We Live To See The End

Research

It's lucky that Cheri was gifted with such a lovely room on arrival to 19 Moonover Lane. A queen sized bed, with lovely soft pillows and bedsheets for her to sleep her nights away in. A bookshelf that was totally empty for her to fill with words that scratched the inside of her brain. A desk for her to do her daily schoolwork at by her own pacing. A closet to fill with colours and patterns, oddities and accessories, along with the occasional mess she didn't feel like clearing up off her floor. Everyone seems to have left her alone for the night. Her laptop sits charging at her desk, her headphones over her ears as she lies in bed browsing the internet. She isn't alerted by the sound of the doorbell ringing from three floors down, even though she's expecting the person ringing it.

'Cheri? Hello-o-o?' Jamie shouts. It's actually quite embarrassing, shouting up at your crush's window at 11 pm while being ignored, even though she invited you over. He sighs, leaning against the short wall on the little staircase.

jamzkathylhannn

I'm at the door btw

the1andonlymseelwhile

omfg i'm so sorry

i'm coming downstairs rn sorry!

jamzkathylhannn

Don't worry! LOL

Before Jamie can even put his phone away, he hears the sound of Cheri clumsily thundering down the stairs, and the unmistakeable click of the lock on the front door opening. Cheri stands in front of him, wearing her pyjamas, her hair messed and tangled, eyeliner smudged slightly. She looks elated, as if something incredibly amazing has occurred.

'Jamie, come upstairs! I've got some new hints about Doctor JAB!' She exclaims, grabbing his wrist and pulling him into the house.

'Hello to you too,' Jamie comments. They laughs to themselves as they run up the staircase, scooting around the corner. Cheri grabs her laptop from her desk. Jamie shuts her door, sitting on her bed. Cheri opens the lid of her laptop, frantically scrambling in her files to find the document she had so lovingly typed out with her own fingers. Forty pages of rather small font, littered with pictures of odd faces and crime scenes.

'You've met Kristoffer, right?' Cheri asks, placing her hand on top of Jamie's and looking him directly in the eye. Jamie nods gently, 'He got a job at the AMI so he can get inside information. He's being weirdly secretive, but look at this.'

Cheri scrolls back up to the picture of the Doctor JAB visual, 'The boss of AMI Reformed is called Doctor Jebezel Barker. They must be linked somehow.'

'Yeah, I guess,' Jamie mutters, 'Title Doctor, link to the AMI. Hmm.'

An idea suddenly pops into Cheri's head. Opening her browser, she begins to furiously type her query into the search bar; "jebezel barker full name". A gasp escapes her lips, as she turns the computer around to show Jamie. Her mouth opens and closes like a particularly hungry goldfish.

'Yeah, his full name?' Jamie shrugs. He cocks an eyebrow at Cheri, who seems slightly annoyed that he doesn't understand her odd gasps of air, 'Doctor Jebezel Arthur Barker?'

'Look! The initials! They are linked!' Cheri groans. She points to each name one by one, 'Jebezel Arthur Barker. J, A, B. And what does that spell? And then add their shared title!'

Jebezel

Arthur

Barker.

Jamie shrugs at her yet again, 'Show me a picture of him.'

Cheri pulls up a picture of Doctor Barker. Chubby cheeks, a short chin, brown joyful eyes, a big smile on his face, and a hooked nose with a thin bridge.

'So it can't be the same man. Different faces,' She mumbles, her cheeks turning pink in embarrassment, 'Sorry about that.'

She shuts her laptop, putting it back to charge. Jamie watches her, eyes intent on her red hair.

'Do you mind if I stay the night? My aunt is going to be fuming if I come home this late.'

The words escape Jamie's mouth before he can even stop them. He covers his mouth with both hands, Cheri flicking back to face him. Their faces burn pink in embarrassment.

'Uh, I guess?' Cheri's voice shudders with an embarrassed laugh, 'I'm sure Alexis and Gia will be fine with it, but... fine.'

And their night is wasted away watching funny videos on Jamie's phone, trying not to laugh too hard when Alexis and Gia creep into the house at midnight. When the sun finally creeps over the horizon, illuminating the sky with bright orange-yellow rays of joy, they decide to creep downstairs for breakfast.

'Jamie, I didn't know you were staying over,' Gia comments as they attempt to creep down the stairs and steal a plate of toaster waffles. They freeze, barely containing their giggles.

'I came over to do some research, but I fell asleep,' He lies through his gentle laughs.

'Okay, just let Alexis know next time, I have no dictatorship over the house,' Gia shrugs, returning to her slice of toast, 'She's at work, I won't tell.'

'Thanks,' Cheri's eyes finally meet Jamie's, and they dissolve into a fit of laughter.