April 13

Things died down for everyone. Simon stayed in his apartment doing Vicodin, he would wake up with only enough strength to barely open up the pill bottle to take more in order to float way. His stash was running low, he had built up a tolerance to the drug, it took more and more to float away. He rarely left his room, only on seldom occasions to get food or empty the mailbox. Anyone who knew Simon before that night wouldn't recognize him if they saw him now, his hair had grown long and the was a short but scruffy beard on his face. The police went over the security feed on the cameras from the house, they released a grainy low-quality image of a man running from the scene. People argued on whether it was the elusive “masked maniac” or just another gang member. Kimber wrote about the masked maniac, the piece was mostly about how his victims were criminals in some way or another. Her article didn’t get much attention, it was drowned out by the television headlines of the north side being subject to crime, after her big article being a flop she went back to her hometown in Missouri for a month, she came back ready to write again. Mcbride and Roberts continued to make small time drug busts but never got too far up the ladder without hitting a brick wall. Roberts continued to buy lobotomized girls, his doll were important to him, Adalbert got new tools from his homeland and they worked wonders, sometimes Roberts couldn’t even find the incision he made. Ashley and Diane planned their big “activism” event, they got matching kitten masks, pink pepper spray canisters, and Ashley even bought a gun, a kel-tec PF-9. It was just a matter of time now before they acted. Bobby fell deeper into his addiction much like Simon did, he lost both of his jobs, his apartment soon after. Before long Bobby was in a homeless shelter, he lost his status of legal guardian to Daniel. This lull in the chaos was going to end.

Laura sat in the office in the abandoned warehouse, she had finally moved all of the necessary equipment into the place and had already started production. It had not been an easy winter, but this was something laura could call her own. Brian was kind enough to give some people to her, she had her own happy little work force. It was like she was starting her own gang, even though this technically was a branch of Brian’s. Her second-in-command was Xao, he was a good guy, loyal. She watched him scurry around the floor, making sure everyone was in the right place and doing the right job. Kingpin, much like meth, is a volatile substance, you mix it wrong and you have an explosion on your hands. Laura just sat at her desk, daydreaming about the money, the power, the respect she was in for. Her resentment for her brother had turned into an admiration. While he gave her this little chunk, she planned on expanding soon. Her head filled with thoughts of her outgrowing her brother’s shadow, becoming an asian female scarface. In the middle of her daydreams, Laura didn’t see the movement outside of the windows. Outside the warehouse was a team of SWATs and Mcbride and Roberts wearing vests. They had been briefed on the mission, this was where the majority of the kingpin in this area was being manufactured at this warehouse. Everyone on the SWAT team was a bit nervous, they had a rookie on the team, O’Malley. He had taken the position after Kimber left, he really only stayed as a uniform because of her. All the time she was away went by so slow for him, her absence had taken the best part of his job away. When he heard she was back he tried to call her, tell her about his feelings, how she was one of the only people that he liked talking to, he got the answering machine everytime. O’Malley snapped back from thoughts of her, the fed and the detective were talking about something. Inside Laura was thinking about what she would like to be referred as when she was the boss, too busy thinking to notice one of the doors crack just a little bit. Everyone on the assembly floor looked around confused when they heard metallic clanking on the floor, some of the men were lucky enough to see the flashbang and take cover.
“Police get down!” Roberts shouted as him and the SWATs stormed the building.
Xao was the first to start firing, the rest of the men unaffected by the flash followed, some men were so lucky to run to cover in a blinded state. The commotion grasped Laura’s attention, she pulled a mac-10 out from under her desk. She ran out of the office and started to fire at the cops, it didn’t seem to matter, her wildly placed shots only managed to hit one cop, but in the vest. In the middle of firing, Laura got hit in the shoulder and fell to the ground. The same fate befell most of the men, they were either all dead or in cuffs. Roberts ran to the downed Mcbride.
“Get some medical assistance over here!”
“I’m alright, got my vest” Mcbride said coughing
“Good, the last thing I need is you dying on me and making me work this alone”
Roberts helped Mcbride up and took him to one of the squad cars that had now arrived.
Looking around the scene O’Malley could not help but feel like a badass, this was like something straight out of the movies. Teammates were saying things like “nice job, rookie” and “You did good” it meant a lot to him. He would be on top of the world, if only he could show Kimber what he had done, where he was now. O’malley started to get distracted by the thought of her, he didn’t notice that Laura wasn’t dead, or that she still was grasping her weapon. Laura pointed her gun at him and emptied the last of her bullets into O’malley. 3 out of the 5 shots hit the helmet or the vest, but two managed to grave his inner left thigh. O’malley dropped to the ground, Laura was hit by another bullet, this time in the abdomen. O’malley was dragged out of the warehouse and rushed to a hospital.

“Goddamn, I’ve gotten shot multiple times, but you never get used to the feeling of the vest” Mcbride laughed
“There is a certain discomfort when you think you should be dead, but you aren’t”
“We should call your guy, give him a thanks for the tip”
“Good call”
Roberts stepped away from the squad car and pulled out his phone. He dialed his contact.
“Detective, did it go well?”
“It was touch and go for a moment”
“I hope we can both benefit from this”
“Yeah, I will honor our deal. You give up your sister and the lab, we stop hassling you people”
“I want you to know that this wasn’t an easy decision”
“It’s been made...pleasure doing business with you”

April 14

The doctor was explaining the situation to Kimber, when she finally got around to returning O’Malley’s call she was informed that he was in the hospital after a raid. The doctor was rattling off medical terms, just as they arrived outside O’Malley’s room the doctor stopped her from going in. 
“He lost a lot of blood, it’s a miracle he survived at all. Unfortunately he went into shock, and then into a full coma”
“Oh my god, do you know if he’ll wake up”
“I’m sorry but no, you can see him though”
Kimber walked into the room and winced. Her friend sat in a hospital bed, hooked up to various machines and monitors. Without the heart beat monitor telling her that he was still technically alive, she would have assumed him to be dead. She sat down on a chair next to his pale body and just stared at him. She remembered how he would drop everything to help her, whether it was looking the other way when she needed to enter a crime scene or just being somebody to talk to when the images of those crime scenes got to be too much.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t call you sooner....I’ve been busy trying to get back into the swing of things ever since I got home. You wouldn’t believe what happened over the winter”
No response from the comatose man, the longer she looked at him the worse she felt. Kimber began to tear up, she managed to keep herself from full on crying. Just before she broke down she ran out of the room and went home.

Eddie’s sister, Violet knew she was about to get an important phone call. She just waited by the phone, waiting for the call. The second the ring reached her ear she grabbed the phone and picked up in an instant.
“Karen...please tell me it went well”
The other end was silent
“Karen?”
A sobbing voice finally responded
“The verdict was not guilty” Karen broke down immediately after uttering those words
“I’m so sorry, how’s he holding up”
“He’s doing worse than I am”
“Alright, are you sure you want me to make the call?”
“Yes”
“Alright...I just want you to know you can’t go ba-”
“Just call him!” Karen shouted
Violet hung up, she sighed because she really hoped she wouldn’t have to do this. She walked over to a drawer, phone in hand. After rummaging around through miscellaneous items she finally found a little slip of paper with a number on it, Simon’s number. Punching the numbers on the dialpad Violet was thinking about if she really needed to do this. She hit the call button, the phone rang, she was met with Simon’s voice.
“What?” Simon said, he sounded terrible
“It’s me, Eddie’s sister, the one sending you the pills”
“Yeah, what up?”
“I need you to meet me at my house”
“Fuck you”
“Fine, I guess I’ll just stop sending the packages. I mean less risk for me”
“Look lady, I never asked you to send those. Also, anyone willing to risk the penalty of sending such items isn’t doing this out of the kindness of their heart. Whatever half-baked plan or job you have for me isn’t worth it.”
“Fine I’ll let you run out, have fun with withdrawal”
Simon looked around, he realized that he only had 3 pills left.
“Fine...where do you live?”
Violet gave him the address, and hung up.

Simon struggled to get out of bed, he was so weak. He got dressed and grabbed his car keys. As he walked to his car Simon questioned why he was doing this, it helped to distract from the weakness. He started baiting out pedophiles to get them arrested, then he started killing, was that where it all went wrong. He had become a monster, an addict, and something everyone was afraid of. From time to time he saw headlines about the “masked maniac”. Was it really him when he put on the mask? Or was Simon just trying to pass of the guilt and responsibility for what he had done to another persona. Simon reached his car and got in, he decided to stop thinking while driving, mostly because he was afraid of getting answers, he could deal with the weakness for a while. He parked across the street from the address. He got out and shambled to the house, he knocked on the door. The same young woman that caught Simon after Eddie’s funeral opened the door. She looked shocked at Simon’s appearance. 
“Oh...god, I thought you were just feeling sick on the phone. Come inside quickly, I don’t need the neighbors seeing a homeless guy outside my house”
“You look good too” Simon said with sarcasm as he walked inside the house.
Violet frowned
“I have a job for you and you show up like this, how unprofessional”
“Would you like me to put on a suit?”
“Listen, there is someone I want you to meet, but you can’t look like that”
“Then I guess this isn’t happening then? Sorry to disappoint”
“Wait, I can fix you”
“I don’t like the sound of that”
Violet directed Simon to the bathroom, there she rummaged through the cabinets to produce a pair of scissors and a razor. She proceeded to restore Simon’s appearance to when she first met him. Simon was shocked, he barely recognized himself in the mirror. While he was trying to get acquainted with his reflection, Violet doused him with her perfume.
“You smelled like shit”
“Thanks…”
“Come on now, We have to go meet him”
Violet escorted Simon to her car, an old cadillac. Simon sat silent in the passenger seat, he was slumped over. Violet was worried about his health, he looked like he was going to die. 
“Are you alright?”
“Yeaah” Simon breathed
They drove for awhile until Violet pulled up to a nice looking house. Simon could immediately tell that this was a family house, there was a big wheel on the lawn and Simon could see a slew of toys from the windows.
“Come one, lets go” Violet said getting out of the car.
Simon groaned a little bit and mustered up the strength to lift himself out of the car. The two walked up to the front door. Violet knocked, a few moments later a teary woman answered the door, Violet introduced her as Karen. Karen welcomed them in, Simon could hear footsteps coming from the second floor, they were quiet. Violet and Simon sat down in the living room  while Karen brought out tea from the kitchen. They sat and drank tea in awkward silence for awhile.
“So do you know why you’re here?” Karen asked
“No”
“Follow me” 
Simon got up with difficulty and followed Karen upstairs. They came to a door with stickers on it, Karen cracked the door enough to stick her head in.
“Hey, your new friend is here” She said in a sympathetic voice
Karen got no response but Simon could hear sniffling from the other side of the door. Karen turned to Simon and ushered him in, the child’s room. At a small plastic desk sat a boy, couldn’t have been more than 8. Simon was feeling weak again so he sat down next to the kid on a small plastic chair.
“Hi” The boy said too busy to look at Simon because he was coloring 
“Hey, what’s your name?”
It took the boy awhile to respond.
“James, but my friends call me Jimmy”
“Nice to meet you Jimmy, what are you drawing?”
“The room”
“Uh, what room?”
“The one the man took me to, my my told me you wanted to see it”
Simon’s jaw hung open with a mix of shock and confusion, the situation was coming clear to Simon.
“I’ll uh...I’ll be right back Jimmy”
Simon got up and tried to make himself look as strong and angry as possible. He walked down the stairs into the living room ready to yell at Karen, he was greeted by the sight of her crying. She looked up at him, tears still streaming down her face.
“You wanna tell me what happened?” Simon said not in the angry voice he first intended to but in a soft tone
Karen told Simon about how Jimmy was walking home from school he was taken by a man, the police finally found Jimmy and the man. When Jimmy had told the cops what the man had done, they searched his home, they ended up charging him but even with the indictment they were grasping at straws. She told Simon that he was found not guilty through a bullshit technicality. Simon asked if she knew exactly what it was that got the not guilty verdict, she responded by pretty much saying he wouldn’t understand the legal “mumbo-jumbo”, this struck Simon as odd, he would understand, he went through law school. Simon didn’t call karen out on it, he wanted to see where this was going.
“So you want me to deal with him?” Simon said, cutting off Karen in the middle of a sentence
“Y-yes, he lives with his mom now after all the bad press he got”
“Shit, all you had to do was tell me that in the first place” Simon looked at Violet
“I am getting my packages after I do this right?”
“Yes”
“Well then there’s not left to say, let me get home so I can get ready”
Karen wrote down the address and gave it to Simon as him and Violet left. The whole way back to her place Violet just kept saying how what Simon was doing was heroic, Simon didn't believe she meant any of it. In fact, Simon felt off about this, but what choice did he have. He was running out of pills, unless he wanted to buy from either the blacks: who Simon had killed a number of or the Asians: who cut all ties with him. Violet got back to her house, she thanked Simon again and they both went their separate ways.

10:30 PM April 15

Ashley and Diane were packing up their gear, this was the night, they were finally going to do it. It was their time to be on the news, their time to make a difference. For weeks they had tracked down the guy who had been driving too fast in a neighborhood filled with kids. This guy had a nice car, rich people thought the law didn’t apply to them. Diane had a small backpack with all of the gear, they both put on masks and drove to the man’s house. On the way there Diane was thinking, did she really want to do this? She was fidgeting with her hands during the drive.
“Are you sure about this?” Diane asked
“Yes...are you?”
“Yeah...yeah”
“Because if you aren’t I can do this alone”
“You know I can’t let you do that”
“Trust me, we’re making a difference”
Diane doubted that, she was beginning to have second thoughts. When Diane was young, she dreamed of being a politician, changing the world for the better. After she met Ashley her plans pretty much just melded with hers. Ashley wanted to be an engineer, Diane just sort of fell in line with that. Sometimes she thought about going back to school or running for office for a small position, but every time she brought it up Ashley found a way to make it sound stupid. Diane was a born follower. As the drive to the man’s house progressed, Diane tossed and turned more and more. They finally arrived at the man’s house, they saw the silver audi in the driveway. Ashley parked right across the country road, it was a bit far from anywhere.
“Ash...I’m not too sure about this…”
“I knew it! You’re pussing out on me!”
“No it’s not like that it’s jus-”
“It's just what Diane, are you finally thinking for yourself?”
Diane just glared at Ashley.
“Fine I’ll go by myself..” Ashley huffed
Ashley got out of the car, put her mask on and walked towards the house. In the seconds before Ashley reached the door of the house, Diane had to think. Ashley was a good friend, she always looked out for her, and Diane could not just sit back and let Ashley possibly get hurt. Diane got out of the car and ran to catch up with Ashley.
“I’m glad you changed your mind”
The two opened the door.

Roberts got home, he had a long day doing the paperwork that accompanied a police raid. He was pained to see all the kingpin be stowed away in an evidence locker. But for now he had to pretend that he was on the right side of the law on this subject. As long as Mcbride was running an investigation here, Roberts had to play ball. Mcbride was one step closer to leaving thanks to the asian kid. The only thing left was to do a check on the pharmaceutical system, make crack down on that. The thing Mcbride didn’t know, and that Roberts never really told him is that by siphoning off the money coming in from the drug trade, it forces the gangs to resort to selling guns in greater quantities. So while Roberts was helping solve a problem that should be narcotics’ he was creating a problem for him later, who knew, maybe an ATF agent would show up next. Roberts shuddered from the thought, he hated being supervised. He sat down at his kitchen table to enjoy his microwave dinner, he tried to not reflect on the crippling loneliness that came with the meal. Halfway through the meal the thought rushed into his head, He stopped chewing and just stared at his empty house, his microwave dinner, his basement full of dolls. In a moment of clarity, Roberts realized the atrocity that was his basement, he felt disgusted with himself. All of the sudden his front door slammed open. Two figures in cat masks ran into his house, one punched Roberts in the face, while the punch wasn’t forceful Roberts was caught off guard by the autism he was seeing. The other whipped out a security baton, Roberts sprung into action, he threw a punch at the cat closest to him. The punch landed square in the face, cracking the mask. The other one charged at him, Roberts grabbed her head and slammed it into the fridge. The blow seemed to knock out one of the cats, the other was on the floor holding her face, he walked over to the fallen intruder.
“Fuck you!” Ashley screamed at Roberts
“No fuck you, I was in the middle of a deep thought” Roberts said  as he kicked Ashley in the head slinging her into unconsciousness.

April 16

Simon woke up feeling stronger but not by much, he had taken a pill before going to sleep, he was down to two pills to stave off withdrawal. Simon looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, he felt a little more grounded, in touch with reality by seeing himself as how he remembered. Simon’s head still wasn’t feeling right though, it was like there was a haze surrounding his brain, he couldn’t think too hard for too long. Simon showered and dressed in his regular t-shirt and jeans, walking out of the bathroom he looked at his suite. It was a mess, the TV was still on and playing an old episode of Malcolm in the middle, there were dirty clothes and pizza boxes strewn over the furniture.
“I gotta clean this up sometime” Simon said aloud
Simon grabbed a light jacket, his mask, and his car keys. In his jacket there was a lighter, the .38 bodyguard, and a folding knife. He walked down to the parking slot where the celica was, he started the car and started driving. All the way to the address Simon couldn’t shake the feeling that Karen was leaving something up, not to mention this address was in one of the largest apartment complexes on the south side of the city. This meant he had to keep it as quiet as possible, Simon checked his watch, 10:00AM, the guy’s mom should be at work. He arrived at the apartment complex, it looked like shit, the entire south side did. He tucked the mask under his jacket and walked in. Looking around the lobby, Simon saw an elevator, he took it to the fourth floor. Looking around, he found the right room, apartment 4F. Simon just stood outside the door, it was time to put on the mask. He just stared into the eyeholes of the latex bear mask, he didn’t want to put it on, he was afraid to lose control. As much as he didn’t want to, he had to do this, he wasn’t going to ween himself off painkillers with only two left. Simon stretched the mask over his head. Keep calm, stay in control. Simon knocked on the door, after a few moments of footsteps it opened. Simon threw a punch at whoever was behind the door the second it opened. The person fell back allowing Simon to walk in, looking at the fallen figure Simon figured out what Karen had not told him. There on the ground was a man with Down’s Syndrome, the man let out a wail. Simon was almost immediately tackled by the man, they both fell to the ground. Simon recieved punch after punch, the man wildly swung his massive fists at him. Simon tried to struggle but he was still weak, he tried to fight back. The man grabbed the bear mask with his giant hand and tore it off Simon’s face, the mask itself ripped. After a couple of punches the .38 snub nose slid out of Simon’s pocket, using all of his strength in a last-ditch effort to fight back Simon grabbed the steel frame of the gun and swung it with all his might at the man’s temple. It was a good, solid hit which sent the man into an unconscious state. Simon put the mask back on, the snout of the bear hung slightly astray on account of the rip. The man was slumped on top of Simon, after regaining his strength and mental composure Simon flopped the man off himself. Simon’s head hurt, he couldn't think straight. He quickly checked the man’s pulse. Simon couldn’t believe what happened, this was a hate crime at best. The man had seen his face, a bloodied version of Simon’s face. Simon walked to the bathroom to wash the blood from his face. He was pissed that Karen would leave something like this out, of course he was found not guilty, he was probably ruled incompetent to stand trial. Sometimes the District Attorneys would get crooked medical examiners to do “favors” for them. Once the blood was washed off his face, Simon poured bleach down the drain and on the rag he used to dry his face, no point in leaving DNA behind. Exploring the apartment more, Simon came across a door labeled “My room” on a colored piece of paper, there was a large amount of paint and glitter on it. Simon opened the door to reveal a child’s room, there were toys scattered all over the floor, there was also a small TV set that was set on the Disney Channel. Simon looked around, he saw a small cardboard box on the ground next to the TV. Something was telling Simon to open it, it almost sounded like a voice. He opened up the box to reveal a polaroid camera and six photos. The first five were of Jimmy, all shots were taken from afar, Jimmy seemed unaware that they were being taken, the sixth one sent a chill down Simon’s spine. The photo depicted a tied up, naked Jimmy. The situation become a little clearer to Simon, the man had abducted Jimmy, raped him, ditching the camera and evidence at his mother’s home. That way the authorities didn’t find anything placing this man and Jimmy in the same place other than Jimmy’s testimony, once he got charged, the man’s lawyer probably got him deemed incompetent to hold trail and was released into the protective custody of his mother. 
“The motherfucker did do it” Simon said aloud
Simon was filled with rage, this guy slipped through the cracks, something had to be done. Simon rummaged around the kitchen drawers, while searching through the household items a wicked idea popped into Simon’s head. He walked over to the unconscious man, with a new rage-fueled strength Simon dragged him into the tub in the bathroom. Using duct tape he found in a closet, SImon bound the man and taped over his mouth. Simon brought a chair from the dining room into the bathroom to wait until the man was conscious, after a few minute the man came to and tried to scream. Simon let the man calm down, he posed no threat, the screams were muffled by tape. The man finally calmed down and looked Simon in the eyes, Simon just stared back.
“You got away with raping a little boy, I bet you thought you were in the clear didn’t you?” Simon said a monotoned serious voice.
The man shook his head violently and tried to say something but it all came out as muffled ramblings.
“I’ll be right back” Simon said with a unusually playful voice.
Simon exited the room and walked to the kitchen, he saw a cabinet with one of those plastic child-proof locks. Simon unhooked it and opened the cabinet to reveal an assortment of liquor.
“Mom’s been hitting the sauce!” Simon said to nobody.
He grabbed a bottle of vodka and the bottle of bleach from the bathroom. He returned to the man who was still struggling against the massive amount of tape restraining him. Simon wore a big grin on his face while he hummed “Stuck in the Middle with You”, Simon unfolded his pocket knife. This action threw the man into an even bigger frenzy, still very little sound came out from under the tape. 
“You thought you were free? Can’t have that, I’m gonna make you hurt, and it’s not going to be quick.” Simon said with a deadly serious face.
Simons straight face instantly sprung into a smile as he started to do a little dance with the knife in his hand. The man’s eyes conveyed confusion as he watched Simon do his little jig, his confusion turned into terror and Simon got close to his head. Simon proceeded to cut off the man’s ear, he squealed like a slaughtered pig and squirmed around, which frankly made it worse on himself. Simon made one last cut, fully severing the ear.
“Huh...it looked easier in the movie. Well, time for the fun part!”
Simon began pouring the bleach and vodka on the man, it got in his eyes and he began screaming again, once all of it was poured on the man, Simon got out his lighter. He was about to set fire to the man when there was a knock on the door.
“One sec!” Simon said to the man
He got up from the chair and walked to the entrance door.
“Eugene?! Are you alright?” A female voice said from behind the door.
Simon put on his best voice but he had only heard this guy scream.
“Uh-huh” Simon said in his best imitation
“Are you sure, did you have another accident...?”
“Uh-Uh”
“Alright, I know you have been going through a tough time...You can talk to to me if you need to…”
“Oh-tay”
The woman behind the door walked away. Once he was in the clear, Simon walked back to bathroom. Apparently the vodka had caused the tape to loosen a little, the man was almost free.
“Oh shit!”
Simon ignited his lighter and pushed the flame into the man, he burst into flames. His screams were now loud enough to pierce the tape. Simon knew it was time to leave, he started running as smoke and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. As he ran out of the apartment, he saw the door next to it open, the woman from before got a glimpse of him.
“STOP!” She shouted
Simon just kept running, smoke detectors from all over were going off. Simon took the stairs down, he heard people behind him. Simon was running in the opposite direction of his car, but he just needed to run. He took off his mask and turned around to look at the building, smoke was spewing out of a fourth floor window. A flaming body jumped out the window landing on another resident running from the fire. Simon watched only a second of the tragedy and kept running, his plan was to do a big circle to his car. When he was rounding a corner he ran into a person, they both tumbled to the ground and Simon dropped the mask. They both regained composure quickly, the lady he ran into was Kimber, she was about to yell at the hurried stranger until she saw what he was doing. Simon scrambled to pick up the mask, after he stuffed it under his jacket and spurted out a quick “Sorry are you okay?” before running off.
“Hey! Come back!” Kimber yelled but Simon was already running away. 


Ashley woke up chained to the wall of Robert’s basement, it was cold and wet. A few feet away from her Diane was also chained up, she was already awake and once she saw that Ashley was conscious she whispered to her.
“Don’t make any sound, he’ll know we’re awake”
On the other side of the room was another girl, she was not chained up but she was not moving. Something was off about her eyes, they were glazed over, devoid of any thought. Ashley started thinking about the predicament they were in,they picked the wrong house. That is when the panic started to set in, it felt like there was a ton of bricks pushing down on her lungs, it was hard to breathe. Diane saw the look in Ashley’s eyes, Diane shook her head, she knew what was about to happen.
“HELP! HELP!” Ashley shouted
“No, you idiot!” Diane managed to squeak out before they heard footsteps above them.
Ashley’s panicked shouting stopped when she heard the door leading down to the room open, Roberts slowly closed the door behind him, he walked down the stairs.
“Ah, did you guys sleep well?” Roberts said while opening up a cupboard.
“Let us go you fucking psycho!” Ashley screamed
“Oh...alright, as long as you asked that nicely” 
“Fuck you!”
“No fuck you!” Roberts said with a devilish smile.
In the cupboard was a stereo and a bag of kingpin. He took out a knife and cut open the bag, he put some of the powder on the edge of the knife and snorted it. Roberts threw his head back and started twitching a little bit.He turned on the stereo and popped in the old cassette, he spun around to face the girls as the music started to play.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to have you! No offense to Jenny over there but it’s like humping a mattress. Now let’s have some fun!” 

April 17

Simon woke up in a cold sweat, everything hurt. He couldn’t stop shivering, he was about to throw up. After running to the bathroom to vomit, Simon was sure that he was going through withdrawal, he just had to not choke on his own bile long enough for it to pass. He walked to the freezer and got some ice packs to put on his head, it felt like it was being split by an axe. Simone laid down on his couch with the ice pack, his TV was still on. Simon listened to the news anchor talk about the masked maniac carrying out random acts of violence towards the disabled, it made Simon think. He really just burnt a man with down syndrome alive, even if he was a pedophile society would say it was too extreme of a punishment. He lost control, it was as simple as that. Simon felt like a monster, he probably was. Deep down inside Simon was scared, whenever he put the mask on he always felt a little part of him disappear, replaced by something more sinister. Simon thought about the innocent person running from the burning building crushed by the man, he felt responsible for that. His actions cost a lot of people their homes, his thoughts were interrupted by the new anchor talking with two people about the incident. One was the lady he saw in the apartments, the one who had seen part of his face. The other was a large man with a shirt that read “I want to believe”. The lady was saying all the same things the news anchor was, the man was actually defending the maniac.
“If you look at all of the people he has come after, they all were scumbags in one way or another, it’s just unlike the guy to go after someone who is innocent.”
The man’s argument was drowned out by both the news anchor and the lady rambling, using words like evil, reckless, deranged. The program ended with them just calling him stupid. As much as Simon would have liked to believe that he was not in the wrong, but if that was true he wouldn’t be feeling like he was. Simon changed the channel before throwing up all over himself.

Roberts and Mcbride sat in an unmarked car, both were silent. Roberts first thought about if the location he hid Ashley’s car would suffice. Then he thought about his new partner and how to get rid of him. They still had an investigation open to find out where all of these prescription drugs were coming from, this was going to be harder to fake than the kingpin issue. The sooner the DEA got out of Crestview, the better. In front of the car was a drive-thru lane of a Walgreen’s pharmacy. The two watched as cars drove in and out of the tiny lane, every car getting a white paper bag containing their laxatives or anti-rash ointment. They just waited and observed.
“Do you think it’s the pharmacies that are releasing the drugs or the people with a little extra from their prescriptions?” Roberts muttered
“When people like me are called in...It’s usually not some rinky-dink white boy selling his mom’s codeine”
“Do you think any of this makes a difference?”
“If I save one person, yes...Do you think you make a difference?”
“Not really, every other week I see people dead, no matter how many psycho killers I put away there always seems to me 20 more coming out from the walls”
The two took a long moment to reflect on their respective jobs, they both just wanted to get out.

Kimber sat at her desk with an enormous grin on her face, she had seen the masked maniac! Looking at her computer, kimber found a webpage about the masked maniac. It was dedicated to compiling evidence, on the page were various pictures from security cameras to police sketches of the mask. She looked through every page on the website, kimber was impressed with the level of dedication the author put into this compilation. Kimber found the author’s email address and asked if she could meet to discuss the maniac. Her first article about the masked maniac did not get the attention it deserved, it just was not the right time to release it. Now that the maniac had gotten everyone's attention again, maybe this time she could get more than three people to read her piece. Kimber then thought about how she actually saw the maniac the other day, she desperately wanted an interview with him, that would really draw readers to her expose on the almost mythical figure of the rampant psycho. 

April 20

Jake and Norman were frantically calling everybody Ashley and Diane knew, the two hadn't heard anything from them since they went on that “crusade of justice”. Jake and Norman knew something was wrong they could feel it in their bones, they tried calling the police but the cops just told them not to worry. Their words didn’t hold much weight, the thought of anything bad happening to those girls terrified Jake and Norman.
“Fuck this man, I can’t just wait for them to turn up. Where did they say they were going?” Jake said
“Calm down, you’re not going to get anything down by spazzing out. They said they were going to nail that guy who sped near those kids”
“Then let's just go ask the guy if they were there, it couldn’t hurt”
The two got into Jake’s truck and headed to the street they first saw the speeding car. They drove down the same road for awhile and saw the nice silver car parked in Roberts’ driveway. Jake lept out of the truck and almost ran to the front door, he practically slammed on the door. While Norman was catching up to Jake, the door opened. Roberts stood in the door wearing a wifebeater and boxers.
“Yeah?” Roberts said with a groggy tone
“Have you seen any girls around here!” Jake asked angrily
“Um, what?”
Jake looked furious.
“Their names are Ashley and Diane, did you see them or not?”
“Oh…those girls…”
“So you have seen them!”
“Let me get dressed and I’ll tell you”
“Why don’t you just tell us now, please” Norman calmly chimed
“I’ll be right back” Roberts said closing the door
Jake kept on pounding on the door until Roberts came back wearing normal clothes, baggy enough to conceal the model 19 revolver tucked into his waistband.
“WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM!” Jake yelled
“I want you to listen carefully...They came her, tried to hurt me, now I have them in my basement where I have been acting out all my perverted sexual fantasies on them” Roberts said in a monotone dead voice.
Jake swung at Roberts, Roberts dodged and ran into his house, Jake and Norman followed him. They were met with him holding them at gunpoint, they froze.
“Ooh, tough break guys” Roberts said as he shot the two.

The police car’s lights outside Roberts’ house were blinding in the night. Cops and CSU were investigating his kitchen, looking at the two dead bodies.
“They knocked, when I opened the door they just charged in. I was able to make it to my gun and sop them” Roberts told the cop
Of course that statement was a lie, Roberts went through a lot of work before calling the police. He arranged the bodies into more aggressive stances, he even put ski masks on the two boys. The entire time the cops were at his house Roberts was trying not to sweat bullets, the basement was soundproofed but all it would take was one rookie who didn’t know what he was doing to open the basement door. The police finished up and got the bodies out, Roberts was able to keep the dead smile on his face as they left. He watched as the ambulances and the squad cars drove off, as soon as they were out of sight Roberts broke down and began to cry. He didn’t like this feeling, the near heart-attack he just had over possibly getting caught effectively catalyzed his remorse. Thoughts were racing around his head, it was a storm of pain and turmoil. Roberts knew what he had to do, his conscience finally woke up. Clutching his aching head, Roberts went to his bedroom and got some kingpin and an old revolver since the cops took the model 19 as evidence. He walked down into the basement, waking up the girls. They made a couple of whimpers as he approached. Roberts snorted half of the kingpin. The drug hit him like a sack of bricks, his already chaos-filled mind was thrown even deeper into the abyss. 
“Girls...good news….I’ve changed, seen the error in my ways. I can’t keep you here.”
“Bullshit!” Ashley yelled
“No, it’s true. But only one of you can leave here”
Roberts loaded one bullet into the cylinder of the revolver and spun it. The cylinder was snapped into the frame of the gun. Roberts walked over to Diane and pressed the barrel of the gun to her head. The gun just clicked, Diane gave out a yelp and started crying. Roberts pulled the gun back and spun the revolver again and this time held the gun to Ashley’s head. Ashley just looked at Roberts with a glance of pure disgust and defiance, she had accepted her fate. The gun clicked. Diane was now full on crying. Roberts repeated the process, the gun was pressed to Diane’s temple.
“He’s just screwing with us Diane, I don’t even think he loaded a re-”
The gun fired, the upper half of Diane’s head was gone. The sound was deafening, the splatter from the blood reached every corner of the room. Roberts was holding his ears, all he could hear was ringing. Ashley could not do the same because her hands were chained to the wall. Recovering from the sound, Roberts stumbled to the table and the kingpin, he pulled out a lighter and a spoon.
“THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD DO IT, IT’S SO MUCH BETTER THIS WAY” Roberts said thinking it was in a normal volume
“WHAT?” Ashley yelled, all she saw was his mouth move.
Roberts mixed the kingpin and melted it on the spoon, using the syringe he sucked up all of the liquid. He walked over to Ashley, she tried to avoid the needle’s point, the kingpin was injected into her. Robert’s was smart, he didn’t want to just let her walk out, there was a good chance this does would kill her. Even if she did live, her testimony alone was not enough to get a warrant to search his house. But just in case, he was shooting her up, nobody was going to believe a junkie. Once the drug had kicked in, Roberts unchained her and dropped her in the woods behind his house. On the walk back from the woods Roberts thought about his life, he decided he was going to turn over a new leaf. No more of this demented act, he was going to try and become a person like everybody else. Roberts smiled, he felt healthy again.

April 21

Violet went to work, today was a special day. She had a meeting with a new customer, some southern guy. She was worried he was going to ask for more than she could supply. The first part of the day was normal, she put up with old ladies getting their prescriptions filled and junkies trying to get more refills but were too broke to attempt to buy more pills. The other pharmacist working with her was Chris, he knew about the exchanges that went on, he just didn’t seem to care. The only time he talked about it to Violet was to say he wanted no part in it, he just didn’t want to go down for something he wasn’t a part of. Other than that he was a nice kid, he just talked about new music and movies, Violet found it boring. At 4:00 the man came in, Violet told Chris he could go for a smoke break. As Chris left the man walked up to the desk.
“Hey there, I have a big prescription to fill?”
“What do you want?”
“I want some morphine, you got any of that?”
“No, I’m sorry that is hospital grade. I can get you codine”
“That works”
“Where do you want me to send it?”
“The police station! DEA don’t move!”
Mcbride pulled out his badge and reached for the pair of handcuffs he had tucked in his waistband. Everything moved in slow motion for Violet, it was all over. Violet began to run, she exited the second door leading outside, Mcbride followed. Outside a confused Chris looked at Violet running away from a man, he thought he was trying to hurt her. Mcbride tackled Violet, she was struggling pretty hard. Chris got out his pocket knife, it wasn’t a large blade but he still had the element of surprise. Chris ran at Mcbride, he stuck the blade into his throat and pulled it out, blood started spurting out of Mcbride’s neck. Mcbride pulled his gun, and shot Chris. The bullet hit Chris in the chest, it sent him to the ground. Roberts heard the shot and came running around the building from the parking lot with his gun drawn. He arrived just in time to see Mcbride pass out from blood loss, Violet went for his gun.
“Freeze bitch!” Roberts shouted
“Don’t shoot, this is police brutality!”
“Shut up! You just killed a federal agent you’re going away”
“I didn’t kill him, besides I have information. I know who the maniac is!”
Roberts just pulled the trigger, it hit Violet just above her left eye. Roberts checked Mcbride’s pulse, it was still there but weak. He then called an ambulance, he gave the address and told them an officer had been stabbed.
“We’re on our way”
“Hurry he’s bleeding out!” Roberts said as he applied pressure to Mcbride’s neck.

Simon tried taking a walk, the fresh air helped but didn’t help him feel any better. The package of Vicodin arrived the day after but Simon just flushed the pills, taking more wasn’t going to help, he needed to go through this. Simon just wandered around the south side of the city, seeing what it had become. Despite everything he had done it was still all shit, Simon threw up all over the sidewalk, nobody seemed to care. He walked into a small gas station, he needed something to drink. While looking at the glass doors that had all the various drinks behind them a man burst into the convenience store, he had a knife. He didn’t seem to notice Simon, he just went for the cashier. The kid behind the counter cringed as the man started to shout orders at him. The kid began to fill a plastic bag with the money from the register. Simon just stood and watched, he wanted to help but he was too weak. Would it even make a difference if he did stop this robbery, there would be another one to take its place. For a brief second the kid behind the counter glanced at Simon with a look of pure desperation. It took all Simon had to ignore the robbery, he just grabbed a bottle Sweet Leaf tea and walked out. The door chime rang alerting the robber of Simon’s presence.
“Hey get back here!” The robber said shocked at Simon’s attitude in this situation
Simon said nothing in response and kept walking. The sad, defeated, decaying image of this side of town added to Simon’s depression. Once he was feeling tired, Simon walked home to sleep, it seemed like that is all he did these days. He just slept and walked, there was nothing he looked forward to anymore, life was tasteless. He got home and went to sleep.

Ashley woke up feeling cold, wet, and weak. She feebly picked herself up off of the ground, she looked at her surroundings, woods all around. She started walking, hopefully she could reach some sort of civilization before sunset. After a half hour of walking Ashley began to stumble, her strength was fading. Before she quit altogether something caught her eye, it was her car. The car was unlocked, Ashley got in to find the keys were still in the ignition. She started the car and proceeded to drive out of the woods, she had some business to finish. Ashley drove home, bills and other pieces of mail were scattered all over her front porch, also a newspaper. The paper caught her attention. The headline was “Brave Cop Defends his Home” Ashley looked in horror as she noticed the two pictures on the front page, they were of Norman and Jake. Ashley began to cry, she ran into her basement and retrieved a glass bottle, it was a bottle of vodka. She was not a drinker, she hated alcohol. She got the bottle from Simon back in high school, on a date Simon drove them to a point overlooking the entire city. She thought he was going to go all the way with her, he just got out the bottle and started taking swigs. She took it away from him, then lectured him on how he was never going to get anywhere in life. He took her home after that, a week later he ended things. She kept the bottle as a reminder of how he was going to end up as a nobody, a reminder of how cruel he was to break up with her. She poured herself a drink, then another, and another. Soon enough she was obliterated, she fell out of her chair because of how drunk she was. In a moment of clarity, Ashley realized who was really responsible for what happened to her and friends. 

April 25

Kimber finally got an email back from the owner of the website dedicated to the maniac. The email expressed interest in writing another piece on the masked maniac. The owner had read Kimber’s last article, it gave her a good feeling to know that at least someone had read it. The owner even gave their number, Kimber sent a text to it confirming she got the email. It was 5:00 and the sun was starting to set, Kimber had a night out planned. She was going to go to try and break out of her shell, after O’Malley was injured Kimber found herself with no real friends, just co workers. It bothered her, she wasn’t a shy person, but not outgoing. Her social life had stagnated, the loneliness had built up over the months, for a split second she unironically considered calling the black guy who survived the alley attack months before. She packed up her things and turned off her office light, she left the building and went home. She opened the door to her apartment and took some time to decompress from a at work. After relaxing for a little bit, Kimber went to her closet. She needed something nice, but not too flashy. She ended up finding a satin ruby dress, it’s color complimented her light orange hair. She put on the dress and headed out to hit the town. Her apartment was on the Northwest side of town, she got a cab to take her down to the nightclub. It was about 7:30 now and it was getting dark, her cab arrived at the club and Kimber went in with no real expectations, she just wanted to get to know more people.

Simon walked the streets, he was feeling a lot better, still not how he was feeling but he didn’t throw up anymore. Simon lit a cigar, smoking was one of the only things that helped calm him down. With no job or purpose, Simon had a lot of time to think, he always did but now he actually started looking through the cracks. He saw the city for what it was, a gutter. He wanted to just give everything he had up and go down to Florida, live on the beach, forget this town. Something kept him from actually doing that even though he could. Simon’s train of thought was interrupted as he walked past an electronics store, a wall of television sets were displayed. They were all broadcasting the news, an attractive woman was talking about current events.
“After the vote last month denied the Reich from joining the United Nations, tensions have been growing between them and Russia, who cast the deciding vote” The woman said
Simon turned his head away and kept walking, eventually Simon came across a movie theatre. The sign advertised all of the new movies that were showing, it had been a while since Simon had gone to see a movie. He walked in and bought a ticket and a slushie, and if only for the short duration of the movie, Simon forgot about the problems weighing on his mind.

Roberts left the station, it had been a hectic few days. Mcbride survived the stab wound, he got sent back to where he came from. It took some explaining and Roberts was expecting the worst, but by some miracle the feds were satisfied. Roberts had also been thinking about Ashley, had she survived the dose of kingpin? He was paranoid, he dreamt she came to the station and accused him in front of everyone, he tried to strangle her. That dream scared Roberts, he figured he just needed to feel good about himself, try to forget everything he had done. Roberts chose charity as the answer, he was on his way to volunteer at a homeless shelter. He didn’t expect to feel better right away but he had to start somewhere. Roberts arrived at the shelter and was greeted by a young girl.
“Are you the new volunteer?” She said eagerly
“Uh, yeah, thats me”
Roberts was distracted, the girl was about the age of the women he kept in his basement. He fought against the thoughts of what he did down in his basement. Roberts displayed a blank stare as the girl showed him around. He probably should have listened to what she was saying, it was probably important. 
“...And this is where you will be working!” the girl said pointing at a line of trays, each containing a different food.
She handed him and apron and a hairnet, Roberts put it on and started serving food to the residents of the shelter. He served only the mashed potatoes, there were people next to him giving out the other types of food. They were nice, they seemed excited that he was there, Roberts switched between having small talk with the other volunteers and the residents. Bobby was in the line, but he didn’t say anything. Even the people living in the shelter knew not to talk to Bobby, he would just scream and cry whenever anybody approached him. After his time was up, Roberts left the shelter feeling good, he planned on volunteering more. The entire time he was there he felt like he had found something that actually helped the city. Walking to his car, Roberts saw a scene.

Kimber was unsuccessful in her efforts to meet new people, there weren’t a lot of people there, most regulars stopped going after the robbery in the past year. She just sat down at the bar and ordered drinks. The only real conversation she had was with the bartender who talked about how the club was on the verge of going out of business. By the end of her time at the club, Kimber found herself a bit too inebriated. She paid her tab and stumbled out of the bar, as she was trying to get a taxi a group of boys approached her. They started to surround her and Kimber could hear them mumble amongst themselves, she started to worry and the distance between them and her. Just as they were getting close Roberts came out of nowhere, flashing his badge and yelling at the kids. The boys ran away even though they clearly outnumbered Roberts.
“Damn, kids...They think they run the streets. But it doesn’t take much to show them who’s in charge.”
Kimber looked at Roberts with a drunk stare, still trying to process what happened.
“Oh-oh my god thank you!”
“It was nothing, just the right place at the right time”
Roberts looked around, the streets were empty, he could take this girl right now and nobody would notice. He stomped on those thoughts, he was a real person who didn’t have to resort to that.
“Uh, hey...would you want to go get a coffee sometime?” Roberts asked
“Oh-uh….ummm” was all Kimber could spit out
“What?! Am I not good enough for you!” Roberts was beginning to get angry, all of the “new leaf” thoughts went right out the window.
Kimber looked around, trying to think of something, there was nobody on the street. All of the sudden a group of people came out of a nearby theatre. 
“It-it’s not you...just I have a boyfriend already, that’s him” Kimber said pointing at an unaware Simon still drinking a slushie.
Simon saw a redheaded, clearly drunk woman point at Simon.
“Huh?” Simon uttered
“Hey babe, I don’t know why you like to watch until after the credits.”
Simon wasn’t sure what was going on but he decided to play along.
“Well...I pay to see a movie and by God I’m going to get my moneys worth”
There was a moment of awkward silence before Kimber and Simon started laughing.
“Oh...sorry to bother you...I guess I’ll just get going” Roberts said
Roberts walked off to his car. Kimber and Simon just stood there in silence, Kimber was the one to break it.
“OH MY GOD, YOU’RE THE MANIAC” She said a little too loud
“Shhhhhhhh!.....I-I uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“No, nooo, You know exactly what I’m talking about” Kimber said drunkenly giggling.
“You’re pretty drunk, let’s get you a cab”
“You ran into me when you set that guy on fire”
“Taxi!” Simon shouted at a car down the street
The yellow cab pulled up right in front of the two, Simon handed the driver a 50 dollar bill and told him to take her wherever she needed to go. Simon opened the back door for Kimber, she sat down and pulled SImon in. Before he knew it the cab was in motion, Kimber rambled on about something, her speech was pretty slurred. While Simon could not understand a word she was saying he found her amusing, he pretended to listen. The cab arrived at Kimber’s apartment complex.
“Can We do an interview sometime?” Kimber asked
“Uh, what?”
“I’m a journalist, I want to do a piece on your work”
“I don’t think that’s a good ide-”
“COME OnN”
“Lets just get you insi-”
“COME ON!”
Simon sighed, this interaction was tiring to say the least.
“Are you guys going to get out?” the cab driver asked from the front seat
“Uh yeah, sorry” Simon said getting out
He helped Kimber out of the cab and closed the door. While walking up to the main door of the apartment Kimber asked Simon for his contact information again. Even though Simon’s brain was telling him it was a stupid decision, something about this girl made Simon happy. Simon wrote down his number and gave it to her. She thanked him and stumbled into the building, after she was gone Simon just sighed and walked home.
=========================================================================================================
April 26

Simon woke up the next morning to feel regret, he shouldn’t have given that girl from last night. She said she was a reporter but there was no way to prove that, for all Simon knew he gave his number to a complete stranger who just wanted to turn him in. Simon became paranoid, he was pacing his room. He just wasn’t going to answer the phone, yeah that was it! If he just didn’t talk, he would be in the clear. Even if she did call the cops and they somehow decided to show up, there was no evidence, they needed a warrant which they couldn’t get that fast. Simon spent the whole day making sure that there was no incriminating evidence in his apartment. The panic subsided but Simon still kicked himself, he couldn’t make stupid mistakes like the one he did last night. Simon tried to put the whole thing behind him and not worry about it, he sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. As the day went on Simon began to get bored, he was no longer distracted by how sick he felt from withdrawal. Simon got up and checked the cupboards for food, nothing. Simon decided to go for a walk, but even those were getting old fast. Simon got outside and lit a cigar, walking he seemed to see the world in a different light. The sun was shining, colors seemed more vibrant, it was like being in the eye of a hurricane. Simon walked to a park, he just sat and experienced this moment of serenity. After a few hours of smoking Simon wanted to go get some tea, he walked to a nearby coffee shop. He hadn’t been to the shop since his last meeting with Eddie, it had been a while since he had thought about him. Simon missed having someone to talk to, even when Penelope was alive he just didn’t connect with her. Simon ordered a cup of tea and sat down, he watched people in the shop talk and laugh, it was something he did not notice very much these days. Looking around the shop Simon saw the girl from last night, she was drinking coffee and clutching her head. The panic from before struck Simon, he slammed his tea and got up to leave. As he was halfway to the door, she noticed him.
“Hey!” She said
Simon tried to pretend he didn’t hear her. She kept talking to him, he kept moving. Simon exited the shop thinking that was the end of the encounter, it wasn’t. She ran outside still clutching her head, with her other hand she grabbed Simon’s shoulder.
“Wait, I need to ask you some questions”
Simon sighed
“Fine...you got me”
They walked back inside and Simon ordered another cup of tea. He sat down across from Kimber, her excitement was apparently helping her hangover. She pulled a notepad from her purse and started to jot down the date and time.
“I have so many questions...I don’t know where to begin”
Simon just sipped his tea.
“I guess my first question would be: What made you decide to do what you do?”
Simon was expecting these sorts of questions.
“Uh, I guess I was just thrown into a situation where I had a choice, either let something bad happen or do something…”
Kimber was staring at Simon as if she was expecting more from his response.
“Um, care to elaborate?”
“No” Simon said with a stern face.
“Okay...Why do you wear the mask?”
“Pretty obvious isn’t it? I don’t want people to know who I am. If you haven’t noticed, I am not a very well liked man”
“Why do you do this?”
“To be honest...I am trying to figure that out myself”
“Can you explain?”
“I used to think it was because I was doing something good, now I’m not so sure of that anymore. I’m sorry but that is the best answer I have.”
Kimber continued to ask questions, Simon began to warm up to them, but mostly to Kimber. He felt like a celebrity, it was odd but fun. Soon the questions faded into casual conversation, they both laughed and talked. The odd feeling from being interviewed melted away, for the first time in a long while, Simon felt at ease. The odd feeling came back when Kimber asked another question.
“If you could say one thing to the public, what would it be?”
The question caught Simon off guard.
“I would say that I wish I was doing this for them...But I think I did all of those things for me.”
“Do you regret your actions?”
“I regret how some things ended up, but I don’t regret the fact that pieces of shit get me knocking on their door instead of actual kids”
“Alright…those are all my questions, I should get going”
Simon and Kimber both got out of the booth and headed for the door. Once they were both outside and about to walk their separate ways Kimber spoke up.
“Hey...thanks for last night”
“Oh, no problem. It was nothing”
The two turned to walk their own ways again but this time Simon talked.
“Wait…”
Kimber turned around.
“I was uh...wondering if you wanted to do this again sometime?”
“Like an interview?”
Simon looked down at the ground and started to blush
“Um, no...like, just talking over coffee”
“So a date?”
“Ah, yeah some people would call it a da- yeah, a date”
Kimber laughed at how nervous he looked
“I would love to”
Simon looked surprised by her answer
“Oh great! Well...You have my number so….”
“I’ll be sure to call you”
“Great, uh...bye”

April 27

Diego sat in his small apartment, the stove was on and dinner was cooking. He walked out of his kitchen/dining room and went to his bedroom. The flag of Spain was pinned up on his wall, he had left his home a long time ago. He ended up in Britain, then made his way to the states. He was naturalized, unfortunately he just didn’t know what to do in life. He bounced from job to job, it never lasted. Life was just bland, it had no flavor, Diego was indifferent to everything. That was until he found his passion, bounty hunting. Something he was always really good at, tracking people down, the force used to catch them was just icing on the cake. While he was technically a citizen of the states, he kept his heritage close. It made law enforcement a bit nervous to work with him, but they knew he was good at what he did. Looking at his room he looked upon his arsenal, weapons of all types. Handguns, knives, tasers, it made Diego proud to look at his collection. On the wall were posters of his past bounties, some were pictures of hardened criminals issued by the police, others were pictures of people who pissed off their spouses a little too much. His “private” contracts usually ended in death, but not always, sometimes all that was needed was the illusion of danger. Diego had smashed windshields, one time he intentionally missed a shot to make it seem like a sniper was trained on this woman who was cheating. The bounty sheet he was looking at now was different, it was just a sketch drawing of a man in a bear mask. He met with a representative of the police force days earlier, behind closed doors obviously. The representative said that after the slow kid got torched the city could not tolerate this vagrant, the man hinted that the target did not have to be caught, just “gone”. They were willing to pay a good amount of money for his services. The maniac wasn’t like a normal bounty for Diego, he didn’t have a name. The name of the target was what he usually went off of, this still wasn’t impossible. It was the motive of the maniac that made Diego uneasy, this guy went after criminals, even if the cops didn’t see it that way. For all he knew, Diego could be next on the maniac’s list, that was unlikely though. Diego was snapped out of his thoughts about the maniac by the loud scream of his smoke detector. He cussed as he ran back into the kitchen to see that his dinner was burning. After the smoke had subsided, Diego ate partially burned noodles and went back to thinking about his new bounty.

April 30

Simon sat a the bar of the restaurant, it was a normal dinner rush. Simon checked his watch and waited. Kimber had called him a couple days ago, they agreed to meet here. Simon was trying not to sweat bullets, he had realized how long it was since he was on a date. Even with Penelope, he usually just sat and let her talk, he actually had to seem interesting, alive. He was trying to calm his nerves with alcohol, he was getting to be comfortably buzzed. A few minutes later Kimber walked through the doors, she was wearing the same dress she was when they first met. Simon wasn’t sure if this was intentional, he waved her over.
“Hi” she chimed
“Hey!”
Simon looked alert, snapping his shoulders back. They got a table and sat down, drinks came and they started talking. The conversation was more natural than Simon expected, it felt real. Kimber talked about her article, she said it was getting a lot of attention. They sat at their table and had a nice evening.

Ashley paced her room, it was all crumbling. She was hellbent on revenge, no matter the cost. Of course not going to work because you are too busy planning a scheme did have its disadvantages. Her power and water were shut off, she had spent all of her remaining money on kingpin. Ever since Roberts shot her up she couldn’t get enough of the drug. She had been trying everything her dealer recommended to her, uppers, downers, the works. With every hit her mind got more and more warped, someone who knew her previously wouldn’t recognize her. As she paced the dark room her phone chimed, she had been charging it a local gas station. She pulled it out and looked at the screen, the dim glow of the phone only illuminated a small portion of the room but it almost blinded Ashley. It was a text an unknown number, it was just a link to a web page. Ashley’s phone couldn’t open it up, but something told her it was worth checking out.


May 2


Roberts just got done from a shift at the homeless shelter, he started up his car and turned on his scanner. The dispatcher requested assistance at a nearby convenience store, Roberts shouldn’t have responded but it was only a couple blocks away. He opened the glovebox of his car, pulled out his model 19 and sped off. Roberts parked his car in the middle of the road, he got out and drew his gun. He ran towards the store, a stupid move in hindsight but Roberts wasn’t exactly thinking about the smartest approach to this problem. The sliding doors opened and Roberts saw an empty store, he rapidly looked through the aisles to find the robbers. He found nothing,Roberts waited, he heard something. There was a door behind the counter, he could hear voices behind it. Roberts walked over and put  his ear to the door, he heard shouting. Roberts flung the door open with his gun pointed at eye level. There were two men, one was holding a pistol grip shotgun to the cashier’s head while he opened the safe at the back of the room. The other was holding a duffel bag open as the cashier was throwing stacks of cash and rolls of coins in. All three people in that room stopped what they were doing and looked at Roberts, the man holding the duffel bag dropped it and reach in his waistband for a gun. Roberts fire two shots hitting the man in the abdomen mid-reach. The man with the shotgun aimed and fired at Roberts, he cringed expecting to feel the sting of metal pellets, they never hit him. Roberts opened his eyes to see the cashier struggling with the man, Roberts thought the kid just knocked the barrel of the gun out of the way, until he saw the holes peppering the walls around him. Roberts snapped out of his thought when the robber used the shotgun to whack the cashier in the face. Roberts quickly drew his gun and put the remaining bullets into the robber. The cashier and Roberts were both deaf, but there was a moment of pure silence, they relished that moment.
“THANKS!” the kids shouted
“SHUT UP I’M THINKING!” Roberts yelled
He should have been hit, he was inches away from being shot and killed. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened to Roberts, he was always in danger but this time he was bothered more by the possibility of his death. Over the ringing in his ears he could hear police sirens outside. Roberts turned and  walked out of the little room, officers had their guns trained on Roberts as he exited.
“I got here a little early” Roberts said, trying to speak in a normal voice
“You can’t just show up and start shooting!” One of the officers said
“It’s alright, I’m a cop” Roberts said flashing his badge
The other cops just looked at him and went on to examine the scene.
================================================================================================================
May 3

Ashley sat in the public library, it was a run down building. She was at the only computer terminal that actually worked, she was typing the link from her phone into the web browser. She was trying to do it fast, there were less than trustworthy people in the library, mostly drug dealers but there were people from all branches of crime here. She probably would have been mugged already if she had not looked and smelled how she did. Ashley put in the link and pressed enter, the browser struggled to load, but when it did the news put Ashley in shock. It was Kimber’s interview with the masked maniac, it painted him in a slightly heroic light, that made Ashley livid. Her philosophy on Simon’s vigilantism had done a 180 since her experience trying it. Why did he get all the recognition, nobody cared about Diane, Jake, and Norman’s disappearances. Her rage almost made her go straight to the police to report what happened to her right then and there, but after a moment she decided her plan was much more satisfying. She was hellbent on revenge, and nothing was going to stop her.

Diego sat in an apartment that wasn’t his, sipping on lukewarm coffee and reading the newspaper. He checked his watch periodically, it wasn’t the right time yet. His eyes landed on an article that caught his attention, it was about one of his bounties, the maniac. This was all valuable info on they guy, hell, it gave Diego all he needed. He paid close attention to the author's name, Kimber Mathis, it also gave Diego the maniac’s motivations. Diego thought his responses were a bit cliche, the maniac seemed to think of himself as an anti-hero. Diego was filled with disdain for this character, there was no system, no rules. At least with Diego and people of the same profession there was a general principle, money buys lives. With the maniac it was all over the place, this guy killed whoever he deemed to be “evil, it was too subjective. The only reason he had people who supported this crap was because so far the maniac had lined up with the public’s values. The coffee had become stone cold by now, Diego panicked. He frantically checked his watch, he was just in time. He grabbed the bolt-action rifle propped up next to him and walked closer to the window. Diego was overlooking a local park, from the window he could see kids playing, people walking dogs, and his target. Looking through the scope gave a better picture, the was a bench in the middle of the park, a man in a trench coat was sitting on it with a briefcase. The time was 8:30, and like clockwork, the target walked up to the bench with a brown paper bag. The man in the trench coat didn’t look at the target, he just left the case and took the brown bag. Just as the target was about to grab the briefcase, Diego took the shot. It was a clean hit, the bullet hit a little lower than Diego was expecting though, the shot still killed the target. People in the park screamed and ran, creating a big scene, brimming with confusion and fear.  While this was happening Diego started to disassemble the rifle, putting all of the pieces into a black duffel bag. Once he had made sure that he cleaned up well enough, he left and didn’t think twice.

May 4

Simon exited the cigar shop, he felt like the luckiest man in the world. His time with Kimber made him feel great, she was all he could think about. They hadn’t talked about the vigilantism either, it felt like a normal relationship. He unpackaged a cigar and lit it up, walking down the streets he saw the world in a different light, things were perfect in SImon’s tiny world. He passed a bum sitting on the curb, Simon felt bad for him and handed the guy a cigar. The homeless man looked at Simon and stopped, so did Simon. They both looked familiar to each other but neither could put their finger on it. The man grabbed the cigar and Simon thought that was the end of it, he turned away from the homeless man. Bobby had other plans, he put the cigar in his pocket and pulled out an old toothbrush that was sharpened to a point. He plunged the shiv into Simon’s left shoulder, Simon fell to the ground shouting.
“What the hell man!”
Simon felt the shiv pulled out, the man was going for another stab. Simon rolled over and put his hand up, the shiv stabbed right through his left arm, the image shocked both of them. Bobby just turned and ran, Simon was on the ground bleeding, he got up and ran to his car. He drove to the hospital, running most red lights, once he was at the hospital he just parked his car in the front and ran into the emergency room. Entering the front lobby of the hospital Simon threw his car keys at a nurse and told him not to scratch his car, he was dripping blood all over the floor. He was escorted by other nurses to a room.

May 8

Simon sat in a hospital bed in pain. He had asked the doctor not to give painkillers, he regretted that. A thin curtain divide the room, another patient was in the room, he only heard small peeps from them. A tray of food sat on the table next to him, it all tasted like plastic to Simon. According to the doctor Simon would have to wait another day before he could be released. This gave Simon a lot of time to think, who was that guy? It took some time, but Simon finally remembered that guy, he was the guy he fought way back when he first started dating Penelope. The thought of Penelope was disturbing to Simon, he was suddenly filled with regret. Even though she did some terrible things, she didn’t deserve to die. Simon struggled with the memories of that night until a nurse came in to change his bandages. Something about having a nurse disinfect stab wounds inflicted by a toothbrush just made Simon laugh.

Ashley came out of the women’s bathroom, the man she had sex with followed. He handed her $50 and left, this was the money she needed to get her revenge, good thing everything she needed to buy was already there.

May 9

Simon was released from the hospital at noon, the first thing he did was go to a restaurant to get some real food. Then he found a payphone and told Kimber why he hadn’t called her in a while, they made plans to meet at Simon’s place that night for a quiet date. He spent the rest of the day going to different gun stores and trying to figure out his next purchase. It was about 5:00 now and Simon was returning home. He opened the door and walked up the many flights of stairs. Simon was surprised to see something in front of his door, it was a bottle of SweetLeaf tea. Simon picked up the bottle and examined it, who put this here? Simon figured it was the nice mexican family that lived on the floor below. He drank some of the tea and went into his apartment, he had left the TV on. He started to clean all of the clutter in his apartment for when Kimber arrived. He was just doing normal things to make him seem like less of a slob. Simon felt pretty tired, he just figured it was drained from being stabbed. Simon collapsed on the floor. When he came to, Simon found himself tied to his bed, naked. At first he thought Kimber was into the sort of kinky stuff, until he saw Ashley. She was a disheveled twisted version of the Ashley he remembered. 
“Oh my god” was all Simon could utter
Ashley seem irate
“Is that all you have...Do you have any idea what I went through because of you?”
“What? We haven't talked in a long time, what happened?” Simon said sympathetically
Ashley began to yell at Simon, explaining what happened. She told him about how she knew he was the masked maniac, about how she tried to do what he did, how it all went wrong. Simon would have tried to explain how that was pretty much all her fault but Ashley didn’t look too willing to listen to reason at this time.
“So what's the point of having me here? What’s your plan?”
Ashley just smiled devilishly
“Wouldn’t you like to know…” she said pulling out a knife
“Look...revenge isn’t going to make you feel better, it just eats you up” Simon said
He didn’t really believe that but he had to try it to appeal to her emotional side. Ashley just scoffed and started to berate Simon on how poorly he treated her. While she was talking, Simon remembered Kimber was coming over. Simon could only think about her getting hurt. Ashley took the knife and started moving it down towards Simon’s penis, he tried not to seem worried because he knew it would just give her a sense of satisfaction, but goddam he was sweating bullets. Just as the blade was about to make contact, there was a knock at the door.
“I’ll go get that!” Ashley said in a chipper voice
Simon used the few seconds to struggle against his restraints, he focused of freeing his right hand since his left side was still in enormous pain. Despite his struggling he couldn’t break free, he had to either break or dislocate something to get free. Simon heard the doorknob turn and his mind was made up. He snapped his right side and felt tremendous pain, but he was able to get his right arm free. 
“KIMBER RUN” he yelled as he heard the door oped. 
Using his free hand, he reached into his nightstand to get his knife. He heard struggling outside in the hall as he cut himself free. He ran to the hallway and tackled Ashley, knife in had. Kimber didn’t know what to make of the picture, a naked Simon wrestling a homeless woman, it was odd to say the least. Simon put Ashley in a weak headlock, it was all he could do with his injuries, it would have been so easy to end the conflict with the knife. But he didn’t, for some reason he just couldn’t do it. With all of his strength Simon choked Ashley out, once she was out cold he released his grip exhausted. Kimber just stood there, still confused. Simon finally caught his breath and looked at Kimber.
“Exes...what are ya gonna do?”
She laughed
Simon got up and went back into the apartment to get dressed, then he dragged Ashley’s unconscious body into the apartment.
“Wanna explain what happened here?” Kimber asked
“I honestly have no clue”
That answer didn’t satisfy Kimber.
“So she dated you?”
“Yeah, in high school, I wouldn’t say it ended on bad terms. I have no idea why she was here” Simon said struggling with her body.
“Does this happen with all the girls that date you?” Kimber asked jokingly
Simon missed the joking tone, and in a moment of autism said
“Well I did end up killing my last girlfriend…”
He realized what he said a little too late, but to his surprise she responded with a guilty look
“I shot my last boyfriend”
“Wait….Really?”
“It’s a long story” she said
Simon decided to just forget that, he mustered up his strength and picked up Ashley. His arm was in an excruciating amount of pain.
“Since I left her alive, I’m going to have to disappear for a while”
“What! Why?”
“When she wakes up she might go to the cops. I can’t be around”
“Won’t running make you look guilty”
“Not if my girlfriend tells them I had been away on business since yesterday”
Kimber got the picture, she watched as Simon walked down stairs. Due to him being a weak and a bit careless, Simon accidentally hit Ashley’s head on walls and doors. Kimber helped Simon get Ashley into his car.
“Where are you taking her?”
“To her parents place, after that I’m just going to drive. I’ll call you when I get to wherever I’m going. If you can check up on her every once in awhile when I’m gone, just drive by her house?”
“Uh...sure”
Simon shut the Ashley’s door, told her the address, kissed Kimber and left. As the car sped off Kimber just stood there with a smile on her face looking at the last seconds of the sunset.

Simon pulled up to Ashley’s parents home, he was reminiscing about the time he spent with her back in the day. When the car came to a stop Simon couldn’t help but let the idea of carefully carrying her to the front door cross his mind. Simon settled for just opening her door and pushing her out of the car onto the pavement,  after all she did just try to cut off his penis. Simon closed the door and sped off into the summer night, not knowing where he was headed.