Mr.Coles studied the photos at the dinner table that night. His house smelling of tea and cinnamon. His lips pulled back in a frown as he looked over them, he was fairly certain that the boy’s door had been locked and he had been restrained. He couldn’t speak English very well and he had made sure no one could speak a lick of Russian other than himself so the boy could not trick anyone. He was rather clever he had discovered that himself, a manipulative and intelligent child indeed.

He was never very loud when he screamed and when he spoke English it was always a whisper. It confused Mr.Coles immensely, he placed a piece of mint on his tongue he had produced from his pocket and hummed with the thought. He leaned back in his chair, thinking, thinking, but nothing could answer his question. Now Mr.Coles was an angry man. An angry man with a reason to be filled with such rage, but at the moment he for some reason could not bring himself to be angry.

Which odd cause rather than being furious with the puzzling question the Russian had given him, he was amused. Amused with how he wasn’t frustrated and how the boy had managed to pull such a stunt while successfully completing it. It amazed him. So as he stared at the gory photos of men and women twisted in god awful positions, heads missing and faces frozen in fear he laughed. No not laughed he cackled a wicked noise at that. “Well played,” he murmured himself in the subject’s native tongue. A language that took years for him to perfect.

Mr.Coles pushed the chair back and raised in a graceful manner. He grabbed his empty cup, placed it in the sink and stalked off towards his room, the bitter air nipping fiercely at his bare chest. The questions would have to be left unanswered for awhile he had to rest of course. Because Mr.Coles was an amused, busy man.

Emmett often times wondered why he allowed himself to befriend these people. Not that they were awful, most certainly not. They were just very frustrating to handle at times. He could do so much for Nathaniel without feeling like a mountain of problems were on his shoulders. He could only rely on Michelle until she felt she had a mountain of her own and Benjamin just didn’t understand.

The British male had an outlook on life that simply did not mix well with there small town where nothing happened. Jermija was perhaps the most interesting thing to happen in a very long time. He was far too positive for their little group and Emmett couldn’t help but envy him.

He found himself doing that a lot lately. Envying people for being able to do things he himself could not provide. Need it be at the time or in general. Of course Emmett was only one person, but a person who often found himself being the one people relied on. Finding himself unable to provide the help the person in question needed often times made him feel useless.

“Emmett? Buddy you look kinda dead there, you alright?” Michelle asked. She tapped her hot pink nails against the steering wheel of her car as they stopped before a traffic light. Even for a small town, traffic lights were needed. “Something bothering you?”

Emmett blinked and looked at her. Fumbling with his plaid sweater vest as he regained focus on reality. “Yes I am fine,” he replied. Michelle gave him a look to say she did not believe him one bit, but that she would not push it. She knew better.

“Well at least you’re back with the living,” she said. The car moved with a jolt that caused the two to fling forward, catching themselves on their seatbelts and then settling back into their seat with a thump. Michelle’s car was truly one of a kind. A mess for sure, but the type of mess one was often fond of. “Would you like some coffee as well? I know I woke you pretty early with my urgent phone call.”

Emmett remembered the phone call that he received at six in the morning, three hours before their school began. Michelle had needed to get coffee and didn’t want to sit in no boring old coffee shop by herself. Emmett deciding sleep was no longer necessary considering he was the type to not be able to fall back to sleep when awake, he agreed to going with her. Throwing on a sweater vest, button up shirt and a pair of skinny jeans as he awaited. He had not mentioned Jermija to her when he slipped into the car. He wouldn’t be there much longer if Caleb was able to find his parents.

“I could go for some coffee,” Emmett replied. “Consider it payment for waking me up.”

Michelle grinned and turned towards the coffee shop as he spoke. “Exactly why I asked my dear friend.”

Emmett smiled to himself as she parked, the familiar jolt happened as she did. The two slipped out of the car and shielded their bodies from the cold as they sped walked towards the entrance. Michelle pulled it open and smiled at him slyly. “Ladies first.”

Emmett rolled his eyes but walked through. “What a kind young man you are,” he told her. Michelle did her best to bow as she entered the shop herself, but ended up stumbling instead. “A graceful one, too.”

Michelle snorted as she led him towards the counter, whipping out her wallet from her pocket. It was a wallet Mary Anne had made her when Michelle started getting allowance, it was old and worn but Emmett knew Michelle cherished it dearly. The outside of it was a faded pink and the inside was a dull black, tearing at the sides and barely holding the money that was inside of it. “A caramel macchiato for me and a triple chocolate chip frappe for the gentleman.” Michelle told the cashier. A young woman who looked like she got three hours of sleep nodded and went to work. Michelle cast Emmett a wink, which he replied to with a smile.

“Memorized my order?” Emmett asked, nudging her with his elbow. Michelle shrugged.

“You’re a simple guy Emmett. You have simple tastes,” she replied. Emmett snorted. He supposed she was the least frustrating to deal with.

Once their drinks were made, Michelle dragged him towards a booth. “Two hours before school begins my friend,” she said as she sat down.

“Two hours having to deal with you,” Emmett replied easily. Michelle reached over and flicked his red nose. She had a smile on her face, a fond one.

“You love me, shut up,” she told him. “Did you get home safely yesterday? No strange women tried to eat you up right? You’re an attractive guy Emmett and old, single women are desperate. You have to be careful out there.”

Emmett rolled his eyes. People often called him handsome, complimenting his cheekbones and his round, brown eyes. He was told a lot his looks would get him in trouble in the future. Yet Emmett never got in trouble he never quite understood what they meant. “No strange women touched me no,” Emmett told her. He thought about mentioning Jermija and his brothers obsession with his attire, but decided against it. He didn’t know why, but speaking about Jermija to someone else made him feel odd. His gut would twist and turn when his name was on his tongue whenever he was about to tell her about the young boy. “Nothing happened, I made it home safely.”

Michelle nodded slowly and smiled. “That’s good,” she said. Emmett wondered if it was though.

Was being the person Jermija relied on a good idea he wondered. Perhaps he’d find out, he only hoped it was positive and not negative.