for now.

"Yeah. But you better fucking tell us what you fucking find there, or else I am going to be hunting you down." Tobias said, and I was seeing Tai looking like he was actually kind of shocked with the way that Tobias was saying this. Almost like he was actually kind of scared here.

"Okay. I promise you guys that I will give you everything that I fucking find. No excuses. To be honest though, I think it will be a fucking waste of god damn time." He said, and I was wondering if I was going to fight him on this or not. Since I felt like he wasn't even completely wrong.

"And to be fair, nothing you can do would be worse than what we have. So far, we have the name of her boyfriend. That's fucking it." Tobias said, feeling like that was literally one small smidgen above nothing.

"Thanks for trying though." Tobias said, and then with that, Tai was thinking of something that he would be able to say. To at least try and make the situation at least slightly less bad for people.

"T.K., just make sure that you also try and talk to your brother more about this. Your brother really wants what is best for you, even if you do not realize it. And I think that he has every right to be worried about you." He said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like he needed to stop that shit right now.

"Sorry about your cousin. I think most people who want to do good here will help you. Just try and find the right people first, before you lose all hope." He was saying, as he was walking off for a second, and I was feeling like this entire thing was fucked up.

"I just sometimes wish I would wake up one day, and then realize that this whole thing was a dream, and that I can see Andrea again. But I guess that maybe something like that is just beyond happening." Tobias told me, and I looked at him, wondering what in the world I would even tell him. Since he clearly gave this thought.

When we were done talking with Tai, and Tobias and I started to go our separate ways from him, I looked at Tobias, and I was wondering what he was even thinking about with this. "I think that this is a good sign that other people are going to take this as seriously as we are, and that we just need to find those people." I said, and I was seeing Tobias look like he was getting confident once again, even if only a little.

"I just wonder if he will actually really do what must be done when it comes time. After all, he talks about how he will, and that he wants to, but that might not mean anything when it comes time." After Tobias said that to me, I was shaking my head, feeling like he needed to give Tai some fucking credit for what he was doing.

I mean, with his promise to Melissa, and his promise to Kari, I was feeling there was no reason in the fucking world for Tai to not do whatever he could to help us out, and I was feeling like Tobias just needed to see that. Even though I guess I did see where he was coming from on having a lack of trust in certain people.

Tai Confidant Rank 1

---

Scene 3: My Best Friend (Tai's POV)

June 12 1986, Late Morning

I decided to go to Sora's house, and and see if maybe I could get her to work with me. When she answered the door, she looked at me, and I was seeing her looking like she was more confused to see me here than anything. "You do know that I am supposed to go on a fucking date soon, right?" She asked me, and I looked at her, as if pissed at the fact she was hardly caring to see me anymore.

"Yeah, I know that. But I feel like I need to see how you are doing right now. I just wanted to talk to you about what I promised Kari earlier, and see if you would be able to help me." I said, and she looked right at me, shocked that I was suddenly asking her this out of nowhere.

"What did you promise her?" She asked, clearly just sounding like she didn't want to be a part of this discussion. I sighed, and I was happy to see her finally open up with me a bit. I hated the way that Kari played me like a god damn fucking fiddle.

"I promised her, as well as Melissa, months prior, that I would try and save them if something ever were to happen to them. I love those girls, but to be honest, I am now starting to think that I went in over my fucking head." I said, and I was shaking my head, disgusted that I was telling her this in the first place.

"Oh shit man. Did you seriously think that was smart of you? They are going to be holding you to that, and don't say that I didn't warn you if you start to feel a bit over whelemed here." Sora said, and I was shocked at the level of annoyance that she was showing me.

"I don't think it was smart. But it was the best move that I had. And now I feel like I made a massive mistake, since I don't want to tell them I would do this, and then just completely fucking fail." I said, and I was rubbing my eyes, feeling pissed off that I was suddenly admitting this in the first place.

"Well Tai, I hate to say it to you, but I think that you just need to be careful with what you do. I mean, I am trying really hard to have a good boyfriend here, and this is something that I am sure will just be getting in the way." She said to me, and I really felt like I was being fucking worthless around her, and I was now realizing I truly was the fucking last wheel.

"Well, I don't really want to get in the way of that, so forgive me for even trying to talk." I said, and I was starting to head off, and she was looking right at me, and I saw her start to calm down a few seconds, as if feeling like she needed to give me some patience.

As I was leaving, Sora called out to me, and then I turned towards her. "How do you even think you could do something like this in the first place?" As she asked this, I looked right at her, and I knew that she was right. She was always right, and that was the thing that hurt me.

"Honestly, I have no fucking idea. I mean I was thinking about just talking with random people from high school. They always seem to have a answer. I was planning on going to that labyrinth party at one point, but I think that might be a fucking mistake." I said, feeling like the labyrinth party probably wouldn't have helped anyways.

"Maybe I should ask Melissa again, and see what she fucking knows. After all, she was dead set on this whole thing earlier, that it might be a terrible idea to not look into that." I said, and I was shaking my head, wondering why I was even telling Sora this.

"I hope you know that this is exactly why I was telling you that hanging out with Melissa was not a great idea. She always just screamed danger to me, and I feel like this is proving that." She said to me, and I was slowly nodding, feeling like maybe she was right, but I had nothing else to fucking say this point.

"Please don't bring Melissa down like this. She was always doing her best, and I think that she needs to be given another chance." I said, and I looked right at her, and I was wondering if she would try and argue with me here. I could see from the look on her face that she was just clearly uncertain on how to pursue this.

"I am just telling you the fucking reality. And I think at this point, if you are refusing to see it, you have nobody to blame but yourself." She said to me, and I was feeling the need to fight back further. But I decided that she already felt this way, and that trying to convince her further was only going to be wasting both of our times.

"Sora, I will show you that there is more to her than you fucking expect." I said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like I just needed to try and make my point as clear as humanly possible, and then as I was taking another step or two, Sora was walking up behind me as well.

"Look Tai, I think that it might be best if you go on and meet Matt. Maybe that can take your mind off of things for a bit. I mean, I know you might not like him too much, but I think that you just need another friend." She said to me, and I looked at her, shocked, and mildly annoyed, with her reaction.

"Yeah, and then what? Deal with the two of us arguing about how I believe he's holding his younger brother back, and then get into yet another fucking fight over that? I honestly don't even think it would be worth the time and effort to put into it." I said, and I looked right at her, wondering what she would say.

"Well, Mat has explained to me a lot of the issues that he had with T.K. in the past, and to be honest, I totally get why he did what he did. I think Matt was just trying to make sure that T.K. stayed safe, but simply couldn't." She said, and I was shaking my head, not really sure if I even cared about that.

"He's thirteen years old. He's not a little kid anymore, and he needs to go out and do things for himself, or else he will be bound to make the same mistakes again. Matt does not fucking understand that at all." I said, and I even saw from the look on her face, that I was midly right.

"You just said it. Yes, he's not a little kid. But he is still one at the end of the day, even if he doesn't realize it." She said, and I was shaking my head, not in the mood to hear her say this, and not in the mood to argue with what I knew was bad behavior.

"Well, Kari is eleven already, and I already know that I could not treat her like she was some fucking baby, and I would not be catering to her constantly like what Matt tries to do with T.K. Why do you even care what my feelings on the matter are anyways?" I asked, and I looked at her, feeling like I just needed her to be fully real with me.

"Because I feel like he is not being given a fair enough chance, and I feel like you need to just step back, and look at him. I mean, I was able to see something in him this whole time, and you seem to just reject that idea the whole time. Especially as a person who claims to respect my opinion a lot." She said to me, and I simply shook my head as I explained that to her.

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess that I can set something up. Maybe we can do it tomorrow, after I am done with talking to Melissa. And that can give you time for your date too." I said, and I looked right at her, wondering if that would be enough to make her happy. She nodded, feeling like she would be down with my reaction.

"Thank you Tai. I mean, when you see him again, just promise me that you will actually listen to him, and give him a chance." Sora said, and I was feeling like whatever she would say, I just needed to take it for what it was, and stop trying to fight her on this.

"Okay, I fucking get it." I said, and then I realized quickly how much I raised my voice, and kind of took it out on her. I looked at her, and I saw her looking shocked to hear my reaction get to that level.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have reacted that way." I said, being fully honest, and feeling like I just needed to give her something to feel some comfort at. "But I just sometimes feel like you are trying too hard to sell me on this Matt thing, and that is the issue that I have right now." I said, feeling like I would just explain to her my feelings.

"To be honest, I think that maybe a part of it is jealousy. I mean, you told me that you really liked Melissa, and until I started to get to know Matt, I did actually like you, a lot, and I guess that I just let that get in my head. Honestly." Sora said, and I was looking right at her, feeling like I kind of knew, but hearing her confirm it, did change my mind a bit.

"Well, Melissa had been there for me so much this school year. She was giving me so much advice, and making me feel like I was a good student, who actually had a good future. That was the main reason I was trying so hard to impress her the way that I had been." I said, feeling like I would just be fully real with her as I said that.

"I get why you liked her, but that doesn't mean that I automatically have to fucking love it. But then I started dating Matt, who I really like, and I thought that I would no longer be jealous. But jealousy was replaced with concern for my best friend." She said, and I was shaking my head as she told me this.

"And I'm sorry that I just kind of brushed off your feelings, and didn't really pay attention to you when you needed it. I mean, I really screwed up, I will admit. But I thought that you and I were just friends." I said, feeling like maybe providing closure, for now, was for the best, and I wanted her to see I cared.

When I was leaving the yard, for real this time, I was feeling like Sora was going out of her way to make sure that my opinion was basically pushed to the side, in order to make sure that Matt got a lot of credit. In all honesty, the whole thing just kind of reeked of "what the fucking hell am I here for?"

I mean, I understand having a devotion to your boyfriend, and I understand that she wanted to really make this whole thing work. But she was taking it way too far, and at this point, she was literally throwing away her best friend so she would get in his pants. At least that was how I took it at the time.

---

Scene 4: Love's Blockade

June 12, 1986, Evening

That night, I was at Melissa's house, which I only knew because she wrote it down on a piece of paper for a school project, that I never went through with. And when I was there, I knocked on the door, and she answered it, seeming relatively confused at the fact that I was there.

"Hey Tai, what are you doing here?" She asked, and I was hearing her sounding like she was kind of on edge, and I smiled, hoping to get her to finally open up again. "We're in summer break already..."

"I wanted to talk to you about the promise that I made to you at the fucking well all those weeks ago. And I was wanting to know if you were having that something was about to happen to you." I said, and I was seeing her looking shocked that I was suddenly bringing the subject up like this. Probably thinking that I was confirming that I was way beyond my fucking league.

"Well, I don't really know. That is the scary thing. I never have any idea what in the world is happening here, and I feel like you are probably one of the few people that can make me feel better. After all, you are probably the most trustworthy person I know." She said, as I looked right at her, shocked that she admitted this.

"Well, to be honest Melissa, I just feel like I can't turn back, due to the promise I made to my younger sister Kari." I said, thinking about that talk over and over again.

"What did you fucking say?" She asked, and I could hear her sudden interest in teh subject coming back. Well, I was feeling like that was a start, at least, but I needed to try and see what else she might be willing to say.

"She was basically telling me to make her the same promise that I made to you. Simple as that. I told her I would do this, but that I didn't really want to go down this path." I said, and I saw Melissa considering what I was saying.

"Shit man. I mean, if I'm being honest, I almost forgot about that promise, and discussion, because it was so random, and out of nowhere." She said, and I slowly nodded, feeling like that was fair enough.

"But yeah, now that I made that pact with my fucking sister, there is no way in hell that I would be able to change it now. And I was just telling you that no matter what happens, I am going to do this." I said, and shrugged and I was starting to feel like enough had been said, to make the point.

"Thanks for not backing out." She said, shocked that I was doing this, and then she hugged me, which I was shocked at, and I was happy at the same time, as I took her in. I wanted this so badly, so to get it, was what I wanted.

"Don't worry about it Melissa. I mean, I was wanting to talk to you about something else the first time, but I just backed up, because I was feeling a bit scared." I said, and I was shaking my head here.

"Oh shit. What were you wanting to talk about?" She asked me, and I was considering telling her my feelings, but I was feeling like telling her this was going to only make things worse for her, and I was not really in the mood to deal with this.

"I think that it would be a good idea if we continued our friendship into the summer. I mean, I felt like we really connected when we were hanging out at school last year." I said, hoping that this would make her see that I was going to do whatever I could here, to make it better.

"Really? I'm shocked to hear you say that. You always seemed like you were trying to pursue your friend Sora." She said, and I was barely keeping my annoyance together, since I did not want to think about Sora whatsoever.

"To be honest, I gave up on Sora a while ago, when she started to date Matt, since I know that makes her happier. And I want her to see that no matter what happens, I will support her choices." I said, feeling like I just needed to end this discussion as fast as possible.

Melissa closed the door, and I was seeing that she was clearly considering something else. "So Tai, I think that I would like to go back to that well again, and just take some fucking time there." She admitted, and I was shocked that she was suddenly wanting that again.

"Do you like going there?" I asked, and she nodded at that, and I wanted to try and tell myself to not let my feelings come through again, since I was scared at how she would react if she saw what was really on my head.

"Yeah, I do. I was planning on going there that night anyways. Your request to see me there was juat a good excuse for me to come. And when I was there, I decided it was time to ask you to help me. And when you accepted, I was feeling vindicated. Knowing that my theories were proven correct." She said to me, and I smiled, knowing that I was getting her to finally open up with me.

"Well, my friend Sora was kind of hinting that I am not the best person socially, and that I need to try and open up with people more. She was telling me that I needed to give her boyfriend Matt a chance, even though I feel like he might still be a fucking asshole." I said, and I was feeling like I just needed to stop that subject, and keep my feelings to myself.

"What makes you feel like he is a asshole?" She asked me, and I looked right at her, wondering if I could probe her on the issues more.

"As I was explaining to Sora earlier, but the way that he smothers his younger brother, just feels incredibly unprofessional, and it feels like he is going out of his way to make sure his brother doesn't have a proper chance to live." I said, shaking my head in disgust at what was happening.

"Well, I mean, how young is he?" She asked, and we were well on the way towards the well, and I was telling her his age. And I could see from the look on her face that she was also relatively confused by that too.

"Yeah, that is a bit strange. I mean, I could kind of understand if he was like nine or ten. But thirteen is in middle school, and you already have to deal with GPA. That is a level of responsibility to handle." She said, and I was glad that she was finding herself agreeing with my point here, and it made me feel like I needed to present that point to Sora.

We were eventually at the well, and I was feeling like I would get to know Melissa more, and see what her problem was. "So Melissa, I wanted to know why you like this place so much? Did you used to go here all the time or something?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"Just the quietness of the place, and being able to stare at the moon without any issues. You know, I always wondered if something was kind of calling out to me, in a matter of speaking." She said to me, I looked right at her, wondering where she was heading with this.

"Yeah, I guess that I can see the appeal to that. I guess that is one of the reasons I loved going to sports. Just being able to fucking distract myself, and not worry about what anybody else thinks of me." I said, and I felt like that was something that needed to be given extra emphasis.

"Yeah, I guess that I do see that. I wish that I had as much interest in that shit as you did. I kind of considered it once or twice, but in all honesty, I just never really got myself the desire to go out there, and actually see what I was capable of. Just kind of felt like there was no point." Melissa said, and I felt like I needed to give her pressure to keep going.

"Well, I think that is something that you got to build for yourself. After all, if you have something that you don't really care for, then there is no reason to look into it." I said, not sure what else she was wanting to possibly fucking hear.

"But my fucking parents don't agree. They always tell me that I need to branch out in the community more, and actually try and get involved and what not. I mean, I guess that I can sort of see what they mean, but still..." She said, and I was wondering why she was so lost as she said that.

"Fuck your parents. They need to understand that you need to do things at your own pace. After all, if you're happy, then that is all that fucking matters." I said, and I shook my head, feeling like there was no need to be telling her anything else.

"Well, they have been doing so much for me, that I couldn't ever just brush off what they said completely. That would be really bad for me to do." After she was telling me this, I looked right at her, and I felt like she needed to stop caring about that fucking bullshit.

"Well, I think that you can still look at what you feel should matter to you the most. After all, you're in high school. You're not a kid anymore, and you need to just be yourself once again." I said, and I saw her shaking her head, as if feeling like I would never understand it.

"You know Tai, I just wish that I was able to look at things with your level of optimism. But I guess that maybe something like that would just not be possible. After all, I never know if my plans will ever be able to go through anyways when I am around." She said, as I looked at her, feeling like I just needed to try and see what I could tell her here.

"But do you really want to spend that time just being scared, and alone? At least if you go out there, and make every day count, then one of these days, if something were to ever happen, then you would feel better." I said, and I saw her looking like she was finally considering what I said, which was a nice change of pace.

"Thanks for trying to help me Tai. I guess that I do see your point. As hard as it might be to look at the bigger picture, you are right. And I do think that maybe living life is the best option." She said, and I shook my head.

"And if you ever need a friend, or maybe even more, at your side, then I will be there for you." I said, feeling like that was a good way to hide my feelings overtly, while still hinting towards them.

I was glad to be able to start to have some influence on Melissa, and I was feeling like if she was going to see that I truly cared for her, then that was all that I would ever fucking need. Even if she never wanted to date me, this would be something.

---

Scene 5: The Condesending Asshole

June 13, 1986, Afternoon

The next day, I was finally going through with Sora's wish, to meet up with Matt for the first time. I really did not want to though, but I was feeling like it was time to just suck it up and do it anyways, for her own sake. Once at her house though, I was rubbing my eyes, still tired from the conversation that I had with Melissa the night before.

When Matt answered the door, I was seeing him looking like he was just trying to decide what he was going to say here. "What are you doing here?" He asked, probably thinking that I was going to just be a fucking asshole, and judge him constantly again and again.

"To be honest, I was here to talk with you, and just get to know you a bit. Sora was telling me that I needed to give you a chance and really get to know you." After I said that to him, Matt sighed, and I knew he was not into this as well, just as I wasn't.

"Well, shit. The issue is that we always fucking fought each other, and I feel like that might just be giving us both an incredibly sour fucking look on each other." He said, and I slowly nodded in agreement at that.

"Well, yeah, but Sora keeps telling me that if I give you a chance, and just stop thinking about things, I might be proven wrong, and I guess that I would be interested in getting to know you more." I said, feeling like I just needed to try and be at least cordial here.

"How was your date anyways?" I asked, feeling like that would be the best way to start this talk. Matt sighed, as if annoyed that I was bringing that up right away. In hindsight, it might have given the impression that I was caring more for Sora than him, which wasn't wrong, but still.

"Yeah, it went well. We were talking about our plans for the summer break, and the places I wanted to check out, but still never really got the time to see." Once Matt told me that, I did get a bit interested in knowing more.

"What places were you wanting to fucking see?" After I asked him, Matt shrugged, simply thinking about all the places in town that he had heard about, but knew nothing of. "I guess that I could show you around, if you really needed to."

"Well, I was kind of interested in seeing the arcade and seeing if there is anything interesting there." Matt said, and I looked at him, feeling like if this was where he wanted to waste his time, then I felt like I just needed to get out of this.

But I slowly nodded, feeling like if this was for Sora, then I would have to just swallow my pride, and deal with something that I honestly had no god-damn interest in. So with that, we started to head over, and I was hating the fact that I was actually almost finding myself kind of interested in learning more about him, and seeing what his problem was.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is making you so interested in the arcade in the first place?" I asked, and Matt was shrugging, as if not really having a real answer for that, besides the fact that it kind of looked cool.

"To be honest, I just wanted to do something new. After all, Sora never really cared for those things, and any time I bring up the idea around her, she just says that she is busy, or that I should ask Tai or maybe go with my brother." Matt said, and I looked at him, feeling like it was time to rip the band aid off with that now.

"Yeah, about your brother. To be honest, I was kind of wanting to talk about that, since I feel like there are better ways you can go about that." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with him as I said this. Matt looked right at me, as if warning me to tread lightly.

"I just feel like he needs to be able to branch out, and do his own thing, without having anybody get in his way. After all, I feel like he's old enough to where he needs to make his own choices." I felt like I needed to stand firm with that idea, as I was seeing Matt looking kind of pissed off at the fact that I was doing this.

"You don't know what he was doing before. My brother's antics are the reason that we moved to Wayside in the first place, and I never really got over that." He said, and i looked at him, wondering why I cared.

"Well, but that is all in the past, right? You know, he can't keep being brought down because of some shit that happened almost a year ago. And to be honest, I am kind of curious what he even did anyways?" I asked, as Matt sighed, and looked up at the sky, and looked like this was where he did not want to go down the path.

"Well, he and his friend were obsessed with looking into a meteor, and the two of them kept running into Lazarus Corporation employees, and eventually they went way too fucking far." Matt said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like that was way too fucking vague.

"Why was that company even down in Indidana in the first place?" I asked, and he shook his head, not sure why in the first place. "Anyways, look, the thing is that it is all in the past now, and he deserves another chance."

We eventually made it to the arcade, where we were seeing a younger guy with red hair playing a game really intently. Probably nine or ten years old, and as the two of us saw this guy playing like that, I looked at Matt, and I was then wondering what to say. "Do you want to see what game he is playing?"

Matt was already checking it out, and then he was looking at me, and shrugged. "Just some random shooter game." He said, and then with that, we were just checking things around for a while. "But going back to T.K., I think that I will just leave it that if you were there, and you saw the shit he was doing, you would not feel the same way that you do."

"Have you ever considered maybe talking to him, and seeing what he fucking knows? After all, he might just need somebody to talk to, and nobody likes talking to their parents." I said, and Matt was thinking about what I suggested.

"No, I haven't, because to be honest, I think he hates me too much to try and fucking do that. I got into a really bad fight with him a few weeks after we moved to Wayside, and he told me he wanted me to leave him alone forever." Matt said, and I was thinking that maybe with the way that he had always been acting, I could almost see why his brother was like that in the first place.

"Have you ever considered the fact that you did this to yourself, and you need to accept your faults? Because it seems like you are choosing to just not look at your mistakes." I said, feeling like I just needed to try and get him to see that what he was doing was wrong in every way possible.

"Well, yeah, I did. I thought that maybe I had been too agressive with the way that I acted. That maybe I should have given him a chance to speak, and not be so agreesive with him. I started to even think that what I was doing was my fucking fault." After he said that to me, I slowly nodded, feeling like he was starting to get it a bit more.

"Well, maybe you fucking were. After all, he's probably trying to show you that he can do some serious things to, and he wanted to maybe try and get you to be proud of him. But here you are, just brushing that off." I said, feeling like I just needed to be real with him here.

"Don't fucking do this with me right now. I mean, it's already bad enough that I have to deal with this from my younger brother. But it is even worse when I have to deal with it from you guys." After Matt was saying this, I was thinkin of what he was telling me.

"I am just trying to get you to think things differently, even if they might be harsh. But maybe you're right. And that it should be best to just leave you alone here." I said, feeling like I just needed to respect his space.

"Let's just play some games, and forget this." I said, finally ready to just drop this, since I knew it was going nowhere. We played for a while, and I was starting to kind of let the subject go, and even if I didn't want to, I knew there was nothing I could do.

As we were starting to kind of get ready to leave, that was when the red head was calling out to us. We turned around, wondering what the hell he was even wanting to talk about. "Hey, I just noticed you're new here. My name is Leo. I play here every day to try and get the high score." After he said that, I looked at Matt, and I could see from the look on his face he was just as confused as I was.

"Was there something you needed?" Matt asked, trying to be as nice as possible as he asked this. Leo looked down, and seemed kind of shocked that Matt was at least giving him a response.

"Yeah, I just happened to notice you guys are like in high school age. And somebody who used to come here a lot hasn't been around for a few weeks. I think her name was Andrea." Leo said, and then Matt got a look on his face as if suddenly realizing what he had just heard.

"Well, I think maybe she just got a bit burned out after a while." Matt said, trying to get Leo to not get too scared or anything like that, since he was still a kid. Leo looked at Matt, as if feeling that answer sucked.

"Well, she was fucking cute, and I wanted to see her again. Sorry to bother you. I need to go back to the game." Leo said, and then we left the arcade, as Matt was starting to take a long and deep breath, wondering what else he wanted to say.

"Shit, I think that maybe I can try and talk to Ocho about that. His girlfriend going to the arcade, frequent enough for a every day visistor to know her. God damn it, this could really be a big fucking break through in the entire case. After Matt was telling me this, he sighed, and seemed to be kind of thinking of where to go now.

"Shit. Sorry I was being so harsh earlier. I know you were just trying to help me. So see you later, and I will tell you what Ocho says." He said, and left me as I was wondering what to say.

Well, I did the hang out as Sora requested. It was a strange hang out, and incredibly strained. But it was a hang out nonetheless, and I felt like maybe this would be good enough for me to continue my ways.

---

Scene 6: Arcade Talk

August 13, 1986, Evening

When I had finally started to get completely wrapped up for the night, that was when I was seeing T.K. on my way home, and I was feeling like despite everything else, I would just try and check up on him, and see how he had been doing, since I knew that he was probably not doing too well.

"Hey T.K., I was hearing from your brother that you were kind of needing a friend." I said, and T.K. looked right at me, and I saw that there was a level of annoyance on his face. Which made it clear to me right away that I just needed to try and tread lightly, as to not piss him off or anything like that.

"Well, I already have some, and to be honest, I don't think you should trust what my fucking brother says. He doesn't really know me as well as he would like, and I am kind of tired of dealing with his bullshit all the time." T.K. said, and I sighed, feeling like I needed to get my information to him, to just shut him up.

"Well, I was going to also give you some useful information. But the arcade is a good place to get the intel you need when looking into Andrea. Some young kid is there, always playing video games and shit. Why not try that place first?" I asked, and then Tai looked right at me, thinking about what I just said.

"Why would a young kid know what is going on there?" T.K. asked, and I felt like that was a fair enough question, but I was feeling like there was no need to tell him that at all.

"Because Andrea went there a lot, and played games and shit. I don't know much. But the point is that I think you would be wise to go there." I said, and I was seeing T.K. looking like he could not believe for a fucking second that he was actually thinking about this at all.

"The kid said he had a bit of a crush on her, and was sad to not see her come back lately. He probably doesn't get the full context of what he is saying." I said, and I shook my head, wondering why in the world I was even discussing this with him. I don't think he gave a rats ass about this kid having a crush on a girl five or six years older than him.

"Well, yeah, I do see what you're saying. It does seem to be rather odd. But I guess that if for nothing else, he might be willing to give me all the information that I need here. So I won't be too upset." T.K. responded, and then he sighed. "I need a break. Want to just go relax somewhere?" T.K. asked, and I was shocked to hear him be willing to hang out with me in the first place.

But I wanted him to feel like he could talk with me, so I was going to take what he said. "Yeah, I guess I can do that." I said, and I saw T.K. looking like he was just glad to see that I wasn't rejecting his offer or anything like that.

Eventually, we went to the arcade again, and the attendant was surprised to see me there twice, and I went on over to the man at the counter, and I would ask him what he knew.

"Is Leo still here?" I asked, and he shook his head, stating he went home about twenty minutes ago. Then after that, I asked him if Andrea coming here a lot was true.

"Yeah, she did. Young woman, always trying to be the best at the stuff she played. Always said it was her way of taking things off her mind. Don't know what she means though." He said, and shrugged as he said that.

I looked at T.K., who seemed to process what I heard, and acknowledged that she was indeed here, which gave me a feeling that maybe in due time, he would come here on his own terms, when he was feeling the need to fucking do so.

We sat down after our discussed, and that was when T.K. decided that he would finally try and talk with me for once. "Honestly, I am going to be fully frank with you when I say this, but I think that there is no chance in hell that we are going to find that woman. Andrea, I mean, I mean, I thought that I could, but she is gone. Fucking totally gone, and I think that the sooner that Tobias sees this, the better off he will be." After T.K. said this, I slowly nodded, feeling glad to hear his true thoughts.

"I also at the same time, feel like I can try and get him to explain why he feels so dead set on the idea that there is actually a solution to finding her. Because if I'm being frank, I don't fucking see it at all. There is no way in hell she is coming back, and I think the faster that Tobias sees this, the better that things are going to be for everybody." He said, and I slowly nodded as he said this.

"But T.K., do you seriously think that Tobias will truly listen to this? I think that if you try and tell him this, then he will probably just simply reject the shit you are saying." I said, and he slowly nodded, as if agreeing to what I said.

"I don't know. I don't even want to say it. I guess another part of it is the fact that I am also hoping that I am proven wrong. And then after this is done, the two of us can just simply acknowledge that we had made some mistakes, and that is that." T.K. was saying, and I could see the conflicted nature in his eyes. As if he was trying to just figure out where to truly go here.

"Look, we made a agreement to help each other out. So I was wondering if there were any potential leads that you could have right now?" He asked, and I looked right at him, unsure what in the world I would even tell him in the first place.

"Well, Ocho is basically off the grid. Almost completely useless even trying to fucking find that guy. And Rachel wants nothing to do with this. Which I guess does make some fucking sense, given everything that is happening, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a bit tough to deal with people who don't even seen to want to listen at all." As T.K. said this, I felt like there was more.

"Also, not exactly related to Andrea, but near the time the grinding noise went off last, Yolei and I were hearing her parents talking to Kenta about some fucking sale going on. Yolei is covinced that the sale is about her, and that her parents are going to do something behind her fucking back." After T.K. was saying this, I looked right at him, unsure what to tell him.

"I have no idea if I even can disagree with her. The timing of it all was really suspect. And I think that for better or for worse, she could actually be on the right track. But if that is the case, then why the hell would they have that talk while she and I were in the fucking house? They can't be that dumb, so I think she might be wrong." T.K. said, and I was shocked to hear him go that extreme with his theories. I shook my head, not wanting to even fucking consider it at all.

"Are you sure that this is something that you really want to believe in?" I asked, and T.K. was shaking his head, as if hating the fact that this even had to be a discussion in the first place, but was aware that what was done was done.

"Want to and have to are two totally different things. After all, I never wanted to believe the rumors about my father regarding the move, but the more that I think about it, the more that I am starting to think that all those rumors were right." He said, I looked right at him, wondering what the hell he meant.

"Would you be willing to tell me?" I asked, and T.K. was shaking his head, and shrugged, as if feeling like there was no reason to get that deep down low about the whole thing, this early on.

"Truth be told, I don't know all about it. But some form of sex scandal." T.K. said, and shook his head. "I just hate that he doesn't own up to it, and tries to pretend like nothing fucking happened, and that Matt and I are over thinking this beyond belief."

"Oh shit. Well, I guess that I can see how that would be really fucking serious." I said, and he was looking right at me, and I saw him looking like he was really not happy with me saying this in the first place, and felt like I was just trying to take advantage of him.

"Oh shut the fucking hell up. I am just trying to not think about what happened." After T.K. said that, he shook his head, sounding like he was just hoping that I would shut the fucking hell up about this. I held my hand up, feeling the need to be honest with him here.

"Sorry. I have a bad tendency to not realize when I am taking things way too far. But I just feel like if we are going to work together, then we need to be upfront." I said, feeling like I would just try and fucking be honest with him as I said this. He slowly nodded, as if feeling like he would just let it go for now.

"Yeah, upfront about the fucking job. Not what my parents were doing, and why I was forced to ruin my life and move to Wayside." After T.K. was saying this to me, I looked right at him, and I was feeling like I just needed to be careful with my wording.

"Anyways, if you want to get anything here, then go talk to Leo when he is here. He might at least be able to give insight on how Andrea was during the times she is here." I said, feeling like I just needed to leave this alone, since I was no longer in the mood to deal with this subject all.

"Leo. Yeah, I guess that I can fucking do that. Who knows, he might have exactly what I fucking need." He said, and then with that, he was just taking a long and deep breath. "Okay, I guess that even if I don't use that, I can appreciate the effor you're putting in."

"Well, I should get going. Need to meet up with some friends, and talk to Tobias about what I think we need to be doing now." T.K. said, and he was looking right at me, and sighed for a few seconds. "Thanks for taking the time to fucking listen to me and what not. I have a really hard time letting go of everything, when I really just fucking should." After he said that to me, I slowly nodded, feeling like he was starting to get it.

When T.K. left the arcade, I was feeling like I just neeeded to try and find out more of what he was thinking. After all, this guy was going to be my biggest ally, and the one person that I needed in my side more than anything else. And I was really not doing a good job treading onw ater at all or anything.

---

Scene 7: Leo Confidant Rank 1 (T.K.'s POV)

August 18, 1986, Morning

The first morning after Yolei went missing, desperate for anything and everything I could fucking possibly gather, I headed down to the arcade, as a fucking hail-ass merry, hoping that maybe this would actually not be a total waste of my fucking time, which would have made me more upset.

Once at the arcade, I was looking around, and I saw the red head boy really quickly, and he was looking like he was super intensely in the game, and I slowly sighed, feeling like I would just see what was on his mind, so I could be able to talk with him for a while.

"Hey, I heard from one of my friends that you can help me with something." I said, and he was looking right at me looking like my way of approaching him was rather off, and that I needed to try and give him incentive.

"What do you fucking want from me?" He asked, and I smiled, knowing that at least he was willing to fucking talk. So with that, I decided that being blunt was the best way to fucking do it.

"I want you to tell me all you know about Andrea." I said, and Leo looked up at me, shocked beyond all belief that this was the question that I asked him. He looked like he was beyond flustered, and I simply felt like I would just try to ease him.

"To be honest, it's nothing wrong with you, and I have nothing to worry about what you. I just simply want to fucking know what you know. It's for personal reasons." I said, hoping that I would get him to calm down.

"I will give you all I know if you are willing to help me out with my gaming." Leo said, and pointed to the other control stick. "I have been wanting to have a practice buddy, to help me out, but nobody wants to deal with me." After Leo was telling me this, I slowly nodded, not sure what in the world to tell him at all.

"I have a dollar. So that's four rounds. After that, you tell me everything you know." I said, and he slowly nodded, feeling like that was the best thing he would get from this, and our agreement was made.

We played a few games, and Leo beat me handily in every single one. It was both embarrassing, and impressive at the same time. I was shocked to be seeing him be able to do something like that in the first place. But I shrugged when it was done, feeling like I needed to give him credit where credit was due.

We sat down on the food tables, and he looked right at me. "Yeah, I knew Andrea. I thought she was super hot. But she barely seemed to even fucking notice me." After Leo said that, I was slowly nodding, unable to believe that this was what I had to resort to in order to get the information that I needed.

"But I did seem to notice on her last couple of times she was here, she was a bit more emotional than before. She was talking about a fight she had with her boyfriend, and how much it was bringing her down or something. To be honest, I have no idea what it was all about." After he said that to me, I slowly nodded, not sure what to tell him.

"She said that her boyfriend was becoming obsessed with stories, and that he needed to stop what he was doing, or else he was only going to be making it much worse." After Leo said that, I wanted to know more about what the hell he was even fucking talking about in the first place.

"I don't know, I wanted to try and talk to her, but she was telling everybody she wanted to be alone, and that she wanted to play her fucking games without anybody around." Leo said, and I could tell he was pissed off as he was saying this.

"I'm ten years old. Doubt digits. My parents told me that is when I start becoming my own person. Why am I being treated like this?" He said, and rubbed his hair, and I wondered what in the world I was even going to be telling him in the first place. To be honest, it just seemed hard to get a read on him.

"Look. The truth of the matter is that I need every bit of help that I can get. Andrea is gone missing, and I am trying my best to fucking find her." I said, feeling like I needed to be blunt with him. Leo's face turned utterly horrified as I said this.

"Why did nobody fucking tell me?" He asked, and I shrugged, feeling like that was a fair enough question, but there was nothing that I was going to be able to do about that at all.

"I think mostly the fact that people didn't even know she would be coming here in the first place. But that is why your help would be extremely appreciated." I said, feeling like I just needed to get him ready for what was to be coming.

"I promised her cousin Tobias that I would try and help no matter what, and I intend to keep that fucking promise, no matter how rough it is. Although I really don't have the heart to tell him that I think that this is going to not go the way he hoped." I said, feeling like I would just be honest.

"Well, I do remember one time, she was talking about something relating to her cousin Rachel, and that her parents were both really rich business people." Leo said, and I felt like in all fairness, a ten-year-old boy wouldn't know that normally.

"Well, I think that you will quickly realize that this man is probably the most influential person in the entire town, and what his choices are basically affects everybody." I said, referring to Harold, and I was seeing Tobias looking like he was just confused why I was even saying it like this in the first place.

"What does he fucking know?" He asked, and I shrugged, not sure what in the world I would even fucking tell him to begin with. "Why hasn't he brought Andrea back then?"

"Well, to be honest, this is something that you will be seeing more often. Everybody has a first time." I said, shaking my head, unable to believe that I had to say it that way, but that was the fucking truth. And I was not going to fucking lie to him, and try to make him feel better.

Leo was looking down on the table, and I was seeing from his expression that he was scared, and he wanted to help me out so fucking badly, but just simply had no idea how in the world he was going to do this. "Thanks for being honest with me." Leo said, and I smiled as he said that, feeling like that was what he deserved.

"And Leo, I think you need to see that you are going to be a massive part of helping me learn the truth about Andrea. I won't even tell people what you're doing. After all, as you just said, you're only just not becoming your own person." I said, and I saw Leo looking super happy to hear me tell him this.

"Thanks. Hearing that makes me feel useful." He said, and with that, I was feeling like his affection was slowly coming through, and that more than anything else was going to keep driving me to go forward with this. There was no way in hell that I was going to let something like this go to waste, no matter what.

"But seriously, I don't know much. I wish that I did, for your sake and mine, but I can't think of anything else. She was always just kind of distant, and the only person she talked with was the counter guy." Leo said, pointing the guy over there, who seemed oblivious to our discussion.

"It's okay. I will talk to that man, and see what he knows. Maybe he will be open about everything going on here. And I can see Ocho, her boyfriend, if he knows anything about her time here." I said, and I was alreadying dreading a potential revelation that he had no idea that she was here in the first place, and that she was simply lying to him or something like that. In which case, I was going to totally screwed.

"My name is Leo by the way." He said, and then I was slowly nodding, considering the fact that he did not know that I already knew, so I was going to pretend to take that information to heart, that way he would not realize that people were talking about him behind his back.

"T.K." I said, genuinely, since I was certain he had no idea what my name was. From there, I was sighing, and I felt like there was no need to be looking so deeply into this anymore. "Sorry that this is all so fucking sudden. After all, you're probably just here to have some fucking fun, and not deal with my bullshit at all."

"No, I heard rumors before, and I suppose that they're all fucking true then. I guess that I was just not worried about it at all." After he was telling me this, I slowly nodded, feeling like his honesty was something that I could appreciate, since he was trusting me a bit more.

"I should probably let you continue fucking playing." I said, feeling like I just needed to get him away from this discussion, since in all honesty, I was feeling like getting him involved in this was probably the worst mistake I could make. A fucking ten year old boy was getting thrown into this because of me.

"I will come by here again. Just tell you how everything is going, and maybe we can play some games here. That way boths ides get what they fucking want." I said, feeling like I needed to try and brush this off as if we were business partners and what not. Which wasn't the case, but I wanted him to know that I appreciated him.

"Sure. That would be really fucking awesome." After Leo was telling me this, I could see the smile on his face, and I knew that I was getting him to finally open up now, which was what I fucking needed more than anything else.

I was feeling like despite everything going on, when I was talking with Leo, I was just feeling better. In a way, he was kind of already reminding me of what I would have wanted from a younger brother, and I felt like in due time, I would try and see him again.

"Thanks for the talk dude. I mean, I just also felt like you deserved to know the truth about Andrea, because people were saying that you had a massive crush on her and what not." I said, and then with that, I was slowly nodding, wondering if he would listen to me.

"Thanks." He said, and then with that, I was heading home, and I was thinking that maybe once every week or two, I would just drop by, and both see how he was doing, and just tell him how things were going.

Leo Confidant Rank 1

---

Scene 8: The Cyclops

June 14, 1986, Afternoon

Later, I was at the skating park, since I knew that was a place that Andrea had gone a couple of times, while I was not really interested in the Andrea case per se, I just felt like I would go there once, cross it off my list, and tell Kari that I did a day's work, despite only really "working" like thirty minutes.

When I was there, to my lack of surprise, I was seeing one of her friends there, just trying to skate for a while, and I was seeing that he was getting a bit annoyed with the lack of results. He yelled really loudly, and gave up. When he saw that I was there, he looked a little bit embarassed.

"Sorry for that. I just haven't been able to focus on my skating as much lately, after what happened with my fucking friend. It just disgusts me that people are willing to let go of these things." Rob said, and then he sighed, as if unsure what to say now. I just simply shrugged, feeling like I would keep the comments to myself.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I only came here because of that. My sister wants me to be looking into this shit, and I tried to tell her that it was a horrible idea, but she did not want to fucking hear it. Almost can't even fucking blame her, in a way." I said, and I was shrugging, not sure what in the world I was going to accomplish here.

"What would you even find here? People aren't even taking the investigation seriously anymore. People did at one point. But aside from Tobias and some of his friends, people don't even talk about her anymore. But I guess you would never understand, since you never fucking knew her." He said, and I looked down, kind of annoyed with his reaction.

"I don't know. I mean, I will flat out admit that I never wanted to do this. But the reality is that my younger sister trusts me, and I want her to feel like that trust is well placed. Even if it means doing something that I am totally uncomfortable with." I said, thinking that being honest was the best policy here.

"Why do you even care what your sister thinks here? She probably doesn't know how to see the bigger picture anyways." After he said that to me, I was shaking my head, thinking that I needed to get him to open up now.

"I care what she thinks because soon enough she will be old enough to where this is an issue. I remember you saying in school that you wouldn't be able to forgive yourself if something happened to both Andrea and Rachel. Clearly you know what it's like." I said, hoping that I would get him to see the point here.

"Yeah, I do know. And that is why I am telling you right now, for your safety, to back off. This is serious fucking shit, and it will be getting you killed if you are not fucking careful. Take it from me when I fucking say that." After Rob said that to me, I was seeing the look of anger in his eyes as he said this.

"I know that. That is why I was trying to tell my sister that I shouldn't be doing this. But she was just not fucking listening to me at all. It is as if she doesn't fucking care." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest as I fucking said this. Rob looked shocked as he heard me say this.

"Well, if you seem well aware of the risk that you are getting yourself into by doing this, then I guess that I need to be patient with you. It seems like you're not dumb and all that." Rob said, and then he was shaking his head at this. Probably thinking of his conversations with T.K. as he said that.

"I can also tell that there is more to this than your fucking sister. Nobody would be fighting for their sister's honor that fucking much. I think that you have an ulterior motive." He said, and I looked right at him, wondering what to say.

"Yeah, you're not totally wrong. A girl I like is part of the reason as well. But I don't want boners to be the only thing that make me get into this." I said, as Rob chuckled at that, as if he was able to appreciate the bluntness of what I was saying.

"Alright, well, I mean, I guess that at least you're honest about it. Regardless, I will tell you what I know. And I guess that I can introduce you to Rachel as well." Rob said, feeling like there was no reason to be going against it.

"What does Rachel have to do with this?" I asked, and I knew that Andrea was her cousin, but that didn't mean that it automatically made sense to me why he was putting so much fucking emphasis on that.

"Well, she never really wanted us to be looking into any of this in the first place, and I told her that because of her utter certainty that looking into this was a bad idea, I would tell her everything that I fucking knew." Rob told me, and I was slowly nodding, thinking that I kind of got it.

"So basically she is holding you guys back because she wants you to stay safe? I guess that I can respect that." I said, and I was aware that I was kind of sounding like an asshole when I was telling him this. He shook his head as I said this.

"Well, I guess that you can put it that way. But I think she is mostly doing it for Tobias's sake, in which case I fully support." Rob said, as I slowly nodded at this, thinking it did make some sense.

"Has she ever tried to consult Tobias on what he fucking feels though? I think that is where the fucking issue is. She is focused on what she thinks is right, that she doesn't realize she might be making it worse for him." I said, feeling like I just needed to put that perspective out there.

I sat down, and then I shook my head. "Sorry, it is not in my place to talk about this shit. Especially since I hardly know her at all."

"Look, I know that it might be kind of rough to be talking about this stuff, especially when you hardly know her like I did. But I know what I am saying is for the best." After Rob was telling me this, I was sighing, and I wished that I was able to see things from his perspective, even if it was impossible.

"I guess that I do see what you are saying though. After all, I tried to talk to Matt about it, and he insists his younger brother is basically being a fucking idiot this whole time, and is only making things worse for us." I said, and I felt like I just needed to be honest here.

"Yeah, I know that Matt is really stern about everything related to T.K. And that has kind of ruined any incentive for me to talk to him about this, because I know that it is going to be going nowhere." He said, and I simply shrugged, having no idea what to say.

"I want to talk to him more about it, but every time I try, he just basically gives the same 'his brother was involved in dangerous stuff in Onett' bullshit. I feel like I will have to really build trust with the guy for me to have any fucking chance at all." I said, wondering if it was even worth it. I was an asshole to him earlier, and he might just simply not want to be involved anymore.

"I have tried to look into it all on my own time, but to be honest, I haven't had any success either. Even fucking less than Tobias, who at least was able to find her mile marker." After Rob said this, I got fully invested, and I needed to just know where this was going.

"Oh shit, can you tell me all you know about that?" I asked, and after a second to think, he was slowly nodding, and I wondered if this would even be helpful at all.

"It was behind the fucking destroyed church that she would often times go to." Rob said, and I slowly nodded, feeling no need to press the issue further.

"Does her boyfriend know about that? You were also mentioning that you were trying to reach out to him?" I asked, feeling like this was going to start to get him to get back to being more open with me. Rob slowly nodded, feeling like that was going to get him back on topic a bit.

"Yeah, I tried to talk to him. But there was nothing. Borderline static silence. Last I heard, he was at the arcade, finally picking up on the whole Andrea going there thing." After Rob said that, I was still finding it strange that Ocho had no idea about that at all. Considering the fact that he was her boyfriend.

"Did you see him before summer started? I mean, that might give you a clue how he was thinking?" I asked, feeling like I would go with that. Rob seemed to consider what I had just said, and slowly nodded for a bit.

"He told me that he was going to burn down everything in the entire forest, and he was saying that he was going to make sure that there was nothing left of it when he was done, so that way nothing more can be done. And I saw from the look on his face that he was totally fucking serious." Rob said, and I slowly nodded as he had said that to me.

"So he is going to basically commit one of the largest cases of arson possible, and as a result, ruin any chance of things hiding?" I asked, more for affirmation to myself. I could not believe this. It was something so fucking far out there, that it was kind of scary. And yet, I almost didn't even fucking blame him.

"Well, and if he does, then to be honest, I will not even fucking blame him anyway. After all, if even half his theories are true, then this place should have been destroyed years ago." Rob said, and he was walking towards me, and wondered what I was going to say in defense.

"Oh shit. I never expected you to say that of all fucking people. Rob, this is a terrible idea." I said, trying to just get him to stop this fucking nonsense right now. "But I guess that you aren't actually fucking doing it, and are just saying you get it." I said, feeling like I just needed to be patient.

"Let's go and see Rachel. No point in staying here any longer, and not actually fucking do anything." He said, and then with that, he was shrugging, not sure what in the world he was going to even say now. "I just hope that you and Rachel can be able to get along." He said, with a forced smile on his face.

I was feeling like getting this talk with Rob was getting me more progress than anything related to Matt, and to be honest, that was kind of annoying me. But it was in no way surprising at all, given everything.

---

Scene 9: Rachel Wilson

June 14, 1986, Evening

I met up with Rachel after a couple of hours of talking with Rob. In all honesty, I had no desire to be doing this, but I felt like if I was seeing Rachel and the two of us hung out for a bit, then I would get Rob to get off my back about this idea, and I could focus on the main issues at hand again.

"Hey Rachel. One of T.K.'s friends was with me at the park earlier, and I said that I would introduce him to you." Rob said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like this was kind of putting me on the spot light.

"You're the one who plays soccer a lot?" She asked, and I slowly nodded in affirmation. She slowly nodded, and then shrugged as I said this.

"Not so much during the summer, because of the fact that I have been helping my sister a lot, and she has just been keeping me busy." I said, feeling like I would just try and be funny as I was telling her this. "But I really did want to see how you were doing, given everything that is happening."

"Well, my cousn is gone, and unlike Tobias, I do not want to dig the issue even further. I want to just try and put this all behind me, and move forward." Rachel said, and she was taking a deep breath.

"If I'm being fully frank, I think that his friends are getting in the way here, and are making it worse. They always act like they're being so fucking helpful here. But the truth is that they are only making it worse." Rachel said, and she shrugged as I said this.

"Tobias doesn't think so. And I believe that whatever is best for Tobias, is what his friends are doing." I said, feeling like I needed to try and to give her a new perspective. Or at least one that she could appreciate, even if she didn't agree.

"Tobias does not know what is best for him. He is trying way too hard to fix something that is broken, and this is going to be getting him in so much danger if he keeps it up." She said, and I slowly nodded, feeling like I just needed to let her say what she needed to say.

"But I'm sorry. You just simply wanted to know why I do things the way that I do, and that is fucking why." She said, and I was slowly nodding, feeling like I just needed to let her be the authority here, if she needed to be.

"It's okay Rachel. I mean, I was kind of getting on you a bit randomly, and I guess that I do sort of see why you were acting that way." I said, and then I looked right at Rob, wondering how he was able to handle somebody like this in the first place.

"So Rob, what do you fucking think here?" I asked, and I just felt so out of place now. Rob shrugged, and he was pissed at my reaction. Probably thinking that I was just trying to get a reaction more than anything now.

"Well, if I had to be realistic, I think that there is truth to the idea that we might only be making things worse if we try to look too deeply into it. After all, we have no idea who is behind this all." Rob answered, shrugging at the idea of it all.

"And besides, I think the best way for Melissa to like you is to actually get to fucking know her as a person, and see what she would tell you. Trying to win her heart with this really over the fucking top scheme and shit is only going to be making things worse." Rob said honestly, as I was thinking about what he just said.

"I have tried to get to know her personally, but I feel like there is nothing to fucking get here. After all, our main connections were a horrible school project." I said, and I just felt like I needed to be honest with him.

"Wait, so you're doing all this for a fucking girl you like? I can't tell if that is either really stupid, or admirable." Rachel said, and I was glad to see that at least she was willing to pay attention to what I was saying now.

"Yeah, and to be honest, I think that it might not even really be worth it, since I have no idea if she will like me back anyways." I said, feeling like I would just be real with this. As I said this, both Rob and Rachel just gave each other quick glances, unsure what to fucking say now.

"Well, I mean, I do think Rob is right. While I think trying hard to find her if she goes missing is important, and I would fully support that since it's a totally different context, you should just get to know her. She might appreciate that the most." After Rachel said that, I simply shrugged.

"After all, if you guys don't know each other well, then in the grand scheme of things, you don't have much incentive to go on." She said, and I sighed, wondering why she was trying to make me sound like a shitty friend.

I knew that she was right, and I knew that maybe the best starting point was to slowly steal her heart. In a matter of speaking at least.

But then I thought about what Kari might want, and if she was going to be upset with the way that I was acting here. But then I shook my head, telling myself that there was no fucking choice, and that I was indeed doing the right thing here.

"But what aboiut my fucking sister? I think that she would just simply reject anything I was doing if she learned it was to get a girl I like to be with me." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with them as I was saying this.

"She's eleven years old. She clearly doesn't understand everything yet, and I think that you need to just see that she is a probably just trying to fucking help you out. Besides, you admitted that you came to the skating park, to talk to me about Andrea." Rob said, and then he was shrugging, and then thought of something else.

"One thing that I have been worried about is my friend Julian. When I saw him earlier, he seemed like he was really on edge, and it was genuinely seeming like he was fucking wanting blood, and was going to try and fucking get it, no matter what it would take." After Rob said this, he shook his head, sounding kind of upset as he admitted this.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I haven't seen Julian in quiet a while. Do you know what happened with him?" Rachel asked, and I saw her looking like she was kind of scared at that.

"I think that after the fight that he had with Ocho, he has just kind of been hiding himself for a while. I think that he might be doing much of the same thing as Ocho though. Which is just checking around the town, and seeing what he might be able to fucking find." After Rob said that, he shrugged, and seemed to hardly have any true interest.

"You know, I want to help you guys with this. I mean, I have no idea if I can learn what happened to Andrea, and I have no idea if Kari will be happy with my lack of getting shit done. But I will try and just not focus too much on that at all." I said, and I shrugged, feeling like I just needed to gain myself some leverage.

"But how can you help if you just said yourself that..." Rachel asked, and I was cutting her off, even though it was rude, I was feeling like I needed to make my point clear to her, so that way she knew where exactly I was coming from here.

"I want to try and be your friend guys, and help you out while I am here. I know you guys don't know me much, but I want to change." I said, feeling like I would just be straight up real with her as I said this. She slowly nodded, and understood what I said.

"And to be honest, I think we both know that after all this time, having a nice friend at our side is important. My friend Sora has been focused on her relationship with Matt, and at this point in time, I feel like I am just not going to be there with her as much anymore." I said, and I shook my head, hating to admit the fact that I felt this way.

"But do you know if Sora thinks that same way? I mean, I don't want you to be in a situation where you talk to her one day, and then she reveals that she was upset that you stopped hanging around with her, because of some random bullshit." Rob said, and I was shaking my head, hardly caring anymore.

"It's not going to be a big deal. And I think that is something I need to see. After all, I can't just force her to be at my side forever, and I think that after not really having too many friends and what not, the issues are my fucking fault." I said, and I simply shrugged as I said this, wondering what I could have even said then.

"And what is your problem with Matt in the first place anyways?" Rob asked, and I was feeling like going down that fucking rabbit hole was just going to be annoying as hell, and it was not going to be doing anybody any favors for me to start that shit again.

"To be honest, I think that I might have been wrong with my assumptions on him. I will admit it. But I always felt like he was too controlling in his family, and it really fucking bothers me that it seems like nobody fucking gives a shit about that." I said, thinking there was no need to go any further than that.

"But I talked with him at the arcade a while ago, and I think I am starting to sort of understand his point of view. Even if I don't agree with all he says and does, I can't really blame him for thinking the way that he does." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with them.

"I guess that I do need to watch out for that when I am talking with Tobias and what not." Rachel said, and I was slowly nodding, thinking that she was right.

But in all honesty, the simple conversation with them was enough to start making me feel so much better. I was then thinking a bit more on it, and I was feeling like maybe I was being truly selfish with the way that I described the Sora situation.

"Well, Rachel, I will be there for you if you ever need to talk. Sorry for how we started." I said, and I was starting to leave, feeling like staying here any longer would make her furious, and that was something I wanted to avoid.

As I was leaving, I was thinking about what I fucking told Kari I would do, and the fact that so far, I hadn't done very well with it. But I was feeling like maybe if I could really capitalize on this friendship with Rob and Rachel, then this might be able to give me some fucking coverage on the matter.

---

Scene 10: The Footage

June 15, 1986, Morning

Feeling like something was at the waterfalls after all, I was feeling like I just needed to go back there, and see what I could be able to fucking find. For some reason, I was convinced that something was going on there, and that I just needed to look harder for the truth. And I was hoping that by doing this, I would get Kari to stop being a fucking bitch.

Once I was there once again, this was when I was seeing Melissa was going to the forest as well. And I was feeling like this was a time to follow through with Rob and Rachel's suggestion, and hopefully she was willing to actually hang out with me. After all, I wanted her to see my love for her.

"Hey Melissa, I was going to go and hang out at the forest. Would you want to go along for now?" I asked, and I was seeing her looking like she was trying to decide if there was some form of plan that I had. Then she shrugged, as if feeling like there was no need to hold back, and that I was actually wanting to be with her.

"Yeah. Sure. Is this about the search though?" She asked me, and I looked down, feeling like that was really easy for her to notice. I sighed, and I felt like I was going to look like a real asshole, like I was using her.

"A little bit yes. But there is truly more to it. I really do want to get to know you more. And I feel like this is a good time to start with that." I said, and I was hoping that she was not going to be too upset with me.

"Alright. I mean, at least you are being honest with me." She said, and I was sighing. Wondering if honesty was really the main thing she was supposed to be taking away from me. I was feeling like she needed to see that I was throwing away everything for her, and that was all that I was getting in return.

"Well, I wouldn't want to make you feel like I was taking advantage of you or anything like that. I mean, I know how much that fucking sucks. Feeling like I am just kind of the last person in the group that really fucking matters." I said, feeling that Sora was forcing me to really feel this way. And I fucking hated it.

As we were walking through the forest, I wanted to speak with her about other things. "Do you have friends that you have been hanging out with lately? I mean, you didn't go with them to the forest, and I guess that I am worried that something is going on here." I said, and I was seeing her looking like she was finding my pressing the issue to be a bit insensitive.

"Well, I mean, I just don't even fucking bother talking about that. If they have a problem, and they just need to sort this all out on their own, then I suppose that I do fucking understand. Everybody goes through their own thing." She said, and then I decided to just be more careful here.

"Tai. I want you to be honest with me. Why do you even care so much what I am dealing with? I mean, you barely even know my friends, and I think you don't really understand their own pain." She said, and I decided to just simply not answer, as we were at the waterfalls, and I was hoping we could just relax.

"I feel like something related to the investigation is in this fucking area. I don't know why, but it just fucking feels that way." I said firmly, and feeling like I just needed to get right to work on finding out where to go.

"If you haven't found anything, then chances are that they are not connected." Melissa said, and I was almost hearing her sounding like she was regretting even asking me to help her out with this. Considering the way that I was taking this whole thing.

I saw a small path, and decided to follow down it. Where teh loud sounds of the water coming down could be heard. Melissa decided to follow me to see what I was fucking thinking. Probably thinking that I was just trying way too hard here.

"I wondering how I never noticed this before? Honestly, with all the times I come here and what not, I thought I would see it at least once." She said, and then I was simply not thinking too much into it at all.

"Well, it seems like somebody decided to make themselves at home here." I said, and then I was shaking my head, pointing towards the bed and camera that were towards the wall of the place.

A couple of condoms were there, along with some closed, and then there was a camera with a lot of casette tapes next to it. I was wondering what I had walked in on, so I decided to heads towards the bag, and see what I would even fucking find there.

I grabbed the recorder, and I was then looking at it. There was already a tape inside, and I was wondering what I would watch. So I hit the play button. Before I could get too deep into this, Melissa called to me.

"Honestly, are you aure you really want to check that out? mean, what if it has nothing to do with the investigation?" She asked, and I simply shrugged, not caring at all whatsoever.

"Honestly, I will do whatever I fucking must. And if that means looking through strange ass footage, then I will. You don't have to join if you don't want to." I said, feeling like I needed to make it clear that this was happening though. With or without her permission.

As Melissa decided to watch with me after all, we were checking out what was going down. It was showing a man placing a security camera at the top of one of the trees near by, and then pressing the play button. The guy was wearing a gas mask. Which I saw in the small cave when I checked later. Probably as a way to hide his identity.

The footage on this one, which I realized each casette was a new day, was showing Davis, T.K., Yolei, and Tobias heading towards the falls. When I saw this, I looked over towards Melissa, wondering what she was going to say here.

The four of them were laughing at each other, having the time of their life, and they were completely oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. Then with that, they all started to jump down to the water. Starting with Davis, then Yolei, then T.K., and then lastly Tobias.

They ended up spending some time talking with each other about the information that they had found in the last few days. Which made me realize that people indeed did know what they were finding, and therefore, they were not being as careful as any of them had expected at all.

T.K. was talking about how he was getting into a debate with Matt about everything, and that Matt was one of the people that were constantly baggering him to not look into this any further, and that T.K. was feeling like his opinion was just not fucking mattering anymore.

And then Yolei was bringing up the fact that Brad Carbunkle was also given a job by Shaun Reichenbach to look further into this whole thing than he already had been. She was saying that despite the previous company record and reputation, she believed in Brad, and she was hoping that he would be able to figure out this whole thing, for her own sake.

Then after that, Tobias was in turn expressing his doubt that this would actually go as well as Yolei was predicting, and he was making fun of her for having a crush on the guy, which was getting in her way of being able to see things reasonably, which Yolei looked like she was genuinely offended by.

Yolei was telling Tobias that she was feeling like he was going to be the one person that would break the mold of what the people in Lazarus were like, and that if she was able to trust him with everything, then she would no longer have to worry about everything going on at all.

Davis, honestly stated that he was never really into the political field, and that the things that Brad had been doing were way out of his interest, and that they were taking his opnions way too seriously if they were actually listening to all the shit he had been saying.

After this, all four of them were leaving the falls, and I was feeling like this was going to be perfect ammunition that I would be able to use to go further with my case. Even if there wa snothing icriminating here, I could use this as a way to see where the others were at, as well as this proving that somebody was spying on the teenagers who came here.

Later on, after a bit, there was the man in the gas mask, who was bringing a woman, probably in her mid twenties, in with him, and then he forced her onto the bed, for what he called their "weekly round". Without going into detail, it was a bit hard to watch, and on several occasions, I was seeing Melissa looking like she was about to throw up.

At the end, he mentioned that after her cycle was done this time, he was contracted to kill her, and bring her to the Shiny Gentleman. And then he left after making sure nobody was around, taking her with him

Eventually, when we were done watching the tapes, that was when I looked right at Melissa, who was shocked at what she had seen. "We need to take these tapes to somebody. This will show if for nothing else that somebody in this town is doing something with these people." Melissa said, and I slowly nodded, feeling like I just needed to be careful on who I picked.

"I might not like him, but he might be willing to listen to me since his brother is on this one. This might be the thing that finally unites us together." I said, mildly hoping that Matt was indeed willing to bury the hatchet here. But to be honest, I felt like I just needed to take the fucking risk.

"Oh god. I feel like that face is familiar. I have no idea. But I wonder if she might be one of the labyrinth victims." She said, and I looked right at her, wondering why she was even saying this in the first place. It was too much for me to bear, since the implications were too deep if this was true.

"We need to get out of here before we do anything else." I said, and grabbed the casette, and ran out, with Melissa following me, as if well aware of what I was trying to accomplish. And to be honest, I was wondering if her theory was true.

If it was, I really did need to tell T.K. to get away from this, and to keep himself and his friends safe from what would happen.

---

Scene 12: Kari's Hate Declaration

June 15 1986, Afternoon

Later, I was placing my things down, hoping that nobody caught me taking the casette, and I was wondering what to do. Before too long, I heard a knock on the door. I answered it, and Rob was there. Kari was watching me and him from a distance, wondering what the two of us were going to say.

"Hey, I just wanted to see how you were today. You know, after the conversation we had with Rachel earlier." Rob said, and I was shaking my head, not really wanting to talk about this at all. Since I was feeling like it was the recipe for disaster.

"To be honest, I did try and talk to Melissa earlier. You know, like you suggested, on a personal level. It was rather hard though, because it seems like everything all at least partially stems back to the case." After I said this, I felt like being honest was the best way to go at this.

"To be honest, I was worried something like that would fucking happen." Rob said, and then he looked over at Kari, and smiled as he was seeing my younger sister. "Hey. Has your brother been doing well so far?" He asked, hoping that Kari would at least humor him.

"Yeah, I guess that he is doing well. What were you doing with Melissa? I thought you made me a promise." Kari said, and I sighed, having no desire to go down this path at all.

"Not much. I mean, I was trying to get to know her. After all, she is the girl I liked. But most of it turned into me talking about the case and everything else." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest here.

"So you aren't really looking into much anymore then?" She asked, and I looked down, wondering what I was even going to tell her. There was nothing I could have possibly said to make her feel better, and I fucking knew that.

"Well, I am just seeing what all the options ahead of me are. You know, I don't think that I am going to find anything you want." I said, and then Rob was shaking his head, as if hoping to interject, and salvage this conversation.

"Look. Your brother has been doing great so far. I think he just needs a bit more time. He has been talking with a lot of people, and has gotten a lot of information gathered." He said, and I was glad to simply know that if for nothing else, at least Rob was willing to take my fucking side on this issue.

"But you're still nowhere closer to the end than you were when you started a few days ago. You always go out, and then just hang out with friends for ninety percent of the day." Kari said, and I was shaking my head, wondering why she was even acting like this in the first place.

"Can you fucking stop? I mean, you know nothing about what I have been doing. Or what I have fucking found. I am coming really close to cracking the case, and you are here basically insulting my every movement." I said, feeling like I really had no choice but to get a bit defensive.

"I wish I knew what to fucking believe." Kari said, and I simply shook my head, feeling like she was behaving disgustingly, and I was not really in the mood to hear it at all anymore.

"What can I tell you? That his friend Rachel right there actually doesn't want me to look into this? That I care more about my promise to fucking Melissa than I care about the promise that I made you because I knew you were being unreasonable." I said, feeling like I just needed to place my foot down.

"You're just fucking this whole thing up." Kari said, and both Rob and I were surprised about the way she was reacting. Our parents were looking over, to see what the issue was. But then decided to not interject. For some fucking reason.

"You are the worst brother ever, and I fucking hate you!" Kari said, and then she was heading towards her room. I looked right at Rob, not sure what in the world I would even say to that. There was nothing to fucking say.

"I knew that shit was going to happen. Always dramatic. But I guess that now at least I know her real thoughts." I said, and I was trying so hard to keep calm. I headed out, and I was not going to waste my time with this shit. If she hated me, like she said, then I was just going to let it go.

Rob left with me, and I was seeing him looking like he was trying to find something to say to make me feel better about what was going on here. "Tai, do you want to talk about what she fucking just said?" Rob asked me, and I looked right at him, not caring.

"She's a bitch. Nothing else to fucking say. She think she owns everybody in my family. But in all honesty, that is just making me fucking resent being around her more." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with him as I said this.

"But it just fucking feels so wrong to hear all that. I guess that I thought you were just being a bit over the top with what you were telling us." He said, and then I shook my head, feeling like I just needed to end this, for my own fucking sake.

"Let's just fucking get the job done, and stop worrying about it all. If she feels that way, then I need to step the fucking hell up, and make her feel better." I said, finally ending this discussion, and wanting to just get the god damn job done.

"Where do you want to fucking go?" Rob asked, and I was appreciating his efforts to make me feel better. But if I was being completely honest, I was feeling like he was just trying to be way too fake supportive. If that makes any sense.

"I want to fucking find where Andrea is. If that is the only way for Kari to respect me again, then I feel like there is no other goal in mind. You can come if you want if you want though." I said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like I just needed to make the offer as transparent as possible.

Rob was following me for a few seconds, before he was feeling like he just needed to talk to me once again, and I was wondering where he was going to go with this.

"You were saying that you found something earlier? I mean, I get not wanting to tell Kari. But would you be fine with telling me?" He asked, and I was sighing. Feeling like doing this would be getting him at least somewhat on the fucking target.

"Yeah. It was a fucking casette tape near the waterfall. Somebody has been going there, and recording every day activities, and then filming him having sex with a woman there every week." I said, not sure if I was really selling home how insane this whole thing was with a relatively vague description.

"What the fucking hell were you doing there with Melissa anyways? I mean, I feel like that is something that Melissa would not have wanted to be a part of." Rob said, and I was sighing. I really didn't want this to become the discussion.

"That's not the fucking point. I was in the forest, and she was there as well, and we just simply decided to hang out for a bit. And then we fucking found this." I said, pulling it out for half a second, and then placing it back in my pocket again.

"I am going to be showing Matt this. T.K. was in there, and I think he might be able to use this effectively to get T.K. to stop doing this shit. It is really my only fucking play that I fucking have." I said, hating the fact that I was going to be the mastermind behind a rift between them.

"Oh shit. Seriously? That could fucking go real bad if you are not careful. I mean, what do you seriously think Matt would say if he saw the footage?" Rob said, and then he was then looking like the second question was going to be much worse than the first.

"Was Tobias in there as well?" He asked, and I slowly nodded, feeling like I might as well be honest with him as I told him this. He was shaking his head, unable to believe that this was how things would turn out.

"Yeah. But I think we need to keep that away from Rachel. After all, with the stuff she had been saying, I feel like she might be a bit unhinged if she found out the truth." I said. Hoping that Rob was going to agree with me, and not press the matter any further.

"But she will not be happy if she learns that you are with holding information about Tobias that serious to her. And if that happens, then I need you to take the fucking blame." After he was telling me this, I slowly nodded. feeling like his reaction was fair enough.

"I don't care if she's happy with it or not. I am not going to make this worse for everybody else involved. Seriously. She already has enough on her plate. And there is a chance she might just be thinking a lot of that shit is just mere rumors." I said, and I was thinking that the logic was fair enough, and I was hoping that Rob would come around, and see the point that I was trying to fucking make.

"If you fucking say so. But that doesn't mean that I will like it. And besides, you already said that you were showing Matt. After that, what do you want to fucking do with it?" Rob asked, and I was thinking that was fair enough. Not sure what I wanted to fucking say though.

"To be honest, I think that I might try and fucking tell T.K. Maybe if he sees that the stuff Matt says isn't a fucking lie, then he might be willing to back off, and leave this whole thing alone. It is not a great plan. But I feel like it is the only prayer chance I have." I told him, and then Rob was shaking his head, seeming to be a bit on the edge the entire time I talked.

Eventually, we sat down at the skating park, and Rob seemed to think for a second. "I hope you know that this would be making things much worse if you don't plan this out too well. After all, you have no idea if T.K. will simply not care."

"And if that is the case, then he is truly beyond the point of being convinced to fucking stop." I said, and then I was shaking my head, feeling like I just needed to be as blunt, but realistic, as I could as I told him this.

I was so happy that Rob actually listened to me, and he was not going to take what I said for doubt. I needed that person to believe in me, and see that everything that I was doing was for the fucking best. But if I didn't have other people at my side, then things would be worse.

---

Scene 13: The Fight

June 18, 1986, Afternoon

Rob and I decided to meet up with Davis soon after the revelation of Yolei going missing went through. After all, I was thinking that if even half his feelings for Yolei were real, he probably already had most of the answers that we needed. Although once we were at his place, I was shocked to be seeing him looking like he had been bruised up, and had a black eye.

"What happened?" Rob asked, and I was hearing him sounding kind of scared for Davis for a second. Davis got up, and shook his head. As if feeling like this was the last conversation that he was wanting to fucking go into. I looked right at Rob, wondering what he was thinking.

"I got into a fucking fight with T.K. After everything we had been going through, he and I started accusing each other of various things, and it was all related to the Yolei case. And after a while, it just turned into a fucking fight." He admitted, and I was seeing him looking like he had hated admitting this, due to their friendship.

"Shit. We don't need T.K. to be going around and doing that. I think that I need to try and talk to him, and get him to fucking calm down." I said, and I was unsure if what I was doing would actually fucking matter. But as I was going, Davis shook his head, and I stopped to hear what he wanted to say.

"Why are you even wanting to talk to me in the first place?" Davis asked, and I felt like maybe I would just speak straight with him. After all, he was in this as well. "Are you here just to see my wound, and see that I failed to do the one thing that I wanted to do?"

"No. I wanted to see if you were able to give me information on finding Yolei. My sister made it very clear to me that she wants nothing to do with me unless if I step up my game and help her out more." I said, shaking my head as I said this.

"She's gone. She was going on and on about how her parents were trying to get rid of her and shit. I never thought anything of it at first, obviously. But now that I know what I know, I think that I was a fool for ever trying to doubt that." Davis said, and then he said something that I was not expecting.

"I think that Yolei might have become a part of human trafficking." After Davis said this, I saw Rob looking like he was mildly considering what he had heard. "I know that is the last thing that people want to fucking hear. But I think it is very fucking real."

"Don't tell T.K. I said that though. He is still convinced that she is in Wayside. I wish she was as well. But I highly fucking doubt it as well." After Davis admitted this, he sighed, and looked like he was finding the entire conversation to lose a bit of the point that he was trying to fucking make here.

When Davis himself was now starting to leave, this was when I was calling out to him. "Davis, where the fucking hell are you going?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to put pressure on him. He looked right at me, and I was seeing that he was hoping that I was going carefully. For his own fucking sake.

"I am going to be finding something that proves my point. If Yolei is gone, then I want to fucking show this to the world. This is not a fucking joke at all." He said, and then after he said that, he rubbed his eyes. "Look, I understand you're trying to help. But I think it is time to see the reality in front of us. And look at fucking Andrea, Rob. Don't you want to try and see her home?"

"I mean, I fucking do. But that doesn't mean that I am going to brashly go out and do something that will probably get me killed." Rob said, and I was seeing that all three of us knew that this was a load of bullshit. Since this was something that would fall exactly in line with what Rob would do if he was having the fucking choice.

"But where, literally, are you going, that will help you find out about Yolei?" I asked, feeling like I needed to press the conversation. Davis sighed, realizing that this was a subject that I was going to be pressing very hard, no matter how much he tried to avert it. So he took a deep breath, and decided to stop arguing with me.

"I am going to see if maybe I can talk to Carbunkle. It seems like he knows a lot about Yolei and what not. So I think that might be a good place to start." After he said this, I was wondering if maybe T.K. had already tried this before. But I was choosing to not say anything, as a way to not piss the man off any further than he already had been.

"Isn't he on tv like every single day though? I think that talking to him might end up being a waste of time." I said, thinking that I just needed to remind him that this was probably going to literally never fucking happen. Davis shrugged, thinking that the point was fair enough, bit not enough to change it.

"Well, he's usually on from like seven to eight or so. I don't think he will be a issue to reach before like five or six." Davis was saying, and as he said that, this was when I was shrugging. Feeling like there was no point in even arguing anymore.

So with this, Davis was starting to walk off, while placing his hand over the bruised eye, as a way to just kind of prevent people from seeing what he did. I looked at Rob, and shook my head. Feeling like this was going to go real south real fucking fast. "Tai, I think we need to stop him from doing this. Even if Brad is innocent, I doubt that he will appreciate some random seventh grade student trying to suddenly get in his business like this." He said, and I was nodding. I agreed with him. But I had no fucking way of changing something that had already been fucking done.

"Well, I agree with you. But I think we both know that this man is going to be inherently stubborn." I said, trying to just acknowledge the reality that we were facing. As I said this, I was seeing Rob looking like he was refusing to let it go by that fucking easily. Which I was feeling like could have become a real issue.

Rob was walking off, and I was feeling like maybe this was what Kari was talking about earlier. The fact that I wasn't taking the courage to do what was right. That I was constantly hiding, and not being responsible. So with that, I started to follow him, and I was telling myself that I better not regret this soon enough.

Before too long, we eventually caught up to Davis again, and then Rob was the one who started the conversation. "Look, I think you need to talk and make up with T.K. After all, he is the one who is going to probably be at your side the most. You guys need to stop hating each other." Rob said to Davis, and then Davis just sighed in utter annoyance.

"I don't fucking hate T.K. I hate the fact that he gave a very low fucking blow, and the fact that I am supposed to just be fine with it. But I am fine with him as a person." He said, trying to really sell it home that he was fine. But then as he said this, I was seeing him kind of divert glances, and look away. As if he was just trying to not make his issues any worse.

"What exactly did he say?" Rob asked, feeling like the best way to get Davis to see that things were not so bad was just to get him to be slightly emotional. Let him become vulnerable, and just be his own person. That was what really mattered at the end of the day.

"He was telling me that he felt like I was smothering Yolei, and worshipped her. That I never really loved her. And I get it, we don't understand love at our age. But at the same time, I think that I have a better understanding of it than he probbaly believes." He was telling me, and I sighed for a second.

"And then I was telling him that he was making himself try to be more important than he really fucking was, and that he needed to stop acting like he was the biggest hot shot in the world. And before too long, it was becoming a fist fight, and we ended up both really hurting each other." Davis said, and he was shaking his head, feeling like he just needed to stop talking about this before he was to get even more angry.

"So basically you guys both really said some hurtful stuff to each other. I mean, I guess that something like that should have been expected." After I said this, I was shaking my head. Not sure what in the world I would have said differently. "Look, I think you guys both need to fucking step up, and just brush this off with each other. Shit happens, but I think you are only making it worse."

"Well, yeah. But I feel like if I apologize to him, then that would just lead to him feeling like what he said wasn't wrong or anything. I feel like I just want to wait until things calm down a bit, and then try from there." After he said that, I sighed. I was feeling like this argument was getting us nowhere, and to be honest, I was kind of not really in the mood at all.

"But why did any of this have to happen in the first place? Why did Yolei have to go missing? And it's like nobody even realizes how fucked up the whole thing is!" Davis yelled, and I was just trying to make sure he kept it back a bit. Just in case people were watching us.

But as Davis started to break down a bit, and he was just finally letting his emotions through, I was feeling like we both needed to step up our game if we were going to make this work out. Especially for a person like Davis, who just needed the assurance that everything would be okay.

"This is never supposed to happen. A best friend of mine dying in middle school. And then everybody acting like nothing fucking important happened. And everybody just acting like this is all hunky doory. It fucking pisses me off how people are." He was saying, and then he was coming to Rob, and Rob hugged Davis, as a way to try and make him feel better.

"Just let Tai and I take care of the Carbunkle discussion. We will figure it out for you. Nothing wrong. Just try and have a good time with the friends you still have." Rob said, and I was shaking my head, feeling like he needed to be careful with what he was saying. I did not want to give Davis any crazy ideas. But I knew that I should just keep that to myself.

---

Brad Carbunkle Scene 2: The Garden

June 21, 1986, Sunset

Brad was meeting up with Shaun, as per requested, and as soon as he was in the office, he had already seen that Shaun had been waiting for him, and looked like there was a lot that he had wanted to fucking say. "So Brad, I was hoping that I would be able to get your help on something rather important." He said, and Brad was shaking his head at this.

"I have already given you so much lately. I mean, I have no idea how the public will even react to the shit that we have been doing." After Brad said this, he was looking firmly at Shaun. Hoping that Shaun would actually take what he said seriously for once. Shaun sighed, as if mildly annoyed at the way that brad had been reacting here.

"Those people don't understand that I have been working as hard as I can to make sure that this town runs on full peace and prosperity." After he said that, Brad sighed, feeling like he would just hear what Shaun had wanted to say after all. Not in the mood to argue with him.

"What do you fucking need?" Brad asked, barely hiding the anger he was having at this. Knowing full well that whatever Shaun was going to request of him was probably going to be the last time he would have any patience for the shit that he was being thrown into constantly.

"I need you to go to the garden by the garden by the church. There is a woman there who has been practicing many things. Rituals I fear. Or worse yet, exposing the town. Her name is Olive." Shaun said, and then he started to get a lot more sinister with the tone of his voice.

"You are to kill her." Shaun said, and then Brad shook his head, taking a step or two back. Hoping that Shaun was just joking. Feeling that there was a line that needed to be drawn. And this was where he was feeling like it was going too far. Shaun then opened up a drawer and then threw Brad what he had.

"If you say no, I will expose the shit you did. And I will make sure that your chances of ever reuniting with Victoria are gone forever." He said, and Brad looked at the hilt of the weapon he was given. He turned it on, and showed a blue blade. "That is one that my best friend Justin used when we were children. Use it well."

Brad was feeling so much anger and hate as he was hearing this. The fact that Shaun was going to use him like this. All because of the fact that he knew about Victoria, and the fact that he was willing to do whatever he could to be able to bring Victoria back home. So he nodded, with great reluctance.

He left the office without so much as responding to Shaun, and started to drive to the church. The main reason he hated to do this was because he had trusted the people who worked there, and he did not want to destroy his reputation among Wayside over something he knew nothing about anyways.

When he was at the church, he immediately ignored going inside, and heades straight to the back, where he was going to get this over with. And he was hoping her death would be quick and painless due to the fact that Olive and him had worked together for many years back then, and he wanted to give her peace.

At the garden, he saw her in her red blouse, and shorts that only covered about six inches her legs. She turned around to him while she was tending to the garden. "Have you come to get some advice again?" She asked, and Brad was able to hear in her voice, a mild convern for him, that was showing she did not want him to do what she knew he was going to do.

"I was told by Shaun Reichenbach to come here, and see what you were up to." Brad said, figuring he would tell at least half of the truth. She glanced at him, and shook her had as he said this.

"I knew this was going to happen. He sent you here to kill me, didn't he?" She asked, and Brad was shocked at the fact that she had already known about his task. Before he could respond, she continued.

"When I was thirteen, I met a digimon. You will know those soon enough. They granted me one wish. Which was me requesting that I am told when I die. They said June 1986. So even without Shaun's interference, I'm not going to last more than at most nine more days." Olive explained, and Brad was shocked at this. Then he shook his head.

"Then let me just do this, and then we can be done with this." Brad said, and balled his fist at the older woman. Hoping that if she went painlessly, then maybe he would no longer be the bad guy in this situation. She shook her head at this request.

"I can't allow that. Even if I wanted to. I know the path you will follow if you do this." She said, and then she was finishing up her last touches. "I have been spending my final hours tending to this garden, and saying goodbye to my husband." As she said this, she was completely not facing him at all, which made Brad feel like he needed to take the chance.

"I know that you will become his right hand man, and he will use you for his own gain. He never gave a shit about you, or those around you. He only did this for his own gain." She said, and Brad didn't want to deal with her trying to place false ideas in his head, after everything he had been through.

"The Reichenbach way of business is the only way that peopel can survive in this world. The fact of the matter is that there is no turning away from fate." Brad said, hoping he would get Olive to stop trying to give him bullshit on how he was supposed to be going through his life.

"Fate is absolute. But there is nothing against fighting it, and maybe changing details in it." Olive tried to tell Brad, but she knew deep down it was not going to be going through. She knew that he had already made his mind on the matter.

When Olive was looking away, Brad igited his blade, and brought it up, and before he was able to bring it down on her, she brought out her own orange blade, and deflected his attack, which made Brad realize that she was going to indeed put up a fight to this after all.

When the two blades bounced off each other, she spun away for a second, nearly knocking over one of the plant vases. As she looked at him for a second, there was a tangible look of sadness and pity on her face. "There were other ways you could have brought Victoria back other than violence." She tried to tell him.

Brad tried to appraoch her, but she kicked a rolling chair away from her and towards him, and Brad slightly faltered, and softly hit the ground again, before he saw that she was coming at him again. And when he saw that she was on the last quarter second from getting to him, he deflected her blade, and then started to slowly stand up once again.

When he was up again, he started to swing hard, and fast, and was not giving up. At this point in time, his patience was gone, and he was wanting to make it clear that this was something that he was no longer willing to screw around with. So with this, he was slowly swinging at a rate to where she had no point but to get on her knees in submission.

After another bit, Brad was able to disarm Olive when she was trying to get an attack in, by slicing her right hand off, and then kicking her down to the ground, and she was seeing with how far away the hilt had gone, that it was over. So with her left hand, she decided to hold the necklace which had a picture of her and her husband.

At the end, Olive was down on the ground, already weakened, and didn't put up too much of a fight due to her cicumstances, and she was shaking her head. "I hope you know that I never wanted to do this. But I was given no fucking choice." Brad said, hoping that by telling her this, she would have a level of respect for his honesty. But then before she could respond, he swung the blade again, taking her head off.

As she died, Brad heard her voice again. He looked up, and he was seeing her as a spirit. He turned off his hilt, wondering what the hell he was witnessing. The worst part was that this was not the first time he ever saw one of these. "Your decisions will forever haunt you as you try and see if what you did was true and just." She said, and Brad was shaking his head.

"The only thing that haunts me is the reality that Victoria will never come home. I have to do whatever I can to change this." Brad said, hoping that he would be able to justify his actions. To her. But mostly to himself. Especially since he knew that his actions were beyond the pail.

"I think you and I both know that Victoria is dead. And you are just hiding in the truth, and pretending like she might come back, when we both know she will not." She told him, and Brad was trying to hide what he was feeling as she said this. It hurt him to know that she was trying so hard to tell him this reality.

"But even if she is dead, I can still be able to bring peace to it. I can be able to change what the narrative is." Brad said, hoping that by saying it this way, Olive's ghost would be able to forgive him. That she would be able to see that he was just doing whatever he could to bring some answers to the public.

"The darkness that has consumed you has started to risk the chances of this ever happening, and I think you know this as well as I do." She said, and Brad just looked at her ghost, and tried to figure out what he was wanting to say. The entire thing was just hard for him to fucking deal with, due to the bullshit he knew he faced.

"Even in the darkest of hearts and people, there will always be a light. And there is still on in you." She said as she was fading away, as Brad was wondering why she was even trying to convince him to turn back again now. After what he had just done. But as she had faded away, he was thinking about exactly what she was saying.

Brad picked up the orange saber hilt, and was walking away, as he was stepping on the necklace, with the spirit no longer taunting him, or making him question his already horrible decisions. And he was hoping that when he found Victoria, and brought her to safety, he would be able to forgive himself for his mistakes.