The Tale of The Rising Flames.

Welcome to Reality

Prologue

As humans, we're always told that life is full of mysteries.

As that is true, there are also the people in life who are mysteries themselves.

Welcome to reality.

Mighty task for little gold.

"So, are you just trying to get us fired, or what?"

Jake looked up from the pile of stacked papers on his metal desk at Leroy, who was looking back down at him with a scowl. "What do you mean?" He mused before leaning back in his black chair, crossing one leg over the other.

Leroy's eyes narrowed. "What do I mean," Leroy placed both hands on Jake's desk and leaned forward with his eyebrow furrowing. "Are you serious? You haven't accepted one case in like, weeks! We need to get onto something before Jason has a fit about it." The air in the police station seemed to tighten from the anger coming off of Leroy. His dim brown eyes that curved slightly were casting their rage into Jake's mind-and probably soul.

Jake groaned and sat up, being careful not to kick the computer under his desk that mothered the tab-loaded monitor in front of him. The mouse was somewhere buried under all the loose paper; Jake wasn't much of a veteran when it came to OCD.

"Look," Jake groaned, putting both elbows down on the desk to rest his chin in his hands. "I've got a lot of paperwork to do right now; we can't be picking up every case we see." Leroy clicked his tongue and half sat himself up on the desk, looking down at Jake with a gentle, but annoyed expression.

"But that's the thing; we're not just picking up any case. It's the one I talk to you about, with the kids, remember? Don't you think getting away from this desk and taking a hike in a forest sounds more fun?" Leroy asked. Jake's eyes darkened and he looked at Leroy like he had said the stupidest thing he had ever heard of. "Yes, a hike sounds nice; until you get jumped by a gang of hormone induced teenagers who I doubt are even aggressive. We don't even know if this so-called gang exits; they're probably just some Goth kids who want to show off by running away," He held up a finger. "Or like those kids who thought they descended from wolves and lived up in the mountains." Leroy rolled his eyes."I knew I shouldn't have let you watch Twilight." He murmured.

Jake stood up, took a pile of papers and hit them on the desk to align them and set them back down neatly into his opened briefcase. Leroy got to his feet, on the opposite side of Jake's desk and stretched both hands up into the air, stretching his white Henley shirt which was tucked into his navy jeans. He wasn't wearing his police belt, but still had his gun clipped to his side, nestled into its holster. He was wearing a blue tie this morning, but Jake guessed he had gotten stressed and had taken it off.

If someone was to search up enthusiastic on Google, you were sure to find a picture of Leroy somewhere. He was overly obsessed with his job, and was never content with staying still for less than a few minutes. Unlike Jake, Leroy worked in the filing and evidence department of their small Illinois police station. He had access to many files, which he would read like his newspaper. Leroy was also someone who could pay the lease attention to a report, but could still restate it in perfect order. Jake couldn't help but ponder how he and Leroy even got along so well. Perhaps it was because opposites attract each other- or the fact that they had been friends since the fourth grade.