Longest Novel Fall of the Republic Remaster

by morgan kingsley

In 2023, a middle aged author decides to stop running from his past and tell the truth of what happened when he was much younger, as a way to make peace with the past. As he delves into this, the more he learns of his experiences and other peoples experiences in the hellish town of Wayside, Minnesota. An au of the Digimon Universe that takes place in the United States.

7. Todd Robinson

Cody has gotten the tapes on the 27th of December, and it wasn't until late the 29th, two days later, when he came back, and was able to pick up the next one. As he sat down, he looked right at Armadillomon, who was well aware of what Cody was planning on doing. This time however, Armadillomon was not going to be fighting it. This time, Cody did have Armadillomon's support in this endeavor. Cody pulled a random one out of the box, and he already had number one placed in a shelf. Which was his way of showing that he had already listened to it, and that he didn't need to listen to it again unless if he was feeling like he really needed to.

"Why are you just taking a random one out? What if you completely miss the point?" Armadillomon asked, and Cody then pointed to the name of the tape, feeling like maybe this was the way that he would get his Digimon to see where this was going.

"The name of the tape. Todd Robinson. I want to see how dad and Todd first fucking met. I feel like they have a lot of stuff to clear up with me, and I feel like I need to fucking know." Cody said, and then Armadillomon was piecing it together, realizing what this was meaning.

"Isn't he the politican guy who is currently mayor?" Armadillomon asked, and Cody nodded, as if feeling glad that his Digimon was finally piecing it together, and seeing why this was such a big deal in the first place. Cody just rubbed his eyes, feeling like Armadillomon would need to be a bit older before he saw the value of how important this whole thing really is.

"Yesh, and he and dad used to be best friends. They were doing really well for many years, and to be frank with you, I feel like I need to see where he and dad were coming from. I just need to listen to this one, and then I will go back in the real order after this one is done." He said, and then with that, Armadillomon slowly nodded, as if feeling like whatever Cody wanted to do, he just needed to go along with this, and not say anything.

"When Todd won the election to be mayor, Sheldon was telling me that this was the first step to the town truly recovering. And to be honest, given how much things have started to slowly come together ever since then, I feel like I might have to fucking believe him here." Cody said, and then Armadillomon was slowly nodding, feeling like he just needed to take this, and not fight it any longer. Cody knew what he had wanted, and he was aware that Armadillomon was not going to get the point. But at the same time, he was feeling like whatever Cody needed to do, he just needed to take this, and run with it.

"So you do believe the things your father said? You were telling me earlier that you were not sure if you could believe in him? Do you know what is making you change your mind?" He asked, and then Cody sighed, feeling like he just needed to get straight to the point on this. Armadillomon was just being rough with him, and he was having no real fucking clue as to why he was.

"Realistically, I think that dad is the only one who was at least trying to tell it to me straight. And because of that, I feel like I need to give him the benefit of the doubt, and stop just pretending like what he is saying isn't fucking valid." Cody said, and then with that, he was wondering if Armadillomon was actually willing to listen to him.

"Do you think your dad appreciated the fact that you are willing to give him a chance now?" He asked, and then with that, Cody shrugged. He was not too sure what in the world he was supposed to say. Sheldon was one of the hardest people in the world to get a true reading on, and he had felt like he needed to be hones about this.

"I don't know. I still have ninety nine of these fucking things to listen to. I have no idea if I really believe what he is saying right now. But what I do believe is that I was wrong about the way that he viewed his friendships. I thought that he didn't really care for anybody here. That he was just doing this for himself, and his own reputation. But for the love of god, I could not be more wrong about anything in my life. He looked at Sam like he was his brother." Cody said, and then with that, he ended up putting the tape in the VCR, and rubbed his eyes, and sat down on the chair, and pressed the play button to see where this was heading now. Armadillomon did the same to watch as well.

Scene 26: May 27, 1963

It was one of the last days of the school year, and nearly seven fucking years since Riley had gone missing, and I hate to admit that for the most part, I have finally started to kind of move on. I had accepted the fact that she was gone, and that I was never fucking going to fucking find her. I hated the fact that this was the truth. But at the same time, I had accepted it as well. I was not going to get angry over something that was done, and I was not going to get angry at people who thought that I needed to finally move on.

Sam and I were sitting down in the skating park, and the entire time we were watching, I was seeing Sam looking like he was trying to fucking find something that he wanted to say. "Sheldon, I am so glad that this shit is going to be over soon. No more fucking school, and no more people telling us what we need to do every day. I am probably going to take the first summer off, to just celebrate being doing with school, before I start doing anything like looking for a job." Sam said, and I was slowly nodding, since that was looking like a good idea as well.

"Yeah, dad was suggesting I do something like that myself before I get into things like work and what not. He told me that I already have taken the last eleven summers off in between each school year. He basically told me "What's one more?" And to be honest, I kind of agree with that sentiment."

"To be honest, you know, when I was a kid, all I ever wanted to do was grow up, and start to be considered a adult in the world. But now, all these years later, now that I am here, I feel like maybe I was a fucking idiot for thinking this." Sam said, and he looked like he was starting to regret all that he has wished for. Which to be honest, I did sort of understand where he was coming from.

"Yeah, I learned better than to fucking wish for anything lately. All that I know is that when I wish for fucking anything at all, it is going to just be spitting in my fucking face, and I am going to regret everything that I have done. I don't want to be seen as a idiot again after failing to fucking find my sister for so many years." I said, shaking my head, and just being ashamed of where this had been hearing.

"How are you holding up with that? You have been hard to fucking read honestly about that. You always just seem to brush people off when they ask you about that. I think that's not very fair of people." Sam said, and I was wanting to tell him to go fuck himself. But deep down inside, I wanted to actually try this oit.

"Not well. But unlike before, I have at least I have gotten to the point where I am no longer letting that eat my fucking life anymore. I hate my life, but I am no longer going to be getting angry at people over things that have happened to me. I mean, it's been seven years. I feel like the anger that I used to have is just becoming annoyance, and then fucking sadness." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest about what I had felt after everything that had been going on here.

"Do you believe in any of the stories that were told about her?" Sam asked, and I looked straight at him, as if wondering what the hell he was even trying to accomplish here. He was just trying to piss me off, and I fucking knew it. I didn't know if he was doing it out of spite, or if he was genuinely fucking curious. But at the same time, I was not really too worried about something like this.

"No, I don't. I think that she is fucking dead. I have been feeling that way for a really fucking long time, and I am tired of pretending like she isn't. I just want to know why she fucking died, and what can be done to fucking fix this." I said, and I was seeing Sam looking like he was not shocked to hear something like this.

"Yeah, I sort of figured as well. I just always had a feeling that your dad was lying about this stuff? I always had a feeling that there was something more to this than was being let on. I just didn't want to lie to you, because I know that you love your father and what not. But I think that you need to find something else to drive yourself." Sam said, and I was smiling for a second, not exactly sure what else to say. But before we were able to say anything else, that was when the grinding noise once again went off. I was then taking out a cigarette, not even fucking angry. I just accepted that this had happened.

"What are you planning on doing now?" Sam asked, and I shrugged, since I felt like nothing would even be accomplished by pushing myself into something that was already over. As I was walking to my car, Sam then started to follow me. I was finding myself wondering why he was suddenly caring so much about something that was now in the past, and could not be changed.

"I am going to get ready for prom. I am going to just fucking enjoy my last couple of fucking weeks of school. I feel like that is something that you need to do as well. No need to worry about something that is already done." I said, feeling like Sam needed to just take my advice. He shook his head, sounding horrified at the fact that I even said this.

"So live or die, you don't fucking care what fucking happens to these people anymore. You are just going to simply let something like this happen now? I thought that you were going to be better than this." Sam said, and then I looked right at him, wondering what he was trying to accomplish here.

"No, I don't. I know what happens to people when they fucking do. Everything that they have ever wanted to do with their life goes down the drain. I am not about to be a part of that. I am not going to throw my life down the drain again when I have been fighting so much, and so hard for everything that I have wanted." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with Sam here. He looked right at me, sounding like he was genuinely pissed off at what I had been telling him.

"You know, you used to be different. Even as late as last year, you seemed to actually give a shit about what fucking happened with people. What in the world is fucking changing that?" Where is the friend that I have always defended from people who were telling me that I should stop hanging out with you?" He asked, and I smiled, feeling ready to just tell him what I wanted to tell him.

"I used to be different until I found out what happened when I was so close to finding Jamie. I almost fucking died doing that, and people expect me to be fucking find with continuing to push this further. I don't want to die before I get out of high school for something that I will not be able to change. They are fucking dead, and I feel like the best thing for you to do is just accept that this is happening." I told him, feeling like he just needed to hear what is happening, and not beat himself down too hard.

"So now you are letting one bad thing get in the way of you doing the right thing? What would Jamie say if she saw this happen? She would fucking hate this, and she would be thinking that you turned your back on her, and everything that she stood for. You should be ashamed of yourself for even fucking saying this shit out loud." He said, sounding like he wanted to kill me here.

I then sighed, and I was feeling like I needed to tell Sam anything at all, that would make him see that I was not really doing anything bad here. I was just simply saying what had been on my mind, and it was not my fault that he took it this way, and I was feeling like I just needed to really make my point in as carefully as I could have, and not make him think I was beating around the subject at all.

"How about this? I don't have any promises that I will be bringing her back, or even finding out who this person is. But if I just simply look around a little bit, and see if anybody else might know, then would that be good enough already?" I asked, hoping that this would be enough to get Sam to get off my asshole about this. Enough to get Sam to see that I was just trying my best to help out here. As I said this, he then slowly nodded, feeling like he was already pushing his luck here, so he just need to take this, and run with it. Which I was glad that he was seeing the value of.

"That is all that I thought that you should do. Nobody fucking wanted you to do the whole thing. We just wanted to see if you were willing to fucking give this a go, and see what you can find." He said, and then I shrugged, and felt like whatever he wanted to say, I just needed to go along with this, and not fight it anymore. I felt fucking lost, and I felt fucking useless, so what was the point in even fighting this anymore?

"One hour." I said, and then I was sighing. "The mall closes at 10. I want to make sure I get there in time to get a prom suit for the dance." I said, even though that was six hours from now, but I didn't give a single shit. I just needed to make the point that this was not going to become a big thing, and that I did not want to spend my whole night on this.

Sam knew this full well, and I was already seeing him looking like he wanted to find some form of boost that would benefit him but still give me time to look at the mall. "Three." He said, and I was then feeling like maybe some form of medium was the only way to not make all of us hate each other.

"Two." I said, and with that, Sam slowly nodded, and we shook hands. "Okay two hours, and then that's it. I will be heading to the mall and the subject of Labyrinth is done after this." I finished, and then with that, we were starting to head off, and I was seeing Sam looking like he was trying to understand where the pain I had been feeling had been coming from. But at the same time, he was just looking like he was really having a hard time putting this together. As we had been driving along, I felt like it was time to ask him a question that he might not have wanted to answer. But I was feeling like as long as he was willing to answer, I might as well just jump to it.

"How has Kevin been doing?" I asked, feeling like if Kevin was doing well, that might be the thing that reduced tension between the two of us the most. I was wanting to make the two of us get along as well as possible. I did not want to make any of us angry at each other over things that were really not that big of a deal at all.

"He is fine. I mean, he seems to be making some good friends with people his own age. He did say that one of them hasn't been in school the last couple of days…" He said, and then he suddenly took a deep breath, as if realizing what he just fucking said.

"Son of a fucking bitch. Is that what is going on here this whole time?" He asked, suddenly realizing what he had just said. "Okay, I think that a good starting point would be to talk to Kevin. See if there has been an official case on it." As he said this, I sighed, feeling like Kevin was now old enough to get into this subject, and I was not going to stop it from happening at this rate.

I was driving to Sam's house, and the entire time we were driving, Sam was tapping the arm rest over and over again. I could tell that he was really not happy about what happened. "God damn it, if this is true, then I have no idea what the hell I am going to tell Kevin. I hope that you can take over the subject for me." He said, and I was feeling like I needed to find some way that I could make him feel slightly less scared over what was happening.

"Who knows… Maybe this isn't really connected, and I think you might be over thinking this." I said, and I was just hoping that he would take this, and not make too much of an issue here. "I mean, if they are connected, then I am so fucking sorry. But I think that this isn't the truth at all." I said, not sure how else I could describe this.

"I have a really bad feeling, Sheldon. I appreciate what you are trying to do. But there is no way in hell these aren't connected. You were wanting to always lecture me about being smart here. And I am doing just that. And you get upset at me here?" Sam asked, feeling like he needed to call me out of this. I sighed, since I had no idea what the hell to even tell him. I felt like he was just kind of pressing at me.

"Okay, fair enough. I suppose that I understand where you are coming from." I sighed, feeling like I just needed to not be too defensive here. He was saying what he felt, and I wasn't exactly sure if that was really a good thing or not. "Sam, just make sure that you don't get too ahead of your emotions here. I understand very much, how much it fucking hurts to want to do the right thing. I do not want to see you hurt yourself." I said, and I was seeing Sam looking like he was kind of annoyed. But then before long, I pulled up at his house, and I was already seeing Kevin, and a red head guy, probably around Brad's age, talking with each other. Sam slowly nodded, as if he was expecting this, and he shrugged, not sure what else to say.

Once Sam and I got out of the car, that was when Kevin looked up at us. I was seeing from the look on his face that he was not looking as happy to be seeing us here right now. In fact, he was looking kind of scared at what we were planning on telling him. "Guys, what the fucking hell are you doing here?" Kevin asked, sounding like he had hoped that whatever would happen now, would just be done quickly enough, and would not be making the situation any harder than it already had been for any of us.

"Look, you were mentioning something about Shari earlier. So, would you be so kind as to elaborate more on that, and we can fucking figure out what the hell is happening here?" Sam asked, sounding like he just needed to get right to the point here. Kevin looked at him, sounding like he was genuinely really fucking annoyed at this sudden attitude change. As if he was wishing that this conversation had never started in the first place.

"Look, forget that I mentioned anything about that. Like, seriously, please fucking forget all about it, and forget about the fact that I even wanted to tell you in the first place. This was clearly a fucking mistake." Kevin said, shaking his head, sounding like he had wanted to say more. Then with that, he smiled, pretending like he might as well just not say anything else at all. In fact, he had wished that nothing else was uttered here.

"No, Sheldon and I are wanting to know if there is a chance that Shari might have recently gone missing." Sam said, and then I was taking out another cigarette, feeling like I might as well give Kevin at least a couple of minutes of a break, so he could compose himself, while I asked another question that genuinely had been on my mind.

"Who are you?" I asked, referring to the red head. He looked right at us, and I could tell that he was already trying to put on the modest face, where he had no idea what the hell I was asking this over in the first place.

"Todd Robinson. I assume you are the famous Sheldon Oswald Lee. Son of the mayor. You know, Kevin has brought you up on multiple occasions, and I was wondering if you were actually aware of what your father was doing." He said, and I was having a really bad feeling that he was one of those people who had no respect for my father, and was not even going to pretend to hide it.

"Look, Todd, with all due respect, my dad has been working on this case, and finding out what happened to my sister, and all the other girls far longer than you have probably been living in Wayside. Wait a second, how long have you been living in Wayside exactly?" I asked, and then Todd smiled, as if he knew that I ended up catching my tail, and he knew that I needed to have real evidence here.

"A little less than a year. So yeah, you're right about me and Wayside. That being said, I have heard so many fucking stories, and I have heard about all your father has done. Look, I know that you are not your dad. But you are going to keep letting him run away with this." Todd said, and then with that, I was then taking a deep breath, feeling like I had lost all interest in this subject.

"Who are your parents? Do they know anything about Shari?" I asked, half way defensive, and half way sincerely when I asked. I was seeing from the look on Todd's face that he was finding himself more confused than angry that I asked him. Then with that, he sighed, as if he was feeling like he just needed to go along with this question.

"Well, they don't know a lot about the case per se. I didn't tell them. In fact, I barely talk to them ever since the move. But my dad does have social connections with the Reichenbach family." Todd said, and I was seeing him looking like he was trying to decide what to even say now.

"Sorry to hear that. I should have simply never fucking said anything." I said, and I was genuinely feeling bad for what I said. I had hoped that he was not going to get too angry at me here. I was trying to keep my mind up, but at the same time, I really did not know if it was getting anywhere at all. "Look, I am just wanting to know if Shari is gone. You do not need to worry. Even if I think you are wrong about my dad, you do not need to worry. I am still not my father."

"Yeah, she is fucking gone. And I think she is going to be gone for a long time. From what I have seen in Wayside, it seems like people only very minimally care about changing things, and doing the right thing here. If you are being sincere, and you want to do the right thing, then I suppose that I can trust you. Do you vouch for him, Kevin?" Todd asked, and I was finding it strange how he had been talking like he was the big boss of this. Kevin then took a deep breath, feeling like he was considering what he heard.

"Yeah, I will vouch for Sheldon. He has been the one person who I feel like had always been trying to do what is right. I have a hard time believing in his father a lot, but I never had a hard time believing in Sheldon." He said, and then with that, Todd slowly sighed. As if he was aware that he was losing this fight, so he just needed to just go along with this, and let Kevin have what he wanted.

"Okay, you made your fucking point. Okay, since Kevin is saying that you are to be trusted, I will work with you, and I will hope that you are not giving me any fucking bullshit here. If it turns out that you guys are not going to be giving me anything to work with, then I will be really bothered. But I guess that we can learn something together right now." Todd said, and I was wondering what he was cooking up right now, and I smiled, feeling like I might as well hear him out, and see what he was planning here.

"What are you planning exactly?" I asked, and then Todd smiled, feeling like he was just glad to see that I was actually listening to him right now. He walked past me, and then he was thinking about how he was going to lay the message to me where this had been going.

"I am planning on going to her house right now. She is only a block or two away. I think that whatever her parents would be wanting to fucking hide, we will fucking know soon." Todd said, and then he was looking like he was already regretting saying what he was going to say, but felt like he was having no choice but to just tell us, if it was to build any form of trust here.

"If you want to come along, then I suppose that I am not going to be too upset here. Just don't make a fucking scene here. I already feel like I am pushing it a lot by agreeing to let you come along with this." Todd said, feeling like he just needed to be honest there. With that, I slowly nodded, feeling like this asshole was a lot more like me than I was wanting to fucking admit, and I was feeling really annoyed with this fact.

Made me realize that dad must have had a hard time dealing with people like myself right now, when I was being as fucking stubborn as him, and I was wondering how in the world my dad was willing to tolerate a guy like me in the first place.

"Fine, I guess that I will come along. Would be best for everybody here, if I am honest. I just hope we don't end up regretting this…" I said, looking right at Kevin, wondering how in the world he ended up being friends with a guy like this in the first place.

As we were all walking along, following Todd, I was feeling like, partially out of spite, and partially because I was actually genuinely interested, what he had been able to accomplish with the case so far, especially since we were possibly going to be working together for a while, and I did not really want to make a massive mistake here.

"So Todd, how much have you found since you started to look into this? I mean, you went to school with the girl, so I guess I would be interested to see what magic you guys have been able to work out." I said, feeling like if they had already found some things, then maybe I needed to be fair to him, and stop being such a fucking asshole.

Todd then shook his head, feeling like he was genuinely upset at the fact that he was not getting much here, which made me kind of feel bad for the fact that I was calling him this way in the first place. But I was not caring, and I was ready to just see where this was going. "Honestly, I have been trying to get some info out of some people here. It feels like a few of them had almost forgotten about Shari even fucking existing. Almost like they straight up don't fucking care. The only person here who seemed like he was giving any shits at all was this guy who likes to play as a fucking elf with his friends. His name was Steven or something like that. But he seemed to have no real interest in wanting to talk to me when I approached him, and he was telling me that I was only doing it for the story."

"Why does he play like a elf? I mean, sorry if I am sounding like an asshole. I just suppose that I am a bit more curious about this than I want to admit." I said, feeling like I just needed to be utterly honest with him. Todd sighed, sounding like he was a bit annoyed that this was the thing, out of all the fucking things, that I was fucking focused on. But at the same time, he did seem like he did get it, and he was sort of just wishing that my interest would end soon enough here.

"I don't fucking know. I think he thinks he's being really funny for that. I will say, he did get a laugh out of me when he did dress up like a normal person for the one day on Halloween costume night. Anyways, point fucking is, he was the only one that seemed to have any remote interest in wanting to talk to me about it, and even he seems like he was mainly doing it just because he wants to find out more about Shari, than it had anything at all to do with me. And I suppose that I sort of get where he is coming from."

"Anyways, look, I have a bad feeling, and I do not want to admit it, I have a feeling that she is fucking dead, and I feel like we need to be looking at this as a genuine possibility. I feel like Steven doesn't want to hear that suggestion, and when I brought it up, he basically told me to go fuck myself, and he was making it clear that he wanted me to be ashamed to even suggest this in the first place." He said, and Todd had seemed to accept this possibility a lot sooner than I had thought that he would. I feel like he was just basically jumping the whole gun when it was coming to this.

"Look, Todd, I think that you're a good guy, and I think that you have your heart in the right place. That being said, if you are straight up admitting that she fucking died, or that you think that she did, I think that the best thing for you to do is just accept the fact that this happened. So please, for the fucking love of god, stop trying to make this even harder than it already is." I said, and then Todd was looking like he could not believe that he heard me say that. As if he was feeling like I was being utterly irresponsible with shat I had been saying.

"You think that I'm a good guy? Just a few minutes ago, you were basically yelling at me, and treating me like I was a terrible person. What in the world are you fucking talking about here? I mean, come the fucking hell on here." He said, and then I sighed, feeling like I just needed to give him a bit of a break. After all, I was being a bit hard on him, and I was feeling like I just needed to stop being so hard on him.

"Look, I understand your reaction was all heat of the moment. You got upset at the stuff that I had said earlier, and you wish that I hadn't fucking said it. I fucking get it. But please, for the love of god, please don't make this too much harder on me right now." I said, feeling like I just needed to make him happier.

"Maybe there was a little bit of genuineness to it. I have a hard time seeing the lights with you when I am dealing with not being sure if your father is exactly a good person. But I suppose that maybe you don't fucking don't get it." He said, and then I was shaking my head. He was right. I did not fucking get it. But I was not wanting to fight him right now, when I was aware that he was just simply already making his mind up on the matter.

"Look, I'm sorry for anything my father might have done that makes you feel like you can't trust me or anybody else. I really am fucking sorry. But please, for the fucking love of god, calm the hell down, and stop over thinking everything here because you are simply too upset to understand what is happening here." I said, and then I looked right at him, and I was seeing Todd looking like he was trying to understand what to say here. But he was just kind of lost in his own world. Thankfully, he did not need to find much of anything to say, when we were all at Shari's house, and thankfully, her mother was already there, looking at something, which meant that we could just introduce ourselves, and our intentions to her, without needing to stall things off any longer for no reason.

"Hey, I was wanting to talk to you about your daughter, Shari. I have been friends with her for a while, and I have been trying to just sort this whole thing on. Would you be willing to tell me literally anything at all that can help this out?" Todd said, sounding like he was genuinely trying to put this whole thing together. In all honesty, I could tell that she was just totally lost, and she looked like she was beyond the point of even fucking crying anymore. She had just been too upset to cry, or to care, anymore.

"She is gone, and nobody gives a singular fuck about it. How the fuck do you think that I am happy with this at all?" She asked, seeming like she was trying to not get too angry at Todd, knowing that he was probably meaning well. But at the same time, she was feeling like he was being really unaware of how people were truly fucking feeling here, and she was feeling like he needed to get a fucking grip on reality before things were gone.

"I promise you, within everything in my power, that I will do whatever it fucking takes to bring your daughter back. I hate the fact that she is gone, and I hate the fact that it seems like nobody fucking cares here. Trust me when I say that I am fucking disgusted here. Just as much as you are, I feel like… That being said, what is done, is fucking done, now I am here to try and make sure that it doesn't get any worse… I need you, of all people, to work with me here." Todd said, feeling like he just needed to be straight up with her here.

"Everything in your fucking power?" She asked, sounding like she had genuinely hoped that she would believe what he was saying. As if she was too scared to not believe him. Then with that, she shook her head, sounding like she had just kind of lost all hope here. She hadn't even wanted to describe how little hope that she had, and she was feeling like there was no need to even pretend anymore.

"Yes, everything in my power. You might not see it yet, but I genuinely hate everything that has happened here. And I hate the fact that people have turned a blind eye to this… So yeah, I am going to make sure that nothing like this fucking happens again." He said, sounding like he just needed to be straight up as he said that. He sounded like he was just desperate to hear her approval of this.

"If you are honest, then go ahead and check out her bedroom. See if you can fucking divine anything that I am missing out on. I would fucking love it if you were able to. I would make everything up to you if you could." She said, and then Todd slowly nodded, as if feeling like this was perfectly fair, and he was feeling like he needed to just run with what he had.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. You might not know me very well, but I am not going to let anything stop me until I find out the truth of what happened to her. I have only been living her for a year, and I find the things that happened in Wayside utterly disgusting, and I will fucking fight as hard as I fucking can to change this. And I will be hopeful that you will all be at my side." Todd said, and then he looked right at us, as if he was wondering if we were actually going to accept his offer. I slowly sighed, feeling like I might as well just see what would happen if we just played along with this, and made no fighting over it.

As we were all going inside, the mother called out to me specifically, and I was seeing her looking like she was trying to decide what she wanted to tell me. She clearly knew who I was, and I was feeling like I just needed to pretend like this whole thing was not really bothering me too much. It was seeming like she was trying to find something smart to say to me, to make it clear to me that she found me to a piece of shit who didn't do anything right, but to be honest, I think if she did this, she was only going to serve fuel for the fire that I had already been feeling.

"When your father was elected to be mayor of Wayside, we all thought that he was going to be super strict on these answers. Why are you not fucking doing anything then?" She asked, and then I sighed, feeling like she just gave her fucking answer right then and there. Not the answer she wanted to hear, since everybody was wanting to make me sound like I was their god, but it was the answer nonetheless.

"Because that is my dads job. Not mind. I want to help out more. But my dad has made it clear to me that he wants me to have nothing to do with this, and I will respect that from him. He is a nice enough guy, I think, but when he said that he needed to let me do his damn job, then I decided to fucking respect him, and I decided that I would let him do his damn job. I feel like I shouldn't be the one person who is shot down because of this." I said, feeling like I needed to stop having people judge me over things that my father was doing, which had nothing to do with myself.

"You live with him. So would you be willing to tell him that we need him to step up, and stop taking things for a fucking slow ass ride?" She asked, and then I was shaking my head, feeling like she was just being rude, at this point, for no reason. I was literally giving up everything to help her out, and she was treating me like I was this fucking monster for no fucking reason.

"I am doing my best to do what is right, and you are treating me like I am the enemy? Do you not realize how much of a fucking asshole you are sounding like right now? I hope that you do, because you are not going to have any fucking friends the way you treat people here?" I said, and then with that, I just followed Sam, Kevin, and Todd to Shari's room, where all three men looked mutually upset at this response that Shari's mother gave me. As if agreeing that she had taken it way too fucking far.

"Yeah, sorry that she acted that way. I feel like that was way beyond any bounds. And if she was going to keep acting that way, then I feel like I could have said something to make her stop." Todd said, sounding like he was finding peoples reactions these days to be a bit too much. Like he felt like I needed to still take this more seriously, but at the same time, there as no need to be treating people like that for no reason.

"No, you get used to it here. People think that just because my dad is the mayor that I have a clue on what he is doing and everything. I am just simply trying to make my way through high school, and people fucking expect me to have everything answers. I feel like whatever the hell my das is doing is something that he needs to fucking figure out on his own. And I am almost beyond all interest in talking to him about this anymore.

"Anyways, do you guys have anything that can help us out?" I asked, feeling like I just needed to keep this going along as much as possible. I was tired of being treated like this, and I was tired of not having any answers on Labyrinth. In a way, I was tired of living, and I was tired of acting like there was a way out of this issue. I was tired of pretending like there was, and I was tired of pretending like I had any way out of this at all.

Sam picked up a giant binder that had looked like it had been completely filled up to the brim. I was seeing him looking like he was genuinely happy to finally find what he had been looking for. "What the hell was Shari keeping in here for the love of fucking god?" He asked, sounding like he was just way too interested in knowing to not know. When he opened it up, he was seeing a giant picture book that had virtually every single event that Shari had been doing for the last several monsters.

"Is Steven in any of those?" Todd asked, and then Sam looked at him, sounding really annoyed for a second. He was feeling like Todd just decided to forget that Sam wasn't aware of what Steven even looked like. Todd seemed to pick up on this, and seemed to decide to take a step back, as if to clarify.

"Again, guy with green shirt, always has elf ears. Seems to think that playing a elf all the time is something that is funny and cute." Todd said, and then Sam rolled his eyes, as if feeling like Todd was still not really giving him a ton to work with here. But he was willing to at least act like he wasn't going to call him out on things such as these.

As Sam started to flip through the pages, just looking for that specifically and nothing else, he then found a few that fit the description. Every time he did, he would take the photo out of the sleeve, and then he handed it to Todd, so he could take a moment to look. Once he was done looking, Todd would send it to Kevin, who would then give them to me. Todd looked a bit sad when he was seeing that one of them was even having himself in it. One that was at the party he mentioned earlier, where Steven was in the normal wear.

"He looks a lot like you. Did anybody ever tell you that?" Sam asked, half way just to be annoying, but half way because it was true. As he said this, Todd was holding his head to the side, as if trying to decide if he was actually buying this or not. Then he was taking a moment to really see it. Then he sighed, as if he was aware deep down inside, Todd was right on the money.

"No, I suppose not really. I mean, I guess I can kind of see it now that you point it out. Anyways, is there anything she said in there?" Tidd asked, trying really hard not to think about the Steven thing. I mean, I think he was just sort of having a hard time not thinking too much about it. Not that I could fucking blame him, given what is happening here. But at the same time, we were all just sort of in our own world here.

"No, not like explicitly said. On most pages, maybe a sentence or two about her thoughts on certain things. But that is all that I can fucking see. Is there something specifically that you wanted to fucking know?" He asked, sounding like he was just kind of wanting to move this along.

"Anyways, she seemed like she had feelings for that Steven guy you mention, but she was having a really hard time showing it. I think she was scared that he would reject her, and everything." Sam said, and then with that, he was done taking the last picture that had Steven in it out. He looked right at Todd, as if wondering what Kevin was gong to say to this.

"God damn… Steven had feelings for her to, and I think that when he found out that she was missing, he was half way ready to murder somebody. I feel so fucking bad, because now she won't really know the way that he truly feels about her. That is fucking tragic." He said, sounding like he was just taking a moment to consider where this was heading. "Look, I think that we need to be talking to him about what is happening here. Maybe he will give us some clues on what to discuss here."

"I don't even know where the asshole lives. How in the world can I fucking ask him what he fucking knows, if I don't know where he lives?" Sam asked, and then he was standing up. Kevin finally spoke up, feeling like he would contribute to the discussion, since he was probably feeling like he had not been helping out enough here, and kind of regretted where this was happening.

"I can show you guys. If you need, I feel like I can get him to talk…" Kevin said, sounding like he had hoped that this response would get him to sound important. As we all looked at him, I could tell that Kevin had looked like he was finally making sense out of everything here. "I worked with him a few times before. I feel like he would be more willing to talk to me than any of you guys. Especially since we have been in school together from the fucking start."

"Okay, I guess that we can make this work. Might not be the best idea in the world to bring you into this, but I suppose that we really have no choice." Sam said, sounding like he was already having the worst ideas in his mind on how this could go. I shrugged, feeling like he had been taking this way too hard, and that he needed to fucking calm down, and not be making such a scene out of it.

"Thank you guys. I just really want to be as useful as possible here." He said, sounding like he just wanted to no longer be hiding the feelings that he was having. And then with that, he was starting to look at Sharu's mother, who did not seem amused by our discussions here, and she seemed like she was ready to tell us all off. "Hey, did Shari bring a friend of hers here? You know, guy with red hair, and dressed like a elf?" Todd asked, sounding like he was just trying to tiptoe around this as much as possible. He seemed like despite how much everything annoyed him, deep down inside, he did respect her enough to want to not ruffle any feathers.

"Yeah, she brought him over once. She was trying to work on some school projects with him, but he seemed to be rather distant. It seemed like he was not really caring what anybody was saying to him. I felt like there was just some form of confusion that he was feeling." She said, feeling like she just needed to be honest about what she was thinking about him.

"Did he ever mention anything about talking to Larry Needlemeyer? I remember that a couple of weeks ago, he was forced to work on a project with him." Todd said, and then Shari's mother looked right at him, as if feeling like Todd bringing Larry into this was random, and kind of stupid, and truly did not make any lick of fucking sense.

"Why would the Burger flipping guy have anything to do with what happens to my fucking daughter? If you are just going to be wasting my time on this, then you can just head away, and I will not need to bother with this anymore." She said, sounding really genuinely annoyed, and Todd was looking like he was needing to find something to say.

"Because he is more than just fucking burger flipping guy. He runs that one casino in town." Todd said, feeling like he just needed to make his point here. She shook her head, feeling like despite everything that Todd was trying to do, he still did not get the full picture of this town, and until he did, there was no reason to be talking to him about any of this.

"His dad is the one that runs the casino. Joyful Burger is the place that he let Larry work at to give him the presentation of being a responsible adult. Look, you never answered my fucking question. What in the world does that have to do with my daughter Shari?" She asked, sounding like she wanted him to just cut the act, and stop giving off any bullshit answers.

"I just feel like there is something about that guy that we are not seeing, and I think that he is the man that I can talk closest to. Just trust me when I think that he is somebody I want to talk to." Todd said, sounding like he just needed to get her to open up a bit.

"Forget this Todd, this is dumb. She isn't going to talk to us. So there is no point in forcing this. We need to talk to Steven, and see what he has to say." Kevin said, looking straight at Shari's mother. Not exactly in anger, but for sure in annoyance, and for sure wondering what the hell her problem was.

"Wow, you guys really do not have any fucking tact here. I thought that you guys would have been more willing to keep things to yourself." She said, sounding like she was genuinely horrified at the fact that she was even needing to explain this to us. "If you guys want to act like you know better, than go ahead. But I am not going to be a part of this, and I feel like nobody who respects themselves enough should be either."

I was then slowly nodding, as if feeling like in a way, we did deserve that. And I was feeling like whatever she had wanted to say, we did not have a good point here, and I was feeling like we needed to just accept that we made a big mistake, apologize to her, and just be done with this, before it got any worse.

Once we were out of the house, that was when I was looking straight at Kevin, feeling like I just needed to make the fucking point to him that this was not a joke, and that we needed take this as seriously as possible, and if he was not going to respect this seriousness, then how in the hell was I going to listen to him about this subject? I mean, I was already seeing him trying to back off about this whole thing, and tell me that I had been over thinking this.

"Okay Kevin, let me be clear with you… Right now… If you try and turn back on this, and not take this seriously at all, and not be showing any respect for the subject, then I will be super fucking upset at you. I am putting a ton of hope on you, and you better be following through with this." I said, feeling like I just needed to be straight up with him, and not give him any bullshit at all.

"Okay, fair enough my dude. I can fucking respect that. I know that at the end of the day, this is still a fucking job for you, and nothing else…" Kevin told me, and I was seeing him looking like he was hoping that what he was going to show me would be enough to appease him here.

As we were walking along, Sam seemed like he was wanting to say something, and he was seeming like he really did not give a shit how offensive he was going to sound here. He sounded like he just needed to be one hundred percent forthright with what was on his mind.

"To be honest, Shari's mother is a fucking bitch, and I have no idea if I have any fucking respect for her at all, with the way that she was acting. I think that she just sort of loses all respect that I ever had for her in the first place." He said, feeling like he just needed to be straight up honest there. "Todd, I feel like you are going to have to find some way to truly wow that woman, or else she is going to be making your life a fucking living nightmare, and I have no idea if I can help you through that."

"I think that I would rather not deal with her if that is the way that she is going to be. I one hundred percent agree with that. This being said, I need to just look at the bigger picture, and stop letting things bother me too fucking much here. What's done is done, and I think that she would be treating virtually everybody this way, no matter what we fucking do.

"Anyways, to be fair, I think that even when I shit talk these people, they still at least know what they feel on the matter, which is more than I fucking do. I hate myself, and the way that I have been handling this shit." He said, and he sounded like he was a bit upset at the fact that he was admitting this.

"I hate the fact that I feel like I am forced to carry everything on my own, and nobody is willing to fucking help me out here. I feel like I am always on my own, and I just feel fucking depressed. Even when I first moved here, and Dana was first talking to me. At first, she only gave a shit about talking to me because of the monsters. She didn't really want to know me as a fucking man." He said, sounding like he was utterly defeated as he was admitting this. He sounded like he was genuinely ashamed of admitting this out loud.

"Do you still like Dana? I know that used to be a issue that you had at one point. That break up was pretty brutal, and I was scared of how you were both willing to fucking handle it." Kevin said, feeling like he just needed to see what Todd was feeling here. I felt like I just needed to be straight up with him, as a way to make Todd respect me more, and for me to get to know him more.

"I mean, I don't know what I think of her anymore. I used to like her a lot. I wanted to fucking marry her at one point in time. But that is clearly a fucking joke, and I am a fucking asshole for ever thinking that this could work. And I suppose that on the other hand, I do indeed like Maurecia in a way. But I have no idea if that is ever going to fucking work out, if I am honest." He said, feeling like he just needed to be honest with me here.

"How did you and Jenny even fucking break up in the first place?" I asked, and then Todd looked right at me, looking like he was trying to decide if he was annoyed with all my questions, or if he was actually feeling thankful for the fact that I was asking him this stuff in the first place.

"She thought that I was getting too deeply into the monsters thing. She thought that I was letting it become a fucking obsession, and I suppose that I do see where she is coming from. But I was genuinely feeling like I had no choice on the matter, and I feel like if she understood why I did what I did, she could understand. I genuinely fucking nearly died, like on a weekly basis, against those things, and I would honestly be shocked if I make it through high school at the rate that I am going." He said, feeling like he just needed to be straight up to the fuckin point here. If he didn't like it, I genuinely did not care if he didn't like it.

"Fair enough. But it is strange how she was the one that brought you into the monsters, and then she goes around and tells you that you are getting too focused on it, and need to fucking drop it. I feel like she is needing to maybe take some advice from your book." Sam said, finally feeling like he needed to say something in order to make some sense out of this.

"I know right. That was the point that I was trying to make to her. But she fucking never listened to me. She genuinely seemed like she was too scared to admit that she is at fault for this at least at part." He said, as if feeling like Sam got the issue much more than he thought that Sam would.

"Glad to see that somebody gets how ridiculous the whole thing is. She wants me to do things differently, but then when I do things the way that she wanted me to fucking do them, she just fucking gets super angry, tells me that I am doing things wrong, and that I am making a bunch of mistakes. It just feels like she doesn't even see what the issues are." Todd said, sounding depressed at this.

"Take it easy dude. Maybe she regretted telling you these things once she realized what you were doing, and once she realizes that you were actually following through with putting your life on the line." Sam said, feeling like he just needed to try and make people calm down, and see that maybe she just had a fucking change of heart here. Todd shook his head, feeling like he was beyond hearing the excuses, and he was beyond other people being defended for their shitty behavior, when he was never being excused for some simple mistakes that he made.

"That doesn't change the fact that I feel like this is a fucking mistake. She tells me everything that I need to fucking do to make things better. But then it just isn't fucking possible. I am too deeply into this subject, and I feel like I have nowhere to fucking hide here." Todd said, and then he was rubbing his eyes, having nothing else to say.

"Todd, I think you just need to accept that what's done is done. If you feel like you can't handle all of these things, then maybe you need to just find something else to do." Sam said, but clearly felt like he had no way of convincing Todd to go along with this. In fact, he was already aware of the fact that this just wasn't going to really be worth it.

"I know that I need to accept this stuff. Doesn't make it anywhere fucking near fun. Not that fighting monsters are fun either. But the truth is that I fucking loved her, and I thought that we could be able to make this work out." He said, sounding just completely fucking defeated here. And in a way, I was genuinely feeling bad for the way that he was feeling. I wanted to make him feel better, but I feel like Todd was aware that he was going to be crossing this bridge on his own, and I felt like I just needed to accept this for what it is.

"Sheldon, how are you able to handle doing anything when your dad is the mayor anyways? I feel like he probably has a bunch of things he wants to do, and everything you do is going to be reported to him in some way. You know, from his cronies." Todd said, and I was shrugging, feeling like there was nothing else to even tell him in the first place. I mean, I had nothing to gain by just trying to throw my father under the bus for literally no god damn reason at all.

"Honestly, my dad and I barely fucking talk to each other anymore. I think that we just sort of accept the fact that none of us really want to be around each other anymore." I said, and I was seeing from the look on his face that he was not really buying it at all.

"Are you upset at the fact that you barely fucking talk to your father anymore? Or are you fucking fine with that? I remember when he was running, and you were supporting him everywhere, and you were really telling everybody that we need to follow him." Sam said, and I did not want to be reminded of how my father and I used to be getting along, because of the fact that we did sort of have a bit of a falling out, and I feel like we had all been just kind of regretting the way that we had been talking to each other.

"No, not really. I think we both understand that this needs to fucking happen. I think once he took office, he and I had a lot of issues with how he was handling things, and I think the two of us just simply decided that we needed to stop working with each other." I said, feeling like I just needed to be straight up here. My father and I had some issues, and I was no longer wanting to pretend like this wasn't fucking true.
"What were some of the major reasons you guys had a bit of a falling out?" Sam asked, and I was shrugging, feeling like I just needed to be honest with my answer. I did not enjoy what I was about to say, and to be honest, I feel like Sam deserved to fucking know the truth.

"Well, he seemed to stop talking about Riley, as if she just doesn't exist. It just makes me feel really fucking awful, since it feels like she isn't important in his eyes anymore. But even beyond that, he said that he was no longer going to be working with Lazarus anymore. Said that Lazarus had been pushing their luck too far, but then he turns around, and fucking supports them. It's almost like he is just too scared to fucking admit that he had gotten in over his head, and I feel like he is just trying to make some fucking peace." I said, and I saw Sam looking like he was wanting to sort of tell me 'I told you so'.

"Yeah, I think you should have fucking expected that from the asshole. He doesn't really give a shit about anybody but his political career. I have told you that so many fucking times, but you refused to fucking listen to me. Now when you are seeing it while he is in office, suddenly you are upset here." Sam said, and then I was seeing him looking a bit annoyed at the fact that he was explaining this in the first place.

"I know that is what you fucking said. But I was telling you that you were fucking wrong. Now that this is exactly what is happening, I feel like a fucking asshole, and I feel like I should have just listened to you this whole time." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest with him about this. He looked really annoyed at the fact that I was trying to course correct when I shouldn't have bothered to do something like this in the first place. I should have just fucking owned up, and stopped making a issue with this as much as I had been.

"Well, next time, fucking listen to me maybe. You know, that would probably be your fucking best bet." He said, sounding like he just needed to be straight up here. He didn't give a shit if he was sounding rude at this point anymore. He just felt like he needed to be honest there. I shook my head, mentally telling him to stop pressing me so hard on the matter because I felt regret here.

"Okay, you made your fucking point. No need to make me feel like utter fucking crap for doing this. I am just trying my best to do something right here, and you are going around, making me feel like a fucking asshole here. I feel like when I talk with my father again, we are going to have a lot to discuss. I am going to have to try and convince him to open up, and stop just deflecting shit all the time. I mean, I hate to admit it, but I am tired of him doing this myself, and I feel like he is hardly going to actually be listening to me here." I said, feeling like I just needed to be kind of honest with him here. Maybe I just needed to sort of just pull this whole thing off, without making too much of a issue.

"Do you guys even like hanging out with Steven all that much? It seems like you guys aren't really sure what to be telling us right now. I think that if there is something you are worried baoyt, you just need to be honest here." Sam asked, feeling like he just needed to see where this subject could go. I was seeing him looking like he was kind of regretting where this had been going.

"I mean, I like him enough. But I still think that he isn't the best guy in the world, if I am being honest with you guys. I think he just fucking has some bad social skills, and he always has a fucking hard time showing that all the time. I think that you would be better off just only getting the bare minimum, out of him. I feel like Shari is the only person who has remotely been able to get that asshole to open up. Would not be surprised if they had known each other for many years already, and that is why he is finally doing this." I said, feeling like I just needed to be straight up honest with him.

"Well, I think that if this is the way that Steven is, then we just need to get him to show us why he always rejects talking to us so fucking much. But I feel like we will cross that bridge when we fucking get there." Sam said, sounding like he was actually starting to slightly care, and I was shocked to be seeing him actually do this. I felt like I just needed to at least just pretend like this was something I had any interest in, which I honestly did not.

Eventually, we reached Steven's house, and I was already seeing both Todd and Kevin looking like they were expecting this to go down hill really fast. I was kind of feeling bad for them. They wanted to do what was best, but they were constantly scared of what could be fucking happening soon, and I felt like I needed to try and find a way to make them feel even a smidge better here. But I was seeing from the look on both their faces, that they were scared out of their fucking minds.

When Steven looked at us from his house, he looked like he was beyond annoyed with seeing us there. When he walked out of the house, he was looking at me and Sam specifically due to the fact that he must have known that there was no way in hell that he knew who we were, and he was already trying to find a way to tell us that he wanted nothing to do with us here.

"Hey, my name is Sheldon Oswald Lee. This is Sam, Kevin's older brother. Todd was saying that you were somebody who was close with Shari, and that you might be able to help us out with the case, and figuring out how in the world we can be able to solve this case." I said, feeling like I might as well just get to the point in order to at least try and not annoy the shit out of him here.

"Cool. You guys are talking about something that I have lost all interest in. Please, just let me rest in peace. Shari deserves so much better than you pressing this stuff on her name after she had been gone. You know, I have no idea what you guys are trying to accomplish, and frankly, I am not wanting to be involved." He said, and I was seeing that he was not buying a single word that he was saying. He was clearly just saying what he knew his mom and dad wanted to say, since he did not want to get in trouble with them. I took out a cigarette, staring at the kid, feeling like I needed to just tell him straight up that I hated every word out of his mouth.

"You don't fucking believe that, and you fucking know that. So cut the bullshit with me, and stop trying to make it seem like you are totally okay with this." Kevin said, sounding a bit annoyed at this discussion, and I was wondering what the hell he was thinking he was going to accomplish by telling this guy this.

"What does it fucking matter if I believe it or not. I mean, it's not like she will ever fucking be found. So let's just fucking drop the subject now." He said, looking right at us, and I wondered if he was actually going to listen to us here. "I mean, Shari is gone. The best thing to do is just accept the fact that she is gone, and stop making a fucking deal out of this."

"It matters because you know, and we both know, that the story is bullshit, and we are trying to fix it for everybody who goes to school with us." I said, and then I smiled, since I really had no idea how else I could take it. I needed to get this kid to actually listen to me, and I was having no idea how in the world I was able to do this right now.

"Look, I know that my parents would fucking kill me if I even tried to look into this. And honestly, as much as I hate to admit I, need to work this, I feel like they might be in the right here." He said, and I was seeing him sounding like he was really annoyed at this whole thing. I honestly didn't really blame him.

"Well, maybe your parents are nice people. Or maybe your parents are just having a hard time seeing that you need to fucking grow up, and take the bull by their horns, and do whatever you fucking feel is right, to make this work. I believe in you, but you need to fucking do what is best here." I said, feeling like I just needed to get all the bullshit out of the way here.

"Are you saying that because you genuinely believe it, or because you want to make me feel better?' Steven asked, sounding like he just needed to get the pleasantries over with, and not beat around the bush here. I was taking a deep breath, since to be honest, the whole thing was kind of annoying me greatly.

"Oh my god Steven. I am just trying my best to make this work out, and you are not giving me anything to work with. Come the fucking hell on." I said, annoyed that I was even having this discussion right now. I mean, I understood being slightly unsure. But he was being so fucking over the top about this whole thing that it was genuinely annoying to have to deal with.

"Because there is nothing to work with. Look, Shari going missing, and being gone, makes me genuinely want to fucking die. I love Shari more than you can know. But you know what, maybe you can be more focused on how you will pretend to be a hero, and pretend to save the world. You know, with the Digimon, or whatever the hell they are called, and you can simply continue to not give a single shit what is happening to any of us in the process. That is all that you have ever done. You have just simply used everybody else for your own good." Steven said to Todd, and then he looked at me.

"You know, the reason people elected your father to be mayor was because he is a guy who was meant to save Wayside. But he hasn't saved shit. All he has saved are his own fucking pride and ego, and people from judging him as somebody who doesn't care about his daughter. Some people thought that soon enough, you were actually going to fucking wake up, and see the roses, and see what went wrong. But you are too fucking oblivious to what is happening, and that is on all of us." Steven said, and then he was balling both his fists, and before he did the release that I thought he would, he ended up punching his house wall so hard he ended up making his hands bleed a bit, and I was shocked at what he had just done.

"Wow… Okay… Did not expect you to get that angry." I said, feeling like I just needed to see where in the world I could be able to de-escalate this whole thing. He got so angry, and he got so defensive over everything that I was not sure what to fucking expect. All that I did know was that I felt really bad for Steven now that he had let go like this. And now that I knew this was how he was feeling, I knew that I needed to change this, and turn things around, to make him feel slightly less bad for everything that happened. I felt like I owed it to him, to make it feel like I was actually listening to him for once.

"It's hard to keep things in for so long. I just feel like I made a bunch of mistakes here. I feel like people fucking brush off everything here for no reason, and I feel like people just don't fucking care… I care more than anybody else about Shari, and I don't get rewarded at all beyond people thinking that I just am being too fucking soft here or some shit. The whole thing just pisses me off." When Steven finished, I then looked at him, feeling like I just needed to tell him whatever he needed to hear, partially to make him feel less awful, but also because I genuinely did need to know what was going on.

"All that I need to know is did Shari tell you anything before she went missing? I heard that you were the only person that she talked a lot to, and I guess that I want you to help shed some light for me that I don't fucking know yet." I said, and I was seeing him looking like Steven was thinking of how he was going to respond here.

"Yeah, I suppose that's fair enough, and I need to keep a open mind. At least you are actually talking to me unlike your fucking dad. So I guess that already makes you a better man than your dad. But to answer your question… Yes, I have talked a lot with Shari. She was telling me that she was scared of the man who wore the purple jacket who would show up to the school a lot, and she said she was especially scared of what he was doing with Kevin. I think that she is trying to make sure that Kevin doesn't lose his way here." Steven said, sounding like he had hoped that Kevin was going to actually have a real response to this.

"You are saying that this man was still talking with my brother? Why did you not fucking tell me that, Kevin? I explicitly fucking told you that you needed to fucking tell me if something like this ever came up again…" He said, sounding genuinely angry here. As if he was wondering why in the world Kevin would be lying about something like this in the first place.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get scared. I know that you over react to most things going on here, and I was scared that you would take this to the next level." Kevin said, sounding like he had gone through this debate once before, and he was just annoyed at the fact that he was even needing to explain himself in this degree once again, given everything that had been happening here.

"Because that man might actually fucking kill you, and I told you a million fucking times that this could happen. You never once fucking listened to me though. You never fucking listened to me in the first place. But I had sort of assumed that maybe you would be different this time." Sam said, and then he looked at Steven, whose fear has slipped away in a matter of seconds to being a look of genuine panic here. He did not expect the conversation to go from a casual discussion about Shari to Sam himself thinking that Kevin was not having any personal regard to his own safety or anything like that.

"I don't fucking care. I want to know what his relationship with dad is, and why he is hiding this stuff from us. He talks about how dangerous this guy is, but doesn't tell us what the fucking issue is. Why he is dangerous or anything. I feel like I need to know this before anything happens here.

"Maybe dad doesn't want us to know because if we know, then we are on the verge of dying as well. Maybe have you ever considered that dad is trying to keep us fucking safe?" Sam asked, and then Kevin rolled his eyes. He knew that his dad was keeping him safe, but that didn't mean that he liked it very much. In fact, he did not like it at all. In fact, he was rather annoyed that he even had to be discussing this in the first place.

"But if what dad wants prohibits us from learning what happens with Shari, then part of me wonders if it is really worth it to be playing his own game. I think that he might be thinking that he is saving us and what not… But he really fucking isn't, and I feel like in a way, he is just trying to go on and save face here." He said, sounding like he had hoped that we were actually going to listen to him.

"Okay, if this is the way that you are handling this, then I feel like there is a chance that I might have to tell dad, and make him see that what you are doing is extremely destructive here. Maybe he would actually have a better job convincing you than I am." He said, sounding like he was desperately hoping that something like this would actually be true. Sounding like he had hoped we were actually going to listen to him for once.

"So you are just planning on tattling me out for no reason other than the fact that you don't like the fact that I am keeping an open mind, and trying to do things on my own right?" Kevin asked, and then he looked right at Steven, as if feeling like he would like to know what exactly Shari was saying about him, so he could be able to see what she was thinking.

"What exactly did Shari say about the whole thing? Did she explicitly say she wanted me safe?" Kevin asked, as if he was having a hard time believing what he was hearing. As if he wanted to tell Steven that Shari was always lying, and just a master of giving off bullshit if it ended up working in his favor. Which I suppose might have been true.

"She was saying that she was scared that if you hung out with that guy too much, you would soon not even realize the fact that this guy is extremely scary, and she was already worried that it had seemed like you were not seeing the fact that this man was strictly just using you to his own gain. She thinks you are already losing sight of what the bigger picture here is." Steven explained, and he was looking like he was hoping that hearing it from Shari, or hearing the fact that she said this, was going to be enough to get him to see things differently.

"I haven't even seen him in like nearly two weeks. I just see him one, we talk things out a bit, and then we call it good, and then we move on. That is all that I am fucking doing here. You guys are way over thinking this stuff, and I feel like that is going to be your guys biggest issue here." Kevin said, feeling like he just needed to be straight up here. I was already seeing Kevin looking like deep down inside, he was seeing where they were coming from, and he wanted to pretend like they weren't right. But deep down knew they were.

"Okay… Fair enough… That guy does kind of come and go. But I remember the one time he actually went into the classroom, and he was just looking at all of us. If you want me to be honest, that guy scared the fucking shit out of me when he was looking around, and not saying anything at all." Todd said, and then he was looking right at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was feeling really bad for the way that he had treated me earlier.

"Look Sheldon, truth be told, my dad said that he was moving here because he needed to meet up with Shaun Reichenbach again. He said that they had been working together for many years, and that they were always partners in business. When I asked him what they meant, he explained that when Sherman Peabody started to save the town, Shaun and my dad started to work on creating the first iteration of the giant Lazarus Corporation building." Todd said, sounding like he hoped that this response was enough to get me to start to trust him. And to be honest, it actually did kind of work, and I was slowly nodding, feeling like maybe I needed to listen to him more.

"Well, not Shaun, Erik. But Shaun was old enough to understand the basics. You know, back when Erik Reichenbach was still the president of the company. Anyways. Point fucking is, my dad is close friends with them, and I feel like there is a chance that my dad might be involved in what is going on there now. And I feel like that is another reason I'm trying to do something here. I do not want to follow the path that my dad has been going down, and I feel like I need to try and fucking change that." He said, sounding as if he hoped this would make some sense.

"Fair enough. I do think that I understand that. Thank you for admitting what your father has done before. I do respect that much more than you think." I said, and then I was feeling like I just needed to cut it to him straight. "Do you know anything about Brad Carbunkle?' I asked, as Todd looked confused, but not annoyed, that I was bringing that up in the first place.

"Yeah, I know him. I go to school with him. What the fuck does that have to do with anything though?" He asked, sounding a bit confused where this was going. He was looking like he was just trying to decide what the hell he even wanted to say now. But then with that, I decided that I would just tell it to him straight.

"I have a feeling that Brad's mother is involved in the shit going on in Lazarus. I think that she is complicit in all that is going on, and I remember a story that was told. How there were two kids in that pregnancy. Brad and one other boy. She wanted to have both, and when she couldn't, that was the thing that made her freak the fucking hell out." I said, feeling like I just needed to shoot it straight.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" He asked, not even angry, but just a bit more scared than before. As if he was aware where this was going. And he was already hoping to find a way out of this discussion. I felt so bad for the guy, because frankly I felt like he didn't deserve this at all. He was seeming like a nice enough guy, but I needed to just shoot it to him straight, and not give any lies here.

"What do you think I am saying? Because I can tell from the look on your face that you are scared, and I want to try and support you." I said, and I was seeing Todd looking like he was finding himself scared out of his fucking mind that he was even saying this in the first place. I was scared before, but not in this way. Not in the way where it felt like you were questioning reality.

"Brad and I have the same birthday. May 20th." He told me, straight up, and looked right at me. I was seeing from the small tears on his face that he was looking a bit horrified at the fact that he was going to even say what he was going to say next.

"We asked our mothers what time we were born for the fun of it, and he is eighteen minutes older than me. I need to ask him something else. Because I know what you are theorizing, and I have been theorizing it myself." Todd said, and I was slowly nodding. In fall honesty, as much as I fucking hated it, I was glad to hear him finally say it. He was cutting to the chase, and I was feeling really bad for him. But if he was saying it, then I needed to not give him any bullshit here.

"I wasn't theorizing anything until you said that. I was totally willing to just leave the subject alone, and not focus on it at all. But now that you say that, I think you know what I might be thinking here." I said, feeling like I just needed to be utterly honest with him.

"You're wondering if Brad Carbunkle and I might be brothers. You might be wondering if I might be the other twin that has been left behind, and went to a different family? If you are theorizing that, then I suppose that I do not blame you at all." He said, sounding like he just needed to be straight up as he said that.

"Do you think that there is a chance that we are truly related after all? I mean, if you think that, then maybe you should try and talk to him. Maybe if you tell him this, then he might be willing to listen to you as well." I said, feeling like I just needed to be straight up with the idea. He looked right at me, and I was seeing him looking lost as well. He looked horrified.

I sighed, feeling like this was the best thing that I can do. I did not enjoy this idea at all. I was involving myself in affairs that were way beyond myself. "Okay, I will do this. But only because I have a feeling that learning this can solve one question regarding that mystery that I have been interested in for a while, and can help me see if there is anything related to what is happening with labyrinth." I said, and Todd looked like he was glad beyond belief that I was listening to him, and going along with this idea.

"What fucking mystery? What are you fucking hiding here?" He asked, and then I was sighing, feeling like I might as well just be straight up honest with him here. I looked at Kevin, and I was seeing him looking like he was wishing that I would stop talking right now. That I would stop making a scene here, because doing so would only cause things to be made much worse than they had already been.

"Why Brad's mother is a fucking psychotic bitch who has no understanding of how she is making things a hundred times worse for everybody that she ever fucking talks with. I think that if I was able to talk with her, and see what the hell is wrong with her, then I can figure something out here." I said, feeling like I just needed to be utterly honest as I said this. He looked right at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was utterly scared at my idea. As if he thought that I was fucking crazy for suggesting this.

"Trust me, I have a very bad feeling about her, and if you ever met her once in your life, you would completely understand what I am saying, and you wouldn't be thinking that I was being rude, or offensive. You would see that I am just telling the truth straight up for what it is." I said, feeling like I needed to just make it clear to him that I was not being a bitter asshole for no fucking reason, and that I knew exactly what I had been talking about.

"I did meet her. Once. But when I tried to talk with her in the school hall, she just brushed me off, and seemed to be extremely annoyed at my questioning. I just thought that maybe she was having a bad day." He said, and I was seeing Todd looking like he was remembering those days once again, but no having much that he could go off.

"Honestly, once you see her enough, you will know that this is nothing new for her. She just has a terrible personality, and she genuinely thinks that she is the victim of so many things out there. She refuses to acknowledge that there is even a chance that she is the one who is wrong." I said, feeling like I just needed to be straight up honest with him here.

"Sheldon, it's been the two hours since we agreed. If you want to head out and get ready for prom, you have earned your right to do that." Sam said, wanting to give me a heads up. I was glad that he was giving me this outing, that way if I needed to, I could just be able to get the hell out of here. To be honest, this whole thing was really not something I wanted to discuss anymore. And I was glad that Sam was seeming like he was understanding this now.

"So you care more about prom than you care about what is happening with Shari?" Kevin asked, and I was not really in the mood to hear him bringing me down like this. This was not how it was at all, and hearing him just suddenly make it out to be like this was beyond annoying.

"I never said that." I said, and then I looked right at Todd, feeling like I needed to give him something to work with now. "Okay, I will meet up with you tomorrow. Then, we will talk further about your stuff with Brad and what not. I want to know more about that. And I feel like there is going to be a lot for us to learn about each other." I said, feeling like I just needed to let him know that the conversation was still on. I started to walk off, and I was heading straight to the mall, where I would get ready for prom. I have earned the right to enjoy this dance, and I was not going to let anybody take that away from me. Not even people who felt like I hadn't been giving enough.

May 28, 1963

I was meeting up with Todd straight after school, at the middle school entrance. Once I was seeing Todd there, I could see from the look on his face that he was looking shocked to see me there in the first place. As if he was expecting from a mile and a half away that I would just brush off seeing him, and that I would ignore his request.

"Todd, I wanted to talk with you for a while. You know, about Brad Carbunke. You were saying that you have a feeling that you might be connected with him. And to be honest, I kind of feel the same way. I am going to bring you over to his place, and the two of you assholes will talk it out." I said, feeling like I needed to get Todd to agree to this plan. He needed to see that I was going to work with him on everything, and he did not need to worry about me at all.

Todd then looked right down, and he was looking horrified at the fact that he was even considering this whole thing in the first place. I was seeing him just thinking about how lost he was feeling here, and I felt like I needed to make things better of us all.

"Well, I would want to know if I am truly related to Brad or not. So I have nothing against this idea or not. And if for nothing else, I would be interested in learning more about him in the first place. See what he is up to, and if he really knows what he can do for the betterment of Wayside." He said, sounding like he was a bit unsure of what he was saying. Almost like he was already regretting everything that he was saying. But he was going to just fight for as long as he had needed to.

"I think that we will not get the answer to the related question for a while. But as we wait for that to happen, I think that we will know what is truly happening with his mother. You can see what she is really like, and you can see how she is fucking insane, and that I am not making this shit up at all." I told him, and Todd was looking like he was a bit scared of where this was going. As if he was feeling like this was a terrible plan, and had no real way to fucking hide the fact that he felt that way.

"Fine. If you feel like doing this is going to be giving us a million great answers for my million great questions, then I will be totally on board with this. But for the fucking love of god, if it this turns out to be a waste of time, like I am dreading that it is, then I will be so angry at us not focusing more on the Shari thing than before." Todd said, feeling like he just needed to look at the bigger picture.

"I mean, every day that we waste doing something else rather than looking for a answer on what happened to fucking Shari is another day that we are increasing the chances for this shit to continue, and another day that we are risking that she is dead." Todd said, and then I sighed, feeling like I just needed to give him something to work with.

As we were heading on towards Brad Carbunkle's house, while I was already thinking of what that guy must be thinking once he sees us there, I was then thinking of the way that I was going to be more open to him. He needed to hear me be honest with him, and I supposed that I had nothing to lose by telling him of my pain, and nothing to lose by telling him how much this meant to me.

"Riley Lee, thirteen years old. She was my older sister. She went missing when I was a ten year old child. Ever since then, I have pledged that I would find out the truth of what happened to her, and either bring her home, or get irrefutable proof of her death, and then avenge her death. Those are the only things that fucking matter to me anymore." I said, feeling the need to tell him the truth, and not give him a single fucking lie as to what the hell was going on.

"And either way, I want to honor her legacy. I want to show people that none of this was invain, and I feel like with me leaving high school soon, if I do not do this, than I might lose my one chance to make this work. And everything that would give me comfort would be gone forever. So yeah, I do understand what is happening here." I said, feeling like I just needed to be straight up honest with him here.

Once at Brad Carbunkle's house, I was seeing him doing some practice sword fighting with a fake blood. I was wondering why he was doing this. But I was thinking that there were worse hobbies to have when you were thirteen years old, and that as long as he was having fun with it, and it was innocent enough then there was nothing wrong with just letting him have this moment.

"What are you doing here?" Brad asked, looking at the two of us, and I was already seeing him looking like he was already dreading where this conversation was going. And to be honest, I did not blame them at all for feeling this way. "Sorry for the random sword practicing. I guess that the stories that you have given me reminds me of what I need to do to make things better for our friends." Brad said, and he looked like he was regretting everything that he had just said. As if him saying that was a way of basically signing a death sentence. Knowing how everybody was going to be treating this.

"I am simply just wanting to talk to you. You know, how we were talking about how we were born on the same day, look and act alike, and everything. I was wondering if there was a chance that there is a real behind this." Todd said, not wanting to outright say brother. But he knew what he was feeling, and I was seeing him looking like he was just wishing that Brad would actually have a answer to this.

"Are you seriously suggesting that? I mean, you are basing it off of nothing besides our similar birthdays? I mean, do you have literally anything else to base your theory off of?" He asked, sounding a bit scared at this. He was sounding like he needed to try and pretend like this wasn't true. But truth be told, I was seeing him already looking like he was considering it for himself. Then he was shaking his head, as if trying his best to deny that things were this way.

"I am seriously suggesting that, and I think if you want to do what is best for everybody, you need to see the writing on the wall, and accept the fact that there is a really good chance that this is true. I am not asking that you fucking like it. But denying the fact that there is a chance that this can be true is not going to be helping any of us out." Todd said that, feeling like he just needed to be straight up honest there. The look on his face looked rather scared.

Brad then felt like he needed to say something that would get Todd off his back. "Todd, I want to fucking help you guys with this fight that you are all having here. For some reason, something is telling me that this is something that I should be doing. I don't know why, but I feel like brushing this off, that this might be my destiny, is something that I can't fucking do anything." He said, sounding like he had hoped that Todd would hear what he just said, and take it for what it is.

"Brad, the best way you can fucking help me is if you fucking just let me talk to your mother for a moment. Give me like ten minutes with her, and let me see what she is willing to tell me. I promise that I will not do anything beyond that." Todd said, hoping that this response was enough for Brad to be getting off his back for a moment. I could see that Brad was still not looking too excited here.

"She's not even here right now. She is at the Needlemeyer casino, doing some form of business transaction." Brad said, and then he looked right at me, as if not exactly sure what he was going to say to me. As if he was feeling like me being here was going to be mildly annoying, for some fucking reason.

"Well, if that is the case, then I suppose that we can head on to that casino, and see what she says. I would love to hear what excuse she makes to pretend like she's not doing anything too bad." I said, feeling like I just needed to say this for what is. He looked right at me, and I was seeing Brad finally find his voice again.

"Okay, I'm sorry… But why is Sheldon here? What the fucking hell are you going to accomplish by bringing him here right now?" Brad asked, and then Todd sighed, feeling like in a way, he was sort of able to understand why Brad was annoyed, but at the same time, he was feeling like for once, he was needing to vouch for me, and make it clear that things were not going to be as bad as Brad was making them out to be.

"He and I have been working together on finding out what happened with Shari. I am starting to think that maybe I was wrong about Sheldon from earlier, and I want to give him a chance to prove to me that he is not as much like his father as I once thought." He said, and then he looked like he was happy to give us a chance.

"Well, you know, have some fucking fun with that. You can do whatever the hell you guys want, but that doesn't mean that I want to actually be a part of this. You were mentioning earlier something else… You know, about how you were feeling like there was one of those hell mouth entrances… Do you think that you want to try and go figure that out?" Brad asked, and then Todd looked right at me, and I was seeing him looking like he was hoping that Brad mentioning that might not anger me as much as he was dreading that it would.

"You're right… I did say that. God damn it. I wished that I had never brought that up. I guess that maybe we can fucking try and find it. Might have a smaller chance of getting us killed than the shit with your mother. I suppose that if this is how you will keep trust with me, then I suppose that we should do this." He said, and then he looked at me, as if hoping that this wasn't going to annoy me too much.

"What the fuck is this hellmouth anyways? Are we even going to actually talk about this before you guys go around and do something extremely dangerous that might fucking kill you? You guys need to seriously fucking stop, take a god damn step back, and see that what you are doing is a fucking gateway to getting you all killed." I said, feeling like I just needed to finally make my voice clearly heard.

"Dana told me that she was thinking that this is the home on where all the Digimon are. I am inclined to believe her, and I am wanting to help her find out where it is, and that way we can blow this place sky fucking high. I understand if you want nothing to do with that, and I especially understand if it has nothing to do with the missing cases or anything like that… But to be honest, I think that this is the best option that we have here." He said, and then with that, I was then sighing, feeling rather annoyed at the fact that there was a very good chance that this was going to take away from the investigation with Shari. Or even the one about if Brad and Todd are brothers. And because it wasn't for either one, my interest was fucking minimal at best, completely nonexistent at worse.

"God good guys, I want to be utterly honest with you, I think the idea of Digimon is still incredibly hard to follow. I think you need to stop following something like this when there is a good chance that it is not going to fucking work out. Truth be told, I think that Digimon are just a fucking concept that you guys need to deal with later." I said, and I was seeing that nothing I would say would make any real difference here.

So I decided that the best thing to do was just let this go, see what happened, and I would follow this path that I did not enjoy, for the sake of being as much of a team player as I fucking could be. As we were walking along, I felt like I just needed to ask another question, and I hoped that they were actually going to fucking answer me. "Okay, so what exactly are you planning here? I mean, the school is closed for the day. There is no viable way for you to get into the school, and I think you are making a big mistake by going there." I said, feeling like I just needed to be utterly straight with him as I said this.

"Well, the school might be closed, but that doesn't mean that we should just ignore it. I found something down at the bottom of the school. Trust me when I say that I think that will be the best starting point." He said, and I was feeling like him telling me that I needed to trust him, when I had no idea what he was even planning on doing yet, was something that was super hard for me to do. I needed to actually hear what he would do.

"Well, they never keep the front window open, and I think that can be a good breaking in point." Todd said, and I sighed, and I was feeling like I might as well not even bother trying. Nothing I said was going to make any difference, so it was going to be worthless to even try and say anything at all.

"Anyways, has your parents ever told you about how you were also born with another sibling, but that they didn't get to keep both kids?" Brad asked, partially to get Todd to see that the logic of immediately assuming he was twins because of this was silly, but also because he was genuinely curious here.

"I think I do remember them mentioning how they had wanted another kid, but that this never went through. I think that maybe there is a small chance that the connection is real on that alone. You know, they always seemed to brush off the subject when I talked with them about it. And I did mention to them that I had been hanging out with you a couple of times, and that made them seem genuinely scared out of their mind. So yeah, I think that there is a chance that this could fucking be true." Todd said, hoping that this comment would be enough to get Brad to see that this wasn't impossible.

"Look Brad, you might not like it, but the truth is that there is a much better chance that this is how things are than you want to admit. You just need to fucking see the world for what it is, and you need to stop acting like this isn't possible on its own right." As Todd finished, Brad looked around, sounding horrified at what he was planning to say next. As if he was already imagining the million ways this could go wrong.

"I'm not denying it anymore. Good fucking god, stop annoying me about it though. What's done is done, and you are only making things worse for me. I mean, if it turns out that we are related, then this means that my mom was actually right about everything that she said, and I think that admitting this would be the worst thing to do. And I think that if she was actually right here, then I would have to wonder why they would split us up." Brad said, as if he was slowly coming to terms with the idea that this could at least be true.

"Anyways, the whole thing was probably fourteen years ago when you count conception and planning and everything. So I feel like nothing would even be accomplished if we pushed the subject any further than we have been anyways. And I feel like when my mom learns that you are asking around about this, I think we are both going to be fucked here." He said, feeling the need to just be honest.

"Just because something was fourteen years ago doesn't instantly make it right, or not bad anymore. It just means that it has been a long enough time since the bad thing happened that some good must have come from it." I said, feeling like I just needed to give that perspective to him. Maybe he would actually listen to me instead, since he clearly didn't listen to Todd.

"I never said that it was right. I just said that it was long enough ago that fighting over it, and making a battle out of it is not going to accomplish fuck all anymore. I just guess that after all this time, I want my mother to be able to have some peaceful rest after everything that she had gone through. I think after all these years, she has earned the right to be happy for once." He said, sounding like he was just trying to make some sense out of this.

"Your mother doesn't deserve the happiness to rest happily if she has done nothing to earn it." Todd said, feeling like he needed to be straight up there. "I know that I sound like a fucking asshole when I say that, but it is the truth, and I believe that you know this deep down inside. When she has done nothing besides benefit from how people are suffering or doing business besides here, then I feel like she needs to accept the fact that he has done nothing to earn this anymore."

"You don't know what my mother has been through, and I think that you are inherently wrong for ever thinking that about her. You should be ashamed of yourself for ever thinking that about your mother." He said, sounding like he was ready to tear Todd a new asshole if this was his new narrative now.

"I never said that I did. I just have a really good reason to believe that there is a chance that this might be true, and there is nothing you can tell me that will convince me otherwise." He said, sounding like he was just hoping that Brad would actually take this. Brad just shook his head, sounding like he was too defeated to even fucking care what anybody said anymore. As if he had known that he has lost this battle, and needed to not fight something that was gone by now.

Once we were at the school, Brad was looking like he had regretted even coming along with this in the first place. As if he was feeling like coming here was only bound to make things twenty thousand times worse than they already had been. "Guys, I know that I agreed to come with you, but now that we are here, I think we need to just leave this subject alone, and stop looking any deeper into this." He said, sounding like he had hoped that we were going to actually listen to him here.

"We're already here. We might as well just see what is happening. I think once we find out what is here, then we can just head home for the night." Todd said, sounding like he had hoped that this was going to be enough to get Brad to stop freaking out, and to stop making a big scene out of things that were already in motion. As he said that, I was seeing Brad looking like he was kind of annoyed at this, but he was also looking like he had accepted the fact that this was how things would be.

"Fine. I guess since we're already here, we might as well." He said, not sounding like he was convinced at all, and hoped that this would not go even half as bad as he was dreading. Then he was looking at me, and I was seeing him looking like beyond everything else, he was most feeling bad for me. As if he was feeling like I had been thrown down so many rabbit holes that I did not need to be going down at all.

"Dude, I am really sorry that you have to deal with this shit constantly. I feel like this is going to be rather hard for you to deal with. You know, given the fact that you have to handle all the standards that people give you with your father and all, and everything else." He said, sounding like he was genuinely trying his best to be reaching out to me. I shook my head, not really in the mood to listen to what he was saying.

"No, you get used to it after a point. I don't fucking like it at all. But I am used to it, and I feel like it gives me something to work for, I suppose. But to be honest, it can be a bit annoying when everybody thinks that because of this, they can command me around all the time. Like I am some fucking lackey." I said, and then Todd went inside the building by opening up the window.

"How do you even know about this anyways?" I asked, feeling like I needed to see what Todd was hiding from me. The smile on his face was looking like he was proud of the fact that I was actually showing some real interest here for once.

"I saw Louis come in through here once. Ever since then, I now have a way to sneak into the school when I need to. Come on in guys." He said, sounding annoyed that we were not following him yet. I sighed, and felt like I had no other choice on the matter but to just go along with this. So I went in right after Todd, and Brad was looking like he was unable to believe he was doing this as well.

He went inside right after us, and once inside, I was looking around, taking a second to look at all the stock in the area. To be honest, I was not surprised at the school itself, considering I heard the stories, but I was surprised when I was realizing that the stories were true after all.

The random thirty story building, which had one classroom for each floor. I was looking at Todd, feeling like I needed to make a light joke, and say some truth at the same time. "I feel like people who are afraid of heights must really fucking hate this school." I said, and I was seeing Todd looking like he was fully agreeing with me. As if he was one of those people himself, but only recently had gotten over it.

"Thankfully where we are going is downstairs, and will not be all the way up at the thirtieth floor." Todd said, sounding like he still could not believe that the school is laid out this way. I then took out a cigarette not even caring if there was a chance that this could be the one thing that I might eventually get caught in. People smoke all the time, it's not like I was breaking any laws by doing so right now.

As we walked down, I was seeing from the pained look on Todd's face that he was that he was not buying anything that he had done. In all honesty, he looked like he was just scared of what he was doing, and like he was aware that he was never truly going to find himself once again. In all honesty, I did not blame him for this. I felt like he had every right to not feel sure anymore.

"Todd, let me be honest with you when I ask you this question… Do you genuinely feel like you will be able to make any form of a difference when it comes to finding out the truth of the Digimon here? I mean, you seem like you want to get to the bottom of this, but it seems like something like this might be fucking impossible." I asked, feeling like I just needed to get right to the point. I was hoping that Todd was actually going to fucking listen to me for once, and I was seeing that Todd looked like he had been considering what he was hearing. As if he was finally accepting the fact that maybe I was right here.

"People have been telling me that I have been needing to do this the whole time. You know, telling me that I really have no fucking choice on the matter. And honestly, if everybody else wants me to do it, then I guess that I will do it. Everybody else in Wayside is a lazy piece of shit who refuses to do the job." He said, and I was seeing him just looking like he was a little bit annoyed at all the explanations that he was having to give her. As if he was feeling like he needed to just express his distance feelings here.

"Sheldon, have you ever had people tell you that you need to do a job, and even if you never felt like you were ready to do it, everybody else has made it clear that this is what you needed to fucking do? I mean, if you have, then I feel like you might finally be able to see the truth here." He said, and I was slowly sighing, since it was seeming like he was placing a lot on me, and I was not exactly sure if I was ready to be opening up like this yet.

"Yeah, I guess in a matter of speaking, I have had to deal with that. You know, everybody telling me over and over again that I need to let it go with Riley, and that I need to accept the fact that she is gone and what not. That is what literally everybody fucking told me, and I suppose that maybe there is a chance that they are all right. Maybe if I let this fucking go, and I stop acting like I have all the fucking answers, then things can be fucking fixed. Maybe people would actually respect me for once if they see that I am trying my best to not obsess over this shit anymore." I said, and I was seeing Brad also looking like he was trying to find something to say to us, to make me feel a bit better here.

"Sheldon, I thought that you said last summer that you had been moving forward, and that you were healing from the Riley thing. I thought that you were telling the truth." Brad told me, and I was wondering what he was even trying to accomplish here.

I was wondering if he was trying his best to be making me feel like I had made progress before, and that I was losing said progress. Or if he was wondering if I had been lying before, or if I was lying now. But I was not really in the mood to be playing this game at all. I was going to just tell it to him straight up what I had been feeling, and maybe he was willing to listen to me.

"Yeah, that was true. At one point in time, I was starting to move on. I had accepted the fact that Wayside was not exactly the place I had wanted to live, but I was no longer angry about it as I had been at one point in time. Then something happened. You know, Jamie went missing again. I had taken six years, and a girlfriend, to finally grow happy once again, and then she is gone. And I fucking failed her. I fucking failed to make her come home safe. After that fucking happened, all the progress that I had made in finally putting that behind me was fucking gone." I said, and I was seeing Brad looking like he was understanding where I had been coming from. He knew how much Jamie had meant to me, and how much I had finally wanted to have a new life before that happened. But then when Jamie went missing, all my progress was fucking gone.

"Well, then I think that you need to find peace again with the fact that you have people who are friends with you now. You might not see it, but the people who respect and appreciate you are still here. You just need to find it in yourself to see that." Brad said, and then we were at the bottom of the stairs, where Todd opened up the door, and looked like he was finally glad to be doing this.

Once the door was open, there was a voice calling to us. I looked up, and I was seeing a girl looking down at us, and she had glasses on. Todd looked a bit confused at what he was seeing here. He looked almost horrified at the fact that he was even looking at her. "Dana, how the hell did you end up here? We thought that we were all alone when we were heading to the school." Todd said, not even sounding angry, but just a bit saddened at what he was seeing. Almost like he was wanting to find a way to make me feel better at all here.

"I saw you were heading to the school, and I realized that you were going to be going down the fucking stairs to reach the pit. When I saw that, I decided that I needed to fucking come along, and see what I can do to help." She said, sounding a bit annoyed at the fact that she was even needing to defend herself. Especially when she was the one who brought him into this.

"Dana, we are trying to keep you fucking safe. In order to do that, you need to fucking get the hell out of here." He said, sounding a bit annoyed, and I was seeing Dana looking like she was keeping her anger at a contained level, because she was tired of being treated as the third wheel when she was supposed to be the main hero the day, and it was feeling like Todd was not respecting this fact nearly enough at all.

"Dana, we will fucking die if we go down there without any real preparations. I do not want you to fucking die, and I do not want you to get it in your head that somehow dying is okay for no fucking reason. Please, just let me do this and I promise you that I will not let anything happen to me." Todd said, smiling as he was saying this, sounding like he was utterly confident in what he had said.

"Why are you immediately jumping to doom and gloom? You know that just having somebody at your side, even one extra body, is a fair enough idea. So please stop making things way harder than they need to be." She said, sounding annoyed, and then she looked right at Brad, as if getting used to the fact that Brad was even here in the first place. "When did you and Brad start to become best friends? And why is the mayors son with you?"

"The mayors son, if you want to just call him that, is somebody who actually fucking cares about the preservation of this town, and is somebody who will fucking do what is right. I support him, and I feel like he is somebody who will do what is right." Todd said, and I was holding my hands up, as if feeling like I needed to make it clear that I was voting to abstain myself from this discussion because it was very uncomfortable even for me.

"Look, sorry. I just got a bit shocked to see him here. I really did not mean any disrespect on his part or anything. I just thought that he was somebody who should have been more open about what he had been doing. And I was a little bit offended when I saw him there instead." She said, and then she looked at Brad, and I was seeing her looking like she was trying to make some peace with the fact that Brad was there in the first place.

"So, you didn't answer my question about Brad. I really do want to know what you are doing with him right now?" She asked, sounding like she was making some peace with some of the choices going on here, but that didn't mean that she had to like it. With that, Todd smiled for a bit.

"Brad is my brother. Or, at least, I think he is, and I want him at my side when I start to tackle the things going on here. I would be honored to have him at my side." Todd said, smiling for a second, and I was seeing Brad looking like he was not sure what to feel about that response.

The look on Dana's face showed that she was sort of seeing it, and she was kind of digging it the more she was looking at it. "You know, not going to fucking lie, now that you point it out, I can fucking see it. I guess sometimes the obvious ideas just aren't there unless if you look at it too clearly." She said, and then she looked right at Brad, wondering if she was still quite ready to have him be a member of the friend group. Or if this was something she needed some time getting used to.

"Okay, you can come along, on one condition…" Todd said, holding his fingers up, and hoping that Dana was going to see that she was not playing around with this condition. "You will come with us, if you stay at the back of the line. That way in case we need to fucking escape, you can be the first one through there." Todd said, and then Dana looked like she was willing to accept those conditions.

"Done." Dana said, feeling no need to fucking fight this, as if she was aware that this was fair enough. "But seriously, I do want to talk to Mr. Prodigy about something here. You know, I want to know what he knows about Jamie and everything. I remember hearing on the news story… When you almost got killed around the time of the election because you got into a fight with that one guy in the black suit." She said, and I was shaking my head, really annoyed at this whole thing.

"You know, that was the first time that I started to really question if my father was the right man for the job…" I said, feeling like I might as well be honest with her. We were walking down the stairs, and I took out a cigarette. Not even to smoke, but just to give us something to work with in terms of light. I was then feeling like I just needed to ask another question on my mind.

"Why the fucking hell is this even down here anyways? I mean, why not build the school, you know, away from this shit? This seems really dangerous, for no fucking reason." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest about what I was feeling. I was seeing from the look on Todd's face that he was glad to be seeing that I was saying what had been on his mind the whole time, since it was showing that he was not alone with this feeling.

"You know, that is a really good point. You would think that if the safety of these kids that they are teaching was something they actually care about, they would fucking go around and make sure that we were all fucking safe. But I suppose that none of this really matters." Todd said, as he was starting to realize that in a way, he was a bit disposable, and I was seeing that he was genuinely hating the fact that this was how he felt.

"Maybe they didn't know it was there." Brad said, feeling like he needed to be more charitable here. He seemed like he was genuinely hoping that this response would really settle through for us. But truth be told, I was feeling like it was working even less than it had been. I was feeling like all this was accomplishing was just simply getting me more angry than before.

"They could have fucking checked things out here. I have no real belief that they hadn't been looking into this before. Just give me a fucking break." I said, and I was feeling like the one time Brad was genuinely trying to do what was best for me by saying that to make me feel better, he was failing on doing just that.

"Sheldon, I think you severely over rate how much this town gives a shit about security or anything like that. You are making it seem like this is a genuine priority of theirs, when I feel like we both know that it isn't." Todd said, and then with that, Dana then thought of something else.

"Was Jamie your first? You know, like girl that you cared for in a romantic way?" Dana asked, and I was genuinely wondering why in the world she cared about this in the first place. I mean, the whole thing was fucking random, and really served zero purpose in the grand scheme of things.

Eventually, we were looking down the giant chasm that looked like it had been there for hundreds of years. When I was looking down into it, I was instantly feeling a sense of foreboding. I genuinely felt like going down there was going to get all of us killed. And honestly, if all of us were to die, I wanted to be the first one to die. That way at least I would no longer have to deal with the pain and suffering that was being caused here.

"Okay, well, now we know it is there, we might as well just go down there, and get this over with." I said, and I was seeing Todd looking like he was ready to back out of this, with how he had been shaking his head, and looking like he had been utterly fucking defeated.

"I think we are going to need a couple of days to prepare, and get some shit ready. You know, actually make sure that when we are down there, we can fucking fight and what not." He said, sounding mildly annoyed at the fact that he was even having to explain this to us in the first place. I was wondering if he was feeling like we were just being super irresponsible about this.

"Fair enough, sorry for that. I just get a bit overwhelmed by everything that is happening here, and I feel fucking scared dude. I just thought that if we went down there, and got this over with, then we would all be much better off. But that means we would be increasing our chances of dying much more." I said, and I was then thinking about how exactly we could handle this, and do it in a way that keeps us both fucking safe.

"Okay, thank you dude. I think we prepare ourselves, you know, get weapons and supplies ready, and make some goodbye notes in case we really need to, and come in like three or four days. Then with that, we can go down there again, and actually be more prepared." He said, and then with that, I was seeing Dana looking like she had been thinking of how she was going to approach this subject.

"Three. Anything more than that, and I am just going to be going down there myself, and I will make sure that this pit is destroyed. And if you guys aren't ready yet, then I will be going down there alone, and you will have to deal with that later." She said, and I was then thinking of the next question that I could ask.

"What if you go down there alone because we need an extra day and you decide to not patiently wait, and then you fucking die down there because we aren't able to protect you?" I asked, and I was seeing Dana looking like she was thinking of what she was going to tell us, to get us to understand where she had truly been coming from here.

"Honestly Sheldon, I would rather go down there, and fucking die down there, fighting monsters, and doing what is right, then stay alive here because I refuse to do anything. At least if I die down there, then I die on my own behalf. Which is more than I can say for most of the people down there." Dana said, and then I slowly nodded. "Look, those other girls, like Shari, they never got to do something on their own terns. At least with me, I can say that I did, and I can be proud of that fact."

"You know, I never thought of it that way. But that is totally understandable. Mother fucker. I hate this. Fine, but we are still going to go down there in three days." I said, and I was seeing Dana looking like she was just really glad to see that I was actually listening to her for once.

"Thank you for understanding my perspective. I feel like some people just don't get where I am coming from, and that is the thing that frustrates me the most. People just get very annoyed with the fact that I want to fight instead of be a fucking coward." She said, sounding like she had hoped that I would understand.

"Look, I am not trying to be against you guys doing what you think is right. I just feel like I need to be utterly honest here when I fucking say this." Dana said, and then with that, she looked right at Brad, thinking about this. "Sorry this is how your first time hanging out with us in a while is fucking going. But we have a lot of fucking fighting going on, and I feel like I just need to accept the fact that there is always a chance that mortality is coming up soon." He said, feeling like he just needed to be utterly honest with her here, in order to not make her feel too offended here.

"Don't mention it. I have seen much worse, I suppose. I am just wondering what the issue really is, that is putting you so fucking on edge all the time." He said, and I was seeing Brad looking like he was already thinking of how he was going to shape this friend group up into something else when the time would be coming.

"How are we even going to be able to get back up anyways? I think we need to go and maybe have some fucking rope or something. You know, since I think if we just go down there right now, with nothing like that, all four of us are basically signing our death warrants." Brad said, sounding like he was shocked at the fact that he even needed to state this out loud. I saw the others looking like they had considered his perspective.

"That is a really good fucking point. I will go to a store that I think might have it, and I will pick up a giant rope for you guys." I said, feeling like there was a chance this could work. Brad looked like he was feeling a little bit less bad for this, as if he was just glad to see that I was actually listening to him, and not treating what he was saying was some form of a fucking joke or something.

"Well, you guys just seemed like you were content on just going down there, all gung ho, acting like you have the world at the palm of your hands. But without a way out, it really doesn't fucking matter if we destroy the pit or not." He said, sounding extremely annoyed at the fact that he was even needing to explain where he was coming from in the first place. I suppose that maybe I was just not really seeing the big picture here.

"Regardless, I think that something else has been bothering me a bit." I said, partially in an attempt to deflect what was going on, but also because I genuinely really had no clue what else I was even supposed to be saying now. "I wonder if my dad even knows what this pit is. If he doesn't, then I suppose that I might have to fucking get him to see what is down there by myself. Maybe he would actually listen to me if I showed him this place in person. As I was suggesting this, I could see that Todd looked horrified at this.

"Why the fuck would you do that? If your dad finds out what is happening here, all he is going to do is just pretend like none of this happened. He would be telling you that the pit isn't dangerous." Todd asked, sounding like he was already having the story in his mind, and he was already feeling like I was being a fucking idiot for even suggesting something like this in the first place.

"I don't care what my fucking dad thinks. He will know it is true, and he will know that if he tries and act like nothing is there, I can fucking expose it for myself. Which means he might as well just expose it for himself, and stop acting like it's not true." I said, and I was seeing him looking like he didn't accept it.

"Well, I hope you don't end up eating those fucking words, and regretting everything you say." He said, sounding beyond annoyed at the fact that he was even saying this in the first place. I was wondering why he was having so little faith in me. But I was feeling like maybe Todd was still getting used to the fact that he did not in any way shape or form trust me quite yet. Which, while annoying, was something I had accepted.

"You know, maybe I was expecting it to be much worse, but you know, when I look down there, it's not as bad as I thought that it would be. I was expecting something twenty thousand times worse than it was." Dana said, and then we both looked right at her, as if feeling like she was fucking insane for even suggesting that. But at the same time, I was feeling like maybe she was just sort of thinking out loud, and not sure what to even say now.

"You know, I was expecting something much worse, too. So I guess in a matter of speaking, I do see what you are saying. I don't know, I guess I was expecting something way scarier than a giant black empty pit." He said, sounding utterly horrified at the fact that he was even saying this.

"Yeah, I don't know. Still doesn't look fun to me at all." I said, feeling like I just needed to be honest, and not join the fucking team on pretending like this was no fucking big deal at all. In my honest opinion, people were really underplaying something that could possibly be getting us both killed, and I was not enjoying that at all. I took out a cigarette, and smoked through about half of it, then threw it down to see how long the light would go, and when it went down for several seconds before giving out, I suddenly lost all hope in what we were doing. Looked like it was at least a couple hundred feet down, just from a casual glance, and I was not really ready for such a thing.

"Alright, well, it seems like we have a plan now. So we might as well just be heading off now." Todd said, sounding like he was just glad that the plan was now finally going through. He was seeming like he was scared of something else. But I was choosing to not say much, in order to not make him too upset here. "Thank you for talking to me. I hope that this doesn't become a massive headache for all of us." He said, sounding like he was already regretting everything that he had been saying.

When he was done listening to the tape, Cody took a deep breath, and then he looked right at Armadillomon, and then shook his head. "I never realized that there was a point in time where my dad didn't have any interest in looking into this. I thought that he was fighting the fight from the start. But to be honest, I feel like I sort of get where he is coming from. I just wished that I would have been there with him, and I could have made him see that somebody was at his side here."

Armadillomon then thought about what they wanted to say now. "Do you think your father blames himself for Shari not being found? Just from that one video, he had seemed like he was really upset with himself, and I guess I can kind of see it." As Armadillomon said this, Cody then looked straight at his Digimon, feeling like Armadillomon needed to be more careful with this than he had been.

"I think that he blames himself for getting into that mindset for a while, that none of this really mattered. He must be feeling like he said the wrong thing by thinking that at all. And now he feels like if he had never had those feelings, then things would be different. I think that my dad just understands that he has made so many fucking mistakes, and just wants to change. I can see how he and Todd started to like each other, since I could tell that they were both scared of what happened, and they were just sort of having a understanding that way." Cody said, having everything coming together, and he was sort of feeling like he needed to piece it together.

"I want to talk to Todd again." Armadillomon said, and Cody slowly nodded. As if in total agreement with this guy. He knew that Todd was the only option that he had to finally understanding what the issues was. The only way that he could understand why Sheldon would do the things he did.

"I feel like I need to talk to Brad too. I hate that man so fucking much, but I feel like he is the only one here who actually understands what is happening." Cody said, and then he was looking at the giant box. Cody pulled the tape out of the VCR, and then put it next to the "Sheldon Oswald Lee" tape.

"Ninety eight more of these to fucking go. God fucking damn it, we are going to be here for a while. Might try and make copies of these, and then spread them out for other people to hear. You know, get them to know the truth, and get them to see what Sheldon has been trying to fucking handle." Cody said, and then walked on over to a blank tape. He has gotten a random eight pack for his birthday one year, and only used two of them, so he still had six more to go.

Then he pulled out the "Sheldon Oswald Lee" tape, and then looked at Armadillomon. "I might start putting these onto different copies, and spread them around. This situation is fucked up. But I want people to hear my dads story. Or at least my dads perspective of the story that he was in." As he said this, Armadillomon nodded, proud at this new belief Cody had.

"I feel like there is nothing else to do. If dad was not going to set this whole thing up, then I suppose that I have to fucking do this for him. And I hope that maybe I do not regret everything that I do." Cody said, and then with that, he was thinking a bit about what he had just said. Then he smiled, feeling like he just needed to be a good sport about what was going on here.

"What if your father doesn't want you to do something like this?" Armadillomon asked, and then felt like they needed to elaborate on this further before Cody instantly shut them down, as they could tell Cody was very tempted to do. Cody then sighed, feeling like he just needed to keep his feelings to himself, and not get angry at his Digimon for doing this. He had already made his decision, and the longer that Armadillomon would oppose this was going to only make things worse, and he was not wanting to make Armadillomon try to fight him over something that was not that big of a deal. So he just felt like he would keep his thoughts to himself, as he was making the next plans.

"I have to make my fathers legacy work." Cody said, and he was sounding more and more firm the longer he had talked about this. He was tired of acting like this wasn't the case, but he wanted to restore Sheldon's honor.