who lives; who dies; who tells your story

c i n c o

"look, i've already told you everything i know. my window broke last week and now i've found cameras in my room." ryan snapped, rubbing his forehead.

"sorry. he's just stressed," may li apologised on his behalf. she gave the boy a stern look as the officer replied.

"understandable," the balding man turned back to ryan, "until some new evidence surfaces, i'm afraid we can't do much. at the moment i can get the forensics team to look at the camera you found in the light - with any luck the culprit will have left fingerprints. maybe we could even trace any... footage,"

ryan nodded dejectedly and sighed. he hoped that would go much better. the officer saw this and looked remorseful,

"i'm sorry kid. this isn't the first time we've had a case like this - something else is definitely going on. the only thing i can assure you with is that you're one of our top priorities,"

with that, the man stood up and mike escorted him out of the building.

ryan felt may li rub his back comfortingly,

"they're going to figure this out," she said. ryan shook his head with a sad smile,

"you heard him, they're relying on a chance." he looked down, "if it's happened before and i'm apparently a priority then they're probably looking for the same person. that means, whoever is doing this, wouldn't make a rookie mistake and man handle anything with their bare hands,"

mike entered the office once more and glanced at ryan sorrowfully.

"maybe we should do something today? all of us - go swimming perhaps?"

ryan shook his head again,

"i'm not feeling up to anything right now. go with the others though, take their minds off it all. i know harry's a bit upset about everything," ryan stated, standing from the sofa. mike's eyes filled with worry.

"with everything that's happened, i don't think it's wise to leave you alone here,"

may li quickly interjected,

"i'll stay." she turned to ryan, "i don't want to force you if you don't feel up to it. a lot has happened to you over the past week," ryan smiled gratefully and left the office, leaving the worried care workers in his wake.

—————

"kids, house meeting!" mo heard mike call.

the boy hastily moved all his treasures out the way of his path and clambered down from the attic. he had decided that, in order to make room for more, some of his beloved treasures needed to go. he managed to clear a full bag before having to leave.

the glasses clad boy was the last person to enter the room, with the exception of ryan but mike started without him. maybe he already knew? or maybe it was about him?

"i was thinking we could go swimming, try and take our minds off things," mike suggested.

the younger ones all cheered and a few of the older residents nodded in agreement. mo, bailey and jody were the only ones who weren't too thrilled.

"uh, no thanks mike," jody said, the care worker looked over and she answered the unasked question, "i don't feel like going with ryan still upset," bailey nodded in agreement.