[[Start]] "Come on", you say, "that all you got?" You wipe the blood from your mouth, getting back into a fighting position, fists up, surrounded by a loud crowd. Both you and your opponent goes at it, back and forth hits with each one barely missing.
"LEFT HOOK!", you yell out. You hit your opponent with a left hook and knock him out cold on the mat. The bell deafeningly rings for your victory! *DING DING DING*
The ref comes by and checks if he's good, afterwards, *DING DING DING* coming over to you and raising your hand. *DING DING DING* The announcer raises his microphone exclaiming, [["HERE IS YOUR WINNER!"]]
(text-style: "rumble")[*RING RING RING*]
Your alarm clock blares itself around your bedroom in your apartment. It's sound making you sit up straight quickly. You're drowsy but are determined to hush up that annoying alarm. You take your arm and put it up in the air as your eyes try to make out the time.
[[Check the Time]]
[[Stop Alarm Clock]]
You squint your eyes trying to see what time it was, getting the eye boogers away from your sight. You see the time is 8:07.
"TURN THAT ALARM OFF!" your neighbor exclaims through the thin wall!
Your eyes widen and hurry to turn off the alarm. You catch your breath and get up out of bed in your 3rd floor apartment. You go out to your door to see if any mail was set out for you. You see nothing, but instead see that your mail is under the door of your arguing neighbors. You try to go and pick it up but is swiped away from under the door into your neighbors. You let out an irritated sigh, knowing you must ask for your mail by[[knocking on the door]].
(set: $angryneighbor to true)You stop your alarm. With blurry vision from tiredness, you try to make out the time but get distracted by a loud squabble. You wipe the crustiness off your eyelids and overhear the argument, "You think I'm the one who's overreacting?", the masculine voice says, “Obviously you haven't been hearing yourself since yesterday!" You don't make a big deal out of it; this seems like a regular occurrence ever since they moved in a month ago.
You get up out of bed in your 3rd floor apartment and go out to your door to see if any mail was set out for you. You see nothing, but instead see that your mail is under the door of your arguing neighbors. You try to go and pick it up but is swiped away from under the door into your neighbors. You let out an irritated sigh, knowing you must ask for your mail by [[knocking on the door]]
(set: $angryneighbor to false)
You feel reluctant to do so but build up the courage to knock.
*Knock Knock Knock*
The arguing comes to a stop, as if someone paused a television show. "We're not done here", you hear a male voice say.
Footsteps sound closer and closer and closer until they reach the door right in front of you. There's a pause. They open the door wide open out of frustration to see you standing across. Their face says it all; annoyed, frustrated, and all of this while looking at you.
"You need something?" He asks rudely.
[[Direct]]
[[Understanding]]<audio autoplay loop>
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[[[<img class="image2 center" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c6b2f_a4b2cc5d9e8144ee85fa72ae9a596f9f~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1200,h_324,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/4c6b2f_a4b2cc5d9e8144ee85fa72ae9a596f9f~mv2.png"/>
</div>|Start]]]You feel a wave of disrespect coming from the neighbors tone.
Matching his energy, you say, "Look, I don't care what's happening between you and your Mrs., but I need the mail back that you swiped under the door, some of it was mine."
"Oh ho!", he exclaims while smiling with his hands up and smiling sarcastically, "Look at this, the man finally found out how to grow some balls."
The woman, Trish, comes over towards the door to her husband, "Can't you just leave the guy alone? He's already heard enough of us through these thin walls."
He turns his back towards you, scolding his wife,
"Hey, he knocked on my door and disturbed the very needed conversation we needed to have."
Both would get into a heated conversation at the door, seeming as if they had forgotten you were there. A part of you wonders why and how things got this way and what started this today? The door is wide open, both none the wiser.
[[Snoop from afar]]
[[ask for your mail]]
(set:$ticked to false)
(set: $TV to false)
(set: $couch to false)
(set: $coffee to false)
(set: $kitchen to false)
"Look", you say calmly, "I know there are some things that are crossing lines to some. I mean no disrespect, I just need my mail, that's all."
The man, with a hand on his hip, looks at you confused.
"Are-are you serious?" He says in a rude tone, "I am busy talking to my wife about something that is none of your concern."
He seems to have blown his top off over a calming answer, what is with this guy?
"And yeah, that is a line you don't cross but it seems like you are right on it. So how about you do yourself a favor and piss off."
He attempts to shut the door on you until...
"Francis!" A female voice yells out, "What the hell are you doing?"
A woman walks up over to Francis, it's his wife Trish, the person he has been arguing with for the past month, looking shocked.
[[Explain what's going on]]
[[Let Francis explain]]You see multiple things across from the two, you make it subtle and survey the surroundings.
[[Coffee Table]]
[[Kitchen Counter]]
[[Couch]]
[[TV Stand]]
(if: $count >= 3)[
(goto: "Caught")
]
(if:$ticked is true)[He stops for a moments and slowly moves his hand away from her mouth. She slaps it away. He stares her down like a boxer does their opponent; heated and tense.
"Wait...", he says coming to a realization, "How do you know his name?"
You're eyes widen, heart racing. Your memory calls back to Trish knocking on your door previously two weeks ago. She introduced herself to you and, before you knew it, opened up about the recurring arguments between her and Francis. You promised her you would keep what she had vented between the both of you.
You come back from looking into space to looking into Francis' enraged expression. Trish, behind him, expresses a worried look towards you, anxious if you would break your promise. Too stressed with the situation at hand, you feel as if you had no choice but to
[[break your promise]]
]
(if:$ticked is false)["Look, fellas, I don't mean to interrupt but I just want to get my mail and go on with the rest of my day if that's okay?"
Both of them stop.
"I'll go get your mail", Franics says.
He tries to walk away from the door but Trish stops him in his tracks.
"You, stay here, I'll go get his mail".
Trish walks off to gather your mail, coming back to the door with envelopes.
"Here, just leave us to our business okay?"
You look at her, looking down at the envelopes and back up to her, "Yeah, no problem", you say, "Nice getting to know you better, Francis."
He closes the door.
You get back to your apartment, leaving the envelopes on the kitchen counter and [[brew a cup of coffee]].
]"What do you think you're looking at?"
Looks like big oaf saw what I was doing. Gotta play it cool.
[["Just looking for my mail"]]
[[Say Nothing]]Seems like a briefcase with a piece of paper on it. You squint your eyes to get an enhanced look. You see, in bolded letters on the center of the top page,''Form 14157-A''. What does that mean?
[[I should get back to looking around.|Snoop from afar]]
(set: $coffee to true)
(set:$count to it + 1)You look on the kitchen counter, you see your mail on it but both of them are in the way. There's no way you can get passed them to grab your mail without causing a scene that can get all three of you kicked out of the complex.
(set: $kitchen to true)
(set:$count to it + 1)
[[I should get back to looking around.|Snoop from afar]]
You see envelopes on the couch, doesn't look like your mail but previous mail for them both. One of them is open with a piece of paper in front of the envelope. Seems like a bank statement, you can't read out the value on the letter but you can make out that it is positive on all counts, he is making serious bank, but then why live in an apartment?
[[I should get back to looking around.|Snoop from afar]]
(set: $couch to true)
(set:$count to it + 1)You see a giant flat screen TV, seems about 75" and the colors illuminating from it is astonishing, you think it could be OLED.
[[I should get back to looking around.|Snoop from afar]]
(set: $TV to true)
(set:$count to it + 1)
"..."
"Oh", he says, "cat got your tounge?"
"Leave him alone Francis!" The woman calls out.
(if: $angryneighbor is true)["Leave him alone?!", he said when turning back around to his wife, "He didn't leave us alone when he left his alarm to keep going when we were discussing you being a two faced bi-" She slaps Francis across the face and walks away from the door. Francis, holding his right cheek, turning bright red before your eyes. He drops his hand and walks over to the kitchen counter and comes back, looking back over to you. "You tell anyone about this, I'll make sure you never talk again."
He hands you your mail ferociously, you take your mail and Francis shuts the door in your face.
[[He seemed nice]].]
(if:$angryneighbor is false)[He pauses. He walks away from both you and his wife to grab the mail from the kitchen counter. He comes back and extends his the mail towards you with his right hand. You take the mail.
"Just...just leave me to my business, and I'll leave you to yours." Francis says in a low tone of voice.
He closes the door. For the first time since they moved in, you feel that he has calmed down. But for how long?]"Just trying to get my mail is all." You say.
(if: $angryneighbor is true)[He points to his wife and says with a finger in her face, "We aren't done here."
He walks away towards the kitchen counter, grabbing the mail in a scrunching manner, ruining your mail. He walks back up to his wife, whispers something in her ear, and she walks away angrily. He looks back over to you with his eyes squinted.
"I see through this nice guy act of yours. Making it seem like I'm some jackass to my wife, when the only real jackass is the one standing in front of me. So, do me a favor", he shows your crumpled mail in your face, "take your mail and shove it up your ass." He throws your mail in your face and shuts the door.[[He seemed nice]].]
(if:$angryneighbor is false)[He lets out a sigh of frustration. "All right, fine." He walks over to the kitchen counter and back, extending his hand with your mail.
"Look, i'm...I'm sorry, it's been a rough couple weeks is all."
You take your misplaced mail.
"It's fine, we all have bad times." You say.
He closes the door. [[He seemed nice]].]You take your mail and enter back into your apartment.
(if: $angryneighbor is true)[You set it down on your kitchen counter and think about what just went down. Why was he so angry? So furstrated? No guy just goes beserk to his wife for no reason. Should I [[call the police]]? Yet, it IS none of my business, I'm probably overthinking the whole thing. Maybe I should just [[let it go]]. ]
(if: $angryneighbor is false)[Seems like he took it easy on me, unlike his wife. But...why are they after each other's necks? Every time they talk to one another it's bad blood. I've gotta [[review what I saw]] back at the apartment, something doesn't sit right. Yet, it IS none of my business, I'm probably overthinking the whole thing. Maybe I should just [[let it go]].] You brew up a fresh pot of coffee, pouring it into your mug. You go to you kitchen counter and go over what you had seen.
(if: $coffee is true)[
The Coffee Table: There was a briefcase with a piece of paper on it on the coffee table yjay had bolded letters on the center of the top page,''Form 14157-A''. You look up on your laptop what the form comes back to, it's a "tax fraud report form.]
(if: $TV is true)[
TV Stand: There was a giant flat screen TV, seemed pretty big, about 75", and the colors illuminating from it were pretty bright, it could've been an OLED TV. That costs more than 2 grand... that's five months rent here!
]
(if: $kitchen is true)[My mail was on the kitchen counter when I first saw it, but nothing else that stood out was there.]
(if: $couch is true)[You remember seeing envelopes on the couch, they didn't look like your mail but previous mail for them both. One of the pieces of paper was a bank statement, having positive income that would make it so they didn't have to live at an apartment complex, but...how are they earning this money?]
"This...this could be something", you think to yourself, "I would have to get the right people to talk to about this in order for this to pass but people could think I'm crazy."
[[call the police]]
[[let it go]]
(set:$evidence to true)
You cut off Francis from explaining what is going on.
"Your husband was just finishing up stealing my mail and shutting the door in my face."
"You little...", before Francis could get another word out, Trish interrupts him.
"Are you kidding me Francis?" She says disappointed, "I mean after everything that you've done already, you're gonna throw in being a jerk neighbor as well?"
Francis turns around with his eyes widened, you felt like a twitch to the eye would appear seeing how ticked he got after that line.
"How...dare you". he says in a low tone of voice, "after everything I've done for you; for US?! You're just gonna picture it as if I am the bad guy? Just like that, Trish?"
"You ARE the bad guy Francis, after what you were going to do to Clein and what you have been doing for the past mon-"
"HEY!", he exclaims towards Trish with his hand over her mouth.
You're too tired for this and just want to get back to your apartment, so you[[ask for your mail]].
(set:$ticked to true)You say nothing, leaving Francis the oppurtunity to explain what he's done.
"The neighbor came to our door, complaining about your noise level", he tells his wife.
"Oh, my noise level?! How about the level of your actions the past month huh?"
You don't say anything and let them go at it. Like bulls seeing red, both of them get into a heated argument while you stand at the door. You take the oppurtunity to try and get their attention again, but in the back of your head you wonder, why are they so mad at one another?
[[ask for your mail]]
[[Snoop from afar]]
(set:$ticked to false)
(set: $TV to false)
(set: $couch to false)
(set: $coffee to false)
(set: $kitchen to false)
(if:$ticked is true)[You tell your story to Francis, letting him know about Trish's venting to you previously when he was off at work. Francis is outraged, hand on his eyebrows, rubbing them back and forth while processing what was just said to him.
"You know...for the longest time I thought I had been doing what was right for us", he says with a dull expression, "but it seems I've only been providing for you and the guy you have more trust in than your own husband.
"It's not like that honey", Trish says fearfully, I just needed someone to talk to that-"
"That what? Made you feel wanted? That understood you? I've busted my ASS for the both of us just for you to find solice in a man that can't make a fraction of what I can!"
He points his finger to Trish, backing her up inside the apartment aggresively. This could get ugly fast if something isn't done, but I would want a death wish if I want to intervene between the two of them, there are people who do this sort of stuff, but your phone is in your apartment.
[[Call the police]]
[[Intervene]]
]You make yourself a hot (text-style: "buoy")[Steaming] cup of (text-color:#6F4E37)[coffee] and let it go, you got your mail back anyways so what does it matter to you. Minutes pass by and you leave for work. You come back to your apartment complex after work at night and see police cars and ambulances. You go up to a detective, seems middle aged, and ask him, "What happened?"
"Someone's been murdered", he says, "seems like the murderer ran off moments after his actions so he is still on the loose. Did you know them?"
The detective shows you a photo of him, the man that had always argued with his wife the apartment next to you.
"Yeah, I do. He had always argued with his wife the apartment next door, it's been happening for the past month."
"Ahh, gotcha, we've gotten calls about them before but its been pretty textbook when it came to domestic disputes. When we checked the house it seems like everything was left but do you know anything that was in their house at all if you talked to them in their apartment or door?"
You put your hand on the back of your head and turn around slowly, rubbing your head.
"Not that I can recall, no. They had just gotten my mail by accident this morning and had given it back after they were arguing, after that, I went back to my business."
The detective writes everything down and thanks you for your cooperation. You wonder what they were REALLY talking about when you asked for your mail...maybe you could've prevented it all, but there is no way of knowing.
(live:14s)[(align:"====><====")[[The End|Logo]]]You let it go, leaving you to your own business. Minutes pass by and you leave for work. You come back to your apartment complex after work at night and see police cars and ambulances. You go up to a detective, seems middle aged, and ask him, "What happened?"
"Someone's been murdered", he says, "seems like the murderer ran off moments after his actions so he is still on the loose. Did you know them?"
The detective shows you a photo of him, the man that had always argued with his wife the apartment next to you.
"Yeah, I do. He had always argued with his wife the apartment next door, it's been happening for the past month."
The detective comprehenses the reality of this situation.
"Your apartment..." He pauses.
"Look, I think it's best that I let you know personally, your apartment has been ransacked. We asked the other neighbors if that was their apartment and they said no, so that leaves the absent neighbor."
You put your hand on the back of your head and turn around slowly, rubbing your head.
"We can get you into witness protection and make sure you're safe, but when we catch this guy, you have to testify against him, are you willing to do that?"
You turn back over to him, letting him know that you will do whatever it takes to catch this guy, until he pays for his crime.
(live:10s)[(align:"====><====")[[The End|Logo]]]
You run out of the neighbors apartment so fast that the wind blows out the candle on the dresser by the front door.
You run into your apartment and find your phone. You hear something made of glass break while you dial 911 and let them now about a domestic dispute happening at your neighbors, they've gotten calls about them before. They let you know help is on the way, but it may take around two minutes, ANYTHING can happen in that short span of time! You are afraid to leave Trish alone in there with Francis, but you also don't want to risk something happening to you.
[[Go back in]]
[[Wait for police to arrive]]You enter the apartment and grab Francis' right shoulder with your right hand and pull him towards you, making him spin around and face you.
"Hey!", you yell out, "If you want to press anybody, how about you press me?"
Francis looks at you with a surprised smile on his face.
"You don't mean that pal...because if you did, I would make sure you never make this same mistake again."
You feel threatened and afraid, but you're not backing down.
Francis goes for a swing but you move out of the way. He grabs you by the shirt which gives you an oppurtunity to knee him in the stomach. Trying to get away, Francis, again, grabs you by the back of your shirt and reels you in and hits a suplex on you. You lean up against the tall window across from the door.
"You think you can barge in here and disrupt us?!"
He grabs you by the neck, pushing you against the tall window. He's pushing you onto this window so hard that you start to hear *CRACK* *CRACK*. That's not good. You try to fight out of his grasp but it is no use. As all hope seems lost, you hear footsteps and see behind Francis holding something.
"Francis!", she yells out. Francis stops and lets you go. He pauses then turns around to eye Trish, letting you [[recollect yourself]].You exit your apartment and get to the front door of their apartment. You see a candle, broken on the wooden floor with wet wax flowing across the apartment down to the window across from the front door.
You see Francis, gripping Trish's throat with his right hand, with her trying to find a way out. She flails her arms trying to find anything around her to get out of the situation. Her vision getting blurrier and darker. Every second feeling like her last breath.
You enter the apartment. You look to the right, finding a knife block on the kitchen counter, grabbing a knife could get Francis to back off, but it would take more time for you to get the knife then rush over to Francis now.
[[Grab knife]]
[[Rush to Trish]]You wait for police to arrive in the comfort of your own home. two minutes pass by and you hear a faint flame. You get up out of anxiousness and look out of your door. You see a flame brewing bigger and bigger illuminating from the neighbors apartment. You run out and past the apartment, not looking inside or back. You exit the apartment complex and see police cars parked out front.
"Woah there son!" A middle aged detective catches you running out in his arms. He then asked, "What's going on?"
"There's a fire", you say, "There's still people inside, the fire alarm didn't go off and the complex might be full!"
"Damn...", the detective says under his breath, "Bronson, get the FD on the line! We got a fire!
The firefighters arrive on scene shortly after along with medical personnel, with the firefighters coming to the conclusion that the fire was caused by a spilled candle that took the lives of the people living there from a lit cigarette.
They called it a murder suicide, finding severe bruising on Trish's neck, stating that the woman had died from asphyxiation. What you had seen was no accident. You dare yourself not to speak of what you had gone through, for this would cause an investigation on you.
(live:10s)[(align:"====><====")[[The End|Logo]]]You run into the apartment, pausing midway to get to the knife block and grabbing one out of it. You set your eyes on Francis and get up close to him, but when you do, he lets go of Trish and raises his hands slowly while looking down on Trish.
"I...I never meant for any of this to happen", he says tearing up, "God...no...please I-I never wanted it to come down to this..."
He looks to his right to see you, sharp knife in hand, with a livid look in his eyes, sending shivers down your spine.
"This...this is your fault", he says with tears dripping from his face, "This wouldn't have happened if you had just kept to yourself! And now, you want to kill me? In my own home? After tearing my marriage apart, tearing myself apart?!" He lunges at you with his fist held high, swinging at you as you move away and try to get closer to Trish.
You make it to Trish, giving you the oppurtunity to deal with Francis. You swing and miss. Francis elbows you in the face which makes you drop to the floor, letting go of the knife. He kicks you down and picks up the knife. "If I can't see my family again, then I'll make sure you never see yours." He raises the knife up to you, getting ready to stab you until Trish comes in between you and Francis, making Francis stab her instead of you.
"No..no no no no, honey...please!" Francis lets go of the knife and holds Trish in his arms.
"Go...Clein...we'll be fine", she says weakeningly.
Francis takes out his cigarettes and lighter from his pocket, putting on in Trish's mouth and his, lighting them both. you realize that there is wax all over the wooden floor, and things will not end well if you don't [[get out of there]].
You rush over to Trish, dragging Francis off of Trish, forcing him to release his grip and the both of you to fall on the floor. Trish isn't moving, her eyes closed and hands spread out.
"If you had just minded your business, she probably would've still been here, living with us!", He yells out load in anger, "But no, you just wanted to poke your nose into our business, instead of trying to do what's right for you; That's what I'VE been trying to do, getting us stable, getting us away from... from THEM!"
Who is he talking about? Who is "them"? Questions that need answers later, but now, you worry about what you have to do in order to live to see another day. He doesn't rush to you, he stands their still, hands at his side. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a pack of cigs and a lighter. You see movement coming from behind him; It's Trish, she's alive! As he goes to light his last cigarette, you realize that there is wax all over the wooden floor, and things will not end well if you don't get out of there.
You can hear the sirens closing in at the complex whien you see Trish trying to find out where she is after being passed out; you know you have to get out of there, but will it be with Trish or without her? He lights his cigarette, putting the lighter back in his pocket.
You don't risk getting yourself killed, wanting to help trish but instead[[run out of the complex]]"If she can't trust me...then how can I trust myself?"
Francis drops the cigarette, leaving the floor to their apartment to engulf in flames. You run out of the complex, leaving Trish there to burn with her husband, who had no intention of leaving. You run down the hallway and pull the fire alarm, getting everyone else out of there in time.
You make it to the outside when police had arrived on scene. You see one after another file out from the complex, but you don't see Francis nor Trish. The firefighters arrive on scene shortly after along with medical personnel, with the firefighters coming to the conclusion that the fire was caused by a spilled candle that took the lives of the people living there from a lit cigarette.
They called it an accident, but what you had seen was no accident. You dare yourself not to speak of what you had gone through, for this would cause problems for you. You still ask yourself, who was Francis talking about? Who are "they"? Curious to find out, to cowardly too find the answer.
(live:10s)[(align:"====><====")[[The End|Logo]]]
Trish dies in Francis' arms moments later, leaving Francis to drop his cigarette, leaving the floor to their apartment to engulf in flames. You run out of the complex, leaving Trish there to burn with her husband, with them both having no intention of leaving. You run down the hallway and pull the fire alarm, getting everyone else out of there in time.
You make it to the outside when police had arrived on scene. You see one after another file out from the complex, but you don't see Francis nor Trish. The firefighters arrive on scene shortly after along with medical personnel, with the firefighters coming to the conclusion that the fire was caused by a spilled candle that took the lives of the people living there from a lit cigarette.
They called it a murder suicide, but what you had seen was no accident. You dare yourself not to speak of what you had gone through, for this would cause problems for you. You still ask yourself, why did she do it? She didn't have to save me but she did, which means our talk meant more to her than I had thought. I hope I had helped her with my listening for the time she was in distress, but at least now I know she isn't feeling that way anymore.
(live:10s)[(align:"====><====")[[The End|Logo]]]You secretly call the police on your neighbors, letting them know about the dispute between your neighbors. They've gotten calls like this about them before, they know it is pretty routine at this point. They arrive a few minutes later and enter the apartment complex. You wait by your door but don't peek out yet. The police knock on the apartment and had probable cause to enter the apartment. Moments later, you peak outside your door and see that the police have arrested them both.
(if:$evidence is false)[
As the police lead them downstairs, Francis turns around and sees you peaking out of your door, in that small moment, he realized who was responsible for this happening; a face he will never forget as long as he lives.
An hour passes by and you get in your car to get to work. You turn on the car and the radio plays a news station, "Breaking news this morning, two people have been caught earlier this morning when a neighbor had let authorities know about a domestic dispute between the two which led police to check in on them. Having probable cause, police entered the home to find a briefcase filled with money, wrongfully filed tax forms, and bank statements which proved the indication of tax fraud from their business.]
(if:$evidence is true)[The cops ask you to stay a while so they can get a statement from you. You let them know you were snooping from afar from their apartment when waiting to get your mail back from them.
A middle aged detective asks you what happened and what you had seen. You confess to seeing things that could lead to an investigation to them both, landing them to serious prison time.
A few hours pass by and you won't be able to get into work today. You turn on the TV and the news comes on,
***"Breaking news this morning as two people have been caught this morning when an anonymous tip let authorities know about a possible tax fraud operation. Having probable cause from reviewing both their bank statements and their businesses, police entered the home to find a briefcase filled with money, wrongfully filed tax forms, and bank statements which proved the indication of tax fraud from their business. We won't give any names as it could lead to obstruction on the investigation."***
]
(live:10s)[(align:"====><====")[[The End|Logo]]]
Trish, holding up a briefcase covered in liquid, you can't see and make out what it is from the floor, but you can sure smell out what it is, gasoline.
"I'll do it Francis", she says shakingly, "We didn't even earn this money legally so what does it matter anyways?!"
"Pipe down Trish!"
You don't know what to make of this, confused on what she's talking about. Trish notices your confusion.
"How about I let our guest know what you have been up to the last few months."
"You better no-"
"Failing to file tax returns, deliberately failing to report all the income we've gotten from Marfren Industries, and I found out when HE needed me to keep his books because his last book keeper left. All because he took money from the mob".
[[Question about book keeper]]
[[Question her]]
"What happened to the old book keeper?"
Both stand in silence. You sit there in shock, knowing that you won't have the opportunity to speak to them because of Francis' need of killing all who knows, including the book keeper. Which means that if he killed them, then what's stopping him from doing the same to you? You then get up from the floor and ask persistently,
"So why don't you kill Trish?"
"She's my wife! The sole reason I did this in the first place!"
Francis looks back towards Trish in a meaningful manner.
"We were in a tough position, losing the business would've led us to sell our house, leaving us no where to turn...so I made a deal with the Blind Mice."
"The Blind Mice?"
"An organization," he hesitates to talk further but finds the courage to continue with the conversation.
"A mafia- that's growing as we speak. People don't know much about them because they're that good at doing business under our noses. I took a loan from them to help get the business back to its feet and get enough money to pay our bills, but as soon as we were on our feet, it was time to pay them back...and I.... I didn't have the money."
[[What'd you have to do?]]
[[You hurt both of you]]
"And you let this happen?"
"What?", she says appalled, "I NEVER wanted any of this, but I had to, if I wanted to I would've left, but what was leaving him to do the same to me as he did to the book keeper?"
You realize she had no way out, a similar situation you are in at this very moment.
"You killed her Francis."
Francis looks at your enraged after such words coming from you. You realize you got to him, so you hit him with a double take.
"You killed her."
(live:10s)[Francis, fueled with fury, attempts to lunge at you!]
(live:13s)[[[MOVE!|Move]]]
(live: 15s)[(go-to:"Death")]"So...what'd you have to do?" You ask.
"I had to sell our house either way, it was the only way we could've stayed safe without them on our back, but they had added interest by the time I gave them the money. The only way I could pay them back was if I tampered with our money in the business and lied on its filing. I had a book keeper that kept it down for a price, but when I realized we could've gotten more money without them in the picture, they threatened to call the police."
He pauses and looks down again in disapointment in himself momentarily. He straightens his emotion, looking slowly back up to you with a haunting face that you will never forget, "So I had to make sure she never had the chance to do so." From his tough expression to one of regret, with his eyes tearing up.
"I put my wife in a dead womans chair, risking her life so we can stay alive and running. Well I'm tired of running."
Francis turns back to his wife, looking into her eyes in remorse, "Trish...I'll turn myself in, putting a stop to all of this. I'll cover it so you can seem like you didn't know, that you were oblivious to it all."
Trish drops the briefcase, walks over to Francis and hugs him.
"You're doing the right thing Francis", she says, "and I'll be there every step of the way."
(live:20s)[(align:"====><====")[[The End|Logo]]]
"You continued to hurt the both of you, you missed the main point about having a wife, and that's figuring things out together, but you took her out of the picture, tried to figure things out on your own and it only dug you down a deeper grave."
Francis starts to get enraged, every word you said is fuel to his flame, but it isn't until the final words that had set the final nail in the coffin for you in his mind.
"In other words, you had already killed Trish."
(live:10s)[Francis, fueled with fury, attempts to lunge at you!]
(live:13s)[[[MOVE!|Move]]]
(live: 15s)[(go-to:"Death")]
You are unable to see his attack coming, leaving you and Francis to go through the window, killing you both on impact.
(live:3s)[(align:"====><====")[[Try Again?|Question her]]]You move out of the way, leaving Francis to crash through the window, with his last thing ever seeing is you staring him down as he plummets to his death. You and Trish hear a loud thud. You both look over to see Francis, laid out lifeless from the head first impact to the concrete painted in his blood.
Trish hugs you tightly, crying on your chest, letting out all the stress she has had to endure for months. You hug her back as you look at the shattered window, never forgetting what you had seen today.
(live:10s)[(align:"====><====")[[The End|Logo]]]
You are unable to see his attack coming, leaving you and Francis to go through the window, killing you both on impact.
(live:3s)[(align:"====><====")[[Try Again?|You hurt both of you]]]