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_𝙿𝙰𝙶𝙴 78 14/11/2015
𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.
𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠.
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙,
𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅.
𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑑𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑, 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑦.
𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑜, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑.
𝐴𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐼𝑓 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑒.
𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒.
𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠.
𝐼𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠...
𝐼𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑗𝑜𝑏 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦...
𝐼𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑡.
𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑒.
𝐴𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑.
𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈.
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REPORT 22/4/2014
10:54 am, Sunday
Weather: Sunny, windy.
Emergency: none.
—SIGNED Jin ****** Broomstown, road 67***, California, USA.
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A- "He didn't show up to the check-up..."
J-"Again."
It was the day of the regular check-up at Broomstown, and while every other citizen had come like usual to get their bodies and functions checked, there was one car in particular that didn't bother to drive all the way there...
P-"Spooky..."
J- "*groan* Honestly was last time's accident not enough for him!?"
A- "Jin..."
J- "What? He's a damn adult and he drives around town with his tyres half deflated and his headlights completely shattered!"
Amber sighed. She really didn't like it when Jin had her angry outbursts, and because of that she always tried her best to calm her down before things could escalate... ..but this time she understood Jin completely.
Because she was angry too.
They had warned Spooky again, and again, and again, and yet...
J- "He just won't listen, he's just as stubborn as a mule!"
R- "Ok, Jin that's enough-"
J-"What if he gets into a serious accident one day?!"
"Yeah, what if." Helly said in a sarcastic tone, but awkwardly coughed when he realized that this really wasn't the right time for a joke. "Sorry, haha... hah.. ha."
J-"Helly, I'm really not in the mood right now. You know what I mean. What if we won't be there in time to save his ass like always? What then?!"
"Language!" Poli exclaimed when he heard her swear.
R-"Jin, you really should sit down, you look like you're about to explode. It really isn't as serious as you-"
But Jin interrupted him sharply. "Roy. Doesn't it make you angry too? Am I just the only crazy one thinking that this is beyond disrespectful to us? Disrespectful to all the advice we gave him, disrespectful to everything we did to fix the mess he made... just to be met with complete indifference as if he just doesn't give a single shit!"
Poli didn't even say anything this time.
R-"I... *Sigh* I know it's disrespectful, Jin. I'm really disappointed as well. And, if you ask me, it isn't just Spooky..." Roy was right. It really wasn't just him...
J-"I'm tired, I'm really fucking tired of fixing everyone's mess all the time. This town would literally fall apart without us, and I'm sick of it!"
R-"I know... But, what can we do? No matter what we try to say, they just don't listen. And if we just decided to ignore their calls for help, then who knows what disaster might happen..."
A- "Yeah... Despite being upset myself, I still think that we should take one step at a time and resolve the issue with words and not with violence. I really don't want to use... 'extreme' measures. Not yet, at least."
P-"Amber's right. For now, we should just take things slow. First things first, we need to confront Spooky. I'll go talk to him about the check-up, and about his recent behavior. As a police car, it is my duty to ensure that everyone respects the rules. If he refuses to come, then I'll just drag him here by force. Simple as that."
The group stayed silent for a moment, before Jin sighed again.
J-"Just do whatever you have to do. I'll go back inside and finish my work... God, I really need to sit down before I collapse on the ground." Without saying anything else, Jin walked away, and entered the garage, shutting the door behind her, not wanting to be disturbed. The team could tell that she was still fuming after her earlier outburst, ans she definitely needed some time to herself to "cool down".
H-"Jeez... I've definitely seen Jin angry before, but not that angry!"
P-"Yeah, it was a bit unusual, even for her... Perhaps she's on her period?"
Amber immediately shook her head. "Oh, come on! Just because a girl is upset doesn't mean that she's on her period! We talked about this, didn't we?"
R-"Amber's right. And besides, Jin has always been the "irascible" one of the group, that's just how she is. It's only natural for her to snap once in a while, regardless of whether or not her "cycle" started."
P-"Right. I'm sorry, that was a stupid thing to say..." Seeing the awkwardness of the situation, Poli coughed to clear his throat and he spoke again after a second "I'll just go and find Spooky. I can also take that as an opportunity to patrol a little bit, hopefully the citizens haven't gotten themselves into any serious trouble..."
H-"Yeah, hopefully..."
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(Cleany)-"Spooky...?"
P-"Yeah. He didn't show up to the check-up today. I was wondering if you knew where he was, Cleany. Since you're his friend."
The street sweeper frowned. He stayed silent for a second, as if contemplating whether or not he should answer.
"Well I... I did see him today..."—He glanced at the Town clock before speaking again—"2 hours ago, to be precise. But, he was acting strangely..."
"Strangely?" -Poli furrowed his eyebrows- "Strangely... How?"
C-"Well, when I saw him he was driving very quickly, and he wasn't even looking at the road in front of him, he almost crashed into Posty and didn't even apologize! He just kept driving..."
P-"What?! He almost caused an accident and didn't even stop?"
Cleany nodded in response. "I saw it with my own eyes! Spooky just drove away very quickly without saying anything, as if he was running away. Posty wanted to call the rescue team, but I told him not to do it. I didn't want to disturb you guys..."
P-"Oh...Well, thanks for being so considerate, Cleany, but you really should tell us these things." He sighed and shook his head, "Anyway, do you know where Spooky is right now?"
C-"I'm sorry Poli, I really don't know... I really wasn't paying attention to where he ran off to, I was just worried about Posty... Speaking of him, maybe he did pay attention to what road he took."
P-"Right, I'll talk to him first then. Where is he?" Cleany checked the time by looking at the city clock again, then he turned his attention back to the police car "hm... At this hour, he's probably at the Post office."
"Alright, thank you for your help, Cleany. Have a nice day." Poli faked a smile, as he immediately turned around and drove to the post office as fast as the law allowed him to. He was hoping to find Posty inside, since he really didn't want to waste anymore time by going around town in circles like an idiot. But luckily, his wish was granted, and he felt relief wash over him when he saw Posty inside, carefully organizing letters and packages into small boxes.
The smaller car turned around immediately when he heard the sound of someone's wheels stirring behind him.
(Posty)-"Huh? Poli?"
P-"Posty!"
Po- "What is it? Can't you see? I'm really busy right now!"
Poli sighed, he really didn't like this attitude, not now, but he hoped that Posty would cooperate and wouldn't cause him too much trouble.
"I know, I know..." The police car replied, apologetically "I just wanted to talk to you about something very important. It's about Spooky. You know, since he didn't show up to the-"
But as soon as he mentioned that name, Posty's mood immediately changed. The rickshaw immediately Jumped, anger spreading through his circuits like a wildfire. A few letters even fell to the ground as he stomped his wheels on the concrete with a strong and sudden motion.
Po-"Spooky! Right, him! Poli, you won't believe what he did to me today! He litera-"
"He almost crushed into you and didn't apologize, yeah, Posty, I know." —Poli replied with the most tired voice ever. He really just wanted to get this whole mess over with— "Cleany already told me everything, no need to waste your breath. I need to find Spooky. Right now. And when I do, I promise I'll punish him accordingly for what he did, but I can't waste anymore time, okay? That's why I came here in the first place, to ask you if you knew where he was."
Silence.
Posty took a few deep breaths to calm down, but eventually he replied: "You know the roundabout in the Town centre where the statue is? Well, he almost CRUSHED into me there, then her drove straight and then suddenly turned left! He passed by that new construction site, and then he was gone..."
P-"Hmm... Isn't that the road that leads to his house? Maybe he just went back home?"
"I really don't know!" Posty yelled, frustrated and agitated- "Maybe, maybe not.. But, when you see him, tell him that I'm really angry! I would show up and beat his rear myself but I don't have time to deal with him right now, since I'm so busy with all these deliveries!" After saying that, Posty pointed with his tyre to the pile of letters on the ground that still needed to be organized into boxes.
Poli sighed, not wanting to disturb and pressure Posty any longer, since he realized that he wouldn't really get anymore information from him anyways.
P-"Alright, thank your for your time, Posty. I appreciate it. Good luck with your job!"
Posty nodded and waved his goodbye "Bye! And good luck with Spooky." The way he emphasized his name with so much disgust and annoyance was more proof that he was still holding a huge grudge against him. But it wasn't the time to think about that right now.
Poli darted to the tow truck's house immediately, leaving a very tiny trail of smoke behind. Finally, he reached his destination, and as he slowly drove deeper into Spooky's "tire maze", or so he called it, he started to cough.
The motion of his tyres brushing against the asphalt had raised all the dust accumulated in that area, creating a small cloud engulfing him.
Poli coughed and with a croaked voice he exclaimed "He really needs to clean this place...! Cough!"
Poli sighed, and as the dusty cloud dissipated into thin air, he approached the front door. He peaked out the window but couldn't really see anything but complete darkness.
It had taken him long enough to get here, and the sun was already starting to set. Poli was hoping with all his heart that Spooky was inside. He really didn't want to go around town and search everywhere for him again.
He knocked twice on the door with his tyre.
P-"Spooky! Open up! it's me, Poli! We gotta talk, buddy!"
No reply.
P-"Spooky, answer me!"
Silence.
"Hmm... Maybe he really isn't home...?" He thought to himself with a frown. Poli knocked again, this time less gently than before, and just as he applied more pressure onto the door, it creaked. The police car's eyes widened.
The door was unlocked.
Poli gulped, "well... It's Spooky we're talking about. If there's anyone who's more likely to leave his door open, then it's him..." He thought. But his attempt at reassuring himself didn't really work out. Infact, it only made him feel even more suspicious.
Something wasn't right.
This was a bit too careless, even for Spooky. If he really was hiding, then at the very least he would barricade himself inside, not leave the door wide open for anyone to come in! It was oddly quiet inside as well.
"Spooky... I'm coming in, okay?" Poli said, receiving no reply once again. As he made his way inside, he felt a chill run through his circuit when he felt something slimy on the floor. It was pitch black in the shed, so he lit his car lights to brighten the room.
That's when he noticed the weird, slimy, black goo on the floor that was now sticking to his front left tyre. "what the hell is this...?!" His eyes wandered around the room, that was covered in at least 2 puddles of this strange liquid.
Was it Gasoline? No, the smell was different. Oil? Maybe, but in that moment, perhaps due to shock, confusion, or all of the above, Poli didn't really think about it.
He was concerned about something else.
Or, rather, someone else. "Spooky!"