The End of Yardale Part I

Everyone, Everything, All of It

Mole didn't know where he was rushing off to, and frankly, he didn't care. He wanted to be away from everyone, everything, and all of the things that had happened recently and added more difficulty to his already stressful situation. 

Estella followed behind, becoming used to preparing herself for having these deeper and more emotional talks with Mole, her best friend. After the past several conversations they had had, she had been the one to comfort Mole, but she knew in her mind that really, she had used many of these talks to comfort herself as well. 

"Mole. Stop. Please." Estella began. 

"Why? What am I even here for? To be hurt by more and more stupid shit every day?" Mole questioned, turning around for a moment to talk. "I'm going."

"Oh, and where would that be?" Estella asked. The two had walked outside, and rain was beginning to sprinkle on their faces. 

Mole thought for a moment. "I don't know. But- I'll find somewhere. I'm done being here and getting hurt." 

"And what about Gregory? You won't even try giving him a chance? He's not gone, Mole-" 

"Yes he is." Mole said, cutting Estella off. "And even if he isn't, I don't care!" 

Estella sighed. "You seemed to care so much about bringing him back before. The second he came back on his own, you gave up. Why?" 

"He should've come back when I did care." Mole explained simply. "Waiting for him was becoming difficult, so I stopped. Then, the stupid bitch decided to come back right after I stopped. It's his fault for taking too long, not mine." 

"Well your anger at Gregory is a silly excuse for you to leave everyone." Estella said, trying to rationalize. 

"It's not just that, Estella." Mole huffed. "Too many times I've cared for someone and they've left, just to come back shitty. First my sister, now Gregory- soon, it'll be everyone." 

Estella then tilted her head. "That cycle won't end unless you do something to change it." 

Confused, Mole asked, "And how the fuck am I supposed to do that?"

"It doesn't have to stop at them 'coming back shitty.'" Estella shrugged. "If you'd for once believe in making them remember who they were before and care for you again, perhaps things would be better."

Mole then stared at Estella for a moment. "I've given up on believing in shit that won't happen." 

Estella stared back. "So have I." 

"Then why are you believing in all this?" 

"Because I know it will happen. It will work. Now let's go back to Dogpoo and Brimmy's house. Please." 

Mole looked up at the sky and wasn't sure if it was rain falling down his face or a teardrop. He thought he was done but, truly, he would never be done. He wouldn't give up. Whether or not that would become a good or bad thing, he would simply have to find out. 

He just hoped his repeating cycle of loss wouldn't reach his best friend Estella. 

When the two returned home, they thought it best to rest after being emotionally and physically wounded. Neither would run away from everyone, everything, or all their problems, and they were satisfied with that fact. 

———————————-

Meanwhile, the inmates trapped in Yardale sat in their personal cells. Before, they had never found a moment of time to interact with each other. Now, though, they had found that moment and thought it would be nice to talk. 

Matthew Pocket, likely the most sociable of the group and most familiar with Yardale, spoke first. 

"So what are you lot in here for?" 

There were three others in cells near Matthew's. None spoke for a moment, too nervous to let out a word, until a young girl's voice was heard. She was quiet and had a slight French accent, but her words were still able to be heard. "I caught people doing suspicious things at my school, and they got mad at me." 

"Oh. Was that school Yardale?" Matthew asked the girl. 

"It was. My family paid all their money to get me in, and now I'm stuck here." said the girl. "My name's Cosette." 

"That's a shame. I'm Matthew. They took all of my family's money too." 

"I'm in because I tried breaking into this place." said another voice, belonging to a more rugged-sounding boy. "Name's Trent Boyett. I needed a place to hide after escaping jail, and thought I'd be safe here. I wasn't." 

In a slightly mocking tone, the fourth spoke up. "Clearly." 

"Oh shut up. You don't know what jail does to a guy. It makes you desperate." 

"I do know, actually." began the other voice. "I escaped jail too. My name's Josh Myers." 

"What an interesting coincidence." Matthew said, slightly worried. "Two people who just escaped jail." 

"I'm scared." Cosette then said blankly. 

Josh laughed. "Don't be scared of me. I was arrested for a stupid reason." 

Curious, Matthew asked, "And what was that?" 

"I TP'd a house and was accused of vandalism." 

It was then Trent's turn to laugh. "That's dumb. I got arrested for killing a lady on accident." 

"I'm even more scared now." said Cosette. 

"Well, maybe this could be of use to us." suggested Josh. "If we were both able to escape jail, we can probably escape this place too."

The other three took a moment to think, and gained a slight amount of hope. "Could we kill the people that put us in here and gave us the shitty food?" Trent asked. 

"Probably not." said Josh. "That would draw more attention to us and just waste time." 

"Awh." 

"Don't be disappointed." Matthew then said. "We should, for now, focus on escaping. After we get out, we can worry about getting our revenge." 

Cosette then asked, "Will we have a place to go after we escape?"

"I'm sure we will." answered Matthew.