Luca’s eyes still burned, but he could finally see again.

He glanced over to Ocean and Liliana, then to Pietro who stood close by. Their expressions said it all. Maybe the gravity of the situation was just now setting in for them. He wanted to think that he was different than them, that he was keeping his cool. That he was in control. He wasn’t.

When he saw the man’s eyes open, his mind went completely blank.

“He’s up,” Pietro said.

The man let out a pained moan as Pietro flipped him onto his back. There was still blood caked on his chin from when Quinn hit him almost twenty minutes earlier.

The man looked up at Luca with dazed eyes, like he was staring into a bright light. By the look of it, he hadn’t pieced together what was happening to him yet. Luca needed to use that to his advantage.

“You sure you don’t want to tie him up or something?” Pietro asked.

“I got it,” Luca reached into his pocket and pulling out his knife with the golden ivy hilt. He placed it against the man’s neck. “We’re gonna ask you some questions. If you want to live, you’d better answer them.”

The man paused before speaking in a strained voice. “It hurts.”

““And it’s going to hurt a lot more if you don’t do what we say,” Luca put pressure on his neck with the side of the knife. “Got it?”

“I… can’t move my legs.”

Luca grit his teeth. “I don’t give a fuck,” he screamed.

John Doe didn’t reply, letting Luca’s words hang in the air. Luca could feel his hands starting to sweat.

“Hey,” Pietro said. “Let’s hurry this up. The watch that kid activated is almost halfway out.”

“I know,” Luca bit down on his lip. There was so much to ask, so much he needed to know. The problem was, he had so many questions that he didn’t even know where to start.

No, that wasn’t true. He knew exactly what he wanted to ask first, he just couldn’t bring himself to say the words. It felt like if he said them, he might not be able to hold himself together.

As if he read his mind, Ocean walked up next to him. “Why Cory?”

John Doe’s eyes moved to the ceiling. He took in a deep breath through his nose.

“Cory’s my brother,” it was Liliana this time. “This is revenge for him. Will you… tell us why you attacked him?”

She sounded so calm, it only served to make Luca feel worse. She was just a kid. When did his niece become so resilient? When did he become so fragile?

After a few seconds, John Doe answered. “There was a question I asked myself,” his voice came out clear as a bell, his eyes as empty as a cloudless sky. “A question that haunted me… for a very long time.”

Luca tried to slow his heartrate. If this murderer wasn’t going to show weakness, he wasn’t going to either. He put pressure on the knife again.

“If you follow me on Clock Link, I’m sure you’ve seen me post about it,” John Doe went on. “I asked myself… If I was the main character of my life.”

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” Luca asked. “If you think you’re going to buy time, you’d better guess again. We have more than enough watches to keep you here.”

“I’m not stalling,” a faint smile appeared on John Doe’s face. “I… want you to understand.”

Luca hadn’t been expecting him to say that. He wanted him to understand? Luca found himself unable to answer.

“As ridiculous as it may seem to you, I agonized over that question,” he continued. “I’ve worked a job selling jewelry in the mall for years with no end in sight. When I really thought about it, I realized how meaningless I was. I wasn’t the main character. I was no one… But that just created a new question I needed to answer.”

Luca could feel the uneasiness in the air. He had meant for this to be an interrogation, but the man wasn’t showing any resistance. Even if he wasn’t speaking to the point, it seemed like he was more than happy to talk to them. Luca could take his life at any time. Why did it feel like the man was the one in control?

“If I wasn’t the main character of my life, who was? Could I find them? Could I choose? Would I know them when I saw them?” John Doe’s mouth spread into a broad grin. “It wasn’t until April 1st… that I got my answer.”

“April 1st…” The memory of the girl surfaced in his mind, and hair on the back on Luca’s neck stood up.

“Cory… was going to be my main character,” John Doe’s words hit Luca like a hammer.

“What the hell does that mean?” Pietro blurted out. “You wanna die?”

“Pietro, shut up for a minute,” Luca said, unable to pull his attention from the man’s face. “Cory… was what?”

“I met him on Clock Link after I posted about getting a new watch. He had one too,” John Doe said, his voice still largely devoid of emotion. “A few weeks ago, we met in person, and it was then that I decided he might be the one. I just needed to figure out who I was in relation to him. Was I his friend? His mentor? His… enemy?”

Luca’s stomach lurched. “What the fuck is this?”

“I had the idea that I would use the watch. I would find the people close to him, and I would kill them,” John Doe’s words almost seemed robotic. “Eventually, it would culminate in Cory tracking me down. That’s how I would fulfill my purpose.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“I don’t know who you think you are,” Liliana said, her voice shaking with fury. “But this isn’t some kind of game. You can’t… play with people’s lives like that.”

“The government, the army, work, parents, schools… People in power play with lives all the time,” John Doe said. “What I did was nothing different than what they do day after day.”

“You know, for a grown man, you sure do sound like the edgy kids at my school,” Ocean kept his distance. “You’re just someone that couldn’t accept that there’s nothing special about them… Not a damn thing.”

John Doe’s grin didn’t waver even a little.

“Wait,” Luca opened his mouth as if he was unsure of what he was going to say. “If Cory was supposed to be your… ‘main character’, why did you attack him?”

“Because I realized he wasn’t actually my main character,” John Doe looked directly at him with his empty pupils. “You are.”

It took Luca a moment to realize what he was saying. He felt his grip of his knife weaken slightly. “I… am?”

“I didn’t make the watches, but whoever did sent me a lot of them,” John Doe smiled. “When I thought Cory was the one, I repackaged two of the watches and sent them to you.”

Luca looked down at the watch around his wrist. He was suddenly overcome with the urge to smash it, but then he wouldn’t be able to kill this psychopath. He tightened his grip on his switchblade again.

“I followed you on April 1st with the intention of killing you,” John Doe stared at him. “But when I saw how you were using the watches, I realized that it had to be you. You were the one.”

“But… that girl,” Luca’s mouth wouldn’t move like he wanted it to. The more he heard, the more he just wanted to jam the knife into his neck.

“Rose Aldrich? I didn’t know her or anything like that,” John Doe said matter-of-factly. “When I saw her moving in the crowd, I thought she might be with you. I’m guessing she wasn’t, but I’m glad her death served as your ‘call to arms’ anyway.”

Luca was reaching his limit.

“After that, I tried to kill Cory, but someone stopped me,” he went on, seemingly oblivious to Luca’s rage. “I managed to kill Bruno, though. I thought that might make things interestin-…”

Without even thinking, Luca punched him in the nose as hard as he could. John Doe didn’t even flinch, even when blood dripped from one of his nostrils immediately after.

“That was for Bruno you piece of shit,” Luca said, huffing. “You’re lucky. If he was the one doing the punching, your nose would be in your fucking brain right now.”

“There we go,” John Doe laughed, completely breaking his previously cold tone. “That’s what I want. The main character needs to hate the villain. Don’t stop there!”

“Fucker!” Luca lifted his fist up again.

“I feel sorry for you, John Doe,” Liliana’s voice stopped him.

John Doe moved his neck slightly to look at her. “Excuse me?”

“I said I feel sorry for you,” Liliana said, still managing to keep her calm. “I think you’ve probably needed help for a long time, and no one was there to give it to you. You’re sick.” She cleared her throat. “Uncle Luca, let’s turn him into the police.”

“Liliana, what are you saying?” Pietro snapped. “This is the guy that tried to kill Cory.”

All of the adrenaline drained from Luca’s body. “Liliana…”

“Liliana, we can’t do that,” Ocean put his hand on her shoulder.

“Yes we can,” she said. “He even doesn’t understand fiction from reality.”

“That might be true,” Ocean sighed. “But if we turn him into the police, then he’ll tell them about the watches. He’ll have all of us arrested.”

“But…” the confidence disappeared from Liliana’s voice. “I thought we were all ready to go to jail for doing this…”

“I don’t think your uncle is,” Ocean said. “He intends to escape. To be honest, I do too.”

“But…”

“And I think it’s safe to say,” Ocean continued, cutting her off. “Your uncle’s involved with some… less than legal stuff. He’ll go to jail if he’s caught.”

“Is that… true?” Liliana looked at Luca, her eyes sharp like a hawk. “Are you really… still doing that?”

Luca glanced up to Pietro, who only gave him a scowl. He turned back to Liliana, but he couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze. “Ocean’s right,” he said. “They’ll put me in prison for a long, long time.”

Liliana’s face turned red. He could tell she was fighting back tears.

“I lied to you,” Luca swallowed. “I know… that I told you that I was keeping out of trouble. I’m sorry.”

“This is perfect,” John Doe was almost giddy in his excitement. “This is the exactly the kind of drama I wanted.”

Damn it. Luca could feel his vision getting blurry again. It wasn’t supposed to go like this.

A few painfully long seconds passed.

“Hey,” Ocean walked over to where John Doe was lying. “I have a question for you.”

John Doe looked up at him. “Hmm?”

“When I found you, you acted like you expected us to be here,” Ocean said. “Why?”

“Because I decided that today was going to be the end to my story,” John Doe replied. “That page on Clock Link looking for the murderer. That’s all of you, right?”

“It is.”

“I posted the comment about ‘setting your watches’ and meeting me here because I knew you would pick up on what I was really saying,” he smiled. “It was an invitation.”

Ocean didn’t hesitate to continue. “And did you know that Jaden would use his watch?”

“Of course. I was the one that gave it to him, after all. All I had to tell him was that he could use it to kiss Sadie Quasar and he didn’t even hesitate to trust me.”

“I see…” Ocean paused. “So you thought you could take us all on by yourself?”

“Of course not,” John Doe laughed despite his face showing that he was in pain. “I just didn’t think Luca would bring so many people. He… didn’t seem the type.” He sighed. “I underestimated the number of ‘characters’ that would get involved in this. I suppose that shows how little control I really had.”

They silence of the frozen room descended on them.

“Well,” John Doe spoke again. “I wasn’t so sure about it at first, but it looks like the ending to my story has chosen itself.”

“And what’s that?” Ocean asked.

“The main character finishes off the villain,” John Doe’s hollow eyes drifted back over to Luca. The weight of his knife seemed to form in his hand again.

“This isn’t your story,” Luca said, regaining his composure.

“Regardless, you will kill me.”

“Oh, will I?”

“You wouldn’t have your niece or nephew do it,” John Doe looked back up at the ceiling with a satisfied grin. “And I doubt you’d have this boy do it either. That only leaves you.”

Luca looked down at his switchblade.

“Now,” John Doe sighed, the features of his face softening. “The main character… finishes off the villain.”

Luca felt his breathing go shallow. This was it. This was the man that tried to kill Cory. The man that killed Bruno. The one that killed that girl. If he just moved his hand, it would be over. This sick freak would never hurt anyone ever again.

John Doe’s hollow eyes stared back up at him. Why was he hesitating? Why did it have to feel like he was doing exactly what John Doe wanted him to?

“Sorry,” Luca pulled the knife away from his neck. “That’s not happening.”

“Then you’ll spend the rest of your life in prison?”

“No, that’s not happening either,” Luca said. He got up and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hey asshole! I know you’re around here somewhere. I’ve gotta job for you.”

“Huh?” John Doe’s voice cracked.

Almost on cue, Marco walked out from behind a nearby pillar, knife in hand. “And here I was thinking I’d never get to make my appearance.”

“I thought you were going to step in if my life was in danger,” Luca scoffed. “What about when he was kicking the shit out of me, huh?”

“Oh, stop,” Marco rolled his eyes. “You were fine. Now let’s see what we have here…” He stopped next to John Doe, looking down at him with his trademark smirk.

“No," John Doe tried to move, but only his neck turned. “This isn’t right. This… isn’t right.”

“So you sent me and Bruno two watches, huh?” Luca asked. “This guy here is actually pretty active on Clock Link himself. Got himself a watch before we did.”

“This isn’t…” John Doe was struggling with all his might now, but he was still unable to move. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen!”

“Liliana, Ocean,” Luca said. “Close your eyes. I don’t want you watching this.”

“Hi,” Marco sat on John Doe’s chest, holding his knife high into the air. “And now I guess this is goodbye, huh?”

“No!” John Doe’s eyes were wide. “This isn’t how my story’s supposed to end!”

“John,” Luca knelt down near his face to whisper.

John Doe let out a shriek, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I’m not your fucking main character.”

The knife came down.