The police came and went. While they were there, they asked some questions, took photographs of the crime scene, did some more detecting around, and then told us to stay put and notify them immediately if there were any other criminal activities happening on the premises. Of course, they did not forget to question me thoroughly, because for some reason they seemed to be under the impression that I had something to do with the graffiti.“I’m the manager of this construction zone,” I tell them, “I’m not here on vacation or anything. It means that I oversee the construction of this place on behalf of the company that owns the place. Why on god’s green earth would I want to trash the place where I work?”Over their shoulders, I see Oliver glaring at anyone and everyone wearing a police uniform and Coraline glancing at us, worry and annoyance warring on her expression.“Who knows, maybe you have something against the boss.” One of the detectives suggests offhandedly as if all of this is a

At first, I don’t hear it. Because there are so many people around, and there are plenty of people calling one another. So, I keep on walking, not even wondering who was calling whom.And then the same voice hollers again, “You in the brown and red jacket, stop right there!”I’m wearing such a jacket, I realize belatedly. Confused, I turn back to see who was calling me in the middle of the town.The man is brawny, which is the first thing I notice about him. He looks angry for some reason. Surrounding him are three more guys, all wearing the same kind of expression. And it makes my blood run cold.Oh, God, what now? Who were they, and what were they trying to do to me? Were they inching for a fight? For the life of me I could not figure out why they would want to fight me, I’d literally never seen them before. But then again, most of the people I’ve gotten in trouble with had not seen me before in their lives. My mind runs a mile a minute upon seeing them. Were these people coming fro

“Please tell me we haven’t run into another problem,” I whine as soon as I get in the hearing range with Oliver. Suddenly, all the excitement I had felt upon driving to and back from town washes away as if I has been splashed with a torrent of water. It’s still way too early in the day for this, “because I ran into some unsavory characters back in town, and please do not tell it’s the timberyard’s manager’s son here with his daddy to create more nuisances!”Oliver’s brows furrow in confusion, “You ran into Paul’s son?”“Yep, and it was not pleasant.”Oliver opens his mouth, probably to ask, but shakes his head. “You know what, I’m not going to ask until we get this one out of the way. And no, I won’t say it’s a problem, exactly. It’s not related to us directly, but well…” Oliver sighs, “you know when I acted this job I really didn’t expect to run into these kinds of things. Thought it was too much movie cliché, you know. But now…”“Oliver, man, I understand why you’re so shaken up, I

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” I groan, turning the key over and over again. The first few times, the car wheezes as if it’s taking in its last dying breath, but finally, that also stops. I bash my fist into the dashboard, “what the heck is wrong with this thing?!”“Judging by its age, I would say almost everything,” Coraline deadpans. Around us, the wind rustles pleasantly as birdcalls come from all around. Sunlight flits through the leaves of the canopy above us. It’s cool which is a plus. It would suck infinitesimally if we had crashed right under the glower of the sun. “We need to get the car off the road,” I tell her, my voice bitter. “We’re right in the middle. I have to take a look under the hood.”“Do you know anything about Mechanics?” questions Coraline dubiously, and I bite my lower lip.“I mean, not really?” I reply, “but we should see if there’s something exploded in there, judging by the sound.”Coraline tilts her head, “yeah, I think we should. Let’s get our daily

“Hey, Gerald!” I greet my pseudo-father figure enthusiastically as the video call connects.Gerald blinks at me and then blinks at the corner of his own phone to see the time. He’s so at odds with how he generally looks, with his hair rumbled, his eyes bleary, and he looks like he’d just gotten an hour of sleep after staying up for a week. Also, he’s wearing a t-shirt of all things. I have never seen Gerald in a t-shirt before, and it feels so very odd to even witness it. Gerald always reminded me of the butler in Batman, hell, they even looked the same in some ways except for the fact that Gerald was awfully bulky and in a good shape for a man his age. And every time I saw him, no matter the time of the day, he was always dressed in some sort of suit. Before today, I would’ve sworn the man basically lived in suits, and maybe he was even born in one.But now my worldview has turned.“Jace?” Gerald utters my name as if he’s in a dream that is rapidly turning into a nightmare, “what the