"My parents belong to high society. My father built up his business from nothing, and my mother has always supported him in his business... but they've been unfaithful for as long as I can remember. I've watched them play this game of theirs for years. But now it's not just them getting their hurting. It's disgusting."

–Jodie Stane

Jodie took her tutors hand and he twirled around. She carefully followed his lead, being sure not to look down at her feet. He led her across the floor in rhythm to the music. She was so sure of herself today, she felt like every step was perfect. And as the music stopped, her tutor hugged her in delight.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

She smiled feeling a little flushed. "You really think so?"

He nodded. "Yes my dear, you're brilliant, none of my other students caught on so quickly! I think your parents will be pleased!"

"Oh I am."

Her father stood in the doorway; she ran to him and kissed his cheek. "Hello daddy!"

"Hello sweet heart! I think that will be all for today."

Her father paid her dance tutor and walked over to then den. "Jodie, I want to talk to you about something very important."

She nodded. "Yes?"

"In a few weeks you'll be twenty. And I think it's time you got out there..."

She swallowed, not feeling so great anymore. "What do you mean?"

"The other day I met a bright boy. He's from a wealthy family, and I want you to meet him."

She shook her head, "I don't want to meet him."

Her father stood motionless for a moment. "That's not your choice. I could have kicked you out when you turned eighteen. How long do you think you'd last on the streets? Rapture is an unforgiving place, especially for homeless vagrants."

"But dad-"

He lifted his hand silencing her. "That's enough Jodie. The sooner you leave this house the better."

"Now Howard, is that really the best way to talk to our only child?" Jodie's mother stood in the doorway dressed in her silk bathrobe. Her father seemed to get more ridged.

"Amelia..."

Her mother took a sip of wine. "Run along Jodie, it's time for your piano lessons in a few minutes isn't it?"

Jodie nodded. "Yes mother..."

Jodie grabbed her purse and left for her classes. It was a short walk to her tutor's home so she decided to stop by Helen's house. Helen was her housekeeper for eight years, until her mother kicked Helen out because of her father's affair with her. Her's lasted the longest. Jodie couldn't understand her parents. As a child she wondered why they didn't just leave each other instead of trying to hurt one another. But now she realized it had to do with their pride. So on and on they went with their little dance, squashing all the people foolish enough to get too involved. Jodie had narrowly escaped being stepped on quite a few occasions. And for her parents Helen was merely a stepping stone. But to Jodie, she was more like a mother. But it wasn't just Helen she wanted to visit. It was her brother, Fredrick Stane. Although most knew him as Freddy Brent. He was three years younger than she was, and he was her father's greatest shame. If he had been a normal child her father might have not bothered with him. But Freddy wasn't normal...

Jodie knocked on the door and Helen answered the door. "Jodie! Hello sweetheart!" She hugged her. "Come on in, I was just making supper!"

Jodie shook her head. "Sorry Helen, I can't stay too long, I just wanted to give Freddy a present."

She smiled. "Sure he's in his room."

Jodie walked down the hall and knocked on Freddy's door.

"Who's there?"

"It's me Freddy!"

Freddy ran out and hugged her. "Jodie! I missed you Jodie!"

"I missed you too!"

Freddy was a very tall boy, his head almost reached the top of the door, but he was very thin, too. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his room grabbing one of his toys. "Look! Look what momma gave me! Isn't it pretty?"

Jodie nodded. "Yes it is. And I've got something for you too!"

His eyes widened in a childish wonderment. "Really? R-really? What is it Jodie? What?"

She gave him a book, and he seemed disappointed. "Another one?"

She smiled. "Yeah that's right, can you read it for me?"

He shook his head wildly. "No... "

"Will you try? For me?"

He finally took the book and tried to read it. "No, I can't... I can't read it Jodie..."

She nodded. "It's okay Freddy now, drink this." She handed him a vial of brain boost.

"I don't want any more of that stuff..."

"But it'll make you feel better! I promise!"

He was quiet for a moment then took it and drank it making unpleasant noises. "It's nasty!"

"I know, but drink it all..."

He complained but he did. "Okay Jodie... I drank it now..."

"Yes, now try to read the book again!"

"Do I have to Jodie?"

She nodded. "Yes. Please?"

He picked up the book and stared at the words, then he started reading it! Jodie couldn't help but feel excited. It was working! Freddy knew the words, he just wasn't good at reading them, and the tonic was making him smarter. Little my little. And once she got the final brain boost tonic she prayed Freddy would be normal... Freddy had a really hard time remembering things. Sometimes he'd forget where he was or what he was doing. One time he forgot where he lived and spent hours circling the block, crying. He didn't realize he passed his house three or four times.

He smiled at her. "I can read it now! I can read it now Jodie!"

She hugged him. "Of course! You know these words. Keep reading okay? I have to go."

He frowned. "When will you be back Jodie?"

She sighed. "Soon I promise. She hugged him. Love you Freddy."

He waved. "I love you too Jodie..." And he went back to reading the book.

Helen was setting the table for Freddy when Jodie came out. "Are you sure you don't want dinner?"

"Yeah I have to get going to my piano lessons. I'm already late." She hugged Helen "See you later!"

"Goodbye baby."

Jodie ran to her piano tutor's house. Cursing herself and hoping Miss Culpepper wouldn't be too cross with her. She was a singer in Rapture who was growing in popularity, and her father had pulled some strings to get these classes. She was turning a corner when she bumped into someone.

"Oh I'm-" He ran off, not looking at her or saying anything to her. "...Sorry..."

She went to knock on the door, but it opened when she got near. It was unlocked?

Jodie stepped inside the home. "Hello?"

Nothing..?

There was a sick feeling in her stomach as she ran upstairs. "Hello? Are you here?"

Jodie stepped into Anna Culpepper's room, and saw signs of a struggle and in the bathtub lay her body

Jodie screamed and fell back and ran out of the apartment.

Helen sat with her until the police came. Helen wrapped her in a blanket as they asked her questions.

"Did you see anyone leaving the apartment ?"

She shook her head. "No..."

"Did you see anyone at all? Any suspicious looking characters?"

"...Yes... I think so. I bumped into someone who was in a big hurry, they didn't say anything and just kept walking..."

He nodded. "Can you describe this person?"

She tried so hard to remember, but she hadn't been paying attention. "He was... uh... tall... with uh... black hair... I'm sorry. I can't remember."

He nodded. "I understand." He pulled out a card with a number on it. "Call me if you remember anything else. Okay? It's Cross."

She nodded. "Okay."

Her father ran up to her. And grabbed onto her. "Jodie! Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes I'm fine..."

He stopped when he saw Helen. Then he stiffened. "Helen... thank you... for staying with her."

Helen nodded, not looking at him. "Of course. I'd never leave her by herself, sir."

Howard shook his head. "You don't have to call me sir... you don't work for me anymore."

Helen looked away from him. "Yes. Mr. Stane..."

Helen rubbed Jodie's shoulders. "You go home, sweetheart. Get some rest alright?"

Jodie hugged her. "Thank you Helen."

She went home with her father and went upstairs to try to get some sleep but tossed and turned all night.

Jodie woke up to her parents arguing, again...

She got dressed and went downstairs to get some breakfast. But after she had gotten some she couldn't eat, every time she started chewing her mind went back to Anna Culpepper's body lying lifelessly in the tub...

She pushed away her food, and grabbed her bag "I'm going out!"

He parents didn't answer. Jodie sighed and left. She needed some alone time, or at least some time away from her parents. She wondered around for a while until she found herself at Helen's house again...

She paced and stood outside Helen's door for ten minutes before knocking on the door. Helen welcomed her in and sat her down at the table.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." She lied.

Helen smiled and gave her some water. "Here."

She drank it. "Thank you Helen... uh where's Freddy?"

Helen looked worried. "I think he's still sleeping, he fell asleep last night right after you left."

"O-oh really?"

Helen stared at her for a moment. "You know Freddy has been acting very strange lately... is there something you want to tell me...?"

Jodie sighed. "I've been giving Freddy brain boost..."

Helen looked horrified. "What!"

"I know I shouldn't have! But I just-"

"What's brain boost?"

Helen and Jodie looked back, and in the doorway stood Freddy. Jodie could tell he was different his posture, but mostly his eyes...

"Mom?"

Helen stood perfectly still, unsure of what to say. Jodie ran into Freddy's room and grabbed the book she gave to him yesterday and gave it to him. "Here, read this."

Freddy gave her a strange look then started reading. He read it perfectly, but stopped when Helen started to cry.

"M-mom? What's wrong mom? I'm sorry! Please don't cry...!"

Helen ran over to him and hugged him.

For three weeks Jodie and Helen spent time with Freddy, teaching him everything he wanted to learn.

"Jodie what does the sun look like?"

She shook her head. "I don't know I've never seen the sun..."

"It's supposed to be really bright, right?"

"I guess."

"Then why can't we see it down here?"

She shrugged. "I guess it's too deep."

"Oh..."

She sighed. Freddy had been asking her weird questions like that all week. But she was happy for it, even if it was getting irritating.

All of a sudden it hit her like a bolt of lightning. The red blanket.

She jumped up and ran for the public phone. Freddy running after her.

"What are you doing!"

She started dialing the number. "I just remembered something that might help the case!"

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Jodie Stane!"

The voice on the other side of the line seemed uncomfortable. "Uh yeah, from the murder the other day?"

"Yes. I called to tell you about something the killer stole from her house!"

"What?"

"A red and black blanket, she was working on it for a few weeks."

"Oh, really...?"

She felt something was wrong. "Is this Mr. Cross..?"

"No..."

"Oh, who is this?"

"My name's... uh Sullivan I work with Mr. Cross. You uh, you say the killer leaving the scene of the crime?"

"Yes, I did."

"...Miss Stane would you mind meeting with me to ask you a few more questions about the murder?"

"No, I'd be glad to."

"G-good, good..."

She set up a place to meet and turned to Freddy. "I'm gonna go talk to the police, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay... can I go with you?"

"No, you need to go home." She hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Love you Freddy, see you tomorrow!" She turned at the corner and waved goodbye.

That was the last time he saw her alive.

Freddy was smarter then he used to be, but he still didn't understand death. He didn't understand how someone he loved so much; someone he had been with just a few days earlier, was gone and never was going to come back.

They found her body a week after that day. He had told the police that she had gone to meet with a policeman but according to them there was no such meeting.

He also didn't understand how everyone could have given up.

His mother took him to her cremation. Her body was drained of color, and her eyes were closed. His mother said that she was asleep, but he could tell she wasn't there was something peaceful about sleep. That didn't look peaceful. She didn't look like a real person; she looked like a demented doll someone had made to look like her...

After all the speeches where over they burned Jodie's body.

Freddy went to see Mr. Cross after Jodie's cremation. He met with him in his office.

"I'm sorry for what happened, and we're doing all we can."

"Jodie's dead! And her killer is still out there! You're not doing enough!"

"I-" Cross was cut off by another man walking into the room.

"Hey can I talk to you for a minute?"

Cross nodded. "Yes, or course. Wait here for a minute, will you Mr. Brent?"

Cross left the room and Freddy mind was racing. He couldn't understand. Then he noticed that Cross had left one of his drawers open. Freddy knew he shouldn't pry but he carefully opened the drawer and started looking through it. In it were cases. But Anna Culpepper's and Jodie's case wasn't in there. He peeked outside and saw cross talking to the other man. He could vaguely hear what they were saying. But he couldn't get anything out of it. Then Mr. Cross returned.

"I'm sorry but I have some work to do. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

Freddy stood up more confused than ever Mr. Cross put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, we won't give up."

He nodded. "Thank you sir..."

He was ushered out of Cross's office and saw the man Cross had been talking to walk into another room, and sit down on the desk. While Freddy was walking by he noticed a file hidden under a pile of papers marked 'evidence'. He could see the word 'Stane.'

Freddy needed to get that file. He looked around, trying to see what he could use. He noticed a security camera on the other end of the hall. If he could set it off it might give him enough time to get that file. The camera was focused on a bunch of holding cells. So he started looking for a way to open them. In Cross's office were some keys, he figured one of them had to open the cages. So he stayed out of the way until Cross left his desk again and stole the keys. And he used them on a control panel to open the holding cages. Like clockwork the security system went crazy, and all of the security there ran to contain the prisoners. Freddy ran into the room, grabbed the file, slipped it under his shirt and ran out of there as fast as he could.

The information in the file was very basic, mostly just autopsy information. In it he found some interesting information that under Jodie's fingernails they found blood and skin, she probably scratched him up while... fighting back. So the killer had to have some cuts on him. But there were no suspects listed.

So from there Freddy had to make his own list of suspects. He started with Jodie. He was sure that she must have posed as some kind of threat. Because she saw him. It wasn't personal, but Culpepper's murder was. So he had to find out who would want to see her dead. And it didn't take him long to figure it out. Anna Culpepper and Sander Cohen were in a feud. She's written a song making fun of him. Could that be a motive? Anyway it was all he could go on...

When Freddy woke up the next morning his mother had put food out on the table. "Good morning Freddy."

He sat down. "Morning..."

They ate together in silence. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Freddy... you can talk to me about anything."

He nodded, playing with his breakfast. His mother sighed, and grabbed her purse. "Well I've got to go to work. I'll see you after alright?"

"Okay." He kissed her cheek. "Love you mom..."

He finished his breakfast and was on his way out when he saw the book Jodie had given him. He picked it up and started to read it. Or at least he tried to. But he couldn't read some of the words.

He couldn't read them.

Something was wrong. He remembered Jodie saying something about 'brain boost'. He had to get more! But he had no money... what was he going to do? He had to get money. He only knew one person who could help him with that.

Freddy knocked on the door to Jodies house and a man opened the door. "Can I help you?"

"Uh... Mr. Stane?"

"No, he's out at the moment. And you are?"

"I'm his son."

The man looked completely blown away. "I'm sorry, but you have to leave!"

Freddy pushed the door back open. "I'm not leaving until I see him."

"If you don't leave now I'll call the-"

"Let him in."

The man stopped and at the top of the stairs Freddy could see a beautiful woman.

"But ma'am I-"

"I said let him in."

The man gave him a weird look then let him in.

"Do me a favor and go get us some drinks will you?"

The man nodded and left and the woman motioned for Freddy to Follow. "Come on, let's talk."

The woman was Amelia Stane, Jodie's mother. He sat down with her and started telling her about himself. She just sat back, smiling. "So your Helen's son." She laughed. "You're a very handsome young man."

"Thank you..."

Her face softened for a moment. "So you and Jodie were... close?"

He nodded. "Yes. I love Jodie. I really miss her..."

She stood for a moment. "Yes... you knew her pretty well didn't you?"

"Yeah. Didn't you?"

"Ha... no... not at all really..." She stood, and swayed for a moment, she was drunk. Amelia walked over to a reading desk and grabbed a book, and handed it to him. "This is her diary, keep it. You'll get more from it then I will..."

He took it and stared at the cover. It was beautiful. He opened it to the first page and saw small, cursive writing, dating back five years. He was so caught up trying to read it that he didn't notice Amelia getting closer until her hand was on his chest.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't say anything, grabbing him and kissing him.

Freddy was panicking trying to stand up and pull away from her. Then the next thing he knew Amelia was on the floor.

"YOU SLUT!"

Freddy fell back, flushed and confused, the man turned to him. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"I- I- I-"

The man ran at him, and Freddy ran away, the man chased him out the door.

Freddy felt the man punching him over and over again. "Who are you! What the hell did you think you were doing!"

Freddy was scared, tears started forming in his eyes. "I- I didn't mean for that to happen! I just wanted to talk to Mr. Stane!"

"What do you want from me?"

He froze. It was his father. "I just wanted to talk to you... I'm- I'm your son..."

For a moment he was speechless, so Freddy took that time to try to plead his case.

"I'm trying to find out who killed Jodie, but I'm forgetting things again... I need to get some brain boost or I'll-"

"Money! Is that what you want you little shit!" His father fell back. He was drunk too. Tears streaming down his face. "Get OUT! Get OUT OF HERE! DON'T COME BACK! DON'T EVER COME BACK!"

Freddy ran. He didn't understand why this had happened. Why did they act like that? He just wanted to help! He didn't understand why Mrs. Stane had kissed him, or why they both were drunk so early in the morning. Or why Mr. Stane had slapped his wife and kicked him out the door. He didn't understand that they were mourning, and behaving how they always had. They wanted to forget Jodie. They wanted to forget everything. And they hated their reminders of the pain they had to face. So they didn't face it. Instead they drank and cheated on one another, instead of finding comfort in each other. But Freddy didn't understand that either.

But Freddy did understand that he couldn't get the brain boost now... and he was running out of time.

So he wrote on his arm: SANDER COHEN, so he wouldn't forget. Although he really didn't know what he was planning to do.

Sander Cohen spent most of his time either at his apartment in Olympus Heights, or Fort Frolic. Freddy knew he wouldn't be allowed in a fancy place like Olympus, so he went to Fort Frolic, he'd never been more overwhelmed. Everything about it was so expansive, and bright. And everywhere there seemed to be something to do. For a while he just wondered around, forgetting what he was supposed to be doing...

When he finally found Cohen he was directing some sort of play, and by now Freddy wasn't thinking so clearly, he started walking up behind him, he felt something building in his chest. Because of him, Jodie was dead.

Freddy was about to reach Cohen when he was grabbed by someone.

"Okay kid, where is it?"

He froze, the man he was looking at seemed familiar... "What?"

"The file you took from my desk. Where is it?"

He remembered now. He was the man who had spoken to Mr. Cross back at the station.

"I don't know..."

"Don't think you can fuck with me kid. I can have you arrested for that. Especially after you released all those prisoners."

Freddy pulled away. "I was gonna give them back! It's not like y-you were usin' 'em!" He felt lightheaded... something was wrong.

"Look I understand. You lost someone close to you. But you can't just-"

"I loved her! And you- you gave up!"

The man stared at him for a moment, and then sighed. "I'll... I'll do everything I can... but I'll need that file first..."

Freddy didn't want to give it up. But he did. Feeling hopeless he looked down at his feet. The man skimmed threw the file, and seemed satisfied. Then he stared at Freddy for a moment. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Freddy..."

He nodded. "Freddy, I have something for you."

Out of the bag the man had he pulled out a red and black blanket, and gave it to him. Freddy's blood went cold, as he remembered... Jodie called because she remembered about a red and black blanket being stolen... she'd called the station, yet no one knew about the call, except him, but this man wouldn't know about that. And now on examination he could see cuts along the man's arm.

He was the killer.

Freddy still had some control over himself, and took the blanket. "Thank you... what's your name?"

"Sullivan. And uh... listen, if you want to talk, call me at the station. Okay?"

Freddy nodded. "Yes sir." And walked away, when he got through the door he ran.

Freddy knew he had to get home. All he knew was that he had to get home... but where... where was home?

Helen found Freddy wandering the neighborhood. He was crying his eyes out and griping Jodie's diary and a blanket. He couldn't remember what was wrong. Helen had no idea what to do. She knew if she bought some 'brain boost' it would probably help him, but she couldn't afford in anymore. For some reason Mr. Stane wasn't giving her any more money. She barely had enough money to buy food, let alone some miracle potion. She had to focus on getting by for now. But it was so hard. Especially when Freddy would wake up in the middle of the night saying he knew who 'did it'. Or when he would ask when Jodie was going to visit...

The only saving grace was when she would read Jodie's diary to him whenever he got upset.

Helen wasn't sure what to do, but she knew they were on their own...