PART 5

J-JOE stood motionless in the office, he didn't know how to process everything that just happened; his best friend just confessed to being the masked vigilante who protected their town, albeit through very violent measures. What was he to do now? One small crime and The Scar-Face Reaper would off him.

He tried to think rationally. The most rational thing to do would be to inform the authorities. But how would he do that? He couldn't just walk into the police station and tell them his best friend was the masked vigilante who terrorized the town. So how could he handle the situation? He didn't know what to do. He just stood there, feeling sick to his stomach, his mind racing. All he could think about was what would happen if he told the police about him. The Scar-Face Reaper would find him and probably kill him. So much for being rational. He had to have faith in his best friend to somehow protect him. He was just hoping that when he got home tonight, he would be able to see him again and his best friend wouldn't be gone.

What if he could find his best friend first, would he have a chance to tell him? If he could see his best friend, and explain to him what was going on maybe he could protect him from himself. He could warn him and ask him to turn back. But would he listen to him? He didn't know. What if they caught him and told him his best friend was The Scar-Face Reaper and then he went back out there? If he could just stop The Scar-Face Reaper before he found him, would he have a chance to stop him from killing anyone? He didn't know. He didn't know what to do. If he could only think clearly, he would tell the authorities. But his mind was racing so fast he could barely think straight. All he knew was that he didn't know how to handle things the right way, and he didn't want to die.

"I... I... I... I don't... know..." were the words that came out of his mouth, sons of fear and grief were starting to overtake him as he tried to keep himself from crying. He had a lot to think about. He didn't know how to handle things the right way. He didn't want to be a burden to anyone, even his family. He couldn't bear to be in the wrong place. "I'm nobody. My life's over."

It was as if his world had suddenly fallen apart, he could see everything now. Even with the black hole in his life not letting in any light, he was able to now see all the little things around him. He was alone. He was completely and utterly alone. It was all over for him now, he couldn't even think about the future.

"I could give in. I could admit defeat and throw up my hands and say, 'Yeah, everything I've accomplished in my life, everything I've done to help people,' but it won't matter, not while he's around monitoring me."

It was then someone walked into the office J-JOE was crying on the floor in; it was the girl with a loose purple sweater thrown over her shoulders he spoke to earlier. He had hoped she wouldn't see him crying on the floor, he was trying to hold back the tears but he couldn't. He felt like he could let go now, and he knew he had to do it, if he didn't, he would never get out of this darkness.

"Hey," The girl said softly as she walked over to the couch in the office and sat down. She was going to break him out of this sadness. She was going to make him feel a little better. She knew he was going through something and she felt terrible for him. She hoped she could take away some of that pain.

"Listen," The girl said softly as she put a hand on his shoulder. She felt terrible that he was going through this. It reminded her of when she was younger and her friends would sit around and cry after a bad break up. "Do you want to talk about what's going on? Do you want me to take you home?" She asked as she smiled up at him, hoping he felt better and was able to get out of this.

She just sat there and smiled up at him as she listened to what he was saying. She looked into his eyes and saw how sad and alone he was. It made her feel like she wanted to help him, but she knew that it might only make things worse. Her smile quickly faded and she began to feel uncomfortable with what was happening. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say. She didn't want to lie to him and tell him everything was okay when it wasn't. But she felt like she needed to do something to make him feel better.

J-JOE was staring into her eyes; he was unable to see anything else. It was like looking into a black hole. It pulled him in and consumed him with darkness, his eyes would begin to water and he would feel that he was going to drown. There was only one thing left to do; he had to let go of the pain, he had to let go of this black hole he was trapped in, and try to get out. That's what he needed to do. He just didn't know how. All he knew was that there was no turning back, so he had to do it now before it was too late.

It took everything he had in him to tear himself away from the light. He didn't want to, but he knew it was his only way to survive. He had to do what he had to do, for the sake of his family, the sake of his job, the sake of his friends, and the sake of the universe. All he knew was that he had to let go of everything he had lived for and become the man he had always been, a man that was going to let the light in. He wasn't the same man he was when he first stepped into this office. The lights in this place had made him question himself. But he was going to make the best out of this situation. He was going to catch The Scar-Face Reaper and bring them to justice using the only way he knew how: Journalism.

"I know now how to make this right," J-JOE held his camera out in front of him. Yeah, that was what he was going to do. J-JOE walked out of the office with new found confidence, and he now had a mission: "To capture justice in a picture and bring it to you," J-JOE said as he looked out at the people, "To bring to the light the darkness."

J-JOE was a journalist at heart, but he was going to use his skills to help the world, in the best way that he knew how: Through his camera lens. He was going to put those skills to good use. J-JOE had a long day ahead of him, but he knew that he couldn't stop until he had caught The Reaper, so he knew he was going to use all the help he could get. J-JOE looked at his fellow students and thought about how much he had come to care about them. Some of them he had met in the past and others he had just met. He smiled as he realized that he knew more people in the media than he did in his old life. He could never stop and he knew it.

As he progressed through the science building's halls, he overheard the many whispers of curious peers. Much of the conversation revolved the murder of Liam, and the presence of both Thomas and J-JOE at the scene. J-JOE was in the middle of making up his mind about what he was going to do, whether or not he was going to talk to Thomas or keep silent. The halls became quieter as J-JOE made his way to his next class. He saw Thomas approaching in the distance and was glad that he had the courage to talk to him. J-JOE watched as Thomas looked up and gave a friendly nod. "Hey," Thomas smiled.

"Hey," J-JOE responded. There was an eerie feeling to this conversation knowing Thomas had a serial-killer split personality to him, which made it even more jarring to see him back to how he's always seen Thomas as; a nice fellow who is a little nerdy. But as his mind settled into more of a logical place, J-JOE knew this was probably Thomas in a better place than him, and J-JOE felt confident in his approach.

"How are you holding up? Did the police question you?" J-JOE asked.

"They are questioning me, but that's all they're doing, they know that I'm innocent," Thomas' voice was quiet, but his tone was still strong and confident. Was this him or The Scar-Face Reaper? He didn't know, but he could make an educated guess - With his posture and tone, J-JOE deduced that this was the Thomas he knew since 8th grade. He felt comfortable knowing that.

"They're going to question you a lot. They are going to try and make you feel guilty. They're going to try and make you try to remember things that you couldn't," J-JOE said.

"J-JOE, what are we talking about?" Thomas was confused, what was J-JOE talking about?

"What's that, uh, what are you talking about?" Thomas took another step forward with his face of concern.

"You know what I'm talking about," J-JOE smiled. "I can tell that you're guilty, and you know that too. I know that you've got your good side in you."

Thomas had one of the saddest looks on his face and J-JOE thought it was because he knew that he was right, and that he was going to get him one way or another, but he had no idea what to expect, or what it would take. J-JOE knew that he had to be prepared for anything. So J-JOE turned to go one way and Thomas turned the other.

"I'm sorry, Thomas." J-JOE said as he turned to walk away.

"J-JOE, why did you turn your back on me?" Thomas cried out.

"It's not you that turned your back on, Thomas. It's The Scar-Face Reaper." J-JOE said with conviction. This was all he wanted to do. He wanted to do it because he couldn't help but feel like he would let Liam down. He knew that, but in his mind, he had to do it. He had to get Thomas behind bars and out of the world, the Reaper was an evil monster, but this was his mission to save Bayboro, Florida.

"J-JOE..." Thomas said in a defeated tone, why do people keep saying he's The Scar-Face Reaper; he wasn't and he knew he wasn't, so why are people claiming him to be? First those people, and now J-JOE? This is getting weird. Was there some side of him he didn't know about maybe? "Thomas..." J-JOE continued, he didn't want to say too much, because he knew he could be putting Thomas in danger. It was an overwhelming and scary feeling to think that The Scar-Face Reaper could take over at any moment.

"Is there any chance that you're wrong?" Thomas asked, J-JOE looked into Thomas' eyes and he thought about how Thomas had always been honest and up front about his feelings. J-JOE didn't want to make the world see Thomas as a monster, just the Reaper; however, after he'd seen the Reaper first hand, he knew what he was doing was right.

"I wish there was. I wish I could just erase all the memories of what I saw and what I did today, and everyone could go back to normal. Then I wouldn't have to worry about The Reaper coming back," J-JOE was honest.

"J-JOE, are you talking about The Scar-Face Reaper?" Thomas asked in a shocked and confused tone.

"Yes, I am," J-JOE said as his voice softened. "I'm talking about him as he is, or at least how he is right now. You don't need to have any doubt. If you have no doubt in your mind that you didn't kill your friend, you're not The Reaper. You're just a good person that killed your classmate."

"Are you talking about Liam? I didn't kill him, I only discovered him! Someone else killed him, I swear." Thomas grew more and more upset, "Please! Why won't you believe me?"

"I did at one point, I was so hopeful it wasn't you, but now... I... I don't think you're ready for that revelation yet." J-JOE balled his fist, not out of anger, but out of frustration. Thomas looked into J-JOE's eyes and nodded. J-JOE knew that this wasn't just a small nod; it was a nod that said, "I believe you", and he thought that was one thing that he was going to be grateful for when he was face to face with The Reaper, not just to Thomas.

"I feel so, I don't know, guilty. I feel like I should, but I just don't," Thomas' voice was full of guilt and J-JOE felt all those emotions, and he wondered why he felt guilty.

"Do you think that's because of the way the police look at you? Do you think they think you're the bad guy? Is that why you feel guilty? That the police will believe you were lying the whole time, but they just had evidence against you? Is that why you feel guilty? "J-JOE asked.

"I don't know, I don't know what's going on. Everyone keeps telling me I'm a monster, but I'm not and I know it, so why do they keep telling me I am?" Thomas was frustrated and J-JOE could tell that he was confused. J-JOE knew what Thomas was going through, because he was the same way. He was always thinking what people would think of him, and how that would affect him. He also was confused, because he saw his own fears and insecurities, in other people, which J-JOE knew was because he himself did it at times, but he never saw it as something to focus on.

"The person that did this, that did in Liam, he didn't want anyone to find out what he was, he wanted everyone to think that he was good and that he was the victim. He wasn't though, he was a monster. You don't have to tell me that, but you do have to tell yourself that," J-JOE was calm as he spoke.

He was very in control and knew that it was very necessary to put Thomas in control.

"What are you talking about? What's going on? You're not making any sense," Thomas said.

"The person that killed Liam, he took his life and that's not what he wanted. It was only by a twist of fate that his own self-destructive tendencies lead him to his demise. The person that killed him just wanted him to be in pain," J-JOE said as he looked up to the sky.

"Why?" Thomas asked in a disappointed tone. "Why did he do it?"

"What he did was very selfish, he wanted to feel what it was like to lose your loved one. He wanted to go through it, and by using that as a power to take other lives, it gave him more control over the lives he wanted to change, but that person is gone. And he's not going to be coming back," J-JOE said as he looked down to Thomas' troubled face.

He couldn't understand why Thomas was so upset, because it was all so obvious. It all was just so simple, and not in the way that J-JOE was thinking it, "If you had any doubts about The Reaper, or whether or not you were The Reaper, that'd be the worst thing in the world, because you'd have to be ready for anything. If you felt like you were The Reaper, you'd know if you were and it'd be so scary, like your worst fear, that you'd go crazy and just want to kill yourself. Your worst fear is coming true," J-JOE said in a comforting tone. "But if you weren't The Reaper, you wouldn't feel the same way and you'd just be a worried person that had some doubts. Your worst fear is not happening, and I hope it never does, that would be the worst thing in the world," J-JOE said as he looked at Thomas' face, tears were flowing down his eyes and he was thinking that if he didn't come up with a way to get to The Scar-Face Reaper, then he would have no choice but to hurt himself.

"I guess that makes sense, but I still don't know what to think. The police are just saying that it's me and they're trying to get me to say that it's me. I mean, why would they want me to say that it was me?"

"I don't know, but do you know what I need right now? Food, because I am hungry as shit!" J-JOE admitted. J-JOE and Thomas both left the science building, and headed for the cafeteria.