Present

Sir, are you almost done?" The librarian asked me. "Hmm? Oh right, I must have lost track of time," I laughed. "Will you be checking out anything?" The librarian asked. "Yes, all of these documents," I said. I had just got done reading a newspaper article from 1966. Apparently, a bunch of KKK members in America was slaughtered by some animal... however, only the children survived. There are some interviews of the survivors that actually date to last year. I wonder if I could get ahold of this man and ask him questions. However, if I do that I will have to wait to talk to Francis.

I wonder if I still do it anyway and hide the fact that I know. I can go to his house tonight and talk to him. I quickly grabbed everything I had and ran out to my car so that I could see Francis. If I can just speak to the survivors and ask them if they recognize Francis, I will have no other choice but to confront him.

Once I arrived at his house, I quickly knocked on his door. Luckily, someone answered. "Hello, you must be Lucile... is Francis here?" I asked. I felt a little nervous realizing what she could be. "Why?" She asked. "I just needed to see him quickly," I smiled. "Lucile, who is at the door? We need to hurry and go," I heard a voice. My eyes widened as I pushed past Lucile and looked toward the voice. "A...Arthur?..." he laughed out nervously.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, trying to look away. "I'm going to borrow him for a second," I smiled. I walked up to him and grabbed him by his arm, luckily he followed behind me. I knew it! He was trying to leave.

"What are you doing?" I asked. Francis and I were by a tree across the street. "I was just...." he started, but I cut him off. "Leaving?"

"How did you know-.."

"Because you are obvious and stupid," I said. He looked shocked and terrified. "You aren't allowed to leave, do you hear me? I'm not done with you, not yet," I said, raising my voice. He looked away from me nervously as he finally separated from my grasp. "I don't think we should be friends anymore.."

"Why?"

"Well.... I-..."

"Give me a good reason why we shouldn't."

"Arthur... you don't understand. We can't be friends..."

"Why?!" I said in a demanding way. He started to look down, and I noticed how he was shaking with annoyance. "BECAUSE!!!" He shouted.

"WHY!!???" I shouted back. He breathed hard and angry as he looked me in the eyes. "What is the reason why?! You come into my life, asking ME to be friends with YOU! And you leave? Why?!" I asked, annoyed. He was pissing me off, and I wanted to hit him.

"BECAUSE I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU!" He yelled. I felt my body tense up, and I was frozen. No, that's not right... he can't be in love with me; none of this makes sense. What does this mean about my suspicion? I have no idea what to do. "Well....now you know..." he spoke calmly. Francis turned his back to me, and I still couldn't manage to say anything. "Heh... I understand your disgust..." he hissed.

Once he tried walking off, I quickly grabbed onto his shoulder to stop him. "What is it?..." he asked. "PLEASE! Don't leave...." I said slowly. I looked down at the ground and felt him wrap his arms around me. "Why?" He asked.

So many questions raced in my mind. What will happen to the case if he leaves? Why did he just confess to me? To throw me off maybe? What was he planning on doing? Why did I stop him? I had no idea what to say... "because... I said so..." I said with a straight face. We looked into each other's eyes, and I felt myself sweat. My face started to get red as he burst into laughter. "That is hilarious!" He laughed. "Hey! I am serious!" I said strictly.

"Ahhh, yes.... so it isn't because you love me?"

"What?! Of course not!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes! I just like having you around, and it would make me sad if you left....." I said slowly. GOD! WHY DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A LOVE CONFESSION!? "Gosh, you shouldn't have said that," he smiled. He pulled me in for a hug and shoved his face in the crook of my neck. "What are you doing?" I asked worriedly. "Shhh... just hold still; you move too much," He laughed.

Despite being incredibly cold all the time, he suddenly felt so warm. There was a point where I just gave up on the struggle and let him hold me in his arms. Francis isn't a monster, right? He wouldn't hurt a soul, right? I started to feel myself wanting to cry as I finally wrapped my arms around him. "Thank you," he whispered. I felt his smile against my skin as I held him tighter.

I need to dig more on him in the meantime, so I can't just let him leave without a trace. I wouldn't be able to find him at all. He seems the type that would avoid the hell out of me.

"Tomorrow, let's eat some food," I smiled. "Oh... okay," he smiled nervously. I let go of him and held his head close to mine. "Don't think of ever doing anything stupid like that again. I will be pissed off at you forever," I said seriously. "Oh? Forever is a long time, you promise?" he asked, laughing. However, I pushed him away and started to walk toward my car. "Where are you going?" He whined. "Home, I'm exhausted from chasing you around today," I answered. "Hmmm? That's rude," he laughed. I waved him goodbye and sat in my car for a bit before finally taking off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like

Comment 💖💖💖💖💖

Thanks for reading so far ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️