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.

9. Way of the Coward

October 6, 2021

When T.K. was done with his writing on that long episode, he was starting to wonder if he went way too far in a few places, and maybe if he should have toned it down for a bit. But despite that feeling, he had felt that since he had already done this, he just needed to go along with it, and not be making a big deal out of it.

He sent it to the publisher, hoping that the length, even for his standards, would not anger the publisher to the point of rejecting the publication. With that, he left the car, and started to head off, feeling that by now, he would meet up with the one girl in the line up of Todd's children.

As he was driving to the house, he was wondering if he was going to be pushing his welcome too far, or if this was something he was still able to get that family to enjoy doing with him. After all, it seemed every time he was talking with them, the people were always seeming at edge.

When he was eventually there, he got out of the car, and took out a cigarette, and then he started to walk to the door, where he was knocking on it. As he was smoking his cigarette for a few seconds longer, he was wondering how much of a mistake he had made with the way he was handling this all.

Before long, Lydia answered the door, and when he was looking at her, he was thinking about how adorable she looked. But he shook his head, thinking about the fact that he was way too old to be calling an eight year old adorable. Especially when they never even met.

"Hey, I was wondering if your dad was here?" He asked, feeling that he needed to be more subtle with how he was approaching these people from now on, especially since he didn't know if they were even going to approve of him being here in the first place.

"No, he isn't. What were you wanting to talk to him about?" Lydia asked, closing the door, finding it rather interesting that this old guy was constantly coming to the door every couple of weeks, and then seemingly just hanging out with one of her siblings for no reason.

"It's nothing too important. Nothing that you would really find yourself interested in." T.K. said, feeling like that was a simple enough truth. As he was saying this, he was seeing he look on her face kind of grow into one of slight aggravation.

"Hey, I can still talk to you. After all, it seems like my older brothers seem to think you're a decent guy." Lydia said, and then T.K. looked at her, thinking that this type of statement was one that had a bit of a lie to it.

"Look, I have no idea if that is actually true or not is the issue. I mean, your siblings all seem to be having a hard time getting along with me for the time being." I said, feeling that the honesty was something that I just needed to be more forward with.

"Especially Josiah. He seems to have that one friend who really has a stick up his ass. Can't blame him though. I mean, I promised so many people that I would fix things, and help them out. But then I turned out to do the exact opposite. I often wonder if I was the worst person for this job." T.K. said, and then Lydia called out to him.

"What did you promise you would be helping them with?" She asked him, and then he was looking at her, kind of feeling upset at the fact that this conversation was turning he way that it had been.

"I promised them that I would help them figure out what was going on with this town. I gave them a false of hope. And now they are upset with me, because I wasn't able to give them what I promised. In all honesty, I feel like I do understand what they are saying." T.K. said, and Lydia seemed slightly quiet at this.

"Do you have any other promises?" Lydia asked, and she started to walk down. "Dad told me when I make a promise with somebody, I need to make sure that I will never turn back from it." Lydia asked, and then T.K. was shaking his head.

"I wish that it was that simple. Most of the time, it really is." T.K. said, and then he was starting to head to his car, feeling that if he was going to be here any longer, then things were going to be getting much worse.

"I promised my friends that I would let them meet you." Lydia said, and then T.K. turned around, and looked right at her, thinking that her making that promise, without his permission, was going to be a really big issue.

But he sighed, and felt like getting upset about this was only going to be making things worse. So with that, he was getting in the car, and then he was waving for Lydia to come along. Before he completely fucking regretted this.

Lydia got in the car, and then T.K. was slowly taking a deep breath, as if remembering that the best way to handle these things was to just take it slowly. After all, being a bitch was not going to help anybody.

As T.K. was driving along, he was driving to the address Lydia gave him. "Hey T.K., can you give me advice on how to get a guy to like me?" After Lydia asked him this, T.K. was taken aback by that, completely. There was no way he was going to respond to this.

"Honestly, I have no idea what to tell you. You are way too young for that type of stuff. But if you insist on looking into this further, I think one thing you need to do is just make sure that you know exactly what you are getting yourself into. You really need to get to know what he is interested in." T.K. said, and he was feeling like if Lydia exercised that, things would be better.

"But he hasn't really given me a chance to talk to him at all. He always seems to brush off the subject completely. And it makes me annoyed that I can't talk with him." After she was saying this to him, T.K. decided that he would remain silent for a few seconds longer.

"If that is the case, then in all honesty, I am not able to fucking help you." After T.K. said that, he was parking the car at the address that Lydia told him of. And since he knew what she was going to want with him, he was getting out of the car, wondering what Lydia was planning.

"Thanks for taking the time out of your day to see my friend. People always seem to think that I am lying when I tell them this." After Lydia was telling him this, this was not really the way that he was expecting his time back at Wayside to really turn out.

Lydia knocked on the door, and before too long, that was when a young black girl answered the door. "This is Claire. My best friend since I started school last year." After she told T.K. this, Claire looked unsure what to tell him.

"Nice to meet you. Are you the guy who her dad has been working with?" She asked, and T.K. was nodding at this. At this rate, he was giving up on people not saying this type of stuff outloud. After all, they were going to do what they fucking wanted, at this point.

With that, T.K. a notification from Tai again: There was a bit more that I forgot about. Hope it's not too jarring to include this. But here you go.

When T.K. was done reading that, he decided that he would look into it later on, when he was done with this insanity. He didn't really want to intrude on this stuff, but now that he was here, he was letting it go for now.

---

Episode 9: The Way of the Coward (Tai POV)

Scene 1: Worlds Worst Brother

I was in my house, and I was feeling there was no need to be fighting any longer, and that I just needed to drop this whole subject. In all honesty, I was feeling that I was just getting sick and tired of always going down this path. I wanted to help people out, and do what I could to help out. But that was just not possible anymore.

So with that, I was feeling that when I would see Kari again, and if she was ever going to be asking me on it, I would just be honest with her that I had no intention of ever going into this again. That I had not wanted to be giving her the impression that I was going to be the one who was going to be saving those around me.

As I had been thinking about what I was doing, and what I was going to be trying to lecture her about, I was wondering what was wrong with me. I was feeling that I just made so many things worse for those who were around me. I thought that I could have been the man who could have made Wayside a safer place. But I was never going to be that man anymore.

Another day or so passed after I had made that decision when Kari was coming right to me once again. As I had done this, she was looking like she was wanting to ask something else to me. "So Tai, how are you handling the investigation?" She asked me, and then I was looking right at her, wondering what to tell her.

"Honestly, I think that I am going to be done with this. I feel like I am only making things worse by looking so deeply into this, and I feel like I am not really the one that you should be looking into to try and have a role model here." I said, and then I was looking right at her, wondering if she was actually going to be listening to me here.

"Why are you leaving this whole thing alone?" She asked me, and then I was looking right at her. That question was going to be really hard for me to answer. And I was aware that she was probably going to be doing her best to avoid any answers that I gave her. I saw her looking like she had wanted to freak out.

"This is so wrong Tai. I asked you to be able to help me out, and you are doing the exact opposite here." After she had said that to me, I was looking at her, and I was wondering what the fucking hell I was going to be saying. I was shaking my head, and I was feeling that she was going to have to grow up, and be realistic here.

"I did try my best here. I was looking around for as many answers that I could give you. I wanted to do everything in my power. But I was not able to find anything." I said, and then I was shaking my head here. I was staring right at her, and I was hoping that she would at least try and see what I was wanting to tell her. She looked angry at this.

"Tai, I trusted you. I was hoping that you would be the one that would break the fucking trend." After she had said that to me, I was shaking my head. I was not really in the fucking mood for this. I was feeling that she just needed to fucking grow up, and see that there was nothing that I could do here.

"There was only so much that I could do on my own. I need you to be looking at this in a realistic manner." After I had said that to her, I was seeing that there was no way in hell that I was going to be making her feel any different here. Everything that I was going to be saying would just make her feel angry at my indifference.

"You are so bad at this. You're just the worst brother ever." Kari said, and then she was staring down at the ground. And as I was seeing her looking down, not wanting to be saying anything else, I was feeling like she was just going to be making me really feel a whole lot of guilt over what had been going down.

"I am not the worst brother ever. I did everything that I could, and you are just treating me like fucking shit here for just having a form of realism here. Wow messed up if that going to be?" I asked her, and then I was looking at her, and I was hoping that my way of getting back at her was going to make her at least consider my statements here.

"Yes you are the worst. You make promises, and then you never have any intention of keeping them. You hurt me, and you keep giving me hope that Wayside is going to be better. And then you give me nothing besides excuses when you don't do that." After she was telling me this, I was throwing my hands up in the air. I was wanting to scream at her, and I was wanting to make her just grow up here. But I was feeling that being upset at her was not going to give me any comfortable feelings.

"I am not going to be dealing with this right now. You are not even going to be giving me a chance to be making this make sense. I feel like there is no reason to even bother here." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and then I was just looking away from her. I was not in the mood to be having this discussion, and I hoped she would drop it all.

"Fine. Do whatever you want. Not like there is much more that I can say that will get you to change your mind." After she had said that to me, I was shaking my head, and I was feeling that I just needed to be letting this whole thing go. She was going to be doing this, no matter what I was saying, and I was not in the mood for her.

"You will never understand. Maybe if you understood, you would be leaving me alone." I said, and then I was shaking my head, wondering if that statement was true. But then I was just telling myself not to be worried about it at all.

So as I was saying this, I eventually made it to my room, and I was feeling that maybe one of these days, Kari was going to see that I was not the worst brother in the world, as she claims. And that she was going to be seeing that I was indeed trying. I needed to try and understand where she was coming from. But that was impossible with the fact that I would never understand the perspective of a eleven year old girl.

Eventually, I was just telling myself to let it go. She was going to be growing to see what I meant one day. And when that would happen, I would make her feel so much better here. I would make her see that there was more to life than Wayside. She was needing to fucking understand that I was better than these pieces of crap here.

I was seeing Kari in the kitchen, and she was cooking something up. I was wondering why I had made a big fucking mistake here. I was wondering if perhaps I could have tried to speak to her now. I was feeling that Kari was not going to want to, but I was wanting to make her feel like I was at least listening to her.

She was a good sister. She was somebody who wanted what was best for Wayside. I wanted what was best for Wayside, and I wanted to be making her see that I was wanting that. But until then, I needed to just be happy with the fact that she was having a goal that was beyond herself. Maybe I just had been making a big mistake here.

I was feeling that maybe T.K. would be able to get her to open up. T.K. was somebody who I was not so sure about, but he was somebody who I was feeling like could have been able to be a useful guy in the long run. I was thinking that maybe if I could arrange the two of them to be meeting up more, then the two of them could be really getting each other to understand what to be feeling more.

But until then, if she had been thinking that I was the worst brother in the world, then I needed to get her to see me differently. I needed to get her to see that I was a good guy. I needed to get her to like me. So with that, I felt like I just needed to be getting right to work here.

I was standing out of my bed, and then I was going to be heading on out, and I was going to be trying to find something to do with my time here. Maybe if I was going to be making any difference, I just needed to get right to work, and not be wasting even a fucking minute of my time. As I was getting ready to leave, I was hearing Kari call out to me.

"You're such a coward. Do you not realize that?" She was asking, and at this rate, I was feeling that I was just going to be over this hear. So with that, I was looking right at her, and I was wondering what in the world that I was going to be telling her. "Are you going to be trying to argue with me here?" After she had asked this, I wanted to scream at her to just fucking stop this right now.

"What the fucking hell are you going to be getting out of treating me like fucking dirt?" I asked, and then I was looking at her, and I was wondering if she was going to be saying anything. She was looking like she had enjoyed seeing me angry at this, like she had wanted me to be showing her my anger.

"I just hope that if I say the truth, you might be able to see what I am saying, and that can make you change." After she had said that to me, I was shaking my head, and I was feeling like she was treating me like such utter fucking shit. I wanted to be getting her to leave me alone.

"You're so fucked up here." After I had said that to her, I was wondering what the fucking hell I was even going to be saying at this rate. I was feeling that by making her see how messed up this whole thing was, she would just fucking stop with this all. But she had looked like she had absolutely no interest.

"Stop hiding from what you are needing to do, and I will consider taking back what I said earlier." She said, and then I was seeing that she was looking very serious here. And when I was seeing this, I knew that there was nothing else to say here. And with that, I was opening the house door.

I was slamming the door as I had left, and I was feeling that I just needed to be leaving this discussion. She had hated me, and that was all that there was to say. She wanted me to feel like shit, and she was willing to do anything it took to be making me seem like the biggest piece of shit ever.

As I was gone, I was wondering where I could go now. I was needing to just find a way to express my anger and sadness at what she was saying to me in a way that will help the investigation go forward. And as I was thinking about this all, I was starting to walk down towards the skating park. If for nothing else, Rob would be there, and he would be better than nobody.

That being said, it did not take a fucking genius to figure out that Rob was tired of this shit, and that he wanted nothing to do with it, I was hoping that he was not going to be thinking that I was a agressor. I wondered if Rob was even remotely willing to admit that there were some things about this all that was just fucking bullshit, and that these stories did not add up in the slightest.

As I was getting near the skating park, I was seeing that Rob was starting to skate around for a bit, and as I was seeing him skate, there was Rachel there as well. They had been hanging out, while the two of them were looking like they had wanted to just have the time of their lives.

After I had seen this, I was wondering if I was going to be speaking to them and have them appreciate this. But I was shaking my head, and I was feeling that I just needed to get some steeled nerves, and that I just needed to get this over with. So with that, I was walking in their direction. And the closer that I was getting, the more that I was seeing Rob looking relatively unsure of what to do.

"What are you wanting to talk about?" Rob asked, and I was sighing, wondering what the point of this was even going to be. With that, I was shaking my head, and then I was feeling that maybe he would just be the one who would give me some fucking indicator on where I was needing to be going.

"I was wanting to know if there was anything that I can do to help." I said, feeling that just being open about this was going to be enough to make him satisfied here. I was wondering why Rob was looking slightly unsure of what to say here, and I was feeling that I just needed to get him to tell me the truth.

"The best way you can help out if to not buy into the bullshit that the adults give. Simple as that. If you refuse to buy the stories, then you are going to be doing just fine. And we will get along just fine." After Rob had said that to me, I was looking at Rachel, who had looked like she was just feeling rather mixed at these emotions. But after this, I was feeling that I was not going to get more. And that the best thing that needed to do was visit a certain boys cafe.

Scene 2: A Desperate Proposition

I was feeling that if I was at the cafe, maybe I could get something with Joe done with. I was really wishing that Joe would actually be willing to help me out here. Since in all honesty, he was a hard guy to talk with, and I was feeling that I just needed to try and really not be thinking about how strange this whole situation was.

The further that I was getting there, I was feeling that I would have a lot to do to make Joe truly trust me. After all, I was feeling that my connections with Sora was not going to be enough to get him to feel like I was actually willing to speak with him. And that was something that I was totally fucking scared of.

I was feeling that I would have to try and make a deal with Joe, and make it seem like I was a good negotiator. As silly as something like that would have sounded, I was feeling that it might be worth it all. And I was feeling that if for nothing else, I would be able to go on and see what Jim was feeling on this whole situation.

Eventually, once at the entrance of the cafe, I was wondering what the hell I was going to be doing. I wanted to get this over with, and I was feeling that showing kari that I was not a coward was going to be the only thing that truly mattered. If I could show her that I was not this way, and that I wanted her to respect me, then I was going to change.

I opened up the door, and then I was looking inside, and I was seeing Jim looking like he was waiting for some customers to come in. I was feeling that I just needed to not mention anything about the lack of customers here, since if I had done that, then I was going to be losing any chance to be getting Jim to still have a detail of respect for me.

"Are you here to meet up with Joe? He is probably upstairs. I haven't gone on and checked though. He seems to be rather focused on working with his friends." Jim said, as if annoyed that more people were in this for Joe than they were in it for him. As if he was feeling like he was being taken advantage of.

With that, I was slowly nodding, and then I was getting upstairs. I sighed in fatigue when I was looking at Joe, who had seemed like he had stayed up all fucking night just working on something.

Eventually, Joe was looking right at me for a second. "Hey, I hope that you don't mind that I decided to be showing up." I said, and then I was looking right at him, wondering what the hell I was going to be saying now. I was seeing Joe looking like he was relatively tired.

"I don't honestly. Just working for a bit. What are you wanting to talk about?" Joe asked, and it had seemed to be bothering him to be seeing me here. "I guess that I am not going to be getting a whole lot done here anyways." He said, clearly sounding defeated here.

"Not much. But I was wanting to see if we could be able to work together a bit more going forward. I feel like you know we can both really benefit from that." After I said that to Joe, he was looking right at me, and I was seeing that he had no interest in having this discussion at all.

"I have a feeling that anything that you would want to be done is only going to really be benefitting you." After he had said that to me, I was looking right at him, and I was wondering what the hell I was going to say. It had seemed like no matter what I was going to say, he was going to be a tough cookie to break.

"That is not true. I feel like we could both use the help on finding out more about Wayside. My sister hates me, and I want to show her that I am not the person that she might be feeling that I am." I said, and then I was sighing, wondering what the hell I was even going to be telling him at all.

"I feel like there is not a whole lot you can do to change the mind of a eleven year old girl when she makes up her mind." Joe said, and then I was looking at him, and I was feeling that with the way that he was saying this clearly gave me the right to see what the fucking hell he knew.

"How the fucking hell do you even know that anyways?" I asked, and I was meaning it in a mostly playful matter. He was turning around, and looked right at me, and I was wondering if me trying to be playful was going to be a giant mistake. He sighed, and I was seeing that one way or another, he was willing to just talk with me here.

"A friend of T.K. is somebody who I grew to know lately. I want to try and help her out, but she has a hard time really letting anybody get to know what the issues are." Joe was saying, and then he was shrugging, and then he was standing up. "Although I have a bit of a feeling that her issues are going to be coming along and being the key to what I am looking at."

"Yolei right?" I asked, and then after that, I was feeling like I needed to try and talk to him, and make him feel slightly better about this all. "Anyways, it seems like you need some help with something, and I want to help." I said, and I was feeling that the more firm I was going to be with the subject, the more that Jim would have a hint of respect for this.

"Yeah, I would want some help." After he had said that to me, he had looked like he was starting to become slightly more focused on what could be working well with this. "And if you decide for whatever reason that you would want to do this, then I suppose that we could be able to work together here. I will make it worth your while."

"I am looking for a girl named Aurora Garner, and I want to see how I can bring her home." He was saying to me, I was shaking my head, because I genuinely did not know who the hell that person was. And I was feeling that if he had wanted me to help him, then he needed to just give me a update a bit.

"I have no idea who she is, to be honest. But I can still try and see what the heck I can do to help you out." After I had said that to him, I was holding my head down, and I was feeling that telling him that was going to be getting him to just slam me with a million fucking gallons of information.

"Damn it. I was figuring that you might have at least heard of her." After Joe had said that to me, I was looking at him, and then I was wondering how on fucking earth he was even going to assume such a thing when she was not even in my grade. But then I was just feeling that arguing with him on this was only going to make things worse.

"I mean, I assume that she went to school with us." I said, and then after I had said that to him, Joe was slowly nodding, and I was feeling that maybe I could be able to get him to talk with me. "Do you know who many of her friends were? Perhaps that could give you a good starting spot?"

"Yeah, I would love to do that if it weren't for the fucking fact that when I try to talk with her parents, it almost seems like she wants nothing to do with me." After Joe was saying that to me, I was shrugging, and I was having nothing else to be saying. So with that, Joe was rubbing his eyes.

"God, I wish that I had better social skills. If I did, then none of this would have ever been a issue at all." After he had said that to me, I was looking at him, and I was wondering if he was going to use this as an excuse to be trying to do something different entirely. "I guess that maybe I could try and help you out. But I need to know why you even care to be talking with me in the first place?"

"Regardless, I am still probably in a better spot than you. So your sister is against you now, and feels it is your fault that certain things are happening? I think that if I had a younger sister, who was acting like that, then I would just not be able to ever forgive myself." After he had said that to me, I was sighing, and I was not really in the mood for that.

"Yeah, when she had said that, it hurt me a whole lot more than I was ever expecting it to. I was not wanting my sister to be acting like I was the villain here. But I guess that there is nothing that I can fucking do about it now." I said, and then I was shaking my head, wondering what else I could have said.

"If you help me out, and the two of us can actually find something here that can benefit both of us, I would have no issue with telling her that you were helping me out here. Maybe if she heard me tell her this, she would be willing to believe you more." After Joe was saying that to me, he was shrugging, wondering what else to say here.

"Well, it is better than nothing at all. But us talking about how we are going to help each other out if not going to be doing us shit if we do not actually put our words into actions." After I said that to him, I was wondering what else to be telling Joe. I needed to get Joe to listen to me.

"Well, maybe we can go on and talk to Aurora's parents again. I have a feeling that if you are with me, they might be willing to actually talk with me this time, and not be giving me any fucking bullshit." After he had said that to me, I saw him looking like he was happy to be seeing the plans starting to come through for a bit.

"After that, I have a feeling that you probably know some stuff on the other cases. Just the look on your face gives me that feeling." After Joe was saying this to me, I was seeing him looking like he wanted me to just make a confession here. With that, I was starting to nod, and I was wondering if my next idea was even going to be working out at all.

"I think that there is a promise that I can return to. But for that to happen, I need you to come along with me." I said, referring to my crush. I knew that she was going to be having a hard time feeling comfortable with me bringing a friend along, but I was feeling that if this was related to my promise of saving her, then perhaps she would not mind. After all, if for nothing else, I can be able to promise that Joe was not a bad guy at all.

"Well, if that is the case, then I think that we should just get going." I said, looking right at Joe, and I was wondering what the hell we were going to be doing now. And I was seeing that Joe was looking more and more like he was wanting to start to object to this, but just decided against it eventually.

"Tai, you better know what the fucking hell you are doing here." After Joe was saying this, I was seeing him looking like he was just trying to find something else to say. But then he decided to just not say anything else. So with that, we were walking out of the cafe, and then we were getting ready to leave.

I looked at Jim, and I was wondering what to tell him. "Hey, thanks for letting us have a chance to talk with your brother up there." I said, and then that was when Joe was looking like he was wanting to find something else to say. "It gives me a lot of time to really talk with him and make plans."

"I know what you guys are doing. I have no doubt that you guys are going to keep doing these things anyways, with or without my blessing. But to be honest, it kind of reminds me of myself when I was much younger." After Jim said that, he was looking like he was actually kind of glad at this idea.

"Do you want to tell me about those days?" After I asked him that, this was when Jim was looking at me, as if thinking that my question was strange, and that I just needed to be minding my own business, and I was wondering if these brothers really were the best people in the world with social cues.

"I feel that if I tell anybody about them, then people are probably going to be finding my story to be total bullshit. But then again, after everything that is going on at Wayside, I would not be shocked if everything in here is total bullshit." After Jim said that, he was smiling, and I was feeling that this was a fair enough statement here.

"Anyways, we need to be working on this." Joe said, and then with that, I was feeling that it might be best to not press Joe any further on this, since I was really feeling that getting him angry was not going to be the best thing. But as we were leaving, I was feeling more and more that talking to Jim was going to be a vital key to everything here.

As we walked out of the cafe, Joe was looking down, and he was balling his fist. "Damn it. I wish that I could be able to trust more people. But whatever, we need to just get going." After Joe had said that to me, I was feeling that showing him my crush, and seeing if we could work on this investigation was going to get him to believe that I cared about Aurora.

Eventually, we were going towards the house of my crush, and I was feeling that once we were done talking with her, that was when I could be able to finally help out Joe and him figuring out what the fucking hell he was going to do with Aurora. And while I was wanting to figure out how to hang out with my crush, I was feeling that helping Joe was going to be far more important than anything else.

After a while, as we were there, Joe was looking at me, and I was seeing from the look on his face that he was just looking beyond confused what the point of this strategy was. "What the fucking hell are we going to be finding out by talking with her in the first place?" He asked, and then I was feeling that I needed to just tell him to relax here.

"I just feel like it would be a smart idea to talk with her, and see what she knows. If she doesn't, then I will apologize for wasting our time. But there is nothing wrong with trying." I said, and then I was looking right at Joe, and I was feeling that this possible premature apology was going to be enough to make him feel better.

I knocked on the door, and Joe was looking around, trying to be finding a way to keep himself calmer than usual. Eventually, after several minutes, that was when she had answered the door. After I had seen her, I was smiling widely. I was wondering if she was going to be glad to see me. "This is a friend of mine." I said, feeling that saying that about Joe would make her feel slightly less worried here.

"I was wanting to talk for a bit. I am working on my promise." I said, and then after I had told her this, I was seeing her looking like she was wanting to say more. But with that, she was taking what I had been saying into consideration. Joe was just looking like he had nothing else to be saying.

"We can talk for a bit. But we should wait for tomorrow. It's already late, and I do not have the time to prepare." After she had said that to us, I was seeing her looking slightly worried here. I was looking at Joe, and I was seeing him nodding along with this, feeling that this was all he could have wanted.

"Fair enough. I can wait for a bit." After Joe was saying that to me, I was looking at him, and I was wondering if he was going to be holding these things against her. But after I started to be considering this, she was looking at me, trying to decide if she had nothing to tell me.

"Thanks for keeping your promise." She was saying to me, and then I was nodding, feeling that there was nothing else to say. With that, she was about to close the door. "How about at four?" She asked, and then I nodded, feeling that there was no real way to negotiate with this at all.

Joe nodded, feeling that he was going to just have to take it. After that, he looked right at me, and I was seeing that he had wanted to find something else to say. But then he shook his head, and then with that, we were walking along, and I was wondering what to even be telling him now.

As I had finished walking away, I was looking at Joe, and I was wondering what I was going to tell him now. I was seeing that Joe looked like he was rather bothered by something, and I was wondering if I was going to be doing the right thing by speaking to him. "Joe, what is bothering you?" I asked, feeling the need to be seeing if I could break through, and just get him to be speaking to me.

"Let's fucking meet tomorrow, and we will see what we can find here. There is no reason to be afraid of everything else." Joe was saying, and I was wondering what he was meaning. I needed to just reach out to him. But then I was shaking my head. I was not in the fucking mood here.

"Do you need to talk for a bit?" I asked, and I was feeling that just trying to get him to talk to me was the only thing that I needed to focus on. As I was asking this, he had looked at me, and I was seeing that he was not wanting to fucking hear it. So with that, I was feeling that I just needed to let it go.

"Fine be that way. Not like I was really going to help you out in any way regardless." I said, and I was shaking my head. He was just going to only be caring about this Aurora thing, and how to make it work. Not that I could blame him. But I needed his help, and he certainly needed mine more than he wanted to admit.

As we were walking home, I was feeling that maybe Joe was resenting this discussion because he was tired of not having Aurora over, whereas I still had a small chance to get what I was wanting. In all honesty, I was feeling that if this was the case, then I could at least somewhat understand what he was saying to me.

Joe was looking at me when were at the cafe, and I was seeing that the look on his face was actually really angry. I was kind of feeling bad for basically telling him off the way that I did. But I was frustrated, and I knew that any apology or bullshit I was going to give, or try to give, he would not want to hear it. So with that, I started to just walk off home to get ready for tomorrow.

Scene 3: Heightened Focus

I got up the next day, and I was decided for my own sake to not even waste my time trying to talk to Kari. I knew that she was not going to be looking at the bigger picture, and to be honest, I was not really in the mood for this either. So with that, I was walking along, wondering what I would be doing now.

I was walking towards the cafe, and I was wondering if Joe wanted anything to do with me anymore. I was feeling that given the way that I had talked with him, and the way that he had been angry at me, the main thing that Joe might do was work with me for a while, but then the moment he had lost his use, he would throw things off.

To be honest, I was feeling that we were never going to be getting along anyways. He seemed to just never really agree with my personality, and that was totally fine. And I was just hoping that maybe I needed to be doing something else to fully get him to talk to me again. And I was having a feeling a bullshit apology would not be enough for him.

Eventually, when I was at the cafe again, I was shaking my head, and then I had just told myself to get this over with. So with that, I was walking inside, and then I was seeing that Jim was not looking too sure of what to be feeling when he was seeing me. But then he was shrugging, as if thinking nothing of it. I was feeling so much better to be hearing him leave me alone.

I got up to the attic, and I was seeing Joe just looking like he was far too focused to even notice that I was there. When I called myself out, he was looking at me, and I was seeing that he was putting a bunch of things on the wall. As if he was trying to make a story for what this investigation was going to be leading towards.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, feeling that I just needed to try and make him feel better. He was looking at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was not too sure of what the heck he was wanting to tell me.

"Honestly, I don't care about that anymore. I already got over it. I am more focused on getting this job done, and I don't reallyc are about anything else at all." Joe said, and then he was looking right at m, and I was seeing that from the look on his face, he was sincere enough. And I was having no idea if that sincerity was good or not.

"Anyways, seeing what I can gather here, we just need to be getting right to work. You were saying that you were going to be visiting your lady friend at four today? If that is the case, then we need to be getting going." After Joe was syaing that to me, he was shaking his head, and then I was feeling that we just needed to take what we could get here.

"Yeah, we need to be focusing on that instead." I said, and then I was sighing, and I was feeling that as long as Joe was willing to focus on the bigger picture, then that was all that I had really needed here. So with that, we were walking out of the cafe, although I was seeing that Joe was not looking incredibly happy. But at the same time, I was not wanting to press the issue any further.

As we were heading towards her house, I was looking at Joe once again and I was seeing that he was looking like a small part of him was willing to finally start to talk. "Honestly, I just wish that nothing happened to Aurora. I liked her as well. And I was feeling like our progress was coming along." I had no idea what the hell I was going to be saying to her now.

"Joe, there was nothing that you could have done, and we both fucking know it." I said, and then I was sighing, feeling that I just needed to be getting him back to his senses. As I was seeing the look on his face consider what I was saying, I saw him almost starting to agree, but then he was shaking his head once again.

"I mean, there is a level of truth to that. But the thing is that if I had talked with her more often, I would have made her feel like she could go on and go to the cafe, and then over time, she might have been safe while there. I could have at least delayed how long it was going to take for this to fucking happen." After Joe said that to me, I was wondering what the fucking hell he was going to be saying here.

I was feeling that even though what he was saying was ridiculous, and I knew it, I was having a hard time really putting that emotion to words, and then I was feeling that there was no point in even trying to get him to be feeling any different. Joe was going to resent himself, and that was all that there was to this matter.

Eventually, we were at the house of my crush, and then I was having no idea what the fucking hell I was going to be doing. I knocked on the door once again, and she answered faster this time. When she was seeing the look on Joe's face, she was wondering what the hell was going on with him.

"Did something happen to him?" She asked me, and then I was looking at Joe. The look on his face was making him look like he was having no fucking interest in this discussion at all. "Anyways, now that you guys are here, what the hell are we even going to be doing anyways?" She asked, just trying to find a way to make us focus on the main issue.

"No, I would rather not be focusing on myself. I want to know what happened to Aurora Garner." Joe said, and then my crush was already looking at me, and she was clearly looking like she had no idea what the hell I was going to be doing here. I was shrugging, as if acting like it was no big deal.

"Alright, I honestly have no idea who she is. Do you have a way that you could describe her?" My crush asked, and then I was seeeing Joe shaking his head, as if thinking that any attempt to describe her was just simply not going to be enough to really make it clear who he was talking about at all.

"No, I mean she was tall. Probably five eight or so. She was also blonde, slightly below average weight, and she was cute. She had blue eyes from what I remember." After Joe said that, he was smiling at her, but then he was shaking his head, as if feeling like that was just not going to be enough to win me over.

"Alright, yeah, I think you already know that this explains almost absolutely nothing." After she had said that to Joe, I was seeing her shrug, as if thinking that there was no reason to be too worried about it at all. "Anyways, I am assuming that there was a different reason to be coming here than to ask me what I knew about her." After she had said that, Joe was starting to nod at this.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you did know anything about Wayside, and what you were aware of with the missing girls cases. I remember Tai telling me that you made him give you a promise." After he had said that to her, I was seeing my crush looking at me, and I was seeing her shocked to know that I would tell him that.

"How much of that promise did you tell him?" After she asked me this, I was shrugging, and I was having no idea what in the fucking world I was even going to be telling him anyways. "I did make him promise me, since in all honesty, he is one of the few people who I can actually trust to be looking into this if it gets worse."

After she had said that to Joe, she was looking like she was trying to decide what she was going to be saying to him. "I didn't say much. All I said was that I promised that I would save you no matter what. That was literally the only thing that I said." I was shrugging, and I did not really care at all anymore.

"My sister Kari is harsher about promises than you might be." I said, and I was mainly just trying to be somewhat funny when I was saying that to her. I was seeing that my crush was looking like she had wanted to have me be taking things slightly more serious about this all.

"What did your younger sister do?" She asked me, and then I was looking at her, and I was wondering if she was going to be buying what I was going to be telling her. She was probably going to be finding what I said to be funny more than anything else.

"She went on and called me a coward when I was telling her about my lack of intention on going on to learn the truth of Wayside. I was telling her that I was not going to be putting my life in danger for these things, and when I was telling her this, she basically made it clear that unless if I changed my way, she wants nothing to do with me again." I said, and then I was wondering if talking to her about this might be making her feel slightly better at this.

"Well, I mean, were you serious when you were saying that you had never wanted to be doing this again?" She asked me, and then I was looking at her, and I was feeling that no response was going to be making her feel better. I was already seeing Joe looking like he had wanted to see what I would say now.

"I don't know. I mean, I am totally fucking hopeless, and there is nothing that I can do about that at all." I said, and then I was looking right at her, wondering if she was going to be buying what I had said. I really did have no hope in this whole thing at all. "I just thought that I could have made a difference. But maybe that is something that I just have to accept isn't possible."

"But that being said, if people really thought that I could have made a difference, and people were really fucking believing in me, then I feel like I could try and make it work. I wish that I could just be strong. But I am not the guy that you guys think that I am." I said, and then I was shaking my head, wondering why I was telling her this in the first place.

"Tai, are you going to be helping me with Aurora Garner though. That is the main thing that I care about." Joe said, and then after he had said that to me, I was looking right at him, and I was wondering what the hell I was even going to be saying. Then with that, I decided to sigh for a bit, feeling that I was having no choice here.

"Yeah, I will fucking do it. I just think that if I want to really do what matters, then we can work together." I said, and then I was finally feeling that there was nothing else to do anymore. There was nothing else that we were going to say here. I was looking at my crush, wondering what the hell I would even say to her now.

"Do you think that you would want to get involved? I want to fulfill my promise." I said, and then I was seeing her looking like she was just trying to decide what the heck she was wanting to say to this. "I promised you guys I would do everything that I could, and I am just wasting my time away here."

"I guess that I would be a bit of a hypocrite if I was lecturing you guys for not getting involved in this if I did not at least just give it all a look as well." After she said that to me, I was seeing her looking like she was just wanting to tell me some other things, but that she was kind of tired.

"Joe, do you have any idea what to do here? I mean, you're probably a couple of years older than us, so you should most likely have a better idea on what is happening than us." After she had said that to Joe, he was looking around, and I was seeing that he was looking like he was scared to tell us the things that really mattered.

"Yeah, I think that I have some ideas on what is going on here. I went into the science hall, and while I don't exactly have an answer on the missing girls, I can confirm for better or for worse that there are actual monsters in Wayside. Monsters that have been talked about all these years." Joe said, and then I was looking at him, thinking that he was fucking insane here.

"But if there were monsters, wouldn't there be some form of an answer on what we are getting ourselves into? I think that there is a good chance that these monsters are why people are going missing." I said, and then I was wondering if the answer was there this whole time. My crush was looking at Joe and I, and she was clearly looking like she was wanting to find something to tell me.

"God damn it, we do not have time for these games. This stuff is serious, and we need to just not be fucking around with stupid stuff like this." After my crush was saying this, I was seeing Joe looking like he was wanting to scream at her for the way that she was acting here.

"These are not fucking games. I saw this. I wish that I was making it all up." Joe was saying, and then I was seeing him looking rather firm on what he was saying. I was feeling that he was not going to be taking this any better than he was showing. So with that, I was looking at her, wondering what I was even going to say now.

"And the reality is that if we hold off any longer by arguing over these things, then we are not going to get the answer to anything at all." Joe was saying, and he was sounding like he was somewhat begging about this whole thing. "If you guys are going to just shoot down everything that I am saying, then I will just be doing this all alone." Joe said, and I was clearly seeing him looking like he was actually trying to maintain his cool.

"Yeah, sorry. I mean, I have no idea if this is true or not. But the reality is that if anybody in Wayside knows about that, it is Kenta and Lazarus. Let's not pretend that isn't true." I said, and then I was looking at my crush, and she was looking at the two of us, and I was already seeing her looking like she was starting to slightly concede what I was saying here.

"Fine. You have a valid point here. But what are you guys going to do here?" She asked me, and then I was looking at her, wondering what the point in all of this. "I feel like if you want to fulfill your promise, you need to just make yourself uncomfortable, and you need to be looking at what the company knows."

As she had said that, I was aware that she was telling the truth here. I did not need to be hearing her tell me this though. "Joe, tell me everything that you know. You were saying that you think her parents might be willing to talk to us now?" I was feeling that by just getting right to the point, Joe might be able to respect my idea now.

"Yeah, let's go on and give them a fucking visit. And they better be listening to me this time." Joe said, and then I was wondering if he was trying to not get angry or something. I wonder what they had done with him in the first place. But then after I had been thinking this, I was just telling myself to shut up and focus on the job at hand.

"Just make sure that you do not really piss them off, and make them not want anything to do with you." After I said that to Joe, he shook his head, as if thinking that there was no reason to be worrying about that. We were walking along, and I was just telling myself to not even think on it.

As Joe and I were getting on our direction to Aurora's parents house, that was when I was seeing my crush looking like she was trying to decide if she wanted to come along. And in all honesty, I would not have been surprised with either answer. I just hoped that either way, she picked the answer she would enjoy.

cene 4: The Art Shop

As I was thinking about how I was going to be helping Joe with this, I was feeling that this whole situation was just absolutely insane. In all honesty, I was feeling that Joe was probably going to not have much of a chance to get the goals he wanted accomplished. I was feeling that I just needed to get my crush to see that I was willing to also do anything possible to make her feel safer.

"Tai, do you think that she likes you?" Joe asked, and then I was looking right at him, wondering what the heck he was planning on talking about here. I was wanting to just tell him to leave me alone, and that I knew her better than him. But then I was feeling that being a asshole to him was not going to be getting me any favor points.

"I mean, I have a feeling that she trusts me at least. Considering the fact that she was asking me to do this for her." I said, and then after I was saying that to Joe, I was seeing him looking like he had no idea what to tell me. "I just think that if she didn't like me, then she would have never requested that."

"I guess that might be true." After Joe said that to me, I was seeing him looking like he was wanting to say something else. But then he shrugged, willing to just drop the subject for now. I was wanting him to just tell me what he was thinking. At least when he was communicating with me what he was feeling, I would be able to finally pull something here.

"Do you think that Aurora liked you?" I asked, and then I looked at him, and I was feeling that if he was going to tell me that she was not able to stand him or some shit, then that was going to be making me feel like this whole thing was fucking pointless, and that he needed to just be working on himself here.

"We ended up kissing. So of course she liked me." Joe said, and I was sighing, wondering what the hell I was going to be saying here. I was thinking that if that was all that he could say here, then I just needed to let it go. "She was the only one that was starting to tolerate me when I was sort of starting to show my darker side." After Joe said that to me, I was wondering what in the world he was going on and on about.

Eventually, that was when I was at the house, and then when Joe knocked on the door, and teh two parents seen him, neither one of them looked like they were willing to really fight it this time. Probably just thinking that if Joe was willing to work with them, they needed to work with him on one common goal

When they had seen us, the two of them sighed at this. "Hey, what is your plan?" They asked, much more willing to hear what Joe was planning this time. Joe was sighing, wondering what he was going to be telling us. Then he looked right at them, wondering what in the world he was going to say.

"I need to know what your daughter was into, that way I can start to recreate the last days before she went missing." Joe said, starting to come off like he was a true detective. As he was saying this, both parents were looking at each other, wondering what to say to him. Then with that, they were both nodding, having nothing else to hide anymore.

"Well, she was always wanting to show off her art and her movies. She was telling us that she was going to the art museum more often. She would go there every weekend, to show one of the directors her progress." The father was saying, and then Joe was sighing in relief, knowing that they really were making a plan on getting him involved with this.

"Well, I guess that this is better than nothing." I said, and then I was looking at Joe, and I was hoping that he was willing to accept this at all. Joe was considering what I had just said, and then he was nodding, and then he was looking at Aurora's parents once again, to get more work done here.

"Yeah, I mean I think that I was hearing about that. I just wonder how I am going to be getting these people to hear me out." After he was telling me this, I was sighing, feeling that Joe was just going to have to be happy with what he was getting here, and not be pushing her parents. "That being said, is there anything else that you know?" He asked, starting to get a rough exterior in his voice.

"Well, I remember that she was talking about how she was going to be able to present her stuff during an exhibit. She was also telling us that she was having some interest in growing up to become a art teacher. Which I guess might be easy now, since I heard that the art teacher had quit recently." After the second response, I was then wondering what else we were going to take out of this.

"Steven quit the teaching job?" I asked, and I know that T.K mentioned that earlier on his last narration, but that was the first time that I had heard anything about that. Both of the parents were looking at me, confused at the way that I was reacting to that statement. As if thinking that I was strange.

"Yeah, he was saying something about focusing more on his art. Although a part of me feels like he might be lying. He might have just been saying that in order to get people off his back for all the other shit that he is doing." After the mother had said that, Joe was nodding along, as if feeling that there was no need to be making these theories right now.

"Thank you. We will check the art hall, and see if we can find anything of hers there." After Joe had said that to them, he was smiling, and I was thinking that he was probably just glad to be seeing that they were willing to talk with him at all. So with that, the two of us were walking off, and I was wondering if I was going to be seeing my crush again anytime soon.

The longer that we were heading there, the more that I was seeing Joe looking like he as having a giant plan in his mind, and was more so just wondering how he was going to be working it all out. But I was feeling that maybe I just needed to be leaving it all alone. I needed to just let him lead.

"I have no idea if I am going to keep myself calm when I talk to that monster. If I see him, and I can get away with doing anything that I wanted, then I might just beat him to death. There is no way in hell he is not involved with everything that is going on here." Joe confessed, and I was having no idea if I could describe how scary it was to hear Joe be saying that.

"Joe, are you sure that you were going to be keeping yourself safe by doing this? I mean, do you really think that Aurora would want you to hurt yourself?" I asked, and I was not giving a singular shit what he was going to say. I was not giving a singular shit how many times somebody must have been telling him this.

Eventually, we were at the art hall, and Joe was looking right at me. "I understand what you are saying. Everybody on planet earth has already expressed this. But I do not care. I am going to do what is needed, and that is all that I can say about this." After Joe said that to me, I was sighing, and I was feeling that there was no need to pursue something that I knew would not change his mind.

Once in the museum, that was when I was seeing Joe looking around, just trying to hide between wanting to know more, and wanting to just focus entirely on the job. So with that, he was looking around, trying really hard to be finding the paintings that were related to Aurora. I was following along, wondering if he had known what to look for.

As we were looking around, I was seeing Steven Small walking around, and I was feeling like I needed to try and talk to him. As I was considering what the fucking hell I was going to be telling him, he had noticed what I was doing, and decided to just see what I was wanting to ask. So he was coming towards us.

"Hello, I see that you are here to see the new sights of what my artists are doing." Steven Small said, and I was seeing that the smile on his face was clearly having some form of a hidden intention to it. So with that, I started to gulp, and I was just feeling that I just needed to focus on what was ahead of us.

"Well, I was wondering if you knew about Aurora Garner's paintings." Joe said, and he was clearly keeping his pure business like presentation. As he asked that, this was when Steven looked at Joe, as if worried about what he was going to have to say. With that, he was looking down at the ground, having nothing to say.

"I guess that it is not too shocking to hear that you are interested in that right now." After Steven said that, he was then looking at Joe once again, as if trying to decide what he was going to be saying now. "So Joe, how did you learn about her work in the art field." Steven said, pretending to be keeping some small talk.

"I was dating her for a little bit before she went missing, and she was always expressing her desire to be getting into this. I figured that I would drop by, and see what she was able to accomplish." Joe said, and then he was looking at Steven Small, pretending to have a smile on his face. And I was seeing Steven looking slightly scared here.

"Well, honestly, she only submitted a few paintings." Steven said, and I was feeling that his strange attitude towards the subject was beyond strange. I was feeling that he probably knew of something, and was just trying to pretend that he did not. So with that, we were walking to the painting that she had made.

Once we were at the painting, that was when I was thinking about the art that she had made. It was a picture of the forest, and it was showing a young man was running around it. He had been scraped up, and had a look of utter panic on his face. He was probably around fourteen years old. Wearing a white shirt.

The way that she had showed the expressions, and the fear on his mind, was brilliant. As I was seeing this, I had been looking at Steven. I was shocked at what she had done. It was looking absolutely amazing. When I looked at Steven Small, I was just trying to decide what to be saying to him.

"Damn, I am not much of a art guy, but even I can see the beauty of this. She captured his emotions perfectly. I feel like this is a situation that I could have been in." After I said that to him, Steven looked at me, and I was seeing that he was proud of what I had said to Aurora, even though there was no reason for him to be.

"Honestly, I think that art appreciaton is something that needs to be learned among most people. It does not shock me when I hear that the younger generation is not there yet. But the fact that you are able to see the value of this painting is something that I really do appreciate. She really gave it her all." After Steven said that to me, I was then looking at Joe, who was seeming to have different opinions on what to be saying here.

"Is this a piece that describes a young boy when he was living at Wayside." Joe asked, and then after he had said that to Steven, this was when the artist was smiling at this, feeling that Joe was rather smart to be able to notice something like this. Then with that, he decided to tell us.

"She had told me that the one person that she admired more than the others in this city was Justin Ryder. Feeling that he had some something that nobody else would dare, before anybody else was making it seem like this was the right thing." After he had said that to us, that was when Joe was looking rather shocked at this. Not knowing anything about that, and wondered what he was going to be saying now.

"Honestly, I am shocked that she even knew that in the first place. I never even knew of him until a month or so ago. So I just wonder if she would have been able to tell me more about this." After Joe said that to Steven, I was seeing that Steven had no real idea of what to be telling us. As if thinking that Joe was almost looking too deepky into this whole thing.

"Girls are rather unique. They always make some form of story out of everything. You will see that when you are older. She was somebody who in her private life was always wanting to do something that could be considered a deal breaker for others. She had thought that she would honestly be the one that could make a difference here." After he had said that to Joe, he was shrugging, having nothing else to say.

"What was she doing? Trying to make a poilitical message or some shit?" Joe asked, trying to make it seem like he was not uncomfortable with this. But despite everything else, and despite him pretending like he was fine with this, I saw him having a million things run through his mind.

"She was wanting to present a movie to a group of people. But that was something that had already been done several years ago, and I tried to tell her that, but she always seemed like she could not have cared about that story at all." Steven laughed, as if feeling that this was hilarious.

"Anyways, so there was more that she had wanted to get into with her art. She had started to show her own pieces of life in her art. She was feeling that telling a story with her art was always the most important thing. She had made a piece of art of when she was at the well one time, to show her joy of the world." After the man was saying that to me, I was feeling like I needed to just see what Joe was going to be saying to this idea.

"What the fucking hell was she doing with that piece of art? Why was the one with Justin submitted, and not the one that was related to her looking at the well?" Joe asked, and for some reason, when I was hearing him say this, he was seeming to be rather pissed at this. And I was wondering what to be saying here.

"She was always saying that she was not one hundred percent done. She was always saying that she was wanting to add one extra piece of flair to it. She was having great pride with what she was doing, and that is something that is hard to explain to a person who was not into art." Steven was saying, and he was looking like he had wanted to say more, so fucking badly, but was feeling that there was nothing to say now.

"Thank you for your time. I will try and see if I can see that painting." Joe said, feeling that he needed to see her parents once again, feeling that if he had told her his true intentions, they would still have a level of respect for that, feeling glad that he was not going to be lying to them no matter what the cause was.

"Come back soon. Thank you for coming to the exhibit." After Steven said that to me, he was looking like he had wanted to say more. But then he was saying nothing else. So with that, we were walking along, and I was looking at Joe and I was feeling like I needed to just see what he was going to say now.

"We're going to meet at one tomorrow." After Joe said that to me, I was nodding, feeling no need to argue. So with that, we were walking along, and I was wondering what the fucking hell I was even going to be doing. As we were walking along, that was when I was feeling that there was nothing else to be getting by arguing. And besides, I wanted to know more as well

Scene 5: The Passion Of A Love

I eventually went back to her house, feeling that I just needed to try and make her feel slightly better about this whole thing. I was wondering if she was even wanting to be working with me at all. I was feeling that if I could make her understand that I was not trying to throw her under the bus, she might be able to start to have some pity for me.

As I knocked, I was wondering what the fucking hell I was even going to be telling her. Eventually, when she had answered, I was seeing that the look on her face was looking kind of annoyed. I was seeing that she was kind of losing all patience that she was having with me, and I was feeling that whatever she had wanted to say, she just needed to get it over with.

"Tai, what are you trying to do? You never seemed to be hanging out with me at all, and then all of a sudden you are here all the time." After she had said that to me, I was looking right at her, and I was confused at what she was meaning. That I had not been hanging out with her all that much. I feel like we had hung out quite a bit now.

"That doesn't seem right." I said, and then I was rubbing my head, trying to recall all the times that we had been hanging out in the past. I knew what the stories were, and I was feeling that she was just giving me some random shit to be throwing me off. Then with that, I was looking right at her.

"Anyways, I just want to go and talk with you." I said, and then I was starting to wonder why it had taken so long for me to remember her name. It was so strange for me to be forgetting something so simple. But I was hoping that she would not be too upset if she had known what I was feeling.

"Melissa, I know that I have not been the best when it comes to holding through my end of the bargain, and I would totally understand if you would hate me for that. But I am just trying my hardest to make things work. But I can't really do that if I do not really know you for who you are." I said, wondering if what I was saying was going to be making some form of sense in her eyes.

Melissa was looking down at the ground, and I was seeing her looking like she was just trying to decide what the hell she was going to be saying to this. But then after a moment, I was seeing that she was starting to force a smile on her face, and I was feeling that maybe I was sort of getting her to understand what I was saying.

"I guess that going out for the night is not going to be all that hard." Melissa was saying, and I was seeing that she was starting to be having a little bit more patience. "That Joe guy seems like he had a lot on his mind. Was there anything that you were planning on telling him to make him feel better."

"He is not that bad of a guy honestly. I think that after his girl went missing though, he started to get much more serious, and I think that he is no longer wanting to be playing around with any bullshit at all." I said, and then I was shrugging, and as we were walking along, that was when Melissa was looking like what I was saying was making no sense in the slightest.

"Are you serious? If he was not giving any bullshit, then why the fucking hell was he talking about monsters? I mean, that just seems to be so ridiculous." Melissa was saying, and for some reason, I was having a hard time really buying into that. I was honestly feeling that these monsters might have actually been true, and that we were not taking it seriously enough.

"I mean, I don't know. Truth be told, we were not in the factory, so the reality is that we need to probably give him a chance, and maybe see if he was telling the truth." I said, and then I was looking at her, and I was wondering if she was actually going to be listening to me here.

"If you say so. But regardless, I am just having a hard time buying into it all. I feel like I need to have some real evidence to this all." She was saying, and I was feeling that if Joe had some, then I would have to beg him to be giving me some. I needed her to understand what was going on here, and I needed her to see that acting like this was a terrible idea.

"Anyways, I have a feeling that you are not here to be talking about this, right?" She asked, and then after she had asked this, I was slowly nodding, feeling that I was going to have to be honest with her about this. I was hoping that she was going to just let us actually have a nice conversation about each other. I was really liking her, and I was really finding her to be a special person when we were in school together.

Those memories were real. I just fucking knew that they were. I was not going to care what Melissa or anybody else was going to tell me. I knew what I had been seeing, and I was feeling that if she was going to keep this lie up with me, then I was going to have to wonder if she was just trying to lie to me.

"Melissa, what is your biggest fear?" I asked, and then I was feeling that I might know this one decently well. But I wanted to have her prove me wrong. I wanted to see the true side of Melissa, and I wanted to make her feel like she was able to open up with me as a friend.

"My biggest fear is that I am going to be going missing, and that it is because nobody fucking did anything to stop it. I have a feeling that if I am the next target, and that I am gone, then I will have to just admit that nobody gives a fuck about this town, and what happens to it anymore." After she had said that to me, I was looking at her, and I was wondering what the heck I was going to tell her.

"People are going to care about you. People are going to do anything that they can to help you. I made the promise to be doing that as well. You got to remember my promise." I said, and I was hoping that she was going to be cutting me some slack here. As I was saying this, she had looked at me, wondering what to say to me.

"Honestly, I want to believe that you can be able to make a difference. But even I have to be realistic. There is no way in hell that a single person is going to be able to change this whole thing for me. And I am having no idea if you are going to be holding your promise anyways." After she had said that to me, I was wondering what in the world I was even going to be saying to her.

"I am trying to keep my promise. I want to show you that there is nothing that can happen that will stop me." I said, and then I was wondering if what I was telling her would even get her to be making any difference. "But regardless, I think that my biggest fear is that the police already know something, and that they are hiding this shit from everybody." I said, and then I shook my head, wondering what I was going to say now.

"I have a feeling that this doesn't need to be a fear. Because it is so obvious that this is the truth, and just hiding from the truth is only going to make things worse for you." After she had said that to me, I was feeling that her telling me this was just the worst thing that she would have said to me. I was feeling that the police probably were watching us anyways.

Eventually, we were getting close to down town, where I was wondering what the fucking hell I was going to be able to say to her. "Melissa, is there anything that you want to do during summer, that for some reason that you can't do it." I said, and then I was wondering what I was going to say to make her feel different.

"No, not really. I am not really worried about any of that. Not like there is a whole lot to do during summer anyways, due to the fact that the fucking assassination happened." After she had said that to me, I was wondering what I was going to be telling her. The assassination was going to be the one subject that instantly ruined everything.

"And there is nothing being done about that. Nobody wants to look into that, and it feels like that is the one thing more than any other that is a giant cover up." I said, and then I was feeling that talking about this was going to be making Melissa just feel even more at edge than she had been earlier.

"Don't worry about that. There is nothing that we can fucking do about that." After Melissa said that, I was hearing that there was a rough taint to her voice, and I was wondering if perhaps she was wanting to say something about it. But then we were getting near the electronics store.

"Tai, do you like to watch movies often?" She asked me, and then I was shaking my head, feeling kind of embarrassed about that statement. I had wished that she would just try and tell me about some of these films that she was into. I was staring at the entrance for a second, thinking about Aurora, and that she had been looking into getting in these movies.

"Not really. I have some times, but in all honesty, it is not really my cup of tea. My younger sister watches them once or twice a week, so I come along and watch them with her." I said, and then I was shrugging, having nothing else to be saying to this issue. So with that, Melissa was thinking of something to say.

"I like watching them as well. Although the stuff there usually seems to be my interest. Not to mention that the lead clerk there always seems to be watching me when I am there." After she had said that to me, I was wondering what I was going to be able to tell her to be making her feel at least slightly better.

"Do you want to go in and check some out? I will be there for you, and make you feel better?" After I asked her this, she was thinking about it, and eventually nodded at this idea, feeling slightly better about it now.

"Yeah, if you are going to be there, then I guess that it will not be super awful." She said, although that was something that I knew that she had just said in order to make me feel better. And then we would walk inside, and I was seeing that Melissa was starting to be making me feel slightly better here.

As we were inside, that was when the clerk was looking right at me. "Hey Melissa, haven't seen you in a while." After he had said that to her, I was seeing her looking like she was finding this question to be hard for her to really get into. But then she had sighed, as if feeling like there was no reason to be angry at him here.

"Yeah, just got distracted by a lot of things going on here. Wanted to show my friend some movies." She said, and then she was looking at me, and I was wondering if she had really wanted to call me a friend. But I was not wanting to say anything, and I was satisfied with her telling me this in the first place.

So with that, we were walking along, and we were checking things out. "Some of my friends come here often as well. I never really understood the hype around them until a couple of years ago, when my friends insisted on showing me a bunch. In a lot of ways, hanging out with people always help me feel like I am just so unware of everything in this town." She said, and then she was shaking her head, and then I was seeing her looking like she had wanted to find something else to say.

"Don't worry about it. I have met up with a couple of people who always seem like they are just the most socially strange people in the entire world. So by comparison, you have no issues." I said, thinking that it was just beyond strange that a popular girl like Melissa was saying this type of stuff against herself. I wanted to make her feel better here.

"But I met a thirteen year old who seems to be making it in his quest to help out as many people as he wants to do. He wants to help those around him, and he has been making the most use out of his time in summer out of anybody I knew. When I met him, and saw his conviction, I saw that I made a real mistake here." I said, and then I was wondering what I was going to be saying.

"You're letting a thirteen year old be your role model?" After he had asked me this, I was looking at her, and I was feeling that she needed to fucking stop with this shit. "That's just strange. But I guess that maybe if I met him, and saw what he was like, then I could be able to understand more." After she had said that to me, I was wondering what I was even going to say now.

"Yeah, I mean, he is not the most pleasant person ever. But what is trying to stand up for, and wat he is trying to accomplish is something that I am able to heavily respect. And it is making me realize how much of a mistake I made by just standing around, and doing nothing at all." I said, and I was wondering why I was even speaking like this anyways.

We were looking at a couple of options that were in the room. "Want to just rent a couple of these?" After she asked me this, I was nodding, feeling that I just needed to take advantage of being able be with her longer. I was wanting to make her feel better. I was then feeling that there must have been something that she was planning on here.

We were at the counter, and then she was renting out the movies that she was wanting, and then we were walking out of the store. The guy was looking at her, and I was seeing what Melissa was saying when she had told me those things earlier. "What are you planning on doing this weekend?"

I had felt like I was needing to be looking after her on this case. "We were going to be going on a date soon. She was looking for a movie to watch after we came back." I said, looking at Melissa, hoping beyond god that she was willing to play along with this lie for the time being.

She did, and the way that she was looking at me was showing her thanks at the fact that I was coming along to help her out here. "Thank you for coming along Tai. I know that you're trying to fulfill your promise, and I know that you are doing better at this than virtually anybody else here." She said, and then I was feeling that she was having something else in her mind, and that I just needed to play along here.

"I guess that I do owe you a dinner at least now." She had said that to me, and then I was looking right at her shocked at this. "After all, you did help me out with that guy, and you are at least showing some effort to follow your promise. I think that it is only fair that I give you this in return."

After she had said that to me, I was nodding, and I was glad that she was willing to give me this. So with that, we were walking down the streets, and she was thinking of something to be telling me. "Perhaps over sushi?" She asked, and I was shocked at this suggestion, wondering where it was coming from.

"Yeah, we can do that. Never had any before. So you might have to explain the basics to me." I said, and then she was smiling at this, as if thinking that it was hilarious that she was going to have to be the one to get me out of this one. And with that, I was seeing her starting to become increasingly happy here.

As we were walking along, I was wondering what in the world I was going to be doing with Melissa. I was wondering if she was having something that she had wanted to tell me, and that she was needing to just have an excuse on what to be telling me here.

Before long, we were at the sushi lounge, and we were going right inside. I was seeing that Melissa was finally happy for once, and I was feeling that what I had done to protect her from that guy was making her start to actually show some respect for me. And with that, we were placing in our order, as Melissa was just thinking of something to say to me.

"So Tai, do you think that Kari is going to ever come back and apologize to you for what she had said to you?" She asked me, and then I was sighing, and I was feeling that even if she did apologize, I would not be able to fully believe in what she would have said.

"Honestly, I have no idea, and if she does try and apologize to me, I might not be able to fully buy it. But in all honesty, I just wish for her to admit that she might have gone too far." After I had said that to her, I was seeing that Melissa was just trying to decide if how I was going at this was mature or not.

"Tai, I think that the best thing that you can do to win her trust back is not to apologize or anything. I think that you need to give her something. That is another way that I know that you kept your promise." She said, and I was wondering why she was always coming back to that. I mean, she needed to understand that there was more to it than that.

"Look Melissa, you need to understand that there is more to it than that. I want to give you everything, I really do. I like you..." I said, and I was shocked at the fact that I was willing to admit that to her. I was feeling that she was not going to care. She probably just thought that I would have meant as a friend.

Melissa was looking at me, and I was seeing that she was just trying to decide what to be telling me now. "Tai, are you telling the truth?" After she had asked me this, I was then feeling that there was no way to be hiding it. After all, my father would not have wanted me to be lying to her either. So I gulped, and was ready to own up to it.

"Yeah. That is the truth." After I had told her this, I was seeing her face looking like she was just trying to decide what to be saying. And I was feeling that I might have ruined everything. So with that, the food was placed on the table, and I was feeling that I just needed to try harder to be making things presented differently.

We ended up eating the rest of the meal in silence, as I was feeling that I might have made a mistake by making that confession. And I was feeling that I needed to just find a way to be making this much different than anything else. Since she might look at me different now.

At the end of the dinner, that was when we were standing out at the night, and I was seeing that there was some fire works going around us. Melissa was looking at me. "Probably to make up for what happened during the fourth of July." She said, and then she was sighing at that, as she was starting to hold my hands, and I was blushing at the idea of her showing at least some affection towards me.

"I wonder if people were ever going to do something different about this." I said, and then I was looking at Melissa, and I was wondering what I was going to be able to get her to say. She had looked at me, and I was seeing her looking like she was genuinely wanting to know what I was feeling now.

"Well, I think that people might have been rather angry at the fact that there was nothing else done here." After she had said that to me, I was shrugging, and I was having no idea what the fucking hell I was even going to be saying. "So Tai, do you like the fireworks?" She asked, and then I was shrugging, having no idea what the hell I was even going to be saying now.

"Yeah, I do. I just think that it is strange that they did not even try and announce it to other people." I was shrugging, having nothing else I was going to tell her. I was seeing that Melissa was having to try and find something to be making me feel at least slightly better now.

"Are you a fan of fire works?" I asked her, and Melissa was looking at me, and I was seeing that she was just trying to find something else to be telling me. Then when she was looking at me, she was slowly starting to nod, trying to be making the situation feel slightly better about this.

"Yeah, I do enjoy them. But I have a feeling that sometimes, I might be forced to associate my summer with these, and it hurts to be thinking about that from now one." After Melissa was saying this to me, I was wondering what the hell I was going to tell her to be making her feel better.

"Do you think that the summer is really all that bad? I mean, there are probably some things about it that you did enjoy." I said, trying to be making her feel better, and I was hoping deep down inside that she would agree, as that would be her admitting that she had enjoyed some of the time that we were spending together.

"Yeah, I guess that there are a couple of things that I do like about it. But it always feels like there is something that I am missing out on, and I feel like I need to be trying to find what I can do to make it different." After she had said that to me, I was seeing that Melissa was just staring at the fire works, and then our hands separated, and I was wondering what the hell we were going to be doing now.

"Melissa, do you need some help right now." I said, and then I was looking at her. "I want to help you as much as I fucking can. As much as you are willing to open up with me here." I said, and then I was seeing that when I had said that to her, she was starting to look like she was willing to appreciate all that I was saying.

"God damn it why are you so persistent? Are you just trying to get me to cry to you and give you everything that I know?" She asked me, and then I was wondering what the hell I was going to be saying to that. The way that she had been so rough with that question, I was just feeling totally fucking blind sided by this all.

"I am just trying to be a good friend to you, and help you out." I said, and then I was seeing her looking like she had wanted to tell me more. But then she had looked down at the ground, and then at the fire works once again. As if I was only making things much worse for her.

"I know you have good intentions, and that is something that I can appreciate. Please don't lose sight of what you are trying to accomplish. Maybe I should be giving you more credit." After she had said that to me, I was looking at her, and I was wondering what I was even going to be telling her at all.

"Is that why you decided to come to me?" I asked, and I was feeling that maybe if I pressed harder, she would be willing to admit that the idea of her not knowing me or anything was just a fucking lie. There was no way that this was the truth. I knew her for all of this time, and she must have known that.

"Yeah, part of it. Another reason is that I was wondering what you were trying to accomplish. You came to me, and then you told me that you wanted to see you at the well. I was shocked at this, and I was feeling like it would be a wrong move to tell you no. So with that, I just decided to see what you were wanting to tell me here.

"And then when you had told me that you wanted to keep Kari safe, and do everything for her, that was when I had decided to see if you could be making that promise with me. And when I heard you say yes, there was a level of sincere joy that I had been feeling here. Much more than anything else." After she had said that to me, I was seeing her looking like there were some tears down her face.

"You took me seriously. That is the thing that I wanted to know. You did not give me shit, and you did not fucking lie to me. And now that I know what you are doing to make it work, I can feel like you are going to be making things totally better." After she had said that to me, I was wondering what the fucking hell we were going to be doing.

The fire works kept going off and off, and then with that, this was when I was feeling a new urge kick in with me, and then with that, I was starting to feel the need to kiss her. She was looking at me, and I was seeing that she was mostly feeling the same way as she was drawing herself closer to me, and I knew that I just needed to take advantage of the moment that we had.

We ended up kissing for nearly ten seconds, and I was feeling more and more like a man who was fucking melting as I was doing this. And when I was done, I was staring right at her, and I was wondering what else I was going to tell her now. "Sorry about that, if you did not want me to." I said, feeling terrible about this whole thing.

"Don't worry about it. I wanted that too. It's okay Tai." She said to me, and then after she had finished that, I was wondering if we were going to be having a relationship here. I was wondering if this was where Melissa and I could finally make the progress that I knew that she deserved.

"Thank you for letting me see the fire works." I said, staring at them once again, and I was wondering what else I was going to be telling her Melissa and I were going to have that memory in our lives forever, and I was feeling that this was all that I had wanted. Eventually, I was looking at her, and I was wondering if she was thinking the same thing.

"Just never forget about your promise, and never forget about what you are aspiring to do. If you remember everything, then I will do everything to make sure that you feel better." After she had said that to me, I was wondering what the heck we were going to be doing. And with that, the moment was going along beautifully.

And the longer that I was with her, I was wondering if I could be the man who would actually change the world. She was happy, and I was happy as well. And that was literally the only thing that mattered in the slightest.

Scene 6: Blue Tie Man

The next day, I ended up waking up, and at this point in time, I was not even giving a shit about what Kari was feeling about me anymore. If she didn't like me, then she didn't like me. That was all that there was to it, and there was nothing I can fucking do about it. But when I was able to officially get that kiss, and know that in some ways at least, Aurora had approved of me, I was feeling that that was all that I could fucking care about.

I was getting out of the house, and I was aware of the look that Kari was giving me, and I was wondering what the hell I was even going to be telling her. And in all honesty, if she was wanting to apologize to me, then I was going to be remembering that the best way to show somebody that they mean something is by putting words into action. Actions speak louder than words.

I left the house, and then I was walking by, and I was feeling that maybe I would just talk to Joe and see what he was wanting to tell me here. I was feeling that there was nothing else that fucking mattered. I just needed to get him to understand that I was willing to do everything that I could for her no matter what.

I reached the cafe in less in half an hour, and when I was there, I was going right to the attic, not even worrying about what Jim was going to be telling me anymore. Once I was over there, I was seeing that Joe was looking like he was just wanting to give up on everything, and in all honesty, I was not really able to blame him at all.

"Joe, sorry for not seeing you yesterday. I just got distracted by other things." I said, and I was feeling that if he was wanting to pursue the issue, I would just be honest with him, and that I would tell him that I was with Melissa. But if he was not going to press the issue at all, then I would just simply not say anything at all.

"Don't worry about it. I was rather focused on other things anyways. And in all honesty, if you are able to enjoy other things, then good for you." After Joe had said that to me, he was looking at me, and I was seeing him wanting to clearly say some other things, but was having a hard time finding a way to express it all.

"Joe, do you need to talk about it? I know that I did not really do a whole lot to help you with Aurora. And I am so fucking sorry for that." I said, and I was being sincere about this. Joe was looking at me, and I was seeing that from the look on his face, he was feeling just happy to hear my apology in the first place.

"Yeah, I guess that talking about it could help. I wanted to just focus on this at my own. But in all honesty, I have a feeling that I am not going to find the truth alone. I feel like Aurora would want me to have some support here." Joe said, and then he was looking at me, wondering what he was going to tell me here.

"Do you have any clues on what you are going to be able to do to change the path?" I asked, feeling that if Joe did have an answer, then I needed to just hear his answer. Joe was shrugging, clearly having no idea on what he would have done. I was wondering if he even cared.

"I heard something about a man with a blue tie." Joe said, and then I was looking at him, wondering why he had been hiding this in the first place. I was feeling that if he had mentioned that earlier, then I would have tried to give him some clues on where we could have gone from there.

"She was talking about him once during school. When I had asked her out. She was saying something about her working with a man with a blue tie, and that we needed to hold back our date for another week. God damn it, why the fucking hell did I not think about him sooner?" Joe asked, and pounded his desk, as if feeling like it was all his fault.

"Tai, I want to find him, and I want to talk to him, and see what he knows? Are you going to help me out?" Joe asked, and then I was sighing, wondering what the fucking hell I was even going to tell him. Then with that, I was feeling that he was not going to give me much of a choice here.

"Yeah, I will help you out finding him." I said, and I was feeling like this was a terrible idea. I was wondering what Joe was going to be doing. I was hoping that whatever his plan was, he would at least tell me what he was doing. Joe was standing up, and he was taking a long and deep breath.

"We might as well get going at this. The longer that we wait, the more that she is going to be gone." Joe said, and then he was looking at me, and then I looked at the ceiling, tired, and angry at the things that were going on around me. "Are you going to be there with me? I need the help."

As he had asked me this, I was nodding. I wanted to do everything that I would to make him feel better. And with that, I was feeling like we just needed to get going. So with that, we walked down, and I was seeing that Joe was in the best mood that he had been since I had met him all that time.

"Thanks for helping me Tai. I know that I might be a bit rude sometimes. But I always feel better when somebody is there." Joe said, and then I was feeling like I just needed to take my victories where I could get them, and not protest to this any further. he was trying at least.

"Where the fucking hell do you even think we would be able to find him in the first place?" I asked, feeling that this was the most important question that I could ask him. Joe had looked at me, as if thinking that I was being strange asking him this in the first place. I was feeling like this was a valid enough question.

"We need to try and find Steven Small, since I have a terrible feeling that he is the one that knows who this guy is." Joe said, and I was thinking that while Steven Small was strange, I did not think that he would have been the one who would know the answer. But I was not really in the mood to be arguing with him about this at all.

"I guess that it could be better than nothing." I said, feeling that if this was what we needed to look at, then I would just roll along with this. And as we were walking along, I was feeling that Joe was having some things that he was wanting to consider here.

"If it turns out that he is innocent as well, and has nothing to do with it, then I feel like I will have nothing to work with here. And that is a pain in the fucking ass." After Joe had said that to me, I was seeing him looking like he was wanting to scream at the top of his lungs over this whole thing. But I was feeling that he needed to keep it total at least until we got to the art museum.

The closer that we were getting to the art museum, the more uncertain that I was getting that we were even in the correct area in the first place. There was nothing that I could be able to say over this at all. To be honest, I was thinking that even if Steven did know who this guy was, he would just make a bunch of lies, and pretend like we were fucking full of shit.

Eventually, we got there, and then went right inside, and Joe was not really wasting any time, I will give him that much. And once we were walking along, I was seeing Steven once again. When he saw us once more, I was seeing that his excitement was instantly destroyed, and that he wanted to just get this whole thing over with right now.

"What are you wanting to talk about?" Steven asked, clearly not having any desire to be doing this. I was seeing that Joe was loving the idea that he was rubbing Steven the wrong way, and that this was all that he had ever wanted from him. "Are you guys going to be back for more information related to the art?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the man with the blue tie. Aurora had said that she had been seeing him once." Joe said, and then as soon as he had said that, I was seeing Steven looking like his entire situation was thrown out the fucking window. He clearly had no desire to be having this discussion at all.

"Yeah, I know that man. She was working on a movie with him. He was supposed to the main hero." After he had said that to us, he had looked like this answer was extremely obvious. "But I doubt that you are going to be able to find him. He doesn't pay his time to other people who have no interest in working with him." After the man was saying this to Joe, I was seeing Joe looking like he was glad to be hearing that.

"I have some work with him to do, and he better not be turning down my offer." After Joe had said that to Steven Small, that was when Steven was looking like he was now scared out of his mind on what Joe was going to be doing. I knew for a fact that whatever the hell Joe was planning would just ruin whatever cover we had, as well as Steven had.

"What the fucking hell are you doing? He is one of the best clients that we have. You are going to seriously damage everything if you do something about him." Steven Small said, and he was taking a few steps forward. I was looking at him, and I was wondering why in the world he was willing to bow his cover so much by saying that at all.

"Well, I have no idea what you are doing. But if what he is doing has any relation to what happened Aurora, then I am going to make sure that you will have no future ahead of you, and I will make sure that you guys are never going to get what you fucking want." That was when Joe was pointing right at Steven, and I was wondering when Joe was going to stop being a fucking renegade here.

I was then feeling like Steven was kind of letting his fears get through to him. "If you want to meet him, he works in the red light district where, factory number 5 is located." After Steven said that, Joe smiled, feeling that this was going to have to be a good enough statement for the time being. So with that, we were walking out, and then I was feeling that this was all that we had needed.

"We're going there tomorrow. And you are not going to ditch me this time." Joe said, and then I was nodding at this, feeling that since we were finally getting something, we needed to just finally get through with this contract.

Scene 7: Red Light

I was going to be meeting with Joe this time, as I was feeling that it might have been a fucking massive mistake to be putting it off as long as I did. So with that, I was walking right to the cafe, and this time, Kari did call out to me. I was looking right at her, wondering what she was wanting to be telling me. "Tai, do you promise that you are not going to be too upset with what I was saying?"

After she had asked me this, I was looking at her, and I was feeling like she was fucking insane for even asking such a thing. That was the one question that she needed to realize was going to be putting me at a very tight spot either way. With that, I started to just think of what to say. "Kari, there is only so much that I can do to help. I wanted to make a difference, but you are asking for me to change everything. That is too fucking much."

"Sorry about that. I just thought that you were trying to avoid doing the right thing, and it was hurting to hear you say that." Kari said, and I was trying to understand where she was coming from. I was sighing, and looked up at the ceiling, and I was feeling that no matter what I would tell her, she would be telling me to not be so worried about it all anyways.

"I am not that type of guy. if I was, then you would have every right to basically say that you want nothing to do with me." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and then I was looking right at her, and I was wondering what I was going to be telling her. "But Kari, I am sorry if you were really that way, then I guess that there is nothing that I could be able to do about it."

"Are you ever going to get angry at anything. You seem like you could not care less over what I was saying, and you are just carrying yourself so well." After she had said that to me, I was looking at her, and I was unsure of what she was saying. I was wondering if she was admitting that this was a fucking plan to get me to react.

"Just don't fucking lose your mind like that again when they say that things might not go your way. That was fucking ridiculous and not fair at all." I said, and then shook my head, deciding to just not say anything at all. So with that, I was walking out of the house, and I was hoping beyond god that eventually we could be able to get along once more.

"I guess that I will have to see what I can feel here." After she had said that to me, I was seeing the look on her face, and I was aware that she was wanting to be cute about it, and she was hoping that this would land. Then with that, I was shaking my head and this time I really was gone before I gave her a chance to talk with me.

Eventually, I was at the cafe, and then I was seeing that Jim was wanting to just stop me and have a interrogation with me. But then before he could do that, this was when Joe was coming down the stairs, and then he was looking at me, and I was seeing that there was a look of pure resolve on his face. As if he was not going to be screwing around at all, and I was able to tell myself to respect his determination.

"Hey Joe, are you still wanting to go down there?" I asked, and then I was feeling that if Joe told me what his plan was, and Jim being there for me, then that would just be the worst thing in the world. And Jim was going to be going out of his way to make sure that I would not get anything done.

We were walking out as Joe was saying "Yes we are doing that." Joe said,and then I was shaking my head, and I was really having no idea what in the fucking world we were getting out of this. "Besides, I think that this is the best chance that we have here, and we would be fucking stupid if we let it slide."

"I guess that you're right." I said, and then I was wondering if Joe and I were actually going to be finding anything. And I was convinced that Joe was going to probably be finding a way to blame me if the plan was not going to work, even if we had nothing to do with it at all.

It took us nearly an hour and half before we were at Sector 5, and when we were there, I was seeing so many people wander around. All wearing rich clothing and I was wondering if we were going to be sticking out like a sore thumb by just being here. "Joe, are you sure that we are not going to be super exposed by being here?" I asked, and then he had looked at me, and at the buildings around.

"Hard to believe that one section of Wayside has become so devolved into being nothing at all. As if people just lost all form of standards that were in this area." After Joe said that to me, I was seeing him looking like he was considering something, and wondering where to go from here. "Although all we have to do is find the fucking guy."

I was feeling that there was no reason to be fighting this, so we were walking along, and Joe was looking like he was just taking things into consideration. "I remember Jim talking about when he was here once, and he was saying that a lot of business deals are done over there."

"Alright, let's fucking go there." I said as I was seeing him point towards one of them, and we were walking towards the building, and I was wondering what the hell Joe was going to be telling these people. In all honesty, I was feeling that Joe trying to talk to these guys was going to be exposing us very fucking quickly.

As we were at the front door of a black building that was roughly seven or eight floors, with purple lights around it, the two of us were looking around, and I was wondering if we were going to be causing much of a scene. "I think that if we stay here any longer and just act like nothing is happening, then we are only going to be making thngs worse." I said, and then I looked right at Joe, wondering what he was feeling.

With that, we were going inside, and I was seeing that there was a girl who was in a stripper dress, and I was seeing two men talking with each other. One was quite a bit shorter, probably 5 foot 6, and looked like he was at least two hundred fifty or sixty pounds. The other one was over six foot easily, and he was rather skinny, probably only one ninety or something, which is tiny for that height.

I was looking arond, and I was seeing that the taller one had a blue tie on. I was looking at Joe, who had clearly looked like he was not very happy as he was seeing this. He was taking a long and deep breath, and was already starting to walk towards them. I was starting to try and get Joe to calm down.

"What are you two doing here?" The fatter one asked, as the one with the blue tie was smiling at the sight of two teenagers barging into the building, and acting like we were deserving a audience with the group. He was looking at his boss, as if finding this question hilarious.

"Look, they have guts to be coming into our room like this. The least that we can do is hear what they are willing to tell us." After he had said that to us, I was then seeing him looking like he was ready for whatever fucking question Joe was having. This was when Joe was holding his fists together, and I was seeing that he was clearly just trying to pretend he wasn't wanting to strangle them.

"What did you do to Aurora Garner?" Joe asked, and then that was when the man with the blue tie was stopping and then he was thinking about it for a second. Then he was standing up, and looked at Joe as if this was the most perfect situation he had gotten himself into.

"She was needing to get some college funds, so she was helping us with our movies that were being made. I worked some contracts out with her, and she did a great job. But I had nothing to do with her disapperance." The man with the blue tie said, and then grabbed a bag, and threw it at us.

"So you're telling me that this was all a act?" Joe asked, and then I was seeing him looking like he was starting to change his perception on this whole thing. I was looking at Joe, wondering what the hell I was going to be telling him. Then with that, the man inthe blue tie was standing up.

"That is my current supply. You need to have some and lighten up. You're young, you need to understand that there is more to life than a bitch who went missing." The man said this, and this was when Joe was getting ready to raise his fist, and then I was grabbing a hold of it, feeling that this could go very badly very quick.

"God damn it Joe. You need to fucking relax. He just admitted that there was consent to this. We are not going to let him have the upper hand." I said, and then I was seeing Joe looking like he was taking what I had said into a minor amount of consideration as he was looking at me again.

"Listen to your friend. I have no power over what her choices are. You need to understand that there is nothing evil about what we are doing." After the man in the blue tie said this, he was smiling, as if finding it hilarious that this situation was constantly going on, and then Joe was closing his eyes for a second.

Eventually, Joe was walking away, and he was taking the drugs with him. I was shocked that he didn't just throw those back at the guy. I was wondering if he had forgotten about them, or if he was going to use them for a plan or whatever. Once we were outside of the area, I was looking at Joe, wonering what the heck I was going to be telling him.

"The fact that he didn't deny it is what scared me the most about this whole thing." I said, and then I was shaking my head, wondering what the hell I was even going to be saying this. In all honesty, I was wondering if Joe was actually going to continue to do this investigation.

I was looking at Joe, and I was feeling like I just needed to try and find something else to be talking about. "We need to try and talk to some other connections that we have. Do you think that maybe Sora could be willing to hang out?" I asked, and then I was looking at Joe, wondering what he was going to say.

"I would not mind talking to Sora at all. I wish that we could be able to talk more often." Joe said, and he was smiling at me, and I was wondering if he had liked her. I mean, I knew that he liked Aurora. But I was wondering if he considered Sora to be a friend here. I felt that I needed to just try and make him feel better.

"I feel like every time that we get somewhere in this investigation, the worst that things is getting. It pisses me off that nothing we ever do goes well. I just feel like it is all my fucking fault." I said, and then I was feeling that maybe there was a level of truth to what Kari was saying after all. As much as I was hating to admit that statement.

"Part of me feels like we are wasting our time. On the other hand, I feel like we really are getting somewhere, and I just need to fucking push harder and harder. I need to fucking know the truth." After he had said that to me, I saw him looking like he was rather angry at this.

"If you are going to be pushing like this, then I am going to be doing what I can to help you Joe. But I feel like we need to make sure that we are not doing this alone. I think that just the two of us trying to figure out what happened to your lady friend is not going to be nearly enough." I said, and then I was looking at him, wondering if he would agree with this.

"I guess that I will just have to be happy with knowing that at leas you will be there to help." Joe said, and then he was shaking his head, as we were getting out of Sector Five for the time being, and I was just finding myself wondering as I was checking the surroundings how much bigger Wayside was going to be getting before there was too much for it to maintain.

We walked along for a while, and I was clearly seeing that Joe was not in the mood for anything else, and then I was wondering what I was going to tell him. And as were getting closer to where Sora had lived, I was feeling that I was just going to be making him feel entirely fucking confused here.

Eventually, after an hour or so, we were at Sora's house, and then I was knocking on her door. I was seeing Joe looking more and more like he was actually relatively happy here, and I was so glad to be seeing that he was actually willing to put on a facade when he was around Sora, for her sake more than anything else.

Sora answered, and I was seeing that she was happy to be seeing Joe. I was wondering if she had liked him at least a little bit. I was feelin that it would be none of my business to be saying anything, but if this was the case, then I was going to have to see if I could be able to play match maker to some extent at least.

"Hey Joe, how are you guys doing today?" She asked him, and then Joe was looking at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was slightly coming around to this. And that was all that I had needed. Then with that, I was seeing from the look on his face that he would be taking the honest route out.

"I'm doing alright. I am just trying my best to be working out something here. I want to do something right here, but here I am, just being a fucking failure." Joe was saying, and than after he had said that to Sora, she was looking at me, and she was wondering what she was going to be saying about Joe right now.

"Joe, are you talking about your girlfriend?" She asked, giving him a slight hug to be making him feel better. She was looking at us for a second. "I am going to be going on a date with Matt soon. So I won't be able to hang out for too long. But we can certainly hang out until he is here." Sora said, trying to make us feel slightly better here.

"I have no idea if I can call her a girlfriend since I only went on like two dates with her. But yeah, anyways, she is the one." After he had said that to us, I was seeing Joe looking like he was starting to open up a little bit, wondering what the hell we were even going to be getting into.

"We were trying to find somebody that she had worked with, and when we did that, we ended up mostly wasting our time with it." I said, and then I was laughing at this, making it seem like I was not going to be minding this too much. Sora was having nothing to be saying to this, for some reason.

"Well, I think that you might be able to work with some information at least. So you are not too left out of something." After she had said that to me, I was seeing her looking like she was starting to be feeling slightly better at this rate. I was seeing Joe looking like he was at least considering what she had said here.

"I guess that this is true. I mean, it feels like none of the information is all that great. But to be honest, I just have to take what I can." After Joe had said that to her, I was wondering what the hell was going to happen now. "Anyways, I want to just know the answer already. I just want to fucking move on, and be done with this shit."

"And Tai is just trying to do it to prove his sister wrong." Joe said, and then I was sighing as he had said that, and I was wishing that he had never said that to her, but then I was sighing, and I was feeling like I might as well be honest with her. No reason to be fucking around and lying to her about these things.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, and then I was shrugging, feeling that if I was going to be telling her this, then she might be finding it more funny than anything else at all. But eventually, I sighed, feeling that hearing her perspective might be able to help me out getting through this.

"She was telling me that I was a terrible fucking brother, and that I am a fucking coward, and that I should just have stuck through with my promise." I said, and then I was seeing that Sora was looking like this was actually kind of funny. I was sighing, and shook my head. There was nothing fucking funny about this at all.

"Dude, that hurts. Honestly, I think that you are going to have a lot of explaining to her to do." After Sora was saying this, Joe was looking like he was starting to get in a slightly better mood here, which was all that I was hoping here.

"Tai is helping me out, and he is doing a decent job keeping me in line honestly." He said, and then I was laughing at this statement, wondering what the fucking hell he was saying here. I was then feeling that Joe was only going to be saying that to Kari to make her not hate me as much anymore.

"Joe, are you thinking that if you get too deep into this, then Kari might wanting to be getting involved." After Sora said that to us, I was seeing that Joe was looking utterly shocked at this statement. But then he was looking down on the ground, and i was seeing him looking like he just wanted to be telling her off.

"I have no idea how I am going to decide what Kari is going to be interested in." After Joe said this, he was shrugging, and I was feeling that I would need to be getting involved here. I was not wanting Joe to be feeling like he was guilty over any of this, since it was not his fault at all.

"I guess that this is fair. But honestly, I just felt like I needed to bring up the idea, and see what you would be feeling." After she had said that to Joe, he was wondering what I was going to be saying. He clearly wanted me to help defend him. I was then feeling like I might just have to be changing the subject for the time being.

"So Sora, what do you think you are going to be doing with Matt?" I asked, and then I was seeing that Sora was starting to calm down a bit longer. I was feeling that hearing seeing her happy face was all that mattered.

"We are going to be heading to the movies. The two of us are going to be talking about what what we are going to do with school." Sora said, and her hope was starting to be giving me some hope once more, and that was all that really fucking mattered here.

"You guys are talking about fucking school at a fucking date?" I asked, and then I was looking at her, wondering what the hell I was even going to tell her in the first place. "That is really sad. But I guess it's no real big deal at all."

"Hey shut up, at least I have a girlfriend." She said, and then she was pounding me really innocently at the elbow, and then I was feeling that I just needed to leave it all alone for the time the being. And then that was when I was seeing a car starting to head up to the yard.

Matt was showing up at the house, and he was getting out of the car. "Wow, I was not expecting you guys to be here. What are you guys doing here?" He asked, and then Sora was walking to the car, telling him that they had been trying to hang out for a bit, and then Matt sighed, and he was feeling glad to know that she was still friends with us at least.

Scene 8: Am I A Terrible Person

Joe and I were heading on home, I was wondering what the fucking hell I was even going to telling him in the first place. "Hey Joe, thanks for being there for me, and being willing to give me a chance." After I said that to him, I was seeing him looking like he slightly worried about what I was doing. But I was seeing him shrug, having nothing that he was wanting to say.

"At this rate, I think that people just do whatever they want, and nobody would say a fucking word. I just wish that if I had known how deep this situation would have gone, then I would have not been so fucking rude, or too dam fucking proud of everything that I had been doing." Joe said, and then he was shaking his head, and I was finding him saying this to be rather strange.

"I think that tomorrow we need to be going on and talk to Matt and Sora soon, and see what they might be willing to tell us. I feel like they are going to be the only one who will make a difference." I was saying to Joe, and I was getting frustrated just saying this all, thinking of what I had been wasting here.

"Tomorrow? But what if they don't want anything to do with us becuase of their dates?" Joe asked, and then I was mainly seeing him asking this becuase he was probably just trying to not do anything to piss off Matt since Matt could be a rather rough guy if it had gone off the rails.

"How is Melissa doing anyways? You seemed like you were wanting to help her out." Joe said, and then I was looking at him, wondering what the fucking hell I was going to be telling him. I just sighed, having no idea what the hell I was even going to be saying.

"Honestly, I wish that I could have been able to get to know her better sooner. She is a good girl, and I think that she need to have a person at her side in the future. I bet that I will not be the right friend for her though." I said, shakig my head, angry at the way I was feeling at my life.

"Tai, if you love her, and you want her to know it, then just make it clear. At least if she says no afterwards, then you know what the truth is after that." Joe said, and then I was looking at him, wondering what the hell I was going to tell him. I wondered why I was even considering this.

"Honestly, I kind of did. I said that I liked her. I mean, I guess that's not the same as love, but still." I said, and then I was looking at him, wondering what in the fucking world I was going to be telling him in the first place. There was nothing else I could have said to change this whole situation anyways.

"Well, at least you had the courage to be saying something like that. I wish that could have been able to Aurora all of what I had felt. So I have nothing to say." Joe said, and then we were eventually at my house, and I was wondering if I was going to be able to consider Joe to be a friend eventually at the rate we were going.

"Yeah, I guess that you could say that." I said, and then we were going inside. And once inside, I was looking around, and I was wondering what I was going to be saying now. I looked at Joe, and I was feeling that nothing else I could say would matter anyways. "Well, you can meet Kari now if you want." After I had said that, I was seeing Joe shrug, as if thinking nothing on it, and that I might have been taking this too serious.

As I was looking around, I was seeing Kari looking up, and I was seeing her walking up to me. "Hey, is this a friend of yours?" After Kari had asked me this, I was looking at Joe, and then I was slowly nodding here, hoping that she would not be pressing this matter any further for the time being.

"We have been working together on our investigation. I am just trying to be having some friends and I work together here." I said, and then I was looking at her, hoping that this would make her leave the subject alone for the time being. I was then looking down at the ground, and I was wondering what the heck was crossing my mind when I was considering asking her this question.

"Kari, I want to ask you something, and I want you to be honest with me." I said, and then I was looking right at Kari, wondering what the hell I was going to be telling her. "But am I a terrible human being? With the way that you were acting before." I said, and then Joe was looking at me, and I was seeing that he was just wanting to see how I would be able to react to her answer.

"Yes you fucking are dude. I fucking hate you. You're just a complete fuck up who never does anything right, and always makes excuses about things. What happened to the brother who would fight for everything no matter what?" She asked me, and then I was sighing, and I was wondering what the fucking hell I was going to be saying to this. Honestly, when she had said that to me, it had hurt me.

"Kari, I have been working with him the last few days, and yes there are things that still need to be done. But he is fucking trying, and that is all that matters." After Joe was saying that to Kari, he was hoping that saying this would be able to get her to open up a little bit, and not be screaming at me more.

"He said he was going to be finding out the answer to the labyrinth, and he has not done that yet. He should have been doing that sooner." After Kari was telling me this, she was looking at Joe, wondering if he was going to be challenging her any further. I was then sighing even more.

"Joe, it's okay. She is allowed to be feeling a certain way. And maybe there is a level of truth to this." I said, and then I was rubbing my eyes, and I was wondering what the hell I was even going to be saying any more. I was wondering I was going to be doing to make this whole thing at least slightly different.

"How far are you getting at this rate?" After Kari asked me this, I was looking down at the ground again, and I was mainly just doing it to make sure that I did not have to be worried about any of this. So with that, I was looking directly at her, wishing to just take things easier.

"Joe and I were at the red light district." I said, and I was wondering if she even got the meaning to that. I was wondering if Joe was going to tell her more. "And we were not finding out much. But we found out that a girl that he liked who went missing was working there. So now we just need to get a little bit deeper."

"So I guess that you have been learning something after all." Kari said, looking down at the ground, trying to decide what she was wanting to say here. I was feeling that her admitting that there was more to this than she had thought was enough to be making me feel at least slightly better here.

"I know that this takes time, and I know that you were wanting a immediate answer. But there is only so much that I can do. I need you to just give me time. At least let me have the rest of the summer." I said, and at this rate, I was begging her to just not be hurting me any further here. And then I was seeing her looking like she was wanting to say more.

Kari was glancing at Joe, and I was seeing that there were some questions in her head. I was seeing Joe just wanting to drop this whole subject. But that he was feeling that telling her off was going to not be a good way to go at this at all.

"Can you be able to promise that you are going to make sure he does his job? I want to know that he kept his end of the promise." Kari was saying, and then I was sighing, feeling that she was going to be just trying to ask for too much from me.

"I think that he might have to be keeping me in line mostly honestly." Joe said, and then he was shrugging, hoping that this discussion would just end. He was clearly looking like he was tired of this, and that he was just hoping that Kari was not going to be dragging this whole fucking thing on.

"Whatever, I have a feeling that you guys are just going to be saying whatever you guys fucking want." After Kari was saying this to us, I was wondering what we were going to do. So with that, she was walking off, and Joe was looking at me, and I was seeing that there were a few things on his mind, and I was feeling that I just needed to see what he was thinking.

"Do you think that Kari is going to ever forgive us if things do not really work out?" Joe asked, and then I was seeing him looking like he was wanting to say more. But then I was wondering if he had any plans at all. Which would not surprise me if he didn't have any clue at all.

"I mean, she will probably let it go with you, considering the fact that she doesn't know the first thing about you. That being said, with me, she will be making sure that I am aware that she doesn't like me ever again." I said, and then I was wondering what it was going to be like if Kari had never wanted to speak with me again. If that happened, then I would wonder what I could ever do to make her forgive me.

"Well, I will say this, she doesn't let down her standards." After Joe was saying this, he had no idea of what to be saying now. And I was feeling that whatever Joe was planning to do, we just needed to get this whole thing rolling along. "Anyways, you were mentioning something about Matt and Sora. I guess that hanging out with them would not be a terrible idea."

"Yeah, but it would really not be a good idea to be doing this before tomorrow. I have no idea what their date is or anything, but if they are going out and doing something, I think that both of our heads would be on the table with Matt." I said, and I was just trying to be funny, but it had felt like Matt was becoming increasingly agitated over this whole idea of us hanging out with each other.

Joe and I were leaving the house, and then he was looking at me. "Was Kari always like this with you? Do you think that you would be able to make her turn this whole thing around." After Joe had asked us this, I was shrugging, and I was feeling that there was no idea on what we were doing.

"No, it seems like it only really has been after this investigation started that it became this bad. Maybe she was always like this deep down. But she was able to hide it before at the very least." After I had said that to Joe, I had no idea what the hell I was even going to say now.

"I just feel like there is so much that I will have to do if I was going to be making her feel slightly better. I just think that the only way for her to start to like me again is if I literally find out the entire situation of labyrinth." I was saying, and I was wondering how any of this could have really turned out.

"Well, good luck with that. If you need some help with that, just let me know, and I will do everything that I can to help." He said, and then I was looking over at him, and I was shocked to be hearing him make this suggestion in the first place. And I was feeling that if Joe was going to be the hero of my life here, then I would jst haveto give up on everything.

"This whole thing turned out to be a waste of time today. I can't believe that I even decided to go there in the first place. It felt like it was a total waste of time." After Joe had said that to me, I was seeing that he was just wanting to cry or something. And in the situation, I was feeling that there was no way that I could blame him.

"Let's call this off for today." After I had said that to him, I was seeing Joe consider what I was saying. But then after that, he was shrugging, having nothing else to say, and felt like there was no reason to deny this. So Joe was looking right at me, having nothing else to say.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go on and talk to Matt this time." After Joe was saying this to me, and then we were walking off once more. I was seeing that she was having no idea what the hell we were even going to be doing. And then I was wondering if I was going to be able to talk to Kari about any of this at all.

As Joe was walking away, I was feeling that maybe I was never going to get Kari to like me ever again. I was feeling that if Kari was going to ever forgive me, I was have to be working extra fucking hard to be making this whole thing work out. And I was starting to head home again.

I went home, and I honestly did not care at all about this anymore. I was wondering how I was going to be able to get Matt to trust the idea of talking with me anymore. I just needed to get him to see that I was doing everything I could, and that was it was all my fault that certain things were going the way they did.

Scene 9: Taxi Driver

I was feeling that I needed to just try and fucking talk to Matt, and see how he had been doing. I was feeling that whatever he was feeling, I just needed to learn what I could do in order to earn his approval. He was not a bad guy. But he was always just so fucking harsh on me, that I was feeling that there was no way that I could get him to actually like me.

I reached his house after half an hour or so, and when I was there, I was wondering what in the world I was going to be telling him. I ended up knocking on his door. and I was feeling that whatever we were going to do, we better just have the discussion right now, and get it over with. I was looking up at the sky, wondering what I was going to do to really make Kari see that I was trying.

Eventually, Matt had answered the door, and he had looked right at me. "Hey Tai, what are you doing here?" Matt asked, and then I was shrugging, having no idea what in the world I was going to b able to tell him. "I never thought that you were going to want to hang out with me. Especially since it seems like we always end up arguing with each other."

Matt sounded like e was sincerely feeling bad as he had said that. I was feeling that whatever he was wanting to tell me, he just needed to fucking stop, and not be giving me that shit anymore. But I was feeling that I just needed to try and see what I could do to make him like the idea of this conversation. "Matt, I want to fucking talk for a while."

After I had asked that to him, I was seeing him looking like he was unsure of how to be feeling about having a conversation with me. Then he was sighing, and looked directly at me in the eyes. "Alright, what were you wanting to talk about?" He asked, and then I was smiling at this, glad that I was at least getting his attention here.

"I was wanting to just see how Sora had been doing. After all, she was wanting to be looking into this labyrinth thing at one point. It had seemed like she trusts Joe with that stuff." I said, and I was having no idea how to be feeling about the fact that the guy she only knew for a couple of months was the only person she trusted in this situation.

"I mean, I do sort of see what she is saying. Joe does seem like he is more willing than others to really listen to her. I mean, I can understand if she does not like me. I tried to talk with her. I tried to get her to like me. But in all reality, I have no right to be complaining when I do a lot of the same thing." After Matt said that to me, I was feeling that I just needed to see what the hell he was talking about here.

"What are you hiding from her?" I asked, and then I was feeling that he had the right to be hiding some things from her. But I was needing to see if it was the right thing. After all, I did not want Sora to be angry at us, and feeling lie we had been behind her back.

"Just some stuff that I have been doing all summer. I was trying to play like a undercover detective while I was going arond the town at first. I genuinely thought that I was going to be the guy who would actually make the true difference here. And I had gotten myself into some things that I probably should have just stayed away from." Matt said, and then I was feeling that I just needed to try and get ready for a way to support him.

"If you need to talk for a bit, just come on and let me know." I said, and then I was seeing Matt considering what I had said. And then with that, he was looking forward, getting himself into a slightly more professional form.

"I thought that I could do something good in this world. I thought that I could have been the one person who would make Wayside safer for us ll. But the truth is that I have only done one good thing in my entire life." Matt said, and despite the fact that I had no real knowledge on Matt, I had a faint idea what he was going to say.

But my assumption was utterly decimated once he was continuing his story. "I met a lesbian couple, and they had said that they needed to have a child but were unable to have one. They tried to reach out to many people, and I was feeling bad for them. So when they had asked me if I would have wanted to do it, I was feeling like there was no choice but to accept the offer."

I looked at him, and I was just gawking at this. In all honesty, I was feeling that this statement was the most fucking random thing that he would have said to me. "Wht the fucking hell? I was not expecting that to be the turn of events at all." I said, and then I was sighing, and I was feelingthat since he was making this seem like a huge event, I needed to just try and speak to him more on it.

"Do you think that you are ever going to tell Sora about this?" I asked, and then he was thinking about it for a second. I was wondering why he was taking so long to answer me. I mean, it was his choice and I was able to understand if the answer was no, but he needed to just be honest with me.

"No, I think that I would rather leave it alone. In all honesty, I think that the two girls would rather have me not mention it anyways. And I think that in this case, what they want is much more important than anything else." Matt said, shaking his head at the situation that I had been getting myself into. "But Tai, do you feel like this town is able to be saved? I have a feeling that Wayside is going to be fucked no matter what else we do. I mean, I want to help out as much as I can. I feel like that is all that I can fucking do."

"Wayside seems like it is going to be fucking impossible to save. I feel like the best that I can do is be there for there for Kari, and just make her see that there are people who are going to be there for her." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and I wondered if I was even going to be saying anything important here.

"I feel like if I had just not talked with Melissa, and if I had not been forced into a promise, then I would be able to look at Wayside as a nice and great place." After I had said that to Matt, I had no idea what the hell I was even saying this in the first place. "But regardless, I guess that I would have learned sooner or later anyways."

"I suppose that's true. I mean, I always get annoyed at the fact that T.K. is looking into this because of the fact that he was trying to help a missing friend. But now that I am looking at it, I suppose that this was all going to be happening sooner or later anyways." After Matt finished this, I was feeling like I just needed to get myself more prepared for this reality.

"T.K. probably never going to be dropping this in the first place. I feel like he is going to be fighting for this as long as possible." I was saying, and I was wondering if T.K. was ever going to be fully happy once more. "I feel like he will never be the same way again. And that is something that I think that we both need to just accept."

"Honestly, I wish that I could argue with you. But the reality is that no matter what I tell him, he is not going to care. He has made his position on this rather clear, and there is nothing that I can fucking do about it." Matt said, and then I was laughing at this, and I was feeling that I was always going to be rather far behind now.

"But regardless, I am still going to be there, and I am going to make sure that no matter what happens, he knows that he is not going to be alone anymore. I feel like if I can do that at least, then he might be feeling better here. I just feel like I need to be taking the responsibility left for myself." Matt said, and then I was standing up, looking right at him, wondering what his plan was.

"How did you even learn everything that you had known with Wayside anyways?" I asked, and then Matt was looking down, and he was clearly looking slightly humbled and embarrased by the fact that I was asking him this. But then before I was able to say more, Matt was answering once again.

"I was in a taxi cab, and I was looking around, and just driving around to be seeing what people were going to say." After he had said that to me, I was shrugging, and I had no idea what the fucking hell I was even going to be saying in the first place. "But to be honest, do you have any idea what I can do to make Sora trust us all over again."

"I think that she does trust us. I feel like she probably wanted us to be making more progress with the town and labyinth,a nd in all honesty, I wish that I could have done more myself. But I feel like nothing I say will matter anymore." I said, wondering what the hell I was even going to be telling him.

"I feel like we have all gone too deep into this investigation. I feel like we just need to go down and finally see what the fucking hell is going on. I feel like none of us will rest easy until we know the answer." I said, and then I was seeing Matt looking like he had wanted to say more.

"Do you think that you will actually be the one who will find the answers?" Matt asked me, and then I looked directly at him. I was feeling that I just needed to be honest with myself. "I mean have no idea what the hell I could be able to do here." I held up my hand, having nothing else to be saying.

"I am going to be honest, I am probably not going to be the one who will make the difference. In all honesty, maybe Kari really is right. That I am fucking coward here. I feel like I could be able to help though. I want to fucking help." I said, and then I was looking right at Matt. "I wish that Kari was wrong about me though."

"There is still a lot of time ahead of you. You can be able to make a difference if you try hard enough. So just do whatever you can to help people out, even if you are not the one who can change it all." After he had said that to me, I was shaking my head, and I was feeling that I really was not the one who deserved the right to find it.

"Matt, do you think that we should just work together? I worked with Joe a bit, and to be honest when he is working with me, I feel like I am actually making a difference here. I feel like I know what I can do." I said, and then I was wondering if having Joe being the one who would help me out here was just too fucking strange now.

"I guess that we can do that. But I need to make sure that you are doing this for all the right reasons." Matt said, and then I was looking at him, feeling that he was just taking some of this way too fucking serious. But then I was wondering what I was even going to be saying at all. "I need to know that you are doing this for all the right reasons."

"I wouldn't fucking do it otherwise. I would never have done something if I wasn't sure that it was something that I was feeling good about." I said, and I was wondering if what I was saying was going to be making him actually apprecate what the hell I was going to tell him.

"Tai, you do not need to be worrying about what I believe. I hardly even know what to think with this whole situation. I want to hang out with you, and work on something here. But unless if you are going to be promising me that Sora will be safe, then I feel like there is nothing we are going to get out of this." After Matt said this to me, I was tired of Matt talking to me about this.

"I will tell Joe that you are going to agree to help me. Maybe if I tell him this, he will be willing to tell you everything." I said, and then I was looking at him, wondering what the hell I was going to be telling him now. Matt looked as if he was just going to be playing along with this, for our sake.

"Fine, if you want to do this, then we can fucking do it. But Tai, I think that I have a lot of stuff that I am going to have to tell Joe. I feel like I need to get him to understand that I do fucking trust him. I trust him more than I am giving him credit for." Matt was saying to me, and then I was wondering what I would have been saying.

"Joe is going to be fine. I doubt that he will really fucking care what you once thought of him. In all honesty, Joe seems to be more focused on the job than anything else." I said, and then I was shaking my head at this man. I wanted Matt to just fucking be realistic here. I was feeling that if we were going to all work together, then Joe was going to just have to moderate us here.

"Yeah, I bet that this is so fucking true. Maybe one of these days, I will buy it. Anyways, we are wasting our fucking time with this." Matt was walking towards me, and then I was staring at the streets, wondering what the hell I was going to be doing. I wanted to just get to work, but he was not wanting to give me anything in return.

"Anyways, how was the date with Sora?" I asked, and then I was looking right at Matt, and then he was smiling at me. He was so fucking glad to be knowing that I was willing to talk about other shit for once, and that I was not some fucking random dude who only fucking cared about business.

Scene 11: For My Sister

I was now feeling that since I had gotten the relative approval of Matt, that it was time for me to show everybody that I was taking this serious, and that I was going to be working hard for those. I had just hoped that when I wold be seeing Joe once again, we would just get to work, and that we were going to just never waste our fucking time at all.

I was walking towards Joe, and the closer that I was to the cafe, I was still feeling that I needed to try and ask Jim what was going on at some point. Hopefully he was actually going to fucking listen to me, and not be making any excuses at all. And I was thinking that when I let Joe know that Matt was wiling to work with us, then I might actually be able to get him to enjoy working with me.

Eventually, when I was at the cafe, I was glancing at Jim, and I was wondering what the fucking hell I was even going to be saying to him. After a moment of consideration, I just decided to just ignore it, and I was walking towards the attic. But before I cold get too far, that was when Jim was calling out to me.

"Why are you always looking like you want to ask me several questions when you come here? If you want to ask me something, just fucking ask." After he had said that to me, I was looking at him, and I had no idea what in the fucking world I was going to say. But I was feeling that I always just needed to try and be honest.

"In all honesty, I have a feeling that you might be abel to have most of the answers that I need to help my friends." I said, and then I was staring right at him, and I was seeing that Jim was looking like he was rather annoyed at this statement. "Do you think that this is going to be true?"

"Maybe. But I would not want to take the fucking risk unless if I actually got to get to know you." After he had said that to me, I was shocked at this statement. I was feeling that this was going to be throwing everything in the air. I was staring down at the ground, and then I was sighing, and then I went up to the attic.

Before I was going up, that was when I was hearing Jim calling out to me once again. "Trust me when I say that it is nothing personal. I just feel like when I get to know people better, then it might be something that I can actually tell them. You are going to have to really earn that trust." When he was done with this, I was sighing, and I was feeling that I just needed to just try and drop this whole subject.

When I was up at the attic, I was looking around, and I was seeing Joe sitting down at the ground, and looking at a bunch of pictures. When I had called out to him, I was seeing him standing up, and he had looked like he wasn't tired as fucking hell at me. When he was looking at me, I was wondering what to tell him.

"Joe, do you want to just get to work? If you wanted to know, Matt is willing to work with us now. So I feel like having another person here is what I need." I said, and then I was looking down at the ground, having no idea what the fucking hell I was even going to be telling him.

"So Tai, do you know what your motivation to all this is?" After Joe asked me this, I was looking at him. "I feel like I am starting to slowly understand what my motivation is." Once he had said this to me, I had no idea what to feel about the fact that he was claiming that he had finally found one.

"In all honesty, my motivation is that I want to actually do what is best for you guys. Not for Aurora anymore, although she does have a part of the reason to it, I am more in it for the friends. I have grown sort or attached to all of you guys, I feel like we all need to just work with each other. I am sorry for not doing it for you guys first." Joe said, and then I was wondering what the hell I was even going to be listening to me.

"Would you actually consider me to be a friend now?" I asked, and then I was looking at Tai, wondering what the hell I was even going to be telling me. Then he was looking at me, for a second, and then he was slowly nodding at the question.

"I mean, I have no idea if you like me or not. And that is the real issue that I am having right now. But I feel like I could consider you one now." Joe said, and then he had looked like he could not believe that he had been saying that about me. "And I understand that you are doing this for your sister. And I appreciate that honestly."

"Do you want to just jump right to it?" Joe asked, and then I was looking at him, wondering what the fucking hell I was even going to be telling him in the first place. There was nothing to tell him at all. "I feel like we need to go back to that red light district." After Joe said that to me, I was then thinking about it for a bit.

"If we are going to be getting Matt to support us, then perhaps we can see what his brother might have to say on the matter." I said, and then after I was saying that to him, I was seeing him looking like he had taken my advice to heart. Then with that, he was smiling, and was ready to do it all.

"Let's do it." Joe said, and then he was looking at the pictures again, wondering what to say. But he decided against it, and then we were leaving the attic. I wanted to talk to Jim, and make him understand that I was having no intention of hurting him. But I was feeling that he was not going to have much patience with listening to me at all.

As we were walking along, I was seeing Joe looking like he was needing to ask me something. "So Tai, how did you convince Matt to be able to give you a chance? I mean, he is a rather stubborn man, and I think that it is amazing that you could accomplish that." After Joe had said that to me, I was having no idea what the hell I would even tell him.

"Well, I was telling him that I wanted to help him out here. Then he told me something that he was wanting to tell Sora, and after he had started to trust me here, it all felt so much better here." After I said that to Jim, I was seeing him looking like he was starting to feel shocked at this.

"Well, whatever you did is rather impressive." Joe said, and then I was feeling that he did not need to be complimenting me or anything. It had all seemed like it was kind of a lie to make me feel better about what I was doing. "Although I know that he is going to do whatever it takes to make sure that T.K. doesn't get too incredibly involved."

"Matt actually came forward and admitted that he knew that he was not going to change what T.K. was doing, and I think that he was just trying to make his brother feel slightly more safe." After I told him this, I was seeing Joe looking like he was really having no idea what to say to me at all.

Eventually, as we were getting close to Matt's house, I was already seeing Matt drive off. So we could not have been able to hang out with him even if we wanted to. Not that it mattered all that much. And with that, I went to the front door, where T.K. proceeded to answer right away now.

"Hey guys, what are you wanting to talk to me about?" After T.K. asked me this, I was looking right at him, and I was seeing Joe looking like he was willing to take over for this one, feeling like he could be able to save my ass here.

"I was wanting to see how you and your friends were doing?" Joe asked T.K., and then he was taking a small and deep breath, feeling like he was starting to get a bit better at this. "I am just trying my best to be following through with what Yolei wants me to be looking at. I want to help you all now."

"Doing alright. Just dealing with the fact that there seems to be no answer at all. It always seems like no matter what I am doing, people are just coming along and trying to take advantage of me." T.K. said, and then I was sighing, and I was feeling that him saying that was going to be hitting rather close to home right now.

"Sorry to hear that." I said, and I was being honest when I had said that to him, I was seeing him looking like he was not buying a fucking word of what I had been saying. He had seemed like he had wanted to scream bullshit at me, and tell me that he did not want to hear me pretend to be his friend.

"What are you wanting to talk about anyways?" T.K. asked, and as he was looking at us, I was seeing that he was just wanting to get whatever this was over with. Despite everything else, I was feeling like he was going to be rather stubborn, and I was feeling that this was going to be the biggest issue more than anything.

"We were wanting to know if you were going to be looking into something for Joe." I said, and then T.K. looked at him and I both, trying to make a full opinon on what was going on. I was wondering what was making him so fucking irritated in the first place.

"Are you talking about the Aurora case? I feel like I need to have something to work with, and then we could finally get something here." T.K. said, and then I was wondering if he was going to be driving a huge bargain here. "After all, I am worried that this is going to be turning out to be a loose investigation with no real fucking answer."

"Don't fucking blame him dude. He is just trying to do what is right. Don't you think that we should all be doing that?" I asked, and then I was feeling that if he was going to be going against what we were needing, then everything was going to be going down hill at this rate.

"I guess that I should be giving you a chance here. After all, you are working on Yolei to be giving her what she needs. And that is something that I can respect." After T.K. had said that to Joe, I was feeling like if we could keep this going, then our discussion could finally have a chance to work out in our favor.

"So you know what I have been doing? Do you believe me when I say that I broke into the science facility, and that I am finding proof of these monsters. All because of your friend trying to just simply know her answers." Joe said, and then this was when T.K. had looked like he was considering what we were going to be doing here.

"Whatever, I heard Matt saying something good about you guys, and Yolei trusts Joe, and at this rate, we just need to be working on trust right now." After T.K. was telling me this, I was seeing him looking like he had wanted to say so many other things, but had no idea on where to do go now.

"I want to go and see her. I want to have a honest discussion with her..." Joe said, and I was seeing that the look on his face was rather let down, and I was wondering what the fucking hell he was going to get out of this. T.K. looked at me, and I was seeing that he was looking rather worried about this too, but he shrugged, and decided to just go along with it for now.

"Alright, I guess that I can help you talk to her." T.K. said, looking as if he was just trying to decide what he was wanting to say here. "Regardless, I feel like she would like to see you again. She seems to have a bit of a liking towards you." T.K. said, and he was winking at Joe, as if finding the situation utterly hilarious now.

"I don't deserve her to like me." Joe said, and then he was looking down at the ground, as if embarassed at the fact that we were having this discussion in the first place. But with that, we were walking along, and I was seeing that T.K. was looing like he was just trying to decide how comfortable he was with this.

As we were getting close to Yolei's house, I was wondering if Joe was going to tell us what the issue was. I felt like he was going to be making a really big mistake if he did not tell us what he was hiding. I was thinking that if he was honest, then we could find a way to help him out. T.K. was right next to me, and he looked like he wanted to talk.

"Hey, do you wnat to talk about anything? Sorry if I was being a bit rude earlier. I always just feel like I am on everybodys back, and it gets rather annoying to be honest." T.K. said, and at that rate, he had shrugged, and looked like there was nothing else to be saying at this point in time.

"I just am trying to make my sister proud. I know that it sounds silly to have a motivation such as this. But when I heard about how much she didn't like me, and I realized how it was all my fault, I wanted to turn things around. I wanted to show her that I would do whatever it took to make her look at me as a good brother once again." After I had said that to him, T.K. looed like he was not feeling a whole lot of sympathy for that situation.

"Tai, do you think that something like that might be deserved? I mean, I just feel like this something that must have been pent up over time." T.K. said, and I was seeing him looking like he had wanted to continue, but that he was aware that speaking further was probably going to be getting me to be rather angry at him, so he would just remain silent.

"I mean, I can talk to her about what made her feel like that. Maybe if I really got to understand what the issue was, then I could finally be able to break through the mold a bit. But does it really matter if she is not even going to be letting me have a chance here?" I asked, and honestly the more I thought on her, the more frustrated that I was getting at the very thought of this all.

Eventually, we were at Yolei's place, and Joe knocked on her door. As we were waiting for an answer, I was looking at T.K. once again. "I just wish that people could be able to rely on me, and be able to actually feel like I was a real friend." After I said that to him, I saw T.K. consider this a bit more.

"One thing that will make people like you better is if you gather the courage to do whatever you think is right. If you can do that, and show everybody else this display, then I feel like nobody is going to be against you at all." After T.K. said that to me, I was feeling like the discussion of courage was a rather loose one, and one that needed to be more clear cut.

"It might not be as hard to attain if I had a idea on where I am supposed to go here. Like what would even count as courage in the first place?" I asked, and looked at T.K., hoping he would take my question into consideration. But then after that, he smiled, and looked like he had a answer he could be happy with.

"Courage is standing up and doing something when you know it is not going to be easy. Taking the hard path because it is the right one." After he had said that, I was having no idea what the fucking hell I was going to be saying to that. I felt like if he could go further than that, then maybe I could feel better. But until then, I was going to be left alone.

Eventually, Yolei answered the door, and she was looking at Joe. She looked happy to see him here, and I was wondering if she was having some feelings for him. But then she was looking at the two of us, wondering what to say now. "What is going on?" She asked, and then Joe got ready to talk more.

"I was hoping that we could be able to talk for a bit." Joe said, and then he was taking a deep breath, wondering what he was going to be saying after this. He looked at her, and he was ready to get right to it. I felt that whatever the hell he was wanting to say, we just needed to get this over with.

"I know that you are not going to be safe here is you stay in Wayside for too long. I will not go into the details. but you are in danger." After Joe had said that to her, he was seeing Yolei look like she was having a hard time actually buying into what he was saying. Almost finding this to be a ruse to get her to listen to him.

"What did you find out?" Yolei asked, and Joe glanced over at us for a second before he was glancing at her once again, ready to be speaking a little bit further.

"People are going after you. I have no idea if it is because of your friends, or anything else, but you are not going to be safe is you go out a lot. It might not be great to hear this, but I think thatthe thing you need to do is just simpley stay away from everybody, and stand up for yourself." After Joe had said that to her, I was wondering if it was my fault.

"I know this all because I found out about it when I was in that facility that you were telling me about. I was mainly looking around just to see what I could find there. And I was utterly shocked at what was there. Will you believe what I say?" Joe asked, finally feelig like there was nothing else to be saying.

"Thanks for letting me know. I will need some time to think about it though." Yolei was saying to Joe, and I was feeling that if this was all true, then Joe would actually be the hero of the story for giving her a fucking chance to actually get through this whole thing.

As Joe was heading off, that was when she was looking right at him, and then called once again. "Hey Joe..." She said, and then Joe was looking at her once again, having nothing to be telling her. "Thanks for actually staying true to yor word. It makes me feel better to know at least one person in Wayside actually holds promises." Once she was done, she was closing the door, and then Joe was starting to walk towards us again.

"Joe, can you help me understand what is going on?" T.K. asked, and then Joe was staring at the younger guy for a while. As if considering the idea of if he was thinking T.K. deserved it or not. But to be honest, I was feeling that this was really not that important to the matter at hand.

"I hopeflly just saved her life. I hope that you guys do not have to be learning everything here." After Joe said that to T.K., I was well aware that he was not going to be letting that answer settle. He was going to want more, and knowing T.K., he was probably going to indeed start forcing it.

T.K. looked at me, and I was seeing that he had been thinking about what he was wanting to say. "If you guys want me to be helping you out, then you need to actually work with me here. I am not a fucking baby, and I deserve better than this." After T.K. said this, I was wondering what I had done to be getting involved in this whole fucking mess to begin with.

"This is my friend we are talking about, and no matter what else is going on, my friends are some of the most important people in my life." After T.K. was saying that to me, I saw Joe looking like he was just tired of this entire dicsussion, and did not want to be hearing us just saying this shit about him right now.

"We can talk about it later. But can we please not fucking do it when we are in front of her house." Joe said, and I was feeling that this was a fair enough statement. I was then feeling like I was going to have to be the tie breaker to this, and I was not really ready for something like this at all.

"T.K., I think that it might be smart to follow through with this. If she hears everything we say, then she is going to be losing her fucking mind. Try to be playing the long game here." I said to T.K., and when I was saying this, he was sighing, and looked like he was finally beyond the point of arguing this whole thing.

"Fine, you win. But this better be worth it." T.K. said, and then he was staring at the car. And then Joe was looking at him, wondering what he was going to try and say to the guy now. Before long, he finally got ready to make his point here.

"I feel like we already said this all. So at this point, I feel like most of this isn't even my fucking fault anymore." Joe said, and then we were walking down the street by my egging on, and then as we were going on, I was feeling that T.K. would never even want to talk to us anymore.

We eventually were at Joyful Burger, and Joe had been explaining what he and I had done to T.K., and when we were done with this, I was sighing, hoping that this was a subject that we were never going to have to go down again. "So you guys are going to need to be looking out for a man in a blue tie? How do you think you are going to be able to find him?" T.K. asked, and then Joe was shrugging.

"Honestly, I have no idea, and that is the thing that scares me the most. I think that we need to just find him and talk with him while the iron is still hot. But I don't really think that we should be involving you in this." Joe said, and then T.K. was thinking about this a bit further. As if thinking of a deal.

"I will try and find any intel I can gather on this man. I doubt that I will have the answer. But it will be worth the try." T.K. said, and I was seeing that the look on his face was already looking like he was wanting to just get into trouble. I looked at Joe, and then I hated this entire subject.

"I will ask my dad about it, and see what he knows." T.K. said, and then he was pounding the table, looking more and more like he was getting ready to get this going. So with that, I stared out the window, wondering what the hell Melissa was going to be saying when she was aware of our progress.

Scene 11: Todd's Issues

I was at T.K.'s house again, and I was feeling that I just needed to try and figure out how to be working with him, since I was feeling tha he was going to be acting like he was not needing my fault, despite feeling deep down inside that this whole idea was going to be a giant fucking load of bullshit.

When he eventually answered the door, I was seeing him looking kind of excited to be seeing me for once. "Hey Tai, I was wanting to go on and do something today. You can come along if you want. But don't fucking start talking about it being boring if you don't like it." After he had said that to me, I was sighing, and I had no idea what the hell he was even meaning here.

"Alright, I guess that I will see what you mean." I said, and then I was looking at the street ahead of me, and I was wondering what T.K. was planning on here. But we were walking along, and I was feeling that I just needed to try and see what the hell he was planning on here. "Why would I be bored of something, when you wouldn't be?"

I wasn't even asking to be rude. I was genuinely curious. As I was asking this, he was smiling, and I was feeling that I just needed to go along with what he was wanting to say. "Well, I am going to be hanging out with a politician who seems to share my beliefs on this town." T.K. said, and then I was wanting to laugh at this idea, thinking that he was absolutely insane.

"Alright, I guess that this isn't very interesting I will admit." I said, and then I was looking at him, wondering what he was even going to be getting out of being in politics. But despite everything that I was feeling, I was wondering if maybe I was needing to give this a chance. "Why do you want to help him out?"

"Because I want to help out this man who I know will lose this election if he doesn't have people help him out." T.K. was saying, and then I was looking down at the ground, and I was feeling that maybe what he was saying was probably true. There was nothing in this town that would indicate that anybody besides a hardcore Lazarus supporter would have a chance.

Eventually, when we were at the stand where T.K. was wanting to show me, I was wondering what the hell I was going to be getting out of this. "Alright, what are you planning on today?" I asked, and then I was seeing him looking like he had wanted to just work on helping this man out right away, with nothing else.

"Hey Todd, sorry for not seeing you lately. I brought a friend over." T.K. said, and then he was looking at me, and then brought himself closer to my ear. I was uncomfortable with this. But I was willing to at least give him a chance to talk to me alone. "This is going to also help up with our investigation. So at least pretend to be interested."

"I wish that people your age were as interested in this as you are. Maybe people would be able to see through the lies of Wayside much faster." Todd was saying, and then I was feeling that while he was right, he needed to give me something more to work with if I was going to be working with him here.

"I know that people are just wanting immediate answers. And I am sorry for that. But I was wondering why you are so unpopular anyways." T.K. said, and while I was shocked at the bluntness of what he was saying, I was seeing Todd taking a long sigh, and looked like he actually wanted to tell us.

"I was accused of a bunch of false charges, and people believed it because Shaun is the one who said so. And besides, many people are already accusing me of being behind Myron's assassination. Even though we both worked together with the same goals." After Todd said that to us, I was feeling that I needed to try and hear more now.

"I know that I have no chance of winning the election. But I feel that if I can get the younger people at least to listen to me, and understand what I am trying to accomplish, then I feel like I will have done something right. Every vote I get counts, because I would know that it was another person who listened." Todd said, holding up his hands, and gathering a serious face.

"I will do everything that I can to help this town, because it can be saved, and I believe that I will be the one who can help it on its right path. But I know that without the approval of the company, nobody will listen to me." Todd said, and then I was feeling that I needed to just see what I could learn.

"Why do you feel like you are the one that can make a difference?" I asked, and then Todd laughed at this question, feeling that this was a good question. He was looking at both of us, as we were seeing a couple of people who were stopping by to listen to this conversation.

"I am the only one who will tell the truth no matter what. I have been working on this since I was thirteen years old. I found out the truth of a movie that was made, which showed where many of the missing girls went before the location was destroyed." Todd said, and then I was holding my arms up, shocked at this statement.

"Oh my god. Will you be willing to tell us more?" I asked, and I was starting to settle down again. Todd was squinting his eyes a bit, and he was looking like he was trying to decide if telling us is going to be a good idea or not.

"It is all in the mines. The location that was shown in the movie was entirely demolished in 1967, four years after the truth had been found out by some people. If you try and go there now, you will not have any luck. Those movies were destroyed. But I can promise you that this is all a cover up." Todd finished, and I was knowing that while I wanted to just let him leak the truth, he was indeed telling the truth.

"Todd, why do you think that everybody is blaming you for these things?" T.K. asked, and then that was when Todd was starting to look like he was rather tired. I was wondering what the hell I could have been able to get him to actually enjoy working with me here.

"Because I have tried so hard to be telling the truth of the company, and I have been working all my life for what I know is right. I am publc enemy number one. Even though none of these are true, it all hurts me to know that I will never have my young and good name brought back to me." After he had said that to me, I was seeing him starting to open up more.

"I did make some mistakes when I was younger. Not trusting the right people, and trusting the wrong ones. Making the wrong friends who were older than me at the time. But after the influence of them started to wear off, I started to become a bit of a different person, and I am now just trying to make it all work out here." After he had said that to us, I was wondering if I could get him to help.

"Do you think that you would have had a chance of winning if you had not been going down this path at all?" After I had asked him this, Todd looked at me, and he had no idea what in the world he was even going to be saying to this. He started to just get a somber expression after this.

"No, I feel like the margin would just be closer. But I am not going to be throwing my vews away for a chance to win. If I lie for the sake of my victory, I will be no better than those fucking assholes who are filling up the position. I am never going to just give up on you all." After Todd had said that to us, I was wondering if having these views was going to make him actually more admirable to people.

"Do you think that if you give speeches enough, then perhaps these people might actually come to you and try and give some endorsements." I asked him, and then he was trying to consider what I had said. He was looking like there was a few points to consider when I said this.

"No, I feel that I burned too many bridges. The only way for me to win is to hope that many people will come to their senses. Besides, the reality of the matter is that the only people who might want to vote for me are the younger people who might actually be willing to separate the truth from the rumors." Todd said, standing up straight.

"I can hope that one of these days somebody here will be able to finish what I started, and show those around them that I am right about what I said, and that I did not endanger anybody here for my own personal gain." Todd said, and I was clearly able to see that this was the main goal that he would have wanted here.

"That is going to be fucking impossible." I said, and then I was looking at him, and I was hoping that he was not going to be too upset about that type of statement. "I do wish you luck though. Politics are a bit boring to be honest, but you are willing to do the work, so I do respect that a bit." After I said that to him, Todd laughed at that.

"When I was in middle school and high school, I never cared much for politics either. I never wanted to get involved in this. I just feel like there is no other choice if I am going to be getting people to listen to me. So that is why I am getting involved in this mess. And when I saw Myron trying to follow his aspirations, I decided I would pick up." Todd said, and then I was feeling that I needed to ask another question.

"So Todd, what did you do with Myron back in the day? Can you work with those who are close with him?" I asked, and then Todd was looking at me, and he was looking like he almost wanted to laugh over how fucking sad the entire situation was.

"Most of them are gone already. It is just me and only a couple of others. And I have no interest in getting them involved with this at all. They deserve something better than what I am doing, and I hope that when you guys start your journey, you will keep many people safe as well." He said, and then I was feeling really bad for even bringing up the situation like this.

"Sorry, I did not mean to be bringing up a bad subject for you." I said, and then I was looking right at Todd, wondering what the hell I was going to be telling him now. As I was saying this, Todd looked at us, and I was seeing that he was at least considering how horrible the situation would have been if we had found ourselves into something similar.

"Don't be sorry. You didn't know. There was nothing that you could have done. And there is nothing that I can do, if I am being perfectly frank. I just wish that I can be able to clear their names. They deserve that much at least." Todd said, and I was seeing him looking like he had started to get a different perspective.

"That is why I will never give up my position, and why I will keep following through with my beliefs no matter what. If I do that, then there is a small chance that I might be able to bring justice to them. And that is going to be enough to make me proud." After he had said that to us, I was feeling that maybe I could help him out.

"I can try and help you. I am already trying to do everything else. And this seems like a bigger deal than almost anything else." T.K. said, and while I was thinking that he shouldn't make that level of commitment yet, I was feeling that the fact that he was wanting to suggest it at least was a great idea for him.

"If you do that, then I will forever be in your debt." Todd said, and then he was smiling at T.K., and I was feeling that if this was something T.K. would do, then maybe I really did need to try and talk to Matt about, since this was probably the most insane thing that he had been suggesting here.

"Keep it up." I said, feeling that if I left it at that, this could be seen as a quiet endorsement and that was all that I really fucking wanted to do. Since if I did anything more, then I was feeling that I might get myself into a bit too deep of water. So with that, I was feeling that there was maybe a good thing that came out of this dicussion.

With that, we were both heading off, as Todd was finally giving his daily speech. I did hear a bit of it as we were walking off. "When Sherman Peabody helped the town come back into grace, was this town the way that he wanted it? Everybody being scared, everybody making theories, and hating each other? I believe that he would have never wanted that. He would have wanted everybody to come together to change the path for the better. And that is something we need to work together on." He said, and raised his right hand up, getting a firey passion in his voice.

Scene 12: Getting Caught

I was thinking about what Todd has said earlier. About how the main area of labyrinth was a cave in the forest at one point. I was feeling that if such a thing were true, then perhaps I needed to try and see what I could do in order to find out more about this place. I had no idea what in the world that I could have done to change this.

As I was heading out the next day, and when I was doing this, I got a call out from Kari, and I was looking over to see what she was wanting to say. I was unable to believe that she was wanting to talk to me like this at all. I was feeling that whatever she had wanted to say to me, she just needed to get it over with since I was not really in the mood for this anymore.

"What have you been able to learn so far?" She asked, and the way she was asking it made it clear that she was actually interested in what I was having to say. But at the same time, I was unsure if I was actually wanting to deal with this at all. But then when I was thinking about that, when I would tell her what was going on, I would be able to get her to change her views on this a little bit more.

"I learned about a place where I could look into. I think that it might be the closest thing to an actual lead that we have so far." After I said that to her, I was seeing her looking like she was kind of unsure of what to think here. "I will go there with some friends. Don't want to put myself into too much danger."

"Strength in numbers is what you are shooting for?" Kari asked, and then I was nodding atthis, thinking that she might as well know that this was the whole point. And I was starting to open up the door and leave before I was going to give her a chance to be shit talking me, and acting like what I was doing was fucking stupid.

"I wll tell you how it goes when I get back. If you even care at all." I said, and I was not even tring to hide the annoyance that I was feeling to this entire conversation. I was feeling that if she was going to try and find some excuse to be annoyed with me, then I was just simply not going to let her have it.

As I was walking along, I was walking towards Joe's place. I was feeling that if we were going to be able to find the man with the blue tie anywhere that wasn't in the red light area, then this would be the area that I needed to look at. And besides, I was having a feeling that Joe would be able to respect my progress if I told him about my meeting with Todd.

By this point, I had gone there so many times that I had the route locked in, and I did not have to worry about anything else. It was nice knowing that I had at least some sense of knowing where everythng was in this town. Although despite all that I had said, Iw as fearing that Joe would have wanted to go back to Sector Five, and perhaps confront that building again.

When I had reached thet cafe again, I was walking inside, and Joe was already walking down, as if aware that I had been coming here so much that it was just a part of the fucking plan at this rate. When I was seeing Joe look at me, he was looking like he really did just want to get right to work, and not be messing around with anything at all.

"Surprised you didnt't show up yesterday. Since you come here all the time now." After Joe had said that to me, I was wondering what his issue was going to be here. I was wondering if he had wanted to be talking with me at all or something. As I was thinking this all, that was when Jim looked at us.

"Be honest guys, is there something you are all doing that you are trying to hide? I got a person who came in here earlier that was asking about you guys." After Jim said that to us, I was then feeling that I needed to just keep myself calm and collected. I looked right at him, feeling that I might as well just come clean at least.

"What did he look like?" I asked, and I was seeing that Joe was looking just as uncomfortable atthis, if not even more, than I had been, and I was wondering what I was going to be doing in order to be making him feel at least slightly better about what we were getting ourselves into.

"Some guy with a blue tie. Looked like he was probably in his thirties or so. Not very courteous. At least he had the decency to pay for a cup though." Jim said, and then after that, he was shrugging, having no idea what the hell he was going to say after this. "He was talking about how you guys were bad for business, and that you were starting to know too much. So let me ask you again, did you find something out?"

"I found out that he was working with Aurora just a few weeks before she went missing. Something about her art projects. I feel like he knows something about what happened to her. I just feel it." Joe said, and he was saying it with such conviction that if I wasn't with him the whole way anyways, I would have been able to believe in what he was saying just on that alone.

As Joe was saying this to Jim, I was seeing Jim looking like he was trying to think of what he was going to want to say at this rate. He looked up at the ceiling, and I was seeing that Jim was just trying to think of certain things that he had been wanting to say.

"Guys, if you keep this up, then something is going to be getting you killed. I am not going to be standing by there, and doing nothing while you guys get killed." Jim said, and then I was thinking of what he was wanting to suggest. I felt like I would at least try and guess.

"Are you going to be forcing me out of this place forever? Not allowing any of my friends to see Joe?" After I asked him this, Jim seemed to be thinking about what I was going to be saying. And then Jim was looking at Joe, trying to decide what he was going to be doing here.

"No. I should, but I'm not going to. I understand the progress that Joe had made in his social life in the last weeks. And I feel that is enough to keep me from forcing this whole thing to end. But I need the lies to stop now. I need to make sure that no matter what, you will be telling me the truth." Jim said, and then he was groaning before he said the next part.

"If you do not start being honest with me starting today, then I will start to look into all the information in the attic, and that there is nothing that I can fucking do about it." After Jim was saying this, I was seeing that the look on his face was entirely sincere. I was feeling that he was probably going to be the biggest threat here if it got any worse.

Eventually, with that, I was looking at Joe, and I was seeing that he was wanting to say some things. "Alright, you made your fucking point. We need to be heading out though." After Joe had said that to Jim, I was seeing him looking like he was just kind of pissed that we were working at this job.

We were walking out the cafe, and then after that, I was feeling that there was nothing else to be doing here. I looked at Joe, and I was feeling like there was nothing else to be doing here. "God damn it. I can't fucking believe that we are dealing with that now. It just seems to be rather annoying that everything we are doing is going to be fucking messed up."

"I think that from now on, if we do not start to be honest with Jim, then he might never be allowing us to hang out again. And we need to be hanging out in order to fucking get the investigation done." After he had said that to me, I was seeing Joe looking like he had wanted to just say so much more now.

"I mean, I doubt that he is going to be that upset about this. I think that as long as we are honest with him about this all, then he will probably be fine with it." I said, and then I was seeing that Joe was just trying to be looking at it my way. But he had clearly tried to just keep it all inside now.

As we were walking away, that was when Joe and I were thinking for a while. "I am sorry that this whole thing has been going on. I feel like I should have been considering what he was thinking here." I said, and despite my issues here, I was seeing him looking like he had wished this discussion never happened.

"But regardless, if there is one way to be looking at this is that this man clearly has the fucking answers that we need. And if that is the case, then we just need to talk with him again. My theories are being proven correct here." Joe said, and while I was not really feeling that this was much of a victory, I was feeling that we did need to be feeling better about having some idea on what to do.

"Where you wanting to come tell me something? When you walked in, before we were forced to talk with Jim, you were looking like you were on top of the world or something." Joe said that to me, I was then remembering the discussion with Todd once again. Having totally fucking forgotten about this.

"Yeah, so yesterday I was hanging out with T.K., and he was showing me this politician." I said, and then I was wondering what the hell I was going to be doing to get Joe to be seeing that this was a bigger deal than usual. Then with that, before he would continue to talk, I decided to just continue.

"Todd Robinson was his name, I believe. Regardless, what he was telling me was important. He was telling me that he had found out about one of the areas that the missing girls were at. He confirmed that the mines are where we should be looking at if we wanted to know more." I said, and then Joe was stopping in his steps, wondering what the hell he was going to be saying to this.

"Tai, if this is true, then this is huge. Did he mention which ones we were needing to be looking at?" Joe asked, and I was seeing that for once, he was actually looking happy at this. And then as he was saying this, I was feeling that it might be time to break the news to him that would probably ruin any excitement that he had been building up.

"He had said tha the current mine had been shut down, and that there is no way to even access it." I said, and then I looked down at the ground, and I was feeling that mentioning this might have been a waste of fucking time, and in all honesty, I was not going to even blame Tai if he was going to be feeling this way.

"Damn it. I will admit that I was starting to get my hopes up though. Regardless, I think that if this is true, then we are going to be able to make a lot more connections with what I have been hearing." Joe said, and then he looked directly at me, and by this point we were a few blocks away from Jim, so he was probably not worried about being honest now.

"I was the one that had found Andrea's body when it was confirmed that she was dead. When I had found her, I was blown away by what I had seen. I could not believe that this had happened. In all honesty, there are so many things hidden in the forest that we are just hiding away from." Joe was telling me, starting to get much more serious.

"Joe, are you sure that you want to be looking for Aurora if this is the case? She might be dead as well." I said, and then I looked right at him, and I was wondering if he was going to at least consider what I had been saying here. I was aware that this question was going to be fucking stupid.

"Yeah, I do. I would rather know that is she is dead, and finally be able to have some answers, then have nothing at all. I am sure that you would know what I am meaning if something were to happen to Kari. Since deep down you still do love her. If you hadn't, then you would not have been fighting as hard on this as you are." Joe said, and he was smiling a bit as he had said that.

"I would want to know what would happen to Kari if something happened to her." I said, and then I was smiling at this, and I was feeling that despite how disgusting this whole thing was, there was nothing else that could have been done with this. "Damn it, I hate it when people always make good arguments." I said, and then I had nothing else to be saying.

"See. I knew that you would get it. And I think that neither one of us are going to be able to convince the other one to change their mind, so let's just not waste our fucking time with this shit." After Joe was saying that to me, we were just walking down the street, having nothing else to say now.

"Are you going to be finding the man with the blue tie now?" I asked, feeling that no matter how much we were going to be arguing with this statement, we could be able to just focus on some of the things that we could have been able to agree on. "Wantto just go back to that building once again?" I asked, and then Joe was thinking about that for a bit.

"Yeah, I am going to try and settle a score with him. Maybe that thing he gave us can give us a indicator on what we need to do." After Joe said that, he was then pulling it out of his pocket. Once he was done, he shrugged, and saw that there was a note on it. He smiled, as if thinking that something like this was super obvious.

"If you wantto talk further, try and find me night times at the teather near Factory Four. I will be able to give you some clearance to come on in." After Joe read the note out loud, he was looking right at me, and I was wondering if he was going to actually do this at all.

"I feel like we are going to have no choice but to just go on and see what it is." I said, and then Joe was looking at me, as if this was super obvious, but he seemed willing to not be a asshole to me. "Are you actually going to be heading there?"

In all honesty, I knew that I did not need to be asking him this. But for me, it had seemed to something that would be making me feel better. "Yeah, I am going. But if you do not want to come along, then I would not blame you at all." After he had said that to me, I was feeling that I might as well jyst come along with it.

"I will come along. I have been getting far too involved with this, and I feel like it is time for me to just finish this with you." After I said that to Joe, he was smiling at this idea and he had seemed like this was all that he had wanted to hear from me.

"I knew that there was more to you then people were giving you credit for." After Joe had said that to me, I was feeling that him being the one to tell me was both making me feel so much better, and also feel worse at the same time. Worse only because of the fact that Kari was not the one admitting it.

"I feel like we can try and make Izzy help us out. Record the conversation, and then if something comes from it, he can expose the discussion in full." I said, and I was shocked at the fact that he was telling me this. Joe was looking like the screws were going on around his head.

"Yeah, that is a great idea. I think that we should go along and do it." After Joe had said that to me, I was feeling that we should not be wasting any time with this idea, and that we just needed to get right to work here. So with that, we were walking along, and I wondered if Joe was even aware of who Izzy was.

Eventually, we were getting close to Izzy's house, and I was feeling that when I was there, I would be leading the discussion considering the fact that I knew at least some way of how to carry a conversation with Izzy, compared to Joe, who I was not sure even met the guy at all.

Once at his house, that was when Izzy opened up to see us both here. He was looking like he honestly had no real interest in this idea at all. That whatever we were going to tell him was honestly going to be a waste of time. "What are you needing this time? Izzy asked, both sounding kind of annoyed, while also having a twinge of excitement in his voice.

"We were hoping that you could be able a record a conversation for us tonight. We have a person that we need to meet." I said, and then Izzy was now suddenly looking like he was willing to do everything that he would to make this idea work out. Izzy was looking at Joe, wondering what to be saying.

"Well, I will say that you have come to the right place. And I am assuming that we are both looking at this to try and learn about the truth of what Lazarus is hiding. If that is the case, then I am more than willing to help you out." After Izzy said that to us, I was shocked to be seeing him agree to this so immediately, and I was sure that there was some form of pay back to this.

"It is a man with a blue tie. I need to meet him a teather, and I am going to probe him on the details relating to what happened with my friend Aurora." Joe said, and I was shocked that he did not go further and reveal to Izzy that they had actually been dating. In all honesty, I was wondering if he was just insecure.

"Well, I think that whatever you guys are doing, I will be the only one who can actually make a difference. When it comes to technology, there is nobody better in your social circle than me." Izzy said proudly, and deep down I was well aware of the fact that he was correct, and that was what I was hating.

"And besides, I think that if you really want to know more about what that company is doing, I can always be the one who can find the answers. After all, I had discussed many things with them." After Izzy was saying this, I was hoping that he did not feel the need to be bringing this up all the time to them. Since I was feeling it would bog him down more than anything else.

"I guess that this is the best that we can get out of this." After Joe said that to Izzy, I was seeing him looking he was just feeling a bit tired over this all. Izzy was thinking of what he was wanting to say in return. "Is there something on your mind?"

"I was wondering if there is something that I am going to be getting out of this. I mean, I have no issue with helping you out. But I feel like I need to know everything that is at stake here." Izzy said, and then Joe was looking like he was getting tired over these discussions that he was having with others.

"I want to know more. All that I do know is that I want to help out with knowing what the law enforcements of this town are hiding. Clearly there is something that they ware not wanting to tell us, and every day that they are hiding something is another day that something can happen. This isn't just the fucking company here." Joe said, and I saw him looking far more stern in this than usual.

"I guess that is true. But you are not going to be able to take on the entire police force by yourself. That is god damn suicide." After Izzy said that to Joe, I saw him looking like he was actually concerned over what the slightly older student was trying to accomplish.

"Yeah, I know that it might be suicide. But at the same time, I guess that it doesn't really matter." Joe said, and then he was shrugging, having nothing else that he was wanting to say at all. "I never did anything good in my entire life, and I am willing to be honest here."

"Don't say that. At least you're not like me, and getting involved in experiments that should have never been happening in this town." After Izzy said that, he was shrugging, and I was feeling that his agreement to the situation was all that mattered.

Scene 13: Watch The Show

Eventually, Joe and I were dressed up in some suits, and then I was feeling that this entire situation was going to be for sure putting us on the radar once again. "So Joe, do you want me to be doing anything?" I asked, and then Joe was looking at me, and I was seeing that he was looking like he was not really caring all that much to begin with.

"Just stay there, and if something comes along, then just help me out. But for now, just you simply around would be fine enough." Joe said, and he was wondering what to be telling me now. "Honestly though, please don't ever quit this investigation. I need to be having people at my side no matter what."

"Alright, you better be keeping up to your end of that statement. I do not feel like I am really the one you would want to come and save your ass." After I had said that to him, I was seeing Joe rolling his eyes at me, and I was feeling that maybe I just needed to be a bit more careful here.

Joe was taking out the chip that Izzy had given us. "Keep this in your pocket. He might be suspecting that I would have something. So just be sure not to let anybody know that you have it instead." Joe said, and then I was looking at him, wondering what the hell I was even going to be telling her.

As we were walking along, I was seeing that Joe looked like he had wanted to talk about something for a while longer. "So Joe, what are you seriously going to be telling him? He probably has at least some idea on what you are going to try and say. I do not want to watch you kill yourself if this turns out to go to waste." I said, and then Joe was shaking his head, not caring that much anymore.

"I am going to just ask him what he would want to talk about, and then if he seems willing to talk, then we can go further than that." After Joe had said that to the me, I felt like that I would just drop the argument for now, and that I would just jump in if it was getting too much for me to be handling.

"I bet everybody is going to be thinking that we're going out to a school dance or something." I said, and I was just so embarrassed that we had gotten ourselves dressed up like this. "Dad was wanting to know what the hell I was doing before I left. It was so fucking annoying listening to him asking so many questions."

"Just tell him that you were on a date or something. He probably would have bought into it." I said, and then I was looking at Tai, wondering what in the fucking world he was going to be saying. I decided to just drop the subject, and work on what was ahead of me for the time being.

Eventually, we were getting near the teather, and then we walked inside. I was surprised that nobody was wanting to ask us any questions. Although with that in mind, we were going to be heading directly towards the man with the blue tie, and we could just ask him what he knew.

We were looking around, and then we found the man. He was smoking some cigarettes, and I was feeling that when I was old enough, I would join along, and maybe that would give me the illusion of a greater level of maturity. So with that, Joe and I sat down next to the guy.

"I was not expecting you guys to be showing up here. I waited the last couple of days, and you guys never came." He said, and he was sounding kind of upset about that. But then when he had been looking at us again, I was seeing that he had looked like he had wanted to say more.

"Regardless, now that you were here, what are you planning to talk to me about?" Joe asked, and he was tired of the way that this man was acting. He wanted this man to just simply tell him the truth of what was happening to Aurora, and then they could be able to work out something here.

"We were wanting to talk about what you were doing with Aurora. You clearly know what happened with her, and it is my duty to know the fucking truth." Joe said, and then he was looking at the man, who was finding this statement rather amusing. Then with that, he had looked right at Joe, wondering to tell him.

"It is none of your business to know what the hell is going on with her. Are you just claiming that because you were in love, and you want to be able to save your girl?" He asked, and Joe was looking like he was wanting to punch this guy in the face. But then he looked at the people at the show.

"I will admit that she was a rather hard worker for somebody of her age. I was wishing that she would have been able to just look at the bigger picture. But I guess that sometimes things like that are just not going to be happening." After the man said that to Joe, he sounded like there was a small amount of sadness in his voice.

"That being said, I have some things that I want to change about the work environment that I am in. And maybe because of that, the two of us could be able to work together here." The man said, and then Joe was shaking his head. And I was wondering why he was turning this man down. Not because I wanted to work with him, but because this man was very dangerous, and there was no way to deny it.

"I want what you guys are doing to exposed. I don't want to be helping you guys at all." Joe said, and then I was looking at him, and I was feeling that Joe was only going to be making things even worse for him. "In all honesty, I don't care what you think about your boss, since this fucking town is a fucking nightmare."

"What makes you think that we are doing anything?" The man asked, pretending to be having a innocent look to his answer. As he had been saying this, that was when Joe was looking at him, wishing to calling out the bullshit from a mile away. But then he had looked up at the play once again, having nothing else to say.

"I don't buy into a single fucking thing that you are saying. Tell me what you did to Aurora, and I will consider just dropping this subject." Joe said, and then this was when that was when the man was having very little interest in this situation. He sighed, thinking that the only way to possibly buy Joe's loyalty is to finally just tell him the truth.

"If you want to know everything, I can tell you all the details. We ended up having sex once, and we recorded the whole thing." The man said to Joe, and I was seeing that Joe was balling his fist, trying his best to be keeping his fucking cool, although he would have jumped at the man if he wasn't worried about the way people would react to him.

"I know that there are crimes going on here. That 'transactions' are being created. Do you know what is going on with Yolei Inoue? Did you fucking sale Aurora Garner?" Joe said, and then the man was starting to raise up on his feet, as if trying to get a clear look on Joe's intentions here.

"I have no idea what to tell you about Yolei. I never even fucking heard of her. As for Aurora, you will just have to be answering your own question." The man said, grabbing Joe's shirt for a while. "If you do not want anything to happen, I suggest that you quit this whole fucking investigation."

"I will kill Yolei for you, and I will kill your fucking friend who is simply just standing around and doing nothing. Maybe you need to be following him. I will find Aurora and drop her fucking head on your door step if you even consider coming along and asking me more questions." The man said to Joe, and I was seeing him having nothing but pure venom in his face.

Joe looked down, and I was seeing that he was willing to just drop the subject. "I will do it for Yolei. Nothing else. I don't give a fuck about your fucking group, and I think that many of you guys are pieces of shit honestly." Joe was standing up, not really sure what the hell to be saying at this rate.

"I knew that you were going to see reason. I was thinking that there was no way a man would be so fucking stupid to not see what is ahead of him." After the man said that to Joe, I was seeing that Joe looked like he was wanting to say a few things more. But before he was willing to say anything else, that was when I was standing up.

"If you do decide to help me out, I will let you know that there is more to it than just giving me some sources. I can guarantee that the man that I am working with knows more. I saw him get shippings from your company." After the man said that to Joe, when Joe was walking off, both Joe and I were stopping, and looked right at this man, wondering what he had meant by that.

"What the fucking hell do you mean by 'my company'?" Joe asked, and then the man was looking at Joe, and I was seeing that after a moment of looking at him, he was genuinely shocked at this whole thing. As if there was something he knew that we were supposed to somehow both know.

"Wow, you do not know? Your father is working with Shaun. He recently became the lead of the hospital. He knows more about what is happening then you could ever imagine." He was saying, and then Joe was then having nothing else to be saying to this.

"Thanks for letting me know. I would rather have that piece of information than be in the fucking dark." Joe was saying, clearly having a level of disdain his voice. I was able to understand why he was feeling this way, and I was wondering if he was having many plans at this rate.

"Just remember what I am going to say. I am not going to be holding back if I find out that you are getting in the way of my business." He said, and then with that, Joe and I were leaving the teather, and I was seeing that Joe was having a conflicted look on his face. I suppose that I was able to understand what he was feeling here. If I had learned that about my father, I would feel the same way.

"I am going to have to talk to him about this. Maybe he was just saying shit to be making me off guard." He was saying, and while he was saying this, I was seeing that he was clearly not buying a fucking second of what he was saying. I was wondering what I could have been able to say to him now.

"Tell me what you learned. But if for nothing else, we can focus on the fact that he was talking about his boss. Maybe he will have something to work with." I said, hoping that could make him feel at least slightly better about this whole thing.

"We need to be dropping this off to Izzy. After all, he might be able to find something in there. If anybody can learn who his boss is, then it would be him." After I was saying this to Joe, I was seeing Joe looking like he had been considering what I was telling him. Then with that, he was shrugging, having nothing to say here.

"Yeah. I hope that he is going to be going through with helping me out. I hate the fact that everything we are doing is all up in the air because nobody fucking wants to fucking help us." Joe said, and then he was shaking his mind, and I was wondering how I was going to be making any fucking difference to this whole thing.

"Joe, do you feel like Izzy might be lying to us?" I asked, and then I was seeing him looking like he was just having no idea what the hell he was going to be saying. I wondered what we were even going to be accomplishing here. "I shouldn't be suggesting this. there is literally no fucking evidence anyways."

"I mean, we do have evidence if we want to suggest something like that. He did admit that he was working for Lazarus at one point in time. But he seems sincere when he says that he has no interest in keeping this up." After I had said that to him, I was seeing Joe looking like he was wanting to just not focus on that at all.

"Whatever. We just need to get this going. I feel like whatever the hell this man is doing, he is probably laughing at the entire conversation. Probably thinking that we are a bunch of fucking idiots." After Joe was telling me this, I was seeing that he was still looking rather sad at this whole thing.

As we were walking along, Joe was looking at me, and then I was wondering what he would have wanted to tell me. Then with that, he seemed like the comment he would say was going to probably be making me feel a bit angry. "Tai, don't give a shit about what Kari is telling you. Just do whatever you want, and things will be fine." When he was saying this, I was wondering what the hell I was even going to be telling him at this.

"I wish that it would be as easy as this. Maybe it can be. If I just fucking stopped thinking so fucking much on it." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and then I was thinking that I just needed to shut the fucking hell up. "I just feel like her words are going to be stinging me for the rest of my life.

"It stings you because you are so worried about it all. But god damn it, after I had found out about my father, and what the man is saying, it feels like nothing else even fucking matters anymore." After Joe was telling me this, I had felt like there was nothing else to be saying to the issue.

"I am sorry that you have to be dealing with this." I said, and I was sincerely meaning what I had said. I was needing him to not be making such a big deal about this. "But whatever. It's not that fucking big of a deal what Kari thinks of me. After all, at least I don't have to worry about her getting involved in anything that is dangerous." I said, and then I was laughing at this, feeling that Joe was probably not in the mood.

"Let's just fucking go home. I don't really want to be thinking too much about it." Joe was saying, and then with that, he was starting to walk off, and I was feeling that I could just not press the matter any further. And when he was gone, I was sighing, and I had been thinking about Kari once again. After everything I heard, Kari being a little bitch was not all that big of a deal after all.

Despite my anger at Kari, I was starting to let it go away, and I was starting to just focus on the issues that matters more to me. And because of that, I was feeling that I could just see what Kari was going to say to me if I asked her around for some help. Maybe she knew something that was going to help me out.

The next day, I woke up, and then Joe was calling me that next morning. When I answered the phone, Joe was seeming to have a very stern and to the point response. "Watch the show. You will want to know." Joe said, and he was sounding extremely worried about what he was saying. I shook my head, wondering what else I would tell him.

I turned on the television, and then I was watching it. There was a picture on the screen. It was a photo of the man with the blue tie. "Forty two year old Walter Monroe was found dead this morning next to his car. His throat was slit open according to early police reports, and in his trunk there was a lot of various drugs, and bills of sales." After the report was saying this, I was standing up, angry at the fact that the one lead that we were somewhat having was just thrown out of the window.

"What the fucking hell are we going to do now? Do you think that we should just drop the subject?" I asked, and then I was feeling that whatever Joe was wanting to say, he just needed to say it, and we could finally just drop the fucking subject for the time being.

"I'm going to be looking at what he has. If he had any evidence of what happened to Aurora, then I could find it in there. Maybe when I find out the truth, I can push forward, and I can maybe find something here." After Joe was saying this, I was shocked at the relatively neutral position on this whole thing.

"Do you want me to be coming along for this?" I asked, and then Joe seemed to be considering what I was saying. He looked like there was nothing to say here. "I mean, I have no idea how much I can help you out, and I know that it might be a waste of time, but I can at least try."

After I had told Joe this, I was feeling that if Kari had actually been paying attention, then things could have been able to change. "I don't know if I would want you to ever get in danger. That seems like it would be a terrible idea. But I guess that you are going to be coming up with something to try and justify your ideas. So I guess that there is no reason to be arguing it." Joe said, and I was glad that he finally understood me.

"Hey, by the way, do you know anything about that hint that the guy was saying about your father?" I asked, and I was aware that he might not be very happy to talk about this. But we just needed to see what we can learn, and that was all that I was really wanting to be looking at it all.

"No, he wasn't home at all last night. I mean, I am starting to think that maybe the man was telling the truth." After Joe was saying this, he was having a hint of sadness in his voice. "I mean, I never really was all that close with the man, but I was starting to get better with him, and I was at least able to trust him.

"Maybe you can talk to Jim about it. He might have some ideas." I said, and then I was already feeling that this idea was going to be a waste of time. There was no reason at all to be thinking that Jim would be willing to tell him jack shit. Even if there was a good reason for it all.

"I would rather not. Jim is already getting angry at me for getting so deep into this. Accusing dad about this will be making him never want to speak to me again. Besides, I feel like we need to be one hundred percent sure before we go on and make a difference." After Joe said that, I was feeling that I could sort of see his path.

"Fair enough. Regardless, we need to look at what his boss was looking at. If we can learn what that man was doing, then maybe we can figure out why he was murdered. Probably by somebody who knew what we were doing..." I said, and then I was thinking of one other person, and when he was coming to mind, I was wondering if I should even suggest it in the first place.

"I feel that we need to go on and talk to Izzy about this. I am sure that he will know what is going on here." After I said that to Joe, I was not sure why I was even so sure about this. I just felt like it was right to be making this suggestion. And I was feeling that whatever Izzy knew about us needed to be taken into some serious consideration.

"Izzy, we did tell him about that. I mean, I doubt that he would kill a man. But this probably means that there were other people who were recording the conversation." Joe said, and then with that, I was feeling like we just needed to continue this later.

"We should discuss this elsewhere. I don't want Kari to be hearing this." After I said that, I was feeling that whatever Kari would have said to me, I just needed to be slightly more careful here. "And we can discuss our next move. If we are even going to be having anything."

After I told him this, that was when I hung up, and I was not going to be wasting any time with this. The faster that we got this done with, and the faster that I could see what Izzy might have known, the better that it would be. I did not want to be suspecting him of anything that he was doing.

Scene 14: The Data

I was feeling that I just needed to go on and see what Izzy had known with the data. If he could tell me what he had known, then perhaps I could be able to make at least some plans going forward. And in all honesty, I was feeling that maybe I could just try and see if I would have to be honest with Joe about if we were ever going to be having any fucking chances at all.

As I was leaving the house, this was when Kari was calling out to me. As She called me, I was turning around at her, and I was wondering what the fucking hell I was even going to be telling her. I was seeing that despite everything else, I was seeing that she was actually feeling a small amount of regret in what had been going on.

"Tai, do you know what had happened with that guy? Why was he killed?" After she had asked me this, I was having nothing to be saying at all. I needed to fucking be honest with this girl, since she would fucking fucking be able to read through me much more than she was wanting to admit.

"I don't fucking know Kari. Honestly, I have no idea. Although I would love to have a fucking idea." I said, and then I was looking at the house door. I was needing to just get away before she had a chance to call me a fucking coward or anything like that. As I had been thinking about it all, I was feeling that she was probably only going to just make it worse.

"Tai, sorry for everything that I said. I just want you to push, and do something that helps us all out." After Kari said that to me, when I was seeing the look on her face, I was actually starting to see her looking like she was being a bit more serious about what she was saying. And then I was just consideringwhere to go now.

"I was wondering if you were ever going to do this." I said, and then I said, and then I glanced at her, wondering why I was even caring. I wanted to love Kari. I wanted Kari to respect me for everything that I had tried to do. But getting my sister to respect me, and admit that I was a good person was probably a bit much. This was going to have to be enough.

"Well, I was hearing that news report, and it started to make me think." Kari said, and I was feeling that I wanted to just have her say that. I did not need to hear anything beyond that. Anything beyond that was probably going to be a fucking lie, and that was something that I was not wanting to hear.

"Kari, there is a lot to be worried about in Wayside, and I understand wanting to have justice. I want it to. But there is only so much on what we can do here." I was telling her, wondering what else I was going to be saying at this rate. I saw Kari looking like she wanted to tell me so much.

"But despite all that I say, is that most of what you are saying is true. I am a fucking coward, and it is time for me to change, and become a better man. I need to do that for you guys. I have so many friends that will be needing my help, and that is all that I fucking need here." I said, and then I was smiling at this, thinking about Joe and Matt and Sora and all the others.

"See you later tonight. I appreciate the apology." I said, and then I was walking away, and then I was walking towards where Izzy lived. When I was thinking about Izzy, I just needed to promise him that I was not going to be telling Joe anything. Even if it was a lie, I needed to be getting him to not be angry at me.

Eventually, when I was at the entrance of the house, I knocked for a second. I was blinking, having no idea what the hell I could have done. I was thinking about why I was even getting Izzy involved in this. Maybe I was genuinely thinking that he was going to be having a chance of redemption, and I wanted to do my best to help him here.

When Izzy answered the door, he was looking at me, and I was having no idea what in the fucking hell I could have been able to say. "Hey Tai, sorry for what happened here." Izzy said, and then he was having no idea what in the world he was wanting to say now.

"Don't worry about it all. I need to fucking know anything that I can. Although there is something else that is interesting me." After I had said that to him, I was seeing that Izzy was looking a bit scared here. I knew for a fact what I was going to be getting myself into.

"Are you talking about Joe's father?" Izzy asked me, and then I was slowly nodding, having no idea how in the world that I could be able to talk about anything else. Izzy had looked like me mentioning this was going to be one of the hardest things for us to be going through.

"I mean, if even Joe feels like this is true, then I think that we have no choice but to fucking buy it." After I was telling Izzy this, he had looked like he was just wanting to tell speak a bit longer. Izzy smiled for a second, and then he was starting to walk inside. I followed inside, not even asking if he wanted me to, but in all honesty, I was not even giving much of a shit what he was beliving.

Once I was in Izzy's room, I was looking around, and I was wondering what the fucking hell I was even going to say anymore. "I feel like if Joe knows about what his father is doing all the time, then he will lose whatever little hope that he will be having in this town." Izzy said, and then I looked right at him, wanting him to just reveal this, and get it fucking over with now.

"What the fucking hell is Joe's father fucking doing?" I asked, and then I was looking right at him, feeling that he just needed to get right to the fucking point. No more fucking lies. I just needed to know everything. Izzy was hearing the stern tone of my voice, and I felt like there was no point in lying anymore.

"I read some records that were found in my research, and it seems that he was the leading doctor over the course of several labors in this town." Izzy said, and then I was looking at him, as if feeling that this as not that hard to believe, and that it probably never fucking mattered at all.

"Okay, so fucking what? Nothing fucking matters about that." I said, and then I looked right at Izzy, and I was feeling like there was a fucking reveal that he had been holding back. But then Izzy held up, finally getting upset over the way that I had been speaking at this.

"Well, when you look at the records, I was looking at the birth dates, and then I was starting to make some theories. I have a feeling that some of the mothers were the people who went missing in Wayside. When you look at the people as they grow up, in the pictures that the company has, and you look at the pictures of some of the missing girls, some of these were starting to actually make some sense." After Izzy said that to me, he was sounding both excited and fucking terrified at the same time.

"Interesting. But I think that we will need a Dna text to be making these all confirmed. Regardless, so Izzy, I feel like there is something else to this that you are not telling me." I said, and then Izzy looked at me, and I saw him looking like he was having a rather mixed opinion on what he was saying.

"It looks like Joe's father is getting into the political field. I think that he might be looking into running for mayor of Wayside. I have no idea why in the world he would want to do that, but I see him gathering a lot of funds for some form of democratic party campaign. And I even heard about him giving some speeches." After he was saying this to me, I had nothing to tell him at all.

"Do you think that Joe would not want anything to do with that?" I asked, feeling that he had been taking this idea far too seriously. I mean, who fucking cared if he was running for Mayor of Wayside? Izzy looked like the idea of him talking about this campaign for mayor was going to be the end of Wayside.

"I think that this man is going to be a fucking terrible mayor. I think that all the issues that are going on in Wayside are honestly going to just be dragged out even further. He seems like he cares only for money on the journal entries that I had heard." After he had said that, I was thinking about what Todd was doing, and I was thinking that maybe I could ask Izzy what he was thinking about Todd.

"Do you have any idea if a guy named Todd Robinson would have any chance to defeat him if he was to run for mayor?" I asked, and I was having no idea why in the world I was even wanting Todd to be going all the way as the winner. I mean, I hardly even knew Todd in the first place. I guess that I just thought that he might have been been less bad than Joe's father.

"No way in hell. That guy carss too much for actually telling the truth, and that is the thing that kills any candidacy." Izzy said, and the honesty of that comment was something that I was just wanting to reject. "Besides, even if that were not the case, it is not like he has a whole lot of money. Whereas Joe's father probably is reeling with funds."

"Well, first we need to be making sure that he is actually going to be running in the first place. If he does not even have any interest in running, then there is no reason to be having this discussion in the first place." I said, and then I was feeling that saying this was fucking stupid. There was no reason to be down playing every word of what Izzy had said.

"Damn it Tai. Why the fucking hell are you just rejecting this statement? We need to be looking into this much more seriously. Joe's father is clearly up to something, and we need to be looking at what we can fucking do here." After Izzy was saying this, I was seeing that he was just looking so fucking desperate here.

"I am not rejecting anything. I just need to be careful here. I mean, there is nothing wrong with really looking at what could possibly happen. Besides, I thought that you would believe that compared to the rest of the company, Joe's father is not all that fucking bad." I said, and then I was smiling for a second.

"Because I know that if he gets elected, there is going to be a increasing strong hold on the town in this company. Don't even fucking pretend that something like that is not the fucking truth." After Izzy said that to me, I was seeing him looking like he was just looking so fucking scared of what could be happening.

"Maybe we should just go out and try and see if there is any intel we can get in person." I said, and then after I had said that to him, I was seeing that Izzy had no idea what in the world he was even wanting to say at all. I mean, I was feeling that Izzy would be one of the few people who would actually listen to me here.

"Yeah, I guess that we can do that. Maybe we can talk to Joe..." Izzy said, and then that was when I was shaking my head, and I was feeling that we needed to be leaving Joe out of this for the time being. If Joe had known the truth, he would have been really fucking hard on all of us for no fucking reason at all.

"I think that we need to be talking to anybody else besides him. Even fucking Jim would be making me feel more comfortable with this." I said, and then I was seeing Izzy just thik that this idea was total fucking bullshit as well. And then I was thinking of what to do now.

"Maybe we can go to the hospital, and see if they might be willing to gie us any intel related to births." I said, and then I was feeling that this was a terrible idea. It was a terrible idea mainly because there was no fucking reason to believe for a fucking second that they were going to be telling us any of this.

"I think that if we tried to ask that, then there is a good chance that we are going to be a fucking huge public enemy. And to be honest, would that really be worth it." After he had said that to me, I was seeing that Izzy was having no idea what the fucking hell any one of us were going to be doing.

"Well, it would certainly be a risk. But wouldn't it be a risk worth taking to just see what we could be able to get out of this." Once I finished telling him this, I was thinking that we just needed to try and come together now. "What the fucking hell are we going to do now."

"It seems like nothing we could suggest is going to be coming through to help us out." Izzy said, and I was seeing him looking like he had been considering a couple of things. "To be honest, I feel like there is only one option, even though this option is going to be getting me killed probably."

"What is this idea?" I asked, and I was feeling that I just needed to give him some credit. And besides, I was having no idea what in the world he was fucking feeling here. I was feeling that if Izzy was going to do something stupid, then we just needed to work together to be making this stupid idea come through.

"I have no fucking idea why I am even thinking it at all. But I am thinking that maybe I can go back and try to sneak my way back into the company. If I can do that, and make it seem like I am being sincere about the bullshit that I am telling them, they would probably be willing to give me another chance." Izzy said, and then I was seeing him looking like he had wanted to just put a bullet in his head even thinking about it all.

"Izzy, if you try and do that, and they find out the truth of what you are doing, then you are going to be getting yourself killed." After I told Izzy this, I was seeing him looking fucking tired. "And I have no idea if any of this is going to be fucking worth it at all." I said, and then I was wondering why I was caring so much about what Izzy was doing now.

"You don't really fucking care what happens to me, and we both know it. I think that we both know that with everything that I almost agreed to help Kenta with, that perhaps I could deserve this if anything were to happen to me." Izzy said, and I was seeing him looking like he was having a twinge of regret in his voice.

"I guess that there is one other idea that we can be looking for. Maybe we can go on and fucking talk to Sheldon Lee once again." I said, and then as soon as I had mentioned Sheldon, I was seeing that Izzy was having his brain turning for a bit, and I had no idea what we were even fucking doing.

"Maybe Mr. Needlemeyer might know something. If we can go on and find out about how he got that money in the first place, then I might be able to figure out where to be going from here." After Izzy was saying this, clearly more to himself than anything else, I was wondering what in the world he was talking about, and I was thinking that if he was going to be talking to me about random shit like this, then he needed to give me the full details.

"What the fucking hell does Larry have to do with money or anything? And why would money have anything to do with Joe's dad?" I asked, and then Izzy clearly lookd like this whole idea was a waste of time. "Never mind. This entire discussion is a waste of fucking time. We should have never talked about any of this."

"You would know everything he had to do with this if you were actually there." After Izzy said this, I was shrugging, and I was thinking about how obvious this statement was, and I was thinking that he just needed to be telling me something that actually would help me out.

"Regardless, you were mentioning him, so I feel like it will at least be worth looking into once." I said, feeling like there was no point in fighting this all anymore. I just needed to make sure that we were actually fully ready for what we were getting ourselves into.

Izzy was thinking for a second, and then he eventually sighed, as if thinking that since he mentined it, he might as well just go along and see what he would get out of this now. "Well, I guess that since I did bring it up, I could just show you what I know." Izzy said, and then with that, he was looking under his bed, and then he was pulling something out from under his bed.

Eventually he pulled out a briefcase. He sighed in sadness, and I was feeling that I needed to just see where the fucking hell he was planning here. Then he was opening it up, and then he was showing me a bunch of money. Izzy looked directly at me, and I was seeing that this was not something he was happy about.

"This whole fucking situation is a loose one. He gave me the money, but he gave me no clue on what I was supposed to do with it, and when I was supposed to bring it back. But since I am not allowed to use it in any way, I can't even have the money with me to just fuck around with." After he was telling me this, I wondered what he had gotten me into when he did this.

"Sorry, I think that I need to tell Joe this. I mean, even if he might not like it. he needs to know what his father is fucking doing. He deserves the right to make his own choices on the matter." I said, and then I looked at Izzy, and I was hoping that Izzy was going to be seeing what I was saying here. I needed to really solidify all trust here.

"Well, if you do tell him, then do not be surprised if this turns out to be a waste of time. He mght not want anything to do with you after this at all." After Izzy said that to me, I was not even fucking caring at all. I was walking to the door. Izzy was then closing his eyes for a few seconds.

"To be honest, I was a fucking idiot for everything that I have been getting myself into. I feel like I never did anythig right in my fifteen years of being alive. And now that I am here, I feel like I need to be working harder here. And I want to finally have a chance to be making things right." Izzy was telling me, and then I was wondering what I could even say to a man who did nothing wrong.

"I am going to be doing whatever I can to help out from now on. That is all that there is to it." After Izzy said that, I just gave up on everything. And then I was thinking of saying something that I was still feeling like could have been at least somewhat fair here. Since I was thinking at this rate, fair was all that I could try and shoot for here.

"I am going to Joe, and I will be seeing what he might be thinking on the subject. Maybe he will buy into this more." I said, and then I was leaving, thinking nothing more of it. I was feeling that Joe's opinion on the matter was more important than anything else here. And I was thinking that nobody else even cared anymore.

Once I was out of the house, I was feeling that Izzy could just stop trying to force his self pity on me. I mean, I appreciated what he was doing, but he was not a bad guy, and I was not sure why he was thinking this way because he had been involved with a shady company for a few fucking weeks back in the day.

I eventually made it back to the cafe, and then I was going right to the attic. Jim was not even trying to stop me this time. Probably because he knew deep down that it was not going to work, and that he wuld be wasting our time on this situation. When I was seeing Joe, I felt that I just needed to get to the pount. "We need to be talking about your father."

Scene 15: Illusions and Democracy

I was feeling that I just needed to try and be honest with Melissa, since doing so would be able to make things slightly easier for me. Besides, I was feeling that if Kari was willing to apologize to me, then there was more that I needed to be doing than anything else. And in all honesty, I was having a feeling that she did not like me all that much anyways, and that she was just using me as a chance to feel like she might be a bit more comfortable with looking at Wayside.

Eventually, when I was at her house, I just knocked on her door for a moment, and I was waiting for a while longer. I was wondering why I was spending so much time with a girl who I was certain did not like me all that much in the first place. Before long, that was when Melissa was answering the door, and she was looking right at me. Trying to decide what to say to me.

"Hey Tai, what were you wanting to talk about?" She asked me, and I was wondering if she was wanting to spend time with me in the first place. Then with that, I was sighing, and I was feeling like I just needed to grow a pair of balls and tell her what I was feeling, and then I could just be able to move on.

"I was thinking about things a lot lately. I have been thinking about Wayside lately, and everything that I have been getting myself into. And now that I am thinking about it, I feel that I just need to focus only on the work from now on, and absolutely nothing else." I said, and I looked right at her, wondering if she was going to get what I was saying.

"Are you basically telling me that you do not want to go on a date with me?" Melissa asked, and I was hearing her sounding more confused than anything else. I was able to see what she was meaning, considering the fact that we had a kiss, and I had been making such a big deal out of everything.

"Yeah, I guess that I am saying that. I mean, I do want to go on a date with you, and I want to make things work out. But I feel like if we go on a date, then I might be able to just lose focus, and then everything that I am fighting for would be thrown away. I think that you would see that I am just trying to do this for the best." I said, and then I was feeling like everything going on was my fault.

"I am trying to do this for my fucking promise." I said, and I was wondering if she was going to be having any of it. I mean, I wondered if she was even liking me in the first place. Or if she had just kissed me that one day just to be making me feel better, and not like out of love.

"I guess that I can respect the fact that you are fighting so hard for something like that. It makes me feel like I really did place my trust in the right place." She said, and then she smiled at this. "But Tai, so you think that you are going to tell me when you have the answers to the question." After she had asked me this, I was shaking my head, with nothing to say.

"I will tell you everything when I know the truth. I am so fucking sorry for not finding out the truth yet. You should have known all this time, but that is just not possible I suppose." After I had told her this, I was feeling like I had betrayed her. It was stupid to be thinking this way, but I was loving her.

Before I was able to leave, she was walking up to me, and then she was placing her hand on my cheek. I was shocked at this, and then she was kissing me on the lips once again. When she was done, she started to pull away, and I was feeling totally enchanted by what she did.

"Good luck on what you are shooting for. I will be at your side, on whatever it is that you aspire to do." After she had told me this, I was then feeling that I just needed to get this conversation over with. Feeling her at my lips, and seeing the look on her face, made me honestly feel like I just needed to know more about her.

"I will let you know when this is done. Maybe when this is over, we can go on and possibly be together. Not that it will really make much of a difference anyways." I said, and then I was starting to walk off, and I was wanting to be at her side so much. I wanted to make her feel better about me.

As I was leaving Melissa alone, I was able to see from the edge of my eye that there was a small tear rolling down her eye. She was way too sad at this for me to be feeling comfortable with. And in all honesty, I was feeling that it had all been my fault. I was wanting Melissa to love me, and I was wanting to be at her side. But I knew that if I was with her, then I was only going to fucking hurt her.

When I was no longer looking at Melissa, and she was out of my eye sight completely, I was wondering what it would have been like if I had never seen her again. I guess that if this was to happen, then I would be able to say that there was at least some minor form of closure. Which was what I had needed more than anything else.

I was now feeling that with that small level of closure, it was time for me to just focus on the main job at hand. Maybe by talking to Joe, we could investigate one more time. And maybe have a dinner or something, to just sort of celebrate this situation. I was feeling that whatever was going on, the two of us were going to solve this all together.

Eventually, I got there, and when I was at the cafe again, I was feeling that I just needed to talk to Jim, since I was feeling that he needed to have more of a realiable person who he would know would not really affect what Joe had been doing. I was not wanting him to be thinking that I was some insanely bad influence, since I had no intention of doing that.

"Hey Jim, before I go up, I was wanting to apologize for a bit." I said, and then I was seeing Jim looking confused at the fact that I was doing this in the first place. I was thinking that now that I was getting his attention, we just needed to fucking talk for a bit, and I could really make him feel better.

"I was just trying to help Joe out and feel like he could be able to see the town better for everything. I was thinking that I could have been a friend. It seems like I am only just making things worse for you guys, and I am so fucking sorry for that." I started, and then Jim was having no idea what to be thinking now.

"He's eighteen. I have no right to be watching over him. He needs to do his own thing, and I am not allowed to be working my own agenda on him. I just hope that if things get worse, he would be willing to at least consult with me." After Jim said that to me, I saw him looking like he was just looking like there was genuine shame in his voice.

"I mean, the biggest thing that I am worried about is that he spends so much time up there, like he is a fucking detective. I wish that I would have been able to provide him with a feeling of comfort in this town. But that is impossible." After Jim finished that, I was standing up, and i was strating to walk to the door.

"I know that I am probably not the best friend in the world. I know that I am only making things worse for him with everything that I am doing. I am not a fucking idiot. I can understand the truth when I see it. But I am the only one here who is willing to actually listen to him, and I am the only one who actually shows some care here." I said, and then I was shaking my head, having nothing else to say.

Eventually, I got up the stairs, and I was tired of always being apologetic, and I was tired of always letting people tell me what I was supposed to be feeling, and saying that I was fucking everything up. It was getting fucking tiring, and I wanted nothing to do with it at all.

"Hey Joe, do you want to just pick right up this time?" I asked, thinking nothing of it. Joe was looking right at me, and then after this, he stood up, and then he was rubbing his eyes, as if he was in a lot of pain here. He was staring out the dusty window of the attic, wondering what to tell me.

"Yeah, I do. But there are so many things that I am dealing with right now. And I have no idea how to deal with it." After Joe said this, he looked at me for a second, trying to remember what the hell we were going to say anyways. "But I guess that talking about it here is not going to help. If I stay here any longer, then I might be thinking too much about my personal resentment over everything going on right now." Joe said, and then I was starting to nod a bit at this, and then we were walking down the stairs, and we were leaving the area.

As we were walking by Jim, he was looking at me, and I was seeing that there was a level of respect that he was able to have for me to be able to confront him about what I was feeling, and I was feeling that maybe if we just needed to talk a bit more, then we could make more time for it later on.

Eventually, that was when the two of us were trying to find something to talk about. "So Joe, do you think that maybe we should go on and talk to people about Walter's death?" I asked, and then after I mentioned that man, I was seeing Joe getting angry, and I was wondering if he was just pissed that he was not the one who had done it himself. I was thibnking that if Joe would be like this, then we needed to be more careful here.

"I feel like the only people who know the truth are the people who are involved with that business. So I would not waste my time with it." After Joe said that, he was shrugging, having nothing else to be saying to me. And then I was wondering if his theories were correct, for better or for worse.

Eventually, I was thinking that we just needed to fucking do it anyways. I was aware that it might be a waste of time, but a waste of time was sometimes what we needed to fucking deal with. "We can fucking talk to that man, and maybe see what he has to say. He might be aware that we already know." I was thinking that this idead was absolutely insane, but I needed to try at least.

"I have a feeling that you are even more stubborn than me on a lot of cases. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing." Joe said, and he was sounding like he was willing to slightly laugh at this statement, althpugh I was seeingthat deep down, he was not finding it to be funny at all.

We started to walk on our way to Sector Five, and I was having no idea what in the world I was going to be getting myself ready for. In all honesty, I was feeling that whatever that guy was going to tell us, I just needed to try and perhaps see the exact opposite of what he was saying as true.

"I wonder if he would even be willing to let us go in again, considering the way that we were leaving things off the first time." After I had said that, I was feeling that it was a point that we just needed to mention. "But regardless of what happens, I suppose that there are a lot of things that we can do to still keep on tabs in this fucking town."

"Besides, with eight sectors, there has to be one person in there eventually who is so over things that they are just wanting to finally know the truth." Joe was hearing my optimistic voice, and he was trying to be looking at things the way that I had been. But I was having a feeling that neither of us were really fucking buying it at all.

Eventually, once we were getting near where Sector Five was, I was seeing that there were a bunch of police cars in the area. I will admit when I was seeing this, I was shocked to actually be seeing that these people were fucking doing their job. It just seemed to be too good to be true.

I was looking at Joe, and I was starting to instantly turn into a bunch of fear. "Oh my god Joe, what the fucking hell are we going to tell them if they start asking us some shit? They might be thinking about turning us in if they know everything that we have been doing." I said, and then Joe was looking at me, as if telling me to fucking relax, and not be making this as bad as I was fearing it could have been.

"Just tell them that Walter was making threats to us, and I have a feelng that he will actally fucking buy it. I mean just because the guy is dead doens't mean that the guy isn't a piece of utterly vile shit." Joe said, and then I was seeing that he was so firm in his beliefs that I was starting to actually believe in him.

Eventually, we were walking closer and closer to the entrance of that building, and then I was seeing that one of the officers was walking to us. They were looking relatively concerned for what they were going to tell us, and for some reason, I felt that whatever was happening, we were going to be considered the fucking heroes of this situation.

"You guys should stay away from here. After the death of that one guy a couple of days ago, some serious findings have occured, and it is believed that him and his company have been involved in the high profits of drug sales." They said, and then Joe was throwing them the weed that was given to him earlier.

"The guy gave me some. I decided to just keep it though in case if I needed to use it as evidence or whatever." After Joe said that to the officer, he was looking at the shop, and he was wondering what else to say. "Although we want to speak to that guy who was the bboss. And besides, we both know that there are far worse things going on in Sector Five."

"We both know that, but the reality is that we do not have a lot of stuff to go off of with those people, and therefore we have to be more careful here. We need to actually have something that is absolutely irrefutable before we make any arrests." After the officer said this to us, I was seeing that the officer looked like they wanted to tell us more here.

...

Joe and I were at Joyful Burger, and the entire time that I had been sitting there, I was feeling a bit strange. I was feeling that if the idea of his father running for Mayor of Wayside was true, then there was literally nothing else to be doing. I just wished that perhaps I could have been able to make him feel better.

"Hey Joe, how have you been?" I asked, pretending like things were basic enough here. Joe looked right at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was already planning on telling me something anyways. So I just figured that I would let him tell me everything that he had known.

"Not much honestly. I just found out a bit about my fathers plans." Joe said, and then I was seeing him looking slightly upset about this. I felt like pretending like I had no idea what he was talking about was going to be the worst thing ever.

"So he is planning on getting into politics all of a sudden. Planning on running for mayor of the town. When he told me this, I was utterly shocked and stunned at this plan. I think that seeing my reaction made him think that I was actually in support of this idea." Joe said, and then I was seeing that I might as well just play along, and see what his real thoughts on this would have been.

"Do you think that we are never going to be able to see each other again?" I asked, and I was slightly feeling bad about this. All that Joe was going to be able to do would have to benefit his fathers career. I knew damn well what it was going to be like. Joe was shrugging, and then he placed his arm down.

"The reality is that I am eighteen, so there is nothing that he will be able to do to stop it." Once Joe said that to me, I was considering that, and I was wondering why I had even mentioned that in the first place. I guess that I was just thinking of all of the worst things that could have happened.

"Joe, do not do something if it is going to throw your entire life away." I said, and then I was wondering what the fucking point of this even was. Joe looked at me, and I was seeing that he was looking genuinely confused at this idea. As if the idea of hanging out with us was the worst thing that he would have been able to do.

"I would rather be doing this than just being a slave to my fathers ambition. I mean, if he wins, I will respect the Democratic decision of this city, and I will wish him luck. But I need to just do things for myself. And in order to do that, I am going to be finding the truth of what happened to Aurora." After Joe said that, I was wondering if this town was really even a democracy in the first place, given everything going on.

"Alright, well if you are still doing this, and if you feel like you are not totally against the idea of working with me, we got to start to work together here." I said, and I was seeing Joe slowly nodding, and I was seeing the order getting placed on the table. When Larry placed the food down, he was looking at both of us, and there was clearly a level of worry in his face.

"What are you guys planning here?" Larry asked, and then I was finding it hilarious how he was so worried about something so simple. As if he was refusing to give us the chance to be able to bullshit our way through this one. I sighed, wondering what I was going to be getting myself into by asking him this.

"Do you know anything about the hospital and the rumors that are going on over there? I heard some rumors that there was an extra floor down below that nobody is allowed in." I said, and then Larry was shaking his head, and I was seeing that perhaps he genuinely was actually not sure on this one.

"No, I have no idea at all. I would not be worried about it all. Just hang out and enjoy your summer. You guys are getting way too deep into this shit." After Larry told me this, that was when he was starting to walk away. Joe looked at me, and I was seeing him just clearly looking slightly scared at what I was doing.

"I think that we seriously need to start at least being more secret about what we are doing. If we ask around too much, then people are going to be aware of what we are doing." After Joe said that, he was shaking his head. Then I was wondering where we were going to be heading now here.

"Well, we need to just get right to work. I mean, I feel like we are finally making some real progress here. And if for nothing else, I am glad to work with you." I said, and I was wondering how strange it was going to be to hear me tell him this. And then with that, Joe was looking around.

"I will talk to my father, and I will be seeing what he might be willing to tell me. If I make it seem like I want to help him out, then perhaps he will tell me what the fucking hell is going on." After he had said that to me, I was seeing Joe looking like he was getting slightly more and more hopeless at this.

"Sorry for everything Tai. But if your father wins, just do whatever you can to not fall into what he is planning." I said, and then Joe was looking at me, thinking that this whole thing was fucking silly. There was nothing else I could be feeling with that.

Scene 16: What Will You Do

Brad had taken a few days off, to try and just think about himself for a while. And when he was back on the company floor once again, he finally felt like it was time to be getting his next contract once again. When Brad was in Shaun's office, he was seeing that his boss was looking rather happy to be seeing his one main tool come back again.

"Welcome back. I was waiting for you. I hoped that resting for a few days will be enough to help you feel better about what must be done." After Shaun had said that to Brad, this was when Brad was keeping his thoughts to himself, not letting his boss get the satisfaction of knowing this.

"What is the next contract that you are wanting to give me?" Brad asked, and then Shaun looked directly at Brad, and then Shaun was standing up, taking out a cigar, and smoked it for a while, as if thinking that as long as Brad was willing to work with him, then that was all that mattered.

"You will go after a man named Carl at the Temple of the Ancients. He is another man in this giant conspiracy, and he needs to be taken down. I know that you are worried about the ethics of this experiment, and that you want to know what the point in this. And you will know truth soon enough." Shaun said, and then Brad was thinking that the longer that Shaun had been holding this off, the more he was going to be tempted to quit this company, risks aside.

"Why is he at the Temple anyways? That is one of the few places that has never been touched. The one place in Wayside that even you never touched?" Brad asked, and he was holding his fist for a second. He just needed to know how deep this was all getting.

"That is something that you need to be looking into. And I think that you must be able to see how out of control this whole thing is getting. You need to put an end to this right now." After Shaun said this, Brad noticed the level of anger in his eyes.

"Fine sir. I will." Brad said, and then he was holding onto the collection of weapons that he had gathered over this time. He was shocked to see that Shaun was not asking him about that. Or making a snarky comment.

"Thank you. You really are my best agent, and that is all that I can say about it." After Shaun told Brad this, that was when Brad was just walking away and not thinking about what his boss was planning on doing.

Brad was out of the tower, and when he was starting to head to his car, that was when a couple of news people were calling out to him, which annoyed the shit out of him. Brad turned around, and was looking at the woman who was reporting. "Do you have anything to say about Walter Monroe's body being found near his car?"

Brad sighed, and he was not sure if he was able to hide the fact that he was not giving a single shit about that situayion. But then he was feeling that for the sake of professionalism, he might be able to at least try and give a good answer. "In all honesty, I barely even knew the man, and I feel like he was probably going to be ending up dead soon enough anyways." Brad said, thinking nothing of it.

"Do you think that it was a cover up for something?" The woman asked, and Brad was starting to open up the car door, and at this rate, he was havng no patience with this at all. She needed to ask him questions that were at least not super obvious.

"Clearly it was a fucking cover up. I don't know what it was to cover up exactly, but whatever it was, it is really none of my business, and I think that you would be doing yourself a favor if you stopped getting involved with this story. If people knew what you were doing, then they would probably discredit anything you say." Brad said, feeling that he would be able to give her a sincere enough warning here.

"Do you know anything about what your boss would be saying to this?" She asked, and then that was when Brad was getting inside of the car, and then he was taking a long and deep breath. At this rate, Brad was having literally no fucking patience for this.

"I have no idea what Shaun would say to this. He has a lot of things that he needs to worry about. He has no time to be getting involved with this shit, and I don't really have the time either. So I think that it would be best to just leave this whole thing alone. Now, with all due respect, but I have a job that I need to do." Brad said, and then he was starting the car up, just to leave her alone.

Eventually, Brad was driving his way to the Temple, and there was nothing else he could have done. He was not wanting to desecrate this place with his filthy foot steps, or destroy part of it with his lightsaber. But he was feeling that if it was to fulfill this duty, then there was no real point.

Once inside of the temple, Brad was looking around, and he was seeing a slightly over weight guy staring around, and looking at a bunch of writing on the wall. As he was reading some of this, the man heard Brad walking.

"Are you in on another one of the contracts that Shaun wants from you?" Carl asked and then turned around to Brad, and Brad was feeling that the fact that everybody knew what he was doing was making him feel a bit lost now.

"Yes. I will continue to do what my boss wants until he no longer needs me at all." Brad said, and he was laughing at this, not because it was funny. But because of the fact that he was starting to fall so into some corporate excuse that even he was able to start to see it now.

"I will not let you continue to follow through with these. You are only making things worse in this. I have been hiding in this temple, trying to find the answer on what I am going to do to stop this madness." Carl said, and then he was pulling out a green lightsaber.

"Why does everybody keep pretending like there is something that Shaun is planning doing to me?" Brad asked, and then he was turning on the lightsaber Shaun gave him. leaving the ones that Mildred, Sheen, and Olive had in the belt again.

Eventually, the two of them started to clash their blades for a while, and the longer that they had been fighting, the more that Brad was seeing that they had started to destroy some of the writing on the temple.

The entire time that they had been fighting, and trading clashes and punches at each other, the more and more that Brad was becoming convinced that perhaps everything going on around him was all a lie. And he was thinking that this would perhaps be the last one that he was ever going to do.

At some points in the fight, especially when Carl was starting to get a head on Brad, this was when Brad would be thinking of something going on in his life. Various flash backs, and flash forwards, all making him have extra motivation to deal with Carl.

Before long, they were getting near the chapel, and Brad was kicking Carl in the face, and Carl fell down to the ground. As they had kept fighting for a while, this was when Brad was placing his foot on Carl, and stabbed him in the chest a couple of times.

Eventually, Carl was coughing up at this, and then he was starting to cry for a bit. "Everything that is going on is a fucking lie. It is only a matter of time before Shaun goes on and betray you and kill you." Carl said, and then Brad was starting to be in denial.

"I have no choice on the matter. Shaun has basically ruled my entire life. There is nothing that I can do but show him the respect that I have for what he did for my family." Brad said, thinking about Tucker, and the fact that Shaun actually helped him with that issue.

"When that happens, I will do everything that I can to never be a target of his. He knows that I am more powerful than he will ever be. I will handle things when I get there." Brad said, and then he was taking the hilt from Carl's hands, ready to head away.

Brad was eventually in Shaun's office, where he was looking tired, and feeling like any amount of patience that he was having in the subject was running out. "Another one is defeated, and we are moving in closer to the final target."

"What is the final goal to begin with?" After Brad asked Shaun this, that was when Shaun looked like he was actually at least considering what was happening. Shaun was starting to walk towards Brad, starting up a new cigar, trying to be patient with him.

"Justin Ryder. I am assuming that you knew that already. But he is the only thing that is still keeping us from finishing our duties. But once he is dead, then we finally can show everybody that we have a real vision of what this town needs." After Shaun said this, Brad knew that this was all going to be failing in some form of another.

"Aren't there more people who have been trying to destroy everything that this town has been working for?" After Brad asked this, he was referring to a few others. Such as Sheldon, who Brad was hoping that this was the one person that he would have been able to spare due to how much they had worked together in the past.

"Yeah, but they are no real threat. Justin Ryder is the only one who can do something about it, and when the results are in, there is nothing that we can do besides just deflect on all the bullshit that is happening." Shaun said, and then he glanced at Brad again.

"Although there is that small group of students who have been causing a stir in the last summer. If they prove to be too much of an issue, then we will have to eliminate them as well." After he said that, he got right to Brad, not giving him more than a foots space.

"Not them. At least give them until their eighteen. Fuck, even sixteen." Brad said, shaking his head, referring to T.K., Yolei, Davis and the others in the middle school. He did not want to hurt Yolei or the others after that conversation he had with them was able to get him to change his perception on some things.

Shaun considered what he was saying. "I promise that I will not do anything to the ones who aren''t even thirteen yet. So that Cody kid is fine. But many of them are old enough to not get in the way of my job. Remember Justin was thirteen when he started. And he caused a shocking amount of damage. Much more thn people would give somebody his age credit for." Shaun said, and this was what Brad felt like would have been the last straw.