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.

7. Love Story

July 24, 2021

When T.K. finished up with Mimi's episode, he started to realize just how bad she actually had it, and how much it had really affected her. As he was really seeing that for once in his life, he was wondering if he was wrong for everything that he had said earlier. For calling her a worthless bitch.

As he was thinking more, he got his next message. One from Joe: Kind of nice to see you going through with your plans. I wanted to make sure that you were actually doing this before I even thought of sending you all this stuff. But regardless, now it's my turn, and I hope you never lose sight of what you're doing.

When he done saying that in the message, T.K. was slightly nodding, and he figured he would get to that, when he was done talking with the next one of the line up of Todd's kids, Seth. Feeling that Seth needed to know what he was really up to with the siblings.

As he was driving along, he was wondering what Seth would even say when they were talking with each other. In all honesty, he was having a feeling that Seth would probably tell him he wanted nothing to do with this. But at the same time, this really was not going to be his choice. And T.K. was not going to be letting him really try to get out of this.

Before long, T.K. eventually pulled up at the house, and by this point, when it happened, the siblings hardly even thought about it anymore. Knowing that it was best to just kind of let it go at this rate.

When at Seth's house, he knocked for a bit. After waiting for several seconds, Seth answered, and he was looking right at T.K. "I was wanting to speak to you for a bit. Since I have already spoken with all the others, I was hoping that maybe we could just get to know each other." T.K. said, and he was well aware of the fact that this sounded absolutely insane.

"Well, I guess that you have already made up your mind on this. And I know that it isn't really going to be worth fighting this." Seth said, and then with that, they walked to the car, and T.K. started it up. "So T.K., do you feel like you will actually be able to figure out how you can help us?" Seth asked, and then T.K. thought for a second.

"If I was being honest with you, I really have no idea what to tell you. I want to help you guys find the truth. But I feel like something like this is just fucking impossible. I feel like no matter how hard I try, there is always going to be that level of uncertainty." T.K. said, hoping that saying this would make Seth feel better about the honesty of it at the very least.

"I just wish that I was able to trust people more. Every time I hear about what is happening here, and every time I want to jump in, and fucking help, I start to wonder if I would be wasting my fucking time with that." After Seth said that, T.K. just decided that he would remain silent for a few seconds.

"Can you bring me to the park? I was going to be meeting up with my friends Manny and Becky there later anyways. I can be able to work on my comedy jokes during the mean time." Seth said, and then T.K. was glancing at him, feeling that something like this was actually kind of cool.

"Comedy jokes? What type of comedy do you write?" T.K. asked, and he was hoping beyond everything, that Seth would be seeing that he wasn't lying, and wasn't just trying to fucking throw him off his guard or whatever.

"Not the best in the world. But stuff that I feel like I can enjoy writing." After Seth was saying this. "It started off mainly slap stick. But the more that I started to see the bullshit that was going on in this town, my approach almost completely fucking changed. Now it is making fun of the shit that is going on here." After Seth said that, T.K. was sighing.

"This isn't the type of stuff that's funny. Everything about this shit is absolutely fucking insane. The town is a messed up hole, and no matter how much people try to pretend like it's fine, none of it really fucking is." T.K. said, and he was wondering if Seth would appreciate the way that he was saying this.

"If it's not fucking funny, then tell me what is happening here. I want to know, so I can be able to help out more." Seth said, annoyed at this statement. T.K. was thinking about the fact that Seth was only 12 at the time of this discussion.

"Honestly, I wouldn't even try to think about it right now. I will try and talk to your siblings about this, trying to convince them that they need to at least tone it down." T.K. said, and he was wondering if what he was saying was actually going to make a difference or not.

"I mean, they keep talking about how much they want to help you guys, but then they do shit like this. Constantly let you be involved and aware of what is going on." After T.K. said that, he was sighing for a second, unsure of how to continue at all.

"I mean, you should just go out there and have some fun with your friends. No matter how something like this happens, as long as you are going out there, and you are enjoying yourself, that is what really fucking matters." T.K. said, and then there was nothing else to say.

"Yeah. You're right. I want to do that so fucking badly. Just go out and have the time of my life. The issue is that everybody would be coming to me, and asking me what I know about this. As if feeling like it is my responsibility to know this." Seth said, and he was sounding like he was kind of annoyed at this.

"Fucking ignore them. They are going to be doing whatever they want, and they are going to be upset either way. Just focus on yourself, and have a good time. Your friends enjoy hanging out with you, and they want to see you have a good time. That is the main thing that matters." T.K. said, and then with that, Seth was remaining silent for a few seconds, before he was finally accepting what T.K. was at least trying to say.

"Okay, yeah. I will at least try." Seth said, and then with that, he stood up, and then he was getting out of the car, already thinking about how much fun he would be having with his friends when he was actually with them.

As he was gone, T.K. took out a cigarette, feeling glad to just help Seth see the light, at least a little bit. As he was smoking the cigarette, he was thinking about how he was needing to get right to work with Joe's part of the story, and he drove off, as he was seeing Manny and Becky walking on their way to Seth.

---

Episode 7: Love Story (Joe's POV)

Scene 1: Date With My Love

I was getting ready to go on a date with a girl I had asked out that previous week. I was amazed that I actually had the courage to go on and ask her out. Considering the fact that I was always super scared of things like this. But to be honest, I knew that with the fact that I was going on my final year of school, that I needed to have the courage to fucking ask her, and see if she would have said yes, which she did.

I was having a fucking feeling that this was going to be the turning point of my entire time in Wayside high school. I was feeling that maybe with the fact that I was going to be spending my summer doing as much with my life as possible, and just trying to make the most of it that I could, that maybe I was taking my older brothers advice seriously.

I was sitting down at the cafe, with less than ten minutes to go before the date, and I was looking at my brother. "Jim, I can't believe that it took me this long to finally realize that just asking, and seeing what I get out of it, is what I fucking needed. But honestly, I am so happy to finally be doing this." I said, and then I was shrugging, having nothing else to say.

"There was only one person who ever doubted you Joe. And that was yourself. You were the one that was holding yourself back every single time, and you were the one that kept telling himself that he was not going to be good enough. But here you are, finally fucking making a difference in your social life." Jim said, and then he was rubbing his chin, as if thinking about it a bit.

"Was there a woman that you ever loved?" I asked, wondering if maybe I could get him to just fucking open up with me. I needed to see if I could help my older brother out, at least a little bit. "I never met her." Jim was looking straight at me, and I was seeing that he was not liking this discussion.

"Yes. But that was a long time ago, and I did not take the chance to try and make it right. It is all my fucking fault, and I just wish that maybe I had finally had a pair of balls to try and make things different." Jim said, and then he shrugged, taking out a drink, and was having it a bit.

"You should try and reach out to her again. She might say yes this time." I said, pretending to be acting like this was the best way to give him soem advice. The way he was looking at me was clearly showing a sign of pity. I was wondering what his issue with it would have been, and if I could have made him feel like he had a chance after all.

"That is going to be fucking impossible Joe. I do not really want to get into it, but there is nothing that I can do about what happened." After Jim had said that to me, I was shrugging, and I really had no idea what the hell I was going to tell Jim. I was feeling that maybe I needed to just respect his wishes, as much as it may have pained me to remain silent.

"Well, I'm sorry about that. I wish that I could have told you something that would have made you feel better about this." I said, and then I was shrugging, clearly having no idea why I was talking to Jim about this. I was standing up, and then Jim was calling out to me, and he was looking like despite everything else, he was looking really fucking happy.

"Just so you are aware, I am really proud of you. It is not often that I see somebody finally do something that they should. Go out there, and kill it with her." After he had said that to me, I was smilimg, and I was rubbing my eyes, and I was feeling that he was just saying that to try and make me feel better.

"I will be proud of myself if I can go out there and fucking actually get this girl to like me." I said, and then I was shrugging, thinking that I had not really won anything yet, and that I still had a long fucking way that I needed to go here.

So with that, I left the cafe, and then started to drive on my way over to Aurora's house, and the entire time that I had been driving there, I had been thinking about the time that I had asked her out, and the story that had come out of it. The story that finally made me feel like I was grbbing fate by the horns.

...

It was a few days before prom of that year, and I was feeling like I just was a bit too scared about going there alone. Jim had convinced me that I should at least go to it, since I only had one more year of high school after this, and he was feeling like I was letting the chances slip by, and that I just needed to give it a chance.

I was looking around, and I was seeing Aurora. As I was looking at her, I wanted to talk to her, and I was needing to just finally resolve this uncertainty that I had with my life. If I never went around and asked her what I wanted to this whole time, then I was going to be living the rest of my life in some form of regret.

I was walking to her, and the entire time that I was doing this, even though I knew that nobody was watching me, I was having a feeling that everybody was keeping their eyes on me, and that I was going to have to just be really fucking suave with my question. It was honestly the scariest thing in my entire life.

"Hey Aurora." I said, and then she was looking in my direction, and she was actually smiling to be seeing me here. I was shocked that she was willing to even give me this. As I was looking at her, I was starting to feel like I had a chance to finally make this right. So with that, I was finally having courage here.

"I was wanting to ask if you were willing to go out to prom with me." After I said that to her, I was sighing, finally feeling that this was going to be when I would just get the rejection, so that way we could finally put this whole thing behind us. Before I could even respond, that was when I was hearing a guy calling out to me. I looked over to see who it was, and was not shocked at all.

"Joe, you need to ask people before the last fucking minute if you want people to go out with you. If you ask it like that, then the girls are going to think that you are desperate. They don't like guys like that." He said, and winked at me. He was already having Sora at his side, and I was looking down, just really having no idea what to tell him.

"Matt, give him a break. At least he's trying to be making this whole thing work." After Sora was telling Matt this, I was looking over at Aurora, and I was feeling like this whole thing was just way out of my league, and I was feeling that I needed to drop it all. I was holding up my hands, having nothing to say.

"Never mind. This is clearly going to never work. This is going fucking nowhere." I said, and then I was walking away, and I was hoping that Matt enjoyed the fucking show that he had put on. He ended up making me look like a fucking idiot, and to be honest, I was feeling that if this was the way that he was going to treat me for no fucking reason, then I had no reason to be going along with this.

As I was walking off, I was seeing Matt looking in my direction, and I was seeing that he was just trying to find something to say to Sora. As if he was feeling like I was being a bit of a fucking baby about this whole time. Then when I was outside again, I was sitting down on a chair, and I was looking up at the sky, and I wondered why the hell I even thought that this would have been a good idea in the first place.

I sat down on that chair for nearly five minutes before I was having Aurora come up to me, and sit down next to me. As I looked at her, I was wondering what the hell I was going to be telling her. She was going to be giving me a polite rejection, on top of the rejection that Matt had already given me in the first place, and then it was going to just be a total waste of my time.

"Joe, you did not need to worry about that all. Sorry that Matt was telling you that all. I was going to say yes if you had waited long enough." She said to me, and then I looked at her, and shook my head. I knew for a fucking fact that she was not going to, but I was willing to appreciate the fact that she was willing to fucking pretend like she would have. In order to make the rejection hurt a little bit less.

"Don't tell me that shit if it is not true. We both know that you would have only said yes out of pure fucking pity." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I was wondering if she was going to try and brush this whole thing off. "Honestly though, I really have no fucking idea why the hell I tried to do this."

"You need to work on your self esteem. It is pretty bad." She said to me, and then I was looking right at her, and I was hoping that she was going to just drop the fucking subject. She was only making this worse for me the more that she had been talking about it, and I was not wanting to make her feel bad.

"Well, nobody ever fucking wanted to be asking me out before. It is like I never even fucking existed when I was younger. But I know that everybody finds a way to be making that my fault." I said, and i was just wondering if I was being way too fucking dramatic about this. In a way, I probably had been. But I was just wanting to make her feel like I was not tooting my fucking horn here.

"Well, I hope that I see you on prom night. I will give you a dance if you are there." After she had said that to me, I was looking up at her, and then I was slowly nodding, feeling that I just needed to take advantage of that offer, and that this was the best that I was going to be getting here.

With that, I stood up, and the class bell rang, so we were going to have to leave each other anyways. I was hoping that maybe I was going to just be at Aurora's side a whole lot longer, since she was the cutest girl of all time. And also the one that I felt like had the most passion for other people around her, and didn't just care for herself.

...

I eventually parked at where Aurora's house was, and then I was taking a long and deep breath. I was rubbing my eyes, and told myself to just fucking relax, and that I was needing to be taking this calmly. I was aware that she had already said yes to my offer the first time, and that clearly she liked me in her own way.

I then got out of the car, and then walked up to her door, and knocked on it for a second. I hoped that she was going to just answer, and not be annoyed at the fact that I was coming by this late into the night. I had no idea why, but I was just simulating a million ways that this whole thing was going to be going bad.

Eventually, she answered the door, and looked right at me, and I was seeing that this was going to be my chance. She was already in her purple dress, and I was trying not to get distratced by this, and then I was seeing her close the door. "Hey Joe, how are you today?" She asked, and then with that, I was walking a couple of steps away, to give her space.

"Want to head on out right now?" Aurora asked, and then I fucking nodded at this, hoping to finally make her feel the fact that I was willing to do everything that I could in order to make her feel better about what I was doing. "Have you thought about what you would like to do?"

"I have no idea what I would want to do. I guess that maybe we can just go on and have a dinner or something. It was so much easier when we were able to just point at prom, and then go there, and pretend like we knew what the fucking hell we had been doing." After she had told me this, I was nodding at this, thinking that she was totally right here.

"God I can't believe that was already almost an entire month ago." I said, and then I was shrugging, thinking of how much I hated prom, and how much I was feeling like a fucking stupid student by going there in the first place. I felt like I needed to do more with my time than just be thinking about that.

"Yeah. I guess that we just got to caught up in school to even be fucking thinking about what we were doing. God school was such a pain in the fucking ass. But I am so fucking glad tahtw e only have one more year to go before this shit is finally done forever." After she had said that to me, I nodded in total agreement.

"Was there anything that you liked about school?" I asked, feeling like that I might get something out of her if I tried hard enough. As I had asked that, she was looking like she had been thinking about it for a second, but honestly could not find a fucking thing to be saying to her to make this better.

"I mean sure there were a couple of things. But that did not mean that I would ever want to be going there again. To be honest, I think that if I tried to be going there once again, I would want nothing more than to just get this over with, and get out of the area." She said, and then I was wondering what I could tell her to make her feel better.

"I guess that school does get kind of fucking old when you have to be doing it over and over again." I said, and then I was shrugging, and I was wondering if what I was saying was having any truth to it at all. or if I was just making shit up, to make it seem like I was being super smart here.

"I just think that I am able to really look at the fucking count down. I want to just take it one day at a time, and then get to graduation. Graduation is really the only thing that I fucking care about anymore." I said, and then I looked right at her, wondering if she would have been feeling the same way about the situation as I had been.

"Joe, are you sure that you do not have any other plans that you would like to be going through?" She asked me, and then I was looking down at the ground, and I was wondering what she was going to try and get out of this. I was then holding my hands together, as I was looking at her, and wondered what to say.

"I mean, I want to finally make some fucking friends. Make people know that I am serious about going out there, and making them see me for being a good man who loves being there for those who are around me." I said, and then I was shrugging, wondering what types of friends that I could be able to make here.

"Are you just hanging out with me to be trying to be branching out like this? I mean, if you want to be doing this, then I think that you need to be showing others that you are a fucking team player." After she had said that to me, I was shrugging, and I was wondering if Aurora was just not liking this whole idea at all anymore.

"Let me know if I am doing anything wrong." I said, and then I was holding my hands up, wishing that I could have been thinking of her more, and I was feeling that I might need to be trying to make Aurora feel like I was not just trying to take advantage of her, which was already making me feel so fucking terrible.

"No, I would not want you to be thinking that. I was just finding it funny how you were telling me about this stuff that you were wanting to do, and then you go around, and meet me first. Just makes it seem like I am just a simple target." After she was saying this, I was wondering if Aurora was just trying to be giving me a hard time for the fun of it.

"Well, I was wanting to know if you were going to be saying no or not. I was having a feeling that you were going to be saying no, and to be honest, I just wanted to finally have some peace in mind." After I had said that to her, I was feeling like what I had said just made perfect sense.

"You make a lot of assumptions, it seems." She said, and she was mostly looking like she was just wanting to be kind of funny about the way that she was saying this. But at the same time, I was aware that what she was saying was at least somewhat true. And then I was just trying to be hiding my embarrassment.

"Yeah, my older brother was telling me about that. And I guess that maybe I do get carried away. Maybe I do need to understand that not everything that I assume is going to be the truth. But Aurora, I just feel like I have no real talent for reaching out to those around me, and actually getting people to be liking me." I said, and then I was now trying to show more frustration.

"That is fine. Everybody has to start somewhere. And I will let you know that you have all summer to be getting a start. And I am going to be fucking helping you make it all work out. It is going to be a rough fucking path, but I know that it is going to be worth it." After she had said that to me, I looked at her, and I was wondering if she had believed in any word of what she had said.

"But I want this to be something where we both help each other out. We are both going to be making this worth our while. I am going to make sure that you fucking understand that." I said, and then I was hoping that she was going to appreciate that. I was seeing her looking like she was down for hearing me talking like this.

"Yeah, I guess that I am down for that. After all, I think that there are some things that I have to worry about myself as well. But Joe, do you really feel like anything you would do can really get people to change their minds?" She asked me, and then I was confused while looking at her.

"What do you mean?" I asked, just trying to make it seem like I was still in a relatively cool mindset. I think that maybe the seriousness of this voice was getting me to be wiping away any guilt trip that I was trying to be setting myself up for.

"Well, people around us do not really seem to care that all of us want a fucking future. They only seem like they fucking care about what is going to be moving them forward. They care about if we are going to just simply put up or shut up about the town. And they never care about what we want to do after college." After she was telling me this, I was sighing, and I knew that what she was saying was just a bit strange.

"There is no fucking future. I mean, that is what they are going to want us to be saying. They are going to want us to just act like we are going to be lining up for the big fucking show. But they have no show for us." I said, and then I was shrugging, thinking that I might be able to just leave it at that for the most part.

Scene 2: One Kiss

As I was driving Aurora home, i was wondering what the hell I was going to be telling Jim when I was seeing him again. What he would have believed. For some reason, as I was thinking allof this, it was reminding me of after school the day that I had asked Aurora out to prom. I was sitting on a bench, doing a half assed job on my homework as I was wiating for Matt.

When I was just about done, I was hearing a voice calling out to me. I looked up, and I was seeing that it was Matt. He looked like he was feeling bad for something, and I was aware of what it was going to be. But to be honest, I was not sure if I wanted to hear it.

"Look Joe, I did not mean to offend you if that was a bad joke or comment. I was just trying to be helping you out, while also throwing in a little bit of comedy. But honestly dude, I was more shocked than anything that you were even taking the time to ask her that question at all." After he had said that to me, I was shrugging, and had no idea what to be telling him.

"I just think that I do not deserve to be around this area. I am not very popular, and I am not a social butterfly at all. I mean, it is kind of a waste of time to be having me here in the first place." I said, and then I was shrugging, wondering if maybe Matt was going to try and find some bullshit to be making me feel differently here.

"Dude, chill the fucking hell out. Nobody knows what they are doing here. Half the people in this school still have a million pimples on their fucking face. Most people never have a conversation with a single person out of their friend group. It is not going to be that hard to get into it." Matt was telling me, and then I was wondering what the point he was even trying to make was going to be here.

"Do you know what you are doing here?" I asked, trying to see if maybe I could form a small talk with him. Matt was smiling as he was looking at me, as if he was feeling much more accomplished about this all. than I was trying to give him the impression of. But to be honest, I was thinking that maybe I needed to take a page out of his book.

"Hell yeah I do. I mean, I am going on a date with my girlfriend to prom. How is that not a good starting point? I mean, I am sure you are going to get there eventually on your own. But right now, I am on cloud fucking nine. And I am going to take advantage of it as much as I fucking can." After he had said that to me, I was giving a half hearted smile.

"Hey Joe, I know that you and I never really had a connection in school and everything, and I have a feeling that you do not like me, which is up to you. But if you ever feel like you need to make a friend, and have a person at your side, then just come to me, and I will set you up." Matt said, and then I looked at him, not buying his bluff for a second.

"Why are you even offering that? Wouldn't I mess with your popularity or something?" I asked, and I was wondering why I was even saying this. Matt was just trying his best to be nice to me, and I was here, just rudely brushing him off like this. In all honesty, I was the one who was being more of an asshole than Matt was here.

But to be honest, I was feeling like I just needed to see what he was going to be saying here. "Dude, my best friend is a gothic boy who has a hot girlfriend girlfriend two years younger than him. Trust me when I say that you are not the strangest person that I know. I like strange people. Makes my day a bit more interesting." Matt said, and then I looked at him, and i was thinking that the way that he said that was rather odd.

"Okay, I guess that I will believe you for the time being." I said, and smiled as I was saying this, and I was hoping that I was on the right track as I was saying this. After I told Matt this, I was now feeling like mabe this whole thing was going to start to work out quite a bit better.

"And good luck with Aurora. In all honesty, I know that it might not seem this way, but I do want to see you succeed in that. Just wanted to let you know that I was sorry, and that I was not really trying to be making you feel bad for everything." After he had said that to me, I was slightly nodding, and to be honest, I was feeling a bit better as time was passing.

"Well, good luck with Sora. I never seen her around with anybody, so you are probably a really fucking lucky guy for being able to get her to agree to go out with you." After I said that to him, I was seeing him looking like he was going to just take that comment, and take it well as he could, and I was wondering if he was such a bad guy at all.

Matt left the school, and I was then sighing for a second, and I was thinking that whatever I was going to do now, it was not going to be done here, so with that, I was standing up, and I was just walking off, and I would take care of things later, when I had a better clarity of what I was doing.

Eventually, I was at the cafe again, wanting to tell Jim about my success at asking Aurora out. In all honesty, having her say yes to me, was the greatest thing that I had ever felt in my entire life. I was feeling like I just needed to fucking tell him everything that I had fucking known here.

"Hey Jim, how are you?" I asked, and I was clearly unable to hide the fact that I was feeling better in that moment than I ever had in my entire life. Jim was looking up at me, and I was seeing that he was wanting to just get to know what I had done. And I was more than ready to tell him if he had asked me here.

"I'm doing alright. It seems like you are in a good mood today." He said, and then I was smiling at him, and then I placed my glasses back at the center again, to make them not fall out. I was not going to be letting anything get in the way of my excitement right now, and I was not even caring how silly it had looked.

"Yeah. I really am feeling so fucking good right now. I asked a classmate out on prom with me, and she fucking said yes. I honestly feel so fucking wonderful right now. Like you would never believe." I said, and then I was sighing, and sat down on the table, and I was now feeling that I had to just focus on what I had in front of me right now.

"Dude, that is really awesome. Just fucking have fun. Enjoy being out there. What do you think your plans are going to be with her?" He asked, and I was looking at him confused. My plan was to go to prom, and that was the only thing that I was planning on doing at all. Nothing else fucking mattered.

"I am going to prom with her, and I am going to just try my best to be making her feel like she is the most special person in the entire world. Everybody else would suggest that I do that when I am going on a date, so I might as well put it to use." I said, feeling like I was going to be following some form of a calling when I would out there with Aurora.

...

I was parking the car right where her house was, and I was taking a long and deep breath. I was wondering if Aurora was going to want to be taking this further. I was looking right at her, and I was wondering what I could have been able to say in order to make her feel slightly better about this. "Hey Aurora, thanks for going on this date with me. It makes me feel a whole lot better." I said, not thinking anything of it

"Don't worry about it. But Joe, what do you think your plans for the rest of the summer are going to be?" She asked me, and then I was shrugging, wondering if I even had a plan at all. But I was looking at her, and I was feeling that I needed to at least pretend like there was a plan that I was having.

"I am going to try and go out there a little bit. See if there are any events that I might be able to attend. Just try and make a social circle. It might be a bit hard to do, but I think that it would be worth the challenge." After I said that to her, I was shrugging, wondering if she was going to have anything to say.

"Well, I wish you luck on it. I think that you will be able to pull on through with it if you try hard enough." After she had said that to me, I was then wondering what to tell her. I was hugging her a little bit, thinking that even if we were not on romantic terms, she could be able to see that I appreciated what she was doing.

"Wow, I never expected you to be the touchy type." She said, and she was finding it kind of funny that I was acting like this in the first place. I was looking down, and after she had said that to me, I was suddenly feeling like I might have over stepped my fucking boundry, and I was feeling super fucking bad for it.

"Sorry. I just sometimes get carried away. And I thought that maybe you would have liked it." I said, and then I was starting to get away, feeling that maybe she was never going to want to have me do something like this again. And I was wondering if maybe I just needed to get ot of this discussion as fast as possible.

Before I could think on that, she ended up touching my face for a second, and then she ended up kissing my cheek. I was super joyed as she was kissing me, and I was feeling like I was starting to flush with a wave of emotions. Feeling that maybe she was actually liking me, and that was her way of showing it again.

"See you again. Call me soon." She said, and then she got out of the car, and then I was sighing, having nothing to say, and then I was looking at the house for a moment. Just trying to decide what I would have said to her now. I shook my head, and started to drive off again.

As she was inside of her house, I was shocked at how well this was turning out. I was having a feeling that in a way, I might have been having a dream. I was shaking my head, and then started to drive away. As I was driving along, I was wondering where I would have started if I really were to be going out there, and just trying to take advantage of making a better social circle.

I had no idea if I could really get any reccomendations from people. In all honesty, anything that people were telling me were probably not going to land at all. I was feeling that I was a bit out of this for my own sake. I was thinking that maybe a good starting spot would be to go around, and just stay the day at the cafe, and see if there were any places I could hear from.

I know that the cafe never got any fucking business, but I was thinking that as long as there were some people who were there, then maybe I might be able to get something out of this. I also figured that if for nothing else, if I could really not find anything, I could go to certain town events like the fourth of july celebration, and see if something like that would have given me some form of a fucking clue.

But to be honest, I had no idea what Jim was doing there, staying at the fucking cafe if he had been aware of the fact that he was never getting any money there. And to be honest, I really did not want him to be pestering me for every single little fucking detail of what I was doing at the date, wanting to know things that were quite frankly none of his business.

I mean, I got that he was just trying to make small talk. And that most people who want to just hang out with you, and just see how you fucking feel, but the fact is that I don't need to fucking have a conversation with every single person over the story. And even with the people that did have one with me, I felt that going through every detail was a little bit counter productive.

I mean, it really is strange when you think about it. When you're older, nobody gets in your fucking business about the stuff you do out on your own time. And people respect the fact that you want personal space. But when you're younger, nobody respects the fact that you need personal space, and nobody respects the fact that maybe you don't want to talk. But when you're older, when you say such a thing, nobody says a word. It just feels odd is all, the double standard.

As I was close to getting home, I was parking my car forcefully when I was seeing was in front of me. I was looking over, and I was seeing that I almost ran over a thrteen year old girl. As I was staring at her, I was scared out of my fucking mind, and I was feeling that she was going to probably want to kill me here.

I was taking a deep breath. But then after a moment of realizing that that I had done that, and then thinking about it for a second, I was just getting out of the car, and then I was thinking that maybe she was going to be needing some help, and that I was going to be a major asshole for not trying to help out.

"Look, I am sorry for whatever happened. I was not trying to do anything. Do you need help with anything?" I asked, tryingto just defuse the situation. "What the hell are you even fucking doing here in the first place so late at night?" I was seeing her looking like she was just finding it off that I was trying to be asking her all of these questions anyways.

"Well, I was out with some friends, and I was just on my way back home." She said, and then I was nodding, feeling that now that we were kind of over the immediate fear of everything, that I could just relax, and be thinking about things logically. "What are you doing?" She asked, trying to turn it around to me.

"Hey at least I'm old enough legally to stay out during the night. Anyways, how about I take you home tonight. Being out here is probably going to be really fucking dangerous." I said, and then I was thinking that if she was going to try and argue with me, then I was going to just need to force her to come along.

"Yeah, I guess that it makes sense." She said, and then she was slowly nodding, and I was seeing that she as clearly looking like she needed to just access how dangerous it was probably going to be to go into my car without any fucking prior knowledge of who the fucking hell I was.

She was then getting in the drivers seat. "So what's your name?" She asked me, and then I looked at her, wondering if she was just trying to make it seem like this entire conversation was natural. We all knew that it was not. I think only a fucking idiot would be thinking that it was not natural.

"Joe. What about you?" I asked, and then started driving along, and then she gave me her address, and I was running everything through my head starting to picture what I was needing to be doing now.

"Yolei." She said, and then I was nodding. Interesting name, to be honest. I was thinking that maybe she was just needing to be more careful on what she was doing out here. I was then thinking of what to be saying, before she interuppted me.

"Thanks for the ride. I have been thinking of a lot of things lately. But I have a feeling you would not give a shit." She said, and then I was shocked at her rather fucking direct way of saying that to me. I was then thinking that espite the harshness of what she was saying, she was probably right.

"Strange way of putting it. But maybe that is true. But if you want to try, then I would not mind." I said, and then I looked at her, wondering if I was going to get her to speak that way. Yolei was looking right at me, and I was seeing that she was looking like she was unable to believe this entire discussion at all.

"I can't fucking believe that I am having this discussion right now." After she had said that to me, I was shrugging, having no real clue why I was even doing this in the first place. "Well, I am trying to do a favor for some friends, and now I am starting to think that this favor might be getting me killed." After she was saying that to me, I looked at her, beyond confused.

"I think that you might be over stating it a little bit." I said, trying to make her feel like this was not that big of a deal. But the more that I was looking at her, the more that I was seeing her being one hundred fucking percent serious about every word that was coming out of her mouth.

"No, I am telling the truth. And that is the thing that scares me Joe. I think that some of the older people in this town know full well what they are doing, and what is happening here, but just are acting like we have no idea what we are getting ourselves into. And the worst part is that in a way, I think that they might be right." She said to me, tired of it all.

"Well, I think that you need to slow down, and you need to be looking at what you are saying. Try and talk to me one step at a fucking time." I said, and then I was seeing her looking like she was clearly just trying to be at least trying to consider what I was telling her right now.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't even fucking know why I am telling you any of this in the first place. I probably look like a fucking insane bitch while I am going on these rants." After she had said that to me, I was laughing at that, and I was thinking that she was probably much more on the money than she wanted to admit.

"The thing is that my older brother seems to be knowing a lot of these things as well. But he always seems to be fucking focused on telling nobody about it. I have a feeling that I will never get to get the information out of him. So if you have something, then I would be totally fine with you telling me more." I said, and then I was looking at her, wondering if she was actually listening to me or not. I was parking at the address she had told me of.

"Well, just know that every word of what he says is true. And I wished that I had known that earlier about people who were going around, and basically trying to pretend like we were all fine. Maybe if I had done that, then I would have never agreed to be doing this fucking insanity." Yolei said, and then I was laughing at this, thinking it was a nice breather not to see some people totally into this whole thing.

"Can you provide me a starting point on how to be looking around here?" I asked, feeling that maybe if I could get her to just give me something, and not be dragging around the fucking point any longer, then maybe that could have gotten her to just work with me. Yolei sighed, and I was seeing her looking more reasonable now.

"Yeah, I guess that's fair. Not really right to be going on all of these rants, rexpecting you to fucking change things, when you are given no fucking clues. Anyways, so a good starting spot if you want to be looking into this, is to fucking go around, and visit one of the science labs." After she had said that to me, I was nodding for a second.

"Not going to lie, I would have never expected you to be saying that as your suggestion." I said, and then I was thinking about some of the rumors that I had been hearing about the place. The more that they were flooding in my memory, the more that I was wondering how on earth Yolei was able to fucking learn about all of this in the first place. It just all seemed so fucking strange.

"Yeah, I think that the reason everybody doesn't think to look there is because the people in this fucking town who run things are smart enough to not be giving away too much information about the area. If everybody known what they were doing, then everybody would be knocking on their doors trying to stop it." After she had said that to me, I sighed, and I was thinking that I just needed to be getting out of this discussion as fast as possible. Since it was clear that she was not entirely in her right mind here.

"Well, I think that you just need to be leaving this alone now. If what you are saying is true, then you need to be playing this more safely." I said, and then I was taking a long and deep breath. I had no idea who the hell she was, but I was feeling that I needed to protect her in a certain extent.

"I think that I plan to. I am going to fucking just move on from my life. I can't fucking take this anymore." She said, and then I was feeling that I would check things out for her, so that maybe she would just refuse to be looking into this any longer. I wanted to believe that she would leave this alone.

I eventually go back to the cafe, and I was thinking that maybe by talking to Jim, I might be able to just fucking get him to be talking now. I was thinking that Jim was needing to really fucking come clean with me. Not about the fucking date. That was almost just secondary in my mind. I was going to be getting the fucking story told to me right now.

Once I was inside, I was seeing that Jim was just about to leave. "Oh hey. I was not expecting you to be coming back to here tonight. How did it go?" He asked, and I was feeling that despite the fact that he probably had no bad intentons, I was unable to just get over everything that I was feeling. I just felt like I needed to fucking scream here.

"It went alright enough. Nothing bad happened at least." I said, and then I was taking a deep breath, and forcing myself not to be screaming, but instead to just make him hear my perspective on what I was feeling here. "But there are other things that I wanted to be talking to you about. I wanted to talk to you about the issues that I have been hearing about in Wayside, and I know that you have a idea on what is happening."

"Can you please wait until tomorrow at least for this? You are ruining the great moment that you just have by having this discussion, and I think that you are probably only making it much worse." Jim said, and then I was sighing, and despite the fact that I was annoyed with the way he was acting, I was getting it.

"I want to not think about it. But everybody keeps asking me, and tries to fucking force me to talk about it. And everybody acts like it is all fine. I want to know the truth." I said, and then I was thinking that if he was wanting to tell me off here, then I was going to just firmly put my fucking foot down, and not mess around here.

"Why is everybody even asking you in the first place?" He asked me, and then I was shrugging, and I was feeling that maybe that was a valid enough point. I was thinking that people really had no fucking context to be thinking that I was the one with the fucking answers here.

"I have no fucking idea dude. All I fucking know is that everybody wants me to just suddenly have these answers, and I have nothing. But I think that you do, and I am getting scared of this." I said, and then I sighed, and then Jim was remaining silent.

"Give me a week or two, and I will tell you everything that I know. I just need some time to prepare." After he had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, and I was thinking that maybe he was right here. And with that, I was not even finding myself angry at him. I just hoped beyond fucking god that he actually fucking held true to that fucking promise.

Scene 3: Addiction

When I was home, I was thinking of the offer that Matt had made me. I knew that it was going to be totally fucking random to be reaching out to him after all of this time, and I was unsure if he was even going to be remembering what the hell was going on that day. But to be honest, I needed to just get to see if he was being sincere about the offer that I had made.

I was thinking that if he was sincere about giving me a chance to be a friend with him, then I just needed to fucking see what I could fucking get out of speaking to him here. I was dialing the correct number, and I was having everything run through my mind, all in a fucking swirl, as I was imagining all of the worst issues here.

Eventually, Matt answered. "Who is this?" He asked, and then I was thinking of how fucking insane I was going to be sounding when I was going to be trying to speak with him here. "I really don't have the time for stupid jokes, so if you have no reason to reach out to me, I would rather you just hang up."

Despite the grufness of what he was saying, and despite the fact that I was feeling that I was going to be walking on really fucking thin ass ice here, I was then jumping for it. I needed to just give myself a chance, to see if I could be getting him to be talking here. "Hey it's Joe. You gave me your phone number on the last day of the school year. You know, in case if I decided to reach out to you." I said, and then I was feeling that I was now being a total fucking idiot here.

"Oh shit. I was not expecting it to be you. I was honestly doing that because I was mostly trying to be nice. But if you are wanting to actually talk for a bit, then I would be more than down with getting to know you." After he was saying that to me, I was shrugging, and I was thinking that I just needed to go with it.

"Yeah. I was hoping that maybe we could be able to get to meet up, and just talk for a bit. I think that it would be really good for me." I said, and then I was wondering why I was even trying to do something like this. Even to me, I was aware of how stupid I was sounding this whole time.

"Oh wow okay. I was not expecting that. But if you want to talk, then I guess that maybe we can meet up. Do you have any plans that you need to work on?" He asked, and I was wondering why he was asking this. I was wondering if this was going to be like one of those terrible video games, and if this was going to be the point of no return, so to say.

"See you in a bit. Sorry for not getting to give you a chance to prepare. Kind of makes me feel like a asshole." I said, trying to be funny, and I was hoping that he was going to be playing along with the minor self deprecation jokes, and seeing that I was at least trying to be making it seem like I was a decently normal guy.

"I just need to be looking at what my plans are, and then change them accordingly. Trust me, there are far worse things that you would be doing right now." He was saying, and then I was sighing, and I was hoping that he was telling the truth, and that he was not going to be holding this against me too much.

Once I had hung up the phone, I was sitting down on my chair, and I was feeling that maybe I was going to have a long way to go in order to really earn Matt's trust and friendship. In all honesty, this is not that I was finding it to be a terrible path, and a small part of me was convinced that it was going to be worth it. But I was thinking that if I did not work my ass off for it, then maybe I was going to be on a rough path.

But I was at least trying to put words to action when I was saying that I wanted to be making friends, and that I was wanting to be increasing my social circles. If I was going to be making this whole thing work, and if I was wanting to actually have a chance to be making my senior year of high school work out for the best, then I was going to just have to be putting on a bullshit presentation here.

Maybe I would tell Aurora that I am actually making some plans. Maybe if I told her this, she would be happy with me. She would actually fucking come along and try and give me some advice. But as I was considering this, the more and more that I was thinking that what I was planning was going to be fucking stupid, and that I needed to be more realistic here.

Besides, despite everything that was making me feel a bit better about Matt, I was thinking that I needed to at least take what Yolei said into consideration. Sure she was a insane amount younger than me, and she probably did not want to really admit that most of what she was saying was fucking insane. But to be honest, I felt she had some valid points.

And as I was thinking that she must have had some valid points, despite not wanting to admit it, I was going to be having to earn everything that I had done here. So with that, I was standing up, and I was telling myself that I needed to make my summer focused on either Aurora, or my dreams, or checking what Yolei said out. I needed to be doing at least one of those three things all the time.

I was eventually at the house that Matt had told me of in his notes, and I was shaking my head. I was shaking my head, unable to believe for a fucking second that I was even planning on going through with this. But I knew that I just needed to give it a chance, and then see what Matt was going to be like.

I knocked on his door, and then I was telling myself over and over again that I was doing the wrong thing by even trying to do this. But as I kept saying this, I was also telling myself to just shut the fucking hell up, and see what I would even be discussing with him in the first place.

Matt answered the door, and when he was there, I saw him rubbing his eyes, and I was wondering how tired he even was in the first place. "Did you stay up all night?" I asked, pretending to be funny about it. He was sighing, as if thinking that I needed to just go fuck myself with how obvious it was.

"More or less yeah. Trying to listen to my brothers shit, and seeing what he would have wanted to accomplish. To be honest, I have a feeling that I am just wasting my time with this. I am considering just quitting." After he had said that to me, I was looking at him, thinking that this was a good starting.

"So what is your brother looking into anyways?" I asked, feeling that maybe I could get him to open up with me. "Not that it is any of my business. Sorry."

Matt shook his head, as if that was the least of his worrried. "Just a bunch of theories and shit. To be honest, I have no idea why I even thought that it was a good idea. But I think that I am just going to be letting him do his own shit. It is not worth throwing every night of my life over." He said, and then I was understanding him far more.

"Maybe that makes sense. I mean I hear a lot of shit, and I am kind of just trying to remind myself that I do not need to be looking at all of this right now. It is a fucking town with strange situations. I mean, what the fucking hell can I fucking do about it anyways?" I asked, and then I looked at him, wondering how he would react.

"But in all honesty, I think that maybe the reason that I was finding myself caring so much was that I was pretending to myself that I was doing something that actually fucking mattered. But I guess that maybe I am just being a bit fucking ridiculous. I can do whatever I want after all, and it would really not fucking matter anymore." He said, and then he sat down, and looked right at me.

"Anyways, is there anything that you would like to do around here anyways?" Matt asked, pretending like we were in a regular conversation. I was thinking that this would be best for us to just get back on track. I was sighing, and I was thinking that the way that I was going to say it would be silly.

"I just want to see some of the things that Wayside has to offer. I want to see what about it makes people so fucking happy to be here. I think that it would be a lot of fun to just see what this place is like." I said, and then I was wondering if what I was saying was even fucking sounding convincing to Matt.

"If that is the truth, then I guess that maybe I can show you one of the most popular tourist attractions for Wayside. Which is obviously the fucking arcade." Matt said, and then after he had said that to me, I was really wondering if I was going to be getting anything out of checking it out.

"What would thy have to offer?" I asked, and then Matt was sighing, pretending like something like this was not annoying to him in a strange way. But he was seeming that he was willing to just keep it to himself at least for the time being.

"Just fucking trust me when I say it," he said, and then I was holding my hands up, and I was thinking that I would just remain silent, and let Matt be running the show from this point forward. Besides, I was feeling that I was being rude if I was talking to him like this, and not giving him a chance to be running the show.

"Alrght. Just seems strange to be starting there is all. But I guess that you are right. I do need to be letting you take care of things. You know what to be doing far more than I do." I said, and then I was shrugging, thinking that what I had said was making some amount of sense. And then with that, Matt was walking along, and we were just walking for a bit, and he was clearly trying to speak with me in a regular way.

"So Joe, how was your time with Aurora? Did you even get to be meeting her at all? If it failed, then I am sorry for kind of ruining it bfore it even had a chance to start up." Matt said, and he was seeming sincere enough. I was thinking that despite everything else that he had been saying, that maybe I just needed to believe him.

"Well, I did get to meet her. She was nice to me, and it was a lot of fun." I said, and then I was shrugging, thinking that there was nothing else to say to him and I was thinking that maybe this really was a bad fucking idea after all.

Scene 4: A New Life

At the arcade, I was looking at Matt, and I was feelijg that talking to him about any of this was going to be making me feel like I was even more of a fucking idiot than I already was. "Hey Matt, do you often come by here?" I asked, and I was feeling that asking him this was probably a waste of fucking time.

"Only like two or three times. Honestly, I would not really be thinking much of it if it weren't for the fact that you wanted to be checking out various places in Wayside. But to be honest dude, I would never have done that fucking good in the arcade." After Matt said that to me, I was then starting to feel better, knowing that in all honesty, he barely even knew what he was doing.

"Well, if you never did any good at this stuff in the first place, then why the fucking hell did you decide that it would be a good idea to be heading there in the first place." After I said that to him, I was thinking that Matt probably really needed to be a bit more smart about this than he already had been here.

"To be honest, I figured that I would just try and see if maybe we could see who is better at this between the two of us." He said, and I was sure that he knew the fucking answer to this, and that he was just pretending to be making this look like a fucking contest because he was just wanting to make me feel better now.

"Dude, you know that you are going to fucking win. Don't even waste our fucking time trying to bring up something like this." I said, and then I was just feeling tired of this idea. "But I guess that maybe if this is what I have to do in order to get this whole thing to fucking work, then I will be all for it." I said, and then I was pretending like this was something that I would have really wanted.

"Well, I know that everybody has their own talents. For all you know, you might have some talents of your own if you looked around for a bit longer." He was telling me, and I was convinced that what he was telling me was just trying to be making me feel like I could have felt like this was less of a load of shit now.

"I swear to god, that is the worst fucking motivational speech I ever heard in my entire fucking life, and that is really saying something." I said, and then I was sighing, and I was thinking that he might not see that my intent was just to be making a joke. But in seriousness, it was a bad speech.

"Well, unless if you can come up with one better, then I think that you have nothing to say." He said, and then he was just leaving it at this. I was shrugging, and I was just thinking that I would leave it at this for the time being. With that, we were starting to walk along, trying to find something to say.

"I never said that I was going to be making one that was better." I said, and then with that being said, I was taking a long and deep breath. "Well, I guess that now that we are here, we might as well just not waste our fucking time here." I said, pretending like this was actually something I wanted to do.

"Well anyways, I think that this would be a good starting game." Matt said, and then he was walking over to a machine that looked like there were turtles on the side. One of the turtles looked like they had a sword. As I had seen that, I was looking at Matt, and I could tell that from the look on his face that the confusion was rather fucking clear.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I don't know much about it. Just on the couple of times I came here, I always tried to fucking win this one. Never got very far though." After he had said that to me, I was laughing, and figured that maybe I could give it a chance. Although I knew that I was going to fail, since I never so much as played one before.

"Do you often come here with friends, or was it just a place that you went to to pretend like you wre having a idea what the hell you were getting yourself into?" I asked, and then I was just thinking that if for nothing else, I might be able to just slowly get to know his feelings here.

"I do go with people. I think that going here on my own would be rather fucking silly. After all, the whole point of these things is to actually have a social life." Matt said, and then I was taking what he said into consideration. It made some sense after all.

We ended up playing for a while, and the longer that I had been doing it, the more and more that I was feeling that I could actually fucking relax along with it. In all honesty, as I was trying that game out, and dying every few seconds, I was getting more frustrated, partly because of how much I was dying, but also because it felt like the deaths would happen every time I was actually kind of understanding what I needing to do.

Eventually, after the third quarter, I finally fucking gave up, and felt like that fucking slot machine was just not going to be for me. So with that, I was walking to Matt, and I was looking tired, and felt like I had been wasting my fucking time here. "That was a wash. I think that I should never try that one again."

"Dude, I never really thought that you were going to be trying as many times as you did. To be honest, I wonder if you were just doing it to try and make a point." Matt said, and then I was looking at him, and I was confused what that point even would have been. But I figured that I would try and entertain his idea.

"What point would I have been making? The fact that me playing video games was a fucking terrible idea?" I asked, and sat down, and then Matt was looking at the menu. He was rubbing his eyes, and had nothing that he had to say. Then he looked right at me again.

"Want to just get some nachos or something?" He asked, and I shrugged, having no reason to argue with that idea at all. Then with that, I looked right at him once again. "So Joe, are you feeling that maybe you are starting to get a bit of a taste on what it is like to see what people are into here?" He asked, and then I shrugged for a second.

"I don't know if me trying to play video games and being extremely bad at them is going to be a good way to see if I understand what it is like here. But I appreciate the fact that you're trying to be making me feel better about this." I said, and despite everything going on, and the fact that I was feeling like I could relax a little bit better, I was feeling that maybe I just needed to try and do more to reject all the stuff in Wayside for now.

"You look like you got your mind on something. Would you want to be trying to tell me what that might be?" He asked, and then I looked right at him, and I was thinking that doing such a thing was going to be a waste of time. Matt was never going to understand why I was so fucking scared of this town now. Running into Yolei was a fucking terrible idea.

"Nothing that would be of any interest to you probably. I just feel like the entire situation is a bit strange to be honest. But I am not going to waste my time thinking about it any more." I said, and then Matt looked like he was getting really tired of everybody saying that. I wondered why he would have felt that way.

As we were sitting down, and just trying to discuss random things, we were hearing two people talking with each other to the counter guy. As they were talking, I was looking at Matt, and I had no idea what the hell I was even wanting to tell him. "How was your day today?" The counter guy asked, trying to make small talk.

"Doing alright. Got a few issues with the next order coming up, but it seems like it has started to resolve itself now." The man said, and he was looking like he was just angry about this entire discussion. "It seems like things have slowed down a lot lately. This last year has barely made any real traction."

"Well, Wayside has a way with that. Just getting really busy for a couple of years, and then for a while it is like nothing ever happened. To be honest, it feels like a nice change in pace. Just being able to focus on our own stuff today." The counter guy said, and I was looking over at Matt, and I was thinking that it would be best to pretend like we do not hear this.

"Why does everything have to be really fucking complicated?" I asked, and then I was asking it in a way to where one could pretend like I was just talking about the arcade machines. Matt was looking at me, shocked that I was even saying such a thing for a second, before he had finally got what I was trying to do.

"I have no idea. Probably something that people did in order to give the younger group of people a challenge during the summer." After Matt had said that to me, I was taking a small breath, and then I was then thinking that it might be best to just head on out of the arcade. That way we did not make any risks here.

"Yeah I guess that I can see that. I think that we should be heading home." After I said that, I was getting up, and Matt was wanting to argue with me, and he was wishing that he would get me to be calming down. But then he sighed, and then started to walk right behind me. As we were leaving, the two guys who came in earlier looked up at us.

"Have a good rest of your day. Don't let your parents force you into doing too much work." The guy said, and I was not needing to be a fucking genius to realize what this man was just trying to be giving off a nice presentation, to make it look like I was not talking with a man that almost gave away something about his job very fucking loudly.

I looked right at Matt when we were out of the area. "So I got the message. The arcade is a good starting spot. Do you have any other places that you would recommend?" I said, and then I was looking right at Matt. Despite the fact that in all honesty, I was feeling that talking to Matt now was going to be a hard task with the conversation we sort of heard.

"Well, I think that if you liked that place, I would also suggest that you start going to the movies. Not just with yourself, which I have a feeling you have done before. I mean with at least one or two other people. When you have people at your side, trust me when I say that the whole thing feels a whole lot different." Matt said, and the way he was telling me this made me believe him.

"Alright, I guess that I can give it a fucking go." I said, and then I was smiling at this. I could not believe that I was actually making my plans go through. "Do you go to the movies often with Sora?" I asked, feeling that maybe I could see if he had a nice way of just getting out with his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I guess that you can say that I go relatively often. Just manly try and enjoy the fucking time with her. It often is a bit of a challenge though, since I always feel like she gets way more engrossed by the plot than she is by the date that I am trying to have with her. I guess that it shows that the movie is good though." He said, and then he laughed, as if feeling like he needed to make himself feel better here.

"Do you think that she would want to go to them more often? I mean, if that is the case, then I think it might be good for you if you do." After I said that to him, I was seeing Matt looking like he was kind of annoyed, but that he was willing to consider my idea here. I was wondering why he was so against the idea of doing this.

"Yeah, I think she would." Matt was saying, and I was seeing him looking like he was slowly accepting that maybe that was the thing that he needed to do if he was going to be getting her attention more often. And I was respecting the way that he was looking more mature about it all. I guess that maybe if I tried hard enough, I could get him to be seeing the value of having a friendship with me.

...

I was at the cafe again, feeling that I just needed to try and find a way to be talking to Jim, and make it seem like I fully knew entirely what my fucking plan was. Because in all honesty, I figured that since I had nothing at all to show that I knew what I was talking about, I just needed to be forthright.

Jim looked up at me, and then he was looking like he was glad to be seeing me. "Hey Joe, how are you? Did you have a good time out today?" He asked, and then I was shrugging, wondering what I was even going to be telling him. I was convinced that this would not work.

"Yeah. I think that it was mostly worth it. I just think that I need to focus on what I am doing though. I guess that I will have to see if what I am doing is a waste of time or not." I said, thinking that I might as well just leave it at that. I had no idea what Jim would have said or cared for anyways.

"Well, if you feel like it was a good use of the time that you had today, and you felt like you got something out of it, then by default it is not a waste of time." After he had said that to me, I was sighing, and I was thinking that what he had said was so fucking obvious that it was kind of annoying.

"I suppose that this is true. But to be honest, I don't even fucking care anymore. I think that as long as I am not being a fucking recluse, and as long as I am actually doing something that I enjoy, then that is all I care about." I said, and then I was shaking my fucking head, not really wishing to keep this up.

"By the way, you should be meeting up with somebody. Since they are planning to get to talk to you about a few things." After Jim had said that to me, I was looking right at him, wondering what his point was going to be. I was scared of who was even wanting to meet with me.

"Who the fuck even wants to be seeing me?" I asked, and then I was shaking my head, having no idea what the hell I could have even said to make it seem like I was actually on top of things. He looked like he had no idea what the hell we were even doing here.

"Just some girl named Sora. Said you talked with her before. But she did not go into too much detail. She fucking refused to be telling me anything even if I asked her." Jim said, and then I was sighing, and I was wondering what the fucking hell she would have wanted to be saying to me anyways.

"Thanks. I will see what she has to say. I will have to try and contact Aurora again. Help her be aware that I have not forgotten about her or anything." After I had said that to Jim, I was seeing him looking like he was relatively uninvested in this whole conversation that we had been having.

"You are going to have to do more if you are going to try and be in a relationship with her. She is going to want to fucking really know that you want to be there for her." Jim said, and then I was nodding for a fucking moment. Thinking that maybe by hearing his considerations, I could make this work out.

"I guess that what you are saying makes sense. But I will have to see what I am going to even get out of this. I need to make sure that I can keep everything in mind." I said, and then I was wondering if telling Jim that was going to be getting him to be feeling like we were taking this whole thing a bit better.

"Regardless, it's really fucking late, and I need to be closing up shop for the night. I still have to run on a regular set of hours." He said, and shook his head, as if thinking that this was not even going to be worth it. Then with that, he was getting close to the door again. "Don't forget to respond to that girl. She seems like it was a matter of life or death you get in contact with her. Obviously it isn't that bad, but I would not hold her up."

As he left the cafe, I shook my head, and I was convinced that trying to be speaking to Sora was going to be a terrible idea, and that she was going to be finding a way to give me a warning about how I was needing to not get in the way of her hanging out with Matt and all that stuff.

I was walking to the cafe phone, and I was wondering if I could try and speak to Matt again. I would give him another call, and see what I might be able to learn here. But that was all that I was really wanting to get out of this. I was putting in the number, waiting to see what I would have gotten here.

"Hey Matt, I was wanting to ask you one more question before I left things alone today." I said, and then I was shaking my head, feeling that maybe I was going to be making Sora seem like a terrile person or whatever in his eyes. But I was feeling like I would just have to be working hard here.

"I was wondering if Sora was ever wanting to talk to me. I was told by my older brother Jim that she was trying to contact me." I said, and then I was wondering if maybe this was a bit of a risk, and that maybe Matt was going to be acting angry here.

"I think she had mentioned once or twice that that she would be interested in getting to know you a bit. But she never worked that hard on trying to reach out to you. I wonder what made her finally want to be putting words to action." Matt said, and then I was sighing as I heard this.

"Thanks." I said, and then I was shrugging, having nothing else to be saying. "I will try and see what she would have to tell me. Maybe I will call her tonight or tomorrow." I said, leaving it at this, wondering what I would have been saying if I did try and speak to Sora. I had no fucking ideas at all.

With that said, I gave Sora's number a call, and I was thinking that maybe by just getting this over with, I would try and make her feel like this was not a bad idea. I was thinking that I just needed to make it clear that I was only just merely trying to form a friendship here.

"Hey Sora, what are you up to?" I asked, and then I was sighing, feeling that this was going to be a giant mistake. After I had asked her this, Sora was telling somebody to leave her alone for a few minutes, before she was starting to focus on me once again.

"Hey, I was aware that you were hanging out with Matt earlier. I was wondering if I could talk to you a bit about some things." After she had said that to me, I was sighing, and I was thinking that whatever she wanted to say, I was going to have to try really fucking hard to pretend like this was something I actually wanted.

"What did you want to discuss?" I asked, feeling that maybe she was going to be having some good evidence for me, and that maybe I was not giving her a fair enough chance. But I was reserving judgment for this statement for a while longer.

"I was wanting to discuss some things that his brother has been looking at. I believe that I need somebody who I can trust with this stuff." She said, and then I was rather confused on how she was laying all her hope on me, given the fact that she did not even know who the fuck I was.

"Why would you trust me though? You literally know nothing about me, and I think that maybe you just need to give me more of an idea here." I said, and then I was taking a long and deep breath. Sora was remaining silent for a few seconds longer, trying to think of the perfect strategy about this.

"Because I know that you're a decently smart guy. I thnk that you probably have a decent idea on what this is all about. So with that in mind, and if Matt is starting to have a small amount of respect for you, then I think that perhaps you are my best best to actually get somebody to be talking to." With that, I was taking a deep breath at her idea.

"I guess that if you really feel like there is no fucking choice, then I guess that I will do it." I said, and I was thinkng that maybe if Sora was really needing my help, or was in the mindset that she needed my help, then I would give her a chance. "This better all be worth it."

Then with that, I ended up hanging up the phone, and to be honest, as I was thinking about what I was getting myself into, I was having a feeling that this entire idea was going to be getting us both fucking angry at each other. I had a feeling that she was not really going to like hanging out with me.

When I was done talking with her, a small part of me was considering just holding this whole thing off for a while. But to be honest, I was having a very strong feeling that this was not going to be something that Sora was willing to fully let go for the time being. So with that, I figured that I would just meet her, and see what I would get out of it.

I got in the car, and then started to drive in her house, and I was smiling to myself for a bit. I was thinking that Sora was going to just ramble at me for a while, and I would have to pretend like I was listening to her, and that I was letting her words sink in for a bit, and then once it was looking like she would be satisfied, I would be leaving her alone for a time being.

I eventually was getting closer and closer to where she lived, and I was wondering why I was so worried about any of this in teh first place. She was just claiming that she needed a person to talk to, and I was willing to be giving her a chance. It was the only thing that I could have done after all.

I mean, I did say that this was what I had wanted. I knew what I needed. I knew what I was supposed to do if I was going to get what I had wanted. And just pretending to be going along with these ramblings that Sora would be having was going to quite frankly be the only way that I was going to get through with any of this.

Before long, I was staring at the building, and then I was taking a deep breath, and I was shaking my head. I was considering going back, and just leaving this whole thing behind. But before I even had a fucking chance, I was seeing Sora leave the house, and getting in the car seat with me.

"Hey Joe, thank you for coming to see me. It makes me feel a whole lot better to be having somebody who I can talk to." Sora said, and then I was looking right at her, and I was wondering what the hell I was even going to be saying. I was thinking that she had given me a fucking mountain to be climbing up.

"Do you even know if I can make things better for you? I man, you are making a really fucking assumption." I said, and then I was shaking my head. I could not have fucking believed the fact that I was having this discussion. "I mean, do you really know anything about me? This is a rather big choice of trust."

"Well, I mean, you always seemed like a person who had his fucking head up high, and knew what he was doing. I think that when I come here, I need a person like this. Not a person like T.K., or even Matt, who just thinks he knows what he is doing, and then ends up just blundering around, making mistakes left and right. It just makes me feel like I am watching a fucking disaster as it is going." Sora said, and then I shrugged for a bit.

"You really do not seem to have any trust in those around you. I have no idea if that is a good thing or not." I said, and then I was shrugging, thinking nothing of it, and I was thinking that maybe I just needed to be keeping my judgments to myself. As I looked at Sora, i was just seeing that there was a true level of desperateness here.

"I guess that I really am no better myself. I always went around, denying all the shit that is going on in Wayside. Always pretending like I knew what I was doing. Or that nothing was fucking happening. But to be honest, I think that if I try and talk to people, I end up just getting more unsure of myself. Hell, I even start to wonder if maybe I contributed to the mess here. By not doing anything about it earlier." Sora rambled, as I remained silent for a while longer.

"I mean, I understand that you have always kept a neutral position on all of this as well. But I think that maybe something like this is what I will really be needing here. I need to have a man who is neutral on all of this, so that way I feel like I am not getting involved in any insanity that is happening." Sora said, and I laughed at her claim of insanity.

"I only kept a neutral position all of this because I can hardly believe most of the shit that is going on in this fukcing town. Or the legends. It has nothing to do with me really not caring. But besides, even if I was that way, I would rather have it that way. Shows that I am not fucking insane, and that I am not going to be going around like the fucking wild west." I said, thinking that the other reason, which I did not want to admit, was that I wanted to just have a chance to life a proper life.

"Maybe those people in the Wild West are right. Maybe some times I wonder if we really were doing the right thing by just making things more 'civilized' compared to the past." Sora said, and then I was looking at her, shocked that she was turning the subject into that. But I was not saying anything at all.

Scene 5: The Cafe

Eventually, I was hanging out with Aurora, just trying to be making it seem less strange that I had not spoken with her in a couple of days. When I had called her up to see her again, I was certain that she was going to fucking just scream at me, r tell me that in all honesty, this whole idea was just not working.

"Hey, I was wondering how you've been?" I asked, and then I was thinking that nothing that I could have told her was going to be making the situation seem less bad. "I just felt bad that I haven't spoken to you in a little while, and you don't deserve to be flaked off like that."

"I'm doing alright. It seems like you have been trying to get a good head for yourself. I saw you out at the arcade yesterday. I guess that you are holding to your statement that you want to finally make this whole fucking thing work out." After she had said that to me, I was sighing, having no idea what the hell to say.

"Yeah. I think that after all of this time, I am kind of sick and tired of not having a life that I can respect. And this is what I am going to try and do to change it. But I do not want to be leaving you all behind. I just want to make sure that I can be there for you." I said, and then I was thinking that what I was saying was going to be sounding really fucking cheesy.

"Joe, do you really think that going around and hanging out with everybody is going to be the way that this is all going to be working out? I mean, if that is what you think it will take, then I am going to be there. If you will let me. But it seemed like you always had a fucking grasp on what you were trying to do earlier." After she was telling me this, I was sighing, and I had nothing that I could tell her now.

"Look, I know that you are trying to just get me to be seeing things differently, or be thinking that things are not so bad as they are. But I know what I want to do. And I feel like by doing this stuff, I am starting to have a chance to fucking live for the first time in my entire life. And that is what I really want with myself. I want to feel like I am getting people to see a different side of me." I said, and then Aurora was remaining silent.

"Want to hang out tonight?" She asked me, and then I was sighing, and I told her that I would be willing to do it. After I had said that, I was then feeling so much better about what I had been getting myself into. And I was now thinking I had a chance to truly make a difference here.

After a couple of hours of time passing, I eventually was back at her house, and this time I ditched the idea of having a suit on or anything. I was going to just speak with her, and hang out with her like a regular fucking person. There was literally no fucking reason for me to be doing anything otherwise now.

"Thanks for being willing to come and hang out with me" She said, and then I looked right at her. I was feeling like there was no real fucking reason to trying to butter her up or anything. I was feeling that I might as well just be forward about everything that I was doing here.

"I just enjoyed hanging out with you. And I think that having a chance to really get to meet up with you, and talk about whatever you want, is going to be a good use of my night." I said, and then with that, I started up my car, and then Auror was unsure of what to say.

"I am sorry for talking to you so much about the lies that this town has. I know that is none of your business. I just think that when I am around you, then things are easier. And I just feel like every time something happens, then my chances of having a life that I wanted here are going smaller." After she had said that to me, I was shaking my fucking head.

"What type of life were you wanting?" I asked, feeling that maybe I could try and make things easier for her going forward. "I'm thinking that it is going to be doing no favors if you are going to be so scared about what we are doing. I think that even if you do not have all the time in the world, just taking advantage of the time you have is a good start."

"It is not going to be that easy. I think that I am always going to have a eye over my shoulder, and I don't even fucking care anymore. To be honest, I wish that I could look at things as nicely as you do. But the truth is that every time I try and adopt a careless attitude, I keep telling myself that this is a big fucking mistake." After she had said that to me, I was having a feeling that what I was telling her would be a waste of time.

"What are some things you were wanting to do?" I asked, and then she was looking at me, and after a moment of thinking about it, she shook her head. She told me that one thing she wanted to do was just be out at the well at night, and not feel worried that something was going to ruin the whole moment.

"That seems like a odd wish. But I guess that maybe I can try and understand it." I said, and I was mainly saying that to try and make her feel better. I was thinking of what it would be like to have this date turn out that way. If this was even a fucking date at all. But I was not having any statements to make now.

I was driving along for a bit. and the more that I was driving, I was thinking of what she wanted. "Was the well special to you when you were a kid?" I asked, thinking that just getting her to open up a little bit at a time was all that I was going to fucking get out of her now.

"Yeah. My parents took me there a lot. And in all honesty, when I was there, I was always feeling like I wanted to just be there forever. It sounds silly to be saying this. But it was something that I had wanted." After she said this to me, I was thinking that I could just use this to get to know her more.

"What was so special about it? The well itself, or was there the connection you had felt with it?" I parked my car, and then I was staring at the site ahead of us. Aurora just was taking a moment to think about it, and I was seeing her looking unsure of what to tell me.

"I don't fucking know. I just like the place. That is all that I need." She said, and then I was sighing, and I was thinking about what she was saying at this point in time. I was thinking that maybe I could have been pushing a bit hard, and that was all my fucking fault.

"I will try not to bring it up any more. I was just hoping that we could have had something." I said, and then I remained silent for a second longer as I was staring at it, and I was having nothing to tell her. I was wanting to make Aurora happy, and that was all that I was caring for. As long as this was what she wanted, what I thought didn't fucking matter. And it felt like being with her was starting to give me some purpose.

...

After I was meeting up with Sora, I was just taking a moment to really think about what I was going to do. "So Joe, do you have any plans on what you think we should be doing going forward?" After she had asked me this, I was sighing, and I was having no real idea what I was going to tell her.

"In all honesty, I think that the only thing we can do any real positive impact here is if we look at all the stuff going on, and we only work with what we know for sure is actually happening. None of the stupid fucking theories, and none of the stupid fucking ideas that people are having. I think that doing so would be making a really big fucking mistake here." I said, thinking that just making a plan was all that we could work with.

"Well, most of the stuff in this town are pretty fucking hard to deny. Or is there something that you are thinking?" Sora asked, and then I was wondering why I was making her so fucking confused by what I was saying. I mean, what I was suggesting was honestly making a whole lot of sense as it was.

"What I mean is that we should look at all the stuff we know. Like the fact that Andrea went missing a bit ago. Then we go further into that. Such as what we know about her case. Who was she friends with, what was she doing immediately before she went missing? And then after that, we look at theories. Stuff that we do not know for sure, but we think might actually be happening." After I said that to her, I was wondering what Sora would have said here.

"Okay. So just basically go down a rabbit hole per se." She said, and then I sighed, feeling that the way she was saying this was making my plan seem a whole lot fucking worse than I was really making it. But I was shrugging for a second, and then I looked at her. "I think that maybe some of those theories are going to be what is going to tie it all together is the issue with that theory."

"You think that I don't know that? I am just thinking that we need to have a natural evolution. If we go too crazy into this, and far too early, I have a sincere feeling that it is only going to be doing more harm than good. I just think that we have to be smart about what we are doing is all." I said, and then I was shrugging for a second longer.

"Well, and I think that another thing people need to do is find a place to where you can actually discuss this stuff safely. If we go around too much, and we make a big fucking scene out of it all, then I think that we are going to actually finally make all of our ideas roam freely." I said, and then I was shrugging, having no idea what I was even thinking now.

"Do you have a place in mind that you could try something like that?" She asked me, and then I was taking a long and deep breath. I was feeling that since I was the one that did bring up the idea, mabe it was fair that she was wanting to have me do the thinking here. But I was having no idea what I was going to accomplish.

"I think I might have to ask my older brother a question, and see if he would be willing to do it..." I said, and then I was sighing, having no idea what the hell I was going to be doing with this. "But he has a place in his cafe. The attic. He never fucking uses it. And I think that maybe it would starting spot."

"I got to admit, I never considered that before. I will leave that to you then." After she had said that to me, I was sighing, and I really had no idea what the fucking hell I was going to tell her. "If he can agree with that, and you can convince him to never bother going up there, then maybe that really will be a good starting point of operations." After she had said that to me, I was nodding, thinking that what she was saying was a good idea.

"I just think that if we keep doing this shit publicly, then we are going to be getting people looking at us, and we are going to have to somehow pretend that it is no big fucking deal at all." I said, and then I was smiling at her, but not in the fun way. I was doing it in that uncomfortable way where you were feeling like a kid that got caught by your parent doing something wrong.

"Do you want to know the area that I am talking about? I mean, you might not like it, and if it is a place you are not a big fan of, then I guess that maybe we got to try and find something else." I said, and then I was looking right at her, and I was really fucking hoping that she was not going to be a challenge.

"Yeah. I mean, I have nothing better to do. If Matt wants to hang out with me, I will tell him that it might have to wait. Or hell I might even just let him come along, if you were fine with that." She was telling me, and then I was shrugging, having no reason to be refusing to let him along. But at the same time, part of me was just not wanting this.

"I guess that if he really wanted to join along, then I might have to at least consider it." I said, and then I was shrugging, having no idea what in the world I was even going to be saying. "But I think that if I am going to try and work with you guys, then I have to be with you guys more."

Eventually, I was at the cafe with Sora, when we traveled along for a few minutes. "Nice place. If for nothing else, it seems like your older brother probably takes a deal of pride in making the place all cleaned up." After she was saying that to me, I was thinking that maybe she was probably right about that. But in all honesty, I was wondering if something like this would have made it all worth it.

"I mean, I guess that there is that. But I am scared that soon enough, his place is going out of business. And when that happens, I am going to be fucking sad for him. But I would be telling him that this was what he should have expected when he hardly has people coming over. But I am not going to be saying anything until then though. For all I know, I could be wrong." I said, and deep down inside, I was feeling the awareness that I was not wrong. But I was just wanting to give my brother a chance to prove it to me.

"When you say that he hardly gets any business, how bad do you think that it really is?" After she had said that to me, I was thinking of a positive way that I could be able to explain it to her, without making it seem like it was going to be a bad rep for my brother. Which was not going to be my intention.

"My brother only gets like one or two customers. I can count the times he had more than five on one hand. There is usually at least one day a week where he doesn't even have a single one." I said, and then I was sighing, having nothing else to say. "Sometimes, when I have money, I just throw him a cup of coffee to give him at least some profit. Last year, I did a summer job there, and in the entire summer, we had 123 customers."

After I told her that, I was sighing, and decided that I would leave the subject about the cafe alone. I was not even the guy who owned the business, and it still hurt to be talking about it. And if I was the guy that owned it, I would have just as likely lost all hope I ever had.

With that, I got out of the car, and Sora followed along, and when we were walking inside, I was seeing that Jim was sitting down, reading another book. He looked up, and saw Sora, and smiled. "A new friend of Joe?"

"Yeah. Met her in school. Only really hung with her once or twice though." I said, and then looked at Jim. "I was wanting to ask you something. Would you be willing to let me and my friends use that attic upstairs?" I asked, and Jim looked at me. Confused, but not at all willing to argue with this.

Scene 6: The Attic

I was walking up the stairs to reach the attic the first time. Jim had just given me the keys, and when I was on my way up, he was calling out to me. "Joe what are you planning on doing up there?" He asked, and then I looked right over at him, and I was wondering if he was worried about what I was doing.

"I am planning on just having a nice place that I can hang out with people at. You know, if I really want to go through with the idea of having soem friends, I would want to have a place that might be able to fucking impress them." I said, and then I was shrugging, having nothing else that I would say.

"Well, if you are really serious about turning your whole social life around, then I guess that maybe I should be leaving you alone, and let you be doing your own thing." After he had said that to me, I was smiling, knowing that he was deep down supporting what I was wanting to do, even if he was getting in my case over it.

"Thank you Jim. I would not be able to do this if you did not constantly claim over and over again that I might be able to handle this all." After I said that to him, I was thinking that I would just drop the subject for the time being, and then I unlocked the door. I walked up the stairs, and looked around when I was up there.

"You're welcome. Just make sure that you do not throw anything that I might want to keep." After he had said that to me, I was nodding, and then I was looking around the room when I was finally alone. I was glad to finally be able to have a moment to myself, where I did not need to be worried about what Jim was going to be trying to tell me.

I was looking around, and I was seeing literally dozens of boxes in the area, and I was thinking that for the first couple of days after I was getting this room, I would have to be just making this room seem at least slightly presentable. I was not going to fucking force my friends to be doing this. If I could even fucking calling people like Matt and Sora friends.

At first, I was seeing that there was a trash can, and I was seeing that there was a bunch of trash in the area. So with that, I grabbed all the empty soda cans, and a couple of the beer bottles, and some of the ripped up pieces of paper, and I started to throw those all in the can. I threw the bag out after I was done at the trash bin that was directly outside the cafe.

"Just so you know, once there are customers in the area, I will need you to remain quiet, and not be messing around too much. That rarely ever happens as you know. But if one steps in, I will give you a quick holler." He said, when I was at the stairs again, and I was remaining silent as I just simply nodded and went up stairs.

I was looking around when I was up there, and I was trying to decide what I was going to fucking do with the boxes. Maybe I was just going to have to put them all to the side. Or maybe I was going to have to go through them all, and throw out the stuff that I know is obviously going to be just total fucking junk.

I spent several hours that day just moving stuff around, figuring that I would move it for now, then ask Jim what he would have wanted with the boxes, and that for the rest of today, I would just focus on making the area less dusty. In all honesty, I was feeling that dusting the area around was going to be a good starting spot.

When I was seeing that JIm was coming up the stairs, I was sitting down on the futon bed, and he was looking around, and I was seeing that he was actually looking really impressed with the progress. "Not bad for one night. I was not expecting you to be going so deeply into it I was honetsly expecting you just move a few bags of trash and quit." He said, and then shrugged, actually looking satisfied with the progress that I had been making so far.

"I'm going home for the night. See you next time." He said, and then he went off, and I was feeling that I might as well just wrap up myself. Feeling that maybe I would finally have a good starting spot with my friends wheneverthey decided to come by. At least they were fucking able to go inside now.

As I was seeing him be done for the night, I was thinking that maybe I just needed to try and wrap things up myself. Maybe by doing that, I would have a small chance to be able to have a good night sleep, and then I might be able to actually do some stuff on my own. Because to be honest, I was thinkikng nothing of it at all.

And in all honesty, I was doubting that my friends were really going to care how much I was really fucking focusing on my attic space, as long as it was given, and people would be able to come up here, and just relax whenever they were able to.

I was thinking that despite th fact that she might be getting kind of annoyed at the constant attention that I was giving her, I was thinking that maybe I could call Sora, and just tell her what I was doing, and how much progress that I had been making. So with that, I walked down teh stairs, and figured that I would just give a quick one.

With that, I went to the phone, and I was shaking my head, telling myself that she was really going to not fucking appreciate this shit. But I was remaining silent to myself as I called the phone up, hoping that Sora would just fucking answer, and not give me any fucking bullshit.

"Hey Joe. I was not expecting you to call this late." She said, and then I was shaking my head, thinking that I was making a big mistake by even making this call in the first place. But I was just telling myself to fucking relax, and just continue the conversation. She was starting to view me as a friend, and I needed to fucking relax.

"I was wanting to let you know that I made some progress on the attic, and I was wondering if maybe you would want to see what I was doing tomorrow. If you can't, then I would fucking understand dude. But seriously, I was not expecting it to be as messed up as it had been. Holy shit it was terrible." I said, and then I sighed, having nothing to say now.

"Wow. I think that if you keep this up, we might fucking get something together. That is awesome man." She said, and then I was thinking of what I was going to be doing now. I figured that I would just try and find something to say to make the situation at least slightly better.

"I know. I was believing it to be a waste of time at first. Just when I first came in, I was fucking feeling so lost. But I decided that chipping away at this whole thing might have been making it all much better for me." I said, and then I was thinking about it for a bit longer. "I am going to have to see how my brother feels on certain things though. On the whole, I am excited."

As I had been saying this, I was feeling like I just needed to make a real plan with these people though. "I am going to just try and see what I can accomplish with it. And I think that any time you want to discuss with me details of labyrinth, we are going up there, and fucking working it out. And we can make this work out."

"Thanks for giving me at least a small chance to feel like I would be able to make this work out. I think that you might be right about your methods earlier. Talking about what you think would be the best way to go at it. Starting wih the irrefutable facts, and then go from there." After Sora said that to me, I was slowly nodding, and felt so much better about it all.

"Just wanted to let you know. Have a great rest of your night." I said, and then after I had said that to her, I was hanging up, and I was now feeling confiden beyond belief that whatever I was planning on doing, I just needed to fucking talk with Jim once again. See if I could force more intel out of him.

Scene 7: Two Brothers

I was thinking about just what it would be like to get Matt to work with me here. To be honest, I was thinking that he might be rather pissed at the fact that I was hanging out with Sora so much, and he might be thinking that I was getting in the way of his bitch or something. But to be honest, I was just thinking about how I would be able to defuse that situation if it ever became a argument or anything.

I was parking at his house, and I was wondering if I was going to have to work really hard to really earn his trust. I mean, I thought that he would have been fine enough with me. But in all honesty, I had no idea how much of that was just going to be him trying to make things decent enough between us, or if he was actually liking me.

Besides, I was thinking that maybe he might just want to have some time to really know whose side of everything that I was on. He might just want to be making sure that I was not going to be doing anything that would be getting in the way of the safety of his girlfriend. I knew that if something happened to Sora, then everything would be my fault, and he would have every right to hate me.

I knocked on his door, and I was wondering if Matt was going to maybe have some ideas for me anyways. I was hoping that if I could be able to get him to naturally work with me, then everything that I had been scared of for the time being was going to be thrown to the fucking Wayside.

I was wondering why I fucking cared so much about Matt and what he was thinking. He probably just thought of me as that one random guy who did not actually have a relationship with anybody, and was trying way too hard to make something out of nothing.

Matt answered the door, and he was looking right at me. "Hey Joe, how have things been with you and Sora?" He asked, almost not even giving much thought to what he was saying. As he had said that, I was wondering if I should be telling him the truth, or if I should be lying. I decided that in all honesty, just being honest with him, and not pretending that things were different, was the best way to go through this all.

"Doing alright. She was planning on helping me with a personal project. Something related to the attic." I said, and then looked at him, wondering if he was going to be cool with that. "Just trying to clean it out, and make it less of a shit hole for you guys when you decide to hang out with me."

"Oh cool. Do you have any idea what you are planning on doing with it?" He asked, and he was clearly unsure of where this was going to go. I was wondering if he was thinking that I might have some ulterior motives, and that I was taking her away from him or something.

"Just have a good spot for people to hang out with me if they ever want to meet up with me. In all honesty, I just want to have a area that I can know is mind, and that I feel like I can be safe with." I said, and then I looked right at him, and I was wondering if maybe saying that to him would be making him look at this differently.

"And I will admt that there is a small part of me that wants to play at this smart. if you guys are wanting to make a small war with this town, and act like you guys can take everything on, then I would rather have you guys plan your suicide missions inside of the attic than out in the open. Even though I think Sora had no interest in that idea." I said, and then I was sighing, thinking that maybe I just needed to stop making judgments.

"I have no idea what the fucking hell Sora wants to be honest. I think that trying to reach out to her, and just trying to really make a conversation work, is going to be the hardest thing that a man can accomplish." Matt said, and then he was looking at me, wondering why he was even saying this. "I mean, I tried to be reaching out to her a few times, and I feel like every time I am getting her to engage, she gets scared, and demands to drop the subject."

"I think that I have started to sort of see that as well. But I guess that I don't fucking blame her. After all, there are a lot of fucking crazy things in this town, and I think that just wanting to not have to worry about any bullshit is going to be a fair statement to be making here." I said, thinking that I just needed to stop talking about Sora like this, since it was feeling so fucking wrong to be doing all of this.

"I think that I just am starting to get to the point where I am hardly even finding myself caring anymore. I wish that I could care, but I feel like I am getting more and more defeated the more that I try and make something work. I am just going to hold out my hope that she will be willing to talk to me. But that is almost never going to happen." He said, and then he was walking to my car. I followed him too, unsure what he was doing.

"I think that I am scared too. I mean, I think that I am more scared of just the unknown of it. Not as much as what is happening. With what you know, you can wrap your mind around that. With the unknown, all you can do is make theories, and those are eventually going to fail as well." Matt said, and then after that, he was sighing for a second.

"Was Wayside better or worse than the town that you lived in originally?" I asked, feeling that maybe I could see why Matt always seemed to hate the mere subject about that area. I remember when he first started school in our district, and he always seemed to be furious at the mere fucking mention of that stuff. And in all honesty, I had no idea why.

"Out of the two, I would rather have Wayside. There is just something nice about the setting itself and the people. In Onett, I can name the amount of good people that I encountered there on one fucking hand." After he was saying that to me, I was nodding, and I was thinking about what he had said.

"I mean, it feels like when I was there, the longer you lived there, and the longer that you really got to get to know the town, the more and more that it felt like a coporate fucking hell hole. It had just honestly felt like nobody fucking cared about what tehy were fucking doing. And with the company there, it felt like they cared even fucking less than Lazarus." He said, as if that was hard to imgaine for him.

"I don't know. I mean, maybe if I had stayed there longer, and tried to be making things work out there for the better, then maybe I might have been able to like it better. But for now, I feel like it was just not for me." After he had told me this, I saw him looking at his house for a moment.

"It is just that when we moved to Waysie, our intentions were to make him have a place where he did not have to be doing anything dangerous. T.K. I mean. Since in all honesty, everything that he had done was just getting him closer and closer to fucking meeting doom and gloom." He said, having nothing else to say on the matter.

"So you guys were using Wayside as a deterent? Did you guys even do any research on the place at all before you guys came here?" I asked him feeling like I just needed to try and see what the issue could have been here. Matt looked at me, as if thinking that what he was going to say would never matter.

"Not that what I would say would even fucking matter. I just wanted what I was thinking made sense. My parents wanted me to come here. My dad had a promotion, and my mom got hired somewhere. In all honesty, I feel like they would have gone anyways. It was just that what happened with T.K. was a good excuse on the forefront." He said, and I was laughing, knowing what it was like to have parents be doing this.

"I guess that it is possible they are using that as a hide up. But it is also possible, if you ask me, that maybe they knew about what was going to happen this whole time, or were working with some people that were involved in everything. I mean, I know that you will not like the suggestion. But I think that it is certainly possible they already knew." I said, feeling that maybe if I said that to him, he might take me a bit seriously.

"I mean, I suppose that I do see what you mean. But I hope to god that they are not doing anything like that. If they were, then it honestly would break my fucking heart. It would make me feel like I would just have to be doing things my brothers way for once." He said, just leaving it at that.

"Do you think that you could be able to talk to your parents about these things? Try and open up to them? Get them to see what you are feeling. Depending on how good you are convincing them, they might agree to it in order to have you join along with it. If this is even a issue." I said, trying to defuse the situation. I was thinking deep down though that this was not the truth.

"I am going to fucking hate working with you if you keep proving to be right about everything. But I doubt that you are going to care if I want to be doing this or not." Matt was saying, no longer wanting to be speaking at all.

"I doubt that I have anything to be worried about. I just thought that maybe this would have been a valid enough suggestion." I said, and then I was thinking that maybe these social experiments were going to be delving me deeper into something than I ever had wanted in my life.

"Well, I think that if you have anything that can help me out, then I will go along with it. I might hate it, and I might be thinking that you are going to have a whole lot to make up to me. But I doubt that you even give a fuck about this anymore." Matt was saying, and he was getting off the trunk of my car.

"Do you think that if we keep this up, then Sora will want to follow down the same path as well?" Matt asked me, pointing his right index finger at me. I was unsure of what to say, but gave it my best guess.

"Probably. But she will try and find a way to justify about how it s making sure that you guys are doing alright, and being safe." I said, and then I was smiling at him, thinking that saying it this way might be able to make him feel slightly better.

...

That night, when I was finally heading out to leave Matt's place for the night, I was just feeling that in all honesty, I was making some decent progress on breaking through to this. I was feeling that over time, I was starting to get him to actually like me as more than just that one random person that he was rude to, and felt he had to make it up with.

As I was starting to leave, I was seeing T.K. come up, and I was seeing that he was looking rather tired, even if he was pretending that he was not. And when I was seeing this, I was feeling that I just needed to fucking reach out to him, and try and make him feel a bit better. "Heading home for the night?" I asked, trying to be making him feel better.

He looked at me, and I was clearly seeing that my attempts on trying to make him feel better was going to never really fucking land. "Dude, I don't even know who the fucking hell you are." He said, not even shying away from the fact that he was finding this whole fucking thing totally pointless.

I looked at him, and I was shrugging, thinking that maybe he was just not in the mood for conversation. "Sorry. Just thought that you might have been willing to make some talk." I said, and I was thinking that the idea of just pretending to be nice was the main thing that I could still do. I was not going to let this get the best of me.

"Sorry. I shouldn't be like that. But honestly, I have no idea if I can really be comfortable making soem new friends right now. I have no idea who is all just in this for their own personal gain, and that fucking kills me." After he had said that to me, I was now feeling like the best that I could do to him was at least trying to engage with him.

"Did something happen to you?" I asked, and then I was seeing him looking like he was considering the question for a situation. Almost as if he was just wanting to try and really break the barrier with this talk. But the longer that he was staring at me, the more that he was looking like it was just going to waste my time.

"I would want to talk to somebody about this, but I feel like if I do, then I am only going to be making things worse. I think that it would be best to just drop it for the time being. And if I feel better about this, then I will come back to try and speak again." With that, he was heading off, and I was feeling that making friends with a thirteen year old was probably not even worth it anyways.

I was driving away, and I was then thinking about what it would be like if I could get that boy to open up a bit better. I was thinking that if I could get him to speak to me a bit better, and if I could really get to see what he was so scared of, then maybe the issue was going to be getting slightly less bad. I had no idea why, but I felt like I could have been one of the main answers.

But despite everything that I was telling myself, and despite the fact that I wanted to so fucking badly, I was aware that I needed to just fucking shut the hell up. "I fucking hate this. I fucking hate feeling like I am everybodys fucking babysitter." I said to myself, unable to fucking take it anymore. and since nobody could hear me, I had no issues being fully honest here.

I parked the car at my house, and I was getting out of it. And then I was walking up the stairs, just totally defeated by this all. Defeated by the fact that I was sincerely feeling like I was not helping out a single fucking person, and that nobody sure as hell would help me out if I fucking needed it.

I think that was the thing that hurting me most about this whole situation. The fact that despite everything that I had been trying to do, and everything that I had thought I might have been able to help with, I knew that I was making no fucking lick of progress, and that I just needed to get off my high horse.

Once I was inside, I was in my room, and I was just taking out the journal that I had been keeping occasional tabs on, just to get my thoughts down. "I feel like every time I am trying to befriend somebody, it is becoming a situation where I am the one who is just having everything taken away from me. Granted most of the people I have reached out to are younger than me, so it makes sense. But for fuck sake, it reminds me of why I never want to reach out sometimes."

After I was done with that, before I could make any more sentences on it, I was getting a call from the house. And then I was standing up, just thinking that I might as well answer it. For all that I knew, it was my father, and that he was planning on telling me more. So with that, I answered it.

"Hey it's T.K. You know, the guy you encountered earlier. I just wanted to apologize to you for the way that I was acting. I felt guilty about it about half an hour later, and I asked Matt for your number. So yeah, just wanted to let you know that before you went out and did your own thing for the night.

"What are you wanting to talk about?" I asked, feeling that I might as well pretend like this was something that I would be able to help him out. Deep down, I was aware that this was going to be a total waste of fucking time. I was wanting to just see if he had any plans at all.

"I honestly have no idea. I think that is the other issue. Is that there is nothing that interesting about me. So with that in mind, there is no real reason to be trying to make any fucking conversation. If you wanted to talk, I would have to be making the entire conversation based on Wayside things. But I doubt that you are wanting to continue talking about that shit." He said, and then I nodded as he had said that. It truly was the last thing I wanted to talk about.

"Well, you're mostly right. I have no real interest in hearing that shit over and over again. I just wish that I could fucking talk to people about things that they would really want." After I had said that to him, I was shrugging, and I was honestly almost just thinking that whatever I said was going to not stick through.

"But I guess that I would be interested in asking you one question, if you would be willing to talk to me about it all." I said, and then I was wondering if this was going to be making T.K. just want to drop the subject entirely, and basically make it clear that I could be able to fuck myself with even trying to reach out to him at all.

"What are you wanting to know?" T.K. asked, and I could clearly tell that whatever I wanted to say was going to be bothering him quite a bit. I guess that I could have sort of been able to get where he was coming from. But I just needed to make everything in my mind come through. I needed to finally get the answer to all my questions.

"

"I was talking with Matt earlier today, and he was telling me that the main reason you guys moved to Wayside in the first place was to help you be safe after what had happened to you guys. I was wondering if you would be able to give me some fucking clue what he was talking about." I said, and then I was wondering if I was going to be alienating him a bit here.

"Damn it. Why does he always talk about that shit behind my back. I wish that he would at least consult me before he goes around and talks about this. Whatever, I guess that me talking about him behind his back is only going to be getting me so many fucking favors." He said, and then after that, he was seeming to calm down a bit more. "The honest truth is that there is a lot more to the story than I think Matt can ever fucking know."

"If that is true, then give me a chance to understand. I think that if you do not help me with this, then I will never be able to help you out here." I said, and then I was wondering why T.K. would even care what I would be thinking about him in the first place. In all honesty, I was feeling that something like this might just be a bit of a waste of time. But I was thinking that maybe just getting him to talk was all that I can do.

"Well, I guess that for starters, I can tell you for a fucking fact that every story about Lazarus trying to reach out, and claim more of the land for themselves, and become a fucking empire is true. It is no longer just about Wayside for them. And there is no way around that. It is all about how far they can reach and conquer." He said, and then I was sighing, with nothing else to be doing at this rate.

"So what you are telling me is that these people are just using Wayside as a base of operations, for some random grand scheme? I mean, I think that I need some fucking proof of that." I said, and I was thinking that while a lot of the stuff in that company was indeed shady, and I would never pretend otherwise, I just needed something to start with.

"Well, one detail that I know that Matt is going to refuse to mention is the fact that when I was trying to help out a friend of mine, that I had made, I saw their company logo in the truck that decided that they wanted to harass us. They wanted to force our hand in all of this, and there was nothing that we could do about it." T.K. said, and then before I could continue, he was taking the conversation over by this point.

"They wanted to learn more about the meteor that had landed on Onett. The one that happened last year. I bet that you probably at least heard of it. Anyways, so it happened, and everybody went crazy. I actually went there, and found out what they were so scared over." T.K. said, and then I was taking a moment to start to consider what he was saying here.

"What do you think that this will all mean?" I asked, feeling that what I asked him was going to be a pointless question. I had no idea what he was thinking, and if I even tried to get him to open up in these matters, then maybe I would just have to deal with him brushing me off a bit further.

"I think that they knew that something was going to be there, and have a group of people who had been watching over these events this whole time. That way they can fucking drop by, and take matters into their own hands when they wanted to." After he was telling me this, I was remaining silent for a few seconds longer. I just needed to consider what would happen if T.K. was right.

Scene 8: A Girl's Doubts

It was a few days after that when I was hanging out with my brother, just trying to be minding my own business, and not thinking much about what was happening. I had mostly taken care of the attic, but to be honest, anything that was still left was not that big of a deal to me. I was willing to just take care of it a small amount at a time.

As I was getting ready to just settle down, and try to make some time for myself, I was hearing yet another call. I will admit when I heard the dial, for a split moment, I was finding myself rather annoyed, and wondering what the hell everybody's problem was that they were literally unable to do anything for themselves.

I decided that I would answer anyways, thinking that despite what I was feeling, I would not feel right by just leaving them alone, and not doing anything for them. So with that, I answered the phone, and was waiting for a few seconds to see what this man would have to be saying.

"What do you want?" I asked, much more rudely than I was intending. But at this rate, I was finding myself starting not to care. As I was feeling this level of minor annoyance kick in, I was finding myself briefly wondering if any of this was even going to fucking be worth it at all.

"Hey Joe, I was wanting to ask you if you ever met a girl named Mimi?" Sora asked me, and then I was sighing for a second, having no fucking idea what the hell she was asking me for anyways. I was feeling that maybe she would just be just wasting my time if I were to ever try and bring it up.

"Yeah, she was doing a project here once a year or two ago. Probably for school or something. She clearly wanted to fuck my brther the whole time as well. Even if she was trying super fucking hard to deny it." I said, and then I was shaking my head, having no idea why I was telling Sora thi.

"I tried to talk to her, and she was really rude to me. I guess that I have no real right to be blaming her. But I think that maybe she is just a bit scared of what I am trying to tell her." She was telling me, and then I was just wondering what I would have said to make her see how fucking insane this whole thing was.

"I think that she might want to come to you about this eventually though. In all honesty, despite the fact that she was not wanting to talk about this, I think that I might have been having a small amount of a fucking impact on her. If she tries to talk to you, then try and fucking be nice to her as much as possible." Sora said, and then I was sighing for a second.

"If she really does not want to talk about this at all, then I think that she would certainly not be coming to me. I appreciate the thought, but to be honest, I think that I just am not needing to worry about that at all." I said, and then I was shrugging, having no idea on what I would have said.

"You know that things are not going to be that easy? Despite the fact that I want to pretend that everything is going to be as simple and easy and just leaving things alone, I know deep down inside that nothing can fucking come out of it." She said to me, and then I was feeling that she was wasting my time.

"Thanks for bringing it up." After I said that to her, I decided to just drop the subject, and not be talking about it at all. So with that, I dropped the subject. "But in all honesty, even if I do not think it is going to go anywhere, I do appreciate the thoughts. It shows me that you are caring a lot more than I thought that you did."

"I do care. I mean, I hardly really know who you are. But that does not change the fact that in all honesty, you are one of the nicest people that I fucking know. It is a bit silly to be talking about this to you though. And it is nothing personal. It is a bit strange that you are the one person that I am feeling like I can fucking connect with." Sora said, and I was finally letting it go.

"Sora, do you think that Matt is going to appreciate these conversatons at all? I mean, I have a feeling that maybe he might be thinking that you are getting way too close to me. And in a way, I think that even if I do not agree with him, I might be able to see what he is meaning." I said, just hoping that she did not get offended by my statements.

That next day, I was thinking that maybe I might see what the fucking hell Mimi would want. I was telling myself that by talking with Mimi, I would just see what Sora was coming from when she was talking about Mimi being really rude and such. I mean, she was always a bit of a preppy girl in my mind, but I never really thought much of it.

Once I parked the car in front of her house, I got out of my car, and then I knocked on her door, thinking that I was going to be getting her screaming at me for not giving her a notice. Which I guess might have been a valid enough point to consider here. Eventually, Mimi was looking at me when she answered, and seemed to be more shocked than angry in all honesty.

"Hey Joe, I was not expecting to see you here." She said, and then I was sighing, feeling that I did not really need to be having her tell me this shit over and over again. To be honest, it was getting tired to be having everybody tell me that I was not being a person that would be seen as being social.

"I was wanting to ask you a couple of questions." I said, wondering what else I would have even been able to tell her if I was wanting to at all. "But only if you feel like I might be able to actually help you." I said, trying to be making her feel better about what I was accomplishing.

"Are you just going to be trying to tell me to mind my own business?" I am trying to do that, and nobody is fucking letting me. I think that if people wanted me to just fucking stop, they would fucking give me a reason to be letting this go." She said, and I was holding my hand up, wishing her to fucking calm down just a moment.

"Sorry to offend. That was never my fucking intention. But do you have any context to this?" I asked, trying to fucking diffuse the situation. After I had said that to her, I was seeing Mimi calming down a second longer, and I was seeng her coming a bit more to her senses her. Like she was seeing how insane she must have been sounding.

"Well, I had this one girl named Sora asking me some stuff. I said that I wanted nothing to do with this discussion. Which was mostly true. I have no interest in talking to people who have no idea what they are talking about. And now here you are, saying you want to ask some questions." She said, and then I was nodding at this, and looked at her for a bit.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know a whole lot here. What I do know is that I am actually talking to people who have a fucking situation going on with them. I talked with some people, and they are giving me some clues on what I am needing to look at. And i think that maybe I can create a connection." I said, and then I was wondering what I was saying here.

"How in the world do you feel like you would be getting more out of this than other people? I mena, no offense, but you are not like your brother, who can just get people to talk when he wants to." Mimi said, and then I was sighing, and I was wishing that she was not comparing me to my brother ever again. I was not going to be like him, and I needed to accept that.

"I am feeling like I can get more out of this because I have a better hint on where I need to go than most people fucking do. And that is why I am going to take advantage of this." I said, and then I was smiling at her, thinking that I could be able to bring this down in a way that might make sense to her.

"Joe, I have seen what people are becoming when they get too into this situation. I know how to interact with people, and I have been doing this for a while. I know what they are feeling. You are going to be getting yourself in very deep water if you do this." She told me, and then I was shaking my head, having no idea what I would have told her.

"If you feel like you can help me out, or anybody out, then you are the one who is making the fucking mistake by not working harder on this. You are the one who is hurting everybody else here because you just do not want to be hurting yourself here." I said, and then I was shocked at the fact that I was telling her this. I was not wanting to be acting like this. But at the same time, I was feeling that I just needed to get the point across.

Mimi was looking at me, and I was seeing that she was clearly furious at the disrespectful way to be treating her. But then after a moment, she was calming down, and she was letting it go. She was looking at me directly in the eyes, trying to be thinking of how she would respond to what I was saying now. "If you think that you can help, then I will see what I might say. But I just feel like you just need to be looking at it where I am coming from. I see everybody else do this, and it hurts them beyond belief."

"I do see where you are coming from Mimi, but I am not going to let your fears ruin everything. I am going to see what I might be able to tell you. I think that if you want to be having a safe guard, then you can just talk with me. I am a year older than you. So by default, I need to be trying to act like it." I said, considering the fact that legally speaking, I was old enough to be a adult. I was old enough to vote, smoke, and do everything else I had wanted.

"Fine. I will see what you can do. But I am mainly doing this for Jim. I believe that he might be onto something here, and I will see what he might know." After she was telling me this, I was seeing her close the door on my face, and I was nodding. I was thinking that this was a starting point, and I was thinking that I could just leave it all alone for the time being. I was then getting in my car, and decided to just let it all go for the time being.

Scene 9: The Grinder

Once I was in the cafe again, I was looking at Jim once again, and I was wondering if I was even needing to be talking to him at all. "So Joe, do you want to be talking for a bit?" He asked, and then I was looking at him, clearly feeling that maybe nothing I would tell him would really be relaxing.

"I just think that I am making a big fucking mistake here. I am just thinking that there are a lot of things that I could fucking do, and want to do, and I am finding no real way to be making it all worth it." I said, and then I was shaking my head, not wanting to be dragging this situation down any further. I did not want to be making Jim listen to me lecture about stupid fucking shit like this.

"How is having a conversation, and a ambition of this town, and doing things right, a mistake? I don't fucking get it at all. I am not even fucking pretending like I do. But I think that this is something that is not going to fucking matter at all." Once he was saying this, I saw him looking like he hardly cared.

"Ambition doesn't fucking mean anything if you have no fucking idea on how to be working it out. I mean, even if I wanted to be reaching out to these people, then I would think that working alone is going to be for the best." I said, and then I was then sighing for a second longer.

"I mean, I am meeting this guy who claims that he is only living here because his parents wanted to avoid stigma with his younger brother. But the reality is that I think that maybe he is just having a bad idea on how to be looking at this picture. I think that in all honesty, his parents might be more involved with other things." I said, and then I stared right at Jim for a few extra seconds.

"What other things do you think that they are involved in?" Jim asked, and then I was smiling at this, and I was feeling like I can finally have a conversation with him. I was thinking that having a conversation with him was all that I fucking needed.

"I mean, I think that with the fact that everybody who moves here is involved in some form of business like Lazarus, or a smaller coporation, that maybe they worked at a different location for some of the companies in Indiana. One that is aware of what is happening here, and they decided to just use the meteor story as an excuse to hide their true intentions." I said, and then I looked right at him, wondering if Jim would go along with what I had said.

I was thinking that it was time to be going out and see Aurora once more. Just trying to be seeing if she would want to go on and meet up with me. If she was wanting to be working with me, then maybe I would try to just see what her emotions were at that moment. By trying to get her to be seeing why I was doing things the way I had been, that was all I fucking cared about.

I was calling up her phone. After I called for a second, I was just telling myself that I was not going to be letting what anybody told me change up the way that I was feeling here. "Hey Aurora, it's Joe. How have you been today? I was wondering if you would be willing to talk for a little bit?" I asked, feeling that she was clearly not wanting to be having this discussion.

"Doing alright enough. I had been thinking about the stuff that I was telling you a few days ago, and I was wanting to apologize to you. That was really rude for me, and I feel like I should have been giving you more respect for your wishes." She said, and then I nodded, thinking that hearing her tell me this was what I needed.

"It makes me feel better to be hearing you tell me that. In all honesty, I would have been doing this even without what you were saying. I just think that if I failed to be doing anything like this, then I would only be able to blame one person if I did not get the social life that I wanted. And that would be me. And even if I did not want to be doing this anymore, I found myself in a position where I feel like I really have no choice." I said, and then I decided to be leaving it alone now.

"I will admit that I would be lying if I said that there wasn't at least a little bit of jealousy that is involved with this. When I try and think of the future that we could be having, I am finding myself thinking about what I am missing out on when there is something that you are going to be busy with." Aurora said, and then I was wondering what I could have told her to try and make her feel like maybe the way that she was feeling was not that awful after all.

"I will be heading there in a bit. Maybe we could fucking work on something, and just find something to be making you feel better." I said, and then I was starting to get ready to hang up my phone. As I was doing this, Aurora asked me another question.

"Is this really something that you want to be doing?" After she asked this, I was sighing, and I had no real idea what I would be telling her. But in all honesty, I think that it was because that I had no idea what I could have been saying. I told her that it was what I wanted, and I was hoping that was the discussion.

I parked the car at her door, and knocked right on it, and she answered it without a moments hesitation. The only thing that I was scared of was if Aurora was going to just be telling me that this entire relationship was just not going to work out, and that it was going to be best to just break up with each other.

"I am glad that you are coming here tonight. It makes me feel a lot better." After she had said that to me, I was smiling at her, and I was feeling that maybe I could tell her everything that I had been feeling. But I was thinking that she would just find what I would try and tell her to be stupid and dramatic.

"I just wanted to make sure that you would be doing fine. In all honesty, I feel like I just need a moment to fucking relax, and just be looking at everything that is going on." I said, and then I was shaking my head, aware that what I was saying was going to just never really win her over.

"I bet that you are being rather busy. And I am seeing what you are working on, and I am starting to be more and more proud of the fact that you are following the dream that you are saying you have." After she had said that to me, I looked at her, and I was thinking that despite the fact that I wanted more, I needed to just take what I could get with her.

"I guess that there is no real reason to be proud. But in all honesty, I am able to say that I am busy. I think that everything that I have been doing is just wasting time back then, so when I am here, and I am just having a good time, and I am enjoying what I am doing, and I know that I am just having a lot of living." I said, and then I shrugged, and decided to not be saying anything about it any further.

"Just do not let this get in the way of your studies. But maybe that is something you might not be worried about. And in all honesty, if you don't care about that, then I guess that there is no reason to be focused on that at all." She said, and then she decided to just remain silent here.

"I mean, I do care about them. But I am not going to be talking about how it is the only thing that mattered. In all honesty, I know for a fucking fact that it is not what defines my life." I said, and the I sighed deciding to just leave it at that. I was wanting to make Aurora not feel like I was attacking her or anything at all.

"Do you have any ambitions on where you would even want to go after you end up graduating anyways?" She asked, and then I was shaking my head and I was feeling like that was the worst thing that I could be saying about myself here.

"I have no fucking goals at all. And I think that maybe that is the worst thing that there is to say about me. But I guess that having a goal is just the last thing that I need to worry about. I just need to focus on making it through summer. Maybe me having social experiences with my friends is the one thing that I need to be making any progress." I said, having no idea if I could call my madness progress at all.

"Do you seriously think that talking to everybody is going to be able to give you a different idea on what you are doing?" She asked me, and then I was smiling at her, thinking that despite what I had been feeling, I would have no idea what I could tell her to really make her see where I had been coming from.

"I think that talking to them can give me something to work with. Just talking to them, and seeing what they have been doing is a much better starting point than you guys might ever believe." After I said that to her, I was starting to feel like I was able to find the courage to be speaking about her with my feelings much more than I ever had.

"I wonder if maybe school was supposed to be doing that? Maybe I should have considered that to be totally honest." She said, and she was looking like she was actually kind of ashamed for not looking at it this way, which I was not wanting to be making her feel that way at all.

Before Aurora was able to give off another statement, that was when there was that grinding noise coming along once again. I was putting my hands at my ears once again, as I was letting everything play in my mind once again. I wanted to just run away. I wanted to be a child again, and run like there was nothing else to be doing. But I guess that I could never do that.

"Second time this fucking summer." Aurora said about a minute after the noise was done. This was the first thing that either one of us said after we were done listening to it all. But then after that, she looked right at me, wondering what I was going to be saying now.

"Joe, be one hundred percent honest with this answer..." She said, and then she looked right at me, and then I looked at her, and I was feeling that whatever I would tell her was going to be something that would make or break this entire discussion right now. "How much of your interest in this is because of the grinder sound?"

"Well, at first, honestly none of it. This is something that for some reason, I am fucking refusing to look at. But now that I think about it, I think that at least some interest is in this subject." I told her, but I was wondering what the hell I could have told her to begin with.

"I have no idea how in the fucking world this grinding noise is something that you are willing to totally over look. This would be something that would fucking drive me insane." After she said that to me, I was then thinking that nothing that I said to her would make her feel any different.

"I never said that I over looked it. I just never really thought much on it somehow. I just thought that for some fucking reason, everything would have been fine. But now that I am looking at it, I do think that maybe that is something irresponsible." I said, and then I was shaking my head, just wanting to be leaving it alone there.

"I mean, even when I was over looking the entire story, I was never able to be looking at this thing differently. I mean, if there was one thing in the stories that were real, it would be this. And there is nothing that I can fucking do about it." After she said that to me, I was seeing her shrug, almost as if she was finding the situation kind of ammusing.

"Do you think that you are already in danger or something?" I asked, and then I looked at her, and I was thinking that maybe if I could be able to really see what she was feeling here, I could try and make her feel like I was the one who was going to be able to keep her safe.

"I mean, I doubt that I am going to be the one who is in danger. But I think that maybe I am just giving everything too much credit." She said, and then she was smiling while looking at me." She said, and then I was thinking that I just needed to be doing more to really make her feel like I was the one who would change her opinion.

"If you are in danger, or start to think that you could be, then just come along, and tell me everything that is running in your mind. I will fucking help you out as much as I can." I said, and then after I finished saying this, I was starting to wonder if making these commitments would win her over better.

"It means a lot to know that at least one person here is not thinking that I am just being a whiner." She said, and then after she said that to me, she placed a kiss on my cheek, and I was smiling at her, finally aware of what I had done. I was more of less solidifying myself in a romance with her.

Scene 10: T.K.'s Warning

I was in the cafe, trying to mind my own business, when I was seeing Jim looking at me. He was looking like he was worried to be talking to me. "Hey, were you wanting to talk about something?" He asked me, and then I looked right at me, tired, and feeling like whatever I would do was just going to be totally wasteful.

"Just that grinding noise that went off. I always try and pretend like it is no big fucking deal. But in all honesty, I know for a fucking fact that this is something that I can't change. I just wish that I had a fucking answer on what was happening." I said, looking tired, and hardly even caring right now.

"Joe, you got to not let these things get to you. I understand if they scare you. But I think that deep down inside, you are well aware of the fact that there is nothing you will be able to do to change it." He was telling me, and then I was looking right at him, annoyed at his attitude for it.

"Just leaving this whole thing alone is going to fucking drive me insescure and confused, and I think that it would have a increasingly adverse effect on me." I said, and then I was looking right at Jim, wanting to just go on and find a better form of composure. "Why are you so passive about this whole thing?" I asked, just wishing that I could force something out of him now.

"I do care about it Joe, but I understand the difference between showing concern, and going out on a suicide mission. I tried to change fate once, so fucking badly tried to change fate. But I know for a factthat there is nothing that I can fucking do to change it." Jim said, and looked right at me, wondering if I would challenge what he was saying.

"You tried to change fate once?" I asked, looking right at him. I wanted to see if he was willing to tell me more. As I looked at him, I was seeing Jim looking like he was going through a mix of emotions on what he would have wanted to be telling me.

"Yeah I did. And as far as I am concerned, I think that if you are willing to listen to my advice, and not be a fucking idiot about whatever you are doing, you would understand that what I did was wrong." He said, and then he was walking out of the cafe. "I don't mind that you do a little investigation, or wnat to hang out with your friends. But when it comes to that grinder, I will do everything in my power to make sure you do not learn more."

As he was walking out, that was when Matt and T.K. were walking inside of the cafe. Jim was looking at the two of them, and he was trying to find something to say to reject them. But when they were looking at me, and he was aware that they were trying to hang out with me, he seemed to be much more willing to leave it alone.

"We were just wanting to see your younger brother." After Matt had said that to Jim, I was seeing Jim look like he was letting most of his annoyance at the fact that they came in like this going away. Almost like he was willing to be happy that I was still going on and actually reaching out to people.

"Joe, do not forget about what I had just told you. If you do, then I am sorry." He said, and then he looked at Matt and T.K. "Have a great rest of you day, and don't do anything too dangerous." After he had said that to them, he was starting to lightly smile at this, and then he was gone out of the cafe for real this time.

Once they had sat down on the other side of the table from me, I was seeing that both of them were looking interested in seeing what the hell that was about. "Hey Joe, what the hell were you guys talking about right now?" She asked me, and then I was sighing for a second.

"I was talking to him about the grinding noise. And how much I was getting tired of simply hearing it. But then he told me that he basically was going to make sure that I never even brought up the idea of looking around, and trying to find anything about it. Like I was doing him a giant fucking disservice." After he had said that to me, I was taking a deep breath, and decided to just remain silent for a bit.

"Yeah, I guess I can't fucking blame him." Matt said, and looked right at me, and I was seeing that he was wanting to ask me a couple of questions. I was thinking that I might as well just let him talk, and try and give me the fucking warning that I had heard a million fucking times at this rate.

"I mean, my parents would probably want me to do nothing about it as well. And I think that I would probably try and follow their steps." He said, and then I was seeing him looking like he was scared of what we were talking about. But that what we were discussing was going to be scaring him even further, and I was just wanting him to be spilling the fucking beans right now.

"I have been thinking a bit about what we were discussing earlier." Matt said, and then T.K. was now looking like he was just wanting to get involved in the discussion. I was wondering if trying to talk to him would have really been for the best. But I was just simply looking at the sky as well.

"And I guess that you are probably right. I mean, I am not going to be super set on that being the truth, but I do think that it amkes sense in its own way." After he was saying this to me, I was starting to feel so fucking bad for everything that I had been going through. "But I think that if I try and ask around about it, I would be more scared of what I would hear than anything else."

"What are you guys talking about?" T.K. asked, trying to now force himself into the discussion. I was wondering why he was even in the area in the first place. He was just kind of random. I was looking at him, and I was wondering if I was wanting to really talk to him for a few seconds longer.

"Nothing really. Just some theories that he has related to our move. But I would not want to be talking about this much longer." He said to T.K., leaving the subject alone for this whole thing alone. "I should ahve never brought you along for this." He said, and then I was seeing T.K. getting angry for a second at this statement.

"Damn it. Why do you keep taling about this stuff with other people? How many times are you guys going to talk about this before you are going to get it in your head that I do not appreciate this." He said, and remained silent about it for several seconds longer. I was seeing him looking really tired now.

"People have a right to know. If we are going to try and trust the guy, then we are going to have to be speaking to him here." After he was telling T.K. this, there was a moment of silence, and I was seeing T.K. looking like he was just wanting to fucking scream at the top of his fucking lungs at this all.

"Besides, I hardly even fucking mentioned you at all. I want to just be leaving you in that stuff all to yourself. You have the right to be looking at this yourself." After he had said that to T.K., I saw him looking tired, and having nothing else that he was wanting to be discussing right now. I was seeing him looking like he was just tired of this discussion now.

"Anyways, before we get too into this argument again, I am going to be getting to the main reason we came here for this visit." He said, and then I was seeing Matt looking like he was willing to get into a business mood. I was suddenly starting to gulp a bit, feeling that what he was going to say would scare me a bit.

"I want to talk to you about some things. Matt said that since he was here, he would work on cleaning up the attic while we talk." T.K. said, and then I was seeing him getting into as much of a serious business mode that I would see a thirteen year old boy get. I was looking at Matt, and he was standing up, and walking to the stairs, not saying another word. And I was wondering why T.K. even wanted to be having a discussion with me at all.

Once Matt was in the attic, I was seeing T.K. looking right at me. "Dude, I am sorry for the randomness of this all. But the reality is that I think that I need to talk to you about the things that I have already seen here." T.K. said, and then I was having a hard time relaly buying into what he was saying. I felt like he needed to give me a better idea.

"What the fucking hell are you going to try and warn me about?" I asked, and I was not even caring if I was being rude. After all, he was going around, trying to act like I was some fucking idiot or whatever. But before I could say more, I saw T.K. talking, and hardly even giving me a chance to talk back.

"I want to warn you about the grinding noises. I am not going to lecture you to be leaving it alone like your brother was. In all honesty, I think that I would want you to join along for the ride." After he had said that to me, I looked at him, wondering what his ulterior motive was.

"The reality is that my friends are trying to be learning the truth here, and they are going to be stopping at nothing in order to try and get it out. And I think that I would want them to be feeling a bit more safe. I am trying to learn as well. So I am in the exact same spot as them." After he had said that to me, I was sighing, and I was having no idea what on earth he was going to say now.

"Are you recruiting me to a fucking group or whatever?" I asked, looking directly at him. I had no idea why I was asking him this, when in all reality, I knew damn fucking well what he was doing. I guess that maybe I was just trying to be finding a way to create some small talk here.

"I guess more or less yeah. If you want to be calling it that. I am not asking you to go around, and bring me a arrest or anything like that. I am just simply here to ask you to stay at our sides, and make sure that we survive. I want to live, and I want to be talking about this story in the future. But I can't fucking do that if I have nobody at my side to make things safe." T.K. said, and then I was holding my hands up.

"Alright, one fucking thing at a time. Is this related to th grinding noise that had just gone off? Or one that happened earlier?" I asked, thinking that by asking him this, and asking him to just take this conversation one step at a time, I could get him to be talking as well. T.K. was holding his hands up, conceding to the idea of discussing this slowly.

"Yeah, I mean, I have a bad feeling that I am getting too deep into this. I wanted to help my friend with his missing cousin, and I was thinking that maybe I could have been ready for this. But it turns out that maybe I was greatly over guessing my abilities." He said, and then I looked at him, and I saw him looking like he was relatively ashamed of this.

"But that is all in the past now. And here I am, just trying to fucking turn things around, and make it right." T.K. said, clearly looking like he was starting to regret what he was saying. "And let's face it, from Matt was saying, it seems like you had at least some interest in the subject as well. So I view this as a benefit to both of us." He said, and then I looked at him, wondering what he was going to do if I said no.

"I guess that maybe he might be right. But I would not want to admit it." I said, and I was unable to believe that I was finding myself wanting to be talking about this at all. "T.K., are you thinking that this is going to be a good idea?" I asked, just trying to pretend like I was actually on top of things.

"If it keeps my friends safe, then yes it is." He said, and then he smiled while looking right at me. He looked like this was something that he was actually rather fucking confident in this situation. I was smiling, and looked right at him in the fucking eyes.

"You do not have to do this if you have no interest in the subject. But I have a feeling that you are going to be pulling through here. I think we both know that deep down inside, this is too much of a chance to fucking pass up." He said, and then I was looking right at him, just choosing to leave it all alone.

"Yeah, I mean, I would be interested in it. That is not the issue. The real issue is that I am scared of what would be happening if we got in over our heads." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and i hardly even understood why I was talking about this so much. It was like I was just wasting my time here.

"But if you think that this can work, then where do you want to start?" I asked, and then I looked right at him, and I was unable to buy the fact that I was actually going into this. Unable to believe that I finally had a chance to finally do something that I was thinking would have been right.

"I like your attitude." T.K. said, and then I was hearing Matt working on the attic upstairs, which made it clear to me that he was actually telling the truth about what his intentions were. I was really fucking hoping that he was going to be leaving the boxes relatively unopened, and that way I could see what I could find there.

"Alright, so I would not bother trying to talk to Tobias Wilson. I think that by this point, he would not want to be talking to new people at this. And I am already working with him quite a bit. He has gotten to trust me. But you I think on the other hand would have to be working so much fucking harder for that." He said, shrugging at the reality that he was presenting to me.

"Have you ever had a class with Ocho Tootmorsel?" He asked, and then I looked at him, thinking that he was justa sking me about some random person who never fucking existed. I was then shaking my head, having no idea why he would even mention this at all.

"No. I think that I might have heard of him one fucking time. But having class with him? Dream the fucking hell on." I said, and then I looked right at him, wondering what he would have said to that. "Anyways, I wonder why you would even bring up some relatively low profile name like that." I said, feeling that I was wasting my time with this.

"I wanted to see if you knew him, since his girlfriend was the msot recent one who went missing before the previous grinding noise. I guess second most recent now." T.K. said, and then he looked right at me, as if wanting to change the subjects a bit. "Do you even know anything about the most recent person who went missing?" He asked, and then I looked at him, unsure of what to even be saying now.

"Never heard anything about it. I mean, I am sure that we could find something if we wanted to look. Do you want to try and do that now?" I asked, and then T.K. was looking like he was almost glad to accept that offer. As if glad to be acceptinga conract with me now.

"If you are willing to, then I will be more than glad to see what I might find there as well." T.K. said, and then after he had said that, I was starting to head to teh attic door, thinking that I might as well just let Matt come along with this journey. Thinking that having him at the side line would be the only thing giving us some form of grounded reality.

"Yeah, go ahead and take him if you want. But before we go, I have one big warning to give you." He said, and then I looked right at him, willing to listen to him more than Jim. "We need to go on and meet a man named Brad Carbunkle. I heard a lot about him, and I think that we just have to go on and fucking see him." He said, and then I looked at him, and this was a name I really did know of this time. And I was wondering what his intentions were going to be here.

"How do you think we will be going at this?" I asked, scared out of my fucking mind on what I was going to be getting into. "I know of that guy, but I think that talking to him is going to be a wash. He never seems willing to talk to anybody else at all." I said, thinking that I just needed to get him to accept his spot.

"Yolei already talked with him once. I think that if she can, then we might be able to as well." After T.K. mentioned Yolei, I sighed, and I was officially out of ideas on what I could be able to say here. I was trying my best to forget about that discussion. But I knew that this would never fucking happen. She would be on my mind all the fucking time, and I fucking knew it.

"Oh god Yolei. I met her once. She is the whole reaosn that I ended up in this fucking mess to begin with." I said, and then I looked right at him, wondering what the hell I was going to even fucking tell him now. "She is a smart person though. But I have a feeling that there is a good chance she would not fucking take no for an answer."

"God, just from what I have seen in this last year, I can already say that women can be twenty times more dangerous and scary than a guy when she is determined." T.K. said, and then I smiled at that, and laughed lightly, thinking that he had no idea. Then before long, I opened the door to the upstairs attic, and was calling for Matt to be coming down.

I was looking around, and I was checking the room that Matt had been working with. As he was working around, I was blown away at how much progress that he had made in such a short amount of time. "Hey dude, I was just working hard to be getting this place better for you. I heard what Sora was wanting to do here."

After he had said that, I was looking around, and to be honest, I was actually satisfied. Or at least enough to not want tp press him on going around and doing that without any official permission. "Alright, not going to turn down the chance for free help." I said to him, clearing my throat, and had no idea of what I was going to be doing now.

"What are you guys going to be doing now?" Matt asked, and I was clearly able to tell that he was going to not be letting us refuse to be talking to him. As I was getting more and more aware of what he was feeling, I was thinking that it was a good thing we were already planning taking him along.

"Joe and I were planning on looking around, and trying to find out what the hell we could find out about the most recent missing person. You know, the one from the first day of school." He said, and I was wondering why T.K. was always so fucking direct about this sht. In all honesty, I was feeling that this was going to get us in troble eventually.

"If you plan on doing that, then I am going to be coming along. I do not want you to be doing something if I have a chance on helping out." He said, and then I looked right at him, and I ws just glad to be thinking about how this was a plan that T.K. was having right from the fucking start.

"We were already plannng on asking you to come along even before you asked." T.K. asked, and then I nodded to show that this was actually true. As Matt had heard that, he looked around, and I was seeing that he was actually looking blown away at this fact. Like he could not wrap his mind around that fact at all.

"Wow, I am surprised that you are progressing enough to be seeing why I want this." Matt said, and then I was seeing him looking like he was actually happy to be seeing T.K. fucking open up like this. I was seeing that maybe I was going to win his trust over this way. And that was what we had needed here.

"Yeah. I understand that perhaps it is not wise to be doing this without the help of some older people. People who already know what they are doing. I feel like I made a big mistake by not doing that earlier." T.K. said, in a relatively humble tone, and I was nodding slowly, thinking that we just needed to work with what we were getting here.

"So T.K., where do you think you would even be able to get this information from anyways?" He asked me, and then I looked at him, wondering if he had a plan or not. I was really fucking hoping that T.K. had a idea. If he didn't then I was thinking that this was going to be a extremely short conversation.

"Yeah, I do have a plan. I think that going to the library is going to be a fucking waste of time. No reason to be looking at it. I think that the best way to learn more is to ask around the people who actually fucking know. Such as Ocho, or even a guy that Yolei mentioned once." He said, and I knew right then and there that he was also talking about Brad Carbunkle again.

"Give it a rest with the fucking Ocho shit. That is not going to work. I thought that you would have known that by now." After he was telling T.K. this, I saw him looking like he was clearly just giving up on trying to hide how fucking annoyed he was getting with this shit with the Ocho idea. I was looking at them, and I was well aware that this was not the first time tehy were having this talk.

"Maybe I can fucking help out a bit." I said, thinking that maybe by trying to fucking defuse what they were talking about, I could show them that I was willing to fucking help out in whatever way I could. Matt and T.K. looked at me for a second.

"T.K. knows that Ocho never fucking speaks with people. I have a hard time reaching him, and he is one of my best friends. Besides, I think that he might not want to really be talking to people anymore." He said, looking down, as if guilty on something he never wanted to admit.

"What the fucking hell are you so worried about?" I was asking, thinking that Matt being so worried about Ocho not wanting to talk to people was totally fucking random, and even though I had no idea who Ocho was, I was feeling like I just needed to try and step in, and see if I could help out a bit.

"Let's just say that after a conversation that the two of us had, he might not be looking at the idea of having allies the same way again." Matt said, and then I was seeing him looking like he desperately wanted me to just drop the subject right then and there. With that, I nodded, and looked right at T.K.

"I think that we need to talk to the president of Lazarus. Or at the very least his ight hand man." T.K. said, and I think this was when Matt and I both shared the idea of being annoyed at this subject. I think both of us knew that T.K. was fucking insane for even suggesting such a thing. I felt like we wanted a plan here.

"You were just talking to me about how that is not going to fucking work." I said, and then I looked right at him, wondering why he was going in fucking loops right now. I was seeing that T.K. looked like he was hardly caring about that at the fucking moment. As if he was willing to let the story be all over the place.

"Joe, look, what the hell am I going to be doing if I don't at least try? I am doing this for my best friend." T.K. said, and then I was looking at him, unsure of what the hell I was even going to be telling him. I had no idea why he was already calling Tobias Wilson his best friend, despite not knowing the guy at all. Well, to be fair, in hindsight, I did underestimate their bond and how early they got it.

"Alright guys, you can the arguments for later. But if you are going to be doing this, then we need to leave. Your brother already closed the fucking place for the night, so he might not be wanting us to stay around here any longer anyways." Matt said, and then I had a hard time arguing with that one. So with that, we were walking down the stairs, and I was wondering what we were going to be doing now.

We were walking down, and then I was seeing Matt looking like he was feeling bad. Because he knew deep down inside that both of us were truly just trying to do what we were thinking was the best for us. And that both of our arguments were going to be probably getting us killed if we went too overhead with it.

"Guys, I think that if you want to try and find something out here, then maybe we can go to the skating park. It is where all the teenagers are. Surely something is going to be found there." Matt said, and then he looked at us, wondering if we were going to at least consider his idea. After he said that, I looked at him, and I was thinking that it made sense.

"Yeah, I suppose that makes some form of sense. Want to do it T.K?" I asked, hoping that he was going to be saying yes. If he would agree to this idea, then maybe we can fucking just get this madness taken care of for a bit. But then with that, we really did leave the cafe, and I guess that maybe I was just thinking about how I could continue this small friendship with the two guys.

"Yeah, I do. I mean, besides, even if we find nothing there, we might as well just let loose for a hour or two." T.K. said, and I was wondering why he was talking like this. It was like he was coming up with a battle plan. I was wondering if he was just trying to come up with something that made him feel like he was in control.

"Have you ever been to the skating park?" Matt asked me, and then I was smiling at him, thinking that this question was probably going to be leading to even greater level of dissappointment than I was really wanting to fucking admit. But i was just remaining silent at this.

"Yeah, I have never been to it. I always wanted to go. And I always wanted to see what was so popular about it. But I guess that I just never really felt the need to go. After all, I was never popular, so there was literally no fucking reason for me to be going at all." I said, and then I shrugged, not wanting to continue talking at all.

Once we were in the skating park, I saw T.K. looking like he was relativley jealous that he did not bring teh skate board with him. I was looking at his arm, and realized for the first time that he had a arm cast on. "How did you get that on you?" I asked, amazed how I did not notice that the first time.

"Skating down to my friends house. Really fucking hurt as you might expect. But I guess that something like that would make some sense." He said, and then he went silent at this moment. Clearly just wishing to be quiet. "I hate this. I just feel like being here really takes me back even just a few weeks ago when labyrinth was quite literally the least of my worries." After he had said that, I was then nodding, reminding myself that at the end of the day, he was just thirteen years old still.

"How much progress have you made in recovering it?" I asked, trying to just find a way to be making the conversation at least slightly less about the fucking missing people, and trying to show them that I would at least try and find a wya to be having a social bond with them. I was having afeeling that this was what they were needing.

"Not much. It feels like every time I get to feel it a bit better, it is just going right back to where it was. I am obviously not helping the cause by constantly going around, and being a dangerous fuck, who has no regard for what I am doing." After he had said that to me, he was smiling, and tried to be finding a way to make it feel better.

"That must fucking suck. Maybe you just need to stop working so much, and you just need to let it have a chance to relax. I know that you probably will not care what I say. But that is my fucking advice." I said, and then I looked right at him, shaking my head. I had no idea why I was even telling him any of this.

"Guys, are you going to be spending all night right there, or do I have to be doing all the work?" Matt asked me, trying to be finding a way to making it seem like he was willing to just mess around. As he had said that to us, I sighed, and figured that maybe we could wait on this for a while.

"Sorry. Just trying to get a sense on where the crew is at." I said, and then I was sighing in my head as I had said that. Just saying that sounded fucking stupid even to myself. But I was not wanting to say anything, since it was not that big of a deal what people thought of me.

Once we were right there with Matt again, he was laughing at the look on our faces, as if we got caught being trouble makers. "Guy I was just mostly messing with you guys. I mostly don't care if you are talking to each other or not. I just wanted to get some progress done here. Anyways, do you have any idea who we can talk to?"

I was looking around, and I was seeing that many people were looking lively. I did not see Rob ther eor anything. It was honesty strange how he was like a fucking video game character and was always there if somebody needed to talk with him. I was seeing that one girl was talking about a labyrinth party, and I was heading on my way to her.

T.K. and Matt waited for a second, trying to decide if they wanted to do this. But then they followed me along. "Hey, do you know anything about the labyrinth party coming up?" I asked, and I was seeing her looking right a me, as if finding it odd that a eighteen year old upperclassman was interuppting her conversation with her. But she was leaving this behind for a bit.

"Yeah, it's being held tonight at the house near the bowling alley." She said, and then rolled her eyes at me, and then I was thinking while I still had her attention before she went away, I would ask one more question to her. I needed to just take advantage of every moment that I had with her.

"Do you know who went missing last?" I asked, and then she was then starting to get it in her head. She laughed, and smiled, and looked like she was finally on top of things. Probably just to get me away from her and her friends, which I guess made some fuking sense.

"Cynthia Caroline. Would have been a senior. Went missing June 20." She said, and then after that, I really did leave her alone. I did not want to be getting her angry at me, especially if I was going to get her to want to respect me later. She had no idea why I was even doing this in the first place.

"Want to go a party tonight?" I asked both Matt and T.K., thinking that if I was just brushing it off a happy event, and that nothing would matter, then maybe I could pretend like everything was going according to plan. Although there was no fucking plan at all, and I think we all fucking knew this.

"Well, might as well. Would rather be doig that than playing detective." Matt said, and then I was sighing, and I felt that was fair enough. As he was saying that, I wondered if Matt was going to hate the progress we had been making so far. I had no reason to be angry at him. And I just wanted to be working with him here.

"Do you even think we would find anything there?" T.K. asked, and then I looked at him, shocked to be seeing him of all people trying to be looking at this differently. I had no fucking idea why he was turning back now, instea dof just fucking going along with it. He was the one who was forcing me into this.

"Well, I think that maybe we can see once and for all if the parties are at all connected with the missing people, or if it is just a random ass tradition that people in our age group have." I said, an dthen I looked right at T.K., wondering if he was going to be looking at things this way.

As I had said that to him, I saw T.K. looking like he was willing to consider what I had been saying. "Well, I guess that there I no reason to not be going." He said, and then Matt was looking like he was just glad to be seeing us dropping the subject. I saw that he was more wanting to see if we can even work out the problems that we had been having.

"Do you know anything about Cynthia Caroline?" Matt asked, aware that I was the only one he was hanging out with that was in her grade. As he had asked me this, I looked up at the sky, and I was feeling that having this discussion was going to be one of the last things that I really wanted to fucking do.

"We used to be friends in eighth grade. Lost touch though. Almost forgot about her until I was told about her." I said and then I was thinking that saying that was making me sound like a fucking asshole. But then again, I thought of what I could even get out of doing this all.

"Shame. I hpe that you can be able to hand it." Matt said, and then I looked ta him, wondering why he was even fucking caring what I was going to be feeling. But I decided to just not be a asshole at this moment, and keep it to myself. We needed to fucking work, and that was all I cared for.

Scene 11: Therapist Mode

As I was getting on a suit for the labyrinth party, for some reason, feeling that it was going to be a good fucking way to present myself to the general public. As I was getting myself ready for this, I was wondering if I was going to be able to really get lucky with some people, and actually get them to fucking like me. I was feeling that something like this was going to be fucking impossible. But I just needed to fucking try my fucking best.

I was getting near my car, and when I was heading on there, that was when I was surprised to be seeing Yolei there. I was feeling that maybe I would just need to be talking to her again. "Hey Joe. T.K. was telling me that you were planning on going to the labyrinth party, and I was wondering if maybe you would be able to take me there." After she had said that to me, I rubbed my eyes, feeling that I was unable to really argue with this.

"Are you one hundred percent sure that this is a good idea?" I asked, and then I looked at her, and I was seeing her looking as if I was just asking her a really fucking dumb question. "I mean, I am going to drive you there, and I am not going to say a fucking word if you really believe in this. But I am just trying to make sure that you do not turn around here." I said, wondering if I was going to be accomplishing anything at all here.

"Yes, I think that this is a good idea. I mean, I just want to see if I am really going to be getting anything out of it. And besides, there are some things I want to be one hundred percent sure of on my own." After she had said that to me, I was sighing, and I was telling myself that I just needed to fucking listen to her, and not be speaking out.

"Well, if this is what you are feeling, then I have no fucking right to be telling you no." I said, and then I was wondering if something like this is right. But maybe I was just feeling better by trying to at least give her the illusion that she was in charge. Even though I knew deep down inside any influence she had was fucking lost at best.

I was looking at Yolei, and I was seeing that she was already in a dress. I was understanding why she was doing this. But I was aleady letting the worst fears run through my mind. I mean, how could I not? She was thirteen years old, and while I barely knew her, I knew what things in Wayside were like, and I knew what could happen if she was not fucking careful enough.

"Do you like it?" She asked, and then I looked at her in the eyes once again, and I was feeling that maybe I just needed to fucking give her some extra confidence, and that maybe I should be leaving all of my fears to myself. I slowly nodded, telling myself that I just needed to not let my fucking fears be getting to me.

Once in the car, I was then wondering what I could say next. "Do you want to go and see if T.K. is free?" I asked, and then I was looking right at her, and she was shaking her head. I was then nodding. "Yeah, Matt is probably driving him there anyways. So I will just take you there."

As we were driving along, I was seeing Yolei looking right at me. "So Joe, do you have any progress reports on the missing people, or the factory?" She asked me, and then I looked right at her. I was wondering if that was the whole reason to be talking to me. If that was, then I will admit that I was a little fucking offended by her advances.

"Well, I know nothing about the buildings or anything. But I did find something out about a missing person. I did get a fucking name for the most recent person who went missing. A girl named Cynthia Caroline." I said, and then I was shaking my head, feeling that I just needed to be putting all personal emotions aside, and not let that get the best of me.

"Maybe you should go on and try and learn about that. I am just wondering who is going to be the next victim." She said, and shook her head, and I was feeling that maybe us talking about this was going to be a very fucking bad subject, and I was not blaming her for looking like she was not wanting to be discussing this at all.

Eventually, I parked the car at the area where the party was being held. "Don't fucking get too ambitious here. I am not going to be very happy if I have to report to T.K. that you are the next missing person or something like that." I said, and despite the fact that I was saying this, and trying to play it off, deep down inside, the very idea of this was terrifying the fucking shit out of me. I was shaking my fucking head.

"Yeah, I know. Be safe, and don't do anything that I wouldn't do with anybody else." She said, and then she was starting to get out of the car. As she was doing this, I was screaming in my head. I was wanting her to be taking this shit more seriously. But she was somebody taking this more dangerously than T.K. was, and that had really been saying something.

With that, I was standing up, and then I was getting out of the car as well. I figured that I might as well just try and pretend like I was getting in the scene. As I was looking around, I was seeing that there were a lot of familiar faces there, which was starting to make me feel better.

I went up to Matt, who was hanging out with Sora. I was just feeling that by being there with them, I was going to be able naturally adapt into the whole situation. "So, do you think that there is anything that I can even learn by being here?" I asked, and then I sighed, wondering why I was even bothering with this conversation when I should be working.

"Probably not. Most of the people who are here are just in it to be getting wasted or high. Some of them are doing it for both. Trust me when I say that it is not going to be worth the time." Sora was telling me. "I been to a couple, and they are not really about missing people at all." She said, and then Matt was looking at her.

"You been to one of these? Why are you never going around to be telling me these pieces of information? If you had told me, I could have been able to help you be safe." Matt said, and then Sora was looking right at him, and she was looked like she really was not in the mood for this discussion at all. And I honestly was not either.

"I never thought that it was a big deal. I just wanted to be checking things out. Please do not turn this into a discussion about me being irresponsible. Last time I checked, you were the one going around and playing night detective." She said, and then I was walking off, refusing to be in this discussion. This was clearly not the first time that they had been talking about this before. And I knew that today would not be the last either.

Eventually, when I was done walking off, I was seeing that there was a guy that was next to T.K. He looked roughly the same age, and he also looked like he was in a lot more of a really fucking bitter ass mood. As I was seeing this, I was sighing, and then I sat down next to him. "This is Joe. Don't worry. We can trust him."

The guy looked at me, and I was seeing that he was not one hundred percent sure of what he was going to be telling me. "Yeah. My name is Davis. What do you think of these parties?" He asked me, and then I was looking at him, and I was wonderig if I was going to be getting in trouble with him no matter what I was saying. If that was the case, nothing I did mattered.

"A bit of a dumb choice. I feel like there is no reason to be doing them. The only thing that I thnk comes out of them is bragging rights. But even then, I have no idea why the hell people would be bragging about this." I said, and I was finding myself in a traditional mindset when I was saying this, and there was no way around it.

"Yeah. Dumb is fucking right. There is no reason to be celebrating the things that they celebrate. People are going around, and just having the time of their lives. Not even caring that every single time they do this, they are celebrating a girl who had her life sentenced away forever." Davis said, looking right at me, wondering what I was going to be saying to this now.

"I think that I would want to use the argument that these people do not know better. But the truth is that I think that they do know better. They just do not fucking care. And I think that the sooner that people fucking accept that there is no fucking care, the better." I said, and then I was thinking that this indifferent opinion was what could keep me sane.

"I mean, maybe I am jealous. I am just jealous that I can't fucking go around, and pretend to be one of these people as well. I guess that nothing that I could say would make much of a different. Do you have any idea what I would be doing in order to just get this inocence back?" Davis asked, and then I was seeing the clear conviction in his voice.

"Maybe we should be like Todd and Sheldon Lee." T.K. said, and then he looked at me, wondering what I would say. "We should go around, and we should just try and make a agency around us, where we can get the information taht we fucking need. Like private detectives." As he had said that, I was sighing, having no clue what to be saying here.

Later on, I went home, and when I parked the car, I was shaking my head, and I told myself to just go along with it. I was shaking my head, tired, and feeling like I was wasting my time with these fucking goose chases. But I was thinking that maybe I just needed to keep up the act for those around me.

As I was sitting down, I was looking right at the television, and when I was seeing it, I was casually noticing that it was yet another news program. My parents would watch these things a lot, and I hardly even paid them any mind. But right as I was heading in my room, I was seeing a image that was looking rather familiar with me. So I was walking back, and I was looking to see what it really was.

"Aurora Garner has not been seen in over twenty four hours, her parents report. Any information related to her whereabouts would be greatly appreciated." After the news report had said that, I was starting to ball up my fist. I knew right then and there that even if I wanted to be dropping this subject, and pretending like it never fucking happened, that something like this was just not going to fucking happen.

No matter what I thought of the situation before, it was now entirely personal, and it was now something that I just needed to fucking look into on my own. And I was going to be making sure that nothing else was going to be getting in my way. I was not going to let fear get in my path now.

I was sitting down on the chair, and I was wondering where my plans were going to go now. I was needing to be meeting up with Matt, and I was going to be needing to meet up with T.K., and I was going to have to be making it clear that this was now entirely personal. There was no fucking way around it anymore.

I am going to be going to Jim tomorrow, and I will fucking force him to tell me what he knew. He was going to tell me everything that he had known, and he was going to be giving me the hopes that I never had. If I would be able to go back in time, and change what I said, then I could.

I also knew that it was not my fucking fault. I had no idea she was going to be the next victim. But to be honest, I was just screaming at myself that I should have never gone to that fucking party. If I had not gone to that party, then I might have been having a small chance on making her never go missing. I know that this isn't true. But can you blame me for having that run in my head for a split moment? But the stakes had been raised to the highest.

Scene 12: A Plan

I was having a memory of one time that I was hanging out with Aurora. As I was with her, we were at my car, and sitting on the trunk. I was then just trying to find something to tell her. "Do you enjoy being out in the night sky?" I asked, referring to the well, as well as everything else that she had seemed to indicate in our stories together.

"Yeah, on the general whole, I fucking like it. It always feels like I can be able to embrace the world for what it is meant to be." She said to me, and then I was slowly nodding, having no real opinion on where to be going now. "Besides, back then, it used to be the one time of the day that I could find myself alone, and not have to worry about what everybody else is saying."

"Do you not like it when you have other people at your side?" I asked, and I was aware that asking her this question was going to be really out of nowhere. She was going to be trying to find a way to talk to me about it like it was no big deal. But I was asking for a honest input.

"I mean, I like knowing that I am not alone in this fucking world. That helps me feel so much better about everything that I am doing. This entire fucking town just throws me in a fucking loop here." She said to me, and then I was nodding at this statement. I was wondering why she would even pick me.

"Joe, do you like it when you are out like this, and can see the world for what it fucking is?" She asked me, and then I looked right at her, and I was surprised to be seeing her ask me this. I was feeling that any answer that I would give her was going to be letting her down at least a little bit.

"Yeah, I guess that I like it enough. I never really thought about it though. Never really been out at night. But since I am legally old enough to, I guess that I can do whatever I want now." I said, and I was always letting that fact get to me. The fact that I never needed to worry about what other people wanted anymore. I only had to worry about myself. It was a selfish way of looking at it. But it was the only way that I could check it out.

"Yeah, do you think that you are going to try and find something that makes your life better?" She asked me, and then I looked right at her, and I was confused on what the hell she fucking meant. "I mean, I know that everybody here has a dream of what they want to accomplish. And I assume that you are planning on finding one for yourself as well." She said, and then I was slowly nodding, thinking that I needed to just talk for a bit.

"Yeah, I guess that I might as well try and do that. The reality is that I had no idea where I could be going though. Everybody around me is just focused on their own issues, and their own plans. But I just have no idea what I could be able to make a fucking plan on. So do I really want to be doing this?" I asked, just thinking about what I was even going to say now.

"I feel like you do want this. I mean, I know nothing about your personality, and I can't speak for you. But for myself at least, if I was going around, and I had nothing going for me at all, then I feel like I would just be making a giant fucking failure." Aurora was shaking her head, and I was wondering if I was feeling offended by this at all.

"I just wish that maybe I had one extra year on top of what I was given. I feel like if I was given a fifth year, and if I was just given a little bit more time to really be thinking everything out, then I might have pulled something together." I was shaking my head, and I was wondering if I ever thought that I would be saying that four years ago.

"Damn. I never thought that I would be hearing anybody on earth telling me that. I guess that this earth is full of surprises." She said, and then I was smiling as she had said that to me. In all honesty, the fact that I had been thinking this at all showed that I really was living proof that four years was not enough for school.

"Surprises? Yeah. I guess that you might be right..." I said, and then I was looking right at her. I was wondering if she was going to be making fun of me for saying this all the time. Or if she was planning on just letting the situation go for a while longer.

"I guess that it just makes me feel bad for those that do not get a chance to live through the plans. Maybe that is the issue that I have. I just feel too fucking guilty with everything that I have been doing, and it makes me feel like I do not deserve a sincere chance here." I said, and then I was looking right at her, wondering what to say.

"You can't let what everybody else has to deal with stop you from going through with something. You are a guy who needs to be finding his own path." She said to me, and then I looked right at her, and then I was noddingat this, and I was wondering if she was going to be saying this if she had known what had happened to her.

"It is not that simple. Besides, even if I wanted to, I have a feeling that I would be letting so many people down. I feel like everything that is happening is just going to fucking be a waste of my time." I said, and then I was wondering why I was even speaking like this. I was wondering why I was talking like this to people that were trying to be nice and friendly to me.

...

I was furious over the news on Aurora, and I knew for a fact that any small amount of wanting to leave the whole thing alone was thrown out the fucking window now. I was going to be burning this entire town down if I had to if it was going to be able to help me destroy the ones, if anybody, responsible for her going missing,

I was calling Sora up, and I was wondering how she was going to be reacting to what I would be telling her. But at this moment, if it was going to be helping show my utter loyalty to the cause, then I think that it would be something that she would have been willing to welcome. "Hey Sora, I just wanted to talk for a bit." I said, trying to pretend like it was a fucking relaxing conversation where nothing was happening at all.

"What about?" Sora asked, and then I was sighing, and I was wondering if she was even going to care about the feelings that I as having, and if she was even going to be caring about what I would be dealing with. "You seem like you are bothered by something."

"I just wanted to let you know that I no longer have any doubts at all. It is over to be feeling that way. Aurora has gone missing, and I am going to be doing everything in my power to be making sure that she comes back." I said, and then I was shaking my head, unable to believe that I was even saying this in the first place.

"Are you going to at least have a fucking support group? I think that you are going to only be doing yourself more harm than good if you are not going to try and get a group out for you." She said, and then I was thinking of what I was going to be saying now. Since I knew that I needed a perfect fucking reply now.

"I would hope so. I am assuming that you and Matt are going to be there for me. And there is somebody out there who is giving me extra motivation. So I think that I am having a small start." I said, and then I was also thinking about what T.K. was planning. When he said that he wanted to make a small group that would carry on the legacy of those two men back then.

"Joe, do you have any starting spot? I think that you just need to have that." She said, and then I was thinking of the only obvious answer that would make sense in my mind. And I was wondering why everybody made these things so fucking complicated by not going for the easy targets.

"I am going to talk to her parents. Even if they never liked me, which I can't say anything about since I hardly knew them, that they would be willing to throw that aside, and work with me. I know that I sure as hell would be willing to do that." I said, and then I was smiling as I had said that.

"I am going to meet up with you tonight. I will see if we could work on something this way." She said, and then I nodded, glad to see that she was willing to be a team player. With that said, I ended up hanging up the phone, and I was shaking my head, thinking nothing else of it.

I was also not going to let anything taht Jim said get in my way either. I was unsure of why he would even try and stop me this time. I think that even he would fucking knew that something like that would have been a total fucking waste of time. As I was heading out, I was hearing my parents starting to try and call ouy to me, and try and talk to me. But to be honest, I hardly even fucking cared anymore. They would literally be able to say anything at all to me, and I hardly even would have paid them a fucking second of thought at all.

As I got in the car, I was wondering if maybe after I talked with her parents, that I tried and go on and talk to her friends. Reach out to them, and try and get them to like me a little bit. If I could create a social circle that I felt like actually had a good fucking starting point, then I felt like maybe that would have been enough to really have a starting base. And I knew that for whatever other reason, I was not going to the answer as much as a part of the puzzle.

Eventually, I parked my car at Aurora's house, and I was wondering what Aurora would have fucking wanted. I was wondering if she would have been insane enough to try and tell me to not do anything like this. Not to be fucking rash or irrational. I know that she was starting to get to like the idea of me expanding my social circles, so that would not have been my concern.

Eventually, I knocked on the door, and I waited for a few seconds, wondering what they would have said if they were answering. I was letting all the ideas run through my head, and I was letting my fears start to create a bunch of ideas in my fucking head. Before I would be able to think about it for too long, there was an answer at the door.

As they were looking at me, I saw that they were surprised to be seeing me here at all. "Oh hey, were you a friend of our daughter?" She asked, and then I was slowly nodding, thinking that I would not try and say that I was dating her. For all that I knew, they would not approve or something like that. So I just needed to try and just win over some minor trust before I did anything.

"Yeah, I started to hang out with her recently. And I was hoping that I would want to try and help you guys out with finding them." I said, as I was seeing her mother looking like she was starting to calm down a little bit. I wanted to try and make this whole situation less bad for them, no matter what.

"Damn. I am just glad if anybody is willing to come along at all and help out. Thank you." After she had said that to me, she was looking right at me in the eyes. "I suppose that I think I have heard of you before. But for some reason, I can't find the asnwer." After she had said that to me, she shook her head, and decided to just leave it alone, thinking that maybe she might have imagined the whole thing.

"I mean, I never wanted this to happen. I just want to know what your daughter was up to. Who was she friends with, what was her interests? I just need to create a file. I barely got to know her." I said to her, and pounded my fist to my other hand, and then I looked at her, and I was seeing her looking like she was slowly going along with it.

"Alright, I guess that I can do that." She said, and then went inside of her house. I was staring up at the ceiling, and I was wondering how many of her friends would really even have a idea on what is happening. Or if they would have any idea at all. I was having a terrible feeling that many of them were not even going to fucking care at all.

I waited for about two minutes before she was coming out of the house again, and handed me a small stack of papers. "These are all the contacts for her friends. She was a relatively social person. But she had a hard time really picking up on cues on when things should have been left alone." After had said to me, and then I looked right up at her, thinking that maybe I could pursue this a little bit further.

"Do you know what she was into?" I asked, and then I was starting to ball my fist, and then release them, over and over again. As I was doing this, I was feeling like every minute that was passing was going to be just having me slip away more and more.

"She was into arts and crafts. She was always trying to find ways to show her stuff to the world. But at the same time, in a strange way, she was also so fucking scared at the same time. It was like it was going all over the fucking place, and even she would not fucking decide which one she felt more." She said, and then laughed, before getting back to the main point.

"Thank you." I said, and I was feeling that perhaps I was just not going to be getting more out of this if I tried. I was smart enough to know that she was going to be refusing to continue this subject up any longer. "I know that I am probably not going to be able to find her. I am just being realistic. But I am going to be doing the best that I can to find your daughter."

"Everybody says that about everybody. It is so repetitive, and it is so annoying. Either you fucking find her, or you do not even try. I am so sick and tired of these trite promises, and I am so tired of just people going around and saying these things, and then making the excuse that life is just getting in the way." She said, and then I was looking right at her, and I was starting to consider what she had said.

"Can you be willing to at least give me the rest of the summer? If I do not find her by then, if you never want to speak to me again, then I fully understand. But give me a chance. That is all that I fucking ask." After I said that to her, I was thinking that since it was only like July 10 or so, this would give me about five six or do days to try and find her. I felt like that would be enough time to at least have a idea what I was doing.

After a few seconds of looking at her, she sighed, and then slowly nodded at my arrangement. "Alright, I will give you until the last day of summer. If you do not find her by then, then just fucking leave me alone. Never speak to me again. It would be another failed promise." She said, and despite how harsh it was, and despite the fact that I was hating the fact that she was wording it like this, I was able to understand where she was coming from. Or at least I thought that I understood.

"I can't believe that I'm saying this to you, but I am almost wishing that she would be found dead. Well, not really wish. But I would rather have that than nothing at all. At least if she died, then I could be able to wrap this up, and place it behind me." She said, and then I was surprised by what she said. But at the same time, I did understand where she was coming from, and I was thinking that when you get truly desperate, you just need to go with whatever you can get.

"She better not be dead. She just went missing. But if I ever find anything, I will be telling you right away." I said, and then I was letting the fear run through my mind. If she was dead, then that would be the worst thing that I ever would have seen. But I was just remaining silent for a few seconds longer.

Once I was in my car, I was placing all of my contacts on the wheel. I had no idea where to be going with this. I was shaking my head, and I was wondering what the hell I was going to be doing with this information. I was feeling like in a way, this was all going to be a total waste of time. I was just doing whatever I felt like I could have to make it work.

I was looking at all of them. "Alyssa." I read out loud, and I was remembering her a lttle bit more. From what I remember, she was Aurora's best friend, and I needed to fucking talk with her. If I could just convince her to let me have ten minutes to be talking, then I think that maybe this would have been enough to really get what I needed.

I looked at her address, and after looking at it for a few seconds, I was nodding, and then I was starting to drive along. I knew that I needed to just take advantage of every second that I had. Even if she was still alive, every second that I was wasting had slightly increased the chances that she would not be anymore. And what if she died two minutes before I found her? You know, that would be the worst thing that I could be dreaming of. And it would ruin everything.

I parked where Alyssa was, and then I knocked on the door as hard as I fucking could. I was not caring if she was going to be finding this rude. As I had finished, she answered the door, and she was looking at me. After a second, she started to slightly smile. "Oh hey Joe, good to see you." She said, clearly trying to hide her sadness obviously.

"I'm sorry to be coming here under such annoying situations. I wish that I could have been here for better reasons." I said, and then I looked right at her, and then I was feeling that speaking like this was making it feel way too fucking final. I hated the fact that I was speaking like this to her. "Do you want to be talking for a bit?"

"I am curious what you are planning on doing here?" She asked me, and then I was sighing, and I knew that in a way, to heer and many other people, I was going to be giving the same false hope promise that she was probably going to be fucking sick of hearing now. "Are you making a plan?"

"I do not have a plan yet. To be honest. But I am planning on talking to you, and see what I might be able to learn with you around. I want to see if everybody who knew her can be able to help me create a fucking plan." I said, and then I was shaking my head, wondering why I was subjecting them to this all.

"Oh god, that is a tall task. It feels like you want to be able to find her, then that means that you are probably going to have to force yourself into be doing things that I am sure you had no desire to be doing at all." She said, and then I rolled my eyes. I knew that shit, and I did not need to be having her tell me this shit over and over again.

Scene 17: Paragon Lost

I was sitting down next to Alyssa, and I was seeing her looking like she was rather scared of what we were going to be doing. "Joe, what the fucking hell do you think you are going to fucking accomplish here?" Alyssa, and I was wondering why she was saying something that clearly indicated that she was having no real interest in any of this subject.

"I am going to be seeing if I can bring my girlfriend back." I said, and I was unsure if it was right to be reffering to her as that. I was thinking that Aurora might not have liked me that way. But at the moment, did it really fucking matter what I was referring to her as? It was not like she would be there to tell me off.

"I will help you if I can." She said, and then I looked right at her, and I was thinking that if she was fucking telling the truth, then I just needed to fucking go with it. I needed to use whatever help I can get, and I was thinking that if she was going to help me try and bring a end to my pain, and the suffering that I had, then I was going to let her do whatever she would.

"Well, if you want to try and fucking help me, then you need to tell me whatever you can about her own activities. If she had anything that she mentioned she was working on with you. Do you have anything that can help us?" I asked, and then I was trying hard to smile at her. I think that trying to smile, and pretend like I was going to not be having a million terrible emtions run through my mind was a fucking joke.

"Well, I think that you would be doing good by trying to speak to your other friends. I heard that she was rather buddy buddy with the film artists in the town. She was wanting to get into writing. What better way to do that than to work on some movies, which people will watch more than will be reading." She was telling me, and I was having a feeling she was referring to Sora, which I was hating.

"Do you have any idea where these movies were being made?" I asked, just trying to pretend like I was not bothered by the way that she was talking to me. I was wondering if I was worried about the way she was judging me, or what it was going to be like if I was finding out if she had ended up being right now.

Eventually, with that, I was choosing that I was going to do everything to make Alyssa actually feel like this would have actually worked out. She was getting in my car as well. As she was in the car for a moment, she looked at me, and I was seeing her looking relatively better about what was happening.

"I know that I was being rather rude, but I guess that I do appreciate what you are doing right now." She was saying, and I was wishing that she could have said more. I was wishing that as I was hearing her say this, that she would have given me more of a fucking legacy to be working with. It honestly felt like a fucking insult to not give me more.

"Yeah. I mean, even if I knew nothing about Aurora, it would be a fucking insult to not be putting in the effort. But I doubt that I will be getting any real reaction here." I said, and then I was driving for a bit. And then Alyssa was starting to talk again, to get me back focused on the main subject once again.

"I know that one of the most common locations to film was at the forest. I never got it either. But I think that Aurora mentioned that she was planning on making her senior project about making a film in the mines." She said and then I was looking at her. I was gulping in fear at the moment that she had fucking said that.

"What the fucking hell was she thinking?" I asked, and I was looking right at her, and I was not even pretending to be hiding the fact that this was the worst thing that I could have been hearing here. "Regardless, I guess that maybe that is something that I can work with."

"I think that maybe she was just trying to show her seniors that she was working hard. I have no idea why the hell she had not told you this earlier. Maybe she was trying to get you ready to be hearing this eventually. Get to know her?" She told me, and then I was finding myself hardly even fucking caring anymore.

"I have no fucking idea. I just feel like it betrays me in a way. I mean, she hardly fucking knew me. So I should not be acting this way. But in all honesty, hearing that just really fucking hurts me." After I was telling her this, I was wondering what the hell I was even going to be saying now. As I was driving by, that was when Alyssa was looking around, and I saw that there was a building that was getting her attention. I parked the car, and looked at her. Wishing to hear her fucking tell me everything.

"Let's go in there, and see if maybe we can find something. I could have swore that I seen this picture somewhere in the stuff that Aurora had been working on." After she had said that to me, I was looking at her, and I was hoping that she was going to be onto something. If this was bullshit, then I was having no fucking patience for it.

I got out of the car, and then I was standing up, and I was seeing that even Alyssa was starting to consider what the hell we were actually going to be doing. Then with that, we were walking to the building. As we were walking to it, I was seeing that it had clearly looked like a fucking abandoned building.

Once inside of the building, I was seeing that it was like a old abandoned cottage. I was wondering why there were so many of these in Wayside. "I feel like there are so many buildings in Wayside that have nothing in it. Almost like they are fucking scared of the fucking truth."

"Yeah, I really don't get it. But I think that for us at least, it is going to be for the best to just try and drop the whole thing. I think that we just need to know what the hell Aurora was doing here." She said, and then I was wondering what the hell she was trying to accomplish by finding anything in there.

As we were looking around, I was hearing a loud sound. Did not take a fucking genius to figure out that somebody was parking here. Somebody was wanting to talk to us, and I was going to be in the perfect fucking trap for it. I saw Alyssa, and I was aware that I needed to somehow go on and be her protector if things went wrong.

...

As I was getting in my car when I was done, I was seeing a man walking up to me. I was wanting to tell him to just simply fuck off. But I was aware that doing so was not going to be getting me any fucking points at all, and he was going to be looking at me like I was a worthless asshole and stuff.

I was seeing a man looking right at me, with a brown hat, and he was smoking a cigarette, and he butted it out when he was getting ready to be speaking to me, as if that was going to be impressing me or anything. But I was deciding to just remain silent, and not be saying anything at all.

"I was wanting to talk to you about the investigation that you have been carrying out lately." After he had said that to me, I looked right at him, and I was feeling that if he was going to be trying to give me any bullshit, I needed to try and show him nicely that I had no interest.

"Are you going to be giving me a generic stupid fucking warning?" I asked, and then I was looking right at him. "Because if that is what the case is, then I am going to have no fucking interest in fucking hearing it." I was walking right to my car door, having nothing else that I was having any intention to say.

"No, not at all. I am in fact wanting to give you some information that you might be finding interesting." He said, and then he was grabbing something out of his pocket. Then he threw it right at me, and when he did, I caught it, and realized that he had handed me a 128 gigabyte hard drive.

"Those are all the things that your lady friend worked on. She was a very busy woman. I am sure that you can appreciate that. You always seem like the type of man who would appreciate that type of work ethic." After he had said that to me, I was looking down at it. "There were more than just that. But I could not fit it all in there."

"How did you end up finding it all?" I asked, and then I was seeing him looking like he was willing to just tell me off, and pretending like he was not in the mood for this at all. But then the man decided that he would go along and work with it.

"She would work in the high school once or twice a week, and would be there all night. If you don't believe in me, I would go there yourself, and check it out. Besides, the security cameras would be able to help prove it." After he was telling me this, I was seeing him looking like he was finding it fucking hilarious that he was talking about this in the first place.

"All that I would say is that while I won't stop you, then some other people might try and do so. They are going to fucking pretend like they are your best friend, and they are going to be making it seem like you can trust them. But then they are going to turn behind your back, and then throw away everything you had." He said, and then I was trying to take what he said into consideration, as he was starting to drive off.

I then came right to his car, and then I was pounding on it. I was going to fucking force him to be telling me everything that he had known, and I was going to make sure that he knew that he was never going to be messing with him at all. When he rolled the window down, thatw as when Alyssa was leaving the house, wondering what I would be doing.

"What do you fucking know about Aurora? How did you get to know about any of this?" I asked, and then the man was looking right at me, and I was seeing him starting to place his hands in the air, pretending like there was no fucking issue at this whole thing.

"I honestly have no fucking idea what she was doing most of the time. I was just trying to conver the fucking files..." Before he could continue, I slammed his head into the wheel as hard as I could, which make the horn go off obviously, and then the hat was down on the ground. He was looking right at me for a bit.

"If you do not know anything about this, then tell me about your boss, so I can talk with them." I said, and then I was staring at him, and he was starting to have a bit of a bloody nose. I was seeig Alyssa looking scared at how much agression that I was applying to this. I think she was not prepared to see me so fucking savage here.

"Talk to a man named James Cook. I have no idea if that is his real name, or if he is just going by that. But please do not drag this issue out any further." After he had said that to me, I was sighing, and then I was seeing him getting the engine starting. I was looking at Alyssa, and had a stern look on my face.

"Can I please fucking go now?" He asked, and at this rate, I was feeling that maybe I could be willing to drop this subject for the time being. When he was starting to head on out, that was when he was driving away. I saw her wondering what she would have said to me here.

"Are you going to be doing that the entire time?" She asked, and I was seeing her looking like she was just trying to be sounding casual here. But I was aware that deep down she was judging me. I was aware of what she was doing. I was not a fucking idiot. I knew what she was trying to be telling me here.

"Only to the people that fucking deserve it. But it gave me a fucking name. I am going to be heading down to James Cook." I said, and then I was seeing Alyssa taking a second to think of what she was going to do. But then before she would say anything, she was following me, and decided to just leave the subject alone, and just see what she would do with me.

I got in the car, and then she was following me, and I was going to see if I was going to be finding James Cook any time soon, or if he was going to be a waste of time. I was just happy to be finally having a fucking name that I could have used.

Scene 14: James Cook

I was thinking about what I was going to do if I was going to fucking confront James Cook. I was feeling that there was no real need to be doing anything too over the top. I mean, beating the fucking shit out of that one guy was nice and everything. But there was no real need to be going around, and doing something like that again.

As I was driving along, I was seeing Alyssa getting ready to finally talk to me about what had just happened. "So Joe, did you really think it was a smart idea to go around and beat the shit out of that one guy? I mean, that might have been a really dumb move." After she had said that to me, I was looking right at her, having nothing to say.

"It might not be the best move in the long run, but I don't fucking care. He clearly knew more than he was letting on, and I was not going to be letting him get away with this." I said, and then I was shaking my head. "Everybody had been playing fucking nice way too fucking long, and look where it had gotten us." I was then staring out in front of the street again.

"Joe, if you keep this up, then you are going to be putting a bullsye on your back. I mean, I don't believe in all the shit that these people are running Wayside or anything. I think the idea of a fucking empire is a bit much. But clearly at least that one guys boss is going to be coming back, and making a message across as well." Alyssa was just saying, and then I was just remaining silent for a bit.

I was at the mayors hall, and then I was just trying to be thinking of what I was going to be saying to her now. "If you do not want to be joining along with this, then it is your choice. I would not blame you. But I am going to go as far as I can. I am going to see if Aurora has any chance of ever being found." I said, and shook my head, thinking that nothing I could say would make a difference at all in her eyes.

"Damn it Joe. I want to find my firend too, and I think that you are presenting my best chance of doing this. I will stay along for now. But promise me that I can tap out if this ever gets too fucking dangerous." After she had told me this, I was nodding, and I was having no reason at all not to be letting her have this agreement.

"You can tap out whenever you want. But I am wanting to make sure that everything I can get out of you with information is retrieved first." After I had said that to her, I was seeing her looking like she was just giving up on this conversation. I was getting out of the car, and then I was looking at her, just thinking about what I had been saying right now.

I was then getting out of the car, and I was going inside of the mayors hall. As I was going inside, I saw her looking like she had been thinking about things for a second longer. But the she was getting out of the car again, and decided that she was going to just fucking play along with this all for the time being.

Once I was going inside of the mayors hall, I was looking around, and I was seeing that the mayor was talking to a couple of people. When I had seen that, I will admit that for a second or two, I was thinking that I was already getting in trouble for what had happened in that building. But then I was just telling myself to be taking things easier, and that I was just needing to wait along for a while longer before I said anything.

As the guy who was inside of the mayors room started to walk outside, he was looking at me. "What business would you even have to discuss with my fucking boss?" After he had asked me this, I was looking right at him, and I was wondering why he was caring so much what I was doing.

"I wanted to talk with him about something important. It will only be for a few minutes." I said, and then I was looking right at him, wondering if he was going to be getting in my business once again. Or if he was going to be a nice guy, and just let me be doing what I had sought out to do in the first place.

"None of my concern. Just know that he will probably not care enough to be making a big scene out of your stuff." He said, and then I was nodding, thinking that what he was saying was fair enough. But I was not going to be letting him win if I was going to have a fucking chance. As he was walking away, I was looking at him.

"Do you know anything about Aurora Garner?" I asked the man as he was about to leave the mayors hall. He looked right at e, and as I was seeing him turning around and looking at me, he was starting to put on a fake smile. Like what I was saying was not bothering him at all.

"No, never even heard of her. Probably a real bitch." He said, and then he was walking off, and as I had heard that, I was wanting to tackle him right then and there. But then I was sighing, and decided to just leave this alone. I was here for the mayor. And Alyssa was at least partially right. I needed to be well behaved if I was going to have any snowball chance in hell in making this work out in my favor.

As I was inside of the mayors room, I was trying so fucking hard to not be angry at the way that he was talking about Aurora. I mean, I knew he was probably trying to just give off the sense of playful banter. But it was still disgusting me to be hearing him speak to me like this.

"What do you want to discuss?" The mayor asked, and he was placing both of his hands together looking right at me. He was holding a giant fucking cigar. One that I never seen of that size before. "I am pressed for time. I only have ten minutes before my next appointment. So you must make it quick."

"I need to know if you have any information on a man that goes by the name James Cook." As I was saying this, I was seeing Alyssa standing back, ready for whatever might be coming up. The mayor was finishing his next puff, before placing the cigar down on his tray, like he was getting ready for a a business meeting.

"How do you know of that name?" He asked, and then I was smiling at this question. As long as he was acting like this, it was very clear to me that he was going to be looking at me with a level of worry. It was clear to me that he was not wanting to be doing or saying anything that would over step the power that I was having right now.

"I forced the information out of a man. Beat the shit out of him. I am looking for my fucking girlfriend, and I suggest that we at least try and fucking get along here." I said, and then I looked right at him. As I was seeing the look on his face, I saw him looking like he was wanting to put me in my place.

"That is the name of my fucking colleague. He comes by here once every month." He said, and then I was looking at him. Thinking that this was the general average of when a person was going missing from this town. "The last time he came here was about three days ago."

"Do you know where his fucking base of operations is?" I asked, not letting any chance that I had to be having this discussion fucking slide at all. As I was pressing him more and more, I was seeing that there was a fake smile on his face. It was obvious he was probably having a plan here. I was not fucking stupid at all.

"He works a couple of blocks outside of Wayside. That is where I most often find him anyways. I always do business deals with him." After he had said that to me, I was then standing up, and then I was looking right at him, and I was wondering what I was going to be saying now.

"Give him a warning. If I ever run into him, I am going to force the information of Aurora out from him. And after I do, I will kill him." I said, and then I saw the look on the mayors face getting much more serious. As if he was no longer finding anything funny about the situation that we were in.

"Are you seriously trying to go on and do this all yourself? Many people are going to want to hurt you." He said, and then I was looking right at him. I was starting to walk up to him. When I was right next to him, I was placing my hands right at his side, trying to make it at least pretend like I was having a cordial discussion with him now.

"Think of this as a business opprountity. I am sure that you are going to see the light of what I can do. I know that you got other people who are working with you. James Cook is probably a old man who was going to have to quit soon anyways." I said, and then after I had said that to him, I saw the man looking at me. He clearly looked like he was not going to fully buy what I was saying for the time being.

"Are you sure that you are wanting to stop this, and not become a part of it? It seems like you know how to talk more than most people would want to admit." He said, and then I was shaking my head, as I was grabbing his cigar for a moment. Despite the fact that I was not wanting to really smoke, I allowed myself one single puff to show my seriousness.

"I got a gift for you. Consider this proof of our discussion." I said, and then after I was telling him this, I was placing the cigar down on his left hand as hard as I could. I rubbed it on him for a couple of seconds. When I was done, and the circle mark was there, I placed the cigar out in his mouth again.

As we were walking along, that was when Alyssa was looking like she had something to tell me. "Hey Joe, I just remembered something that you might be interested in." As she was saying that, I closed the door, and I was looking at the man to the side as he clearly looked like he wanted to murder me for hurting him like this.

"I remember hanging out with Aurora a week or so before she went missing, and I heard really casually a conversation between like four middle school students. One of them, the only girl, mentioned a guy named Kenta coming along to their house and she was talking about a business deal she had heard." She said, and then I was looking at her, and I was thinking that maybe I could talk with Yolei about this. I knew damn well it was her.

"Thank you for telling me about that. I am going to look into that." I said, and then I was feeling that what I did with the mayor was far more likely to get me in danger than literally fucking anything that I did with that guy who was in his car. He might just at worst pose a complaint about me. But the mayor could actually fucking ruin my life.

"Joe, how do you know where to be going?" She asked me, and then I was feeling that I might as well tell her what I knew about Yolei. After all, I was thinking that the thing was that I just needed to do whatever I could to make her trust that I was aware of what I was doing. Or at least slightly aware of what I was doing. Which was probably more than she would have wanted to give me credt for.

"I had a conversation with a girl named Yolei after I had my first date with Aurora. I think that she is the one you are referring to. She was always seeming to be looking over her shoulder." I said, and then I was looking at her, just wishing that she would fucking trust me, and not be messing with me at all.

"What if she has nothing to do with it?" She asked, and then I was looking at her, and I was wondering if she had known something, and was just pulling my fucking leg. I was feeling that if she had kept this up, then I was going to have to get her to fucking talk a bit more.

"That is always possible, obviously. But trust me when I just say that I fucking know it is going to be her. I have talked with her a couple of times, and I know what she is doing." I said, and then I was being really firm with this. So firm that either I was going to be getting Yolei really angry at me, or she was going to appreciate the fact that I was reaching out to her like this.

I parked at her house, and then I was shaking my head. I was wondering what it was going to be like if I was wrong. If this was the truth, and it had turned out that I had brought Yolei into this falsely, then I would apologize to her. I would make her understand that I had no intention to be doing this to her.

I was seeing Alyssa looking like she was just trying to think of what to say. But she was remaining silent, and decided to just go along, and then she got out of the car as well. As she was out of the car with me, I was trying to think of a way to have a talk with her after this was done, to try and make her understand that I was not doing anything without previous thought in the subject.

I knocked on her door, and after a few seconds, Yolei answered it, and she was looking like she was really happy to be seeing that it was me for some reason. I was wondering what the hell I was going to be saying to her to make it seem like I was not going to be forcing anything on her. But I just needed that information.

"Good to see you. I was hoping that I might talk with you again eventually." After she was telling me this, I was angry at myself for doing this to her, and I was feeling that I just needed to get out of this discussion. I was feeling like I made a really big fucking mistake by doing all of thus.

"I needed to talk to you about some things honestly. But before that, if you want to just talk about yourself, then I would not be too opposed to that." I said, trying my fucking best to be making her not think that I was dragging her along at all of this.

"Have you looked into the things that I told you about?" Yolei asked, and I was seeing that she was just trying her best to be looking like she was happy at this progress update. I knew that she was not happy about talking about labyrinth and other shit. I was not stupid. But I needed to at least fucking try here.

"Not that yet. Although I promise that this will be the next one. The other thing that I was wanting to talk to you about was the story related to your talk with Kenta Kitagawa." I said, and then I was seeing her looking at me, blown away at the fact that I had known that in the first place. She sighed, ready to just talk to somebody about that, for her own sake.

"Oh god. I am trying to forget about that. Most of it just made no sense was the issue. I was trying to make fucking sense out of it though. It had seemed like my parents were making a purchase. No wait, Kenta was purchasing something from them. And he promised them that something like ten percent of all profits all be going to them. He said though that the transaction would take a few days to fully be done." Yolei said, and then Alyssa was getting out of the car as well, and when she had heard that, she seemed to also get interested in this as well.

"Do you know what type of transaction that it was?" I asked, and Alyssa was standing netxt to me. As I had seen her come next to me, I was seeing that Yolei was instantly looking a whole lot less sure of what to be telling me. As if she was scared of what Alyssa was going to be saying or something. Which was just fucking strange to me honestly.

"No I don't. I asked once about it, and when I did, my parents instantly got in a much darker mood. I am scaredof what they would tell me if the did answer. So in a way, I guess that maybe I am saying that I am glad that I am left in the fucking dark." She said to me, and then after she had said that to me, I was taking a moment to consider what he had said.

"I wonder if maybe I could be making more progress if I asked them what it was." I said, and then I looked right at her, wondering if this was something that she would have wanted. I saw Yolei looking like he rmind was bouncing back and fourth between what she was wanting, and it was getting to me to see this more.

"I doubt it. My parents seem like they want this discussion to die before it is even fucking born. I think that you would be wasting your fucking time if you ask." She said, and then I was seeing Alyssa looking like she was finally ready to be getting into this discussion right now.

"Do you know what your parents had to do with Kenta in the first place? Maybe if you can figure out their relation, then you can get more that way." She said, and then Yolei was looking at her, as if conceding the point, but annoyed a literal fucking random woman she just met was in this discussion.

"What is she doing here right now? Do you really think that I should trust her?" She asked me, and then I was holding my hands up, and I was wanting a fight to be the last thing taht we would all be having right now. I was just trying to help these people out, and it was turning back on me right away.

"Guys, look, I'm trying to help here. She was the friend of the girl I had been seeing lately, and I decided it would be best to let her join along." After I had said that, I was hoping that saying this would get her to calm down. Yolei looked liek she was still unsure, but that she was willing to trust me.

"Alright, I will take your lead on this." After she was telling me this, I saw her calm down a little bit, and I was seeing her looking like she was willing to go along with my lead.

Scene 15: The Science Lab

I was pakring at the science lab that Yolei was telling me. As I was sitting there, I looked right at Yolei, and I was wondering what the fucking hell I was even going to be telling her at all. I looked right at her, and I was seeing her looking like her mind had been running through a million thoughts at once, and I was feeling that I could see what she was feeling.

"Yolei, are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, and then I was feeling that I just needed to try as hard as I could to be able to really get her to fucking talk with me. As I looked at her in the eyes, she was looking like she could not fucking handle anything anymore.

"I think that I might just wait here. If you are fine with that." She said, and I was seeing that she was looking like she was so fucking embarassed by this statement. As I had looked at her, I was feeling that I just needed to try and not get annoyed at the fact that she was doing this to me. But I understood it all.

"Yeah, I am fine with that. I have no real reason to be worried about any of this at all." I said, and I was feeling that what I was saying was a load of sht. I had every real fucking reason to be worried out of my mind about this. But at the same time, I was just thinking that Yolei was probably already thinking more about this than she wanted.

"Sorry. I know that I was pestering you to be doing all of this stuff. But here I am, just fucking getting out of this like a fucking coward." She screamed at me, and then I looked right at her, and I was just refusing to say anything else. I felt like saying anything to her was going to be making a huge fucking mistake here.

"It's fine Yolei. I will be able to take care of this on my own. I would rather be doing it on my own to be honest. I did not want to ever be dragging you into any of this." After I tried to tell her, I was seeing that she was trying to take a deep and calm breath. But I was seeing that the longer she had been here, and looking scared, the more that I was just wanting to head to sleep.

"I will be back in a bit. Don't fucking leave unless if you are in serious danger. But I guess that you probably already know that. Not wanting to be making things even worse for you." I said, and then I was getting out of my car, and then I was seeing Yolei looking up at me, and I was seeing thats he had wanted to try and say more. But then she was just staring at the building once again. I saw her taking a deep breath, not wanting to argue with me. She probably knew that no good can come from it.

I was inside of the science building, and I was smart enough to fucking know that everything Kenta was working on was going to fucking be found here. I was wondering if that was the main reason Yolei wanted me to be going over there. Was that she had known that what Kenta was wanting with her parents could probably be discovered at this spot.

As I was walking around, I was feeling that if I found anything related to Yolei on it, then I just needed to do my fucking best to lie to her. I needed to make sure that Yolei was going to have a chance to still have a normal life, if what I would find there would be too fucking rough for her to handle. Not that it was my fucking choice, I suppose.

I was wondering if Yolei was going to be hurt if I lied to her about some of these things. If I was going to have to deal with that hurt that she was having, then I was going to be willing to understand if she never wanted anything to do with me ever again. But I was having a feeling that it was not going to be that fucking bad.

I was looking around, and I was seeing a bunch of rooms in the facility. The first one that I was founding had the name "Kitagawa" on them. As I was seeing this, I was walking to it. I was placing my hand on the handle, and tried to open it. But there was no way that I could open it, as it was fucking locked. I was shaking my head in annoyance, wishing that I never had to deal with that before.

After a few moments of this, and feeling that I was just wasting this time, I was walking around, and I was looking through some of the windows. One of them had what looked like a plant in there. I was staring at the plant, and like Sora was describing in her turn, when I was staring at it, in all honesty, it had looked more amazing than anything that I had seen. I was wondering why they would decide to destroy this.

I looked around, and I was seeing that there was what looked like a computer screen. On the screen was a creature that looked like a bird that could breath fire. As I was looking at it, I opened up the door, and then wlaked inside. I was starting to get some fucking theories in my head about what Kenta or the others were doing.

I was starting to have a feeling that they had taken a bunch of differet animals, and tried to force them into becoming a war machine. This theory was starting to gain some validity when I was seeing a empty syringe with a small amount of red liquid still in it. Before I looked even deeper, I just walked out of it.

I was getting out of the room, disgusted at what I was seeing. I was honestly feeling fucking appalled by what was being offered to me. I was feeling that whatever I was going to be telling Yolei, she was needing to just be spared some of the more grusome things that were going to be in here.

It was also so strange being alone in this place. Not having to worry about what everybody else was doing, or what they were going to tell me if they had seen me in here. I was feeling that I was literally any fucking second away from being attacked by security guards or whatever. In all honesty, if something like this were to happen, I would almost fucking welcome it as it would be something to show me that there were at least some people in here.

I was walking to another room, feeling that I might as well just fucking go along with what I might be finding if I looked around for a little bit longer. I saw that there was another room with a few computers there as well. I felt like I might as well just go on and find what I could here. No real reason to be holding this off if I could just find out what I was looking for now.

As I was sitting down on one of the computers, I was starting it up, and when I was starting this application, I was not expecting what I found. It took a while to upload, and when it was done, I was seeing that it was from the late thirties or early forties. Then I was seeing that it was one of the other rooms in the place, and it was empty for a few seconds.

Eventually, I was seeing a man walk in the room, with what looked like a child who was just mere months old. Then after that, a younger man was walking in behind his superior. As I was looking at the two men, they were both looking like they were having a long and deep discussion about something related to this child.

I was then seeing that the child was set down on the table, and the older guy was taking out his left hand, and then he was pulling a knife out of his right hand. As I was seeing this, I was starting to watch more carefully, wondering what the fucking hell this man was going to be doing. Was he seriously trying to do a ritual or some shit like that?

Then the blood was coming down to the child, and the younger one, probably only a year or two older than me, was walking by with a fox looking baby create. I was wondering what the fucking hell these guys were going to do to this baby. And just seeing this made me want to fucking kill every one of these people myself, with no fucking help.

Then with that, I was standing up, and I had wished that I was recording this, since if I did, I could have been blowing this fucking place sky high, and I would have ruined any chance these people would ever have of trying to explain this one off by good ecnomics or whatever the hell they would usually use to justify.

As I was looking at another chair, I sat down, and turned on their computer, and I was looking around, and when I was looking around, I was seeing that it was looking like a bunch of information related to certain deals or missions. A lot of progress reports on these experiments, In all honesty, I never really believed in ALL of the rumors, or arguably any of them about the company, before I was seeing this. But after I had seen this, I knew that there wa sno way around it.

I was then finding one that was making my heart fucking sink. "Yolei Inoue." As I had read that name on the screen, I was wondering what I was going to be finding there. Then I clicked on the link, feeling that there was no other choice. I was going to now have to choose between lying to Yolei to keep her safe, or telling her the truth, and what I had seen.

I was reading the article. "Age thirteen. Has two friends, Seems to be relatively well liked by her peers. A lot find her attractive. Would be perfect candidate for 'Labyrinth'." After I had read that, I was just trying to remember the name, and where I fucking knew that I fucking heard that.

"Purchase successful. All profits from her children will send ten percent to her parents. Expected to go away in several weeks. Parents claimed that she had no real value, and was being a liability to their lives more than a benefit. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that they never loved, or even liked, her." After I read that, I was now seriously wanting to throw up at the way that these people had described their daughter.

"She has started to make some new friends lately, and seems that she started to at least suspect some of the things that are happening in this town. I will have to try and look more into these people to see what I will have to do to change this." After he had said that in his note, I was feeling that I could go on and kill him myself.

These fucking monsters sold their daughter. They never even gave her a fucking chance to show them that she was a good daughter. It was like they never wanted to be proven wrong about this. I knew deep down that I was not going to tell her this. If it was just Kenta that would be one thing. But her parents, and these other people, then I was going to have to spare her the pain.

Scene 16: Lone Wanderer

As I left the science hall, I was just looking right at Yolei. As I was looking at her, it was breaking my heart to be thinking about what she was going to be going through. I was shaking my head, and I was thinking that maybe just for now at least, I would fucking lie about this whole thing. I needed to give her a chance to think that she was having some freedom.

"I didn't find anything." I said, hoping that she would never learn that this was a lie, or that she would not judge me if she were to ever fucking find out about it. She looked at me, and she was just trying to find something to tell me. I was wondering if she was already seeing that what I was saying was bullshit.

"I guess that maybe they would have been better at hiding their things than I was thinking." Yolei said, and I was sighing in relief, just glad that she was either believing me, or willing to not pursue the matter any further. Either one of those answers was going to be giving me at least a small modicum of hope.

"It was worth a try. It really could have fucking worked out, and I think that you were on the right idea." After I was saying this to her, I was seeing the look on her face getting slightly better. "But I have not given up yet. I am going to still be fighting, and I will still try and see what I might be able to fucking accomplish if I look around hard enough."

"I know that there are some things that I can at least suspect. If you want to be leaving this whole thing alone, and not hurt yourself any frther, then I will fucking be fine with it. There is only so much you can get with looking at this." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and I was seeing Yolei just staring at the lab entrance.

"Yeah, my friends are already doing all of this shit anyways. Trying to fucking play detective on their own. They might be needing me there, and while I would rather be with you, I have a feeling my place is with them." She said to me, and then I was slowly nodding, and I totally understood that. Or at least I was thinking that it was.

"Do you want me to at least drop you off somewhere? If for nothing else, I can do that." I said, and then I was looking at her, wishing that I could do anything in my power to be making her feel better. As I was letting this all run in my head, I was seeing her starting to calm down a bit further.

"Yeah. T.K.'s house might be a good starting spot. And sorry to hear about Aurora." After she had said that to me, I was starting to drive off, not even fucking caring anymore. I was just thinking that everything that I was doing was going to be a fucking waste of my fucking time with trying to make a difference.

I was thinking that maybe when Yolei was not around next time, I might as well tell T.K. He might at least have something to tell me. If I could get him to fucking open up with me, and just explain to me what his issues were, then I would feel so much more fucking comfortable with him.

I was wondering if maybe T.K. was going to go on and tell Yolei anyways. As I was thinking about that, I was thinking that if T.K. would just leak the informaton anyways, I either needed to just tell Yolei straight away, or not tell him either. As I was getting closer to his house, I was looking at Yolei.

"So Yolei, if you do not want to answer this, then I would not blame you. But have you and your parents gotten into any fights. Do they think that they are a bit distant or anything? After going on and talking to Kenta?" I asked, feeling that just getting into this was going to annoy her to no end.

"I would rather not fucking talk about that. It feels like in the last year or so, they have become so fucking accustomed to the business. They always talk to each other about what type of money they could be able to get. It is like they do not care for anything else besides results." After she had said that to me, I was shaking my head, having no idea what to say.

"Sorry for bringing it up. I just had a feeling that after everything you were dealing with, and all the stuff with Kenta might be off putting you here. I want to try and help you feel better." After I had said that to her, I was seeing her looking like she was actually at least able to appreciate the help that I was giving her here.

"I don't mind you wanting to talk about it. It actually makes me feel better when people try and reach out to me here. Even if I have a fucking hard ass time showing it." After she had said that to me, I was nodding a bit. I was rubbing my eyes, and I was wondering if maybe attempting small talk was a bad idea after all.

"I mean, I see that this has been bothering you a lot. I think that if I were in your shoes, it would hurt me to. I do not want to see something like this drag you down. But I have a feeling that there was anything that I could fucking do about it." After I was telling her this, I was shaking my head, and saying this made me feel useless as all fucking hell.

I parked the car at the house, and when I was looking at her, I was seeing that she was going to be a chance at redemption. She was going to be my chance to go around and try and do something right. If I could go on and reach out to her, and just tell her what I had known, then maybe that was all that I had needed. "Thank you Joe. Please keep in touch with me." She said, and then left the car, and I was starting to feel a tear roll down my eyes, knowing the truth.

As I was finally leaving Yolei alone, I was thinking that leaving her like this was officially the hardest thing that I could have ever fucking done. I was thinking that every day that I had a chance, I needed to try and keep her safe from whatever she was being sold off to. I was going to have to try and maybe make a sincere friendship with her. That way she did not take any offense to it.

I eventually was going to the cafe again, and I was feeling that maybe I just needed to try and fucking talk to Jim, and see what he was going to be saying now. I was thinking that he was going to be smart and not try and tell me off anymore. But at the same time, I was thinking that maybe by trying to talk to me he could make me feel a bit better here.

Once I was there again, I walked inside of the cafe, and I was sitting down, and looking right at Jim. He looked up, and I was seeing that he was just trying to find a way to make me feel better. But then he was sighing, and just felt like he could come on and talk to me about whatever was clearly bothering me.

"Hey Joe, do you need to talk for a bit?" He asked, and then I was shaking my head at this statement. "You seem like you are just really worried about something." I looked right at him, wishing that he would just stop, and give me a fucking chance to talk to him for a bit, and not be interuppting him.

"I don't think that I will ever be able to listen to your suggestion to leave this alone even if I fucking wanted it. Aurora is gone. The next fucking victim of this fucking shit show. And I already know who the next one after that is going to be. I have no fucking choice. I need to do whatever I fucking can to make this work." I said, and then I looked right at him, wishing that he would have something to say to me.

"Oh god Joe. Do you need to talk to me about it." He said, and then after he was hearing that, and taking every word into consideration, I saw him looking like he was much more interested in something else entirely. And I fucking knew which thing he was going to reference.

"How do you know who the next person who is going missing will be?" He asked, and then I looked at him, wondering if he was even going to be believing everything that I had been saying. I was then sighing, and decided that he was probably going to judge me the least out of all the fucking people that I could be telling.

"I did some less than ethical things. Some of which I do regret a bit. But in all honesty, at the moment, I do not give a single shit. I want to find a way to bring back Aurora, and I am going to do whatever I can to make sure that she had at least a small chance of coming back." I said, and then I looked right at him, wondering what he would have said now.

"Joe, I understand that you want to be bringing your girlfriend back, and I understand that I am not going to change your mind, so I am not even going to fucking waste my time trying. The reality is though, that I just want to make sure that you are going to be safe. If you end up dying, and I have to be the one that buries you, then I would never forgive myself for not trying hard enough." He said, and then I was looking at him, considering what he had been saying for that short moment.

"I appreciate your concern." I said, staring straight at him, and I was hoping that he was going to know that I was telling the truth. "I understand that you want to just make sure that I am not going to be getting myself killed or whatever. I wish that I could be able to give you a better promise. But I think that we both know that if I do anything like that, then I would be giving you false hope." I said, and then I was wondering if I would ever try and make him feel better here.

"I have learned some things about Aurora though. So I think that my efforts are turning around, and making some fucking positive impact for me." I said, and then I looked right at him, and I was seeing that Jim was actually surprised that I was getting the results that I was claiming I would have gotten.

"I guess that if you are able to get what you need, then I have nothing to say to try and stop it." He said, and then I was smiling at him, and I was wondering if Jim was having any further plans to this debate. "So Joe, what do you know about it? If for nothing else, I can fucking try and see what I might be able to say."

"A guy named James Cook. I have not found out about him quite yet, and what his connection with th bigger picture. But I know that he has been working with the mayor, which means that in my mind, the mayor knows at least a little bit about what is going on here." I said, and then I was seeing Jim shake his head. As if he was not even wanting to hear something like that either.

"I can't remember if I heard of that name. It rings a small bell, but I can't connect why. But the thing is that you need to be sure if this is something you want to do Joe. That man probably has fucking connections. And don't even fucking pretend to me that you can handle that man if he has those." After he had said that to me, I looked right at him, and I was shocked by how serious he was taking that statement. I was just trying to decide what I would have said.

"I know that the man has connections. But I am getting to know people as well. Sure they are younger than me, and probably can't handle themselves in a fight. But I do not need a fight. I just need connections to know that I have things that I can use if I need it. That is all that I really fucking need." I said, and then I looked right at Jim, wondering if he was going to argue with me.

As he was looking at me, I was seeing that he was wanting to argue with me, and that he was wanting to try once more to maybe exert a expertise on the discussion. But I think that he probably knew that it was not going to fucking land. So with that, he shook his head, and decided to just leave it alone for now.

"I feel like this is the opposite of what I wanted to ever have my summer be. But I think that it is going to be a different route than normal. The fact of the matter is that this whole thing become really fucking personal. I was given no fucking choice but to start to look at this thing differently." I said, and then I was wondering if he was going to be letting my justification go for the time being.

"Yeah, I can fucking buy that. I doubt that anybody wants to spend their summer acting like the fucking gallant warrior who can do no fucking wrong." After he had said that to me, I was smiling at me, and I was thinking that calling myself that was going to be a false sense of what I was thinking.

"Just do whatever you can to make sure that this whole fucking cafe still runs. I have a feeling that I am only going to be doing stuff in the attic a lot from now on. I'm just glad that there are some people in this fucking town who are just as fucking crazy as I am." I said, trying to at least divert the tension that I was growing to feel by this whole thing. I was not able to blame Jim if he was not going to be in love with this whole thing.

Scene 17: The Archives

Brad was going inside of the Lazarus building, and he was wondering if his boss was going to be putting him as a high public enemy if Brad was doing this. He was feeling that there was a very good chance that this was going to be making Shaun lose whatever respect and trust that he was having in Brad. And in a way, despite the fact that Brad never thought that he would say this, he was starting to think it was worth it.

When he was inside, he was walking to the person on the counter. "I need a card key to the library basement." Brad said, and the employee was looking up. "Brad Carbunkle." He said, and then that was when the man was nodding, and typed in the name. 'Must be a new employee' Brad thought to himself. The only reason he was thinking this was due to the fact that Brad was one of only seven employees in Lazarus, another being Shaun obviously, who had one hundred percent access.

The man eventually gave Brad the card key. As Brad grabbed the card key, he was shaking his head. In a way, he was wondering if this was a good idea. In a way, Brad started to wonder if maybe he was goinwas g down the path that his friend Sheldon went down earlier. Everything that he was saying to Sheldon to not be pursuing this shit, and then here he was, going against the orders that he had been given.

"Thank you. I just need to find something down there." Brad lied, pretending like he was doing this for just general research. He was aware that if the man was aware of what Brad was doing, then he was going to be telling Shaun. If he was aware that Brad was trying to question the reality of the place in his own way.

Eventually, he was walking down to the elevator. As he was there, he placed the card on the scanner, and then the door opened up once more. Then with that, Brad walked slowly inside, and then he was rubbing his eyes, wishing that maybe he would find Shaun there. Or maybe Sheldon doing his own antics as well.

As he was going down, he was wondering why there was such a abundance of information, and why it was always hidden. Brad wondered if Shaun was ashamed in what he was doing, and was trying to hide it. If he did not want Brad to be leaking the town secrets that had been going on since the late thirties.

The door opened, and then Brad was walking down the hallway. He was only interested in the subjects related to Olive and Mildred. Nothing else even fucking mattered at all, and that gave him a bit more to work with.

Eventually, he found the way to Justin Ryder. He knew that Justin Ryder was going to be a good starting spot in finding information on Olive. Once he was there, he would at least be able to find the general area on where Olive Thompson is. Or at least he would be able to see her name mentioned in his files, which would be a good starting.

Brad was pulling out the first file. "Justin Ryder, born 1938. Commonly referred to as The First Jedi. Was responsible for the destruction of the Wayside Mall back in 1952. Found the Crystal Cave, and was the first person to ever successfully create a lightsaber. Was one of Shaun Reichenbach's best friends back in the 1950's.

While it is incredibly hard to find any information on him these days, there have been occasional sightings of him. On average, it seems that once every three to four years, he comes out of where he is hiding to create a bigger image of his idea of justice. But he is almost always gone after one or two moments.

The most agreed upon thing is that the only real way to make him return is if people who were close to him either start dying, or his warnings begin to come true. He was one of the first people in Wayside who mentioned the idea of monsters existing in the town. He relied this information to Shaun when he had first become the president of the company.

When he was younger, he was considered to have been in love with a slightly younger woman named Olive Thompson, who he said was his mentor in life and his motivation to keep going as much as he did. When asked if he would ever come back to her again if the chance arises, and he had said that he would have.

As of summer 1986, we have come closer than we ever had to finding him. It has been deduced that he is still indeed in Wayside, and some people have even gone as far as to theorize that he is still living the house that he had once lived in. If this is true, then even he would not be able to survive a platoon of people coming at him.

While it i snot one hundred percent confirmed, many people have said that he was involved in the "Monster Invasion" that happned to Wayside in 1963, taking a part of making sure that the school was still standing when the invasion was done. Todd Robinson, for instance, had claimed this. Although some people have theorized that Todd might not have even been there in the first place."

After Brad had finished reading that, he was always hating it when he read references to that invasion. He was hardly there, so he was not the one that was too bothered and taken down by it. But when he considers what everybody was forced to deal with, and what it had done for Wayside, he knew that it was one of the worst things that could have gone down.

Then he was walking over, and pulled out the next file. "Olive Thompson, born in 1939. Died in 1986. A powerful woman who was considered to be one of the biggest threats to the company in the last twenty years. In 1986, current Lazarus Coporation President Shaun Reichenbach sent his top colleague, Brad Carbunkle, out to kill her. He succeeded, and in following, the entire garden she worked at was destroyed.

She used to be one of the best friends of Justin Ryder, and he had mentioned that she was one of the motivations that he had to become a better person, and help make Wayside a better place. There is not much that is known to the level of their bond. But many theorize that when they were younger, they might have even been in love.

She had a few friends that she kept in bond with. All of them are to be eliminated in order to remove all who might be able to oppose the towns goals. Shaun Reichenbach, who was good friends with her once said that he respected her more than any woman he had ever known, and that her death was one of the worst things that he ever had to enact.

Despite the duel, and her death that followed afterwards, it has been rumored that Olive Thompson always had a respect for Brad Carbunkle, and was heart broken when he had started to join the company. She had always considered him to be like a younger brother in a way, or if not that, then a person that she needed to protect.

Unlike everybody else in her friend group, she did indeed get married. Her husband, John, born 1930, was a man that she had met a week after she had graduated high school at age eighteen, and she had said that she loved him almost as fast as they met. They married on his thirtieeth birthday three years later.

When she was twenty one, less than two months after marrying John, the two of them started a garden, and a effort between the two of them to rebuild the church that had been placed there after the malls destruction, only to be abandoned after a few years anyways. John ran the church itself as a priest, while Olive attended the garden behind it.

Eventually, it become the last remaining garden left in Wayside, until it was destroyed days after her death, two events which have driven John to quit his preisthood entirely. But not before leaving the church to their twenty four year old adopted son Benjamin, who nobody knew, not even our company, existed, until John quit. It is almost unanimously agreed by company executives that his existence was hidden due to fear of what would be done to him if he was known publically, and if people would attempt to force him in the company."

Brad was pissed off at reading the Olive file. He knew that the statement said 'adopted' but he felt like she had still lied to him. She had claimed to him that she had no geneology aside from her husband. And if she respected Brad in a way, then she should have been able to tell him. Maybe the files over stated how much she had been wanting to make sure that he would be doing alright.

Brad then going to the next one, and he was looking at it for a few seconds before he sarted to pull it out. He was wondering which person he murdered he was going to be learning about next. "Mildred Winters, born 1938, died 1986, was a woman who befriended Justin Ryder when he had gotten into high school, and always felt more or less out of the group compared to other people.

It seems as if Mildred was the most anoynymous out of them all. What is mostly known is that when she was in high school, she started to feel that she needed to put in her own effort to try and take care of herself. As a result of this, she ended up going to the Ninja Hall that is still located in the Wayside Forest.

As she was at the forest, she met a man named Ryu Hayabusa, a then twenty two year old Ninja that had to take over the hall after his uncle had died. When she met him, he decided to train her and a group of eleven other women who wanted to be safe from going missing, and being a victim of the towns montrosities.

She had been training with him every weekend for a few years, until the Hall was attacked. In a way to prove himself to his father, and show that he was capable of handling the responsibilites of it, Shaun Reichenbach had come along. He easily murdered the other eleven who was in the hall, while Mildred was spared due to their friendship, under the condition that she did not reference his connection to the event.

Ryu Hayabusa left the Fortress soon after, feeling that he had disgraced himself due to the death of eleven apprentices, and would have been twelve without her friendship. He has never been seen in Wayside again. She would live for another twenty six or so years before Brad Carbunkle was given a contract to finally exterminate the twelfth and final member of the Knights of Hayabusa, to finish the job.

Despite her prevous training, due to her not fighting in over twenty five years, and the fact that she "knew from a vision" what was to happen, Brad was able to easily defeat her. After doing this, he ended up finding a locket that would locate her lost lover. While this assassination was a unfortunate event, it was nonetheless important for the job." After reading that, Brad heard a noise that proved he was not alone.

Brad was looking up, and he was seeing Shaun Reichenbach there, and he was staring at his boss. "I knew that it was only a matter of time before you were going to get interested, and check out the truth. This library has everything in it. Census data and small bios on every single person here. Living and dead. Getting updated all the time. The keeper makes sure that the information is updated all the time." Shaun stared at Brad, wondering what his colleague would say.

"Is this to all kill your friend?" Brad asked, obviously referring to Justin. Brad was not too sure what he was going to be feeling about doing all of this to just murder one of the most important people in all of Wayside. Shaun was sighing, and then started to walk towards Brad, feeling that he was not going to fully get it.

"I do understand why you might not be having the nerves and courage to be seeing what I am doing. But the reality is that as much as I respect that man, and I do respect him, he is not going to be a good fit for Wayside. He has not been a good fit for so many years." Shaun said, hoping that Brad was going to be feeling better about this all.

"I just feel like we need to be more clear with each other. Why did you never tell me that you killed the Knights of Hayabusa. I had a fucking right to know this." Brad said, trying to pretend like everything was fine. Shaun was sighing, and he knew that nothing he would say would make a difference.

"Brad, I kept the truth from you because I knew that if you found out, you would probably be like many people, and claim that I was a monster. I was just doing what I had to do. My father needed the evidence that I was going to do whatever I needed to do for the company, and I showed that perspective just fine. Just like what you are doing now." Shaun said, pointing at Brad, hoping to make him understand where he was coming from.

"Are you setting me up for a job? Is this all a test?" Brad asked, and he knew the answer. He was not stupid. He wanted to just see what Shaun would have said on his own. This was all a test that he was given Shaun now. And when he had asked this, Shaun just simply nodded. Thinking nothing of it.

"Don't spend all night here. We have another fucking job to do. Maybe you will actually not complain about it this time." After he had said that, he was walking off, and Brad was wanting to punch his condesending face. He liked the guy as a person, but when it came to the jobs he had to do, he was a fucking asshole.