Eternally Eighteen *Undergoing Editing*

The Walker's Home

The three of us ended up at the crime scene Lyle and I and seen earlier that day on the news. I had to admit, I was a bit nervous. Here we were, standing on the same ground a women was murdered on not hours ago. Coby led us through the areas that were taped off with yellow CAUTION tape. A few people gave us weird looks, but they must have known Coby, because no one tried to stop him.

"Daddy!" He shouted, running right up to a tall man in a neat, official police uniform. Coby's dad looked ordinary enough, with a dark, freshly trimmed beard and matching haircut. His eyes were brown, but lighter than mine. I figured Coby had gotten his brilliant blue eyes from his mother.

The officer beamed at his son, causing smile lines to appear around his eyes.

"There's my boy!" He said, scooping his son off the ground and throwing him over his beefy shoulder as Coby squealed with delight. He then seemed to notice Lyle and I for the first time. "Ah, and who's this?" The officer asked, placing his son down.

Coby smiled, showing off his braces. "They want to know about the Endless!" He said, with what I thought to be much more excitement than necessary.

Coby's father raised an eyebrow at us, and I waved shyly. "My name's Rylee, and this is my friend Lyle," I gestured to my best friend, who nodded with a grin.

"Yeah, your son said you knew a lot about this killer. Care to fill us in on some of the details?"

I sighed. Seriously, why does he have to get so involved in things like this?

Glancing around the crime scene, I noticed more and more officials were eyeing the two of us with growing suspicion. I guess it wasn't exactly legal for a couple of teenage kids to walk into a crime scene and start asking cops questions.

I was about to tap on Lyle's shoulder and suggest we leave when Coby's father's gaze hardened.

"Any information regarding the Endless Executioner is classified until further details are known. Not even Coby should know about this situation," the officer turned to his son with an authorities look in his eyes, but Coby just shrugged. "You kids shouldn't be roaming around here, especially when a young lady was just murdered."

He studied me as if I were going to be the Executioner's next victim.

"Of course, sir," I said, feeling the need to leave as soon as possible, "We'll be on our way."

As Lyle was opening his mouth to protest, I quickly linked my elbow with his and dragged him away from the area, trying not to make eye contact with any of the police officers. I couldn't describe the growing feeling of dread in my chest, I just felt like something very dangerous was going on, and somehow . . . I was going to be a part of it.

E_C_C_E_N_TRIC

"Hello, Rylee. It's nice to see you again."

Mrs. Walker smiled sweetly at me as I closed their front door, Lyle attempting to snag a cookie as he shifted past his mom, who slapped his hand away with her tattooed one before he could touch the desert. As far as I knew, Lyle's mom only had a single tattoo: a small heart on her right pinky finger.

I stifled a laugh as Lyle gave me one of his pouty faces. "Nice to see you, too, Mrs. Walker." I said.

She wiped her wrinkle-free hands on her apron, then gave me one of her looks. I knew what she was going to say even before she spoke, but it still amused me to see an 18 year old act so motherly and sassy.

"Honestly, Rylee, my name is Karen. You don't have to address me like that, it makes me feel old."

I smiled, noting how Lyle and Karen looked more like brother and sister than they did mother and son. I guess it would be pretty cool to be the same age as your parents, but also extremely weird. It would be so much easier to get along with them and relate to them on so many different levels. Lyle and his parents did a lot of things together, and when I saw them engaging in family activities, they looked more like a group of troublemaker teens than an actual family.