Luke and Jackson had woken up that morning with the sun streaming through the open window Isaiah had left when he fled through the roof to go meet Elena. At first, it had seemed as though he had just gone out extremely early for class, but soon it hit them that their friend and schoolmate was nowhere to be found."Where could he be?" Luke asked, thrashing around the place. "He took his phones with him.""He did?" His friend, Jackson, asked. "Well, this is strange. What do you think must have happened to him?"Luke pulled himself out from under a bed, his face now tightly squeezed, angry. "I have a hunch. I think Isaiah has been kidnapped.""I don't think that's possible," Jackson said, adjusting his glasses. "What do you mean kidnapped? He was right in this same room sleeping. How could anyone have come here from the window without us noticing anything? I don't believe such a thing happened. From what I can tell of him, he might actually really have just gone on a long stroll.""Well,

"So which do we go to first?" Jackson asked. "Do we go to the police to report the case first, or do we report to the Chancellor? Also the HOD of your department.""What do we even say to the police?" Jenny asked. "We don't even have proof that he was kidnapped. The only thing we know is that he is missing. I don't know if the Chancellor would be chanced enough to receive our complaint. And I don't think our present HOD Professor Strathmore, would give a rat's ass about Isaiah. He might even be happy about it. The man doesn't like Isaiah.""So what do you now suggest we do, Jenny?" Jackson submitted. "You've said all of this but we do not have a solution yet.""Argh!" Luke gnawed at his own teeth, terribly annoyed that Jenny and Jackson were going to stand there doing nothing but chatter and batter about how to help their friend. He began walking away, with heavy steps on the floor; everytime his feet clashed with the floor, he was a greater distance away from his peers, who he now re

"You sent me a hundred dollars?" The taxi man hollered into the air, definitely happy. "Thank you, thank you." He bowed, almost hitting his head on the window of his car."It's alright, sir," Isaiah said. "It's just a little gift to compensate you for wasting your time. We're really sorry.""Nonsense!" The man cheered heartily. "I should be the one calling you sir now, don't you think? It's alright. Thank you. And I am sorry for yelling at you."The man waved them goodbye. He was probably thinking of taking the entire day off to treat himself to some place nice. Isaiah turned around to face his friends. They stared at him with mouths "What?" He asked."Well, it seems you have a lot of money to throw around, though," Jackson observed."Well, that..." Isaiah found a suitable way to change the topic. "Guys, I need to go inside now. I am in pajamas. I really have to have some bath and freshen up. It's been two days now."Jackson and Luke burst out laughing. "You mean you haven't take

But was suicide the only action suitable to take? Isaiah could not escape from the dilemma before him, even as Jenny stayed by his side to comfort him. His mind raged on in a hazy storm of thoughts. It seemed to him that the only two paths he could take from away from the situation was to either become truly evil, or kill himself. He was so deep in thought that he had forgotten that he was not by himself but with someone else."Isaiah!" Jenny's voice rang in his head, waking him up from the deep contemplative sleep that he had found himself drowning in."Huh, Jenny," he said, gasping."What are you thinking about?" Jenny asked. "Nothing" he said, "I'm just..."She held his jaw, her fingers lingering on his soft lips. "Do you remember what I said?" She asked. "You tell me anything. I'm here to listen."Isaiah looked her in the eyes. Suddenly her eyes shone like gold once more. And like a thief, or an alchemist, he was drawn to it. Their lips, just like before, were almost grazing on

Isaiah and his friends were still, even as the mocking stares from the crowd bared down on them.Walter held his mic in a manner that made it seem as though it was about to fall; his arms folded across his chest, left hand with mic, a grip that seemed too loose. And mostly he had a disgusting grin on his face. His eyes bored holes into Isaiah."Did I just see you flinch?" He asked, checking the watch on his wrist. "Time is running out. If he really is your father as you said he is, he should have stated something already."The crowd murmured faintly, like a rush of cold wind over a massive sea of people. Isaiah said nothing still. To him this was a game that was only made any meaningful sense to Walter. His head was in a totally different space. He had experienced things in few days that made this nothing more than a middle school's conflict."You're still acting like you're the mature one here, right, Isaiah?" Walter started again, the smug look still etched into his face. "If I wer