(Phone rings)
(Phone is then connected via somebody)
"Hey… you came to a decision? Are you in or are you out?"
(muffled audio)
"Alright Shane, I'll meet you in your room around 10:30pm. There we shall commence… are leave"
Later that very night
Hours went by, it was 10:45pm and The Doberman, Royce was the first to slowly open the door to Shane's room going into the hallway, it was clear as he proceeded to step out into the hallway while Shane with a large gray backpack containing all of his stuff followed behind him, he then closed the door gently. "Follow my lead. We need to head to the main lobby" Roy had told quietly. Shane then nodded as they both quietly ran down the hallway until Roy had to stop midway when he heard footsteps heading towards them.
"What are you gonna do?" Shane uttered with a quiet tone of voice. Royce scouted out for something that could help them, when he saw the janitor's closet which he opens and grabs one of the metal buckets, giving Shane a quick hand signal to follow him, they then proceeded to get closer to where the night guard was.
Remaining quiet as possible, The Doberman then threw the bucket into a dead end within the hallway. This caught the attention of the night guard as he instantly fell for the distraction looking straight in that very direction. "Hey! Who was that?!" He shouts, walking past them and going over there to see what the noise was about giving Shane and Roy the opportunity to escape as they ran off.
"Man. why am I some real déjà vu right now?" Shane remarks quietly while running. "Trust me dude, after a while it's going to feel the exact same. Me and Scarlet have done this way more than you think" Royce answers, jokingly, following Shane as they move onto the main lobby of the orphanage.
There. Shane saw nobody was around this time compared to when he did this with Scarlet, not even the light to Rosemary's office was turned on which Roy immediately assumed that she had most likely gone home and with that he started to form an idea. "Shane. I'm not sure if you're down or have time to do this but… I can go and check out the caretaker's office?" Roy asks the human teenager. At first Shane thought in his mind it would have been pointless to go in there, considering the fact that he's been within the room earlier and there wasn't much to ride home about or anything special about it however since nobody's around, he decided why not and nodded back at Roy with approval.
"That's the spirit, Shane" Royce complemented his decision as they both proceeded to head over to the office door and go in. Heading inside, Shane saw the same contents as he saw previously. A desk, two chairs, another chair in the corner, and finally something he didn't point out before multiple metal drawers that were placed in random spots inside the room including an extra one that was behind Rosemary's desk.
"Shall we?" Roy says to Shane before pulling a flashlight out of his pocket and switching it on to add more light within the darkness of the room. Shane also did the same, turning his phone's light on instead before putting his backpack on the ground as he walked and opened up one of the metal drawers.
"So… exactly How did you meet Scarlet? Royce" Shane wondered which in fairness The Doberman didn't explain to him how he knew her so well. Roy was roaming through the drawers while he asked that which made him surprised that he wanted an answer about that but decided to give in with a response.
"Well 2 years ago, on the day Scarlet showed up here, let's say wasn't welcoming. She had nobody to talk to, until one day when I saw she was alone on a swing set in the orphanage's playground, I thought of talking to her to get to know and understand her better and maybe be her friend. After the point we hit it off and eventually time passed and we were now 15 years old. There, she had an offer… one to leave and explore the city for a bit while no one knew which is pretty much why I know my way around here, especially when we used to go on dates going the same route she took you" Royce explained in detail to the human who was fascinated after hearing the last part of that sentence.
"You two used to date?" Shane asks while roaming through drawers. "Eh, sort of? But not really, besides we wanted to be… Just friends for the most part" Roy answered back. While he was talking though Shane noticed within the rows of files that they were in alphabetical order, Scarlet's name appeared on one of them to which his eyes opened wide as he grabbed it.
"Shit. Roy come check this out" Shane called for the Doberman as he immediately came over and opened the file revealing to be nothing inside it. "Fudge Sticks. This is Scarlet's file, I think we might have found something" Roy proclaimed with excitement. "But it's empty. Nothing is in here" Shane replied before putting the file back.
"Looks like we have to keep an eye out for it. Continue searching, I'll look over here" Roy said as he then went over to another unopened drawer. Shane did what he said as he opened the metal drawer next to the one he previously opened in an attempt to find another file with Scarlet's name on it but to no avail, He then closed it once again.
"Nope. Nothing" Shane comments to himself, but as he did his eyes turned and saw that one extra drawer behind her desk was still unopened giving him an idea to check it out as Shane went over to it and opened it, scrolling through the files until his eyes were glued onto one with the name Scarlet which he picked up.
"Hey. I think I found this time" He told the doberman while going over to him. Roy shut the drawer he was looking at as he took a look at it with Shane. "Please be something" He comments as the human opens it up to reveal absolutely nothing which leads to the two to be speechless by what they are seeing. "It's empty" Shane could only say. "What? But- that doesn't make any sense, if both of those files were empty then where would the info have gone?" Roy started to question, finding this heavily suspicious.
"Seems like they most certainly got rid of it, that's the only thing I could have thought of, then doing after trying to transfer her" Shane explains to which the doberman just sighed in disappointment. "Well that sucks doesn't it. But some good news. I found your file while looking" Royce said as he grabbed Shane's file from off a metal drawer as he then gave it to him.
"Oh cool beans. I'll check it out when we get to the roof," Shane responds, which reminded The Doberman of their plan as he then picked up Shane's backpack and gave it back to him. "Speaking of roof… we should probably get back to that" Roy said to Shane who nodded while putting his bag back on. "Right. before we do that though, can I ask you one thing?" Shane asked nicely. "Sure, ask away" Roy says, letting him ask away with the question. "Just wondering, why are you wearing an eyepatch?" Shane revealed his question to The Doberman who froze, hearing what he had said.
"Ah this… frankly I knew at some point you were going to wonder about it, so I-" Royce said. However as he was going to explain, The Doberman heard footsteps once again heading towards them. "Crap. Here comes the night guard" Shane pointed out while Roy ran over and opened the door. "Come on we need to get onto the roof now" Roy informed the human teenager, putting his question on hold as grabbed Shane's hand and they both exited the office. heading to a nearby door with a sign that says stairs on it to which they both entered.
A couple minutes later, Royce busted open the door to the roof, The light breeze of wind gusting greeted both him and Shane who followed behind him as he closed the door to avoid anyone knowing they're up there. "Whew we made it" Roy remarks out loud. "So where's the fire escape?" Shane wonders, searching around for the very gate to the fire escape.
"Straight ahead. Can't miss it, however I wanna take a break for a second before we head downwards" Roy pointed out as he then went over to a nearby edge and sat down to which Shane did the same sitting next to him. Beyond that the two were now in silence, gazing at the colorful landscape of the city in front of them until the human then turned to face Royce who was taking in the view as well.
"Have you ever been up before?" Shane broke the silence, asking the Doberman his question. "No. But… I wish I did before. This city is truly stunning and beautiful at the same time, when you really think about it. I wouldn't have dreamed of having a chance to explore outside of the orphanage… too bad I'll never have the full site that I hoped for" Royce told Shane who was then confused by what he meant by that.
"Why's that?" Shane asks with a look of concern on his face as The Doberman sighed before telling him why. "It's because of my eye patch. There's a reason I have it in the first place, let me show you" Roy answers as he then proceeds to slowly take off the eye patch before he places it down and reveals his face to Shane who grasps in shock seeing him fully.
"My gosh. W-What happened to you?" He shouted as several questions began to race through his mind, realizing this is more serious than he thought.
"I was at a construction site. It was "take your son to work day" and my dad invited me to spend the day with him. I was happy to see what my dad's job was so I obliged and went with him. We got there and everything went as smoothly as one would expect from being with their parent… however that would change two hours later. I watched my dad fix a forklift, it was just… fascinating being a kid in all and not knowing stuff like that was done. But unaware by both of us, the other workers were unloading some chemicals behind us and… they accidentally spilled one of the barrels, it splashed everywhere, lucky my dad caught wind and moved us out of the way but what wasn't lucky was I as some of the chemicals managed to splash in my right eye" Roy explained to Shane who had no idea what to say other than letting him continue.
"I was instantly taken to the emergency room. The doctor told my dad I would never be able to use this eye again due to it being too damaged. That day remains to eat me up now more than ever" The Doberman finished speaking. "What about your dad? Is he still around?" Shane asked him as tears started to form down Roy's face.
"Unfortunately he's not… he met the man upstairs while I was being cared for a while at a local hospital that's why I was sent here and I would end up meeting Scarlet, the one who gave me a chance to find joy in my life" Royce told him everything but when he finished he was embraced by Shane who gave him a hug being saddened by his story and what had happened to him in the past. "I'm so sorry I didn't know" Shane said while Roy then gave him a hug back.
"Shane?!" Suddenly the two's hug came to an end as they overheard the door to downstairs being busted open and a feminine voice could be heard which they both turned around and saw it was Rosemary. "Crap. How did she find us?" Shane wondered as he grabbed his bag and they both got up taking steps back in order to get closer to the gate in front of the fire escape."I knew something was up the moment the security guard noticed you both were not in your rooms" She admitted before looking at Shane with a disappointed expression.
"Shane? How could you?" Rosemary asked him only for Roy to jump into the conversation. "Ma'am it's not what it looks like, you don't understand-" He said but Shane then cut him off. "I could say the same for You, what did Scarlet ever do to be thrown out like she was nothing?!" Shane uttered his only question. This made her feel guilty as she changed her tone of voice and tried to be more reasonable.
"I had no choice Shane. They wanted her to be transferred and therefore I had not a single say in the matter. If I did I would have changed it… wait? How do you know about-" She spoke before stopping and turning to Roy realizing more has added to her suspicions. "That?" She finished her sentence.
"Dude we need to go" Shane told The Doberman who was staring downwards at a playground, the very one Him and Scarlet first met each other as a faint voice came into his ears. "Thank you for spending time with me, you truly are my hero" The voice of Scarlet could be heard while he felt his back now against the gate to the fire escape he then moved his head and Shane who had opened the gate up.
"I'll go first" Shane said as he proceeded to step onto the fire escape, however, when he was now on it he heard the sound of the gate being locked which he turned around. Royce had been the one who locked it. "Wait. What happened?" Shane wondered. "It's alright, turns out we have to go separate ways" The Doberman responded calmly. "That doesn't make sense. Come with me, wasn't your plan to leave?" Shane asks, unsure on why he's making such a decision.
"To tell the truth Shane, this was never for me. I seen how much you cared and missed her so much so you would do anything to see Scarlet again, to give her back… this" Royce then showed the human teenager, Scarlet's pin. The very one he found and that she lost as Shane now realizes what he was trying to do.
"Please. Take it and run, run until you find her and I hope that some luck will come your way" Roy added while he placed the pin in Shane's hand to which he quenched and nodded. "No Shane. Don't leave" Rosemary pleaded in the background. "I promise we'll meet again soon" Shane said as he then strapped his backpack on tight and proceeded to go down said fire escape while Roy stood watching.
"Good luck kid. Till we cross paths… partner" Royce said one last time. Shane then jumped off from the last flight of the fire escape however as he landed on the ground he felt a large amount of pain coming from his left leg, the pain feeling like an anvil landing on top of it but He didn't have enough time to investigate further as he ran out of the alleyway and into the streets.
Presumably 40 minutes had passed, Shane was alone and possibly injured while on the streets. The feeling of the cold breeze at night started to take a toll on the human, making him weakened as not even his jacket could save him from the weather and so he decided to look around for somewhere to take shelter.
Looking to his left he saw another alleyway similar to the one he was previously in, only this one didn't have a fire escape. Instead there was a large cardboard box which he went over to and opened it revealing some newspapers inside, this gave him an idea to possibly use this as a way to keep warm but immediately he started to get second doubts.
"Knowing security breach, I probably shouldn't do this. But I can't keep going forward, not with my leg like this and it being cold at the same time" He thought. "Eh, not much of a choice though, what's the worst that can happen" Shane uttered to himself as he gave in and tipped the box sideways and laid down inside it, placing the many newspapers around his body like a blanket before he knew it.
He drifted off to sleep as the breeze continued to pass by him. Unaware to him, however, was a vehicle parked in the same alleyway as he was. As somebody resembling a bipedal dog, turned on the flashlight on their phone, came over, taking a glimpse at the kid who was inside the box as they expressed grown concern.
"Biscuits. What is a kid like you doing out here?"
A/N: Another long Chapter done. One more long chapter to go and the first arc is officially completed. Overall this has been a fun road to write this story and I can't wait to show you all what I have in store, next for this story. The next chapter will be coming soon and after I post it, it's onto the next arc. So once again, thank you all for supporting and liking the story and I'll see you for the next and final chapter for this arc.