I enjoy a good mystery

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When he said the words she could practically hear the words coming from her brothers mouth when she’d stayed out super late at a party and he had started panicking. For a second she saw him, talking to someone years older than him, and yet shorter, asking about her, not realising that she was a few metres away from him. “You’d be amazed what you can do if you know where to look,” she replied, she worked in one of the places that still opened despite the lockdown, and she knew that there was a certain clientele that was happy to break some rules to have a good time. “I can help you look for her if you want?” She offered, not sure what else to do.

“Really?” Its not that Dylan thought people wouldn’t care and just walked away but it was nice to know that someone wanted to help. To be honest Dylan was a bit out of his element. Alice and her friends could go about anywhere and do anything they wanted to without worry of him catching up or being able to get to her without having to bribe somebody for info. Or you nknow doing something illegal maybe but he wasn’t sure if that was a real possibility he just had a way of looking at it sometimes wondering about how hard it’d be to get to her. “I-I really have no idea what to do when she leaves like this...I know she was mad last time I stopped her...” They had such a big arguement thinking about it still pained Dylan. “I don’t really know wheere all the good places for them to sneak off and do...whatever.”

        “You missed one, hot rod.” Abbie scooped the novel in question out from underneath Dyaln’s wheelchair, thumping it a few times to shake off any dirt. She considered the title with a bored expression. Undeterred by the fact that he was still very much in front of her, Abbie leaned precariously on the tips of her sneakers to reach over his head and add the book to his growing pile on the table. Abbie was no stranger to the mild disasters associated with trying to get things out of reach, having pulled an entire shelf off the wall on accident more than once while using it to climb so something higher up. She had to admit - an umbrella was the most unique way of grabbing out-of-reach things she had ever seen, and a rather clever one at that. “Which one were you going for anyways? All of these??”

Dylan knew that voice, boy he hadn’t heard that one in a long time. He looked over at Abbie and she barely looked like she changed much which he thought was nice, but then he remembered how Alice was the last time Abbie was even so much as spoken of. But why should that bother him? He wondered. Its not like Alice would care, was his eventual thought. As inwardly depressing as that was to think about he smiled to Abbie big and bright like he did with anyone, “Well it wouldn’t be the first time I rolled out with, “ He looked over at the shelf he had taken from and chuckled nervously. “With a whole shelf.” He really dropped more then he thought and stared at the small pile he had in his lap. “I think I have what I planned on getting...now to put them all the others back. Hopefully in the correct order if ya know I don’t get lazy half way through.” He joked. Not that he had a proper way to put them back himself.

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        A vague smile flitted over her face at the opening line of his answer. ‘My journal.’ Just “my”, not “one of my”. Florence couldn’t quite remember the time when she only had the one journal for keeping track of things - but then again, that’s why she had them in the first place. When she forgot, she could pick one up and thumb through the pages, relive the small town mysteries and recall the details that would otherwise be lost. As Dylan went on, though, her expression again went something blank, her mind too preoccupied with processing his words to bother with any kind of noteworthy presentation. Clues and gossip and stuff about Braddock. His journal sounded a good bit like the virtual evidence locker Florence had been amassing in recent weeks, focusing on the same thing everyone in town was hinging over: the carriers.         “What would I do?” she echoed hollowly, caught off her guard by the question. She could sense in him some fever of waiting, like somehow he expected her to have the right answer. She furrowed her brows and tried not to stare too hard at him, twelve different trains of thought arguing for her attention, at least three of them crying fowl play and manipulation. At length, her lips parted. “I would .. confront them.” She had been going to say ask - anyone, guilty or not, would deny it outright if they had any sense, but Florence knew she would be able to listen for the confession of their heart. That, of course, was an explanation she couldn’t give, so the word replacement felt justifiable. “I would get them to tell me what the cure was…and…”she paused, then her chin lifted as her tone went icy, looking down her nose at him, “to tell me why they did it.”

The tone was surprisingly colder then he suspected but not completely unwarranted. He couldn’t imagine why someone would intentionally do this to innocent people. And why in their hometown? But he could ask a lot of questions about his hometown, in fact he was on almost a weekly basis but he wasn’t going to bother thinking over everything he’s found over the last couple of years. He needed to focus on this one topic. And it was possibly the most daunting one so far. “You’d really confront them?” He found hismelf asking. Dylan didn’t think he would be able to. What if they were the ones who got everyone into that dream like state that happened awhile back? There were just to many questions about that still and it seemed dangerous to confront someone about it. But he also admired it. Not like he wouldn’t be around to join that himself if he were honest.

“I don’t know if you’d get an answer, or at least one you might be looking for. I mean someone who did this has to be pretty dark right? Maybe not even all there? Who bothers with something like this?” The science behind it had to be maddening. At least the way Dylan imagined it to be. There wasn’t much of a picture he could put together about it as he pretty much could only think of some comic book villian character going about this plot. He knew that was silly but if he were to sit here and just speculate about werewolves and what not some odd comic book villain didn’t sound too far off. “That’s very brave of you though.” He complimented. “Sensible too, I don’t even think anyones thinking of a cure they just want them gone...One way or another.”

Arlo had made a point to ignore the curfew, finding the entire thing ridiculous and stupid, and tonight was no exception to that. She wasn’t 100% sure what she was going to do that night, go to one of the few open bars she supposed, or find some other kind of distraction. She was caught off guard by the guy asking her about a girl. “Ah, no? Not that I can remember. Why?” She questioned. She thought she knew who he was talking about, but she hadn’t seen her that evening, not even that day, and from the description she presumed that she would have remembered if she had seen her.

“She’s my sister I just wanted to make sure she got home safe.” He explained. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to say, more something along the lines of he didn’t want her being stupid and alone and whatever else she could be out there by herself. In thee end Dylan knew he wasn’t going to have a choice as he would need to go home so at least his mother wouldn’t have to worry about both of them. “I guess she had other plans though, once she saw me she just took off...whats there even still to sneak out to when the whole towns practically on lockdown?” It honestly depressed Dylan how easily she just slipped away from him. His phone buzzed and he saw it was his mother textiong and while he would want to answer he just didn’t feel it on him at the mment.

     The day had gone by in a haze of light, wispy and insubstantial. For a lot of it she was more absent than present, out of sorts, her eyes sliding off to peer into the middle distance any time she was still for more than a moment. Her focus was flickering candle, and there was a slow but persistent ache in the whole of her head. She blamed the sedative and otherwise tried to ignore it. She was only successful when her mind drifted without her permission, tuning out while the rest of her went on autopilot. This was how she found herself standing not ten feet from Dylan Hamilton, more or less unaware of what path she had taken to arrive and only slightly conscious she had bee lined for him. She blinked as he spoke, taking a moment to let the meaning occur to her.      “I believe you.” A statement spoken softly to match the near silent way she had folded herself into a sitting position in front of him, uninvited. For a long minute she stared at him, expression blank but eyes intense, and she wondered what she would say. The thoughts that came when she lingered on Dylan, a boy she saw at school but otherwise rarely spoke to, were less than forgiving on this particular day. When her mouth finally opened, the words that came were airy and distracted and not at all what she had intended to say. “What is that?” she inclined her chin towards the journal, surprising herself by being genuinely curious of the answer.

Dylan looked up and felt bad for how his last sentence may have sounded on he let it out, but as Florence sat in front of him he guessed she wasn’t bothered by it. He looked down to his journal and back and Florence biting his lip. He hadn’t really shared his journal with anyone yet and frankly he wondered if it would be weird to share it now. The topic of the town was currently chaos, its not like he needed to talk about what else was in there but also Florence and him had only spoken once. Usually that would present a problem given Dylan’s journal was so personal to him but who could she tell that would care? And why would she take it any further then him writing down weird facts for his curious nature?  He bit his lip again and his mind darted to wondering if that was his nervous habit and he hadn’t noticed till now. But he had to admit that what was making him want to tell her more about his prized possession was he actually would like someone to talk to about his findings with. He couldn’t resist that prospect.

“My journal,” He answered. “I like to...keep track of things in it I guess. I have a lot of stuff in here about Barddock and recently I’ve been picking up on the rumors going around lately. You know about the carriers?” People didn’t care for him much so wheeling by some place where people were talking in the cover of an alley or maybe even just randomly about on the crosswalk and listening in was easy. “I don’t know if even having these clues written down will help me figure out anything or...what I would even do with the information.” He glanced down at his notes and random thoughts he scribbled down haphazardly on the paper looking up to Florence. “What would you do? With that information?”

“What?! No way! I would never do anything like that to anybody or Alice, she’s my sister. Regardless of what she does I’m never going to be mad at her for leaving me. It’s not the first time but…I couldn’t just be mad at her for how she deals with situations. No matter how frustrating her methods are…we just work differently.”

In the middle of his thoughts is when he happened to noticed someone coming towards him probably wonderin what he was doing but he absently just said, “I got out of my chair on my own.” Everyone was always worried when he was out of his chair, it was as if they thought when he wasn’t in it he was about to die. “I can get back in it on my own too, unless the brakes fail me and it goes rolling away. Then I might be in trouble.”

the adventures of huckleberry finn: do you think kids or their parents are responsible for their beliefs?

the alchemist: what are your current plans for the future? will you be upset if they don't work out?

alice's adventures in wonderland: how do you react to absurd situations?

and then there were none: do you think murderers deserve to die?

artemis fowl: how much do you depend on technology?

beowulf: is it always worthwhile to hear both sides of an argument?

the canterbury tales: if someone is hypocritical, do you point it out?

cat's cradle: do you think it's better to believe a lie than to live with an unpleasant truth?

charlotte's web: what's your favorite art form?

coraline: if you could change your family, what would you change?

the crucible: how heavily do you depend on others when forming opinions?

fahrenheit 451: do you think there's any knowledge that should be kept secret?

the fault in our stars: if you could have one conversation before you died, who would you talk to and what would you say?

flowers for algernon: how much potential do you think you have?

frankenstein: is it wise for humans to attempt to create life?

the giver: talk about a favorite memory

the great gatsby: what would you sacrifice for money?

harry potter: if you could bring someone back from the dead, would you? if so, who would it be?

the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy: what do you think is the meaning of life?

the hobbit: do you think the average person has the potential to be a hero?

holes: if someone poor stole from someone rich, who would you sympathize with?

howl's moving castle: how quickly do you form opinions about other people?

the hunger games: would you kill someone if they planned to kill you?

identical: how clear is your perception of reality?

the importance of being earnest: are you flattered or annoyed by gentlemanly behavior?

inferno: do you think you belong in hell? why or why not?

jonathan livingston seagull: is perfection a good goal?

the joy luck club: describe your family

jurassic park: do you think it's wrong to use animals as attractions and accessories?

the kite runner: if you could, what social issue would you spread awareness about?

les misérables: do you think people should revolt if the government is corrupt?

life of pi: if you were stranded, would you be able to take care of yourself?

the lightning thief: what would you be the god/goddess of?

the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe: if you could start a new life in a new world, would you?

lord of the flies: what motivates you best?

lord of the rings: is it important to work for the greater good of the world?

of mice and men: would you kill your closest friend to save them from a worse fate?

the perks of being a wallflower: does listening to other people's problems help you or weigh you down?

the phantom of the opera: how much do you judge others on physical appearance?

pride and prejudice: are you romantic?

the princess bride: what's your best feature?

a raisin in the sun: what is your most important possession?

romeo and juliet: have you ever done anything ridiculous for love? what?

stargirl: do you value uniqueness?

the taming of the shrew: would you be willing to be in a relationship with someone who is very dominant?

the tell-tale heart: is there anything you feel guilty about right now? what?

to kill a mockingbird: do you believe something has value simply because it's beautiful?

twilight: how consistent are your feelings about people close to you?

watership down: do you think your right to life is any greater than an animal's?

Calliope watched as the older boy dropped the boy in his wheelchair, as much as she wanted to say something further it wasn’t exactly her place. She watched as she stared the boys down, she couldn’t hear their mumbling, but she didn’t care either way. Once they’d left the store, she sighed and leaned down; grabbing something that she’d assumed was on his lap when he’d been lifted. “Here.” She spoke gently, as she gave the item back to him. 

The mother smiled, at the boy, her daughter still a shy though probably just nervous from the reactions she’d just seen from her mother. “It’s no problem at all.” She spoke looking at him, “Do you know them from school or something?” She questioned, not bothering to comment on his semi snarky attitude, because it wasn’t directly towards her. So she didn’t have anything to really be offended by. 

Dylan sighed relieved as he smiled taking his journal, “Oh thanks! Man I forgot I had that out, thanks this is extremely important to me.” He brushed some dirt off the book and noticed the little girl holding onto her mother. He waved at her and greeted her, “Hey little one.” He wasn’t sure why he chose those words but it was a phrase his Aunt would use sometimes to address him until he turned thirteen so he guessed it would be appropriate. He turned his attention back to the woman in front of him and nodded as an answer to her questions. “Yeah…I think I ran over his feet or something earlier. I wasn’t really paying attention. I probably also made a snarky comment when he called back at me, it’s a bad habit I have.” He smiled innocently as he could when admitting a fault that was probably unattractive to most.

“He must have been waiting for me or followed me or something; I was just getting back from tutoring down at the middle school when he came up out of nowhere. “ He explained though he was sure he didn’t need to. It’s not like it mattered now, he was more worried about school tomorrow. If he could go a school day without seeing him then he knew everything was okay and he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. “It’ll be fine, “He began to explain. “These usually lose steam the next day, they get bored real easy. I’ll just keep my head down. Thank you though, “He looked down to the little girl he suspected was her daughter. “I hope that didn’t scare ya too much.”

Broomstick: If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be?

Paris, my mom talks about Paris and how beautiful the culture is, the food, basically the whole works. So I’d love to go and see it for myself. Kind of to judge to see if its as grand a picture as she paints it to be.

Fright: What is your biggest fear?

Answered here.

Skeleton: Tell me one of your biggest secrets?

Fright: What is your biggest fear? 

“Water. Not just water in general but being in pools makes me uncomfortable, going to the lake you won’t catch me ten feet near it. I don’t know I’ve just always bee afraid of the water.“

Ghost: If you could be reincarnated, would you come back as another human or an animal? If an animal, what kind?

“I would be reborn as an animal, a Hawk. I don’t care what kind but I’d want to be a hawk. Free and high in the sky where nobody to catch me or pin me down.”

Howel: Your favorite kind of dog?

“Siberian Huskies. They are the best things since sliced bread, who wouldn’t love those bundles of fur?” 

Zombie: What is one food you always overeat?