---

---

---

---

Arcadia:

It was a rather dark and stormy evening within the throne room of Maleficent's castle, sitting on her throne as she looked at those within the room. There were a lot of the villains from every part of the world. Rumpelstiltskin entered the room. Within his hands he carried a large stack of papers with him and set them down on the table looking up at Maleficent, the room started to grow silent now as well.

"Well what have you found?" She asked as she stood up and made her way over, and looked down at the papers that was brought before her seeing the various faces of the kids that Rumple had brought before her. They were the kids that were taken before she had taken over the world, one of them she stopped and stared at. The rebels managed to take her child with them and she had been searching for her and the others that were taken for a long time now. "Where are they right now?" She asked when Rumple was finally able to speak lowering his head slightly before speaking. "The rebels were able to open up a portal to another world, some sources were more than willing to hand over the info easily." He said smirking slightly to himself, and looked towards her. "I took the liberty of sending some people to finding them for you my queen." He told her, Maleficent smiled before making her way back and sat down on her throne again. "Capture them alive would be preferable if you can." She said as Rumple nodded and turned to leave.

Wichita Kansas:

It was a fairly cold day around noon though it wasn't snowing or raining right now which was a good thing, just cloudy however, at an abandoned warehouse, Merlin sat back in his chair looking at those within the room, he was given the task of watching those within the room, he wasn't really sure who was the spy within the ranks. It was a pretty small group tasked with watching over the kids that they managed to smuggle through the portal to this world. Most of them kept eyes out on the kids while the others also kept in touch on what was going on in Arcadia right now.

Tinker Bell came into the warehouse and plopped herself down onto the chair next to him and looked over at him. "All of the letters were sent out just as you asked." She said as she reached over and grabbed herself a beer and started to open it up and drank from it while looking over at him. Though one of the kids she really was not sure about at all since she was the daughter of Maleficent and all, she was pretty sure the fruit didn't fall from the tree either. "Good thank you." He said as he looked over at her again. "Was it even smart to bring her here in the first place, she is the kid of her after all." Tinker Bell said, as Merlin took a drink from his cup of water and shrugged slightly, he wasn't sure how she would turn out. "Only time will tell."

---

---

---

---

Sierra had woken up rather early today after all she had stayed up to open after all, she had only about an hour left after her shift which was good and a nice relief as well. She was finishing up handing out a customer's order, still having the letter in her apron she decided to take with her. The day had been pretty slow so far as she started to read it over again in the small breakroom there was one other customer within the restaurant as well.

As she read through it she always did want to know who her parents were as well, but then again it did also feel like someone was pulling a rather sick and twisted prank on her as well. Sierra took a sip from her cup of coffee that was now pretty cold at this point, but she needed the caffeine as well letting out a slight sigh as Sierra slipped the note back into her pocket. She headed out onto the dining room floor again as another group of customers came into the diner.

---

---

---

---

Layla had just gotten back from an early morning class where she taught some rock climbing as she walked into the apartment building, Layla stopped for a moment as she started to open up the mail box. She started to sift through the mail, some of it was pretty much junk as she closed up the door to it. Layla made her way towards the elevator and pressed the button that took her to their apartment floor, she looked towards the neighbor who just quickly jumped into the room. She gave a slight smile and nod towards the elderly man as the elevator door closed and headed up.

Once it was on the floor that she wanted the elevator door opened up and Layla walked down the hallway until she was at her apartment she had been sharing with her sister. Putting in the key Layla opened the door and entered, when she felt something rubbing against her leg Layla looked down seeing it was Fuzzy her cat she smiled softly as she knelt down and picked him up. "Hey there little guy." Layla said softly as she looked at the mail again tossing the junk ones in the trash and then some were bills one of them was a late notice for the rent letting out an annoyed sigh as she set it down. Layla stopped at a letter addressed to the both of them, she wasn't sure if her sister was there or not. "Hey i'm home O!" Layla yelled loudly.

---

---

June and Mallory were both at work. So when Annie opened the door and entered the house, she was alone save for her dog, Doug, a little grey schnauzer that barked and hopped excitedly at her feet as she pushed past him into the room. "Hey, Dougy. Heylo! Yes, it's me, heylo!" She set down her backpack and kneeled down, scratching him and overall just enjoying the presence of an excited dog.

Along the way she had collected the mail, and standing up, set the bundle of envelops on a nearby desk. The house was clean, tidy, and nicely decorated. Still-life paintings of various landscapes hung on the walls, depicting beautiful mountains, old mountain towns, and autumn forests. Annie was home earlier than normal today, not going to college until after lunch time. So she had a few hours to kill, and she was all caught up on her studies. Spending time at her parents house was always relaxing, even when she was by herself. Turning on the TV to some morning television, Annie found herself flipping idly through the incoming mail. Invoices, bills, ads, some random stuff for June's work, and...a letter. For her? It had her name on it. Stamped, sealed and everything.

"That's weird," Annie narrated aloud. "Look at this, Dougy. A letter. We just got a letter. Wonder who it's from?" Doug, of course, didn't understand the reference. Now he lay on the floor, occasionally casting curious glances her way. Setting the rest of the letters aside, Annebelle searched for a letter opener. Finding one, she tore the envelop and retrieved the letter from inside. Her expression travelled from curious, to awe, to disgust, to offended confusion.

"What the heck? What kind of stupid joke is this?"She waved the letter around, slapping it with her knuckles and then staring with baffled wonderment over at Doug.

"Not funny, not funny at all. I don't know if this was even meant for me. Whatever, who cares, right?" She shrugged, but the letter did hurt. Like this letter didn't care at all about her real parents. All it cared about was her biological parents. Was this some kind of estranged uncle? In danger? Yeah, right. Stupid letter. It was insulting. The damn thing had hurt her feelings for some reason. Vindictively, she tore the letter and envelope into pieces and scattered what was left into the garbage can.

"This is my half-day off, Dougy. I'm going to do something fun. Maybe go somewhere for lunch then head back to Uni." Brushing her long brown hair aside, the girl watched TV for a little bit before getting antsy. That letter had shook her. She needed to take her mind off it.

"Who wants to go for a walk? Come on, Dougy, let's go for a walk. I know it's early, but-" The dog barked and excitedly made for the front door. Smiling, Annie continued. "-but you don't mind, do you Dougy? No you don't. Come on, let's go." With that she attached the extendable leash to Doug's neck and opened the door and was greeted by the warm breeze of the late morning. It wasn't long before Annie was enjoying the day like she wanted, already half a block away from her house. She didn't want with earphones in, she preferred to listen to the silence for a little bit. It was a cool day. Her long hair was tied up into a ponytail with strands that drifted this way and that, occasionally into her face. A dull brown leather jacket was her most noticeable clothing item. It fell over dark blue skinny jeans tucked into simple brown boots.

"Yeah," she said aloud. "This is better. I feel better already. Oop-" Doug darted over to a tree. "Gonna do your business? Okay, bud." She prepared the opaque plastic bag she had grabbed earlier. No way was she just gonna let Doug's poop stay on someone else's yard. Disgusting. She'd much rather dispose of it herself, as was proper. Glancing away from the dog the young woman observed her peaceful surroundings. No one else was outside. All was silent except the sound of the wind whispering through the oak trees that grew in the neighbors yard.

---

---

---

---

Pandora skimmed the selection of attire strewn about the store. It might bear the name of some designer or another, but she could spot cheap knock-offs a mile away. You never conned a con artist. She had to give credit where it was due, these were careful imitations. They paid attention to detail, but it just wasn't perfect enough. And to top it off, she had some stuck-up snob eyeing her across the store, most likely to see if she was about to shoplift.

She thought about it. But it was still insulting.

Nothing here was worth her effort, but Pandora didn't want to leave without getting something out of this visit. So she waved over the store associate. "Yes?" she responded in a tone that could have frozen any number of soccer moms waltzing in here, but Pandora was no fool. If she wanted to give ice, Pandora would return with fire.

"Yes, I wanted to get your opinion on this dress here. Now, I think it's probably the ugliest piece of merchandise you have in this store and I really need something for my poor puppy at home to do his business on so it doesn't get on my clean floor. Do you think this fits the bill or was there some other trash you have in the back that might suit my needs?" The associate was a bit taken aback, but to her credit, she came back to attention. "I beg your pardon. This comes straight from Milan!" Pandora asked her. "Mmm see, no it doesn't. Because anyone in fashion worth their salt would see that this material is nowhere near the consistency of Milan's work. You would be lucky if this came from some sweatshop in Shanghai. So how about you part with it for near pennies, and we call it a day hmm?" She wasn't surprised when the associate grabbed the dress in a huff and turned and trolloped off. Pandora took that as a sign to leave.

As she exited, she put on the "designer" sunglasses she had just pocketed and made her getaway. She got free shades and made someone feel like trash. It wasn't such a bad day anymore.

---

---

Megan was lying on a slab, staring up at the fluorescent lights. They were flickering weakly, struggling to hold onto the last bits of radiance before they would finally succumb to the fate of every government facility - poor lighting and disrepair. There were certainly more comfortable places for her to lie down and stare at the ceiling, they even had a couch in the break room with a small television, but the cold, sterile, and silver bench top always appealed to her. She'd jokingly explain to her brother, Detective Gold, that she was simply practicing for being buried alive one day. "Come on, Ms. Duffer's organs aren't going to weigh themselves..." Megan murmured to herself. She pulled herself up into a seated position, her braided hair falling over her shoulder. Swinging her legs to the ground, Megan hoped off of the slab and straightened her lab coat.

Walking over to the docking station, she plugged in her phone and got the music going. Yes, listening to music in lab was an OSHA violation but she didn't care and she doubted her boss would mind, given that the docking station was his to begin with. Throwing Muses started to play from the speaker and Megan smirked slightly to herself, grabbing the bone saw and approaching the other slab in the room with an occupant. The victim was a lovely old lady, really didn't have an enemy in the world, except her estate was contested and they had asked for a full autopsy to rule against foul play. Powering up the rotating blade of the saw, Megan began the clinically horrifying process of cutting open the corpse's skull, eventually revealing the grey matter underneath - it was like a twisted prize in a kinder egg. "Well hello there, Ms. Duffer... I hope you don't mind, but I do need to weigh your brain - it's standard procedure and all."

Powering off the saw and setting it aside, Megan reached her gloved hands into poor Ms. Duffer and removed her brain, setting it down gently on the scales. "Wow, good on you, that's a bit heavier than normal," Megan remarked to herself. She recorded the weight quickly in her notebook, before looking around for the next tool she needed - the brain knife... "Y'know, I got this really batty letter this morning, claiming to know about my birth parents," Megan commented, making idle conversation as she finally found the tool she was looking for and she returned to her "patient." "Do ya reckon it's worth looking into? See, I was thinking about it and as far as I can tell, the reason not to go would be the risk of personal injury... but if any part of it is real, I think I'd regret dying and not knowing."

She nodded slightly, continuing about with her work. It wasn't unusual for her to talk to the corpses and of course she knew that they couldn't understand her - they just happened to be a better sounding board than most people she knew. "Besides, could always take the bone saw with me I s'pose," she snickered a bit, shaking her head slightly.

---

---

---

---

Rose was spending the early morning hours sketching a tree she planned to paint next. It was gnarled and a fantastic beautiful piece of nature. She loved it. The wildlife of the forest seemed to be ignoring her, which she was thankful for because she enjoyed watching the birds and squirrels. She had work that evening at the bar, after a shift at the dinner she helped cover shifts for. It would be a long day, one that she was ready to tackle. She put away her sketchbook and stretched before hiking back to where she left her motorcycle. October was always a fantastic month. Her face felt the chill of winter creeping around the corner. She rode home and ran up to her apartment after parking her motorcycle.

When she entered she was confused, there was a letter on the floor as if someone had slipped it under the door. She frowned. Her mail was all delivered down in the lobby. "Mab you here?" She called for her friend and sometimes roommate. When there was no answer she closed and locked the door. Rose finally picked up the letter and opened it. Her stomach twisted as she read it. Who could possibly know who her parents were? Did the letter writer mean the Bucknell's? No...it definitely meant whoever her birth parents were.

Was she in danger? Her full-day suddenly seemed like a burden. Rose had a ton on her plate and now she was going to have to figure out if this was a trick or not. Who would pull such a prank? Rose didn't tell many people that she had even been adopted. Heck, she had only told the couple of friends who had also been adopted and as such Rose knew none of them would pull a prank like this. They all knew what she felt.

Her phone beeped reminding her she had thirty minutes to get to the dinner. Rose groaned and changed real quick before dashing back out the door, letter shoved into her backpack. The letter would have to wait until after the lunch rush.

---

---

---

---

Colby was sleeping in, his cat Jack was asleep on his back. It was a nice little scene for anyone looking in on the pair of them. However, the only person who came into Colby's room didn't care about the scene. The boy lifted the blanket off of Colby's foot and slapped it hard. Waking up Colby with a start, and therefore pissing off Jack who had to vacate the moving back.

"Shithead." Colby half growled at his roommate. "I don't have work today let me sleep."

"Yeah, but you've got school and a letter."

Colby glared at his roommate and held out his hand for the letter. "School is at 1 pm. I don't believe in classes before noon."

"That's cause you prefer opening shift." The roommate laughed and handed over the letter.

"I will get you back for this by the way." Colby said as his roommate left the room, he was already plotting ways to make him suffer as he opened the letter. He blinked at the letter. His parents were in danger? With a foggy brain, he picked up his phone and called his parents' house. "Hey mom, I got this weird letter saying you were in danger?"

"We're fine dear. What does the letter say?" Colby started to read it when he realized what it meant.

"Nevermind. This isn't about you guys. I think someone is reaching out to me about my birth parents." He didn't wait for a response from his mom and hung up. Colby didn't bother showering, he just pulled on the nearest shirt. "Sorry Jack. I've got to go see what the records say about my birth parents. I should have done this before school started." He scratched Jack under the chin and poured him a bit of kibble before leaving. He had to go see what records there were about him. He knew he had been adopted from the Wichita Orphanage, that was where he would start. He had three days before the meeting with the mysterious friend. Colby was going to use that time to learn as much as he could.

---

---

Jack was originally just flipping through any sort of papers he had on his desk at the police station. Normally since at the moment there wasn't really anything that required his attention immediately. Things were more or less somewhat slow, and that actually was a good thing, since it meant that there was nothing bad really going on. He could go get some coffee or something, as he practically lived off of the stuff anyway, and when he thought about it, he figured he might as well. He probably would grab some for his sister down in the Morgue too while he was at it. Since she was a bit of insomniac, she probably could use some caffeine.

He went to a nearby coffee shop, just nodding slightly at the person behind the counter. Jack tended to go there often enough that just about all of the employees knew who he was, and usually what it is that he ordered. After he had gotten the coffee, he headed back, sipping the mug that he had, feeling the rush of sugar and caffeine. He knew that odds were he probably shouldn't be drinking the stuff all of the time, but it wasn't exactly an easy thing to stop drinking. Though he did have to admit that he probably had a caffeine addiction of sorts since he practically lived off of the stuff.

Heading to the Morgue, he was partially wondering what exactly his sister, Dr. Pendragon, would be doing. There also was the matter of the letter, the weird thing he had gotten earlier that day. Jack wondered if his sister had gotten one, considering the fact that they both had come from the same place for the most part. Walking into the Morgue, he stopped slightly when he saw that Megan was talking to a corpse. Sadly, this wasn't the first time in his life that he had walked in on her talking to a dead person, it was fairly common. Letting out a bit of a sigh, he walked over to her. "Hey Meg, so, talking to another patient of yours or something?" he asked her with a bit of a laugh.

---

---

Rosalia had left her very small apartment earlier in the morning and had been out and about on rooftops and so forth since then. Every now and then though, she'd pull an envelope out of her pocket and read the strange letter that she had gotten earlier that day. As far as she was concerned, family was nothing to her. She never had one, and while several other kids at the orphanage had gotten adopted out to other families, she never had one. Her birth parents were essentially a non-existent thought to her, as they had abandoned her, and left her with no one. Rosa had learned early on that the only person she could count on for help was herself.

As she wandered through the alleyways and down streets, she'd wave on occasion towards those that she recognized. For as long as she could remember, several people where she was would suggest her going to a shelter or something, or maybe even suggesting that she see about getting her GED. Yeah, no, she had dropped out of school for a reason, that sort of thing never interested her. She could read and write, as well as draw (though she'd never admit that last one to anyone) so as far as she was concerned she didn't really need to know anything else. She wanted to be left alone, as no one else had ever really cared about her, and she definitely did not need anyone else to survive,

Though her mind kept wandering to the letter she had gotten, and once more, she pulled the letter out of her pocket, reading it over. A small part of her wondered who had sent it, and a part of her wondered who her actual parents were. Rosalia quickly pulled herself out of the day dream however and shook her head slightly. "I don't need anyone... Who needs parents anyway," she muttered to herself, before she crumpled up the letter and tossed it, wanting to have it get as far away from her as possible.

---

---

---

---

Maddy was in quite a good mood for the day, working through the final moments of shift as he created a small rabbit with the white foam atop the drink he was making. A dimpled smile crept up on him as he watched his work and hoped the customer would have a brightened day by it. "Karen, I have your medium latte ready." He called out as he set the drink down on the counter, watching a middle aged woman with short blonde hair make her way up to him with a clear scowl on her face. Perhaps thia rabbit was exactly what she needed? A little show of kindness to help alleviate whatever was souring her day. What he hadnt known was that the scowl was for him, but he was soon to find that out, as would the rest of the establishment.

"What is that?! I asked for an ICED latte! Iced! And you think you deserve fifteen dollars an hour plus tip? Ha! You can't even make a simple order right! Remake it, I'll keep this one as well and I just hope you know you've lost my business from now on." The woman huffed as she snatched the mug from the counter, shaking the drink onto the counter and ruining the art he had worked so hard on.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry m'am. I'll re-re-redo it for you r-ri-"
He was immediately cut off before he could finish. Her sunglasses now tilted halfway down her nose as her blue eyes glared daggers at him, scanning him up and down before speaking.
"Well out with it boy! I don't have a d-d-day" her tone was cruel and an obvious mockery of the speech impediment that he had gotten from years of abuse. Maddy simply dropped his head down, looking at the machine before him as he grabbed the beans to grind and begin her drink anew. As he reached for the container, a familiar hand was placed above it, his friend Carroll who happened to be the store manager.

"You're right about one thing, you wont be a customer hear anytime in the future. We dont tolerate people treating our employees that way and we certainly don't condone mocking others. Take your latte and leave, you wont be getting that remake." Carroll voice was cool and collected, her eyes stern as she practically breathed fire at the woman who bow seemed shocked and appalled that anyone would dare to speak to her in such a manner.

"Ha! I'll ruin your business. You'll get no stars from me on Yelp!" The woman tossed the drink onto the ground, spilling the milk and coffee everywhere as she made for the door. "Have fun cleaning that up." It wasn't often, but customers like her did exist, and they preyed on mom and pop shops like this knowing that this sort of behavior would award them free items and giftcards at larger chains that could afford it. As the bell above the door jingled upon her exit, you could see Maddys eyes welling up as he tried his hardest not to cry. His hands trembled, still placed upon the bean container as he just stared off. Carroll walked over placing a hand on his shoulder knowing too well what he was feeling. "Go ahead and go home. You're shifts almost over anyways, I'll be over later with chinese ok?"

Maddy simply nodded at her as he slowly made his way from behind the bar and took off his apron, hanging it on the hook and walking out to his bicycle to make his way back to his apartment. As he rode his bike back, beads of tears flew freely and into the air behind him, wondering what he did wrong? Why did so many people love to pick on him and abuse him? Was he not worthy of love? Did he do something to deserve this? Was it his fault? The thoughts wouldnt shake free, clinging to him as he fetched the mail from his box and took the elevator up to his apartment on the fourth floor. As he opened it up he noticed a purple jacket left on his couch, probably from Colby. He was such a space case sometimes.

Maddy went over to the couch and laid his face into the jacket. It still smelled like him. Did he leave it on purpose? No, theres no way he'd be able to be loved, especially by him. Regardless, Maddy slid into the jacket, zipping it up and allowing himself to be engulfed by it as if he were being hugged by Colby. He shifted his position, head hanging off the edge of the couch as his feet dangled in the air about the couches backing, upside down. There was only one letter today. It was made of thick parchment, and written in a calligraphy pen. As his eyes scanned the letter over and over again he went through many stages of emotion and thoughts. Was this a prank? Was this finally the moment he had felt was coming for so many years? As he thought about the possibilities, he saw the purple of the jacket and wondered if it was a sign? He had always felt a Kindred spirit to Colby, perhaps he was the friend who was mentioned in the letter, but why all the secrecy? Three days...he'd finally know I'm three day's.

---

---

Mab was shook, to say the least. As they sipped on a lukewarm cup of breakfast tea, Mab's eyes kept glancing down at their bag, the letter sitting on their mind like a weight that couldn't be lifted. To a normal person, it's contents would be exciting, or at the very worst anger inducing, but to them? It provoked almost a sense of fear. Mab's name, their real name was on that letter, ans to the best of Mab's knowledge, those syllables had never so much as crossed their own lips. It was, therefore, confounded to them as to how whoever wrote this to them knew Mab's name.

Upon deeper reflection, if the author had been watching them since they were little, maybe they knew Mab's name from their parents. But if that was true, maybe the one thing that Mab had held onto wasn't as important as they thought; the thing that kept Mab's parent's in their mind a fantasy that lacked real substance. That was a possibility that Mab refused to entertain. Their only option, then, was to go where the letter told them, and get the answers Mab needed. Rose, they hoped, would be going with them. This wouldn't be something they'd want to go through alone, and with Rose being the closed thing they had to a friend, they figured that this was precisely what friends were fore.

---

---

Hunting season was full blown in Kansas right now and Cassiopeia had been up before the sun everyday for the last week and a half guiding them all. She helped out with some of the regular hunting tours but she primarily helped with the archery hunting which would run until the end of December. This was definitely the busiest time of year for her and her sister when she helped out but that wasn’t bad considering all the money they would be making. And when money was involved, Cassiopeia had no problem working overtime but today she had taken a blessed day off, needing it and so when her twin sister walked back into the apartment from already being at a morning class, Cassiopeia was still lazing in bed. Artemis was at her feet, keeping her already warm toes heated and she had her laptop open, watching mind numbing Netflix shows.
”Bed,” she called out to her sister. Cassiopeia made no indication of wanting to get up or move. ”Bring me a muffin or something!” Her stomach started to rumble, indicating that she still hadn’t had anything to eat this morning. The warm bed and cat snuggles were beating out the human need for sustenance. Slowly Cassiopeia stretched and yawned, her strawberry blonde hair was a mess but she didn't bother to try fixing it. Although Cassiopeia and Layla were indeed twins, born seconds apart, they were not identical by any means. Artemis let out an annoyed meow at being shifted but didn't make a motion to move yet.

---

---

Willow had just driven over from school, just starting her lunch break and she didn’t have her usual shift at the library so she decided on some different scenery. The local diner wasn’t much to look at but it was a piece of home with that same cozy atmosphere and it wasn’t the loud hustle and bustle or eerily quiet of University either. Willow got out of her SUV and locked the doors before she bounced into the diner. The smell of strong coffee and freshly buttered toast greeted her and she smiled happily before scanning for a seat. She found an open booth and decided to take up residence, setting one of her psychology textbooks down and slid into the worn seats. Willow sighed, content and ordered up a coffee and orange juice while she looked over the menu to see what was appealing to her.
There were a few familiar faces in the diner but they all looked somber for the most part. Curious. While she waited for the waitress to come back Willow riffled through the mail and found the letter that was addressed to her again. There was no return address or stamp, it was rather confusing but Willow opened it anyways and scanned the couple of paragraphs. She had to reread the thing a couple of times but it still didn’t make any sense. Lots of people knew who Willow’s parents were but she was getting creepy vibes from the words watching you. She set the letter down and scanned the diner. Who could be stalking her?

---

---

---

---

Wichita Kansas Streets:

As Pandora left the fashion boutique store, the air was pretty cool for the most part and wind started to pick up a little bit, as well there were a few people who were minding their own business. Some were on their phones texting or talking on the phone completely not paying attention really. While she walked Pandora would feel someone suddenly snatching her purse, the person was wearing a hood as the person quickly ran off down the street Rosalia would be able to see the whole thing unfolding as well.

They both would see the person turning down an alleyway where they were, the alleyway was pretty much a dead end as well, there was a chain linked fence blocking the way, as the person turned around and tried to check open some doors only to find that they were all locked up pretty tightly as well.

While outside of Annabelle's apartment there wasn't really anything interesting going off at the moment as Doug did his thing, there was a little kid nearby that walked out wearing a light coat on spotted the dog and quickly ran over towards him and started to pet the dog, she would recognize the kid as someone her parents would occasionally babysit for as well.

Wichita Kansas Mathew's/Colby's Apartment Building:

Inside of the apartment building there wasn't anything interesting going on, there was some work going on with some of the power with the apartment. The electricians were all down in the basement floor, when suddenly the power to the entire building would go off, while Colby tried to leave the building the emergency lights went off showing lights to the exits. There was someone who stuck their head out looking around he was an elderly man.

Groaning slightly looking over at Colby the man gave him a slight nod, before heading back inside of his apartment. Within Mathew's Apartment there was no power aside from the window lighting up the room somewhat but otherwise it was pretty quiet now as well. There wasn't really much to do, since there wasn't any kind of power going on in the building either for the time being as well.

Wichita Kansas Morgue:

The morgue was pretty quiet for the most part the medical examiner came in shortly after Jack did, he was an older man as well carrying a bag of fast food with him his name was Owen. He looked over at both Megan and Jack and smiled at the two of them, the man was friendly for the most part as well. "How are the two of you doing today?" He asked as he headed into his office and opened up his bag of burger king, with some chicken fries.

After eating some of his lunch Owen came back out with his large cup of coke in hand he did overhear Jack mentioning talking to bodies, he had done it a few times in the past working late nights as well for most of the time. "You two aren't getting into any kind of trouble are you?" He asked jokingly as he moved over towards some paperwork and started to get work on it.

---

---

---

---

Sierra perked up slightly seeing her friend coming into the dinner and walked over towards Rose and gave her a smile and a quick hug. "Hey Rose, how are you today?" Sierra asked her, as she noticed some people were in the dinner were coming in now for something to eat. She turned around and went to grab her notepad and turned around making her way back towards the dinning room. She moved over towards Willow's table looking at the girl and gave her a friendly smile towards her.

"What can I get for you? I'm Sierra by the way and i'll be your waiter." Sierra asked Willow she noticed the text books that was in the seat and then looked over towards her, as she waited. But then paused for a moment when she started to look at the letter that she was reading, the writing was eerily familiar to the same one she had gotten earlier that day. But she didn't say anything Sierra didn't even know the girl anyway as she adjusted her hair a little bit.

---

---

---

---

Layla heard her sister call out to her and shook her head slightly as she went to pick up Fuzzy in her arms she walked into their small little kitchen and pulled out a muffin for herself and another one for her sister. Layla walked over and opened the door to her sister's bedroom and tossed it over at Cassiopeia as it bonked her on the head. "Am I your personal slave for the day or something?" Layla asked her jokingly as she sat down on the edge of O's bed.

"Looks like we got a letter." Layla said as she handed her the letter that was addressed to the two of them, she didn't open it yet either and was curious letting her cat climb out of her arms and went to go and annoy his sister. Just as the power to the apartment building had gone off as well, which made her shake her head slightly. She did know that they were working on the power or something to the building as well.

---

---

---

---

As Maddy lay there, upside down, on his couch, he crossed his legs placing them along the wall as he reached for the remote and attempted to turn on the T.V. The controller clicked but nothing seemed to happen no matter how furiously he pressed the button nor with repeated attempts. There was a groan of aggravation as he wondered what else could possibly go wrong today. He slowly slid off the couch, cocking his head to the right as he did so that his body just schlumped off onto the ground before finally standing up and checking to make sure the T.V. was plugged in. He went to try for his kitchen light, see if it was an electrical problem and there was a slight flicker before it stayed off. "Carroll what's going on this time? I'm sure I paid the bill this month." Maddy lazily walked around the apartment, noticing the timers on all his electronics were now off, the AC had stopped responding, and the fridge light wouldnt turn on. Luckily for him he hadn't gone grocery shopping yet so none of the food in there could spoil with this inconvenience. As he leaned against the granite counter top, the jacket pressed up and the scent of Colby wafted to him once more, bringing a Cheshire smile to his face. "I wonder what Colbys up to. What do you think Carrol, should I text him?" Mwrow. "I agree, let's see if he wants to come and play."

"Hey Colby, what're you up to? You're off today right?"
"Hope not bothering you."
Maddy made his way back onto the couch, his leg shaking in anticipation and anxiety. As soon as his phone chimed with a notification his face beamed.
"I have class at 1. I was about to run an errand."
The feeling however didnt last as he read on and saw his Hope's of seeing him today dwindle.
"Oh...ok. Sorry, my power just went out so I didn't really have much i could do, thought maybe we could..."
There was a long delay as Maddy threw his phone onto a nearby throw pillow and buried his face in another screaming as he thought to himself. How could I be so stupid? Ofcourse he doesnt want to see me. His phone finally chimed once more and he rapidly pulled it off the pillow reading the message. His face turning into a silly smile again as he saw himself invited to his special errand.
"If you want to come with I guess you can. But if you literally ever tell anyone where we went I'll never speak to you again."
"You've got my word! I'll be right over!"

Maddy quickly changed out of his work outfit and into some newer clothes. Opting to wear a burnt orange button up, some brown skinny jeans, boots and then Colbys purple jacket; taking a second to let the warmth take over him as he skipped out of his apartment door and went to fetch his bike incase it was needed, but then recalled the power off could mean the elevators weren't in use. He had decided to bring the letter with him incase it came up so he could ask if he was the one who wrote him the letter. As he sped off towards Colbys apartment, his feet rapped against the wooden stairs as he tried not to trip from his careless sprinting. Once he reached Colbys floor he opened the door leading into the hallway and sent him another text.

"I'm here."

---

---

---

---

"Hey dear." Rose said as she hugged Sierra. Rushed to the back and got her apron and pad then clocking in real quick. Rose stepped back out into the dinner and started taking orders. The diner wasn't completely full, but it was starting to get busy. Rose had made it just in time to help alleviate some of the pressure from the other waitress'.

She saw that Mab was sitting at a table, and gave her friend a nod and a smile. Something seemed a bit off in Mab's facial expression. They looked particularly unhappy. "Do you have Mab, or want me to take that table?" She asked Sierra, who gave her a nod. Rose nodded back and moved over to their table. "Hey there dear." She gave her a soft smile. "Have you put in an order for food yet? Need a refill on your tea? Also, you look like someone killed the cat. What's wrong Mab?" She said the last bit quietly so only her friend could hear her.

---

---

---

---

This was a bad idea. Colby thought. He definitely should not have allowed Mathew to join him. He sighed resigned when his phone chirped. Shit. Mathew was at his apartment. Colby ran up the stairs from the first floor to his own floor. Why did he have to talk to the one random magician who lived in the same apartment building? He shot off a text to Mathew.

"You didn't ring the bell right?"
"I'd never. Its why i texted"

Colby sighed relieved. His roommates would never let him hear the end of it.

"Thanks. I think my roommates would explode if they thought I had friends."
"Psh. That's funny."

Wait...Was Mathew going to take that the wrong way? Colby sighed again. Today was going to give him a migraine. He finished climbing the stairs, slightly out of breath.

"Come on." He said when he saw Mathew standing outside his apartment door. "Wait that's where I left my jacket?" Colby had known perfectly well he had left his jacket at Mathew's apartment. It was his excuse to come see the cat again. Why was Mathew wearing it?

---

---

Megan's eyes lit up slightly as she saw the second cup of coffee in her adoptive brother's hands. "Just Ms. Duffer," she answered him with a bit of a shrug, walking on over to him and taking the coffee. There was an entire foot of difference between the two of them in height, meaning that Megan had to crane her head in order to look Jack in the eye. She didn't really enjoy talking to his chest if she could help it after all. "If you're here looking for a case, I'm afraid we don't have anything really interesting going on - just natural causes really." Taking a sip of the coffee, the warmth spread throughout her body in a way that nothing else ever really did in her life. The caffeine always helped as well. She was an insomniac, lucky to get more than four hours of sleep a night but that didn't mean she felt rested. She was always running on fumes. Megan waved slightly at Owen as he came into the lab, smelling the aroma of fast food that began to waft throughout the morgue.

It was really for the best that they never really got inspected - since the coffee and the takeout were both major violations of morgue protocol.

"I'm dead on the inside," she answered Owen, as he asked how she was doing. "And of course we're getting into trouble - we're planning an onslaught of demonic forces against the light." She said all of these things with a straight face, taking idle sips of her coffee. She liked her coffee black without much sugar or sweetener, finding that the bitterness tended to help wake her up even more. Of course, even Megan couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly. She knew her obsession with the macabre freaked some people out - and it was amusing at times to watch their reactions. "If you'd like, we can add you to the legion of the damned."

---

---

---

---

Satisfied form her small hustle, Pandora let her guard down. Rookie move too and she would slap herself later for doing so. Because as she made her way down the street, she felt a push from someone. The streets were not crowded so there was no reason for someone to accidentally bump into her. She knew a grab when she saw it and whoever it was had managed to snag her purse. She spun around instantly to catch them running down an alley. "Oh you messed with the wrong bitch, princess." She gave chase, unaware of anyone else who may have seen.

She ran down the alley, rounding the corner to see her prey having nowhere to go. Locked doors and a chainlink fence. They could climb, sure, but she would be on them instantly. "Look, credit where it's due, that was a nice grab. Respect there. And I'm riding a high from my own job so you caught me in a good mood. Hand it back over and I'll forget it happened. Unless you'd rather see my claws, kitty." She would throw down if need be. In her line of work, there was always an element of danger. You never knew if you'd have to fight your way out of a situation.

---

---

"Of course, because let's be honest, you usually do that," Jack said with a laugh towards his sister as he handed her the other cup that was in his hands. He had figured that she probably would enjoy a cup of coffee, sleep was a fickle thing and a luxury that people other then them had. Being tired a lot was fairly horrible, and living off of coffee was probably a really bad idea, but there wasn't any other way around the issue. Lack of sleep equaled the need for more caffeine which wasn't so bad. Just meant he was a constant regular at the nearby coffee shops.

Turning, Jack glanced over at Owen when he entered the room as he took another sip of his coffee. "I'm doing fine Owen," he said, giving the man a smile. Hearing Megan's responses to Owen's question about them getting into trouble or something made him roll his eyes a bit. In his opinion, his sister was being more then a bit on the dramatic side, but he also couldn't help but laugh at her words. "If only, that would definitely make life a lot more interesting, that is for sure."

---

---

Usually if someone else was stealing something from someone, Rosalia would stay out of the way. However seeing the person that the thief had seemingly stole from made her curious about the situation, so she raced along quietly after the pair. Seeing the thief head down a nearby alleyway and Pandora continuing to give chase. Rosalia stayed back a little ways away, more of hearing and seeing what was going on first, before she decided to take any sort of action. However. The opportunity that presented itself in front of her was one thing that she just could not pass up. Any decent thief always had an escape plan in mind, and it was clear that this one didn't. Perhaps she should show both of them how a real thief did things.

She pulled the hood of her jacket up, as well as securing her typical goggles in place to help obscure her identity in some way, before she raced over. Ducking around Pandora, she went right up to the thief and snatched the bag away from them. A part of her thought that maybe she should return it, but decided against it in the rush of adrenaline that she was feeling at the moment. With that, she whirled around the would be thief, and using a nearby wall as a bit of a spring board, managed to scale the chain link fence and land with a thud on the other side of it, with the purse in her hand.

"Here's a tip, a good thief always has an escape plan," she said with a bit of a smirk, glancing over her shoulder at the pair, before she simply started walking away from them.

Annie smiled, and the grey schnauzer she was talking was a pretty chill dog. Doug was always content to be pet. He kind of stood there while the kid pet him, and Annie took a step closer. She recognized the kid, he'd been over to their house a few times to be babysat. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite think of his name, but on the other hand she doubted he did either. Right now, the cute dog was the focus of this interaction. And why wouldn't he? Doug was, after all, the world's best boy.

"He doesn't bite. That's why he's a terrible guard dog." She remarked casually, allowing the kid to pet him for a little bit. Hopefully she wouldn't have to tell him to stop petting him so they could continue on their walk. That might be a little awkward. Annie wondered where the kid's parents were, and glanced around for them. She supposed it wouldn't be a big deal if he was allowed to wander around by himself, right? That's how they used to do it. Just let kids wander around. Clearly, most of them were not kidnapped. Still, today most parents are too worried to allow that kind of thing to happen, so Annie took a moment to see if any adults were watching to make sure their son wasn't going to fall down a hole, get hit by a car, or kidnapped by a killer clown.

---

---

Cassiopeia shut her eyes as the muffin hit her in the face and rolled down onto the bed. She glared at her sister before picking up the muffin and peeled away the wrapped. She separated the top half from the bottom half and set the top aside to eat the bottom first. She munched away, her stomach gurgling happily as it waited for sustenance. Suddenly the power shut off and they were left with the light outside and the glow of Cassiopeia’s computer screen. She frowned. ”We paid the bill right?” She swallowed her muffin and looked at the letter. She peered at the writing. Hand written by the looks of it. ”There’s no return address,” she noted before putting the rest of the muffin into her mouth and tore the letter open.
Artemis was doing just fine until Fuzzy came over and started pawing at her. She let off a warning growl that went unnoticed and than the chasing and fighting was on. Cassiopeia frowned and handed the letter to her sister. ”Doesn’t make much sense to me, and with no return address. It's probably a hoax.” Cassiopeia finished up her muffin before pressing play on her show again. She settled into the covers, moving over a bit so Layla could sit beside her and watch the show if she chose. Hopefully the power would be back on before her computer died.

---

---

The letter had Willow so shook, that she didn’t even notice when Sierra came over to take her order. She blinked at the thing then jumped, finally seeing Sierra. ”Oh! Hi, sorry. Um yes, could I get your french toast with a side of bacon and fruit please.” Willow handed the menu back to Sierra and folded up her letter. She picked up her coffee and took a sip of it, thankful that she hadn’t added too much sugar yet. The bitterness helped to take the edge off from the letter she had just read.
”Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around before,” Willow noted. She looked back at Sierra but couldn’t place her. How long had it been since Willow was last at the diner? She couldn’t quite recall come to think of it. She started wringing her hands, rubbing them together and twisting the ring around on her right ring finger. A nervous habit she developed but never really noticed. She should probably call her parents.

---

---

Mab was startled as Rose came up to talk to them, being totally absorbed in thought. Quickly folding up the letter, and throwing it into their purse, they blinked for a few moments, trying to come up with words to say. "I don't-" They started, about to explain that they didn't, in fact, own a cat. Shaking their head, they restarted. "I just got a letter is all, and it's upsetting." They didn't want to say too much, as the reasons for their concern would be no doubt confusing to Rose. After a moment, they drained their cup of tea, before nodding, "And more tea would be very very nice."

Clearing their throat for a moment, they continued to say, "When you get off work, if um." They struggled for a moment, not normally liking to be dependent on people like this, but this was something they honestly didn't think they had the strength to do alone. "If you're free, I gotta go to Oak Park. Would you mind joining me?" They asked in a tone they didn't often use. It was soft, vulnerable. This entire thing had thrown them off in a serious way. "And um... Yeah food sounds really good too," they said, trying to drag their mood back up, "Just the usual, french toast and bacon." A morning like this deserved comfort food, and that was exactly what they were going to throw into their body.

---

---

---

---

Wichita Kansas Streets:

The kid who had tried to rob Pandora had their hands up and slowly took off their hood to revealed to be a younger girl around the age of 16 just as Rosalia managed to take the purse. "I guess i'm off the hook since she has your purse now?" She said giving a bit of an awkward smile, while looking up at the chain linked fence that was there. She did think about climbing it to get away from Pandora, and then remembered. "I can give you a deal i'll help steal back your purse if you give me half of whats in it."

There wasn't really anything going on as Rosalia made it back to the sidewalk, with Pandora's purse now in hand whatever was inside of it was pretty much hers unless she was caught again. There was a taxi nearby as it stopped to pick up an elderly couple and a few restaurants and stores nearby as well to hide. She would also notice Annabelle and her dog as well as the kid that she was talking to as well.

The kid smiled and walked over towards Doug and started to pet the dog and looked up at her. "How are your parents?" He asked her remembering that he had been to her house while his parents had gone and did some shopping or anything that they did and couldn't watch over him.

Wichita Kansas Morgue:

Owen took a sip of his drink and looked towards Meg giving her a little bit of a weird look, but then again he was used to his junior coroner at this point as well. "Hmm, nah i'm good i'd rather not join the legion of the dead just yet." Owen said laughing a little bit awkwardly, before moving over towards one of the cold lockers and waved the two of them over. "Got a John Doe for the two of you, body was found at a nearby children's orphanage. Around their thirties or something like that, so do you guys thing." Owen said as he went over and found a bag and handed it over towards Jack. "Knock yourselves out and have fun. I gotta go and do some court thing relating to another case." He said as he turned around and left.

---

---

---

---

Sierra looked over her shoulder towards Rose as she went to go and talk to another customer she recognized but didn't really get to know her, before turning her attention back over towards Willow and smiled towards her and nodded. "Sure thing, i'll be right back with your order." She said as she walked over towards the kitchen finishing up as she written down the order, putting it back in. Sierra carried with her another cup of coffee and set it down pouring Willow another glass. So far it had been a pretty slow day right now and she didn't really have anything else to do right now.

"Not really, I've been here a few months mostly been working evenings and not to many days or mornings." She answered as she held out her hand and smiled. "I'm Sierra by the way." She said, while looking over at the seat in front of her. "Do you mind if I take a seat?" Sierra asked. "I also go to school so that's probably why you don't see me here to often."

---

---

---

---

Layla looked at Cassiopeia and nodded towards her sister. "Of course, I remembered paying the bills this week." She said shaking her head slightly she did sometimes forget to pay them and her sister bailing out for their rent that month. Layla took the letter and started to read it over as well, looking back at Cassiopeia and gave a slight shrug she really wasn't to sure what to believe either honestly. "Maybe it's real or some fucking sick joke who knows O." Layla said as she moved over to see what her sister was watching.

"So what are we watching?" Layla asked, just as Fuzzy came trotting back over towards her and flopped down on her stomach and started to purr contently. She smiled at her pet and started to ruffle it's fur a little bit, she always did love him a lot and he Layla hoped that they had power back on soon. "So if the power doesn't come back in the next few minutes want to go out or something?" Layla asked her.

---

---

---

---

"Yeah, you left it at my place last time you came. It seemed a bit chilly out and it was the closest thing I could grab so we weren't late for your errand." Lies. That was a complete and utter lie. Why couldn't he just tell him how he felt? It didn't matter. "We should probably get going right?"

”Yeah. You can borrow it for the day then.” Colby said and led the way to the apartment’s garage where his old car was parked. ”Sorry the car is a bit of a mess. I haven’t cleaned it all semester.” He climbed into the driver’s seat. Colby wasn’t that great of a driver either, but he could get from point a to point b at least.

"That's not a problem, I'm sure its fine" It wasn't fine. He had moved a few things off of the passenger seat, placing them in the back where he could find a few spots. Most of what was left was at his feet and he just gently nudged it over so he had a modicum of room for his legs.

Once they were both buckled in Colby started driving. He didn’t say much but his hands worried over the driving wheel and his face seemed tense as well. He took a deep breath as he debated how much to tell Mathew. Colby opened his mouth to say something and then closed it before asking, ”So how’s Caroll?”

The silence was nerve-wracking as he watched Colby’s nervous hands. Was he trying to confess something? Ask him out? Or was this errand really so frightening? He wanted to ask but the words got caught in his throat. Finally Colby started to speak, and of course, it was about his cat. Maddy let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding before speaking up. "He's fine. Caught him napping on your jacket earlier today. I think he misses you, should come around more often...spend the night maybe...i-I-if you w-want to tha-that is."

Colby glanced at Mathew for a few seconds as he stuttered. His eyes softened a bit, then he quickly looked back at the road. ”It might be easier to study there instead of with my four obnoxious roommates. Maybe I’ll bring up Jack and see if the two get along and play with each other. It’d be good for them both.”

Maddy couldn't help but give out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, that could be a lot of fun. I'm sure the two of them would be close buds. Of course, you're also m-more than welcome to do your homework o-over at my place...I don't mind." Play it cool Maddy, he already agreed no need to mess it up. He turned and gave Colby a smile as he thought of him spending the night there.

Colby nodded. His mind was less on the conversation and more on the letter in his pocket. He knew Mathew liked him more than he liked him back, or maybe it was best to say in a different way. And Mathew was an okay dude, though nervous and even though he liked magic Colby knew he’d never be able to be on stage. Mathew wouldn’t be able to handle it. ”Thanks.” He said back and fell into silence. Colby didn’t have to consult any maps or google as he had already looked at the route he would need to get to the orphanage ages ago.

As the pair of them grew closer and closer to Colby's secret destination, Maddy began to have flashbacks of distant memories he has sense tried to repress. The streets, signs, buildings all looked too familiar as his heart began to pound in his chest. He looked onwards, only glancing sparingly towards Colby as he wondered where it was that he was taking them. If it was for the jacket sleeve he had halfway down his hand, surely his nails would've bitten into his skin and caused him to bleed.

The tall building loomed over him as they finally reached it, a place so ominous to Maddy that he could swear he heard the sound of crows in the distance. The building was made of a red brick exterior, accented by wooden black shutters, panes, and roof, with a small white stoop just before the obsidian colored doors. This was the orphanage that Maddy had grown up in, and this was the source of many of his nervous ticks and twitches. The place full of nothing but misery and despair as far as he was concerned.

Colby exited the car and stared at the building before them. He had no memories tied to the place. For him, it had been a shortstop between barely held memories and a fairly normal childhood. His jaw tightened and then he said. ”I was adopted from here.” He said a slight tone of anger in his voice. ”I just found out after I turned eighteen.”

Maddy remained in the car for a moment after Colby left, fear still clinging to his chest. He finally found the courage to get out when he heard Colby speak, saying he had just found out he was adopted from this place. Was he the friend from the letter? It all just kept adding up. But why come back here? "I'm...I'm so sorry. H-honestly I-I was a b-bit worried as to w-why we're here. See I...I…" the words choked up in his throat again as tears threatened to well up in his eyes. "I g-g-grew up here. T-till I w-was eighteen."

Colby shifted as Mathew spoke, concern crossed his expression proving Colby was capable of human emotions. ”I didn’t know.” He said softly. ”If you don’t want to go in, I understand. You can stay in the car. I just want to see if they have records on who my real parents are.”

Maddy ran over to where Colby stood and took his hand into his, holding it tightly. "No, I'll go with you. I'm here for you, heh s-see didn't even stutter." He beamed another smile at Colby as he held tight.

Colby blinked a little startled when Mathew took his hand but nodded. There wasn’t much need to say anything else he thought. Then he started walking inside. He had not seen the interior of the orphanage to his memory and wasn’t certain if there was an office or something. There had to be but it wasn’t like he knew where it was.

Inside of the orphanage, there was a younger woman who was sitting at the receptionist’s desk when she stopped and looked up at both Maddy and Colby who just entered. “Is there anything I can help you two with?” She asked.

Maddy shrunk behind Colby, his hand still holding on as he gently pushed Colby forward, nudging him to speak.

”Hello, my name is Colby Jackson. I was adopted from here, uh. When I was two, so sixteen years ago. I was wondering if you had records on my birth parents.” Colby spoke up first not wanting Mathew to feel like he needed to talk. He had taken a half step closer almost protecting him from the woman.

She nodded towards them and started to type away at her computer, as well as Colby’s name as she searched the database. “Looking at the file here, there isn’t much other than a stranger dropping you off here, didn't give us a name or anything sorry.”

”Oh. Thank you though. I appreciate you looking.” He looked to Mathew, almost asking if he wanted to ask the woman anything as well. He squeezed his hand slightly giving him encouragement if he needed it. As he tried to parse what that all meant. He had no more lead here. What did that mean for the letter writer? Where they the unnamed stranger who had dropped him off as a toddler?

Maddy stayed behind Colby, using him as a shield as he spoke through him. "H-h-hi I'm M-Matthew Madigan. I-I g-grew up here a-as well. I-I left three years ago w-when I turned eighteen, d-do you have any r-records on my parents?"

She nodded and started to type in again with Mathew’s name and leaned back a little bit as she searched through the database again. When the results came again she looked up at the two of them for a moment. “Sadly nothing on your parents either, but you were dropped off at around the same time though.”

”Thank you.” Colby said for both of them. The confusion was clear on his face, but he figured the woman couldn’t help them anymore. He led Mathew out of the orphanage at that point and back to his car. He didn’t say anything else until they were both in his car again. ”Okay...that can’t be normal right?” He asked Mathew.

Maddy shook his head no, as he sat there and debated on whether he sure try one last time, for old times sake. It was the one sentence he could always say without so much as a stutter. "Hey Colby...Why is a Raven like a writing desk?" He sat there and watched his expressions to see if he knew.

”Cause Poe wrote on both.” Colby said the joke response almost reflexively. He knew it was a reference and was actually supposed to be unanswerable. At least it had been in the Alice books, but a lot of people had come up with responses. This was his favorite. Colby looked at Mathew a little confused though. ”Not sure what it has to do with us both having been dropped off at the same orphanage, around the same time, by some mysterious stranger.” Colby frowned. ”I have something to show you. It is why I cam here.”

Maddy frowned as Colby responded. He had heard that response before, same tone and said word for word. He didn't know how, but somehow he knew that deep inside of him that answer was wrong. It wasn't what he was searching for. Maddy pulled out his wallet and fiddled with it for a while before finally breaking the silence. "Show me yours and I'll show you why I asked."

Colby nodded and pulled the slightly beat-up letter from his jacket pocket. He handed it over to Mathew. ”I got this today. I hadn’t told anyone I was adopted and my parents didn’t tell me until just a few months ago. So, as far as I know, three people...well four now, know I was adopted.”

"Thanks for trusting me with knowing this." He fiddled with the letter, feeling the same texture as the parchment used for the one he'd gotten earlier today as well. His heart began to race once more as he hesitated opening it. Instead, he slipped out a small bit of paper, stark white even after all these years with vibrant green ink writing on it. It simply asked, "Why is a raven like a writing desk." He handed it over to Colby. "You're the only one besides my manager who knows I'm an orphan. This note was hidden away inside the hat they had found me with, the only thing I have linking me to my life before. No one’s been able to answer this riddle and I just…"

His eyes began to well up again as he wiped away tears and shook his head. It’s been three years since he left and that place still had a vice on him. Maddy opened up the letter and began to read it over and over again as if he was going Mad.

Taking the white piece of paper from Mathew, it felt like the paper was important. Maybe that was just everything Mathew had put into it over the years trying to decipher the impossible riddle. Colby stared at the writing. It didn’t match the writing in his letter. As Mathew’s eyes teared up Colby wished he had some tissues in the car, but he did find a towel, which he offered to Mathew. Then waited as Mathew read over the letter.

”You know Lewis Caroll. Oh, I just got your cat’s name is a reference to that. So you probably already know but when Caroll wrote the book he never had an answer for that riddle. It was supposed to be unanswerable.” He said after a moment to fill the silence.

Maddy took the towel and wiped his eyes, not even wondering where that thing had been nor how long it had been there. He sniffled a few times. "Yeah...but...I just know there's an answer out there and I have a feeling my parents would know it. But every time I ask I get the same response." He held onto the letter and gripped it tighter before finally laying it on his lap and pulling his out of his pant pocket. "I got one too...the letter. At first, I thought it was you, it was signed your friend and I just...but it couldn't be so now I don't know…"

Colby’s eyes widened when Mathew pulled the letter out of his pocket. He thought ‘way to burry the lead’, but bit the comment back. He wasn’t mad at Mathew and he didn’t deserve the snap even though he knew it would feel good. Colby breathed through his teeth then let it out before saying ”Okay, so we were both dropped off at the same orphanage by some mysterious stranger about fifteen years ago. Now we both have letters claiming our bio parents are out there alive and need our help. I-” He paused uncertain of where he was going with this thought process. There were a few options. ”Obviously we have to go to the park. Neither of us are in trouble so we don’t have to go early, but this person is clearly watching the park. I vote we go to the park and see who is watching it.”

Maddy nodded his head in agreement. He held out his left hand towards Colby. "Mind if I have my note back? And...mind if I hold your hand on the way there?" his hand was visibly shaking in fear and anxiety that was bubbling inside. This was not how he had planned for his day to happen, but here he was in Colby's car going to meet a stranger in a park.

Colby handed the note back. ”I guess since we are admitted deep truths about ourselves. I really suck at driving and don’t know how I feel about driving with one hand, but as long as I’m not making turns it should be okay.” Today had not gone how he had expected, though Colby was certain at this point he was going to be ditching his class. What were the odds that he had made friends with the one person who lived in his apartment building, was dropped at the same orphanage as a child as him and had gotten a letter from some mysterious stranger? He wasn’t fantastic at math, but it had to be astronomical. How much of his life had been set up by this stranger? Colby had to admit he did feel a kindred nature with Mathew and that was why he had spoken to him in the first case.