Episode 13: The Cheaters Apathy (Joe)
Scene 1: The Dark Night Is Near
I was sitting around, and I was thinking about what Izzy and the others had been getting themselves into. In all honesty, I was having a feeling that if they were about to find something, then I was going to have to do my part in making sure that nothing else happened to him at all.
And not just Izzy, but Matt, Tai, and Mimi. They had all been coming here so often lately that it was feeling like they basically lived here part time. And I was feeling that they really did not have a whole lot of respect for me. And in all honesty, I was not even able to blame them for feeling that way. I had done this to them. Especially when talking about the way that I was talking to Izzy.
I mean, I was trying to just give Izzy some advice, and here I was, treating him like he was a piece of garbage. And I was feeling like it was entirely my fault if he wanted to never speak to me again. But perhaps if something like this was to happen, then I just needed to try and speak to him a bit better.
I got up, and I was staring out my bedroom window. Seeing Wayside look like a very nice place when I was inside of the house. On the surface, there was nothing wrong with this city at all, and I was acting like a paranoid asshole for no real reason. It was only when you look deeper into this town that you start to realize what everybody else was trying to say about it.
And in all honesty, there were other things that were bothering me. Such as the fact that my father had been running for the position of mayor, and I was convinced that there was something he had been doing. In all honesty, I was feeling like it was all his fault if something were to happen to our family. And I was having a feeling that he was going to win the election.
I was wondering why my father had even wanted to run for mayor, when the last election he could not have cared less about that stuff. I mean, things could change in six years. I am well aware of that. But in all honesty, even just one or two years ago, he seemed like he could not have cared about that shit at all.
But as I was letting things go for the time being, I was starting to get out of my room. I was grabbing my car keys, and my money, and I was starting to head on right to my car. As I was getting in my car, I was just feeling that every moment away from here was going to be a moment of nice relaxation. I wanted nothing to do with this, and that was simply all that there was to this debate.
Eventually, I was at the cafe once again, and I was wondering what Jim was going to be saying when he would see me once again. In all honesty, he was probably going to be finding this whole situation rather annoying. I was having a feeling that he would be telling me that it was time for me to be looking at things on my own accord, and that he didn't want this.
I got outside of my car, and then I was walking inside, and then and I was just walking by Jim, and when I was passing by him, I was feeling like I just needed to try and find something else to say to him, to make him feel slightly better. "Joe, what are you doing now?" He asked, and I was not sure if he was sounding annoyed at this, or just trying to help me along.
"I am doing alright. Just did not want to be in the house anymore. It just feels wrong when I am there. Always hearing about dads campaign, when I do not even support it in the first place. In all honesty, I feel like dad is just making a giant mistake here." I said, and then I was shrugging, having nothing else to say to the issue now.
"I mean, if dad wants to become mayor, then there is nothing that you are going to do about it. Why are you so against him winning anyways? I mean, I know that you do not like anything related to all these search and rescue stories anymore, but there is nothing to worry about here." After he had said that to me, I was wondering why Jim was so for this now all of a sudden. It was honestly making no sense to support his stances now.
"I just think that he is using this to his advantage. I am not stupid. I know that deep down inside, he does not really care at all for those who are around him. This is all one big campaign for himself." I said, and then I was shaking my head, and I was looking at Jim, and I was wondering why he was going to say to this.
"I mean, I do not really know what to say to that. I mean, you probably have a good reason to be feeling that way. But I am not going to be saying anything about it. If he wins, I think that you need to be giving him a chance to prove himself a member of the team." As Jim said that to me, I was starting to walk to the attic.
As I was going up the stairs, I was not really wanting to hear any more excuses. I knew that supporting dad was going to be a mistake, and there was no way to convince me otherwise. There was nothing that I could do about this, and I was going to just support my friends going forward.
In all honesty, I had no idea if they would even consider me to be their friends in the first place. But that was not what really mattered all that much. I was just looking at all the evidence that had been gathered up, and I was seeing that there was a couple of things that were kind of making me kind of rethink everything.
So clearly something was going to happen wth Yolei and her friends. That was obvious, and I think everybody agrees on that. But we do not know what exactly that is, and in all honesty, I had a feeling that I was the only one who really had any idea what could be happening. I just wanted to figure out why in the world Kenta would have wanted anything to do with her in the first place. And I was feeling that if I was able to figure that out, then the secret of what was happening with the missing girls was one step closer to having the mystery revealed.
I was not sure if I needed to ever do this again, but I was having a feeling that I was needing to perhaps go to that office once again, and then this time really fucking force the answer out of those scientists. I mean, I had made a promise to her, and I knew that it was up to me to try and keep it, no matter what was happening.
And beyond that, I was wanting to figure out why Yolei was not as worried about something like this as she should have been. This needed to be her top fucking priority, and she was acting like it was not all that big of a deal at all. If I was a girl, and I was around her age, if I had known that something could be going on, I would be acting like this was the worst thing ever.
Perhaps everybody in this town has grown so used to something like this that they do not even care anymore. But if something like this was the reality that I was now living in, then I would fucking hate everything about our life at this rate. I mean, I will admit that I was used to something like this, but that did not mean that I had to like it.
I stood up, and I was going to have to try and speak with her again. And this time, if she was not wanting to speak about it, then I was going to have to remind her of what the stakes in this were. Maybe by doing something like this, and just really getting her to see how big this deal was, then everything was going to come together.
But despite everything, I was having a feeling that talking to her about this right now was not going to be doing anybody any favors. So with that, I decided that I would just drop it for the time being, and come back to it tomorrow, when everybody was awake.
Scene 2: Dance Night
As I was just getting over everything that I had been fearing, I decided that I was going to check on certain people, and see what they were all feeling. So I drove on over to Sora's place, because she had lived the closest to me, and in all honesty, I was feeling like she was one of the few who did not feel like I was a complete failure, and did not have anything against me.
The honest truth was that I was scared of if Sora was never going to be able to keep herself able to think about all that had been going on around her. I was scared that she was going to be trying to take care of things on her own, mainly because she had felt like it was her duty to make sure that Matt was still doing well in his time here.
I knocked on her door when I got out of the car, and I was already running the situation through my head on what she was probably going to tell me. In all honesty, I did not really blame her if she was going to be thinking that I was fucking stupid of what not. And I was telling myself that this was the price of me being a concerned friend.
"Sora, how are you today? I mean, I know that me being here is probably a bit strange, and I would not try and blame you if you decided that you wanted me to leave. I just wanted to make sure that you were doing alright. Especially with your friends, and how they are all doing." I said, thinking that in many ways, they were my friends as well. And that I needed to try and just group them as such now.
"Honestly, I feel like they are probably just going to be doing much better if we stop thinking about things too much. They are doing fine enough without us being fucking assholes to them. After all, there is nothing wrong with investigating this town, and just trying to see what it might have to offer." She said to me, and then I looked at her, wondering how she was able to react like this.
"But Sora, you seem like you are unsure of what you are saying yourself. Do you ned some help trying to figure things out? I have no idea what to think of this town myself, and I am trying to atone for the way that I am acting around you guys. You deserve better than what I was doing." After I had said that to her, I was seeing her looking like she was still unsure of what to tell me.
"There is nothing to atone. As the oldest member of this random little group that is coming together, you need to probably be the one who is actually not doing something fucking dumb too. I just hope that whatever you are doing, it helps you as well. Because this constant fighting is just not going to be helping anybody out, and I think you probably already know this." She said, and then I was quietly thinking of things a little bit more.
"I mean, I just always tried to think about what Jim would have wanted me to do. But in a way, part of me wonders if what he would really want is the opposite of what he is telling me, if that makes any sense. For all that I know, he is just trying to tell me these things becase he simply is scared of what will happen if I did what he did not." I said, and then after I had told her this, I was wondering if my theory was going to come together at all.
"You do not need to be worried about your brother. I am sure deep down inside, he is always just trying to do what is best. But I think that he is starting to try and remember that since you are also a older guy as well, that you are at the age where you need to be making your own choices in life. And I think that the more patience you show with him, the better things will be." After she had said that to me, I was considering what she was telling me a little bit.
"But Jim needs to fucking be sure that I am not going to be getting myself killed. I mean, he helped raise me for a really long time, and I think that he is doing whatever he can, within mere words obviously, to make sure that nothing we are doing is going to be putting us on the radar." After I was telling her this, I was shrugging, thinking of what I was doing now.
"I guess that in order for us to actually know whta he would wnat, we would actually have to speak with him in person. But unless if you are willing to do that, then I think that we are just going o be making a bunch of random assumptions about this." After she had said that to me, I was sighing, and then I was feeling like there was nothing else to say now. I looked around, and then I was feeling like I needed to just try and get to know her more.
"Do you want to just talk for a bit? You know, about the things taht you are actually interested in. Screw everything else, we just take a moment to think about what we are feeling." I said, and then after I told her this, I saw her looking like she was just unsure of what to tell me. She looked like she was clearly just trying to decide if I was doing this as a ruse, or being honest.
"Yeah, I guess that talking for a bit would be nice. I mean, I still don't really know you all that well, and we have been talking for a while now." Sora was saying, and I was seeing her looking like she was actually kind of happy to be seeing me once again. As if this was something that she had actually been planning this whole time.
"What are your own interests? Aside from the regular teenage stuff?" I asked, feeling like that was a random, but still decent starting spot. As I asked her, she was looking at me, as if thinking that she might as well play that game for a bit, and see what she would be able to throw at me eventually.
"Honestly, when I was much younger, I was always into dancing. Viewed it as a nice form of exercise that did not require a whole lot of effort. I mean, if I tried to dance now, I would be terrible at it now, and I would not let you guys ever view that stuff. But who knows, maybe I am just worried too much about this." After she had said that to me, I looked at her for a few seconds to think on what to tell her.
"I mean, dancing is not a bad habit to do. If you enjoyed it, you should never be ashamed of what you like. But if you are scared of what people believe, then maybe you just need to focus on letting one person at a time know." After I had said that to her, I was seeing her looking like she was seeig through what I was saying a little bit.
"Are you trying to tell me that you would want to see me dance a little bit? You could have just asked." She said, and I think that we both knew that her saying that was a load of shit. But if she was wanting to make it seem like it was that easy, I would play along with it for the time being.
"If you are trying to tell me that you are that easy to hang out with, then I will be more than willing to play along." I said, and then she rolled her eyes, as she was holding her hand out. I was feeling like this was where things were really going to be taking a turn for the worst. I looked at her, and I was feeling a minor blush coming on through.
With that, I took a long and deep breath, and I took her hand. With that, I was dancing around for a bit, and I was just thinking about what it was going to be like if we were to eventually date one night. I mean, she was with Matt, and I was not going to be good for her anyways, but it was still something that was fun to think about.
We shared some dance moves for a while, and we were just in the moment. The entire time that we had been dancing, I was thinking about what she was doing. I was thinking that one of these days, when Matt would find out the truth of what I was doing, I would apologize to him, and just act like it was something that I did not want to do.
After several seconds, the two of us were looking at each other when we were both holding each other, I was holding both of her hands, and she was looking at me, clearly trying to find something to say, and I was seeing her looking like she had wanted to say something. As if there was nothing else to hide anymore.
But before long, I was seeing her starting to slowly let go, and I was seeing that there was a look of severe regret on her face. I was wondering what her issue was. I was enjoying the moment, and I knew that she certainly did, with the red look on her face. But she was clearly thinking that it was romantic, when it was never meant to be. I looked away from her, trying to just not make hr feel any worse about what was happening.
"Sorry if I made things worse for you. It was never my intention to be getting like this. I thought that we were both able to just enjoy a little bit of letting loose." I said, feeling like this was the only way to get her to calm down. As I was saying this, she sighed, and slowly nodded, as if feeling like she was able to understand.
"I know that I am like this when I am with other people. I get over head. But I do not want to be making you feel any worse. I just feel like we need to not be making this any worse for us. I wonder if Matt is wondering if we hate him." She said, and then I was looking at her, wondering what she was meaning with that one.
"But yeah, you are not that bad at the dancing. I think that you should consider picking it up again. If you are enjoying it, then there is no reason to be hiding your interest at all." I said, hoping that by telling her this, she would be interested in picking it up again. As if she was nodding at this, I saw her kind of lightening up a little bit.
"Thank you. I will consider it for a bit. I just hope that I am not letting this get any worse. But thank you for showing some faith in me. I have to try and show faith in myself, and it can be hard sometimes. So there is that." After she had said that to me, I slowly nodded, feeling that I needed to just try and act like nothing else was happening.
"Do you want me to leave? I can if you really need it." I said, and then after I had said that to her, I was seeing her looking like she was considering what to say. But then with that, she was slowly nodding, to which I was able to fully understand, and I was not in the arguing mood with her, since had already done enough.
"Please come back eventually though. Just make sure that no matter what is happening, I do not turn this into something that we will both regret. You deserve better than to be dragged into something because I am unable to contain myself." After she had said that to me, we were walking along, and then I was feeling like I still needed to make sure that everybody else was fine enough.
Scene 3: Gas Station Sheldon
The next night, when I had some time to consider whatever had just happened, I was at the gas station, wondering what I would do if Sheldon would see me, and try to constantly ask me a million questions. But at the same time I was feeling like something like this might be fine. "Hey, sorry if I am being a bother right now." I said, trying to find something to tell him.
"Don't worry. If every person who might have been a bother came in here, then I would be running out of business really fucking quick." After he had said that to me, I was looking right at him, and in all honesty, I was actually finding hat comment to be mostly funny, even if I knew that it was not meant to be that way.
"Alright, so Sheldon, I have been just trying to think about all the mistakes that I have been making, and I want to try and make up for them. They are all my fucking fault, and in all honesty, I feel like I need to try and make things different this time." I said, and then I was looking right at him, hoping he would feel better.
"You know that if you are trying to have some way to make up for the shit that you are doing, that I am not the man that you need to be seeing. I am going to be finding a way to be making things worse for you. So I think that you need to consider if you are even going to be a issue for them." Sheldon said, and then I sook my head.
"I mean, you seemed to be doing nice with people now. Everybody I know talks very highly of you, and always treats you like you were one of the best examples of a redemption story in Wayside. I mean, I really messed up, and all that I want to do is just turn around, and fucking put this all behind me." I said, and then I was wondering if I was going to get Sheldon to listen to me now.
"I think that one of these days, I am planning on telling somebody the full story about what had happened with me. There is some random guy who likes to talk with me a lot, and I want to try and make him understand what my mistakes are." After he had said that to me, I was seeing him looking like he was hoping I could at least consider what he was saying.
"Who is this man that you are speaking of?" I asked, and I was feeling that if I could be able to get to tell him what Sheldon was planning, then this whole thing would be going along so much faster. I needed to know the truth. We all needed to know the truth, and if that was what Sheldon needed to make things turn around, we needed to run with it.
"T.K. I mean, it might not make sense to call him a man yet. But he is certainly on his way, and I think that in due time, he could be one that would actually show a level of compassion to those around him." Sheldon said, and then took a long and deep breath. "Honestly, he is the first person that I believe is going to do his best to turn things around for us all, that is why I want to see him pull this off so badly."
"I am going to have to talk to him about this. I mean, if he knows what you are considering, then that is going to be making life so much easier for everybody. Surely you fucking know this." I said, and then I was looking at him, wondering what Sheldon would have said to this question. I saw him looking clearly unsure of what to tell me now.
"What is in it for you? Are you feeling like I am seriously going to be the one man who can make a difference here? If that is the case, then perhaps I need to be doing this all on my own again, even if I really do not appreciate the idea of doing so." After Sheldon said that to me, he looked up at the ceiling, clearly not having any idea of what he was planing to discuss.
"Is it because of your family that you are worrying about it?" I asked, and then I was seeing that Sheldon was slowly nodding. As if probably feeling that the idea of discussing a family was still strange. I wondered why he was so scared of talking about his family with people. After all, everybody knew about them.
"Yeah. I mean, they should have never been brought into this, and now that they have, I feel like I need to just try and make it better for them. For all that I know, it is entirely my fucking fault that they are dragged along in this, and that is something that I need to make up for." After he said that to me, I was seeing him looking tired as hell.
"Your family all like you though. I mean, if you heard the way that Cody talks about you. It seems like even with everything going on, he still respects you. And he wants to make sure that after everything is all said and done, then the two of you can move forward with this. You need to change things for him, and make it better." I said, and then I was looking right at him, hoping that he would get what I was saying.
"I will try and make things up with him. If he actually believes in me, and supports me, then I need to turn around and just speak with him. But I guess that I am going to have to try and fix some certain issues that are going on." Sheldon said, and then he took out a cigarette. As he was taking the cigarette out, I was wondering if this was meaning that he would do this all himself.
"Oh shit man, if you are planning on actually doing this, and not just talking about this, then I need to help you out I believe." I said, looking right at him, wondering what he was planning on telling me for a second. I was seeing Sheldon looking like he was at least thinking of what I said.
"I do not want you to get involved with this if you are not one hundred percent capable of helping out you and your friends. You and your friends are going to be important enough to where I want a greater focus on them before you start anything else." After he had said that to me, I was nodding at this, thinking that he was probably right.
"I mean, if you are one hundred percent certain that you are messing things up, then I think you need to just fix those mess ups. Hanging out with your old man is not going to be making things any easier for you." Sheldon said to me, and then I saw him clearly closing the subject before it went further.
"I will talk with you later. I still want to help you." I said, and then after I said that to him, I was leaving the gas station, and I felt like the next step was to speak with T.K., and get him to be aware of the regard that Sheldon had been holding him, and to use that to my advantage.
Scene 4: Never Hope
I was planning on going to T.K.'s house, hoping that he would actually take what I say seriously, and that he was not going to be having a pissing contest over the idea of talking to Sheldon, and getting him to reveal more details of what was happening. I was thinking that the only way we were going to get the truth of what had happened in Wayside in the past, Sheldon would be our man.
Eventually, when I was there, I knocked on the door, and then with that, T.K. answered the door right away, and he was looking right at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was tired, and that he wanted nothing to do with this discusson before it even started. But I needed him to understand that this was not going to be up for debate.
"What could you possibly want?" T.K. asked, and then I was looking right at him, and I was feeling that I was going to have no choice but to try and be super fucking firm with what I was needing. So with that, I took a deep breath, ready to just jump right into it, and not be making things any worse.
"I need to talk to you about the investigations that you are making. I am hoping that the two of us are going to be able to work together for the rest of this mystery. After all, the two of us are being forced to witness the rest of the idiots in the group make a bunch of mistakes every twenty fucking seconds." I said, hoping that T.K. would at least see what I meant.
"Oh my god. Are you going to try and act like you are the only one who can help me out with this?" T.K. asked, and the way that he was asking this was making me feel rather bad. I was wondering why he was trying to speak like this. "Anyways, if you are here now, we might as well just see what we can do."
"Well, I was told by Sheldon that he respected your company more than he respected almost anybody elses. I think that we need your help on figuring the truth about what he was dealing with. I mean, I know that you probably don't like that. But if you want the truth about Wayside, which I do, then you are going to have to deal with it." I was telling him, and I was seeing T.K. remaining silent for a bt.
"I can't have any say in what Sheldon believes with me. I mean, I hardly care what anybody else says. And the worst thing is that if I try and talk with him, and I try to take advantage of this discussion, he will just toss me off, and act like what he said was a fucking lie. I think that you know that I am right." T.K. said, clearly sounding relatively tired of having this discussion.
"But if you want to do what is right, and you want to bring people home, then you are going to have to push yourself into doing something that you are not going to enjoy. I would not want to do this either. But as you might be accepting, there is no choice that we have in the matter. We have to do what is set out for us." After I was telling him this, I saw T.K. looking like he was just getting tired of this.
"I do want to do what is right. I mean, if what you are fearing wth Yolei is true, then I think that we both need to team up, and see what we might be able to learn too." T.K. said, and then with that, he was rubbing his eyes, just seeming like he was having no clue what to do. "So what do you think the next move should be?"
"I think that our next move is to get you to talk with Sheldon, and you need to just get it through that you will do anything that he needs to be more comfortable with talking with you." After I had said that to him, I saw T.K. looking like this was the last thing that he had wanted to do. But then he started to nod for a second.
"If he turns out to try and reject me once again, and act like he never said that, then I am going to be doing things my way for the rest of our investigation. I have no real patience to deal with people lying to me, and just trying to do things for their own gain." T.K. said, and then with that, he let me inside the house, and we sat down at the living room table.
"I mean, I don't doubt your sincerity. And I don't doubt that you are really trying to just do what is right. And that is the thing that is making me feel slightly more comfortable with talking with you. But I just feel like every time I talk about these things, the situation that I am in gets more and more fragle. I feel like I could be any second away from making the worst mistake of my life." After T.K. said that to me, I saw him looking like he was just taking a second to think of this.
"So if you don't doubt my sincerity, then why the fucking hell are you acting like the way you have been. You are just treating me like I could be doing something terrible at any second, and I feel like I need more communication." After I said this, I saw that T.K. was actually seeming like he was feeling bad for what I had told him just now. Like he was thinking of how to change it.
"I don't know dude. I just feel like I need to always be on edge. I mean, every time I feel like I am making the right choice, something comes along, and I get reminded of the fact that I can be a really fucking big idot. Simple as that. It really is as simple as that." After T.K. had said that to me, I was feeling like at this rate, we were both wanting to just focus on other things.
"Alright, you made your point. I feel like we are losing track of what was the point of this meeting anyways. So with that, let's just get right back into this. I wanted to also to apologize for the way that I had acted. I mean, with what happened to Aurora, I feel like I need to be taking this more seriously now." I said, and I saw T.K. having a neutral look on his face.
"I mean, I thought that I could be able to do this all on my own. That I needed to do this all on my own. But I guess that I over lookd what everybody else was capable of. I thought that you guys were not able to do anything else here. But that turns out to just be a load of shit." I said, finally finishing up once again.
"I mean, I sort of feel the same way. It has mostly gotten to the point where I hardly even talk with Davis or Yolei anymore. They just basically are thrown away. As if they never even existed. I was in this at the start with them, and we were witnessing the first large part of it together and we were able to talk with each other and make theories. But at one point, when I hung out with Davis, he stranged me out enough to where I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep this up any longer." T.K. said, and I felt like we talked about it once in passing, but that I needed to be reminded.
"What did he do? I mean, you guys were hanging out all the time once." I said, and then T.K. was sighing, as if he already found me asking this to be a waste of damn time. But then with that, he looked at me, with a newly desperate look on his face.
"I had a dream, and he seemed to know what exactly was going on. As if he was seeing something like it as well. And he was talking about random advice on what I needed to do with it. But then he basically refused to be telling me what the issue was." T.K. said, and then before I could talk, he continued to speak, as if not wanting to lose his turn.
"And in all honesty, every time I even bring the idea up with othr people, they seem like they have no idea what is going on at all. As if I am the biggest liar in the world. But the fact that he knew it all showws that he has been involved with something out of this fucking world. It makes me feel really fucking hopeless when I am unable to talk with anybody at all." T.K. said, feeling really damn sad at that.
"What do you think that he might have been involved in in the past?" After I asked him this, I saw him looking like he was already thinking about how dumb this whole conversation was. And then with that, he decided to not be thinking about these things anymore.
"I saw a monster named MagnaAngemon or something like that talking to me. And the thing is that I feel like I need to talk to it again. But that just seems like it will never fucking happen. As if the thing is ashamed to have ever spoken with me." T.K. said, and that statement was rather strange to me. I mean, it was a fucking dream after all.
"It is probably some random thing you heard about one time, and your brain tuned it into a dream. I would not be too worried about." After I told him this, I was seeing T.K. looking like he was wanting that to be true, but that he was feeling like it was never going to be that simple.
Scene 5: Understandable Obsession
When I was at the cafe again, I was wanting to just drop this whole subject for a while, and just do my own thing for the time being. I was seeing Jim just getting things cleaned up for the night, and I was feeling like I just needed to try and speak with him for a bit, and see what his fears would be.
"So Joe, I know that you were really upset the last time that we were talking. Do you need to talk for a bit? I am really sorry for not taking every thing that you said super seriously?" After Jim was telling me this, I looked at him, and I was wondering what I was even going to tell him.
"I mean, I know that you want nothing to do with what I am doing right now. And if you do not want to help me, then I am not going to try and argue with you about this anymore. It is not going to be worth the time and effort to be going through with this." I said, and then I was looking right at him, feeling that just saying it like this would get him to shut the hell up now.
"This is a big obsession that you are dealing with. You are always sinking so much fucking time from this, and you are just trying to act like you are the only one in the world who can do anything about this. But you are not the only one who can do this. You are not alone. You just need to accept this." After Jim said that to me, I was sighing, wondering why he was saying this again.
"You clearly know what you are getting into. I mean, you probably could have told me so many things about what I needed to do, and yet you are refusing to do just that. You are just letting me take care of these things alone, when you tell me that I should not be doing that." I said, feeling like I just needed to get him to shut up.
"Alright, well you can tell me how things are going with your search for Aurora. Let's see what you are doing, and if I can help you with that." After he had said that to me, I was looking right at him, so fucking glad to finally hear him willing to give me a chance to actually talk with him for the time being.
"I have not really made any progress on finding Aurora to be honest. I thought that I would have been able to find her by now, and that I could be able to laugh this whole thing off. But I am still at the starting area of this shit. Nothing to help me at all. I know from a pure time perspective, I am am just wasting it." After I said that to Jim, I was shaking my head, ashamed at the time that I was losing.
"Have you even found any clues at all? Or are you just too busy going around and trying to talk with random people and trying to get them to not do what you are currently doing right now?" Jim asked, and in all honesty, when I heard him say this, I was feeling like he needed to at least try and see the hypocrisy of what he had been saying.
"Well, I guess that this is the case. I mean, I thought that eventually, something would have shown up, and I would have been able to find Aurora after a while. But then I failed to even find anything. I mean, I got to admit that I am not really good at looking at this information at all." I said, and then I wondered why I was even telling him this in the first place.
"You were telling me that you were just trying to look at all the things she had been doing recently. Wasn't she involved in some form of movie that she was making? I mean, if you look at that, you might be able to eventually find something." After he had said that to me, I was remembering what he was saying, and I was thinking that he might be right.
"Yeah, I think she was. I am shocked that you actually remembered that in the first place. Seems like you were paying a lot more attention to this than you want to admit." I said, and then after I was standing up, and walked out of the cafe. And I was seeing that Jim already looked like he was regretting everything that he had said.
When I was at the door, I was staring right at him, feeling like I needed to gather up the courage to tell him something else. "Thank you, and despite everything that is happening, I do love talking with you. It is hard sometimes, but I really respect him." I said, and then I was walking out of the cafe, and got in my car, and I was driving away, with nothing else to do.
Eventually, I was getting back to that art museum that I talked with Steven Small at. I was aware that he hated talking with me, and I was aware that he was going to make a bunch of shit to get me to think that I was being a bit of a idiot. As I was staring at the building for a few seconds, I was then thinking of what I was going to say.
I got out of the car, and then I was going to the door, and when I was there, I was seeing that Steven looked like he was upset that I was here in the first place. I saw him looking like he was trying to run away. I was feeling like this was my chance to get him to force some information for me.
With that, Steven was running along, and he was getting to the opposite exit of the museum, and then I was running along, and I was following them for a while. After I was at the other entrance of the museum, I was seeing Steven looking like he was just tired from the running, and he was panting. The smell of weed was absolutely irrefutable.
"Just tell me what you know about Aurora! Just fucking tell me everything that you possibly could tell me!" I yelled, and then I was seeing Steven looking like he was just scared out of his mind for once in his life. He had known that I was now going to be getting whatever I wanted, and that I would force this to be told, no matter what I wanted.
"I don't know what happened to her. I was just the one that was working with her, and she was wanting to do this job. You are just making me involved in something that I had nothing to do with." After Steven was able to say that to me, I was feeling like what he was saying was a bunch of shit. And I was not able to hide this at all.
"You are a fucking liar, and we both fucking know it. You are trying to hide what is happening, and what you did." I said, and then I was sighing, and shook my fucking head. Everything that I was saying was one hundred percent true, and I was seeing that Steven was looking like he was just lowering his hands, once he had realized that I was not armed in any way.
"I just wanted to make a break with my art. But my break through in my art has nothing to do with her. I just have a meeting that I need to attend, and every minute that I am waiting along is just only making things worse." After he said that to me, I was then feeling like I just needed to ask him this question carefully.
"What meeting are you heading to right now?" After I asked him this, I was seeing Steven looking like he was almost impressed that I was actually asking him something else that was not even related to the case with Aurora anymore. I think that was the thing that made him more willing to be honest with me.
"I am heading to one with Shaun and his colleagues. He was wanting me to give him the construction blue prints of the next project. It feels wonderful to actually have a important use in this place, and I think that you probably would understand that." After he had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, as if understanding what he was saying a little bit.
"How long have you been working with them?" I asked, and as I was asking this, I was just feeling that I needed to stay the same amount of feet away, to not get him to be thinking that I would do anything with him. Since I was feeling like this was going to be my one chance to actually get him to talk.
With that, another car was starting to pull up behind Steven, and I was seeing him looking like he was really fucking happy to be seeing that this person was coming along. I was wondering if he was just having this discussion to do nothing more than to just stall me off for a while. Clever bastard, as much as I had hated to fucking admit it.
"I am needing to head out right now. I can't keep having this discussion anymore. Maybe one of these days, when you see what I am doing, and you can see the bigger picture, I will be more willing to talk to you about what is happening. But until then, until you understand what matters, that will never fucking happen." Steven said, and then with that, he was opening up the car door.
"Do you have any idea on where I might be able to look in order to find out where Aurora is? Even just somebody who might know is a great start... I need to fucking know where to head now. Please, just fucking tell me what I need to know." I said, and then I was looking right at him, hoping that he was acually listening to me now. Steven shook his head, and then he was in his car, and then they were driving away. And I was left alone, and rather fucking angry now.
Once he was gone, and the car was a block or two away, I was considering following through with seeing what that car was doing. But the fact that he was getting involved in a fucking meeting with Lazarus relating to what the next blue print was going to be, then there was no way in hell that he was ever going to be able to lie to me about what he was doing anymore.
After a while of thinking things out, I went to my car, and then I was starting to drive along, and I was wondering if maybe going to her parents was going to be the best starting point after all. Yeah, they might not like talking with me for some reason. But that was a price that I was willing to pay to get them to open up.
If Aurora's parents were willing to admit that I wasn't a liar, and that I was really just trying to help, then there was going to be some clues they would be willing to give. The only reason that they did not want to help me was because of the fact that they probably thought that I was going to be no different from all the other guys.
Once at their house, I was feeling that while being here was probably going to be making them feel like I was just bringing up old wounds once again, I felt like there really was no choice on the matter. I was also wondering why they never even really liked me in the first place anyways. Since it had seemed like they hated me just before they even gave me any form of a chance at all. It was like they just thought that I was a disgusting human being right away.
I got out of the car, and then with that, I knocked on their door for a few seconds. I was hoping that they were still safe to begin with. I was having a feeling that if this company had any remote feeling that they were involved in what was happening, then they were going to fucking get killed or something.
They answered the door, and this time, when they had seen me, they were much more willing to talk. You could just see from the look on their face that it was much diffrent from before. Probably because I was actually trying again, which showed that I was not a total asshole who went back on his word.
Scene 6: Drugs
The next day, I was hanging out with Matt, who invited me, and we were at his car, and he was taking out some weed. He showed it to me, and then I was shocked at what he was doing. I was then looking around, just trying to decide what in the world I was going to do. "I mean, come on, you know that you wanted to try it at least once. And in all honesty, given everything that is happening, I hardly care anymore."
As I was looking at the weed, I was finding myself annoyed with the stuff that he had been saying. Deep down, I knew that he was telling the truth. Deep down, I really did want to try it out at least once, and when it was right there, I was feeling like there was no point in hiding it. So with that, I took the roll that he handed me.
As I was taking a puff when I was done lighting it, I was letting it sit for a moment, and I was thinking of what I had gotten myself into. I was looking right at Matt, and I was already starting to have the smell coming on through, which was slightly making me feel embarrassed, but I did not want to draw attention to that.
"Dude, it is always hard the first time. It's okay to just show your younger side once or twice. But Joe, be one hundred percent honest with me here. Do you think that you actually found anything that would even be worth looking into anymore? I mean, for all we know, we are just massively wasting our time here." After Matt said that to me, he was shrugging, and then I sighed at that prospect for a bit.
"I have no idea what I will be thinking anymore honestly. I just feel like whatever the hell I could find is not even worth the surprise. I found out that Steven Small made a construction project, and that he is going to present it to the board meeting that is coming up. But aside from that, I got fucking nothing. And I probably will remain at fucking nothing." I said, sighing at the fact that I was a fucking failure here.
"Yeah, we were probably going to learn that eventually anyways. But is that something that is really so fucking bad after all? For all we know, he could be the only one who is actually trying to help out this town. Although I think we both know that is bullshit at the end of the day." Matt said, as he was taking yet another puff.
"And that feeling of losing everything that we ever tried is why I am finding myself not even fucking caring what happens anymore. I mean, we are never going to be getting what we need, and I think that even trying to discuss all the possible routes going forward is going to just never give us what we need anymore." Matt said, and then he was just shrugging for a second.
"You should be more worried about what is happening. After all, you were the one telling me about how much you were wanting to make sure that Sora is doing well." I said, and I was actually considering the idea of telling him what Sora and I had done. And as I was thinking about this, I saw that he was actually looking happy for once, and I was feeling like I just needed to not say anything for the time being.
"I mean, I am indeed worried. But I also know that if I tried too hard to be looking at everything that could potentially go on, then nothing will matter anymore. And I think that Sora is getting to the point where she literally does not want to hear any of it anymore. So perhaps I need to let her have that." Matt said, and then with that, I was thinking that I could just try and talk more. But then I decided to let it go.
"I mean, I love Sora. I want her to be the happiest woman in the world. And I am starting to think that in order to do that, maybe she needs to be just having a man who doesn't talk about this shit at all, and just totally takes it in stride. After all, we are not the ones going through all the shit that she is dealing with." After he had said that, I slowly nodded, thinking he might have been right now.
"Who knows. I guess that I just like to have things be a simple answer for once in my life. I am sure that you can see that sentiment that I am feeling. I mean, after all, with the shit that Wayside is dealing with on a regular fucking basis, it can be kind of hard to really be thinking normally." I said, and I was wondering what normal even was anymore. If it could be considered anything at all.
Matt was having more of the weed, and he was breathing it all in. "Trust me when I say that at this point in time, if we were all able to have one day where we were not discussing labyrinth, or the things around it, then perhaps that is what we all need." Matt said, and then he was letting me ave another puff for a second.
"Besides I am more worried if something happens again before the summer ends. There is so much fucking crap that happened in the last month or so that if another thing happens, then I think that this summer was just meant to be three months of hell literally created by satan himself or something, to test how we could handle ourselves here." Matt said, and I was laughing at that, thinking he might have been right to some extent.
"I guess that we can think about that. If satan is indeed real, then perhaps this town is all the evidence that people will really need to be going for to show that this is true." I said, and then I shrugged, not thinking that there was much else that I needed to be saying to this idea.
I was then staring out the window, wondering what my thoughts on satan were. I was not sure if I was buying into the stories, or thinking they were all dumb. I mean, I guess that maybe they are not as dumb as I might have wanted to buy at one point in time. Maybe there is some truth to it.
"So Joe, I got a idea, and I know that you are probably going to tell me that this idea is fucking stupid, and believe it or not, that is why I want you to come. But would you be willing to check around the forest with me? Maybe we can be able to find something if we look around for a while." After Matt had said that to me, I was looking at him, and I was thinking that he was fucking insane for even suggesting this.
"Oh god. I mean, I guess that something like that would not be the worst idea in the world. I mean, I have considered the idea as well. But I think we need to be more careful about how we plan to do this. We need to make sure that if we go in, nobody is going to be aware of what our plan is going to be." I said, and then I was looking right at him, wanting to see what his response was going to be.
"I believe that if we are going to do this, we need to do it early in the morning. When literally nobody is around to try and stop us or anything. That way we can be able to find as much out as we possibly could without any real interference." After Matt was saying that to me, I was slowly nodding,
"Do you think that you are going to get all the supplies ready in a decent time frame? We need to actually have people who are willing to support us. Until then, I want nothing to do with this." I said, and then I was just trying to see what he was thinking in his head as I was telling him this.
"Supplies? What the fucking hell are you actually thinking we are going to find in there? This is just a simple scout run. Nothing else. I mean, the worst that we might find is somebody believing that they will find monsters or whatever." Matt said, and then I was taking another puff to think on what he was saying.
"But that would mean that this guy is dangerous, and possibly mentally insane. If he sincerely believes that there are monsters going around the area, which I think we both know is really stretching the suspension of disbelief, then I think that we are going to have to defend ourselves." I said, wondering why I was so against the idea of monsters being real, since it could actually stand a small chance.
"You sound like T.K. when he gets worried, and he hardly ever gets worried. Much to my fucking god damn annoyance. Always taking things with such stride that I want to scream at him that if he keeps this whole thing up, then somebody was going to kill him. Maybe when I get high, I start to lose some focus." Matt said, and then he laughed, and I kind of joined along with this one for a little bit.
"Well, T.K. can be a rather hard pill to deal with one situations, as his older brother, I think you more than anybody else will probably agree with that one a bit." I said, and then after I had said that to him, I was seeing that Matt just wanted to talk for a while longer, but that he was starting to kind of had a hard time thinking of what he was wanting to say.
"Yeah, he can be a pill, and I am not even going to try and pretend like he isn't. But I still find myself having a love for that guy. After all, in his own strange way, he is a much braver man than I would ever be." He said, and then I was shaking my head at this, thinking that if this was true, then it could be a rather big issue.
"I am trying to get him to talk with Sheldon again. According to Sheldon, T.K. is the person that he respects the most, and I think that we need to use that to our advantage, and work with it. But he is rather fucking hard to convince. And I have tried to convince the damn guy that if Sheldon tells us what had happened, then we would actually have some of the answers that we need." I said and then I was shaking my head, thinking that this was something T.K. was passing up on.
"What if you are wrong? What if Sheldon is nothing more than a fucking red herring, and we are wasting our time trying to see what he has to offer? I mean, I think that this idea is something at least worth mentioning." After Matt said that to me, I was thinking of that, and to be honest, that was a situation I would have to run with.
"If that is true, and Sheldon is just a waste of our time, then I would be more than willing to admit that. But I think we both know that something like that is not going to happen. So I think that even discussing the idea of something like that happening is just a wasted talk." I said, rubbing my eyes closed for a bit.
"Yeah, I mean, he spent a lot of time looking in that forest, and he clearly must have found something in there if he is so scared to talk about it. And if we can find what that thing is, we are fucking golden." After Matt said that to me, I was seeing him looking like he was starting to come around with Sheldon a bit.
"I have a feeling that it might be something related to that sister of his, Riley. If we knew what happened to Riley, then what is even the need to find anything else. I would argue that there really is none." I said, and then after I was saying this, I was wondering why he had still been looking for her when it was clear she would never return.
"I feel like I know that name, and that is the thing that pisses me off the most. I know what is going on with her, and I know that she is the key to figuring out what the issues in Wayside are. But I am just missing one damn fucking detail." Matt said, and he was sounding like that anger was really starting to seep through again.
"Weren't you always talking with him at one point? When you were doing all that taxi shit back then, you were constantly talking with random people. I think that maybe you probably have a better idea about Sheldon than anybody else." I said, reminding him of his previous relations, and Matt glared at me for a second.
"I know what I had done. And that being the case, the fact that I did not get the answers that I wanted is just the hardest thing to deal with. I feel like I should have had everything right there in front of me, and then for whatever reason, it all fucking slipped, and I have nobody to blame besides myself." Matt said, and then I was thinking of other plans.
"It seems that we got an idea for now. Going to that forest, and finding something out. Or at least giving it one final real attempt this time." I said, and then I was nodding, now on full game mode for what we were going to do now. I was not a big fan of this situation, but it was better than nothing, and I was willing to run with it.
Scene 7: Aurora
I was thinking about how things had been with Aurora, and I was starting to think about the fact that despite everything else that had been going on, I just needed to put away my emotions, and look at everything by the books, and just see what was actually happening to Aurora anyways. Why she had gone missing in the first place. But despite everything else, I was also thinking about the time that we could have had together.
When I was at her house, I was looking at both of her parents. And as I was saying earlier, the two of them seemed to be much more willing to discuss this than before hand. "So what is your current plan right now?" The mom asked, and then I was looking down, and I was feeling like I just needed to try and be honest with them for a bit.
"To be one hundred percent real with you guys, I do not have much of a plan. I tried to be doing a few things, but it was all getting shoved back in my face. The man who was working with her, that Steven Small guy, wanted nothing to do with helping me, even though if he had cared even half as much as he claimed, he would actually have tried to help me out. Makes me think that maybe he has some involvement in this." After I had told them this, I was seeing both of her parents looking slightly down now.
"I was hoping that there would be good news at this point. Honestly, anything would be making me feel so much better. Do you think that you are going to try and maybe talk with somebody else. We need to have our daughter back, in any way that is possible." After her father told me this, I was not having much that I could tell her.
"Can you tell me more about your daughter? Maybe that can help me out. As much as I do not want to admit it, I do not really know her all that much. I only started to hang out with her relatively recently, and I feel like she did not give me as much information as she should have." After I told her this, I was seeing both her parents just letting me in the house, as we were sitting down in the living.
"She always was out doing something. I am sure that you already know that. But in her last months here, she always seems to be more scared about some of the work that she was trying to do than actually wanting to talk with us. She just kept pushing us off. As if she was actually ashamed of getting to know us." She said, and then I was looking right at her, and I was shrugging for a second.
"Are you sure that the way that she was acting was not just because she was doing general teenage things, and did not really feel too comfortable with you guys? I mean, some of that seems like stuff that a normal teenager would actually do." After I told him this, I was seeing that neither of them looked like they were really much willing to have this discussion.
"At first, that was what we were thinking. But she was telling me about a friend of hers that vanished, and that she was scared about what her friend was doing. And when she had told us this, we hardly even thought about it, since something like this was relatively normal." The father said, and then I was having no idea who that person could have been.
"Honestly, I have no idea who in the world this person was. Sorry, but I feel like I am not going to be the one who will actually help you find out where she was. After all, I hardly ever knew her, and the one time that I was trying to do something, it was failing miserably here." I told her, and there was nothing else to say now.
"I mean, I just asked her on a date once or twice, and the entire time that we were there, she was just telling me about her college goals. Like all the girls, she was always talking to me about a desire to just move out of Wayside, and pursue a writing career." I said, and then I was seeing her parents having a neutral position.
"She never told us what she was wanting to do when she grew up. She always talked about an art commission or some other projects that she had currently been working on. We were proud to be seeing her do something that she enjoyed doing, but that was at the cost of everything else." Her mother said, and then she was looking at me for a bit longer.
"Did we fail as parents to not see what she had been doing? I feel like it might have all been all our faults." She said that to me, and then I was shaking my head. I did not want to hear anything like that, and I was going to be angry if this was the way that they would be speaking to me.
"Don't speak like that. If you really feel that way about how you were as parents, then you just need to look at all the things that had happened. Surely something happened with Aurora that made her have a hard time reaching out to you." I said, and I was really wanting to just not make it seem like it was their fault.
"If you want to go into that room, and see what you might be able to find, then go ahead. You are probably going to have a easier time finding the truth than I will." Her father said, and then I was looking at him, as if thinking that the reason why was really fucking obvious.
I was standing up, and I was heading right to the entrance of the room, where I was wondering why in the world her parents were feeling so bad about this in the first place. I looked right at them and I said "Look, if I am able to find something, I will show you everything that I can. But I need you to understand that you are fine. It is not your fault that she is gone." I said, and then with that, I was walking inside of the room, hoping that her parents were going to actually listen to what I had said.
Once I was in her room, I was already starting to feel really bad about this whole thing. It just seemed like whatever was about to happen now, there was going to be some form of privacy that I was invading. But in all honesty, I highly doubted that she would have really given a shit.
I sat down on her bed, and I was starting to notice how comfortable it was. I was thinking about what was going on, and I was wondering if Aurora was even going to be safe at all anymore. If she was gone, then perhaps there was something going on that was meant to be that way.
I was then looking at her pictures that she had started to work on with some form of scrap book. One of them was from her in middle school it was looking like, and when I stared at it, I was finding it rather strange. Thinking about how mature we had looked and felt when we were in that grade, but then in hindsight, it felt like we were so young, and not nearly ready enough for the world at all.
As I had looked at it for a bit longer, I was seeing that I was in that picture as well. I was just hanging out with somebody, probably having some random conversation. As I was looking at the man that I was talking with, I was starting to realize that this person was probably not even living in Wayside anymore. And for some reason, that was making me feel bad.
Eventually, as I was looking at the pictures for a while longer I decided that I needed to just drop the subject for a while longer, and then I was looking at the next pieces of evidence that I would be able to look at. One of her hanging out with a group of people. The one that I was hanging out with that one time a while ago, who had first started to express fears of my activities, and then there were two other girls. When I was looking at the picture, I was seeing that Steven Small was in the picture, and I was starting to just feel a level of anger growing back once more as I looked.
"Have you found anything at all?" The mother asked me, and then I was looking around, still thinking about how much I was thinking that Steven Small was involved in this, and I was growing more convinced that if something was to be found, he was going to be the guy that I needed to look for.
"Nothing. I don't think that I am going to be finding anything for a while." After I said that to them, I was sighing, hoping that they were going to leave me alone for a little bit while I was making some fucking plans on what I was going to be doing now. So with that, I was pulling out all of her drawers, just desperate for literally anything that could be used as evidence. I needed this evidence as fast as possible.
There was a large art journal that she had made, and I was taking another look at them for a while longer, wondering if there was a minor chance that I could be able to find something there. I just felt like if there was something hidden in there, in one of those pieces of art, then I could be able to potentially show her parents what was happening.
One of the pieces was showing me, and from what it was looking like, I had been hanging out with Matt, and I was wondering how in the world she was able to get a picture of that. It looked like it was a piece that was made about two to three months ago. And as I was thinking about what this was meaning, I had wondered if this was a way of confirming that they had been looking at me for a while now.
Another one was showing a nude photo of her, and at first I was finding myself relatively excited to be looking at something like this, before I was telling myself that I just needed to try and fucking focus on the bigger picture again. And then with that, I was looking at another piece, which was showing her kissing another man, who looked to be eighteen or so.
I ended up looking at all the pictures, and all of her photos, and I wrote down the names of every single person that I had recognized, and the names of all the places that were in the back ground. And as I was looking at all the stuff that I had started to compile, I was taking a long and deep breath, feeling like it was a starting point if for nothing else, and that I would just have to take it.
As I was done writing down all the names, and then the dates that I knew, so that way I cold be able to maybe use those as a reference point, if there was no other choice, I was walking to the front of the house again, and then her parents were getting up, and they were looking at me for a second. With a look of worry in their eyes, I was feeling that I just needed to try and make them feel better. "I feel like I found something to work with." I was then putting the pieces in my pocket, so they didn't go around questioning everything.
When I was out of the house, I was driving on forward back to where Matt had lived. I knew that he probably did not want me to be at the area again, but I was feeling like I was ready to talk with him once again, and I hoped he was willing to hear out everything that I was saying.
And it had seemed like if Matt and I were actually going to be doing some investigations in the forest, the two of us needed to try and be fully honest with each other, and not be messing around with any lying shit. So with that, I knocked on his house again, and then he was answering the door.
"So I was at Aurora's house again, and I ended up making a list of people and places that I had found in her various photos. I feel like these would be a good starting point if we are going to try and find anything else." I said, and then I was taking out the pieces of paper, hoping he would be willing to read them.
"What did her parents feel about you just coming along randomly like that? Surely they were probably rather annoyed that they were forced to talk to you about these things." After Matt said that to me, I was shrugging, not giving much of a damn what they were thinking. After all, they seemed fine enough for me anyways.
"I mean, they were the ones telling me that at this rate, given everything that was going on, they would not try and fight me with looking at all this stuff, and that they just wanted to make sure that I told them everything I knew. In all honesty, I feel like their concerns are fair, even if it is a bit hard to always try and get people to like me." I said, and then I was shrugging, aware that many did not like me regardless.
"Well, would you be willing to show me whatever you had found?" Matt asked, and then I was handing him the piece of paper. "Why is my name on here anyways? I think I talked with her like twice ever. So it makes no damn fucking sense at all." He said, and then I shrugged, not sure what to tell him there.
"I have no idea what she was doing. But I mean, I don't really know if something like that is important. We got something to work with, and I think that we need to just go to all of these places after we are done looking through the forest. I saw her hanging out with three girls in one of the pictures, and I already talked with one back then. But there are still the other two we could talk with." I said, and then I was looking at Matt, wondering what his ideas were.
"I mean, I guess that it is possible that one of them could know more. But you still have Steven Small written on there, when I think we both know that man is going to do nothing to help us. So it is probably a waste of time to even think about looking at what he might be doing." After he had said that to me, I was shrugging, not caring anyways.
"If he doesn't want to work with me, there is always the idea of going to those board meetings. We have nothing to worry about if he is going to try and reject talking to us. And who knows, I think that somebody he knows is always able to talk to us, and just reveal what we are missing out on." I said, and then I was looking right at him, and I was seeing him looking just clearly unsure on what to say now.
"How are you going to actually get inside the board meeting though? I mean, I think we both know that trying to go to one of those, especially when you have no plan, is going to be fucking suicide. Don't waste your time trying to do this." After he had said that to me, I was not really thinking anything of it at all, and not caring at all what he was thinking.
"I don't know. I am just trying to figure everything out one step at a time. If I had everything planned, then I would already be doing all of this on my own. So seriously, get off of my back for a bit. I am just doing the best that I can here." I said, looking at him, clearly unsure of what I was going to tell him.
"I guess that I will look at these, and see if there is anything that I haven't noticed yet. But while I am doing that, you should probably be heading to bed for the night. Not wanting anybody to go around, and acting like you are doing anything dangerous by just being out late." Matt said, and then I was looking at him, relatively annoyed.
"Dude, you do realize that I am legally old enough to be doing whatever I want, and they are not really allowed to try and stop me? I think that is the main reason why Jim himself has kind of given up on even trying to stop me here. He knows that I can do whatever I want, and just mainly wants to make sure that I am not being dumb." I said, and then I looked at him, wondering if Matt was going to try and oppose that as well.
"We get it, you're older than me and do not need permission to do shit that matters. God, you do not have to remind me." After he had said that to me, I was laughing, and I figured that I would let the subject go for now, as I was thinking about what this man was going to do now.
Scene 8: Wasting Time In Forests
The next morning, Matt and I got up super fucking early, and then we were driving to the forest, and I was wondering what Matt and I were going to find there in the first place. "So Matt, what do you think the plan is going to be once we get in there?" I asked, and I was seeing Matt looking like he was finding my question to be rather random and odd. As if finding it to be hard to answer.
"I have no idea what we are going to find in there. We just need to look in there as long as we can, and then we will find out the truth soon enough. I mean, surely you are not so fucking impatient that you are going to want all the answers right away." He said, and then I was shrugging, feeling that he did not need to be calling me out that way.
"Whatever, talking about this is not going to be doing us any favors. We just need to go in there, and take photos of whatever we find. Make sure that we are not going to lose the chance that we have to get the answers we need." After he had said that to me, he was handing me something like a camera.
So with that, we were walking inside of teh forest, and Matt was thinking of something to ask me. "So how much did you enjoy talking with Aurora when she was here?" He asked me, and then I was shrugging, not sure what I was going to be telling him. "Did you feel like she was actually going to be the love of your life?"
"I felt like she was having a chance to be, and that was the thing that was keeping me going. I felt like if I had worked hard enough, I might have been able to make it work out. But I guess that maybe I was looking too deeply into this. I should have never gotten my hopes up at all." I said, shaking my head, and then with that, Matt and I were instantly finding something.
"What in the fucking world is that thing?" Matt asked, and then I was walking right behind him, and then he pulled a small box out from under a tree hole. As he was looking at it, I was seeing that it was a box that had a lot of things that were left in it. "Seems like the materials somebody who went missing had saved up." After he had said that to me, I was checking all around it.
I was seeing that it was a box with various things like a hair brush, a school photo, a old movie ticket, some random clothes, and whatever. "The fucking hell is this woman doing before she left?" I asked, and I was seeing tha from the ticket, it was from 1974. I was shocked to be seeing that it was still readable after twelve years.
"Honestly, I think that looking at this is going to be a waste of time. Not like we are actually going to be finding anything." After Matt said that to me, he was throwing the box down. And when we were looking at it on the ground, I was seeing that there was a number on the side.
"Why is there a number in red on the side?" I asked, and then I was pointing at it, and I was seeing Matt looking like he was relatively interested in what was seen. He looked at me, wondering what we were going to do with that. "I think that we are going to have to be looking harder to find more." I said, watching Matt looking not nearly as sure what to say now.
"I have no idea what we are going to find here. Regardless, I think we need to just look for more shit now. I feel like we are going to be finding a lot more of these as we look along a while longer." After Matt said that to me, we were walking along, and I was seeing that Matt was starting to not look nearly as interested in this anymore.
Eventually, Matt and I were walking along, and then I was thinking of something else to say. "Sorry for dragging you here in the morning. You probably wanted to actually spend some time with your family or with Sora, and I ende dup not giving you anything like that at all." After I had said that to him, I was seeing Matt looking like he had no interest in hearing it.
"Well, there is nothing else that I am going to get out of saying no, and there is a lot that I could be getting if I say yes. So in all honesty, I feel like I need to just give it a chance, and see where the hell to go from here." Matt said, and then he was srugging, as if thinking that this was a clear winning spot.
"And besides, I can see if I can confirm some of my worst fears to be true or false." He said, and then after he had said that to me, I was looking right at Matt, and I was wondering what in the world he was meaning at that. I was having a terrible feeling that he had been talking about the hook up I had with Sora that one moment.
But I decided that I would not be bringing any attention to it, in order to just not get him to be angry at me, if I was wrong about my worries here. And then after I was walking, I was thinking of more. "So Matt, when do you think that T.K. is going to be going along to talk with Sheldon. I think that every time he brushes this off, things are only going to be made much worse." After I said that to him, I was seeing that Matt was just clearly looking unsure of what to tell me.
"I have no idea what T.K. is going to do with that. I tried to bring it up with him, hoping that maybe he would at least put it into consideration. But it seems like when I tried to talk with him, he gets annoyed with me, and acts like I am just wasting his fucking time. And I am not going to try any further. If he thinks that I am not helping, then I don't care anymore." After Matt said that to me, I was seeing something else on a tree.
I pointed up at it, and I was seeing Matt looking up as well, and we were both seeing that it was a pair of shoes that belonged to one of the missing girls. Or at least I was assuming this. The shoe laces were tied in a way that it was stuck to the tree. And with the decay of the laces, it was clear that it had been up there for a while.
"There is another fucking number on it." Matt said, and then we were looking at the number for a while, and I was able to see one part of it. "4" although I did not know what the first part was, if there even was one in the first place. I looked at Matt, wondering if we should have been taking note on this.
"Maybe we should be writing these numbers down. Might not be a smart idea to just brush these off." I said, rubbing my chin, and its non existent hair. and then I was seeing Matt looking like he had nothing else to say to this idea at all. I saw that he was probably just thinking about what we were doing.
"I don't think that either one of us brought any writing materials." Matt said, and then he was sounding annoyed. "We should come back in the morning, and try again when we actually have the material we need to continue." He said, and I was actually considering what he was saying for a couple of seconds, thinking he might have been right.
Scene 9: Burn It Down Myself
I was back the forest the next day, and as I was walking to the entrance, I was thinking of what I was getting myself into. Before I was able to think too deeply into it though, that was when Matt was calling out to me, and then I was looking right at him, and I was wondering what in the world I was going to tell him now.
"Are you going to be going back there?" He asked, and then after a second of thinking about it, I was slowly nodding, feeling that there was no need to be hiding my plan. So with that, I started to nod for a second, and then Matt was walking up to my side, and he was clearly looking like he was actually pretty happy to be at my side now.
"I mean, I feel like we are actually onto something now, and that is the thing that makes me feel so much better. I don't know what you are going to be able to find, but anything at all is going to be good enough. I just hope that you will be able to handle what we will be able to possibly find." After he had said that to me, I was looking at the sky, not sure what I was wanting to tell him.
As we were walking through the forest, I was looking at Matt, and I was wondering what I was going to tell him. "So Matt, what do you think you will be able to do once we get the evidence that we need?" I asked, and then I was seeing Matt looking like he was not thinking too much into this whole thing. Probably just wanting to see where this could be going now.
"I have no idea what the hell I am going to plan once we have what we need. I think that perhaps I might show T.K. what we have been getting ourselves into. Maybe when he knows everything that we are doing, he will know that I really am doing my best to help you guys out." After Matt was telling me this, I looked right at him, and I was kind of fearing that T.K. would just already be on his own now.
"That will be great news if he is actually willing to listen to something like that. But I think that we both know that we are kidding ourselves if we actually believe that he will be willing to listen to any of this right now." After I told him this, I saw him just keeping silent for a few seconds, and the two of us were silent for a bit.
"So Joe, when you find out what happened with Aurora, are you planning on going any further with this, or do you think that you are going to just drop the subject? I mean, it seems lke your main investment that comes out of this is almost entirely due to Aurora. Not that it is really any of my fucking business." After he had said that to me, I was sighing in annoyance at this discussion.
"I have no idea how much I will continue this when I find out what happened with Aurora. Once I find out the truth, I think that I might not really need to be going further with this anyways. After all, you guys are always going to be able to find something that you guys will want me to do. I hardly even have to be looking anyways." I said, and I was mainly honest when I said that. Matt seemed like he was having a hard time debating that one.
"Well, that is what you get when you try to be popular when you are in high school. You are going to have to deal with people who want to know everything that they can about Wayside. This is one of the biggest mistakes that we can be able to unfold in the entire world, and there is no reason to be hiding it at all." After Matt was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, having no need to argue at all.
"Well, I mean, being popular in high school will always be a relatively subjective idea. Considering the fact that it seems like everybody always has different standards on what they would consider to be truly popular." After I had told him this, I was then wondering why in the world we were even having this discussion at all.
"Well, it is not all that subjective when you are at a starting point like you had been." Matt said, and then before we were able to continue our banter match, that was when the two of us were finding something that put some chills down both of us spines. And when I had seen it, I was instantly wanting to go into a fucking rage.
I was taking several steps to it, and then I picked it up. It was a piece of Aurora's art work. As I had seen that, I was feeling a million emotions going through at once. I had no idea what in the world I was even going to be saying now. I got down on my knees, and then I was picking it up. Looking at a bunch of morbid, albeit beautiful, art.
"What the fucking hell does this mean Matt!" I asked, and then I was looking right at him, and I was aware that yelling at him like this was probably not going to win me any favors. He was looking down at the ground, and I was seeing that he was clearly just trying to not say anything at all.
"What are these fucking people doing with Aurora? What are these fucking people doing with the girls that are going missing in Wayside? There has to be a fucking plan, and there is no way that anybody can convince me otherwise." I said, and then I was shaking my head, calming down for a second. As much as I possibly could here.
"I don't know what these people are doing. Honestly, I wish that I could help you. But I think that we are going to be pursuing a lost ghost here." Matt said, and then as I was looking right at him, I was wishing that he would not have said something like that. But deep down, I was feeling like he might have been right about what he had said.
"I am going to be burning the whole fucking forest down. I don't care what the fucking hell excuses people create to try and justify this forest staying. This place is fucking evil, ad we both know this. There is nothing good about this place, and every time I even think about it, this place brings me fucking nightmares." I said, and then I was looking right at her, clearly just at a loss of words on what was happening.
Matt was just letting me finish having my melt down, and I was just rubbing my eyes, not really having any clue on what I was even going to be doing at this rate. But I was really not sure what in the world we were even going to doing. "Joe, are you sure that you are going to actually want to do this in the first place?" He asked me, and then I was taking a deep breath, and I was honestly having no clue what in the world I was going to say in the first place.
"Yeah, I am going to fucking do this. After all, this company is planning on destroying this forest in the first place. So at this rate, what is the fucking point in hiding this in the first place? At least if I end up doing it, I am taking away any form of satisfaction on their side of the plan going through." I said, and then I was looking right at him, wondering what he would have said to that now.
"Holy shit. That is probably the scariest thing that I have ever heard. Because deep down, I know that what you are saying is true. And I know that you are probably going to do this if you feel too certain that this is what you need to do." After he had told me this, I was just having to keep myself calm. I looked down at the number that was on the papers.
"Fifty One." I said, and then I was feeling like that number was just seeming wrong. There was nothing right about this, but I was having a hard time really pin pointing what was actually wrong about this. And then with that, I was wondering if Matt was wanting to ever talk to me again. I probably freaked him out way too much to begin with. "I feel like T.K. is probably right about everything that he had been doing now. I can't fucking blame him for having the attitude that he has been."
Scene 10: Nearly Crying
The next day, I decided that I would just need to be finding somebody to help me calm down. I was eventually finding myself slowly reaching Tai's place, and I had no idea why in the world I was going to his place anyways. Maybe there was something about him, and his dumb ass way of speaking, and trying to just act like he is the best guy in the world, that made me need to speak with him. And besides, he had been there from the start for me.
Once I was at his house, I waited for a few seconds, and when he answered the door, and I was seeing him looking shocked to see me here anyways. "I heard what you were doing with Matt earlier. He said that you did not take it very well this time." Tai said, and then I was laughing at this for a couple of seconds.
"Shut up. I just felt like after everything that had happened, I just could not fucking take it anymore. I just felt like I needed to try and talk with somebody about the way that I was feeling, and that was the only way that I could do it." I said, and then I was taking a couple of seconds to calm down just a little bit.
"Alright, sorry. I just sometimes find it rather funny when I see everybody scared about this. But seriously man, are you actually serious when you were making those threats? Matt actually said that he was slightly worried about the way that you were speaking. He said that he never knew you could be like that." After Matt told me this, I was shaking my head, not really in the mood to hear this at all.
"I mean, I might have been reacting a bit too overly hard. But at the same time, I just felt like I needed to express my feelings in a way that would be making my fucking point correctly. And that was the only way that I could have been able to do this." I sat down, and then I was seeing Tai consider it for a second, before he finally joined along.
"I mean, as much as it might annoy me to admit, I do feel the same way in a lot of cases. I mean, I always get my mind running on what I would do when Kari would eventually go missing. Or even Sora. Once I eventually have to deal with something like that, I have no issue with thinking about the idea of actually taking things into my own hands." After he had said that to me, I slowly nodded at this in total agreement.
"Are you sure that Kari going missing is something that you actually have planned out at all? I mean, that is something that we always feel like we could figure out what we would do. But that is before we actually get there. And I mean, I saw something in that forest, and at that point, any remote doubt that there could have ever been that something was not happening had been thrown out the fucking window. It all became irrefutable afterward." I said, and then I was shrugging for a second after that.
"I mean, let's just try and figure out what we are planning to do now. So we know that something is in that forest. That is fine enough as it is. But we do not really know anything else beyond that. We need to figure out where to go from there." Tai was telling me, and then I wondered how in the world he was even going to help me out in the first place.
"Well, I am tired of playing nice with Steven Small. I didn't mind it when he was still probably guilty. Since when you are probably guilty, there is always that level of doubt where we are not one hundred percent sure on what was happening." After I told him this, I was seeing that Matt was looking like he was just trying to think about what was going on for now.
"What do you think you are going to do when you get the truth out from him?" Tai asked me, and then I was then wondering what he was trying to mean with that. And the entire time that he was staring right at me, I was getting more aware of what he was meaning. And I was feeling like I just needed to try and tell him what he had needed to hear me say.
"Honestly, I have no idea what in the world I plan on doing then. I feel like perhaps I might have to take everything in my power to not just simply kill him right then and there. As much as it might be scary to hear somebody admit it, that is just the truth. I would rather have his blood on my fucking hand than anything else." After I had said that to him, I was seeing him looking like he was just not having anything else to say to me now.
"Shit. I mean, as much as I hate to say anything, a part of me knows that I would probably be tempted to do the same thing. So I really have no right to be bitching about what you are saying right now." After he had said that to me, I was wondering why there was any point in this.
"And I am going to finally convince T.K. that there is no other fucking way that he can do what he is trying to do without talking to Sheldon. I do not want him to do anything besides that. T.K. just needs to finally do what is right." I said, and then I was looking right at Tai, and I was seeing that Tai was just completely fucking lost on what in the world I was even saying in the first place.
"Do you seriously think that this is the most capable thing that he will be able to do? I mean, surely there is more to it than what you are believing?" After Tai was saying this to me, I was sighing for a quick second. "Although at this rate, I am feeling like I would not want him to be doing anything else either besides just that."
"He is too young to be focusing on anything else, and I feel like I want him to just try and have a life outside of this investigation. And that having me doing this is all that I can do to really pull this whole thing off. I care about his well being a lot more than I would want to admit." I said, and then I was shrugging for a quick second as I was saying this.
"Well, if you are going to try and talk to Steven Small again, then I will be coming along with you. And I am going to be making sure that you keep a fucking leash on this whole thing. To be totally honest, I have a feeling that without some fucking help, you could be really losing track of what you are doing. Besides, I do not want you to kill the man." Tai said, and then I was thinking of what to say now.
"Doing the right thing often times takes a lot of courage. And it is something that will always make somebody really stand out as the right person or not. If it gets to the point where killing that man is the right option... No, the only option, then will you be willing to actually fucking do it?" I asked, and then I was seeing him looking like he was bothered by the way that I was asking him that question, so out of nowhere.
"No, I don't think that I would ever have the courage to do something like that, even if it is the right thing. But if somebody else were to do it, I would have the courage to never tell anybody. And I think that is all that I can fucking do. I just hope that I never have to deal with a situation where I would be having that out to the test." Tai said, and he was sounding sincere enough when he was voicing his fears.
"I just felt like I needed to finally see where to go from here. And I think that both of us need to really just look at what is important for both of us right now." I said, and then after I had said that to him, I was seeing that Tai was just looking slightly scared of what I was telling him. "I am planning on stealing those blue prints. And then with that, I am going to just slowly get what I need. And hopefully I will do it without killing anybody."
Scene 11: Campaign Settings
As I was home one day I was heading right to my room, not really in the mood to talk with anybody, but before I was able to leave, that was when my father was calling out to me. I looked right at him, and I was honestly not really in the mood to be having a discussion right now. "Hey Joe, I was hoping that we would be able to talk for a while." After he had said that to me, I was looking right at him for a second.
"What are you wanting to discuss?" I asked, and I was clearly just trying to keep my annoyance level hidden. As I asked him this, I was seeing that my father was just trying to not get too upset with the way that I had been talking. "I mean, you are so fucking focused on that campaign of yours that I hardly think you really care." I said, and then after I had said that to him, I saw my dad looking like he was just upset at the way I was speaking.
"I wanted to discuss what the hell is going on. You are not the same way that you once were, and I was just wanting to make sure that nothing happened to you. Despite everything that you might be thinking, I really do care about you, and I want to make sure that you succeed." My father said, and I was having a extremely hard time buying that statement.
"Honestly dad, you are always talking about your campaign, and you are always wanting to win this race. You hardly even are yourself anymore. I don't even know why you are running in the first place, when you have given literally no desire to do something like this before." I said, and then I shrugged, hoping he would consider what I was saying at least.
"I want to make sure that whatever chance Wayside has of not being bogged down by this controversy can go through. I want to keep this town safe, and in order to do so, I have to drop everything that I am doing. I thought that you of all the people that I know would have been willing to accept what I am trying to do." After he had said that to me, I was sighing for a second.
"You are not going to be able to save Wayside from being bogged down by this shit anymore. Seriously, just telling you right away. If you honestly believe that one person in this town is going to be able to make the difference, then you are sadly mistaken." I said, and then I was hoping that he would not be too upset with what I was saying now.
"And besides, with everything that has been going on, I really do owe some people that I care about a favor, and in order to accomplish those, I need to try and pay it forward by running for mayor of Wayside. And if I get elected, which I believe that I will, I will finally show everybody that there is a chance of sanity being brought back to this." He said, and as he was saying this, as I looked at him for a few seconds, I was starting to buy it.
"A favor? What were you doing back then?" I asked, and then I was looking right at him, wondering what the hell he was meaning. As I asked him this, my father was already looking relatively scared on what he was hearing. He was sitting down, as if feeling like I had cornered him, and I was glad to see him actually show a new perspective.
"That is nobody's business. Just know that I really regret everything that I am doing right now. Everything that is going on is just making me feel like I lost my way. And that becoming mayor of Wayside is now officially the only thing that I can do that will really bring me back in the right direction." After he had said that to me, I was feeling that he was lying as he spoke.
"Dad, were you involved with something that you are just trying to hide?" I asked, and as I was asking him this I was feeling like there was a small chance that I was being harsh on the guy, but I hardly gave a shit. I needed to see what the hell he was doing, and what in the world he could have been able to do to get him to think things different.
"No, that is not the case. Joe, I need you to finally trust me, and not be getting angry at me over everything. I know that it might be hard to really understand what I am trying to do. And I am sorry that I am not able to really explain everything too well. But when I get elected, and I show everybody what this town could be capable of, then I think that things will finally become different." He was telling me, and then I looked right at him, and I was trying so fucking hard to buy what he had been saying.
"I hope that you are telling the truth. I think that if you are, then you could really be doing what is right. I just have to really wait and see how things could change though." I said, and then I was wondering what this town would be like if my father really was the one who was going to fix things. "If you get elected, I will really have no choice but to give you a chance anyways."
"I am telling the truth. Just let me take care of this, and you just enjoy the time that you have with your friends. Don't worry about what is going on here. There is nothing else to worry about. And when Wayside is returning back to the way that it once was, you will finally see why everybody was trying so dam hard to be giving it a second chance. You will finally see what we had been missing out on." After he told me this, I was sighing, and I was hoping that he might be telling the truth.
"Dad, if you are trying to help out, then you need to find a way to give me some resolution on what happened to Aurora. I miss that girl, and I loved hanging out with her. She was the closest thing that I have experienced to a love of my life so far." I said, thinking that it was not a high bar, since I was still only a senior in high school.
"I hope that you will be able to find the answers on what happened to your girl. But to be honest, I have no idea if I will be the one who can really help you with that. I have no idea who she was in the first place, and even if I did, I have other things to worry about. I think that if you are going to find Aurora, then that will have to be your arena going forward." As my father said that, I was considering what he was saying at that moment.
"Fine. I will try and think about that going forward. But I hope that you know that I am scared of what is going to happen. I am not scared of many things, but I am scared of this, and I am not going to try and hide it any further." I said, and then I was thinking that the people who are hanging out with me deserve better than dealing with my idea of revenge.
"Now I really do need to be leaving soon. I hope that you understand that if you ever need to find somebody to talk to, then one of these days, you can just finally open up with me. But knowing how things can be, I am not going to try any more. You have made your view on the situation very clear for now." With that, he was walking out of the room, and I was wondering what it was going to be like if my father really was trying to help.
If he was one of those people, who were trying to help Wayside, and I was only in the way, just trying to lodge myself between what he was doing, then that was going to be my problem. And if it was the truth, and I only made things worse, then I was going to have to convince the others that I was wrong this whole time.
And who knew, I was going to have to try and see what Jim would be willing to say now. If Jim knew more about dad than I did, or hell they were even working together, then I was wondering why Jim has not told me all of these things, and why he has not been just trying to get me to see the positives. Probably because he knew that I would not actually buy it.
Scene 12: The Boy With The Monster Dreams
I was at Davis's place once again. After all, T.K. was mentioning how that man was talking about some strange dreams that he was having, and I was honestly just wanting to see if he was able to help me really learn more about what he had been dreaming, or not. I was just feeling that in all honesty, watever the hell Davis had seen, he needed to just let people know what was going on.
I knocked on his door, and he answered, and when he answered, he was clearly confused at what I was doing here. Probably thinking that it was something related to T.K. and I was already seeing the wheels turning, as if he was just trying to think of the excuses that he would give in case something happened.
"What do you need to talk about?" He asked, and I was clearly seeing that the worst was running through his mind. I was wondering why he was acting like this in the first place. He needed to understand that there was nothing that I was going to do, and that I just wanted to be able to help him.
"I have no idea what I will be talking about in all honesty. I mean, I have no idea if the stories are true, but I want to just see if you can confirm that shit." I said, and then I looked right at him, and then Davis looked like he was at least willing to hear out what I was saying, now that I was getting his attention.
"What is going on? What did T.K. tell you behind my back?" He asked, and he was clearly not too happy with this story. With that, I was just thinking that getting him to not be super upset anymore was for the best, especially if I wanted a chance to let this situation calm down.
"He was tellng me about that MagnaAngemon dream, and he was telling me that you have been dealing with similiar types of dreams. But since he hardly is willing to talk to me about it, I want to see if you can tell me more." I said, and then I was seeing Davis looking too shocked at this question.
"Why the fucking hell was he telling you that stuff anyways? It is not his fucking business to go around and tell people that shit. What are you trying to do with it?" He asked me, and then I was feeling like he was getting way too defensive over something so fucking simple, and that this was a clue to what he was thinking on the matter.
"I was trying to help him understand that if we are going to be learning the truth of Wayside, that he is going to be a key contributer. I was trying to just get him to see what he was needing to do. But he was brushing it off, as if he was annoyed with what I was doing. And I am now talking to you, ready to see how you can help me" I said, and then I was looking right at him for a second.
"So you are basically trying to tell my friend that he might have to die if he is going to be taking care of this mess that other people have gotten us all into? That is a really fucking shitty thing to be doing." He said, and the I was confused as to why he was taking it this way, and I was wondering if Davis wanted anything to do with me now.
"If we live in this town, then it is our responsibility to be looking at these things. I think that you surely understand that, even if for whatever fucking reason, you are just unable to be looking at it this way. Just tell me if you are having these types of dreams or not?" I asked, and then he was slowly sighing, as if feeling like I was getting him cornered now.
"Well, yeah, I have been seeing some things like that. I will have to admit. But I really do not like talking about it all that much. Since in all honesty, I still hardly have any idea what the hell I saw either. I mean, ever since I was younger, these things keep popping in my head. And it scares me more than I want to admit." After he had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, thinking that I would get it.
"I mean, I do not claim to know what you have been seeing. But I feel like if you tell me everything that you can, then I will be able to perhaps let you calm down, and just think things out." After I had said that to him, I saw Davis looking relatively annoyed at this whole situation.
"Well, when I am dreaming, I feel like I am seeing a completely different world. Something that we have never been able to see. And something makes me feel like if this world is real, then something will be coming along soon enough, and invade us. It just makes me think that the stuff that the stories about a monster invasion that I keep hearing rumors of could be real. I know that you are going to laugh at me, but I am just expressing the truth." Davis said, and then I was slowly nodding as he was saying this.
"I mean, I think that you are going to be fine knowing when you think about it that this shit has a zero fucking percent chance of happening. I think that we both know that stories such as that are fucking insane." I said, and then I was seeing Davis just not really sure.
"Yeah, I think that we both know that there is no reason to be thinking too deep about it. In all honesty though, I feel like the stories that I have been hearing about Wayside is just making me feel really fucking unsure of what the heck was going on." Davis said, and then I was feeling like there was no way I would be able to help him at all.
"And then I was wanting to also talk with you about Yolei for a bit. I think that we both know of her fears about what is happening with this town. I think that she has been letting all the worst fears run through her head. And to be honest, given the stuff she was telling me about her parents making a sale, then perhaps she might be telling the truth.
"I have no idea wat Yolei is scared of, and in all honesty, I feel like there is no point in trying to learn. I feel like she has every right to be as scared as she is. If what she was telling me about her parents doing shady deals are true, then I think that at this rate, we need to learn what that deal is." After Davis said that to me, I was looking right at him, thinking that he could not have been more false here.
I did not want him to be thinking that I knew the truth, since I was wanting that knowledge to die with me. I wanted that knowledge gone, and to not even give anybody else a chance to know about it all. "I think that the main thing you need to worry about is just making sure that she doesn't become the next victim of the shiny gentleman." I said, and then Davis was looking like there was no words taht could describe how much he hated that phrase.
"I fucking hate hearing that phrase. It just brings me so much anger. I mean, if we are going to try and describe that fucking terrible oice, then gentleman is not even close to the word that I would be using here." After he had said that to me, I was shrugging, not really thinking too much about that statement at all.
"Well, I was not the one who trade marked it. But Davis, I was wanting to ask you something. Even though I am aware that you probably do not want to have anybody question..." I said, and I was seeing that Davis was clearly losing his patience with the way that I had been asking him this.
"Do you like Yolei? I mean, not as a friend, but as a potential girlfriend. I mean, the way that you have been talking about her, and that look on your face, it just all gives off the idea of love." I said, and then I was looking right at him, and I was seeing Davis looking like he was just upset at this question.
"I do like her. But I have a feeling that she would not like me either. The way that she talks about T.K. really fucking speaks volumes. I am smart enough to know when something is a losing fucking fight." Davis told me, and then I was walking down for a while, not sure what I was going to be saying now. Davis was starting to follow me, even though I thought he hated me.
"I mean, I have no idea how in the world I am going to be able to get you to win over somebody who you know doesn't like you. If I knew that, I would tell you. I am sorry for even bringing it up. It was the way that you were talking about her that made me think that it would be a nice question." I said, and then I was wondering why I was even trying to speak now.
"Dude, I think that you are not really helping me out when you say shit like that. Nobody is going to want to help me anyways, and even I am smart enough to know when something is a lost cause. I mean, at the end of the day, if I care about her as much as I believe, then I believe that I just need to be supporting her no matter what, in her dreams." Davis told me, and then I shrugged.
"For a thirteen year old, you are rather mature when it comes to love. You seem to be looking at things from a realistic perspective. Although I am wondering if this means what I am thinking you are meaning. Are you going to try and get Yolei to go on a date with T.K.? Considering the fact that she probably prefers him, as you said." I said, and then Davis was slowly nodding for a second.
"Yeah, I think that perhaps that is what I need to do. I will try and talk with T.K., and try to really get him to understand how much she is crazy for him. And who knows, if all goes well, maybe by the end of summer, the two of them will go on a date. In a way, I would consider this summer a victory if they can fall in love." After Davis was telling me this, I was slowly nodding, feeling that there was no reason to argue.
"You are more worried about something like that then you are worried about the monsters, and finding the truth behind them? I mean, I can still help you with those, if you really need it." I said, feeling that bringing this up over and over again was probably not going to be what Davis wanted. But at the same time, I hardly gave a single shit.
"I mean, finding out the truth behind them is something that I know that many people will help me with. But the stuff with Yolei is something that I know will be mostly up to just me and my abilities. Something that nobody will be willing to take care of. And that is why I am more worried about her love." Davis said, and I was thinking that this whole thing was probably making it one big love that was just not meant to be.
"I mean, you literally came here, and you were expressing far more interest in monsters than you were in Yolei. I am still kind of wondering why you even brought her up in the first place, when it was clear that you were not really thinking too much about that anyways. But that is not really my business, I suppose." After Davis was telling me this, I was feeling that trying to get him to talk now was going to be a waste of time.
"I am just trying to get to know you guys a bit more. If we are going to work together, then that is all that I can fucking do. And I am just trying to really clam down, and learn if the shit that my father is trying to tell me is true or not. Since he is always going about how he is trying to save Wayside now." I said, feeling that it was no secret that my father was really only caring about the run for mayor.
"Honestly, I don't really trust any politicians in this town. T.K. seems to be liking one, but in all honesty, I feel like he is just the best of a bad bunch. And I think that if we try to make him take care of everything all by himself, then we are all going to be sorely let down." Davis said, shrugging as he was saying this.
"Wow, you seem like you are having some trust issues. Not that I can blame you though, so I really have no right to be bitching about something like that. I just think that you need to be more careful when you are saying these things, as to not get people to be to upset with you." I said, and I was seeing Davis just remaining silent for a few seconds.
"I don't know if you are the one who knows this, but it was my idea that T.K. and Yolei and I were talking to Tobias. I felt like I needed to help that guy in need, and I was feeling that the only way to do this is talking to him. I was wanting to know about that grinding noise before anybody else. This whole operation started becuse of me." Davis said, and then I was feeling like this whole situation was rather confusing now.
"If that is the case, then why are you trying so damn hard to be getting T.K. away from these? If you want to know the truth, then you need to be taking some responsibility for this as well." I said, and then I looked right at Davis, wondering why I was taking this whole thing as seriously as I had been.
"Because I never thought that he was going to be taking this as seriously as he did. I thought that he would have realized how much of a lost cause this was, so I figured that I would just leave things alone for now. But I guess that given the way he is now, that idea was fools gold." Davis was saying, and I was just deciding to remain silent at ths rate.
"I just thought that when I expressed that anger about the grinding noise, that it was going to be a short rant that we would be go on, and then after we were done with that rant, then we would finally just move on. I did not think for a second that it was going to go as far as it did. But maybe that was all my fault for even thinking that way." Davis was telling me, and then with that, I just decided that I would be letting it go now.
"And I feel like that is the real monster. What is behind the girls going missing is a far bigger monster than anything else that is happening with dumb ass dreams that T.K. and I might be having, even if we do find it strange. Which we will." Davis said, and then with that, I just remained silent for a second.
"What will you be doing if it is revealed that there realy are monsters in Wayside? If it is revealed that this is true, then I really have no idea what I will be doing. I will probably just be taking the time to really process if I was going insane or not." I said, laughing for a second, wondering if the absurdity of this situation was something we could actually briefly enjoy.
"In all honesty, even talking about this suggestion is not really going to be worth it, since if we do so, then that s actually entertaining something that I think we both know is just bullshit. Who knows though. After all, like I was saying earlier, I am more worried about more social issues. I am more worried about other smaller things beyond Yolei. Such as what in the world Tobias is up to." Davis said, and then I was thinking about Tobias once again.
"Tobias. How in the world is that even going anyways? I mean, I have talked with Rob a couple of times. But he hardly seems interested in that conversation in the first place anyways." I said, and then I was shurgging, and I was wondering what Rob and I were going to be getting ourselves into if this discussion was to continue.
"I have no idea. Rachel and other people seem to be really into the idea of just not talking to us at all. Every time I have tried to talk to Rachel, she always just talks about how much she feels like we are just taking advantage of her. Even though she did give some things to T.K. when this investigation initially started." Davis said, and then I looked right at hm, curious what in the world he was talking about now, with her giving him some stuff.
"What did she give him exactly?" I asked, and I was seeing Davis just trying to not show some shock with the firm way that I had been talking to him just now. For some reason, asking him that was seeming to get him rather scared, and like I was trying to attack him or whatever.
"Something like Ocho's journal, and a bunch of other momentos related to what Andrea had. But in all honesty, it seems like none of that even matters anymore. T.K. hardly even talks about it anymore. Even though that might actually give us some fucking answers." Davis said, and then I was kind of pissed at this.
"God damn it. Why does he barely talk about that? If Ocho is even half as important as we all think he might be, than that is a really bad idea to just not be talking about those thigs any more." I said, and then I was looking right at Davis, and I was feeling like we needed to just get that information as fast as possible.
"I don't fucking know what T.K. thinks. If he doesn't believe it matters, then there is nothing I can do about that. I just feel like I need to let him make the choices on some matters." After Davis said that, I was sighing, feeling like this was a waste of all fucking time.
With that, I was looking at the sky, and I was already seeing that the sky had been starting to get well into setting. I was feeling like all these discussions that were quite frankly not even going anywhere at all. And seeing that the sun was already setting just in the time frame of this discussion was kind of insane.
"Maybe I should just drop the subject for now. I mean, clearly we are not getting anywhere with this at all. You don't have the answers, and I feel like trying to force you to tell me anything was probably a big mistake." I said, and then with that, I was feeling that whatever in the world we were doing now, we just needed to get back to focusing more.
"I am sorry that T.K. brought up those dreams. Probably sounded insane when he was talking about them. I really wish that he would stop talking about that shit with other people. Always seems to be making a big mystery out of eveyrthing, even when there is no reason to be doing so." Davis was saying, and I was just feeling like I needed to let it all go now.
"I mean, I am sure that he probably had a bad night. I just thought that maybe there was a small chance that he would have known something new. Although in all reality, I do not need to be too worried about that, since in all honesty, he still probably has a bigger clue what is going on then I do. And I feel like it is my failure as a friend that I was unable to really help out anybody." I was saying, and then I looked right at him, wodering what I was going to tell Davis now.
"I mean, are you feeling like you do need to be protecting everybody? I think that this whole thing is more than just a protection effort. I think that we all need to come together and actually realize that we are all supposed to protect everybody else. There is no way that letting one person, no matter the age of previous responsibilities, is going to be doing this all on their own." Davis said, and I felt like he needed to just stop, so that way he didn't try and make me feel like I did not need to be doing this.
Eventually, we were back at the cafe once again, and Davis was looking right at it for a few seconds. "How much shit have you put inside of that attic? In all honetsy, if the police show up there, then everything you have been setting up is going to be totally fucking wasted." Davis said, and then I was shaking my head, feeling like he did not need to be reminding me.
"I already fucking know that dude. That is why we need to do everything in our power to make sure that the police do not have a reason to be looking into this. If they come here, like you said, we are screwed." I said, and then I was shurgging for a second, and I was wondering why I was even telling them anything else.
"I mean, I just felt like I needed to bring it up, since I think we both know what could happen if this gets any worse. And I do not think that either one of us really need this at all." Davis said, and he was sounding slightly annoyed as he had said that, but I choose to just let it go.
Scene 13: I Was Wrong
The next day, I was at Lazarus's head quarters, and for some reason, I was feeling like I just needed to go in there, and see what I could be able to find. I was telling myself that no matter what happened, at least I would be saying that I finally knew the truth. So with that, I ended up leaving the car, and then I was starting to head on inside.
Once inside of the building, I was almost immediately seeing the red headed Brad, and for some reason, when I was seeing him here, I was feeling like my annoyance was being barely contained, and I was feeling that whatever he wanted to say, he just needed to tell me everything.
"Hey, I was hoping that maybe we could talk for a bit, if that was fine with you." After Brad said that to me, I was finding myself relatively angry at the way that he was just trying to be giving off such a casual impression. But then with that, I eventually decided to take a deep breath, and felt like I needed to give him a chance.
"Alright, what do you want to talk about?" I asked, feeling that I might as well just see what in the world he might have wanted to say. As I was seeing the look on his face turn into one of pure calm when I had said that, I was wondering what the heck this man was trying to tell me this whole time.
"I wanted to talk about come of the concerns that the younger group that you hang out with all seem to share in this town. And I feel like I can be able to help give you a different perspective. Just give me a few minutes to talk, and that is all that I really need." After he had said that to me, I was slowly nodding at this.
"Alright, I will give it a go. I mean, I have nothing to lose by seeing what you have to say." I said, and then with that, Brad nodded, and then with that, the two of us were sitting down, and he was looking right at me for a second. "I mean, I just feel like my father has been rather distant. I would be going along with this far better if I knew what my father was feeling about his campaign."
"Yeah, I have heard about that for a while. I mean, I will not pretend to know what his interests are with the company and his run. But the thing that makes me feel like he is really meaning what he says is the level of fondness that he presents when talking about you and your brother. It seems like when he talks about you two, there is something about what you have been able to do that just makes him rather proud. And I hope that you never let anything take that away." After Brad said that to me, I was having a hard time buying it. But maybe when he said it, there was more truth to it.
"I also heard that many people think you are just taking advantage of what is happening in Wayside for your own political benefit. Do you have anything that you will be able to say to that? I mean, I believe that most of these stories are wrong. But I feel like I can at least sort of see their view." I said, and then Brad was nodding at that, as if finding it fair enough.
"I mean, I do not pretend to know what they fear, and I do not pretend to know why they fear that way. But what I do know is that I see that there is a giant threat to this town's safety, and that until these are all sorted away, there is no real point in trying to present anything else." Brad said, seeming kind of upset at this.
"I do not feel like any form of political direction will be wise for me. I never was into those issues when I was a younger lad, who had thought that I was the only hope that Wayside had. But in all honesty, I feel like I can help those who do want to try and pursue the field. After all, we all do have a goal of keeping Wayside safer." Brad said, and I felt like I needed to just find a new way to go at this.
"I heard that you were trying to pursue the true culprit in the cases of those who keep getting killed in Wayside. Many people have a fear that this man could be you. Do you have anything that you want to say to that?" I asked, and as I asked him this, I was seeing that Brad was looking kind of upset at that.
"Many of those people who died were friends that I had growing people. Good men and women who I had fought with since the start, and when I had heard about what happened with them, I was fucking broken, and I felt like I was finally at my breaking point. I would not want anything to do with that." Brad said, and every moment that I was staring at him, and seeing that pleading look on his face, the more that I knew that he was right.
"I have never intended for any of this to happen. This level of fear, and this level of uncertainty to just drag everything in Wayside along. I feel like if I had known that what I was doing was going to be leading to this, then I would have never gone through with it in the first place. But I guess that something like this would just make some sense now." I said, and then I was smiling as I was looking at Brad.
"I mean, I am not sure if I believe in all the stories about this company. And I think that they are still doing many things that I do not agree with. But I guess that if they have been going on for this long, and nothing has stopped them, then perhaps they are doing something right." I said, and before I could say more, Brad started to interject now.
"Even though I know that you are not the biggest fan of your father, I feel like you need to be giving him a chance. I feel like if you know what he is trying to do, then you can understand that he just has a different way of showing what he wants. And that is perfectly fine as it is." After he had said that to me, I was kind of trying to be looking at it that way. I wanted to believe in my father, and I wanted to believe him. But I knew it was going to take time.
"I think that the next time you speak with him, then you really just need to hear his voice. You really just need to actually take what he says to consideration. I can understand that you might be feeling like he is not the best man for the job, and nobody would want to take that down. In fact, he even seems to admit that he wants a better elected person. But that is something that he did not choose. And like your friends say, often times, fate is not something that you choose, and something you have to just rather accept." Brad said, and I was then wondering what I was going to ask him to get him to talk to me about even more.
"Brad, if something is to get worse about Wayside, do you feel like you are going to be the person who can really help bring sanity back to this town? I mean, I feel like you are going to be the only one who can truly do it. If you can express your worries with Shaun, then I think that something can finally be done about this place." I said, and I was shocked in hindsight with how naive I was.
"I want to talk with him as fast as possible. If he knew the feelings that everybody would have about this town, then I feel like he would be much more willing to listen to people. And I think that when I explain where you are all coming from, then that is all that I really need." He was telling me, and then I was slowly nodding at that.
"Joe, you are a smart man with a future ahead of you. You do not need to be worried about what these adults are doing, and what we are trying to say. If you feel like there is more that you can do, without any of us getting in the way, then you need to do it." Brad said, and then with that, I slowly felt so much better speaking to him.
"I really do need to be heading out now. If you want to talk more about this, then I will be more than willing to speak about this. But for now, I need to just see what I can do to help people out. I am not trying to capitalize on fear. I am trying to get people to feel like they are finally feeling better about this town." Brad said, and then with that, he left the room.
As he was gone for a bit after this, I was looking at the table. I was thinking about how wrong I was with everything that I had said about him, and I was wondering what I could have done to perhaps change the way that this town was going to be viewing this man. If I could get the others to see this perspective, they would consider him a valid ally.
I stood up, ready to just go on and put everything else in Wayside into a different look. I was going right to the car, and I was feeling like after I would be meeting up with the others, I would tell them why I was starting to think that Brad was actually a decent guy in all purposes.
I started to drive on back to my house, and I was feeling like I would make my apology to my dad, and see what I would be able to do once I would get him to be seeing things from my perspective once again. Once he knew what I was thinking, then that was all that I would have ever wanted now. And perhaps if Brad was right, I could try and support his candidacy.
The longer that I had been heading to my house, I was feeling that there was always something wrong with these stories. But I had no idea what the wrong feeling was. In all honesty, I was feeling that perhaps I was just feeling that when people hear that Brad is helping Lazarus, they just instantly think that the guy is bad, and hardly look at him at all.
Once I was out of my car, I was heading right inside, and I was hoping that everything that I was going to do going forward was not going to be my worst mistake. I was starting to think that if I was wrong, and I was heart broken over the way that Brad and everybody else acted, then that would be more on me than anybody else, and that I should have just been distant from the start.
Eventually, when I was in my house, I was seeing dad working on something. He looked over, and saw me walking in. Before he was able to say anything, I instantly jumped right to it, thinking that this discussion would be better if I just talked for once, and he let me finish. "Sorry dad. I should have considered what you were saying. I was wrong about what I was saying. Just make sure that once you get elected, you don't abuse your powers."
Scene 14: Tipping Spear
As I was starting to soften up my feelings on the subject for a while, feeling that there was perhaps a small chance that I was wrong about not just the way that I was looking at Brad, but the way that I was looking at the company as a whole, as well as Wayside. If this company was doing its job just fine, and I was being a total asshole for no reason, then I was hoping that this would not be a huge deal anymore.
I was feeling like maybe I could see where Izzy was coming from when he was always helping the company out back in the past. I was feeling that if Izzy was able to thrown off like this, as one of the smartest people that I have ever met, than that was something that I was going to have to accept was a sign that there was something about what they were doing that was right.
I eventually made it to where Rob's house was, and for some reason, I was feeling like I would just need to try and talk with him for a while, and see what he was willing to tell me with the company. In all honesty, I knew for a fucking fact that Rachel and Tobias were going to just brush me off before I could do anything. At least if I was talking with Rob or something like that, there was a small chance that I could get him to open up more.
I knocked, and then after waiting for a bit, I was wondering what Brad was going to do. I knew that he was probably going to be giving a speech tonight, or even something bigger, and despite the fact that I was still having a small level of doubt in my mind, I was feeling that the next time he was giving a speech, I just really needed to pay attention to what he was saying.
Rob answered the door while he was calling out to his mother "Yes, I will be fine. Don't worry about him. He is somebody that I have met up with before." After Rob closed the door, he was looking at me, and I was seeing that there was a couple of questions that he was clearly wanting to ask me.
"In all honesty Joe, what the fucking hell are you doing here? I mean, I will help you as much as I can, but I feel like we both know that there is something that you are going to try and get out of this." After Rob said that to me, I was slowly looking down, remembering what Davis was saying.
"I was talking with Brad earlier. And in all honesty, when I was speaking with him, I was starting to realize that maybe we have been diverting our attention the wrong way this whole time. I feel like maybe we are not actually doing what is right." I said, and then I was looking right at Rob, wondering what he was going to be saying to this.
"I mean, even if Brad turns out to be good that doesn't mean that everybody else that he is working with is. I think that we just need to understand that if we are going to try and open up with him, he will probably report to other people what you heard." Rob said, and we were both looking at the window, as we were seeing that his mother was still listening to our talk as much as he could.
"We should probably be getting out of here, so that way my mom doesn't think that I am just talking about really dangerous shit. Although she wouldn't really be wrong if she was thinking that way." After Rob said that to me, I was seeing him looking like he was just relatively unsure of what he was wanting to say now.
"Are you thinking that your mother would try and stop you if she was aware of what you were doing?" I asked, and then he was looking at me, as if thinking that the question was really fucking dumb, but I was feeling like I needed to just see what he was thinking about that.
"I would rather not fucking risk it. Even if she just leaves it alone, I do not want to hurt her any more than she already probably has been. She deserves better than that." After Rob said that to me, I was slowly nodding, and I was feeling that I would just leave it alone. And I was thinking that if I was younger, Jim would be the same way.
"I feel like when I am done with this, I really do owe my family a long apology. I already apologized to my father. I mean, I got so fucking side tracked on what he was probably doing, that he probably feels like I hate him. I thought that he was probably evil. But if Brad is right, and he is just trying to help Wayside recover from the pain it had been set in, then I have no reason to be acting the way that I had been." I said, and then I was looking right at him for a bit.
"I mean, if for nothing else, Brad seems to be somebody who is getting everybody excited for politics. I mean, my father voted in his entire life, but he was saying that is Brad ran for mayor, he would be voting for the man in a instant. But it seems like since he will not, that these voters will just go to your dad." After Rob was telling me this, I was thinking about my father for a bit.
"I feel that the democratic endorsement, as well as Brad's presence will be creating a giant vote for him. My dad will be mayor. I just have to accept that for better or for worse. I just fear that by the time that he has control of the office, he will only have six years to try and fix these issues that are being presented. And that things are already going to be too far gone." I said, and then I was looking right at Rob, and I was thinking that nothing he would do would really change the situation that we were in.
"I heard about that Todd Robinson guy. Do you think that he could be able to have a chance at all, or that he is going to be dead on arrival?" Rob asked, and then I was shrugging, having no way to answer that in a nice way, since I think we all knew what the answer was.
"Honestly, given everything that I have been hearing about the guy, and everything that goes against his chances, I believe that he should be happy with every single vote that he gets, since I don't think it is a matter of him winning or losing, as much as by how much will it happen." I said, and I hardly cared if I was being harsh. We all knew that if he wanted any chance at all, then somehow getting rid of that controversy of him being accused of multiple murders would be the only way.
"I suppose that this makes sense. I mean, I just feel like there is a decent message that he would be having, if you really listen to him. But that stuff never happens. People never really listen to basic stories. They just want what can get them to be excited. I feel like when I am old enough to vote next time, I will have a hard time really getting interested in it since I know that I will probably not make any difference at all." Rob said, and I was feeling that even if it was wrong to be this far away from the scene, there was no real way I could blame him for feeling that way.
"I never heard his soap box speeches. I mean, I know that T.K. enjoys them, and that people claim once you listen to him once or twice, he seems like he is telling the truth. But I feel like either way it goes, there is always going to be something that I am going to be severely missing." I said, and then with that, I was hoping that we could just drop this subject for the time being.
"I mean, I am almost getting to the point where I would rather hear politics than talk about the missing girls. Because at least with politics, it is just a minor annoyance, and not something that just pisses me off beyond belief. Always hearing these people talk about how nothing is going on. I hate the sheer level of complacency that we have been getting here." After Rob said that to me, I did not really feel the need to be talking about this all over again.
"Well, there is literally nothing that you can do about that." I said, and I was wondering if saying that was just something that he really did not want to hear. I was feeling that even if he did not want to hear that, that I just needed to give him a level of realism, that could be hard to hear, but would be absolutely necessary..
Before long, I was looking right at Rob, thinking that I just needed to finally find something to say to him to be making this whole situation seem slightly less bad. "So I think that maybe we can go to the cafe that my older brother owns. We can talk a about a lot of things there, and we could just really think things out."
"Yeah sure, it might be nice to get away from here, and just talk about various things for a while." After Rob said that to me, I was looking right at him, and I was seeing that Rob looked slightly unsure of what his plans were going to be from this point forward.
As we were walking along, I was wondering if anything that would be able to say to him would be making the situation any different for him at all. "So Rob, can you please just tell me what you are so worried about right now. I mean, I just need some help with this stuff." I said, and then I was just trying to think about what I could be able to do in order to be making Rob think about any other thing at all.
"I mean, it feels like no matter who I talk with, the pieces of the puzzle are all just having a hard time adding up. I mean, I wish that I would be able to have the same faith as you do with the missing girls. But I feel like the moment that I trust anybody that isn't in our age range, is the moment that I become weak to the issues this town presents." Rob told me, and I was just feeling that while I was unable to blame him for feeling that way, it was going to bite him in the ass soon enough, if he had no trust in anybody.
Eventually, I was at the cafe again, and when Rob was with me, I was feeling like I just needed to try and find a way to make him feel at least slightly different now. "Rob, I get why you are feeling that way. And in a sense, I do feel the same way. But the moment that we start to turn down literally everybody is the moment that any hope that we have of a solid group is going away forever." said, and then I was seeing Rob just still looking unsure.
"Do you believe that people are going to actually help you out? I mean, I wish that I was able to feel that same way, but I think that with the way that everybody acts around here, and everybody just talks about how scared we are of what is going on around us, it feels like this would be a perfect time for the shit to be exposed. But it never fucking does." Rob said, and then I was slowly nodding a bit, and I was walking inside of the cafe, and Rob followed suit after a second.
Once inside of the cafe, I was looking at Jim, who was shocked to be seeing me with Rob, and I was feeling like I just needed to try and tell him what I was thinking so that way he did not instantly think that I was trying to start some shit at all. "Honestly Jim, I think that I might have been wrong about the stuff that I was saying about dad. Not just him, but of Carbunkle as well." I said, and then with that, I was seeing Jim looking utterly blown away.
Before he was able to ask me anything, that was when the screen was changing, and we were seeing that Carbunkle was indeed giving off another speech, and I was wondering what he was going to be telling us now. "When you see the fear of the younger people, and you understand that their nerves are being struck like a chord, you instantly feel a great level of pity." Brad said, and then he was remaining silent for a second as the person asking him questions continued.
"I feel that when the younger people need to have somebody too look up to, and you have the ability to do so, then that biggest issue will be if you reject that idea. And that is a responsibility that I will never turn away. I remember when I was a teenager, and everybody I talked with was giving me nothing more than false promises." I was sitting down, and I was seeing Rob looking like he was willing to listen to the man as well.
"That man really does have some good statements. I mean, I understand why dad is willing to take a respect to the guy. Makes me wonder why he doesn't try to be mayor himself though. I doubt that anybody would be caring too much about the age though." Jim said, and while my father being the one behind this was still hard to fathom, I was willing to hear this all out.
"I feel like he might be waiting for the next time. If he believes that people are willing to listen to him, and actually believed in what he is saying, then I think he will run. So I believe that this is him just buying some time." I said, and then after I said that, I was wondering if what I was saying was going to have a shred of truth. "I mean, the only part of this whole thing that kind of puts me off is the fact that he is the right hand man of Shaun."
"And that is literally why we need to make sure that we do not grow to trust this man too much. If you are going to follow Brad, then you are required to be following him." Rob was telling me, and then I looked right at him, and then I was wondering what in the world we were dealing with.
"I feel like if even half the rumors about the town are true, then it makes a great deal of sense why in the world Shaun would not want these pieces of information revealed. He would understand that it would be breaking literally everything in this town. I think that when rationality comes in, you can see where the issues all really start to come in." Jim said to Rob, and I was wondering if Jim was basically admitting that he was just not even willing to listen to us anymore.
"But that also means that he has the right to tell us what the issues are. He needs to tell us what the issues are, so that way we can be able to figure out what we are going to do now." Rob said, and then I was looking back up at the screen, where a young woman who was interviewing Brad asked a question.
"Many people have commented that recently a younger woman who you were in a relationship with, Victoria Moore, had been going missing. Many people claim that this is the reason you are looking so deeply into the truths about this town. Are these claims true?" After the woman asked this question, you could clearly see that Rob was not taking this too well.
"Yeah, that is a part of it. She deserved to have a future. At least that was certainly something that made me realize that there is a lot of truth to when somebody says they are in pain at the losses. I started this for Victoria, but now I am in this purely for the benefit of making sure the town doesn't lose whatever chances they have here." Brad was saying, and he sounded like he was just trying really hard to keep it cool.
"I am sorry that I have brought it up. It is just something that I have commonly heard, and I felt like it was time to at least see if there was some truth to this. Do you have a message that you would want to present to the audiences watching before you leave for the night?" The woman asked, and Brad seemed silent for a few seconds, as if being careful not to walk on anybodys feet here.
"It is going to be a hard road to travel. One that most people will refuse to tackle. But some people are willing to pursue the truth, and understand that justice is a concept that this town has had a hard time following. I will come in and I will change this for the better." After Brad said this, he was adding in one more comment. "Even if it is the last thing that I do here, I will make sure that the reputation of this company is fixed, and that this mystery which has plagued Wayside for over fifty years can finally be put to rest." Brad said, and then with that, he was standing up to walk off, as the woman who was speaking looked at the screen.
"What a strange man. But one that we should all follow. He knows what he wants to do, and he seems like he will do whatever he can to help this place. Although many are wondering already when will he run for the seat of mayor himself. With a lot of years in the engine, many are already feeling that it is time. And that is this nights interview with Brad Carbunkle." And then with that, the conversation was over, and then I looked at the two others in the cafe.
"Alright, I think that perhaps we need to just give him a chance. I mean, for all we know, I could be very wrong in everything that I have been thinking. I mean, I really doubt it, but I am not going to say anything for now, in case if I am proven to be wrong." Rob said, and then with that, I was feeling that it was time to just think about other things.
"I am closing up shop soon. If you feel like you need to continue talking, then go ahead. But I will not be able to moderate what happens here. And while Joe knows this, I am going to say it again in case: If you take even one thing in this cafe without paying, I will know and I am kicking you out." After he had said that, he walked out of the cafe, and then Rob looked at me with a faint smile on his face.
"God, that man seems to always be so on edge. What the fucking hell is his problem always being like this?" After Rob asked me this, I looked at him, and I shrugged, not really having much that I could be able to tell him, since there was really nothing to tell us at all.
"I mean, I do sort of get it. I was trying really fucking hard to be playing the fucking hero, when in all honesty, I feel like something like this was just not going to turn out. I hope that Jim is just able to see that I am really just trying to help out here, and that I want nothing more than what is best of this fucking town." I said, and then Rob looked right at me for a second.
"I was curious what you were saying when you were talking about your father. Already admitting that he was a good guy, and that you were wrong with what you said. It just seems to be a bit sudden in all honesty." After he had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, not really able to fight that claim that much.
"Yeah, I mean, that was before I really listened to Brad, and saw what he was having to say. In all honesty, once I actually started to give him a chance, and actually see what he was doing, I understood why I was making such a big issue with this all the time. I just feel like I was not listening to what people said nearly enough." I said, and I was not caring at all anymore.
"I wish that I was able to look at things as nicely as you have with him. Maybe if I did that, then things would be a lot easier for me to deal with this. But I guess that this is all my fucking problem. I just make a bigger deal out of things than they really need to be, and then everybody grows to hate what I do as a result." Rob said, and then I looked right at him for a second.
"It is fine Rob. I do understand what you are saying. And that is fine enough as it is. And I feel like whatever issues you have, there is a good chance that at least some of them are real. But I just have some fucking hope that I can help out. That is all that I want to do. Just fucking help." I said, and then I was looking at him, hoping that he would buy what I was saying to him.
"I just hope that before long, I finally know the truth of what is happening in this town. Once I get the answers, that is something that I can be fine with. Once I know everything, then I can be satisfied with it. I mean, even if it is something as simple as drug deals, then I will let it go." Rob was then remaining silent for a few seconds longer.
"I can't even think about what it must feel like for you. So that is what I am going to try and keep in perspective going forward. After all, you are doing a rather good job at just not letting things get to you." I said, and then I was thinking that this was rather dumb for me to say. But I was honestly not even caring what he was saying.
"I will help you find the answer. And I have a feeling that Brad will be able to help me. It is a circle that needs to be acknowledged to really work out." I said, and I was unsure if saying that was going to be enough to get him to talk. But I was hoping it would be enough to get him to think more.
Scene 15: Republic
The next day, I was meeting up with T.K. again, and when I as seeing him this time, I was seeing that he was actually looking like he was much more willing to talk for a bit. "Sorry for acting the way that I did. I just have a hard time really buying into this stuff right now. Always seeing everybody enjoying their fucking life, and it makes me feel like I am making a big mistake. You were giving me a perfect walk in to do something about what happened with Sheldon. But then I shoved it away." After he had said that, I shrugged for a second.
"It's okay. We all have a lot to work on if we are going to make this work. The main difference is if people are willing to go through with the effort to make it work. And I believe that soon enough, if we just really our our emotions aside, then the two of us can find something." I said, and then I was taking a long and deep breath.
"Look, if you do not want to talk to Sheldon, for whatever reason, the two of us can work something out. I am sure that we do not need to be having him giving us all the answers. It might be a bit hard to work with right now, but there is nothing to be worried about right now. I think that somebody probably knows Sheldon anyways, and will be willing to tell us what he knows." I said, and I was not nearly as sure on that one. But whatever I had to do to get him to open up.
"I mean, I do want to talk to him. Maybe we can go and take care of that." T.K. said, and then I was seeing him looking like he was having a different question that he was wanting to ask. I wanted to just get it over with, so I asked him what was making him so worried right now.
"In all honesty, I want to know if you are having doubts right now. Just the look on your face, makes me believe that you are having a hard time really wanting to do some of these things. Is it something that you had seen?" T.K. asked, and I was having a feeling that he was not going to be taking no for an answer, so I was wondering if I just needed to tell him the truth.
"I mean, I am starting to think that there is a small chance that there are some people involved with that company who are doing their best for the town. I am starting to have a feeling that Brad for instance is just trying to help everybody out, but we are just brusing him off, and acting like he is pure evil or something like that." I said, and then I was feeling like I neededto go further with what I was saying.
"There is also my father, who is currently for mayor. And I feel like if he was really having bad intentions with this, then perhaps I would have been able to figure something out by now. I am just lettng my anger at this situation really seep through, and I have a hard time actually seeing him doing a good job." I said, and then I was wondering what T.K. would be telling me now.
"Matt seems to be having virtually no hope with our dad right now. I mean, I am sure that he really found something that makes him finally see that our dad has a lot of terrible flaws with him. I wish that he did not have to be dealing with this. I feel like it is all my fault that something happened with him, and I want to try and apologize with him. But I know that he would never accept it." T.K. said, and I was not so sure about the idea of him never accepting it. I felt like that was just a excuse to not even try.
"I still believe it is the right thing to at least try and see what he would say if you apologized. But I guess that I am just saying stuff that you already know. So I am not going to waste my time with this. But I have a fear that Matt's uncertainty with what is happening with his dad is really going to affect how your family will be able to progress going forward." I said, and I was wondering if my fears were justified.
"Our parents would probably find a way to believe that it is just us acting out, and acting like we suddenly know everything about what is happening here, but are clearly obvlivious or some shit like that." I decided to not really say anything after that reply, since in all honesty, it was not that big of a deal.
Eventually, we were at Mezmer's, and I was looking right at him, and I was sighing. "I will cover for it this time. It really is not that big of a deal. But don't make this a constant thing. I have to have enough money to do other things." I said, and then after I said that to him, we walked inside of the resturant, and then I figured that I would ask him another question.
"Do you think that Brad is a good guy? I believe that he could be the one person in this town that I could actually believe in. I mean, I saw him one time, and I had a long conversation with him, and it actually seemed like he had wanted to do everything that I could have ever wanted." Joe said, and then I was wondering why Joe was suddenly bringng Brad back into this.
"Well, if for nothing else, Yolei seems to believe in him. And just because I am not one hundred percent sure if I believe in him either, doesn't mean that he is objectively wrong. After all, Yolei has talked with him much more than I had. Although it is a strange conincidence that when she found him at the church was only a few days before Olive died, making the church seem like a broken business." T.K. said, and then I was looking right at him, having no idea what in the world I was going to be telling him.
We were sitting down at a table, and then T.K. had glanced at me for a couple of seconds, with a ever so minor smile on his face. "It's only been a few weeks, but I already feel so much nostalgia for this place. Reminds me of when I was sitting down with Tobias, and hanging out with Davis and Yolei. Back when we were all honestly thinking that we had a chance to make this investigation work."
"When you say that, is this your way of admitting that the investigation is just not going to work?" I asked, and then he slowly nodded, as if thinking that asking him this question was just a total waste of time. "I mean, I knew that Andrea is not going to be found and everything. But that doesn't mean that there isn't anything else that you can do." I said, and then I looked right at him, hoping that I could get him to calm down for a bit.
"I mean, Andrea is the only thing that really matters, and seeing her gone almost makes this entire investigation fucking pointless. I am on several occassions asking myself if I need to just drop this fucking subject on my own. And with Tobias being scared out of his mind, and my other friends growing increasingly distant, is making this all fucking hard to buy." T.K. said, and then the waiter showed up, and we were placing our orders.
"To be realistic, I think we had gone too deep into this, and that all of the mistakes we have been making are just making this much worse. I believe that at this point in time, we need to understand the fact that the gig is up. I think that maybe next summer, we might be able to do better. Being a year older, and having a year to make a plan, might be for the best." I said, and then I was looking right at him, hoping he would understand what I was saying.
"I guess that I do see where you are coming from. I mean, there is no reason to be so fixiated on this whole thing. I think that I might try and tell my friends about what I am thinking. And who knows, maybe the next mayor will be able to finally fix this issue." T.K. said, and I was aware that he was referring to my father.
"Speaking of which, who is this Todd that you speak so highly of? I mean, you seem like you would actually not even mind if he ends up winning the position, but I think that we both know that he will not get it." I said, and then I saw T.K. looking like he was slightly embarrassed by that question that I had just asked him.
"I mean, he was the one who got accused of all the issues. But I know that he is not responsible for those deaths. I mean, I have a hard time really proving it since people are refusing to give me a chance to show that. But for now, I feel like you need to just understand that I know the truth." T.K. said, and then I was slowly nodding, thinking that he was not going to tell me much more for now.
"But you need to actually find proof if you are believing that he is not responsible. I really do not know one way or another. And in all honesty, even if he is vindicated, there is no way in hell that he is going to win anyways. He has way too many things going against him to really have even the most remote of chances." I said, and I was hoping that saying this was not going to be making him angry to hear.
"I know that. And that is the hard part. There is no way to prove that shit when he is literally having everything set against him. And I am not really going to be wasting my time with this. And in all honesty, I think that he would not really want me to be investigating this as well as everything else that I have been looking at. He probably wants this to be the one thing he wants to be doing alone." As he was saying this, I was shocked at what he was saying.
"I never thought that you would be using that as a excuse to just not be looking into these things. I thought that you would be just willing to check these things out, and not give a single shit what everybody else says." I said, and then I was sighing, and felt like the next comment would be a nice throw at him. "I guess that it shows that you are mature enough to know when something is a losing fight." I said, and then I was looking right at him, wondering what he would have said now.
"Well, I mean, I am already starting to be looking at the idea of just leaving these things behind, and in all honesty, I think you know that there is only so much that I can fucking do before I have to admit that I am just wasting my time." T.K. said, and then with that, I was seeing him looking like he wanted to say more.
"I just feel like I failed all of my friends. I feel like I failed everybody that I have ever met. Many of them were having hopes for me, and then I just came along and just did not give them what they needed. I am so fucking sorry for you guys dealing with this. I should have thought about what you would have all wanted." T.K. said, and then I was shaking my head at this statement.
"Do you really think that your friends are going to just not want anything to do with you? I mean, they might just have some respect for the fact that you are at least trying to be learning more. And in all honesty, even if you did not find the answers that they wanted, you showed Tobias that there are people who care. I think that this will be enough to make him feel better." I said, and then I was seeing T.K. looking like he was increasingly unsure.
"I mean, saying something like that sounds fabulous, and sounds like something that I would fucking love. But I made a promise, and I failed that promise. At the end of the day, that is really all that there is to it. And now that I made him a promise that I was going to make sure that it was not invain, I am starting to think that perhaps I just need some real help to pull this off." T.K. said, and I knew that there was no way that I could convince him to change his mind.
"Why is this idea of promise such a big fucking deal to you? I mean, who fucking cares if you failed a fucking promise? You did more to pull this off than anybody else, and that is going to be enough to probably make the majority of people actually satisfied. I mean, for fucks sake, you are just in the seventh grade, and you are over here, acting like the entire world if your issue." I said, and then I saw him looking like he could not have cared at all what I was saying.
"I do not want to be a liar. It is as simple as that. Every time I make a promise to somebody, and it failed, then I am a fucking liar, and I am giving them false hopes. After a point, I just have to give up." T.K. said, and I was feeling like I just needed to give up on this. He was just annoying the absolute shit out of me right now.
"Just focus on your friends. Serously. Fucking focus on them, and I will see what I can learn. I already have other things that I need to deal with. If you are wanting to argue this later, that is fine. But I am not going to be doing this right now." I said, and then I was seeing that T.K. was just wanting to find more to say, but then he was sighing, as if finally feeling that it was time to quit.
Our food was placed down, and then I looked right at him. "If we do not learn the truth by the end of the summer, promise me that you will drop it for the school year, and that you will wait until summer starts at least." After I said that, I was seeing T.K. slowly nodding at this, as if feeling that could be a fair compromise.
Scene 16: My Own Promise
It was a little bit ironic how I ended up getting so upset over a promise that somebody had made, when in all honesty, I had done the same thing recently. I made a promise to somebody, and to this day, I still feel like I could have done so much more to work it out. I could have done so much more to make the promise feel like it had actually meant something.
I was meeting up with Sora, and to be honest, I was still not too sure on how I was feeling by hanging out with her all the time. I was still feeling like she needed to set her focus on Matt, and making sure that he was still on track to keeping up a good life. But at the same time, I was feeling that if she needed a friend, then I needed to be there for her.
"So Joe, thanks for taking the time to hang out with me. Before lately, everybody was just looking at me as nothing more than the girl that Matt was starting to see. Everybody making fun of me for dating a slightly older guy. But seeing you and everybody still talking with me, makes me feel like there is a chance that I will be able to change my reputation." Sora said to me, and then I was looking right at her, unsure what to tell her.
"Don't worry about what everybody else says about you. If they do not like you, and they think a certain way, then there is nothing that you can do. It is going to be better to just have to be doing what you need to do to make sure you are happy." I said, and then I was looking at her, wondering if she was going to actually believe what I was saying.
"I wish that it was that easy. If I did not have to be thinking about what people will be saying about me for the next two fucking years, then I would not be having a issue. I mean, two years is a really long time, and I do not want to deal with it." After Sora said that to me, I was sighing, unable to fight with her at all.
"I guess that I do see where you are coming from. I often felt that way on many cases. Sometimes I just have a hard time really looking at what everybody else can be feeling on moments. And when I do that, I just always put my thoughts first. Sorry about that." I said, and then I was looking at him for a couple of seconds.
"Joe, is there a way you are going to be able to push through this next fucking year with the memories of what we are doing in mind?" Sora asked, and then I was shrugging, having no idea if there was a way to plan this insanity at all.
"I mean, I have some friends will be able to help me. And I think that having people will be able to remind me of the truth, and make me feel like I am not going insane, is already enough to be making this whole thing slightly less bad. I just feel like I need to have people remind me of what is going on at all times, for my own sake." I said, and then I was looking at Sora, just trying to figure out what to say now.
"Just don't let any of this become a obsession. I always get worried with the way that Matt and Tai talk about it. They take this whole thing so damn seriously, that it makes me wonder what in the world they are going to do next." Sora said, and when she had said that to me, I was starting to see that this was not just a ask, but a genuine plea.
"Are you thinking that if they do not stop soon, that they are going to be too far gone?" I asked, hoping that by asking her this, she would be willing to just talk to me about what was going on in her mind. She looked like there was no proper answer she would be willing to give me.
"Yeah, in a sense, that is exactly what I am fearing. I just am scared that one of these days, they will go so far into this whole thing, that they will hardly remember what their life was like before. I mean, I have given up with trying to talk with T.K. about it. In a way, he has made his choice very clear, and even trying to speak to him about it is just going to be a waste of time." After she had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, and I was wishing that I could get her to calm down, but that was just not possible.
"Yeah, I can try to do that. I have no idea how much I will be able to help. But I am more than willing to do it for you. I guess that you want me to make a promise about it?" I asked, trying to be asking in a slightly playful light. As I asked, she was slowly nodding, as if that was all that she had wanted.
"Yeah, thank you for listening to me. I just wish that I had something going on that could ease my mind a bit more. But maybe I just have to accept the fact that everybody is already trying their best to help me out." Sora said, and I was slowly nodding, thinking about the fact that at the end of the day, this was all to make sure girls did not go missing as much anymore. So in a strange way, this literally was all about Sora.
"Sora, I have a hard time reminding myself that this is about you in a way. I mean, why are you not as worried about what could happen? I mean, I thought that this would be something that you would care a lot about…" I said, and I was feeling like saying this was probably not the best way to go at it. But I was not caring at all.
"Well, I mean, I want to know the truth just as much as everybody else. I would love to just finally get the truth, and then one way or another, fucking understand what people are doing here. But I also understand that something like that is just not going to fucking happen. And as much as I want to know why these things are happening, that is a losing fight. I hoped that you all would be able to see that yourselves." Sora said, and then I looked at her, just thinking of what she was saying.
"I guess that what I am about to say is a sign that maybe I do not have as much hope anymore, but in all honesty, I have a feeling that maybe this is just the way that things are meant to be. And that trying to change this all is going to be a waste of fucking time. And who knows, I feel like doing this all might be putting you guys in danger, and I would honestly rather fall on the sword than have everybody else be hurt for me." After she had said that to me, I was feeling like what she was saying was a punch in the fucking gut.
"Sorry that you feel that way. Just hearing that makes me feel so much fucking worse. You need to understand that you should never be looking at things that way. I mean, I don't want this to become a obsession of mine per se, but you and Mimi do not deserve this. I mean, I have a feeling that Mimi will be safe for a while. Due to her fathers work, nothing would even try to go after her. But I already had Aurora go missing. I am not going to let it happen to you as well." I said, and then I was thinking about the fact that in just a few short weeks, I already care about her a lot as a real friend.
"I guess that there is no way of changing it. Thank you. I mean, I guess that I do see that this is what Matt and Tai are trying to do at the end of the day. I mean, one is my fucking boyfriend, and the other has been my best friend since the fourth grade. So in all honesty, I feel like their entire perspective makes a lot of sense. Even if it can be a bit of a drag." Sora said, and then I was laughing at her in a good way as she was saying that to me.
"I promise you that at the end of the day, everything will be working out fine. Everything will be good. Just take it easy, and let us do what we can. And I am sure that everything will be coming together in the end. I mean, I feel like this whole thing is just extra motivation to be doing what I can to be finding out the truth. If nobody else is willing to tell me anything, then this will be fine enough for now." I said, and then I was sighing for a second.
"So Joe, are you feeling like we can be able to find out everything before the end of the summer? I mean, that would be something that I would really appreciate." Sora said, and then I was having no idea how in the world I was going to answer that one for her.
"I have no idea how long this is all going to take. I think that one way or another, this summer is going to be a rather interesting one. And I also made a promise to Aurora's parents that I was going to either be finding the answer, or getting as close to it as I possibly can." I said, thinking about that promise, and that they were probably really riding on that one.
"What do you think they will be feeling if this promise does not get held up? Do you honestly think that they will be holding it against you." After she had asked me this, I was slowly shrugging, not really sure what they would be thinking of me at the end of the day. And in all honesty, I really did not care what they would be saying anymore.
"I think that they will be upset at me, but will probably forgive me in time. Don't know if it is simply because of that, or because they will be able to see that I did try, and they just will be willing to let that slide." I said, and I was having no idea if working on something, and doing my best, is really going to get them to like me.
"Time is a strange concept. Things happening several years from now feel like a eternity, while things that happened even a decade ago feel like they had just happened." She said, and then I was wondering why she would be so worried about something like that at the moment. But I shrugged, not really wanting to be thinking about it too much.
"Yeah, I guess that you can be saying that. But I choose not to be looking too much into it. I mean, I feel like whatever happens today is what matters the most. Nothing else matters. Just getting this sorted out, and making sure that every day is taken advantage of to the fullest." I said, and I did not care if this was sounding like the most generic shit that they had ever heard in their life. It just needed to be said.
As Sora and I were getting up, and I was taking her to my car, so I could drive her home, she was seeming like there was one other thing that she was wanting to talk to me about. So with that, I steeled myself, wondering what she was wanting to ask me.
"So I heard that you have been talking a lot with T.K., and that you are trying to get him to talk with Sheldon about what is happening in Wayside. I am just kind of curious why you think he will be the one who can pull this off?" She asked, and then I was feeling that there was no real way that I was going to be able to get out of this one at all.
"That is mainly because he had talked with me, and Sheldon said that T.K. was really the one that he respected the most, and wanted to talk to. He felt like T.K. was the safest bet on what was happening here. And I think that I need to be letting him just follow through with his wishes. And besides, I just feel that Sheldon is really the remaining key here." I said, and then I looked right at him, wondering what to tell him now.
"I guess that maybe I would understand better if I was there. I just feel like he probably doesn't really want to get involved in this, and that because of that, it would be best to just respect his wishes. But who knows, maybe something like that is not really possible when talking about Wayside. Regardless, I just hope that if T.K. does talk with him, we could actually get what we need." Sora said, and then I was nodding, feeling like that was not going to be a issue at all.
"I mean, I feel like with Sheldon also knowing who Carbunkle is, he might be able to help us see if Brad really does mean well or not. I just think that at the end of the day, Sheldon truly is the closest to a authority figure that we have at this subject." I told her, and then I was shrugging, wondering if saying this would make things any different at all.
"I don't know. I am starting to think that one way or another, what Brad is up to really doesn't matter all that much. I think that at the most, he is going to be that guy that we keep thinking will matter, but at the end of the day, doesn't really make much of a fucking difference." After Sora said that to me, I was trying to be thinking about it that way. But that was just really fucking hard for me to do. But I didn't want to pursue it further for her sake.
"Either way, I just think that we need to be looking at what we can tell us. I mean, Izzy thinks that something is going on with Needlemeyer. And if Izzy is so fucking convinced about that, then I can be convinced that something is going on with Sheldon." I said, and then after I had said that to Sora, I was seeing her looking like she was just wanting to not argue with me about this too much anymore.
"Fair enough. I mean, I guess that after what happened with Steven Small, where everybody falsely accused him of being involved in shit that I knew he had nothing to do with, then I believe that it makes sense why I am so fucking distant about this whole thing." After she had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, not wanting to take this debate any further.
"I have not been involved in that one for a while. So do we know anything about Small? He just kind of left the teaching career, and he is now even more fucking gone than anything. But who knows, maybe that is just how things are." I said, and then I was looking right at her, wondering why I was telling her all of this.
"I just feel like people gave Steven way too much shit. After all, he is a helpful teacher who did his best to help the students. I loved working with that guy." She said, and I was just feeling that playing along was going to be the hardest thing that I have ever done. Playing along, and pretending like I did not feel like he was a piece of dirt that just made things even worse for everybody.
"I mean, Aurora would have felt the same way probably." After I had said that to her, I was feeling that I might be able to leave it at that. As I was saying this to her, I was seeing that Sora was just looking slightly uncomfortable at the way that I talked about Aurora again in that sense. As if thinking that I was just throwing him under the bus or whatever.
"I am sure that Steven has nothing to do with what happened with Aurora. I mean, that was a real tragedy. And there is no way around it. But I feel that at the same time, he was just a person working with her. Nothing more. So to bring it all to him, and make him the one who is responsible for what is happening might be false." She said, and then I decided to stop.
"I just want to bring her back home, and I do not know how something like that is going to be done. I feel like at the end of the day, she was the first women that I felt anything for, and that is the thing that really just makes it hard to deal with." I said, thinking that I could leave it there.
"Do you think that you and Aurora would have lasted long term if you were still talking? I mean, I think that this is really the main question." Sora said, and then I was looking at her, and I was wondering what in the world I was going to tell her. I was feeling that this question was going to be kind of hard to answer.
"I have no idea what she would have been feeling later on. And that is fine. I mean, surely that is not really something that I am needing to focus on too much." After I had said that to her, I was looking at Sora, hoping that she would see what I was saying now.
"Sorry that I asked. I just felt like I needed to see your perspective on the thing. I guess that it really does not matter too much though. After all, she is a still a victim to this issue. And that is the main thing that we need to be looking at." Sora said to me, and then with that, I was seeing her looking like she was a little bit scared on what to say.
"Don't worry about it. You have a right to ask questions. I just feel like sometimes, when I look at what is going on here, I have a hard time just looking at reality a bit. So I am sorry about that." I said, and then I was looking right at her, and I was wondering if saying anything like this would be getting her to be more open with me.
Eventually, I pulled up at her house, and I was looking at her. "I promise that no matter what happens, I will look strictly at the facts, and nothing else. I will not let this turn into a giant obsession, and I will do everything that I can to keep you safe. Yes, that is a big promise. But sometimes, big things need to be said to make it clear." I said, and then after I had said that to her, I was shrugging, feeling that by leaving it there, that was going to be fine there.
"Thank you Joe. I mean, I know that I was being a bit hard. And I know that this is something that you are just trying to get through yourself. So that is something that I can deal with. But I understand that at the end of the day, you are just a good guy who is being thrown into this shit." Sora said, and I laughed at good guy. If she was wanting to say something like that though, I was not going to protest. I thanked her a good night as she was heading off, and I was wondering what I was doing now.
Scene 17: Reunions
I was feeling that with the situation that I was now in, I just needed to make the most of it, and just not be making a issue out of the small things anymore. And I was also feeling that if we were going to be finding out the truth, the two of us needed to just put everything aside, and then focus on what was ahead of us.
And due to the fact that Sora and the others were showing that they needed my help, and that they were no longer just going to try and hide from it, I was feeling that I might as well just see what I might be willing to find if I looked around for a while longer. Although the one thing that I was worried about, was if there was going to be some warnings that other people would have given me that I would not listen to, and it would be biting me in the fucking ass.
I eventually was getting up to the attic that I was going to call the others to meet me at when Jim was calling out to me. I looked at him, wondering what he was going to try and say now. "Hey Joe, I know that I was really rude before, and that I was just trying way too hard to be placing my own ideas onto you. I thought that I was helping you. But I am starting to see that I am doing the exact opposite, and that you are doing the right thing." After he had said that to me, I was wondering if he was just saying this to make me not angry at him anymore.
"I mean, I think that when I see you doing all those things, it is just a reminder of how much I failed when I was younger. But that is fine. I need to accept the fact that I was not cut out for this shit honestly, and that you are doing a good job redeeming the situation that I am in." After Jim said that, I felt like I could at least try and make him feel better.
"If it helps you at all, I would want you to know that I never would have been doing this investigation if it were not for the other people that I have been hanging out with. They are wanting to know all of this stuff, and I have no choice but to follow through with that, if I want to be a good friend." I said, looking at Jim, hoping that 'good friend' would be able to resonate with him a bit more.
"A good friend. That is nice to hear. Well, I mean, I would not want you to throw that stuff away, and especially not over me being a fucking over the top scared brother who does not see that everybody is just doing what they feel is right." Jim said, and I was wondering what I was going to tell him now.
"Joe, what are you planning on doing when you meet up with them? Are you going to try and take over the operation? They are going to need a leader." After he had said that to me, I was looking at him, and I was not really thinking that something like that would be my cup of tea.
"I know that I am older than the others, but in all honesty, I do not think that I can be leader. I would be fine with being a coordinator though, which I guess would be like vice leader. I think that Matt would probably be better suited for it than me. He seems to be the most level headed out of the bunch." I said, and then with that, I was finally up at the stairs again, and I was looking at the mess of evidence that had been gathered up, and how I needed to pull it all together.
"I guess that something like that would matter. Just good luck. And if you ever do need something to help you out, there is always me. I will do whatever I can to make a difference." After he had said that to me, I was slowly nodding, and I was feeling like I just needed to let him have his moment. He was just trying to help me out, and I was feeling like I would be a asshole for doing this.
"I will keep that in mind. But until then, I need to get this mess cleaned up." I said, and then I was looking right at him, wondering what he would say to that. He simply shrugged as I was walking off, and then with that, I was leaving them alone, and then I was just feeling like I needed to put it all in some form of stack, and make it a coherent collection. I knew that my father was running for mayor, and I was coming around to it. But I was still feeling that this was just a contribution, rather than an attempt to over throw.
As I was working on it for a hour or two, I was just really not thinking too much about what was happening around me. Perhaps by talking with more of the team, I would see what they were thinking of the situation. And besides, I was thinking that there was some things that I needed to clear up with them. I was feeling that in all honesty, I was just needing to talk with Matt, and just see what he was thinking about my closeness with Sora.
After I did an hour or two of cleaning and sorting the evidence, I left the room, and then I got in my car, and I did not even need to speak with Jim this time. Knowing that he was finally no longer going to be on my case anymore was enough to get me to calm down, and feel better about what I had been doing.
I eventually reached Matt and T.K.'s house, and I was wondering what in the world I was going to be telling them. I was scared of what they were going to say when they saw me here. And to be honest, I was scared of which one was going to respond, as that would require me to change my strategy.
Once I knocked on the door, I was wondering why in the world I was even going to be worried about what T.K. would say about me. He was probably already making his mind up on me, and to be honest, he probably liked me more than Matt did. But for some reason, I was just feeling that having Matt talk with me would be more important to ease the tension of what was going on.
Matt opened up the door, and I was just seeing that like usual, he was looking tired as all hell, and I was wondering if he needed to talk. "Hey Joe, how are you today? Was there something that you were wanting to plan?" Matt asked, and hearing the way that he was asking this made it seem like he was not very interested in the details of these discussions all that much.
"Nothing much. I just wanted to make sure that you were good. And I felt like after all this time, it was time to just sort of clear some things up for a bit." I said, and then I looked at Matt, and I was hoping that he was going to actually hear what I was saying, and not be super upset.
"What is going on?" He asked, seeming unbiased enough, and I was heading to my car, and Matt was coming along with me. I was wondering. "I feel like there is a lot of stuff that we need to be working on, and that getting upset over small things is not going to be doing anybody any favors at all." Matt said, and I was trying to see what he was saying.
"Well, I just was wondering how you and Sora were doing. I just want to make sure that you guys do not let certain things drag along the way. Because in all honesty, I just get worried about if you guys are going to be in a good relationship or not." After I had said that to him, I saw Matt looking like he was just not seeing what I was saying at all.
"I am doing well with her. It's fine. I know that you have been hanging out with us a lot lately, so you know how things are going." Matt said, and then I was feeling like saying this was going to be a waste of time. So with that, I just decided to drop the subject, feeling that I would instead focus on the investigation that he was having with his dad and the radio station.
"Never mind. I think that there are more important things to talk about anyways. Such as what you were doing with your fathers radio station job. I am still just trying to figure it all out. So you ended up meeting Mimi that way. I got that part. But when I try to talk with Rob about it, he just seems like he wants nothing to do about it." I said, and then Matt was sighing, as if wanting nothing to do with this talk.
"Dude, the guy is trying to do his own things. He does not need to be worrying about us right now. I just do not want to talk about it too much. I am more curious about what you were doing in the forest. Were you serious when you were saying that you were wanting to burn the whole fucking thing down?" After he had asked me this, I looked right at him, shocked that he was turning this to me.
"I mean, I might have been saying something that I would not actually do. But at the moment, I was too upset to fucking care what anybody was thinking. I mean, for gods sake, everything that seems to be going all traces back to that forest, and destroying it will at least give us something." I said, and then I was looking right at Matt, and I was wondering if he was wanting to go with it.
"I guess that making sure that we never have to deal with that shit might be nice. But I just have a horrible feeling that if we do that, then whatever chance we will have had to get just a little bit more information will be thrown away." Matt said, and then he was shaking his head, as if finally getting it in his head that this level of uncertainty was wrong.
"I just feel like there is more that we can find there. So do you think that we should head inside?" After he asked me this, I slowly nodded, feeling that there was no other reason to be fighting this. So with that, I was starting the car, and we were driving along, and I was hoping that Matt would not be upset with the dancing I had with Sora.
"I mean, T.K. is probably going to be in there today. He was talking about that with me earlier today. If we run into him, then I would like to see him. But I am not going to get in his way anymore. I feel like by getting in his way, I am making it worse for him." Matt told me, and I was feeling like T.K. was the only reason we were going in there.
"Does he have somebody at his side, who will help him out?" I asked, thinking that if T.K. had nobody, then that was going to be enough reason to just get in his way again. But if he had even like Tobias or something, then I would be more than willing to just drop it.
We parked the car, and got out, and once again, I was back in the area of the town that I wanted the least to do with. For some reason, I was feeling that every time we would be in here, then everything would just be going to shit, and that it was all just going to be one big fucking hassle to handle.
"Look, I understand that you do not enjoy going in this forest, and that it is the last thing that you want to be doing right now. But the thing is that we would be stupid to be passing up on this, and that we just need to see what we can fucking find here. If you feel like you do not want to handle what could be happening with Aurora, then I would not blame you. But sometimes emotions have to be thrown away for the job." Matt said, and I was feeling that him saying this was rather fucking business like. But I did not say anything about it.
"Matt, I think this all goes beyond anything else that is going on with me and Aurora. The fact that the answers have been here this whole time, and we are just brushing it off, and never going along to check it all out, just feels like a really fucking bad idea." I said, and then I was shrugging, hoping that saying this would get him to consider what I said.
"I feel like I am also wasting my summer, when I am always coming in here, and seeing what I might be able to find. There are so many other places to look at, and I am here just fucking around like nothing else mattered at all." I said, and I was feeling that the idea of wasting summer was really no longer a issue at all.
"I mean, I feel like we can certainly say that this is not a traditional summer, I will grant you that." Matt said, and I was thinking about what I was going to be saying to T.K. if he was going to be seen with Tobias in this forest. If the two of them were going to be here, I might as well just work with him for a bit.
"Do you think that Ocho will be here as well? I mean, you said that he really started to take this investigation much more seriously after Andrea had been found. I wonder if he blames himself for what happened to Andrea. I mean, there would be no fucking reason to do that. But you never know what people might be thinking when dealing with grief." I said, and then I was shrugging, just thinking that talking like this about a man I hardly knew was probably not too fucking smart.
"I doubt it. He has been busy working in his room on something. I have a bad feeling about what it will be though. I think he really was telling the truth when he was saying that he was to invade the company building. I mean, that idea sounds insane, but I don't know." Matt said to me, and I was wondering what to say to this.
"So I know that Ocho is your best friend, and that you are scared for him. Do you think that you can be able to get him to see where you are coming from? He is a good guy, from what I hear, and he does not need to throw his life away because of this investigation, as hard as it might be for him to see." I said, and then I was looking at him, wondering what to say now.
"I think he does understand where I am coming from, but that he hardly even cares anymore. He is dead set on what he is doing, and that is something that I have made my peace with. I just think that if he is going to do this, he needs to let me in on it now. After all, Izzy told me recently about a time when he helped him go inside of a crystal cave or whatever." Matt said, and then I was looking right at him, wondering what in the world that would lead to.
"So he trusts Izzy more than he trusts you. I mean, I do not want to be that guy who gives bad news, but I think that this fact kind of is something you need to just think about for a bit. He might be worried about how you will handle these things if you try to get yourself involved." I said to him, wondering if he would see what I was saying.
"I mean, Izzy might have just happened to be in the right area at the right time. You do not know what logic went into Ocho choosing him. But regardless, I feel like I can respect what Izzy was able to do. And that was the fact that he was able to get Ocho at least willing to speak. And that is what matters the most." After Matt was saying this, I wondered if he was genuinely feeling this way or not.
"Sorry for asking. I just feel like if I was the one dealing with this situation right now, I would be thinking every single possible situation out right now. I just feel like whatever Ocho is feeling, we just need to really see what he wants to say." I said, and then I was shrugging as I had said that.
Eventually, the two of us were seeing T.K., and Tobias hanging out in the forest, as they were just sorting things out. I was looking right at Matt, and I was wondering what in the world I would be saying now. "If you want to see them, this is your chance to do so." I said, feeling that I would make it his choice now. I probably did not even need to ask as Matt was already on his way.
Scene 18: Four Young Males
When Matt was with them, I was feeling that I just needed to make sure that nothing else happened with them. I was having a feeling that if we were not careful enough, we could be getting in a lot of trouble. And I was not really in the mood to be dealing with people trying to see what in the world we were doing. "Alright guys, I don't mind if you guys talk and all that, but we need to just make sure that we are on a decent time. After all, we do not know who might be here." I said, hoping that I could get them to be smart for a bit while having their discussion.
"T.K., how are you and Tobias doing right now?" Matt asked, and I was feeling like this question was not going to be doing anything besides making T.K. feel uncomfortable, and feel like he was being attacked. "Joe and I were here, tyring to see if there was something in the forest that we might have missed."
"So you are also interested in what is going on here? Not that this is too surprising. I just hope that we can be able to work together, considering the fact that we are here now." After T.K. said that to us, I was seeing that Tobias was looking like he was thinking of what we could do since we were in the same area now.
"Do you want to help out?" After Tobias asked us this, I was slowly nodding, feeling that if we were going to work together, we might as well just get the planning done with, and not be having a level of bitterness with each other. "I just have a feeling that there might have been something that we were missing, and I just want to see what we can find."
"Did Andrea ever come here often?" I asked, feeling that I might as well just try and help the discussion out a bit, and not have them all be going round and round, as if they were all a bunch of fucking idiots or whatever. As I asked this, Tobias was slowly shrugging, as if having no idea what to say.
"I feel like she must have come here at least once or twice. After all, she was a bit more adventurous once Ocho started to hang out with her. There is no way that they did not come here at least once." After Tobias said this, I was then looking at T.K., and I was seeing him consider some things.
"Hey, you seem like you might know something?' I asked, and I was not wanting to be throwing him under the bus. But I was thinking that we just needed to have him giving us some ideas here.
"I mean, like I mentioned that one time, I think that the best way to know what Andrea was doing is to read that journal again. But I have been considering handing it back to him, since he might feel the need to write in it further." After T.K. said that to us, I was feeling that this idea was going to ruin whatever chance we had of making this work.
As we were thinking for a bit longer, and I was getting increasingly sure that whatever T.K. was thinking we could do would be turning out against us, I was just finding myself wondering if perhaps I was just going to have to find a way around this myself. "T.K., if you honestly believe that are going to find the answers from that journal, then I think that you need to be keeping it away from Ocho from now."
"But why? It is his personal property, and he should be allowed the right to have it back. I think that we just need to be thinking about what he would want before we fucking just use it as a fucking bible on what we are supposed to be doing." T.K. said, and then Matt was then starting to jump in, probably because he was seeing what we were both saying.
"Look, arguing about what happens to my friends journal is not going to be helping us out. We are in the forest right now, and he is nowhere to be seen. We just need to talk for a bit about what we are going to do now. I will ask him if he wants the journal back the next time that I hang out with him." Matt said, and then with that, we were slowly nodding, willing to just let the subject go for now.
"Alright, yeah, Matt is right. Arguing about it now is not helping us. And besides, I feel like there are more important things to worry about than his journal. The biggest thing we need to worry about is just finding out what we are going to do now." T.K. said, and then he was looking at Tobias, as if feeling like his thoughts mattered the most here out of them all.
"So, we have been here for a couple of hours now, and we have not gone any closer to finding out the truth about what is happening here. Even with this place being so big, it is still a fucking metropolis, it feels like." T.K. said, more just sounding annoyed than anything else as he was saying this.
"Matt, I heard Rob telling me that you went up to the broadcast station, and that you saw some stuff in your fathers office. What did you find there, exactly?" Tobias asked Matt, and then he was probably feeling like that was way too personal of a question for him to be asking.
"Irrefutable proof that my dad not only knows about these monsters that people are talking about, but has been complacent with them, and has not really had any desire to change the direction on what is happening with them. And when I saw that, I just felt very sad about what was happening." After Matt said that to Tobias, I was seeing T.K. looking like he was also feeling slightly worse here.
"I mean, I know that you are not wanting to admit this probably, but if he knows this stuff, then I think that we just need to be looking at what he can be able to show us if we look deeper into it. I mean, my cousin is gone because of this. If monsters, as crazy as it sounds, are behind it, then I want to know as much as possible as I can." After Tobias said that to Matt, I saw him looking like he was sort of seeing what he was saying.
"Yeah, nobody really has to try that hard but bring that up when they are trying to get me to be seeing their perspective. Okay, fine. You made your point here. Let's just see what I remember about that place." Matt said, and then Tobias was shaking his head, as if feeling like that was not enough.
"I want more than that. I want to actually go in there, and see what in the world is actually in that office. If you can do that for me, then you will be a hero." Tobias said, and then I was finding his definition of hero rather loose, but I decided not to argue with it.
"I would not be calling myself a hero, but I will be willing to fucking take it." Matt said, and then I was laughing at the way that he had reacted to this. As if thinking that the idea of being called a hero was the last thing that he wanted to deal with in general.
"But if you honestly believe that for whatever reason, finding out what my father is doing is going to be able to help with knowing what is going on with Rachel, then I can take it." Matt said, and then with that, we started to continue our walk in the forest.
"Hey Tobias, why don't you tell me more about yourself? And I mean like you as a regular old person. Nothing related to the investigation. That is something that only has taken the last few weeks of our life after all." I said, and then I was seeing Tobias looking like he was shocked at the way that I was asking.
"There is nothing very interesting about me. I am just somebody who was trying to be popular back in school, before this happened. I was thinking that I deserved it better than anybody else for some reason. I don't know, I think that I let that idea run through my head." Tobias was telling me as he was shrugging.
"Do you feel like popularity even matters anymore? I mean, I guess that everything that is going on might be putting that in a new perspective." I said, and then he was shaking his head, as if finding the idea utterly insane.
"Popularity is the least of my concerns now. I mean, maybe when I actually get back to school, I might think differently. But as of right now, I have no idea why that was something that I thought so fucking much about." Tobias said, and he was just seeming to be rather sincere about what he was saying.
"Do you think that if none of this ever happened, then you would have gotten the popularity that you had wanted?" I asked, and then Tobias shrugged, as if finding it a bit hard to be thinking of a proper answer to something like that.
"I mean, I could have. I was already having some people talking with me for a bit. They were seeming nice enough. So I think that I might have had a chance if things went by normally. But if I was popular, then I would not have known which ones of my friends were actually going to be important." After Tobias said that to me, he was looking at T.K., thinking that there was no need to go any further than that with his point.
"And besides, as much as I never thought that I would say it, something is nice about getting to know Gumball a bit. I mean, I don't know why I had something against him back then. But I feel like I might have been judging him wrong. He is a nice guy really. Sure, he might be a bit strange, and hard to talk with, but there is nothing wrong with him."
"I mean, he does seem to be a bit socially odd from what I have heard. I mean, it does make some sense why you might not have wanted to see him first." I said, trying to give him some slack. But then with that, Tobias was thinking about something else.
"Something about his parents are still a bit off to me. I feel like half the issue is with them. They do actually give me the creeps, and I feel like there really is something going on with them that they are hiding. As if they are just hiding a fucking agenda." Tobias said, and I was looking at T.K., wondering what he would be saying about this.
"Do you think that Gumball's parents are a bit off?" I asked, and then he was shrugging for a second, as if having no real nice way to be putting it, so silence was going to be the way that he would go with this discussion.
"I mean, I really am trying hard not to judge, but I do see what Tobias is saying on this one. And I think that with the way that people act, it can sometimes leak into what their children are like. But who knows, Gumball seems to also be thinking something relatively similar as well." T.K. said, and then he was leaving it at that.
"I feel like they are probably aware that it is only a matter of time before Gumball starts doing things his own way, and that they are scared about what he will be like when he finally no longer hides behind anything. So I think that maybe they are just trying to keep their influence on him for as long as possible." Tobias said, and I was feeling like I might as well leave it at that for now.
"I don't think I have ever met this Gumball. I heard Mimi talking about him once or twice though, but none of what she was saying was making any sense, and I was having a hard time really following what was happening." Matt said, and I was slightly shrugging at this statement.
"But I think that despite everything else, Gumball is not very high on my list of people who are most likely to find the major break through on what is happening. I like him more than I did once, but I have to be honest." Tobias, and then I was laughing, just thinking that I would leave it alone.
…
Once we were done in the forest, when we all had decided that it would not be doing us any favors while being in there, cold and upset, we were sitting down and having a pizza dinner. "Look Tobias, I know that it is incredibly hard for the situation with Andrea. And I think that it is a really great thing that my brother is taking such a huge part in making sure that there is a chance she returns." Matt said, and he was seeming sincere enough as he had said that.
"It took a lot of convincing, and I was not super for it at first, but I figured that the worst that could come out of him helping me out is that we turn out to both waste our time. And something that Ocho said to Rob one day after she had gone missing early one resonated with me." Tobias said, and I was now wanting to know.
"He told Rob that there is no reason to turn down any help. If the person offering turns out to be evil or dumb, then the truth would be revealed, but that in most cases, the situation could not get any worse than it already had been, so we might as well just see what we could get here." After Tobias said that, I was slowly nodding.
"So I hear that Ocho had bene involved with trying to figure out what was going on in Wayside long before any one of us were into it. I heard that some people believe that his interest in the subject is what possibly led to Andrea going missing in the first place. Do you believe that idea?" I asked, and I was just feeling like I needed to at least suggest it.
"I mean, it could be true. But the thing that makes me feel different is that Ocho was not very open about it before she went missing. He only talked with friends about it before, and therefore, there is no reason to believe that he is at fault here." Tobias said, and then Matt slowly nodded at it.
"Yeah, I mean, he brought it up sometimes before Andrea went missing. But in my time hanging out with him, it was only like once a month or something. It was not a subject that he was constantly talking about. It is only with recent events that it seems that way." Matt said, and then I was looking at Tobias.
"I mean, I wanted to blame him when she had gone missing. I wanted to blame him so badly because doing that would have made things so much easier. But deep down inside, when I am able to look at it more realistically, I know that this is not the truth. I just feel like when he did all this stuff, I was more upset that the answer was not found yet that I started to be thinking of ways to blame him" Tobias finished, and I was wondering why everybody would think it was him.
"I think that if Ocho was behind it all, things could have been let out by now. That is the other thing. He is not very good at hiding what his motives are. Which can be great for people like us. But it is terrible for everybody else. If he wanted to be a secret, then he should have never started." Matt said, and then at that, there was a moment of silence here.
"Yeah, that is a good point. Regardless, I feel like the main motive behind what I am doing now is more for when Rachel goes missing. And I have accepted the fact that she will at some point. Once she is gone, I want to just jump right to it, and see what I can do to get her out of this situation. Every single fact that I could get will be a start that I be able to take advantage of more than if I just sat on my ass all day." Tobias was saying, shrugging, as if thinking this was super obvious.
"Rachel. I wish that I had taken some more time to get to know her a bit better. All that I was doing was hanging out with Ocho and his friends. I think I honestly know more about Andrea than I do Rachel, and that is still taking into account the times I have met up with her afterwards." Matt said, and then with that, I was hearing a call coming to the pizza shop as the pizzas were being dropped off.
The others were starting to already eat their pizzas a bit, and just enjoy themselves as I was seeing the guy answering the call looking like he was more and more worried about what was happening. I was taking a slice, letting my sheer hunger get to me enough that I needed to have it.
"You seem like you are thinking about something right now." Matt said, and then I looked right at him, thinking that I just needed to let it go, and not be thinking super hard on what everybody else was doing. After all, it was just a phone call.
"Just thinking about that next broadcast that Brad will have. I am really hoping that I am placing my trust in him correctly. If not, then I feel like I can never trust anybody ever again." I said, and then I was feeling like that would be enough to get him to drop it.
A bit later, when we were leaving, that was when the guy called out to Matt and T.K. "You guys should probably head home tonight right away. Your dad seems to be rather upset about something." After he said that, Matt and T.K. looked at him, and then at us, finding it strange how a pizza worker was the first to hear.
When we were at the house, I was seeing a ambulance, and both T.K. and Matt got out of the car, while Tobias was watching, as if wanting to see what was going to happen. As they were at the door, that was when T.K. started to cry, and I was wondering what was going on. It was only about two days later that I found out the full story of what went down.
Their mother called forty minutes before her shift started, to tell her bosses that she was quitting effective immediately, and hung up before she would give them a chance to do an ear full. After she quit, she spent an hour cleaning the fridge. Then after she did, she put on a black and white beach dress, and went to the store, and spent all the money that she had saved up recently, nearly three thousand dollars.
First thing she did after going home was fill up an entire wardrobe of new clothes for both Matt and T.K. for the next school year, as well as gave Matt a new camera and T.K. and second skateboard. Then she went to the kitchen, filled up the entire medicine cabinet, and proceeded to make a lot of food.
She cooked eight of T.K.'s favorite pizzas, four full meatloaves, three lasagnas, a full 12 pack of Matt's favorite burritos, a full pot of curry and rice, cooked 6 pounds worth of hamburger patties, and filled up the entire fridge with other goods and supplies needed, and placed a twenty four pack of both Matt and T.K.'s favorite sodas in their room, and then went to her own. She proceeded to write a long ass letter explaining something, which I believe was incriminating evidence about something in this town, and a second apology letter to T.K. and Matt, and made it emphatically clear beyond all doubts that they were the only two people that mattered to her anymore. Then she went to their fathers safe, opened it, took out his double barreled shot gun, placed it in her mouth, and blew her brains out.
When I heard this information after Matt told me, and explained how he had been unable to handle it, I started to realize how deep this whole thing was getting. And I was starting to feel like this was getting further to show me that there was something involved with them in this town. While I was disgusted at bringing this up to Matt, I was feeling like I just needed to suggest this to him.
I was surprised to see that when I brought this idea up to Matt, that he was willing to accept it as a truth. No arguing, no denial, no anything. In fact, he looked right at me, and I was seeing that he was just trying to hold back his tears. "They were both lying to me. I thought I was figuring it out, but it turns out that I had no idea at all, and when I know the truth of what he was hiding, then this man is going to have to answer for all the lies that he has been creating."
"Sora has been seeing me every day since what happened. I mean, I appreciate what he is doing. But even I am starting to feel like I need some space. I told her that I wanted to visit you instead for a bit." After he had said that to me, I was looking at him, shocked at what he was telling me here.
"Why would you want to be seeing me? I mean, you finally got what you needed. I thought that you would have been telling Ocho all about this." I said, and then Matt was shaking his head, as if feeling that idea was going to just simply not work, and that it was something he did not really want to consider yet.
"I am planning on talking to Ocho about helping me steal that letter from dad. He clearly knows that something is happening with that. And I think that if I get the letter, then everything that I need will be revealed." When Matt was saying that to me, I was sighing for a second, unsure of what to tell him.
"Thirty six years old. In two years, I will be as old as she was when she had me. I am wondering what she saw in dad." Matt said, and he was saying this, I was seeing that he was just trying to be having some level of fun more than anything here.
"Do you think that this has to do with the fact that you were looking at your fathers things? Perhaps because we did that, the people in the higher ups started to get involved." I said, and I hated that suggestion even more than the one about their father. But I was thinking that it was going to be dangerous to just straight up ignore reality.
"I don't know man. And that is the fucking thing that kills me. She could have told us some shit, and she could have tried to be able to help me get it. But then she does this, and everything is thrown away. Nothing else fucking matters. And it kills me to know that the last thing she ever thought was how to make her sons feel better. Her last action was to make sure that we knew she loved us, and made sure that we would not go hungry. She literally bought or made enough food to last us until October, and that is with growth hunger." Matt said, and then he was sighing, as if unable to express what he was feeling here.
"Did you ever have doubts that she loved you guys?" I asked, and then Matt slowly nodded, as if hating to admit it.
"And I am completely disgusted with myself for even thinking about it. I should have never doubted. If she knew that I doubted her love for us, then that would have been a slap in the fucking face. Nobody wastes three thousand dollars and an entire afternoon of planning if she didn't want it known that we were the top priority." Matt said, and then after he had said that, he decided to leave it there.
Scene 19: Failure (Brad)
Feeling that he was beyond any point of help, Brad decided to just focus on his work that Shaun wanted him to do. Besides, there wasn't a whole lot that he was going to be able to mess up, after everything that had happened, and at this rate, he was more just trying to do damage control from the issues that he had been doing. As he was in Shaun's office, that was when Shaun looked right at him for a second. "You seemed to be rather unsettled. Are you still thinking that this job is not going to be for you?"
"I mean, I had never thought that I was going to have to resort to murder when I was getting this job. I mean, I should have probably known better than that. But it just feels wrong, and I feel like there is a massive mistake here. I just want to know that this is something that was for the right choices." Brad said, and he looked right at Shaun for a second.
"I understand that some of the jobs that I have given you might be a bit hard to look at the bigger picture. But there comes a point in time when people have to steel their nerves, and just focus on what they need to accomplish to pull this off." After he had said that to Brad, this was when Brad was still looking like he was unsure of what to say.
"I mean, I know that they were people who were involved in things that you had done in the past. That part I understand. But I am still having a hard time really looking at the bigger picture, and I feel like I just need to have a understanding of what is so awful about these people? Are you trying to get me to kill Justin Ryder?" Brad asked, and then Shaun looked at him, as if kind of glad that he wasn't as dumb as he was acting.
"Yes, I want you to either kill him, or make him come out of hiding. If he does the latter, than I will kill him myself. But this man needs to die if we are to have any chance of surviving in Wayside. Surely you understand that I would never do something unless if I was feeling like this was the only way to do it." Shaun said, and Brad was remaining silent at this idea.
"Young man, are you thinking that I would do anything to lie to you and get you to just do something you were not comfortable with? I have other things to deal with than somebody going through a mid life crisis." Shaun said, and then with that, Brad felt like he had something else to bring up.
"You promised me that you were going to help me find Victoria, and I still do not know where she is. I just need to have a idea on what happend to her. I mean, I know that she is probably dead. But if there is even a small chance that she is alive, then I need to take it." Brad said, and Shaun sighed at this statement.
"I know that you are still wanting her to come back, and I wish that I could help you. But I need the intel on her before I can tell you something. I do not want you to be going around, and trying to find her, and have it all come to waste. Just understand that while you are doing what you can on your end, I am doing what I can on mine. That is the entire discussion right now." Shaun said, and Brad was just trying to find something else to say to argue.
"If this is what it will have to take in order for Victoria to be found, then I will not fail." Brad said, and then Shaun looked at him, as if finding it endearing that Brad was saying this. As if it was a option for him to fail in the first place, and not just a inconvience.
"Failure is not a option Brad. No matter how much you might want to think that it is, nothing that can lead to the truth of our jobs being revealed is a option. And that is why if these kids keep up, then you will have no choice but to kill them as well. And with that in mind, there is another that I need you to take care of." After Shaun said that to Brad, he was sighing, and felt like he needed to just go with it.
"What do you want?" Brad asked, and then this was when Shaun was finding it great that Brad was finaly calming down, and was willing to listen to reason. None of this overly emotional drag that he was leading them through so far. Shaun never had the time to deal with emotions, especially others.
"I need you to take down a woman named Cynthia. She is connected with these targets, as you might have expected. And I believe that she will be the last one that you need to take out before we will finally be able to expose Justin for what he is doing, and everything will finally come through." After Shaun said that to Brad, he was slowly nodding.
"I think that I have heard about her once or twice. Do you know what in the world she was doing in the first place?" Brad asked, and then that was when Shaun was shrugging for a second, as if not thinking too much about it. Brad was wondering if there was even a rhyme or reason to this with that reaction.
"The wife or another previous target. That is all that you need to know. And when she is dead, and Justin realizes that these are not all just a stroke of bad luck, he will have no choice but to come forward, and then reveal himself." After Shaun said this, that was when Brad felt like he needed to try and learn more about Shaun, and why he was caring so much about this.
"Shaun, what do you think you will be able to personally get when you have these people taken care of? I mean, surely there is a reason to do this? I don't think that you would just have a outright barbaric approach to these things for no good reason." Brad said, and then after he had said that to Shaun, this was when he watched his boss remain unsure.
"This is just my way of making sure that the past dies, and that it can never come back and give me second doubts. I will always have some doubts to my vision if I have these people around. This is for myself as much as it is for everybody else. I will admit it. But that doesn't change what I am doing, and it never will change the point." Shaun told him, as Brad just let the words sink in.
"Do you really think that you are going to let the past die if you just kill off all the connections that you have with it? That just seems like you are desperate to be having your opinion to be right no matter what. I guess that it is none of my business, but it just doesn't really seem right." Brad said to Shaun, and then with that, he saw Shaun look slightly unsure.
"I think that the best way to see what I can do is to try at least. And who knows, I think that when this is all said and done, and you are able to focus on your work, then you will see what I am saying. You will see that I am just not trying to be a monster, and I am just working on the preservation of this town." Shaun said, and then there was utter silence after that.
"I guess that I would want to do something like that with some parts of my past as well. Not literally kill them, per se, but kill that connection to the past." Brad said, and then he was wondering why he was even admitting this to his boss. Especially since if he was even remotely aware of what Shaun was like, he would take this the wrong way.
"What parts of the past are you hoping to severe?" Shaun asked, and the way that he had asked that made Brad feel like there was a chance that he was just asking that to be a helpful employee. With that, Brad was slowly sighing, and felt like there was no reason to lie.
"The friendship I have with Sheldon. Got a bit muddied when I still was having conflicting emotions with Jenny, but then she ended up choosing him. I see why she had done it, but the entire friendship really started to fall down afterwards." After Brad said that to him, he was feeling that there was nothing wrong with admitting this embarassing revelation.
"You feel that being friends with him is one of the last things that can still hold you to that past? Then you do understand what I am saying. You understand that having social connections with people, regardless of how small it might be, will always come back and hurt you. Feelings for somebody can always make a man weak." After Shaun was saying this, Brad was upset with the way that he was speaking, since it was true.
"Every time, when I speak with him, then the thoughts on what was once there, is just getting to me. I have ahard time really being able to look away from what I was able to have at one point, that it just affects everybody else around me. It is hard for me to really put it in any other way." After Brad said that, he was already feeling like he had needed to head out.
"Come back when you feel like you are fully ready, and we can discuss everything that we need to be doing from now on. I do not think that it would be wise to hold me up for too much longer though. Find Cynthia, take her down, and show me proof that she is gone as well." After he had said that to Brad, this was when Brad was feeling just slightly lost here.
"Fine, you made your point. Just don't get yourself too excited for everything that is happening. I still feel like this whole thing can be wrong. But I am beyond arguing with you about this, since I know that I am not going to change your mind." Brad said, and then with that said, he was feeling that the discussion now was just going to be really making them both feel unsettled here.
"I hoped that you were going to say that. One of these days, I think that this whole thing can finally be put behind us, and when that happens, I promise you that there will be nothing like this ever again. I just need this to be done, and I just need you to understand that it was never my intention to be dragging you along like this." When Shaun finished, Brad had already left the office, and he was just thinking of what he had needed to do, and that was to just kill Cynthia, and be done with it.
When Brad was heading away, he was seeing that Kenta was looking over, as if finding the whole discussion fucking hilarious. Seeing Brad getting this upset over something so simple, and something that he should have known was going to happen, was something that he had felt like was just going to live on in his memories. And he was feeling that this situation was going to be perfect for his studies about the idea of a man being too far gone to be able to look at the morals that he himself had made.
"Brad, do you feel like by the end of this, you will be able to see the plan that I am making, and how it will be best for you?" Kenta asked, and then Brad was looking at him, wondering why this guy was so fucking insistent on having him being the one who would take this experiment over.
"I am really not in the mood to be dealing with this shit tonight Kenta. I understand that you enjoy making everything about your experiments, but there is more to this world than what you are building up in that lab. You probably never loved before." Brad challenged, and Kenta was finding his reaction hilarious.
"Are you sure that hooking up with a woman who was almost young enough to be your daughter, and knowing her for a few months, is the proper idea of love?" Kenta asked Brad, and then that comment was really getting under his skin. It did not matter how much younger than him she was, or it should not, he thought.
"Our age gap does not matter. I actually treated her rather well, and I gave her eveyrthing that she had needed. Maybe you would have seen that if you were the man who was watching over this all. But I am done with this discussion. Because in all honesty, as much as I hate to admit it, I feel like your plan might be right." Brad said, and he was wincing mentally at this comment, and he was wondering how fast it was going to take for him to regret saying that.
"Good to know that despite your emotions, you do have the resolve to see that I am doing this for the rights of others. Maybe when you are able to know what this experiment actually is, then this will be able to make life better." After he had said that to Brad, the two men were just at a silent moment.
"I am doing this because I want to have a small chance of finding Victoria. I know that she is probably long beyond gone, but I feel like if I can somehow bring her back, then that is all that I need to be looking for." Brad said, and then with that, he was just clearly trying to maintain at least some level of composure as he was saying this.
"I will have to admit, that despite everything that I have been saying, I do appreciate the work you have been placing in this job. You clearly do care enough about it to make sure that it turns out well, even if I do not really get why you are doing it, or find it to be that important." After Kenta said that, Brad sighed, feeling that he was just going to have to take the comment for what it was. The nicest thing he would say. And with that, Brad left, ready to kill Cynthia and bring himself closer to the end.