“Nothing again.” Kevin slammed shut a large tome sending dust flying across the table. “Three months of looking like you said and there was no car fire.” he pushed himself away from the desk in the dimly lit basement of the town's small library. This room held every copy of “The Appalachia Chronicle.” there had been not so much as a mention of their little town in any edition.

“You still don't believe what he told you? I'm literally living evidence of it.” The voice sounded exhausted and beyond caring. Her words held no lies. Kevin had been trying desperately to find any evidence of what Officer Williams had told him. Countless days off and evenings after school he had toiled over every record the town held.

“I'm sorry Kevin, we're gonna have to close up. You should start getting home before it gets dark” Mrs McKenzie had become a familiar friend over the last few months despite her age. She was the sole librarian and custodian for the town hall. Her bones were almost as old as the hard stone walls of the government building.

“How's the school project coming along?” she smiled sweetly, genuinely curious about the answer. “It was on the towns history right?” her large keying jangled as she prepared the keys to lock the old oak door. “Yeah I'm all finished with my research. Thank you.” She looked almost a little disappointed. She had enjoyed the company of one so interested in the town's history.

“Will you come back and let me read it when you’re done?” Kevin's heart sank in his chest. The lie he had told had become too heavy of a burden. “Mrs McKenzie, has there ever been a car fire that Officer Williams responded to?” His sudden question took the librarian by surprise. She thought to herself for a moment.

“No sonny I cant say I've ever heard that and I hear everything. My friends at the coffee shop are like superspies” she made a finger gun gesture as she proclaimed this triumphantly. The sudden realisation hit Kevin like a train. This woman had lived in this town all her life. She knew everything that had gone on. “Mrs Mckenzie?” Kevin uttered.

“Who was Ron Carmichael?” the antiquated librarian turned as white as snow. She hurried Kevin over to her office and shut the door behind him. She gestured to her torn and cracked old leather chair. “Where did you hear that name sweetie? You see it in one of the papers?” she had panic in her eyes as she clutched the ends of her woollen sleeves.

“Haha look at her. Cats out the bag!” the voice jeered. She proceeded to search a precariously balanced pile of records and kept darting her eyes back to kevin. “He killed his wife right? That's what they say. Tried to kill his unborn kid too?” she quickly rummaged nervously until she found her mark.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“It had never clicked who you were until you started coming in.” she handed him a photocopied article from the New York Times “drug addicted maniac kills wife and injures unborn son.” The huge block text read as clear as day. “I kept this aside in case you ever found anything related. I shouldn't be the one telling you but yes you were that boy”

It was true. It was all true. Everything the stranger had said. Kevin's hearing turned to a long constant whine as the librarian moved her lips but no sound came. His breaths came faster and his heart threatened to burst through his chest. Growing in strength and volume the voice laughed so hard he imagined her rolling on the floor holding her stomach.

He held his head as she roared in throws of jubilation. “I told you!” she spat out as she bellowed. A feeling unlike any other rose from his feet. It filled him like a rushing river and drowned all else. The girl's laughter grew louder as pure unadulterated rage grew in him for the first time. The paper he held in his hands crumpled and dampened from hot tears falling from his eyes.

A kind hand silenced the torrent. “Officer Williams has always loved you. You should have seen him. Bumbling around and begging us olds for advice on how to care for you. He's always done the best he could.” she crouched down to be level with him. “The entire time you were in that hospital he sat there watching you.”

It turned out the nature of Kevin's adoption was no secret to the townsfolk that were around back then. They had supported him and Officer Williams in any way they could his entire life. They had seen him as the Officer's true son. “It doesn't matter where you come from, sonny. Only what you choose to be.”

Through tear soaked eyes Kevin looked at the kind face of the old soul. “Thank you.” he wiped his nose with his sleeve and pressed his palms into his eyes. “I think you should have a talk with Officer Williams some time. He's never talked about it much but I think he will to you. While you are at it tell him he still owes me for his overdue ‘parenting for dummies’ book”

Kevin smiled at the thought of a clueless Officer Williams running around a store trying to desperately find baby supplies. “What were they like? My mom and dad. Before their problems I mean.” she leaned against a chest high stack of loose books and sighed. “They were good people, you know. Once upon a time.”

The librarian went on to describe a pair of childhood sweethearts that had found everything they needed in each other. They had been on track to become a perfect family when Ron lost his job as a supervisor in the town's coffee shop. Not knowing where his next pay check was coming from the couple had to turn to the welfare system.

His lack of work and being able to find a job in the small town lead to a deep depression that soon carried over to his wife Milly. They had found bliss at the bottom of the bottle and the end of a needle. Through the years they degraded worse and worse until weekly visits from Officer Williams were guaranteed. The last of these had led to their final fate.

Eyes now dry Kevin stood himself up still clutching the copy of the article. “You can keep that if you like. Its just a copy. Please. Look after yourself sonny." She opened the door and held Kevin's shoulder as he walked through “thank you for letting me come here so much. And thank you for being honest with me. I'm sorry I wasn't with you. There was no school project. I just wanted to see if what I heard was true.” Kevin hung his head low as he admitted to his deception.

“I had a feeling. Thank you for keeping me company though. You’re welcome at the superspy meetings any time.” she again made a finger gun gesture as she spoke of her group of town elders. Kevin smiled knowing that he had after all these years made a true friend. He looked down to the paper in his hands. Folding it up to place in his pocket he noticed the corners he had held were now edged in black scorch marks.