The Next Adventure

We decided to leave Chad were he was and be on our way. We knew deep down inside that if he was fighting the pink hearts this much the only sensible thing to do was walk away. The woods were deep and dark. It was somewhat frightening, but also exciting at the same time. We took comfort in knowing that our next adventure was just right around the corner.

Fighting the Hearts

Chad slumped up against a nearby tree. He had an idiotic grin on his face, and his eyes showed that he was a million miles away. "Is he ok?" I ask. "Yeah, he's fine." "Then why does look like that?" "Like what?" "Like we broke his brain." I say. Olivia shrugs. "I don't know. He's probably going through something that his mind can't comprehend." "That makes sense it's just I've never seen that before. " "Maybe no one was able to fight it before. Which is why we should be on our way." "I  don't undetstand." "Look at it this way, if his mind is able to fight the pink hearts I seriously doubt he'll be on our side when he comes out of it." Olivia explains. I stare at the struggling for consciousness, Chad. "But look at him." "He'll be fine. We can't babysit him." I bite my lip. "Ok. You're right.  We should keep moving."

Forest Walk

"It's a nice night, isn't It? Not too cold, and It's early enough that there are no mosquitos." Chad says. "Quit stammering . What do you want from us?" Olivia snaps. Chad lightly chuckles to himself. "You already know.  I want Russell Myers." "But why do you want him?" "Money, thats why. Honestly , I'm surprised you two weren't able to gather that. When in doubt guess money." "Yeah, well,  I don't think we'll be able to find him." I say. "No,you will. And you'll do it promptly." "You're not listening to us. We can't find  him because we have no idea where he is." I inform. "I don't care. You will find him." "What will you do to us if we don't?" Olivia says. "You don't want to know." I sigh."Olivia,fire the hearts." Olivia fires a pink heart into Chad's chest. A moment later he slumps against a tree with a stupified look on his face.

Some Kinda Test

Half a block away we decided to lower the pink shield. It felt like a good place to do so. There were no cops around, and we were on a dirt road headed towards a forest. There was,however, a familiar stretch limo that pulled up beside us. Chad Billington lowers his window. "Well done." He says. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted you." Olivia sneers. "No, you shouldn't have.  But,  I wanted to say congradulations." "On what?" I ask. "On a job well done. You two exceeded my expectations." "This was some kinda test, wasn't it?" Olivia asks. "Yes, and you passed." "So you never wanted us to find Russel Myers then?" I say. "Oh no. I still want you to find him. In fact I require you to find him." "Eat shit." Olivia says with the utmost venom. Chad throws open the door. Olivia readies herself to fire a heart. "Stand down. I'm not gonna hurt you." He says. "Yeah, prove it." Chad gets out of the car slowly. Olivia watches him the entire time. "Relax. It's a nice night. I thought we could have talk while we go for a walk. Where were you going anyways?" "We don't know." I reply. Chad smiles. "That's the best place to start. "

Surrounded?

There were a total of six police cars waiting for us.  They all aimed their guns at  the entrance. They braced themselves for a standoff. "This is your final warning. Come out with your hands up." The chief instructs through a bullhorn. The officers get no reply. "We will open fire." They still  recieve no reply. The chief turns to his men. Just as he's about to give the go ahead, a bright pink light shines through the doorway. It is Olivia and her bubble. Because she hadn't used this power in quite some time she had a massive amount of energy stored up. Energy that she was able to captivate and hypnotize her enemies with. We walked out of the bar with the bright, pink bubble wrapped around us. All the officers looked up at us in awe and wonder. They didn't say one word to us as we walked further out. In fact they parted, much like the red sea, and they let us go our way.

Trust Him/ Don't Trust Him

Chad was nowhere in sight in the darkened bar. It led us to believe that perhaps Chad didn't lock us in the basement again. Maybe the wind blew the door shut, and because the door was ancient it locked. We still didn't view him as Angel, but we decided not to hate him anymore. At least until we had more evidence against him. Knowing that there was no Russell Myers in the bar(or anyone for that matter) we made the choice to leave. Unfortunately someone else did as well. "WE HAVE THE PLACE SURROUNDED. COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP." I look to Olivia. "Just when I was starting to like the guy."

Fire Extinguisher

I was hoping to find an ax. I really wanted to chop down the door and shout "It's showtime." Alas,  no such luck. We did, however, find a long since expired fire extinguisher. It certainly did the trick. I bashed the fire extinguisher against the door untill the wood fractured. After that Olivia kicked in the rest. We crawled through a little hole that we created. We now found a freedom. It was the darkened, gloomy freedom of an abandoned bar, but it was freedom none the less.

Locked In the Basement...Again

After spending an entire afternoon filling up on dust and other people's memories, we decided to leave the dark basement. Unfortunately, when we reached the top of the stairs the door was locked. "Bastard did it again." Olivia says, jiggling the doorknob. "I can't believe we trusted him." I reply. "We didn't." Olivia heads back down the stairs. "Where are you going? There's no window in this one." I say. She stops halfway down the stairs. "I know, but there is bound to be an ax or something. We will get out of here."

Shoebox Memories

The shoebox was filled with sepia tones from long, long ago. Every picture had that same stern, poised smile. I examined each serous face. Not because I thought I'd recognize somebody, but because I wanted to see. I wanted to look into their eyes. I wanted to see if they could tell that they were on the cusp of tomorrow. I figured at least two people must have known that something big was about to happen. I picked two kids and one older woman who I felt "knew" things. There was nothing scientific about my choosing. I simply picked three people randomly. Who knows? I could be right. Not that I'd ever find out though. "Fascinating stuff, isn't it?" I say to Olivia. "Sure is. I just love seeing how people dressed back then." "You think someone is looking at us right now?" I ask. Olivia looks around for surveillance cameras. "No, I mean do you think someone is looking at a picture of us?" "It's possible. What with social media and what not." " I mean do you think someone who lives years and years into the future is looking at a picture of us at this moment?" "Oh, that's quite different." "Yeah, what do you think?" Olivia blows a raspberry. "I suppose It's possible." There is a brief pause, then Olivia places all the pictures back in the shoebox. "No more picture time?" I ask. Olivia shakes her head. "I think it's time we got out of the basement."

Basement Storage

Ever been in the basement of a bar or a pub? It's surprisingly very interesting. For starters, they're big. Much bigger than than you would think. A small house would fit into some of the basements I have seen. This one definitely. It's basically a massive storage space that is filled with a bunch of stuff that no one ever bothered to throw out. There are dead Christmas trees, there are fake Christmas trees with busted lights, and there  are old signs for when the bar was called Finnigan's. Olivia and I marvel at the useless crap. We realize we won't find Russell Myers, but we don't care. We are far too focused on our surroundings. We find a light blue shoebox with the words "Pictures" written on it. Olive and I pop the lid. We decide to delve into a past that we never lived through, and wax nostalgic about memories we never had.

Condemned Bar

Going into it, I didn't have the highest expectations of finding Rusell Myers. But we ventured in the bar anyways. Partly to humor Chad, and partly to pass time. We soon found that this bar was condemned. There were no tables or stools. There wasn't even a bar. There was, however many beer bottles scattered around the floor filled to various levels. This we believed ment there would be squatters. We walked all around the bar and through the kitchen. The only other signs of life we saw were broken glass, cigarette buds, and spilled grease everywhere. Things were looking grim,but as we got to the backdoor we noticed a stairway. Presumably leading to the basement. "You want to check it out?" Olivia asks. "You think he's down there?" Olivia shrugs. "I don't know. Who cares?"

Outside the Biker Bar

The biker bar looked worse than I remembered it. There were broken windows, the door was hanging on by one hinge, and the grass was up to my knees. I half expected a lion to pop out at any moment."Here's the place." Chad says, opening the limo door. "Doesn't look like anyone's there." Olivia replies. "They're there." Chad snaps. "I don't know." "They are. They just redecorated." I sigh. "I believe that." I reluctantly get out of the limo. Olivia follows. Chad slams the door after she leaves. I quickly pull the handle, but it's locked. Chad lowers his window. "May I help you?" "Yes. Get out here." I shout. "I don't think so." Chad raises his window. I jiggle the handle again. Once more Chad lowers the window. "I need you." Chad shakes his head. "No, you don't." The window is raised a final time.  I look at Olivia. She looks back at me. We both wonder how we got in this mess.

Late Night Drive

I said the biker bar. Truth be told I have absolutely no clue where Russel Myers would be, but I said the biker bar because it felt right. It must have felt right to Chad as well because that's where we are headed to. Either that or he's toying with us. All I know is that we've been driving all night. It is now 3 a.m.  My eyelids are so heavy. I want to sleep, but I can't. I don't trust this man. It's been hours, and he hasn't said a word. He just sits there and stares at me as if he's piering into my soul. I'm tired and frightened. However, I don't give in to either. Instead I sit up straight and I stare back.

In the Limo

We sat in the back of a limo on a long, weird, C - shaped couch. We sat on one side. Chad sat on the other. I had never been in a limo before. It was a shame this was my first experience. "You should relax." Chad says to me as if he can read my thoughts. "It's easy for you to say." Olivia replies. "Yes, I suppose it is." Chad reaches into a mini fridge. He pulls out a bottle of champaigne. "This will help." "We're not in the mood." Olivia says. "Nonsense." He takes out three glasses and pours the champaigne. "You have nerves. I see that, but it's nothing a little bubbly can't cure." He hands us the glasses. I start to drink, but Olivia stops me. "Don't drink that." "Normally, you're right there is the formality of the toast before one can drink, but we can forget about that." "I don't care about formalities." Olivia says. "Then what's the problem?" "How do I know you're not trying to poison us?" "You don't." "Oh, now I really want to drink this." She says, sarcastically. Chad takes our glasses. He then lowers his widow and splashes the drinks out of the window. "There. Better?" He asks. "A little." Olivia says. "Good. Now that we've gotten that out of the way we can get down to business."  "I think I know where he is." I say. "Where?" Chad asks with slight meaner tone. "Take us to the biker bar." Chad nods slowly at my request. After that he taps on the glass that separates the driver from the passengers. The driver lowers the glass. Chad speaks to the driver without either one of them turning their head. "We have a drive, a long drive ahead of us. But we have a lead. It better be a good lead."

Pete Reacts

Predictably, Pete did not take the news well of Chad dropping the case.He swore a blue streak. Cussing him left and right. Saying things like "snake" and that he had a bad feeling from the start. Chad just stood there, stoned faced while Pete got redder and redder. Eventually Pete took a break from his tirade. My guess is to take a breath. "Now that you have that out of your system." Chad says, calmly. "I don't have anything out of my system." Pete shouts. "I figured you would be upset so..." Chad reaches in his inside breast pocket. He pulls out a thick bundle of cash. He then hands it to Pete. "What's this?" Pete asks. "It's for you. Happy?" Pete stares at the bundle in his hands. Chad sighs. "Fine." Chad pulls out another bundle and hands it to Pete. "Now if you excuse me I have more important matters to attend to." He walks to the front door, ushering me and and Olivia to follow. "This isn't over." Pete shouts. "I'm sure." Chad says. He walks through the front door. Olivia and I follow. There we see a stretch limo waiting for us.

Drop the Case

"Russel Myers? We're seriously revisiting that subplot?" Olivia says. Chad chuckles to himself. "It was always on my mind." "Sounds like you need a hobby or two." Chad squints his eyes. "Where is he?" "We didn't know then, so what makes you think we'd know now?" I ask. "Because you are two years older and thus two years wiser." "I don't know about the wiser part." I say. "Where is he?" Chad asks yet again. "We don't know. Can't you just sue us and get it over with?" Olivia asks.  "Is that what you want?" "Not really, but it seems better than this." "Then I'll sue you. I'll squeeze every penny out of you. But I won't stop there. I'll push you down. All the way down, and I'll make sure you never come back up." I bite my lip. "What if we can find him?" "Then I'll drop the case, but that's only assuming that you can find him." "I think I know where he is." I say. "You think or you know?" "I know where he is." Chad smiles smugly. He then straightens his tie. "Good. Just what I wanted to hear. I am going to go through that door and give my client the unfortunate news that I can no longer represent him. You two are to wait one minute and then meet me on the other side." We watch Chad exit. Olivia turns to me. "We don't know where Russel is. Why did you say we did?" "I was trying to get us out of trouble. Think I might have made things worse."

Chad Arrives

Pete entered the full service gas station with his fancy, big time lawyer. It felt obvious that Chad remembered our faces, but he played coy untill Pete introduced him. Even then he never came out and said he remembered us. He danced around it, saying things like "you look familiar."  After Pete introduced us as the homegrown terrorists who blew up his store, Chad asked if he could speak to us one on one. Pete didn't mind. Especially when Chad explained that it was in the name of pscholological torture. Chad took us to a small, dark room. There were cobwebs and spiders
everywhere. Here Chad's demeaor gradually changed. He relaxed a little, but only a little. He pressed his hands flat against the table and leaned in. "Listen up. Listen good. I don't give a shit about this man's business. All I care about is Russel Myers. You get me him and we're gold."

Ask Jim

Getting Rita to change Pete's mind was clearly not gonna work. I had one more idea though. We were going to talk to Pete's brother, Jim. It was still a bit of a long shot, but it was worth trying. "You want me to do what?" He asks. "We want you to call off his lawyer." "What makes you think I could do that?" "Because you're his brother." Jim nods slowly. "I am, but at the end of the day Pete's gonna do his own thing." "So, you're not gonna talk to him?" I ask. " 'Fraid not. I've been down this road before... well, maybe not this exact one, but I know how it'll end." "It could be different this time." I say. Jim shakes his head.  "Doubt it." "So, that's it then." "It's all I can do." "But you didn't do anything!" Olivia shouts. "Maybe not enough, but you should have thought of that before you blew up his bait shop." "We didn't blow it up." "Hey, I'm not saying it wasn't funny, but maybe you shouldn't have done it." "For the last time we didn't do it!" Jim backs up slightly. "Fine. You didn't do it." He glances out the dirty window. "Something catch your attention?" I ask. "Yeah, my brother's here, and it looks like he's got a friend."

Change Rita's Mind

"I ain' t happy ta see ya." Rita declares as she enters the diner. "We need to talk." "And I ain't gonna talk to ya either." Rita angrily shuffles to our booth a moment later. "Alright. I might have to talk to ya. But only because you're in my section." "You have to get Pete to call off his lawyer." Olivia says. "Why should I do that?" "Because the guy is ruthless." I jump in. "Good. Serves you two right." "What exactly did Pete tell you?" Olivia asks. "Well, he told me that you two exploded his business." "We didn't blow it up." I blurt. "That's not what he told me." "I'm sure it wasn't." Rita leans in. "Look, maybe you two didn't get your hands dirty with any devices, but I've got a mind to believe that you were in on it. Where I come from that makes you just as guilty." "We didn't do anything." I say. "Maybe you didn't. And maybe this fancy lawyer will prove your innocence." "It won't be a fair trail." I insist. "That's not my problem." "There is not a damn thing we can do to change your mind, is there?" Olivia says. "I'm afraid not. Now, if we're done here I got work to do." I grit my teeth. "There's just one more thing." "And what's that?" "I want the check."

Through His Heart

Chad Billington was going to be Pete's lawyer. This is the same lawyer who for reasons I don't remember locked us in the basement of his lush mansion. It's possible that Chad harbors no ill will towards us. It's even possible that he doesn't remember us, but I'm not holding my breath. I know the best way to change Pete's mind is through his heart, and I also know that Pete's heart works at the American Classic Diner. Rita doesn't start till later. Much later. We don't mind though. We can wait. Heck, this time I might even try the beef Wellington.

Pete's Message

Pete speed his pick up truck to us. He slammed the breaks when he was less than a foot away. After that he threw open the door and stamped his way to us. "You two are going down." "I believe you mentioned that before." Olivia says, as calmly as possible. "No. You don't understand. I called my lawyer, he's in love my case. So much so that he's gonna do this pro bono." "And that's supposed to make us scared?" "It should. He's famous." "What's his name?" "Chad Billington." Olivia and I turn to each other. "I take it the name rings a bell." Pete says smugly. "We might have heard it." I reply. "Just thought I'd let you know what you're in for." Pete walks away. We watch him drive off. "Chad Billington is the one who locked us in his basement, right?" "Yep" "Are we screwed?" I ask. Olivia sighs. "I hope not."

"What Have We Wrought?"

• "What have we wrought?" I ask, staring at the night sky. "We didn't wrought anything. It was already wrought." Olivia replies. "Maybe. Or maybe we sent it home." "You could be right." She says. "You think so?" I ask. Olivia shrugs."It's possible. All I know is that idea feels a lot better than the alternative." "What's the alternative?" "That we unleashed unimaginable chaos upon the world." "God, I hope that's not the case." Olivia nods. "Me too." There is a brief pause as we take in the infinite possibilities while gazing at the infinite sky. In the distance I see a cloud of smoke. I don't think anything of it at first. Then, I realize that it is a pick up truck speeding towards us. "Our friend's back." I say, pointing to the truck. "Oh, shit." "You think he's got good news for us?" I ask sarcastically. Olivia half smiles."Oh yeah. That can only be good news."

Space Fish

We slammed the door and searched frantically for a lock. Of course with our luck we couldn't find one. We did the next best thing though. We pressed our bodies firm against the door. Bam! Bam! "This door isn't going to hold." Olivia shouts. "I know, but we can't let it through." Bam! Bam! Olivia runs off. "Where are you going?" I shout to her. "It doesn't matter what we do. That thing'll still get through." Just then the door bursts open. I get a glimpse of its hungry mouth. It comes at me, but I quickly dive out of the way. I watch it move past me. After that it moves into the horizon and up into space.

Catch A Falling Star

The bright, shiny star beckoned us. It wanted us to snatch it out of the sky.  I stretched my arm as far as I could, but the star was still a good foot away. I even stood on my tip toes in an effort to catch it. Beads of sweat were rolling down my face. I was about ready to to give up when the star fell further. It was now within reach. I couldn't believe it. I could feel it's heat on the palm of my hand. Luckily, out of the corner of my eye I saw many massive, razor sharp teeth. I quickly grabbed Olivia. We ran as fast as we could. The gigantic, space angler fish at our heals. Thankfully we left the door wide open. We ran through it, and slammed it behind us.