The Great Games

David had learnt somewhere of a code used in a global war many years ago - a rather ingenious one, one that could be hidden in many a message with little difficulty. Simply put, the word after every punctuation mark was part of a message - simply arrange things just so, and you can send it off, the unsuspecting eye never noticing a thing. Scouring the front-page story, David attempted to make sense of it, attempting to - potentially - decipher it.
Follow the flock or break off and do your own thing? The question posed by Adrian Tompkins, "Kid at Heart" star, who has been pondering what life is about. Dyed hair was apparently a decision he made to be part of the popular people, of course - Cancer horoscopes said he should have.
Follow.
The.
Kid.
Who.
Dyed (died).
Of.
Cancer.
Follow the kid who died of cancer.

​He wants me to go to Kieara's dead sister.
 
Kieara had never told him of her sister, so to discover anything, he'd have to confront her about it. No one knew the girl better than Kieara, and as far as she knew, he didn;t even know she had a sister. She sighed staring out the window. Soon she snapped out of it and finished cleaning then moved to the living room. As many memories as it drug up, she still had to clean up her sisters old toys.
 
Kieara saw this. That lonely boy was something she was familiar with. She knew what it was like to be alone. Her little sister had cancer, and that's why she committed those crimes. To get money to pay for her medical treatment that she couldn't afford. She nodded. "Yeah." she spoke. "Well I um...I have a sister...or had...." She said after a moment. "I moved to this town 3 years ago after my parents passed." She said. She couldn't really think of anything to say.

David had made the link. The similar, but not-quite twin-like looks, the same surname, the age, the death... It all added up. He was clutching at straws, but he had little else to go on, and he had to be sure the puzzle was solved - the looming threat of death hung over them both, a dark cloud that threatened to blot out their lives at any given moment. He scanned the obituaries, looking to see any other potential candidates, but he found nothing - nothing of immediate importance, anyway. Closing the paper, he took his phone out - or rather, the one given to him to contact his associate - and texted the appropriate number.
I'm supposed to get to the deceased girl. Collect me if interested.

((This is assuming the two share some physical traits. If not, I can edit.))
 
((Yes they do that's fine.))

Kieara effectively cleaned up the living room. She sighed ehr eyes feeling watery after going through the belongings. She couldn't bear to part with them, so she'd placed them neatly in a box and put them in her closet. She then sat down on the couch. She realized she might've been being rude to her company, and got up returning to the kitchen. "Hey are you ok? You're quiet."
 
"I'm just thinking. It's what I do. I think."
And that's all I've ever needed to do. I'll get out of this, my brain will see to that. And Kieara? Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have her tag along with me.
Allowing his train of thought to cease, his mind utterly exhausted and unable to proceed without rest, he retained a silence of sorts. He was not being rude - this was simply something he did. when he was thinking, when he needed to rest his head, or when he was worried - the latter extremely rare. Clearing his throat, he then posed a question, asking Kieara with all due haste.
"I might have to pop out later, I have a theory that might work. I wouldn't bother coming, it's a flimsy point, but I'll alert you as soon as I can confirm it."
 
Kieara rose a brow. What was he talking about? Him running off a lot all of the sudden? It didn't look good. "I guess....Um well, the bedroom is through there if you're tired." She told him pointing to a room. "There's a shower attatched." she said in case he wanted to go get clean.
 
"Oh. Well, thanks."
The standard procedure - a kindness was done to him, and he responded with a polite, if only that, response befitting the situation. Nodding his head slightly as he exited the house, he trudged purposefully down the stairs, wanting to have the process dealt with as quickly as humanly manageable. It was this kind of thinking that helped deter people from him, but increased the efficiency at which he worked. He needed to work and think at a pace he could maximise productivity with, and this seemed the most obvious solution. Opening the door to the world outside, a towering, suited male stood before him, the two knowing what the other was there for.
 
Kieara wasn't aware of anything that he was doing. She just thought he was acting weird. After he left she was quite bored, but also worried. She lay down on the couch worn from the day and fell asleep with a throw blanket over her.
 
The crack of a handgun being let off sounded, its harsh sound of potential death echoing into the night. Considering the area this was in, most would be more irritated than worried, but not shocked in the slightest. Irrespective of what happened, the bullet had grazed David's face, leaving a slight mark where the bullet had travelled across him. A slight amount of blood seeped from the wound, yet David had only flinched in the slightest, his words ringing true - that he cared not for his own life, as it was exceedingly dull. He only cared to preserve it now, as things appeared to become minutely more bearable.
"You," muttered the gunman in a low, gravelly voice, "Are to go there in the morning. You are to bring Kieara. You will explain to her your findings, and you will act as you usually do. She appears to be weak, and our boss doesn't like that. He needs her to develop, so her fall is all the more delicious."
"And why did you shoot?"
"I was making a point. I am not afraid to shoot you. Nobody is. Nobody will miss you. Now get back up the stairs, we'll see you in the morning."
 
((idk if you saw my signature or not but the 3rd im going camping))

Kieara jumped when she heard the gunshot jolting awake. It wasn't unusual, but that one sounded a little close to her apartment. She dismissed it as a drug deal, but there was the itching thought in her head of what if it was David? She couldn't help but worry. She lay still though as she waited on his return trying to get back to sleep and failing.
 
((It's been there a while now.))

Walking through the doorway in a manner most collected, David dabbed at his cheek once again, taking care not to make any noise as he trudged throough the area. He did not recall Kieara locking the door, and as it happened, she had not. He peered into his appointed room upon reaching it, and though he did not particularly feel dtrongly about where he slept, he assumed this to be the place that he would feel the most comfortable in. He knew not if Kieara was awake or not, but to him, it did not matter particularly. His already-dim feelings fading, he walked into the room, pushing the cover on the bed neatly aside in order to sleep unobstructed.
"Hrm... Maybe I should shower first.
...
Maybe in the morning."
 
Kieara saw him come in and relaxed. She then fell asleep even though her dreams weren't pleasant once again. Though in an odd way, it felt nice to have someone else in the house again. It felt, comforting, but in a different way because since her sister was a three year old girl, she now had a man in the house.
 
It being summer, and David being susceptible to excessive heat, the male had taken to unbuttoning his shirt while he slept, in order to achieve some sort of comfort - as he lay awake, his only real concern was whether somebody would walk in on him or not. Allowing himself to cool, he gradually fell into a light slumber, tossing this way and that every so often. Oddly enough, his dreams contained nothing of particular interest - they were all the same monotone, grey shade of boring.
 
Kieara continued in a fitful sleep on the couch. She was up at dawn as usual. she woke up and sighed. She figured she might as well make breakfast. She was pretty hungry herself. She got up and moved to the kitchen making blueberry pancakes. She started to mix up the batter letting him sleep in. She figured he'd like the rest. they both needed it.
 
David had decided to take a shower, and wash what grime was on him from his body. The water had been set to a temperature just colder than tepid - he needed to shock himself into being awake, if nothing else. As the water pounded a steady rhythm onto his bare back, he let himself focus on a plan of action, attempting to determine just how he was to go about telling Kieara what it was he needed to do, and what would happen once they got there - or rather, if. The shower over decidedly swiftly, he exited, and with a towel wrapped around his waist, he set one foot outside his appointed room. However, instinct was soon overcome. He recalled that this was not his room in a flat, that he could not just wabder around freely and dry off while he put the kettle on. Thus, he returned to his room, dried himself, and put his clothing back on.
 
Kieara placed the food on the table. She wondered briefly if David was up. If not he could heat his breakfast up a bit later and it would still be just as good. She sighed sitting and thinking. She wasn't sure what was the matter with her. She was in a fog, she couldn't think clearly to save her life. It was starting to eat away at her and drive her insane. Between her mind torturing her with her sister and this situation they were being put through, she was contemplating suicide as an alternative.
 
Hair still damp - though the degree to which it was was minuscule - David entered the room Kieara was in, and looked at her as she thought, wondering what the appropriate way to greet her was. He settled upon the time-tested greeting typical of many, and delivered it in a fairly inoffensive tone.
"Good morning. Sleep well?" he said, the tone words delivered with the usual politeness to be expected of a guest. He sat down in front of his breakfast, but stole one more glance at Kieara - he thought something seemed off with her, but from looking alone, it was impossible to say for certain.
 
Kieara hadn't even noticed him walk in, and she still didn't stir when she was spoke to for a moment. She soon looked over though jolting out of her fog. "huh?" She had to think back to see what he had said. "Oh yeah, I slept ok." she lied, though it wasn't a major one. "How about you?" She asked him.
 
Noting her lack of attention being paid, though passing it off as nothing to be concerned about, David started to eat, mulling over the plan as he chewed. He needed to keep things simple - he had little idea of what he could and couldn't do, regarding the current arrangement, but he did know that he had to get Kieara to her dead sister's grave. And he needed to do it inconspicuously. There weren't many churches in the area, let alone burial grounds, so locating the approximate location would take little time with a map. He couldn't flat-out ask her about her sister - it could be deemed rude, and he would be declined an answer. He assumed that saying his uncle lived and died in the area, and was buried there as such, would be a passable excuse. But first, he had to lower her guard.
"Not bad, not bad at all. I could've been a little less hot, but I assume you wouldn't appreciate me sleeping shirtless in that bed."
small joke. Not his forte, but something he hoped would break the ice, and help her loosen up - he had no idea what was running through her mind, even if he did suspect something was wrong.
 
She laughed a little at his joke, though it was hoarse. "I wouldn't mind." She said then spoke. "Other than that, did you sleep ok?" She asked him. She was trying to perk up, but it wasn't working all that ewll.