“Oh.” Tommy sounded.

“Yeah. Me and her got together shortly after we met in that meeting, but it had nothing to do with Mercy or Dan.” Keagan explained.

“Arrg!” Tommy sounded before a police car drove into view.

Tommy explained to the officer the situation and the officer requested entry from one of the apartments guards.

The guard agreed before accompanying the officer inside, leaving Keagan and the others outside.

“Damn. I hope she’s ok.” Johan said.

“I still don’t get it.” Tommy said.

“Why would Mr. Astali do those things to Mercy?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Keagan said.

Some more police cars and an ambulance arrived in front of Mercy’s apartment building as the officer from before exited the building.

“I’m sorry to say, but your friend is Dead. All evidence i could see at first glance points to suicide, but we’ll have to conduct a thorough investigation to rule out any other possibilities.” The officer said only to be met by silence.

“Oh, come on.” Johan said.

“Would you gentlemen mind coming with me to the station? I have a few questions I’d like to ask.” The officer said.

Keagan and the others followed him to the Ix Chel police department. There they were asked various questions before they were released.

Keagan and the others then parted. They decided it would be best to get some rest before actually sitting down together and thinking about everything.

Keagan and Roy made their way to the vectrain station.

“Umm… are we going back to Cynosure?” Roy asked.

“Yeah.” Keagan said with a despondent expression.

“Hey, I’ve got a few things I wanna get back at my place.” Roy said.

“Ok, let’s go.” Keagan said.

The two made their way to a nearby train station and made their way to Acan.

Upon arrival, they walked to Roy’s apartment.

Roy then came to a complete stop just before opening the door.

Keagan looked at what Roy was staring at to find that the handle for Roy’s apartment was broken.

Keagan grabbed Roy’s shoulder and pulled him back.

“Let me check.” Keagan said as he slowly opened the door.

“What the-?” Asked a large man.

Keagan came to a complete stop as Roy poked his head into his apartment.

“Hey, isn’t that Cory’s coward of a brother?” Another man asked.

Keagan saw that Roy’s apartment was in tatters, but his focus quickly returned to the large man as he got up.

“Umm… I’m pretty sure this is-“

The large man punched Keagan in the nose, breaking it in the process.

Keagan tried turning to run, but the large man grabbed his collar before pulling him back.

“What are you doing? I thought you guys were Cory’s friends!” Roy yelped, but the large man pulled out a gun from his pants and point it at Keagan.

“Yo, Farouk. Calm down.” A third man said.

“Nah, it’s this little fucker's fault that Cory’s dead.” The large man said as blood ran down Keagan’s nose.

The man the punched Keagan again and again as Roy watched.

Keagan’s mind went numb as the large man mounted him.

“Ok, take out your stress, but you know that you can’t kill him right? Our DNA is all over this place.” The second man said as the large one continued to beat Keagan.

Roy eventually grew tired of watching his friend get hurt and so he lashed out at the large man, but the large man reflexively raised his gun wielding arm and pointed it at Roy.

A loud sound echoed throughout all of Acan.

“Oh my goodness! Why the fuck did you do that?” The second man asked before running to Roy’s side.

“I- I don’t know. The little shit looked like he was seriously going to come at me." The large man said before the third ran out of Roy’s apartment.

“Ah, fuck it! Let’s go.” The second said before running out.

The large man dashed out of Keagan’s apartment, leaving Keagan on the cold, dirty floor.

Keagan crawled towards Roy as his head rang.

Roy was covered in a warm red liquid, but Keagan ignored it as he grabbed his best friend.

“Roy!” Keagan cried, even as his face stung.

“Roy!” Keagan screamed, but Roy was unresponsive.

One of Roy’s neighbours saw the o so gruesome scene.

“You ok?” The man asked.

“Call, the police.” Keagan cried as Roy continued to bleed.

“Ok!” The man said as he pulled out his phone.

Keagan held onto Roy tightly as his once warm blood turned cold.

Tears began rolling down his face as he sat by Roy’s side.

It had been a good long while since he had a proper bawl and so the tears flowed freely.

The police eventually arrived and Keagan saw a rather familiar face.

“What on earth happened here?” Detective Oliver Cranston asked as serval paramedics charged into Roy’s apartment.

They hurriedly tended to Roy before carrying him out on a stretcher.

More paramedics came and placed Keagan on a stretcher.

Tears continued to fall as the evening sun blared into his eyes. He was eventually taken to the nearest hospital and there he was treated for his several features, but at no moment did he think about himself. All he wanted to know was if Roy was ok.

One of the nurses entered Keagan’s room.

The nurse checked the many devices that Keagan was hooked into, but then Keagan suddenly reaches out and grabbed his hand.

“What the-?” The nurse exclaimed.

“Where… where’s Roy?” Keagan asked, but the nurse gently smiled before placing his hand on Keagan’s.

“Please sir, I suggest you minimize your movements.” The nurse said before someone entered the room.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take it from here.” Detective Oliver said as the nurse left.

“Hello, Mr. Keita. It pains me to say this, but Roy Deacon is dead." The detective said.

Tears rolled down Keagan’s bandage covered face as Detective Oliver paced around the room.

“We heard from several eye witnesses that Mr. Deacon’s apartment was occupied by several of Cory’s gang members. Mmm… I think It’d be best if we spoke about this at another time.” Detective Oliver said as he placed a card by Keagan’s bed.

The detective then left, leaving Keagan alone in the mind numbing silence of his room.

He had only his pain to keep him company as he wept.

Keagan wondered where everything wrong.

Why he in a continuous and repetitive cycle of pain.

Ah ha.

Keagan thought.

Maybe it was karma for sins past.

Or divine punishment from above.

Maybe even Murphy’s law.

But one thing was clear to Keagan.

He was tired.

So very tired.

He wanted to sleep.

For a really long time.

.

..

Keagan was eventually discharged and he made his way to his apartment.

Detective Oliver and the good people of the Acan police department had caught Cory’s gang members and they were being proceeded by justice’s firm hand.

Well, Keagan didn’t care. He also heard that Dan had been promoted and was the current CEO of Lezzaro, but that news also didn’t interest Keagan.

He opened his apartment door and took in a deep breath of air, even as his chest ached. It had been a while since he'd last set foot in his own home, so a strange feeling overcame him as he looked around.

His face had been sewn together in various places, but he looked better.

Keagan ignored all foreign thoughts as he made his way into his den.

His safe place.

He sat down on his chair and places his hand on his mouse.

Sure, it was made from plastic, but something about it made Keagan feel… in control.

Keagan switched on his pc and contacted his viewers on various social media sites. He then streamed some casual gameplay for about two hours before quitting.

Keagan chuckled as he had lost all of the matches he played, but he felt good. Really good.

He checked the time and saw that it was a few minutes past five in the morning.

He then took a deep breath before getting up.

He took out a certain watch from his back pocket and threw it into a nearby trash can.

Keagan slipped into his shoes and then left his apartment without locking or even closing the door.

He made his way down the elevator and walked slowly to the train station.

He looked at a certain bench to the left of the platform, but he told his heart to hold in his tears.

He quietly rode the train to Ix Chel and eventually arrived at the Lezzaro building.

He entered it, but instead of taking the elevator up, he rode it down to one of the underground floors.

He walked out of the elevator at a certain floor and made his way to a certain room.

The room was behind an extremely fortified door, but fortunately for Keagan, he knew the password.

Keagan entered the extremely clean room and made his way to the centre.

There, sat a large white device.

It had a sleek design and had numerous cables running into the walls.

Keagan typed in serval commands into the device before it opened with nary a whimper.

Keagan ran his hands along the device before hopping into it. Shoes and all.

The device slowly closed itself, sealing Keagan inside it completely.

Silence befell the device interior, but that silence was broken by a sob.

Tears began rolling down his face as he allowed himself to feel.

He thought about Roy.

About how they’d spent most of their time together eating and bickering about his health and various other things.

He thought about how even though Roy was lived a few blocks away, he always felt so close.

Keagan placed his hand above his heart as he wept.

The device then started filling itself with a certain liquid.

Keagan chuckled to himself as the real genius of Mercy’s work was never the CryoPod, but the liquid it used to preserve-

Meh. Keagan cancelled thought as the liquid continued to fill the CryoPod.

Keagan took a deep breath as the liquid reached his neck.

He then closed his eyes as it reached his chin.

He wanted to sleep.

For a long time.

And this was the only thing he could think of.

His thoughts focused onto the images of those he cared about, but a certain thought passed through his mind as the liquid completely filled the CryoPod.

Catalina and Karisa’s naked bodies filled his mind.

This made Keagan accidentally open his eyes.

He paid for this mistake as his eyes stung, but this wasn’t the only problem.

In a moment of panic, Keagan gulped some of the clear liquid.

He thrashed around in search for air, but it was far too late.

That and the CryoPod could only be opened from the outside.

Keagan screamed at himself internally.

He didn’t want to sleep with images of those wretches in his mind-

.

..

Catalina awoke with a yawn.

She hadn’t heard from Keagan in a while, but she knew that he was at his best after some rest.

She hopped out from her bed and took a shower before getting dressed for work.

Her trip to Ix Chel was rather uneventful, but it was her arrival at the Lezzaro building that wasn’t so calm.

She saw several police vehicles and an ambulance.

She walked up to the only familiar face in sight.

“Ahem. Tommy, care to explain what’s going on?” She asked.

“Uh- it’s Keagan…” Tommy seemingly froze up. His face was pale and his eyes were trembling. It was thought he had seen a ghost or something far more gruesome.

Catalina panicked.

“What about him? Is he hurt?” She asked.

“He’s… I think he’s dead.” Tommy said as Johan approached.

“What? How?” Catalina asked, her voice slightly raised.

“He froze himself in the CryoPod, but something happened and the prototype malfunctioned. The CryoPod froze him beyond any possible restoration.” Johan explained.

Catalina’s face returned to it’s normal cold self as she walked away.

“Where-?” Tommy was about to ask, but Johan stopped him.

Catalina texted Karisa as she got onto a taxi.

[Meet me at The Velzen.]

She texted.

[Why?]

Karisa asked.

[Just do it.]

Catalina said before dropping her phone into her pocket.

She let out a deep sigh as she made her way to Cynosure.

She eventually arrived at a certain restaurant in Cynosure.

She reserved a table and there she waited with cross arms.

Karisa eventually arrived.

The discoloration on her face had slightly faded, but then again, it did very little to her overall beauty in the first place.

Karisa took the seat opposite Catalina’s.

“What’s with that look?” Karisa asked.

“He’s dead.” Catalina said.

Karisa’s face went through several emotions in rapid succession.

Confusion.

Terror.

Pain.

Sorrow.

Then her face became cold and neutral.

“I see.” She said as her voice trembled.

“Delicious, isn’t it?” Catalina asked.

“Oh… extremely so. Anyway, what are we gonna do now?” Karisa asked.

“No idea. Chances are we’ll never find one such as him ever again.” Catalina said with a sigh.

“Why did he have to be such a cowered in the end?” Catalina asked.

“No idea. Anyway, let’s go tell mom. I’m sure she’ll love this.” Karisa said as she got up.

Catalina joined her as they left the restaurant. She noticed a small object falling from the sky.

“Mmm? Its snowing.” Catalina said as they walked off into the distance.

The winter that followed in Unity was a rather cold one.

But things are often still in the cold and stillness is true bliss.

THE END

Authors notes:

Finally! Its over. Now I can go back to doing what I love… writing. (Help, I’m stuck in an endless cycle of the written word!)

Just kidding.

Anyway, how did you enjoy One Step at a Time?

Well, I didn’t enjoy it at all.

Making someone feel pain in real life is tough, so writing fake pain is hard, but in an internal way.

Writing Keagan was… fun. At times. Its always so easy to write the knight in shining armour character, but Keagan isn’t exactly nice. But he isn’t evil either. I had many moments where I wanted to flip the script and make him save the day, but alas. Not all days can be saved.

Thank you very much for reading my fiction and I hope you have a great day.

As for me? I’m tired. So bye-bye!