Chapter 58

I found Lily crying on the floor, clutching a white dress that was ripped to tatters. I walked over to her and kneeled. The black flooring reflected the brightness of the dress, giving off an eerie glow. There were artificial candles that lit up the room a little too brightly when compared to the depressed mood. "Lily, it's okay." I sat next to her and gently placed my hand around her shoulder.

She pushed me away and yelled, "No, it's no okay! Without a dress, I can't get up on stage. They won't let me!" She sniffled.

I scooted until I was facing her face to face and asked, "Who were those kids?"

She looked up at me, surprised that I asked about them. She cleared her throat and responded, "The redhead's Caro-"

I interrupted her, "I don't care about their names. Give me their details." Knowing names means humanizing them no matter how little.

She stuttered, "T-the redhead is a senior, so are the green ones. They'll be graduating t-this year, so they want me to not compete."

"Why do they want you not to perform? I thought you said this whole thing was for fun."

She looked up at me with a hopeless expression. "Don't you remember anything? It's for fun," she air quoted the word 'fun'. My mouth turned into an O. "If they win, they can get into better schools on a scholarship. They don't want me to do it because then they won't win. Now, I don't even have a choice!"

Well, that was enough. I got up and started to walk out of the room. Lily called after me, "Flin, where are you going?"

I waved my hand at her without looking back, "Don't worry, Granpa will take care of it."

"Flin! What are you going to d-" I shut the door to the room and walked faster towards my destination.

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Micheal Grey POV:

I was wearing some casual clothes and sitting inside of Jasmine. She was driving me to Angela's aunt's house to meet her family. While I was heading over, I turned on my phone to take a look at what Vincent was up to.

I saw him poking a stick into the wall of water in front of him, and the water shooting out almost immediately after the stick reached its threshold. He then experimented with a stone, and more water came out. I patted myself on the back, who knew I could be so smart at times? He truly was my clone, or at least that's what I think he is. There's a possibility that he wasn't because of the perfect aptitude that he had. What was his plan? What would I do in this position?

I saw him writing down calculations on the dirt. I zoomed in with my fingers and understood that he was calculating how far he had to throw the stone to make a big enough impact for whatever he was trying to do. Should I just give him the answer? I mean, I knew it. Meaning that he should know it too since he's me. Or, at least I claimed that he was me. I laughed at myself at the confusing mess of words that I was spouting in my head.

You know what, to hell with it. I wrote down the answer on a virtual piece of paper. The paper sent me a send request, and I clicked the forward arrow. *ping* The soft noise symbolized that the paper would be sent to Vincent. I watched him work in the dirt like a primitive ape trying to come up with a way to escape a zoo. Oh! I almost forgot something! I called one of my subordinates and asked him to send Vincent one of those blue evolution pills. He was going to need it.

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Vincent POV:

The calculation that I was doing was impossible. There were too many missing variables and too little time to figure them out. Out of frustration, I snapped the wooden stick in half and threw it down the mountain. I could hear the echoes of where the stick clashed with the hollow trees and flat stones. I stomped all over the writing and smeared them with more dirt.

I sat down and started to think of alternative ways. For miracle. Yes. That was what I was wishing for. A miracle. *PING!* I jolted away from the noise. I hid behind a large boulder and peeked in the direction where the noise came from. All I could see was a small envelope with my name on it. Literally, it said my name on it. The white envelope floated towards my location and halted as soon as it got three feet away from me. The envelope opened up and revealed a small note card. The notecard floated towards me after lifting itself out of the package. The envelope dissipated into thin air, and the card landed in my hands. It felt like a real card with its rough, papery texture.

On the card, it said: The answer's ninety-seven feet.

I looked at the water wall and back at the card. Was someone watching over me? Or, were they watching me? The notecard dissipated while it was still in my hand just like the envelope before. I looked back at the wall before realizing that there was something weighing my hand down. I turned my head back down and saw a little blue pill, rolling around on the expanse of my hand.

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Flin POV:

I'm pretty sure I saw the girls heading towards the bathroom; I paced myself through the crowd of blank faces. Men and women were dancing to a piece of fast-paced, rhythmic music. There was a stark contrast between the black and white tuxedos that the men were wearing and the flamboyant dresses that the women were showing off. The ballroom, or where this was, was filled with indistinct talking, smells of a buffet, and heels clicking on the marble floors. Sheesh, this place reeked of superficial enjoyment. I located the same bathrooms that I saw when I entered and walked quickly towards them. When I made it there, I looked both ways before I pushed open the women's door. I stepped inside. I locked the door from the inside and tied one of the hinges with my shoelace. Now, no one could open it.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!!" screamed one of the green-haired girls.

The other screamed in the same pitch when she said, "A-ARE YOU A P-PEDOPHILE??!!!"

I reassured them that I wouldn't hurt them by putting my hands up above my head. I said, "No, I am a grandfather, concerned about my granddaughter. So, I just want to talk."

The redhead yelled, "Do you know who I am? Do you know who my family is?"

This sounded vaguely familiar. I replied, "No, I do not. Listen, I just want to talk." I walked closer to them, slowly, while still putting my hands in the air.

The redhead screamed, "DON'T GET ANY CLOSER!!!" She limped away with her still bloodied foot. All three of them backed away from me until they hit the wall. Their bodies were faced towards me, but their hands were searching for a way out. This looked really familiar.

"Listen, to me. Let's just sit down and talk. I'm not going to hurt you in any way, shape, or form." I gave them a gentle, old man smile. But, they wouldn't accept it.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" All of them screamed in unison. Their high-pitched voices stung my ears, but I didn't falter as I stepped closer to them.

"Now, now. Let's not act like children. I already told you that I wouldn't hurt you. I am a man of my word, just act reasonably here."

They continued to scream incessantly. The shrieks and cries and squeals finally got to me. I changed the tone of my voice, "Shut the fuck up."

They all stopped screaming. Their hands found themselves at their throats, massaging it. The redhead got a little confident, like the last boy that got what was coming to him, "I-if you try anything funny, then do you know what would happen?!"

"Oh, I wouldn't need to know, hon'," I reached into my tuxedo *Click* "This will all be serious business." Their eyes went wide as they saw my pistol resting at my side.