Chapter 41

"Nan!" Frank gently shook Nancy. Nancy woke up and whispered, "Joe...Joe's still inside..."

"We'll take care of her." An agent had run to Frank's side. Frank very carefully transferred Nancy to him. He then carried Nancy over to the paramedics present.

Frank and Michel had been luckier than expected. They reached the City Courthouse as soon as they could and began to scan through records of estates being bought. There were not many, even when dated two hundred years ago and only one had the vast land that horses required and it was abandoned. Following the map, they decided to navigate through the forest, thinking that the obvious trail would be crawling with Assassins. And it was a blessing that they did or Nancy and Hope would probably be lost to them.

He then went over to Hope who was helped by another agent who was applying some antiseptic to the scratches and cuts on her. Someone had brought her a drink and she gratefully thanked her. Frank sat next to her and held her close.

"I was so worried about you."

"I'm sorry."

He kissed her forehead. "Don't be. It's my fault. I landed you into this mess."

Hope leaned against his shoulders and sobbed. "It was horrible...the things they do..." She looked up at him. "Get Joe out of there quickly...they're hurting him...the man...he is evil..."

"Shh...we will." Frank tilted her head and was about to kiss her lips when Michel tapped him on the shoulders.

"We have to go now."

"I'll be back Hope." Frank stood up and ran after Michel who was running after Grey Man, Fenton Hardy and a few other agents.

He heard Hope called out to him. "Be careful...I'll wait for you..."

I will Hope. I will come back for you...I promise.

"Look! A chopper...from the mansion...flying away...and smoke...we're too late!" Michel shouted to the rest in front as they were nearing the estate.

Frank look up the sky. Michel was right.

Joe...

Frank increased his speed immediately. They all heard a gunshot. One of the agents had taken down an Assassin. Frank did not stop to see what happened to the fiend. He felt fear like he never felt before. It was only when loss seemed so imminent that he allowed himself to feel what he long wanted to give in to.

He and Michel reached the estate first, passing by Grey Man and Fenton due to their youth and the others. He was shocked by what he saw, men in various stages of undress were running all over the field. But when they saw the Network agents reaching them with their guns, they raised their hands immediately in surrender. A small building on the field was burning.

Frank rushed up to one and shouted in his face in all urgency. "Where's the blond kid?"

"In..inside...I swear...we are not fully fledged yet...he made us do this..."

Frank's heart sank and he shoved the guy to the ground and raced to the burning building, so did Michel. They both covered their head with their jackets and dashed through the building. It was not totally on fire but it would soon be. The smoke was too thick, he could not see anything.

"Michel, you go to the left, I'll go to the right...if the fire's too big, just get out anyway you can!"

"You too!"

Frank searched around, avoiding pieces of burning wood as best as he could. He was losing all hope when he heard a soft faint moan from somewhere in front of him.

"JOE! Hang on! I'm here...JOE!"

Frank followed the voice and kicked down a burning door. There was Joe, trapped in the fire. Frank used his coat to beat out the fire eating up his brother's naked body and very swiftly, carried Joe away.

"Joe, it's me...we're out of here...we are...hang on in there..." A burning wood fell in front of Frank, burning his leg.

Enduring the pain, he kicked the wood away and dashed his way through the fire which was furiously threatening to devour their very beings, angered by their impudence to escape from its crackling arms. He could not see the entrance with the smoke. "Michel! I got him! Get out of here...it's too dangerous!"

A hand grabbed his. "This way."

Together with Michel, Frank, carrying Joe, made their way safely out. When they out in the open, Michel told Frank he would get the paramedics to come over and quickly send Joe to the hospital and ran off. Frank could also see some agents trying to hose water on the fire. He would have to ask where they found the hose and the tap. But it did perhaps bought that that few precious seconds.

He could finally take a good look at Joe, to gauge Joe's injuries. His heart broke when he saw Joe's face all swelled up, blackened with soot. Frank wanted to cry when he took in Joe's burnt body, bloodied, charred and naked. He dreaded to think what the men arrested in the fields was doing to him prior to the surrendering to the hunger of the inferno.

Then Frank's skipped many beats in fear. Joe was no longer moaning. He was unconscious.

No, he cannot, cannot be dead. There's too much to say, too much!

"Joe, c'mon...please...wake up...Joe!" Frank held Joe tight and shook him a little, willing for Joe to wake up.

And Joe did, lifting up a charred hand, he seemed to want to touch Frank's face but then he put it down just as immediately. But Frank saw then movement and took the hand tenderly only to find Joe weakly struggling to pull it away.

"I'm here...you're safe...you're...you're going home."

Joe's eyes closed, the hand went limp.

"SOMEBODY! HELP HIM! GET THE PARAMEDICS! ANYTHING! JOE!"

Fenton and Grey Man did not enter the estate though. The moment Michel alerted them of the chopper, Fenton phoned the headquarters' intelligence unit to track the chopper down and went back to where they parked their vehicles, ready to return to base for further information and to give further instructions when Michel ran up to them.

"Mr Hardy, this is important."

"Speak Michel."

He had come by an armored car which had taken the usual way into the estate after all was clear. But still, he was breathing rapidly, not from out of breathe, but more of worry and anxiousness.

"Your son, he's on his way to the hospital. He's seriously and I mean very critically injured."

"Frank?"

"No, Joe...Joseph...he..." Michel paused for breathe. "Frank requests for you and Grey to stop for a moment in silence and pray for him."

Fenton gave Michel a funny look and he turned to Grey who already held out his hands.

Michel took Grey hand and urged Fenton to join them as well with his look. Fenton link his hands tentatively with Grey and Michel. He had not prayed for a very long time and the information had left him a little shock.

Michel led them in the prayer. It was short, but it was sweet. Fenton closed his eyes and allow a sensation of numbness to take over.

I never did a DNA testing. You know, it might not make a difference anymore.

"Lord Jesus, You said if two or more are gathered in Your presence, You will be present. We have not prayed for a long time but we ask You keep someone dear to us, Joseph, safe and sound. We ask that You be with him now to give the strength to carry on. And we ask You watch over Frank too, let him also be sound. We sincerely ask this with all our hearts. Please..." Michel's could not carry on. They stood in silent for a while. "Amen."

"Amen."

"What's that?" Kleptous stared out the window. Bob lazily put down the paper he was reading.

"What?"

"We are being followed." Kleptous' voice was anxious. "Damn, we have been too late."

"Oh...just shut up Kleptous. Let me see."

He did not have to look behind for the US military chopper swung next to them. And not only on one side but on both sides. Bob felt bitterness in his mouth. They had been close.

Always close. Always a second too late! Cursed Network. Always too cheap to buy your own crafts.

"You will land yourself on the clearing in front or we will have to take action. I repeat, land on the clearing in front." A man with a loud hailer commanded them from the chopper on their left. He was not in army uniform though, he was a Network agent.

So, we finally found one.

"You should have gotten us a chopper with missiles! Not a comfy dumpy one like this!" Kleptous punched his seat. "I won't be taken alive."

He went to the cockpit and pointed his gun at his fellow Assassin pilot. "Ram into that chopper!"

"We'll fall. I cannot do that. I'm landing."

"What kind of Assassin are you? Do you want me to shoot you?"

A zap on Kleptous arm cause him to fall backwards. The co-pilot had turned around and touched Kleptous with an electric prod.

The pilot pushed a button and a panel rose between them and the passengers. Bob was shocked too. He could not figure what was going on until he saw the helicopter landing on the clearing as instructed.

"Go on! Let's do this together." Kleptous turned to Bob with wild eyes. Bob knew what Kleptous about to do was but he could not bring himself to.

"C'mon! Assassins are not taken alive!" Kleptous eyed him for a second and then begin to froth at the side of his mouth while he dropped to the ground, racked with painful convulsions while Bob just looked on.

"You...you...don't...have a pill...always knew you're ..." Kleptous died with his eyes staring accusingly at Bob.

While Bob looked with morbid fascination at Kleptous suicide, the two pilots took the chance to grab hold of him and take his gun away. He was never more confused and angry. The feeling of betrayal was terrible to taste. The two choppers had landed and two Network agents went over to help his pilots restrain him.

"Why are you turning against me? Do you think that they will let you off?" he snarled.

"Oh yes," said the pilot. "You see, we belong with them. The other pilots."

Bob pierced the pilot with murderous eyes while the co-pilot handcuffed him.

P/S: The fire rescue by Frank and Michel is totally unrealistic. With fire as big as the one I imagine, the three of them would have perished. In a fire, I think it's best to let the fire fighters do their job and not rush into the inferno. That's what I think. :)

Chapter 42

Frank unlocked his door and before he would even turn the knob, the door flew open and Hope rushed out and held him in a fierce embrace.

"What took you so long? I'm worried sick..."

He stroked her hair and disengaged himself. Holding her shoulders, he looked into her eyes.

Joe's girlfriend. The love of his life. Now...mine.

"You look terrible! I'll make you ginger tea, it will calm you down..." She walked swiftly into the kitchen and began brewing her concoction.

Frank passed by a full length mirror as he dragged himself into his living room. She was right, he looked terrible. The doctor had dressed his wounds and he knew a part of his left shin was covered in gauze. It throbbed dully while he walked. His hair was disheveled and it seemed like he had aged a few years in the past couple of days. He tried to life up his lips to smile but was unable to do so. He was not even supposed to come back yet.

I should be keeping vigil. Should have listened to Trish long ago and let bygones be bygones but how can I? Why am I still unsure of what to do?

Slumping down on the sofa, Frank never felt more dejected Even the news that Bob was captured did not bring even the slightest glint of triumph in his eyes. He felt like he had lost and he had lost tremendously.

He could no longer stay in the hospital. He left before Joe was out of the operating theatre. Like always, he just walked away. He did not even know how he managed to find his way back, just that he left the hospital and the next moment, Hope was hugging him. Migraine, his old friend, came back to show its concern.

"Here...drink some." Hope tried to pass him a cup of spicy drink. The smell of it woke him up a little from his immersion into his confusion but he had no appetite for anything. After rescuing Joe, he did not know if he could ever forget the smell of cooked flesh, the hideous sight of the rotting, peeling wounds. He shook his head and leaned his head back against the sofa, closing his eyes.

They raped him. The bastards raped him.

He heard Hope sat the mug down on the glass coffee table and then shuffling closer to him. She laid her head on his chest and he placed a hand on her back. He knew she understood that he did not want to say anything now but he knew too she was anxious to know about Joe. Frank had not known the whole story since they put Nancy on sedatives while he was at the hospital but he had the feeling that Joe must have done something for the two girls. Something very wonderful.

Just like what he always does for us. Always wonderful things. Until...

But he did not want to ask Hope now, for fear Hope would then question him about Joe's condition. He would not know what to tell her for he honestly had no idea. He half expected to hear a phone call from the hospital, asking him to go down to the morgue to collect the body. Tears came unbidden to his eyes, but he would not let Hope see.

We may never know now if we can be brothers again.

But Hope saw the tears, she was always pretty sharp. Just like Joe, seeing and spotting things first with their bright eyes. Kissing them away, she held him closer and let him cry like a baby in her shoulders. He cried until he could cry no more and she simply held him like how she would hold a child.

Guilt, shame, anger, sadness, fear. They attacked him until all he felt was numbness to reality. The two of them then fell asleep in each other arms on the sofa, worn out by the torrential events.

A single charred hand reaching for his was the last thought in his mind.

"He's brought in...and we ordered the DNA testing as you said."

"Thank you Agent Angelos."

"My pleasure."

Fenton had declined to return back to the headquarters in Nevada and decided to remain in their new make-shift branch in Little Port for the reason that he would be close to his family, if only for a while before he had to fly off to a new stint. And so, they had to send Bob to Little Port before transferring him back to Nevada after Fenton was done questioning him.

He walked over to the room where they kept Bob. The night was long but it had not ended. Fenton had to know why Bob would be tempted to the dark side, to seek some understanding. It was always difficult when he had to arrest family.

But I have practice.

Bob was inside, cuffed legs to the table and hands behind the chair. He gave Fenton a smirk which Fenton returned with a mirror gaze of his own. For Fenton knew the smirk would be one of last few pleasures Bob could allow himself. It was no fun to lock in solitary confinement for a large part of one's life.

"So brother-in-law! You're the Network in our family. It's extremely coincidental, don't you think?" Bob sneered. Fenton had not known the man could manage to talk in any other manner besides droning.

"I have some questions for you. I hope you co-operate and I'll ask them to be lenient to you."

Bob spat at him, the spit hitting his cheek. Taking out his handkerchief, he very composedly wiped it away.

"Lenient! You weren't any more lenient to that bastard child you call your son!"

"Bob...the questions are very simple. We'll first start with why. It's good to let these things out."

An evil look came into Bob's eyes. Fenton had no idea what he was planning but whatever it was, there was no way Bob could escape. Suddenly, a stray, irreverent thought came into his mind. Bob should be honored that the head of the Network was interrogating him. These exercises were normally left to his subordinates. And Fenton actually found the thought amusing.

But of course he doesn't know that. Fool.

"Yes...you're right...it's good to let these things out...I'll tell you everything and...bless my soul...I'll be at peace at having make a confession." Bob suddenly spoke in a genial manner. Fenton was not fooled. Bob was simply mocking him.

"Why? Some people are drawn to different things because of our experiences. I want power! I want glory and I want control. But so do you, just that you chose the right way and I chose a deviant way to achieve what I want. When you have a father that puts you down all the time! When you have no love in your family...no love anywhere, always called the dull one, the stupid one, always being the one being ignored, I told myself then, I shall not be ignored again!"

"And I met someone, someone whom your Network killed long ago. He was my mentor, the person who introduced to the world I know now. He helped me seek revenge on an irritating college mate of mine, who teased me mercilessly, caused me to feel smaller than an ant. I felt the surge of joy when I wring his little neck and saw his pleading eyes! And from then, I know I will crush all who anger me, all who oppose me!"

Fenton felt sick to the stomach as he always did when questioning Assassins. They were a crazy bunch who thought that all the evil deeds they done, all the sufferings they caused were all justified. The perversion of their soul, the brutality of their actions always left a bitter taste behind. They may all rot in hell.

The Assassins are the scum of the Universe. Murdering, pillaging, looting, they were even capable of Xenocide if they had the means and they almost had the means. But the vial was safe now. The Network too, under Professor Linko's team who had been transferred out of Maximillian Enterprise into the headquarters had developed a cure for the virus. The Network was now petitioning the government for the rights to destroy the virus and forever keep it out of man's hands.

"Laura loved you. Have you ever thought of her purity? Her goodness? And how you might repulse her if she knew? You were her elder brother, she never thought otherwise."

Bob eyes glazed over, for the first time, he seemed human. "I loved her too. I still love her. I love her more than anything in the world!" Hatred soared in his eyes. "She would be mine if you haven't came into the picture! I was ready to leave it all for her...for her! Maybe earn more from my missions and then I would marry her! Break free from my foster home and marry her, start a family with her but you're right. I'm her elder brother and she never thought otherwise."

"I wanted to kill you. But I stopped, seeing how happy she was with you. And so I kept it down inside me. Besides, you were supposed to be a policeman and then a private investigator. I had to steer clear for a while. But, now I wonder, if she'll be happier with me. At least, she won't be rape because her husband's enemy would come back and haunt them!"

Fenton understood a little clearer now. Bob never cared about money; his mind was twisted with revenge and hatred. Assassins too get paid pretty well. And suddenly, a thought hit Fenton's mind.

"Joe. Did you frame him or was he working with you?"

Bob laughed like a maniac. Fenton cringed. "That boy, so depress after learning he was not yours, he was borne out of rape, I decided let him experience the fate that Laura went through! He'll know his mother's torment! He will! And what easier way than to lead a pretty boy into a state prison, maybe spread some rumors that he's homosexual? And the best punch; get him in on charges of rape. It's a done deal. It was so easy to get him hooked on heroine! I hated the boy. Laura loved him so much it was ridiculous but whoever Laura loved, I try to love as well. In my eyes though, he's always the troublemaker. I was so glad you brought him to Bayport instead of keeping him here, so I don't have to see Laura showering affection on him! But I never knew why you wanted to separate your family. But I figured that it had to do with your investigative life. There's more to it, am I right? You were actually sending the boys for training. I know now...I was so blind then. This is how Network works. Must be tough to win fans over to your base."

"Laura was so upset when she remembered the rape, you weren't around as usual and I flew over to Bayport to console her, to be there for her. But she made me angry! I told her to leave you and come with me; we'll have another golden-hair baby just like Joe who would not be a rapist's son. She would not listen, she fell to her death, trying to run from me...if only she would yield...it would never happen..."

"Why would she run from you?" Fenton was seething. He could guess but he hoped with all his heart he guessed wrongly.

"She loves me! She would have done it with me, make love to me but the thought of you! The thought of you scared her! She should be mine!" Bob was screaming like a child not getting what he wanted.

Fenton wanted to pummel the man then, wanted to hurt Bob but he calmed himself down. He was not like Bob. Bob would get his due punishment. But now he knew the truth.

"Why Joe?"

"Isn't it obvious? Don't you hate Joe too because of who he is and who sired him? Laura was kept in the dark, only you knew. You should know how it felt! Only I was brave enough to punish him for who he is! You had not the guts."

"I treated him like my own! Always! I never deny him of any opportunities...and even if he is a rapist's son, he doesn't have to pay for his father's crimes!"

"Spoken like a true do-gooder...but you are punishing him in your own way too. Your forced smiles cut him deeper than your harsh words. That boy was always sensitive. Oh yes, you remembered his birthday, you talk to him sometimes but you were so cold to him, not caring about what he did. But the rest you will protect and treasure so...you will want to know everything in their life. I think I know more about Joe than you do. You never even took the time to hear him play the piano. And he was good." Bob sniggered.

"And you'll never be able to hear him play again."

White hot anger. Anger. Must calm down. Cannot be rash.

"So imagine my betrayal when I know he's the bastard son, the son Laura should never have love so much and looking at her so sad whenever she looked at him, I can't help but want to hurt him, punish him for all the sorrows he and his father brought her! And he came into the house and saw her fell. Rushed to her side he did and silly fool got his fingerprints all over all, trying to revive her. It was easy to overpower him when he was distraught but I didn't get to finish my conditioning, you neighbor heard the fall and called the police. I made a quick getaway, leaving Joe behind looking daze."

"But not enough evidence! The jury was too lenient, seeing his pretty face and relenting and that clever lawyer. I have to devise more ways of making him hated by all who loved him, who he loved. Imagine my joy when you packed them up and shipped them back to Barnett Bay. And you were always suspicious; my stupid father actually left that separate will for Joe. But...I don't think Joe even knew he was entitled to the money until you contested the claim. Events just played into my hands."

"And he had to run away from a family that always seemed to be suspecting him, trying too hard to be normal towards him when he knew that it was all a front. The conditioning was not complete but he forgotten that he had seen me. I was there for him. He confided in me during one night he was drunk. He drove away the next morning, I tempered with his van's brakes. I wanted him to die. But he knocked into Ben instead. He did try to swerve though when he could not jam brake in time, desperately but you weren't there to see it. Poor Ben. And Nancy...she was there, a trustworthy witness, seeing Joe ram down your son when it was me! ME! Using his hands on the wheel, his feet on the pedals."

"And my plan unfolded and changed like they always did. You are now so convinced that your son was beyond redemption. I was the only one he could trust because I let him talk to me, I listened as if I understood. He was in hiding but he wanted to come back to get his watch and his mom's locket. I told him, I'll let him do so but he would have to stay far away from the family in future. Stupid fool. After I arranged the time for him, I drugged your daughter, put on a blond wig and bright blue contact lenses. In her drugged state, she did not know who it was, just a faint image. I left her to sleep and Joe arrived just as I planned. I let him in, not letting the servants see him, drugged him and messed with his mind a little, but not too much as there was no time. Put him naked next to your sleeping daughter. He woke up first, thinking that perhaps he did do it, confused. He ran out of the house and the servants saw. Marjory woke up too and screamed before running into the bathroom to clean herself up, feeling extremely dirty. She washed away all evidences and refused the rape kit but, the hair and your influence was good enough for a conviction. You thought you dispatched the last fatherly act to Joe by shortening his sentence, but let me tell you, it was hell inside! Kleptous was in the same cell as him, he told me. And I was satisfied for a while."

Control Fenton, control. Control. He's trying to get to you.

"And you know why am I telling you? I'm not trying to re-unite father and son. Joe's fully conditioned now, he believed so strongly and unwavering that he did those heinous crimes. I won't be surprise if he asks you to arrest him for killing his mom, which of course he was not convicted the first time round. And the more you try to convince reality is not what he thought, the worse his mental state would be. Oh, you can try to un-condition him of course, but you will risk him going mad. He was already out of sorts before I even said those magic words. You lost Fenton, you'll always be in guilt...but I guess it should be easy to bear since he is not your own."

Bob laughed uncontrollably until tears rolled down his eyes and his whole body shook violently. Fenton abruptly stood up and left the room, unable to continue with the interrogation. He knew that Grey Man and Michel heard and saw everything from the one way mirror and the intercom. Walking past them, he felt Grey Man laid a hand on his shoulder.

"The DNA results are out. We did it as fast as we could for you."

"I don't want to know."

"I respect your decision."

With a sinking feeling, Fenton walked out of the interrogation room. The person he had wanted to hurt then was not Bob, but himself.

"You're not going to tell him?" Michel asked Grey Man, his expression somber. Some other agents had taken over the interrogation but Bob had gone quite mad. Michel watched Bob throw up incoherent answers with a fixation. He had never felt more disgust at anyone in his life.

"It will drive him to suicide. All that he ever stood for, all that he ever protected, but he failed to protect his own son." Grey Man sighed. "But I'm not a father, I don't know anything. All I know now is that if Frank should know the truth, he would be worst than his father. We would probably have to tie him down forever to protect him from committing murder."

"Or suicide."

"Yes. He's strong but he's really still much attached to Joe. Sometimes, I feel, he needed his little brother more than his little brother needed him."

"They were that close?"

Grey Man looked at Bob and clucked his tongue in disgust. "Oh...yes...So close they will die for one another without batting an eyelash."

Michel felt a lump in his throat. A mad man had ruined a perfectly happy family but still, it was yet another risk a Network agent has to face. Devious revenge planned for them, threat of losing all they hold dear. But when an innocent have to suffer because of some warped mind, it just crossed the line.

Be ok Joe, alright? I'll see you later buddy.

Endnotes. (For those whom I mailed the original to, this is different because the original is very disorganized.)

I will like to thank the wonderful survivors who have told me their stories. I loaned your life experiences, mixed in with mine. I hope none of you hate me for writing it out.

A lot of what happened are true stories of mine and other people who had told me their stories or I read them somewhere and feel for them...I won't say which are true or not true, only that a lot of times, I wish those "true" parts are actually falsified. I exaggerate a lot because I'm so afraid to go really deep into the issues, still am...but I'm feeling so much better now.

This story is intense for me but I try to write with restrain. Maybe I'm also a little evil inside myself to cause Joe to suffer like that :) But I don't think I am. Like Michel said, evil people kick cats and dogs, not feed and cuddle them. Just kidding...heehee. Evil comes in many forms. But his story is one that is mixed with many stories I've heard...real stories...only exaggerated to create that disgust all should have at the evil that is done.

Some people make sick jokes out of prison brutalities, gay bashing, girls being rape (I don't know some people tend to put the whole blame on the victim when these things happen. It's too unfair. The pain they go through, we can never understand.) These sick jokes should stop. And also, it is too another symbolic kind of story of something that happened in Indonesia when the Chinese minorities were blamed for the economic recession and had to suffer through untold tortures, difficult to prove. It's about how some bastards would prey on helpless beings and do unheard things unto them. These kinds of prejudices and evils should be eradicated from this world. Normally, a friend told me, (she's studies psychologist) these crimes are done because of power, the need to gain an upper hand on someone. I was just wondering what's the use of our souls if we can't love and only seek to dominate brutally?

Some mistakes. Frank drinks cognac. Not martinis. I mixed up martini with Martell VSOP. Yup. I'm not a drinker of hard liquor though I have a weakness to alcohol too...but mostly the cheap ones. However, I stayed sober! It's a victory dance for me.

Not only that, Joe's story is also inspired by...let's call her Annie. She will know who she is. She was sired by her mom's rapist and her mom, though tried to love her, could not really do so. She's now living separate from her mom but she's healing. I'm glad that her mom did not have the heart to abort her, even though she must be in intense trauma but the baby is really innocent and deserves a chance to be born. Annie is really a very wonderful girl and I wish her all the best with her mother. Her father's the perpetrator, not her. I wish she knows that and I wish she knows she should be in the world. The world will be different without her. It would be different without any one of us. In her way, she made the world beautiful.

Why Joe? Maybe it's sparked because I read in Realm that "Joe" lamented about having an ill-fated life. That cracked me up. The real reason was this story was thought of a year ago with original characters, I need time to research right? :) But I hate my original characters; somehow, they always seemed like Frank and Joe or the other pair of famous brothers in Dragonlance. I thought I was ripping off so might as well rip off. I grew up with Frank and Joe, and I love them.

I needed Joe to descent, really descent. Because his descent into madness is dear to me. Battling for sanity is difficult when no one understands. I want to see him out of it. I will see him out of it because I want out of it as well.

I needed Frank to be the strong one, the one with multiple, conflicting roles and a strong sense of duty but in emotional pain and running on empty.

The torment might have been on of the Hardy friends...but then, I was wondering, what if they were caught on the wrong side of all they have been fighting for? Would it be an interesting twist? Plus, I don't really feel for any of their friends. They are more badly developed than Frank and Joe. Frank and Joe's characters development is more in the reader's mind than really reflected in the stories. Joe's takes after me, sporty and yet with hidden musical talents! :) At least I hope I do have some... Frank's like the brother I always wished I had, so he can save me from my mean sister who scream at me all the time, ;). Just kidding. My sister's really cool. Plus in this story, he's really rich...could buy me a Porsche easily. Don't want a rich boyfriend...they play around too much.

Besides rational reasons, I kind of drew lots also...guess who got the bad lot?

All characters in this story besides Grey Man are tormented. Where I got the title from? Ripped it off again from Planescape Torment. I live in a fantasy world. And Descent (the next story)? Yup! It's another computer game but I don't play it. The movie for the game flashed from Baldur's Gate and the name stuck.

Some tidbits and characters explanations. This will explain why some characters who seemed so promising only had cameos or would soon be nothing more but a memory.

I have an idea of how the story will develop. If you hate this story, please don't read the rest because the next four will develop on this story, yup more torment to come. The stories are Torment, Descent, Plague (I'll get rotten eggs thrown at me for this one.), Believe ( How I wish I can start on this one now.) and lastly, Deliverance (no idea how it would start but I know how it will end.)

Malcolm: We'll see less and less of him. The gentle giant is healing very well from suicide survivor grief and doing great things with his shelter. Love him forever. Maybe will bring him back...he's one of the original characters that I really tried to put my heart and soul into developing but I am not successful. His initial role actually was Michel's role...but I changed it at the last moment.

Michel: He's not a gay. I don't know how to write gay or lesbian characters... .He really really love _one of the girls_. He's always haunted, looking at the stars, wondering where his daughter is. He has a very soft spot for Joe, as we can all see...it's that kind of funny bond. And the bond is inspired when my best friend told me once that she just feels like she needs to take care of me, in a good way, not those burdensome way and we're not lesbians...:) It's a very innocent and yet touching friendship. I plan to search for Michel's daughter in maybe Deliverance because Believe storyline is set but I need help on it...I don't know what to do with his daughter.

Hope (Spoilers): I'll put it at the end of Descent. But I know I wrote conflicting stuff about her car and eyes. Ok, she has intense dark green eyes. Heehee. Humor me yah? SO dark and green can be used to describe her eyes. And her car's a Nissan, not a Toyota. Kleptous car is a Toyota.

Regina: Her story with Ben is a secret they want to keep, but they are deeply devoted to one another. Regina is a hard character to write because I don't have her bitchiness. She's not a bitchy saint...she's a bad girl who can be so good at times. But since I don't know how to write her, I don't think I'll try too hard.

Ben: He's actually the most neglected of all the children. At least Joe had his father's hidden scorn before. He has not musical talent, even Frank can play a tune or two, so he did not reach a special bond with Laura. Plus even though he's the eldest, he's the most free-spirited and Fenton did not know what to do with him. But he will be the best father out of the three brothers. He has a very big heart. He has a degree in Social Work. Now...why is that not surprising?

Marjory: Marjory, besides Joe's added on characteristics, is built on me as well. Pampered, spoilt, causing unintentional grief to others. But she's strong in her ways and will pull through her ordeal.

Bob and Kleptous: They represent for me all the evil in the world. I hate them. I wish they disappear.

Splash for the next story:

Now that Fenton knows the truth, what will he do with it? A father's torn between a lost child and those that are still healing from the evil done on them. Joe continues on his fall into madness. Frank continues to be tormented by his past, neglecting what his heart tells him.

But he will know how he really felt all along. And hopefully, it won't be too late for him.

Hopefully it won't be too late for the both of them.

Please be kind to my story. I want it to be a story on neglect, prejudice, abuse and the evil man can bring on man, leading us to our own destruction. I hope I write well...but I know I probably did not. I'm now reading plenty of thrillers and mysteries from the masters to make sure that my case files in future are not so loosely put together.

P/S: The most sensitive theme here is probably prison rape and brutality. But the central message in this story is that people can be so evil to people. I haven't met anyone who suffered the way Joe did, really, he's like the dumping ground for what me, my friends and other survivors have to go through. I am super lazy in creating new characters that somehow cannot grow on me. Somehow maybe I got carried away...but the story tells itself. I used prison as a place, it may not even be a real prison, sometimes, a prison...like Joe mentioned one time, can also be in the mind, created by the torment the perpetrators heap upon the victims. It could be in school, in juvenile detentions, etc. even at home where females as well as males can be harassed, and frightfully so. Some say it's all about violence and power. I don't know. I'm no psychology but I really want to address such vileness in the world. I wish I can help eradicate it but I'm not very high on the commitment part so I keep breaking away from groups but I really want to do something.

Rape again is a theme. Physical rape is heinous, so is rape of the mind and spirit which can do the same and sometimes even more intense level of damage. Hey, sorry...I used to be a literature student...you know...literal, figurative...:) I just like to say a lot of physical torment in this story is figurative. Mental torture is very difficult to explain, only when I draw a physical, metaphoric comparison...can I do something for it.

I researched on prison brutality after hearing some stories and two friends. A mother lost her child to suicide because he was raped in prison and no one would help him. He's innocent of his crime. Some people say rapists will get what they deserved in prison. I don't feel so. It's not in our place to judge. In the end, he has to answer to God, not us and so do we. Whatever evil he has done, no one can use that to justify evil done on him by people.

A friend of mine I suspect could have been harassed, but not exactly in prison but I don't know how to ask him, he only told me in bits here and there and I slowly watch him fade away. But it's his story to tell me, if he doesn't I cannot force him. If you like more information or like to know if I'm making it up; please visit www.spr.org STOP PRISON RAPE. At least in your country someone is doing something. It's better than not caring two hoots about it and laughing at the insensitive jokes and remarks. Prison is a place for reform...but somehow, in quite a few cases, it doesn't and only aggravates the situation.

God Bless all of you. Be kind to my story...and I need help in writing case files and mysteries. Not from America myself, I only know the country the Hardy Boys stay in through my dear friends online and through travel guides. I don't know where Barnett Bay, Little Port and Vermont Ridge should be. They are fictitious stuff...just like Sunnydale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And like I mentioned before, case files are not my strong points...writing really isn't as well.

Thanks for reading...I really tried my best to write as well as I could, as responsibly as I could. :) I'm not perfect.

Ocean

P/S: Hate the story? Don't flame Moonstar...she's really nice. Flame me instead at itsmeocean@hotmail.com

And Joe sang a song on one chapter 14. It's called Silence by Jars of Clay. I was feeling very low then and I thought God was silent. So I sang this song to myself and then felt His presence again.

So is Joe singing to God or to his mom? I don't know. I will let him have a secret. But I think it's to both.