“I feel like my skin is not my own”

Was the last thing he’d sent, on a Saturday night at 2 AM. The green-eyed young man had of course replied with a little paragraph aimed to reassure Adam, but whether or not that had been effective would probably forever be a mystery. He hesitated. Should he just let Adam be, let him come back on his own? Or should he try to coax a text out of him? He checked the clock: midnight. The other was probably awake. The young man decided to type something.

[Iscariotxoxo] : “You ok? You havent been online in a while.”

Sent.

His leg started swinging idly under the desk as he waited for a response. He briefly glanced at the surveillance cameras to make sure there were no customers in the store before focusing his attention back onto the computer screen. There was nothing for a good twenty minutes before the young man was called back into the store by the distinct “ding” of the automatic doors opening. He sighed, fighting the urge to roll his eyes before heading out of the back room, closing the door behind him. He offered a polite smile to the customer and stood behind the checkout counter, waiting for them to pick out their articles. He tried to listen to the faint rock music playing on the store speaker, but that thing was so old that it polluted any kind of audio with an uncomfortable amount of noise and crunches, so that was pretty much useless. He would’ve turned it off, but he didn’t remember how, and his manager hadn’t picked up the phone in over four days. The green-eyed young man let out a quiet sigh, fingers drumming absentmindedly on the counter before he scanned the client’s articles. He did the task mechanically (he’d done it so many times before, after all) and bid goodbye to the customer as they left before heading back in the back room, eyes riveted on the computer screen as soon as it he could see it.

[Adammurray88 is online]

He couldn’t help but smile as he noticed that. He sat down, waiting for the other to type something, with, he noticed with some surprise, eagerness. He enjoyed talking to Adam, he realized, and him disappearing like that had been a bit frustrating, but he tried not to think about that too much. He wasn’t supposed to feel like that, after all… Finally, he received a new message from the other:

[Adammurray88] : “dont pani c”

The green-eyed young man raised a curious eyebrow at the cryptic message. Adam was sometimes vague and a bit hard to read, but this was unlike anything he’d sent before. But before the young man could type anything back, the profile went offline again. He let out a slightly frustrated sigh, and went back behind the counter in the store. Looks like he wasn’t getting any answers tonight…

… Or so he thought.

He was fiddling with a stray pen when he noticed flickering, red and blue lights outside in the parking lot. A police car had come. The young man blinked in confusion. Was something going on? Or was it simply an officer on duty coming to grab themselves a snack? Regardless, a police officer stepped into the store, looking rather exhausted. His strands of hair were dyed blonde, although they could use a little redo. His eyes were underlined by dark eyebags, and the blue shirt of his uniform was a bit rumpled. The young man raised an eyebrow, curious as to why an officer was here during his service, but stayed calm and offered the same polite smile as he did other customers. The police officer came up to the counter straight away. He wasn’t here to buy himself a snack after all.

“Lieutenant Davis, Mandela County Police. I’d like to ask you a couple of questions if that’s alright.”

The green-eyed young man blinked, initially a bit confused, but he complied regardless. Had he been discovered? It didn’t really matter, of course, it’s not like he was in any real danger.

“Of course. Do you want to sit down, coffee, something…?” He inquired, pulling out a stool for himself.

The policeman sighed, running a hand over his tired face. He knew he probably shouldn’t accept, but he caved in, his exhaustion catching up to him.

“… I wouldn’t mind a coffee.” he mumbled.

The worker nodded and went over to the coffee machine, taking one of the disposable cups before handing it to the Lieutenant.

“Thanks.” Thatcher whispered, taking the cup, while the worker went back behind the counter, sitting on the stool he’d pulled earlier. The policeman took a sip, his shoulders relaxing a bit as he got a taste of the hot, bitter drink. He then looked back up at the worker, looking at his uniform (which pretty much boiled down to a red cap and apron, a white t-shirt and jeans) and then his face. He had to admit, from a purely objective point of view, the young man behind the counter was handsome. He almost felt jealous for a second. The young man must’ve been a real heartbreaker back in highschool… He cleared his throat, focusing back on the matter at hand.

“I have… Uh, where to even begin.” He started, followed by another sigh. “… Have you noticed anything strange happen lately? At your workplace here in the store or even at home?”

The young man hummed in thought before shaking his head. “Mh, no. Nothing out of the ordinary. The occasional drunkard or junkie but nothing more.”

Thatcher nodded. “No TV turning on on its own, no knocking on the doors and windows?”

“No, nothing like that.” The worker shook his head again.

“Huh.” Thatcher felt a tiny bit suspicious. “… Well, you might just be the only guy in Mandela County that’s had a relatively peaceful life as of recent.” He put the cup of coffee down, looking at the badge with the worker’s name on it: ‘Judas’.

“If you don’t mind me saying, you look exhausted, sir.” Judas remarked, with a hint of sympathy. “… It’s this whole alternate business, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Thatcher conceded, but it seems the young man in front of him wanted to coax some more information out of him…

“Have you ever seen one? An alternate, I mean? I’ve seen the broadcasts on TV, but I’ve never seen one in real life. Do they even exist?”

“That’s confidential.” The policeman replied firmly, giving the young man a warning glare.

Judas’s eyebrow twitched faintly, but if he was annoyed, he hid it behind a shrug. “Right, sorry. You’re the one supposed to ask the questions, not me.” Judas conceded, putting on his polite smile again.

Thatcher couldn’t help but feel like something was… A bit off with the young man. Though he was probably just being paranoid. Yes, it must be that. He hadn’t gotten much sleep recently, he must be imagining things… He lightly shook his head, focusing on the matter at hand.

“Do you have internet? Are you on Dove Messenger, by any chance?”

Judas nodded, a bit intrigued by the sudden interest in his online presence. “Yes, I do. Why?”

Thatcher nodded. “Right… What’s your username?”

The young man frowned, looking a bit suspicious. “Why do you want to know…? Do you need to investigate my profile or something…?”

“Sort of.” The policeman said with a nod.

Judas nodded and wrote down his Dove Messenger username on a little piece of paper, before handing it over to the Lieutenant. Thatcher took the paper, quickly looking over the name, before he let out a short sigh of… Relief?

“Thank God, finally found you.” He mumbled, hoping Judas wouldn’t hear… “Iscariot, huh?” he continued, glancing at the young man’s nametag, “Embracing the whole… Biblical aspects of your name, huh?”

Judas shrugged with a slight smile. “Yeah, you can say that. I’m not ashamed of my name and I just thought the… Username sounded cool.”

Thatcher nodded, finishing his cup of coffee. “Judas, you’re going to have to come with me to the police station.” Seeing the hint of confusion (and even anxiety) on the young man’s face, he quickly clarified: “this isn’t an arrest, don’t worry no no, I just need you to come with me so I can properly interrogate you. I don’t exactly, uh… Have my files or tape recorder here- besides it’s just protocol, nothing crazy. You can relax. I’m not going to be keeping you for too long. I’ll need you to take your ID and other personal documents. Do we need to stop by your house for you to get them?”

Judas, now looking more relaxed, but still intrigued, shook his head. “No, I have everything in my bag… I just have to close the store for the night, it might take a minute…”

Thatcher nodded, understanding. “Don’t worry, I’ll wait.”

The young man headed to the back room again, glancing one last time at the computer before turning it off. “dont pani c”. Did Adam know what was going on? Did he have anything to do with this? He shook his head. Regardless, he had to go with the policeman now; he couldn’t afford to have his cover blown at the moment. He removed his red cap and apron and slipped on a coat before checking inside his bag. Hopefully, he’d manage to keep the Lieutenant busy enough, and he wouldn’t spend too much time looking at his documents…

sooo for a little bit of context for those who are intersted; Thatcher didn't know that Judas was an alternate. He only knew that Adam met the guy on Dove Messenger; during the time Adam stayed in Davis' care, he'd asked the lieutenant to find Judas, and he did. Judas helped out Adam with his transformation and Thatcher thought "oh wow, this young man isn't letting himself fall victim to M.A.D and isn't scared to take care of the kid, that's definitely good."

After some time passed and Adam got better he started to wonder if something was going on between the two, since Adam was more and more often staying at Judas’ apartment... And uh he found out there. They are, indeed, together, and also Judas is an alternate 😭😭 he can't catch a break damn

I like to think that the first kill is very important because it helps the alternate truly get a grasp of what it is + it helps them determine their hunting style and even the type of alternate they are!! So yeagh. It's kind of therapeutic and helps Adam get a proper hold of himself. And that's why after killing Noah (or like inflicting him with M.A.D at the very least) he can see himself clearly for a brief moment. It's him. The alternate. But it's still Adam. The original Adam didn't get to grow up after being taken by Six, so he's still a unique individual, not imitating anyone else, and I think that's why Alex Kister named him Adam- because he's the first of his kind. An alternate, yes, but still a person.

... Can you tell I love themes of identity crisis- ... maybe its because I wish someone had been there for me during mine like Judas is to Adam. Idk.

... OK maybe I mixed up the dates in vol.6 A LITTLE BIT but like idk. I just- it's more simple for me to do it like that; to bring closer the events when Adam fled the police station and when he lured Noah in.. And make them separated by a few weeks at best and like- WHO CARES ACTUALLY if alternates can travel through electric devices I bet it means they can travel at the speed of light and so I wouldn't be surprised if it meant they could also time travel. Also I do what I want.

look at me thinking I drew something tuff bruh. anyways- RENDERING SAVES ME AGAIN OH LAWS

I tried to give Judas a bit of a more 2000s-ish haircut so he did loose his curls... But I tried not to make him loose too much volume; idk if I did that correctly and either way you can't see it all in that drawing PFFFF anyways