Outside the anti-bandit camp - night

Outside, Marie and I were getting rid of the ruined items and tents. We had to start a fire to burn all these to ashes. Though it was my idea, Marie rejected it at first, only to come around when she realized it was faster. We were halfway done with all the garbage disposal.

"Proxy wanna take a break," Marie asks as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Sure, my body is dying here." We take a seat on the plain grass. The night is quiet, the fire continues to crackle behind us. "Marie, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"When Cade took you, what did you think would happen?"

"I thought I would die, what else?"

"Didn't you think anyone would come to get you?"

“I was taken without anyone knowing, so I didn’t. Though, I thought maybe Alexander would, even if it sounded impossible."

He should've been the one to save her, me being there for him felt weird.

". . .But seeing you there - fighting for me - was a shock to the system. Why did you come to save me? I thought you hated me?"

"I don't hate you, it's just. . .You remind me of Birch when you scold me or nag at me. He's been my caretaker since I was young. Before I met him, my life was nagging free. Sure, the police and teachers would try to tell me off but I didn't care what they thought. But when he busted me for the first time it was different; he never tried to act tough, or high and mighty, he just sat me down and asked me about myself and why I did such a thing. Whenever he busted me, we went on talking about meaningless stuff while he scolded me. One day after he interrogated me, he asked if I wanted to get something to eat."

"That's nice of him."

"You would think, but he told me that if I accepted his offer I had to wash off the graffiti I painted. So of course, I rejected his offer, however, I remembered I didn't get the chance to go to the store to pick up anything to eat, so it was only a matter of time before I would starve and he knew it as well."

"Let me guess, you took him up on his offer?"

"Yep, soon after that day, I was cleaning a 12-yard wall, from morning to sunset, while he was sitting there, watching me do it."

"He was there that long with you?"

"Had a chair, magazine-"

"What's a magazine?"

"That's not important, the point is: he was ready for the long haul. But you know, he didn't mock me or anything during the cleanup, rather, he told me that I did a good job and invited me over for dinner again. It was two times that I got to be included in a dinner with people; me, him, and his daughter - Lauren - would always sit at the dinner table, talking, bickering, and having fun in general. Honestly, I forgot that long ago; I only remembered it recently."

It felt like that memory was buried under rubble for a good while, I'm only now uncovering it from the debris.

"That sounds pleasant, but what about your parents? What did they think?"

"I don't have any, it's been like that for as long as I was alive."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she whispered an apology, facing away from me.

"It's alright, I'm not disturbed by not having any. Though, I can't wholeheartedly say that I'm not bothered by it. Lately, I've been kind of jealous of you and Alex; you both have each other's back and everything. You both have no parents either, and yet, you two are there for each other. It kind of makes me wish I had a brother or sister."

"I see. . .It must not be fun being on your own, is that why you do pranks and other rebellious things?"

"I guess, when I first did, it was fun, it helped me forget anything that bothered me and allowed me to have fun. But it eventually got boring as well."

There was a period where I just felt unsatisfied, of course, fighting made up for it, but half the time I was fighting opponents that weren't worth my time.

". . .You know, I started doing it again after Richard and I began to hang out with each other."

"Is that so, then it sounds like you only wanted to do it after you had a friend to do it with."

"Huh?"

"Think about it: when Richard came along with you, didn't you start to have fun?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah, I was."

"And let me ask you this: why do you think Birch cared to catch you when you did something bad?"

"It was his job?"

"That too, but no. He did it because he wanted to talk to you as a kid."

"Really?"

"Think of it this way, I saved you from the castle guards the other day since I cared enough to do so, so if he was willing to feed you to a family dinner in his own home, then he has to care about you in a capacity."

I never thought of it like that before, I always thought he thought of me as a pain in the ass, but now that I think about it, I never asked why he puts up with me? It would be easier for him if he just had some other officer deal with me. Does he actually care about me? He's never really angry with me when he has to deal with me and Richard.

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“I thought he only saw me as a pain in the ass, granted I am, so it puzzles me as to why he puts up with me. But now that you put it out there like that, that he might actually care about me, even though I put up a lot of trouble for him. I'm relieved but I also feel guilty."

"It's like that for all parents, their children might be a pain, but that doesn't matter to them in the end; they continue to care for them anyway."

"Well, I wouldn't say we're like father and son but I think it might be somewhere close to that. Thanks, Marie, for helping to find a different spin on things."

"Don't mention it. We should get back to work though."

"All right then, I'm fully charged and ready to go!"

“Then let’s do this!”

We get up from the ground and get the other trash. As I look forward I can see someone coming over to us, they’re dragging something as they make their way toward us.

"Is that. . ." Marie trails off

"Yep."

It’s Richard, he’s dragging another tent over to us.

"Hey, guys.”

"Sup, buddy. What are you doing out here?"

"I wanted to help."

"But you don't have to," Marie says.

"I was up thinking that you two might be having trouble, so I got up and got what I could carry."

"See, that's my partner in crime."

"No crime!"

"You can barely carry the tent," Marie points out.

"Of course I can't."

"Hehe, weak arms," I mock him.

"Shut up, I'm trying here okay!"

" Why didn't you bring Nunnalé?"

"I thought it would be good for her to rest, no need for her to do something like this."

"What a gentleman, " Marie said with a snooty voice. Richard is blushing like a fair maiden.

"What's wrong with that!"

"Nothing, nothing at all. But would the gentleman like some Grey Poupon?"

"You know what, I don't have to take this."

"Come buddy, I was only joking."

I chased after Richard for a bit to say sorry to him, but he kept walking farther away from me. Eventually, we got to work on throwing the rest of the garbage out of the camp. A stray thought came to me as we were finishing up, one that I didn't think of until now: is anyone looking for me? If so, I hope they don't wait for too long. . .

Newport - Birch residents - midnight

Midnight had struck, the street lights outside are still on, most people in the neighborhood were fast asleep. However, a certain detective was not.

". . .Are you sure? All right, tell me if you get any updates on his case, even if it's minuscule keep me informed."

He hung up the phone, throwing it onto the couch in his small office as sat on it.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath. His frustration was beginning to get to him.

"Dad." A girl's called from his door. It was Lauren, she had a cup of coffee in her hand.

"What are. . .Actually, nevermind."

"I just can't get any sleep."

She walked over to him, giving him the cup.

"Thanks, haven't been getting much sleep myself lately."

"I can see that." The bags under his eyes were visible to his daughter and so were hers. "So, that call was a bust too?"

"What did I say a bit eavesdropping?"

"Sorry but I want to be in on the loop as well."

His idea to protest against her wants was a waste of time. Birch knew that Lauren was conducting her own research into Proxy and Richard's disappearance via internet forums, or reaching out to people who worked there that night. However, there weren't that many leads considering anyone that was there that night are currently stuck in the hospital. Nobody died that night but they're all are stuck in a comatose state. There were destroyed seats and some blood was found at the scene. It belonged to Proxy. Birch’s first thought was that he was fighting someone but it wasn't a certain idea, rather, it was just an idea he wanted to believe; there was too little blood to say that he was killed, so he was optimistic that Proxy and Richard got away somehow. From a logical standpoint, it doesn't make sense, if they had escaped then they would've been home or would've called. Despite that reasoning, he wanted to believe that Proxy got out of there with Richard somehow.

"No luck whatsoever, a friend of mine - a private investigator - tried to search around the opera house, but he wasn't able to get inside. Police aren't allowing him in, which makes sense, but they aren't letting me in either; saying that nobody is allowed to go inside anymore."

"Wait, why?"

"I don't know, higher-ups are keeping a shut lip about it."

"What a pain!"

"Tell me about it, almost next to no new info is coming out about what happened in there. They're chalking it up to a gas leak, but that doesn't sit well with me, it contradicts something described at the crime scene. A few seats were destroyed."

"I see, so that would indicate some sort of destructive force like someone did that."

"Exactly, but they're denying any possibility that it was an attack."

This whole situation was weird, they're having me tackle different cases rather than the one at the opera house. I'm suspecting my superiors are trying to keep me away from it. Bringing attention to that fact however would do me no good, my attempts would be met with push back, and that might bring light upon my secret investigation into the opera house. So for now, I need to keep my head down while doing so.

"Lauren, has anyone asked where Proxy or Richard is?"

"Yeah, that red-haired kid who keeps trying to jump him."

"Really?"

"There are also a few of my friends, but that's it."

"Don't let them know he's gone missing, give anyone that asks an excuse."

"I already did, I said he's gone to boot camp with Richard."

"Heh."

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just I can't imagine Proxy in boot camp, he's too much of a wild spirit to change that easily. Plus, can you see him in the army?"

Lauren and Birch took a second to visualize Proxy acting as an army man. The thought made both of them chuckle aloud. It was a ridiculous thought but one that brought levity to the room. Lauren got up from the couch.

"Dad, I'm going to go do more research on their disappearance, you get some rest."

"No, I'm the one who needs to, you just need to get some sleep, going to be starting high school soon, you should start going to sleep regularly now."

"Okay, I'll go to sleep."

"I mean it."

"So do I."

Lauren quietly walked downstairs and down into the basement as that is where she spends most of her time either going on the internet, playing games, or sleeping while doing both. Birch was left to himself. He was ready to call it a night, however, his mind urged him to investigate a little more. Throughout the night, he devoted his time to his secret investigation. He knew that it could lead to a dead end. That didn't matter to him, even if there was a bit of blood at the scene, even if it makes no sense how he disappeared without a trance, he'll still deny the possibility of his death until his body has been found cold and lifeless. He prays that will never be the case.

"Proxy, I'll find you and Richard, I swear it!"