You are Steve, a detective living in Chicago. You have a pistol and a police badge.

You enter the forest where you believe the criminal you're searching for fled to.
Suddenly you notice a woman hiding behind a tree, she is wearing a hoodie and has
her face partially covered. She points a small crossbow at you and fires, the bolt
hitting you in the leg.
You:

> You point the gun at her and threaten to shoot.

You hold your gun arm straight and aim at the woman's head. The woman shows fear
for the first time and slowly moves her crossbow down. You:
"Drop the crossbow."

> You say "drop the bow the kick it towards me"
The woman slowly gets off her crossbow and kicks her crossbow away. You:
"Okay, you're going to take me to your leader, that way you'll get your friends
back."

> You say "I'm arresting you for crimes against the government"
You tell the woman to put her hands behind her head. She obeys. You:
"Do you know how this makes you look? Do you?"
"What do you mean?" She asks.

> You say "You look like a goddamn criminal"

"Well, you look like a badass criminal, but whatever."
You lead the woman out of the forest and quickly exit the forest. You:
"Okay, come on."

> You take her to jail.

You make your way to the police department and take her to see officer Pike.

> You say "Officer Pike, this woman shot me and is guilty of crimes against the
government."
Pike nods surprised to see the woman. You tell him to book her into a cell and keep
her in custody. You don't give a reason, just simply tell him to do it.

> You say "Hey Pike, wanna go get doughnuts together?"

"Sure." Pike says.
You leave the police department with Pike and head to the local donut shop,
chatting along the way.

> You say "So, how's the wife doing?"

"The what?"
"The wife. Girlfriend. Whatever. I'd like to know how your marriage is going."
"Oh, fine, I guess... Why do you ask?"

> You say "Didn't she sleep with Jerry from the IT department? I heard him bragging
about it at the water cooler."
Pike's face becomes redder than a beet and he grinds his teeth together.
"Please tell me someone at work knows the meaning of the word gossip." Pike says.

> You say "So, she didn't cheat on you?"

"No. She didn't. You can tell everyone at work that too. I'm not mad." Pike says
with a sigh of relief.
You continue chatting as you get closer to the donut shop.
We arrive at the donut shop, and Pike orders a coffee and a glazed donut while you
get two plain donuts.
"So, I gotta go to the bathroom." Pike says.
"Go for free?" you say.
> You say "Want me to hold your hand?"
"What?"
"I said, do you want a hand to hold while you go to the bathroom?"
"Oh... Yeah, that'd be great."
You raise an eyebrow and gently touch his forearm.
I walk him to the bathroom and stand outside the door, waiting for him to finish.
Pike comes out of the bathroom and gives you a big smile.
"You made my day." Pike says.

> You say "Why thank you"

"So, do you want to go out sometime?"
"What?"
"I asked if you wanted to go out sometime."
You look at Pike, his smile falters a bit.

> You say "Aren't you married?"

"Yes. I am. But... It's not like that, I just like you."
Pike looks down and shuffles his feet nervously.
"Do you think I'm ugly?" Pike asks.

> You say "Pike, you're the most handsome man I have ever seen"
"Well, can you at least tell me how old you are?"
"I'm twenty-one."
"I thought so. I'm forty-one."
"That old?"

> You say "Age is just a number anyway. I don't mind."

"So, you going out with me then?"
"I don't know. I don't really have any close friends. I work all the time. I don't
even have a girlfriend... or husband."

> You say "I'd love to go out with you"

Pike smiles and leans in. He kisses you on the cheek.
"Then I'll see you again soon." Pike says, quickly turning to leave.
"Pike wait!" you say.
"What?"

> You lick off the glaze that was stuck to Pike's cheek.
"I like your glaze."
Pike begins to laugh.
"Well... I like the way you feel too." Pike replies, quickly walking away before he
can be tempted again.

> You head back to the police department.

You pull your cruiser into the police department parking lot and get out. A few
officers greet you.
"Hey Chief! What's new?" one says, poking his head out of his car.

> You say "Just catching criminals and donuts Dave. How about you?"
The officer, David Davis, steps out of his car and stares at you blankly.
"I really don't know. Uh, I had to pull a double shift last night. Nothing else
really happened. You?"

> You say "Are you okay, David? Do you want to go talk in my office?"
"No... I want to go home and sleep."
"Do you want to go home and sleep at your apartment?"
"No, I want to go home and go to sleep in my bed."

> You say "Alright go sleep then."

You run into Jerry from IT as you enter the office.
"Hey boss... What's with the donut?"
"Possibly the best thing you've ever tasted. You should try one."

> You say "Pike says you didn't sleep with his wife"
"What?! I didn't say that..." Jerry says.
"You didn't have to. Your face said it all."
"I did not! I wouldn't do that to my sister!"

> You say "I'm sure HR would love to hear this"

"Fine! I did have a one night stand with his wife, but it's been years and we're
all adults now!"

> You say "That's not what Pike said"

"Well what did Pike say?"
"He said you were having a secret affair with his wife."
"WHAT?! Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."

> You say "Well my shift is over. See you tomorrow Jerry!"
You walk out of the office, leaving a very confused Jerry inside.
The next day you walk into work to find a little note on your desk with an apple
sitting in the middle.

> You read the note.

You open up the message to find that it's from David.
Officially out of a job
I hope you're okay.
Before you can reply, your phone rings. It's Pike.

> You pick up the phone.

"Hey Pike, what's up?"
"Hey boss man. I just wanted to tell you that David's out of a job. He called in
and said he resigned."

> You say "Yeah, he left a note on my desk"

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry about that. He seemed like a good worker. I'll have to talk to
him about finding him a new job."

> You say "So Pike, about yesterday, when would you want to go out?"
"I don't know, whenever is good for you."
"How about this Thursday?"
"I could probably make that."
"Alright then. See you then."
You hang up the phone.
I mark my date with Pike in my calender.
You take your lunch break to go pick up a few things for the grocery list that you
found on the fridge..
When you finish cooking, you call it a day and head home.
You watch some tv before falling asleep
...
"I can't do this anymore." You say to yourself as you pack up your stuff and head
into work early the next day.

> You say "I can't hide my feelings for Pike any longer"
You stare at the door for a minute before taking a deep breath and walking in.
"Hey Pike, I need to talk to you about something"
You see Pike looking at some papers.
> You say "I've loved you from the moment we met"
"Really?" Pike says without looking up.
"Yeah, and I'm willing to take that next step with you despite the fact that we
both work together."
Pike looks up at you.

> You say "Or the fact that you are married"
Pike shakes his head and laughs
"You're serious?"
"Very."
"Wow, I don't know what to say."

> You say "Then don't say anything. Just kiss me."
Pike takes the hint and stands up, walking towards you. He embraces you and the two
of you embrace in a passionate and rather lengthy make-out session.
Jerry from IT walks in at some point, but you don't notice. He might as well have
not been there.
After it ends, you sit back and ask him to tell you more about his married life
with Jeanette.

> You say "How does Jeanette feel about your one night stand with Pike's wife?"
"Jeanette knows. I mean, I haven't exactly told her all the details, but she knows
I've had a bit of fun."
"Oh. Well good for you."

> You say "Pike, are you gonna tell your wife about us?"
"If I'm honest with you, yes I am going to tell her about us."
"Oh. Good. Well I guess I'll see you around then."
You head back home and get back to work.
A few days pass and you see Pike a couple times during the day. He always seems
very distracted and on edge.

> You walk over to him and massage his shoulders.

You walk up behind Pike and start to massage his shoulders.
"Hey, why are you so tense?"
"Um...nothing...just a lot on my mind you know..."
"No. I mean specifically."

> You say "You know you can talk to me about anything"
"Well, I mean...(Sigh) my wife..."
Pike stops and takes a breath and looks up at you.

> You say "Did you tell her about us?"

Pike nods slowly.
"Yeah, she didn't take it well."
You feel a twinge of pain in your chest. A mixture of sadness and guilt, because
you know you have indirectly caused this.

> You say "You're with me now Pike. She's gonna be fine on her own."
Pike smiles a bit.
"I know."
The next few days are the happiest you've been since your wife died. You spend most
of your lunch hours with Pike talking and having fun.
Your relationship with Pike keeps growing stronger and stronger until one day...
"Hey boss, you wanna go to a party tomorrow night?"
You look up from your desk to see Pike.

> You say "sure"

"Are you sure? It's just a regular work party, with some of the boring people from
the office."
"Oh, well I wouldn't want to be rude. What time is it supposed to start?"

> You say "I wouldn't want to miss it"

"It starts at six, that gives us plenty of time to get there right?"
"Perfect, I'll see you then."
Pike heads off and you continue working.
You finally check up on that woman you arrested earlier and find out her name is
Dawn. She says she actually enjoyed her time in custody, since it gave her time to
think.

> You ask her why she shot you with a crossbow.
"I wanted to kill you."
"Why?"
You wait for her response, which takes a bit longer than you expect.
"Because you stole my husband."
"What?"

> You say "Are you Pike's wife?"

"Yes."
"Was he aware that you were going to try kill me?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"He's lazy and stupid."
"Why were you trying to kill me then?"

> You imtimidate her.

You stare at Dawn's face. She looks with hatred at you.
"I was angry and jealous. I hate you."
"Why?"

> You say "You know what? I don't care. Have fun in jail. I'm going to a party with
Pike."
You leave Dawn to her cell and return to the office where you begin to prepare for
your night out.
Eventually it's time to leave and you quickly head to the vehicle with your co-
workers.

> You give Pike a kiss on the cheek.

You arrive at the location of the party, which seems to be in a park. You walk
inside and see a bunch of people you don't know.
"Hey boss, you made it."

> You say "You don't have to call me boss outside of work"
"It's fine, I think we all know who the boss is here."
You laugh and grab a drink, you down the whole thing in one go.
"Hey boss, you want another one?"

> You say "definitely. "

Your co-workers drink until they're wasted and engage in stupid conversation.
Eventually you decide it's time to leave.
"Alright, I'm going home."
"You're leaving?"

> You say "Yeah, you coming with me?"

"Well I was talking to some people, but..."
You don't even bother asking who. You just grab Pike by the hand and drag him out
of the crowd.
You take Pike home and then go to bed. The next day you work and return home. You
do this routine everyday for the next week.
On the 10th day, you wake up and find that Pike isn't home.

> You call Pike.

Your cellphone simply rings and rings, until it stops and the screen simply shows
"Internal Server Error"
Pissed, you throw your phone across the room.

> You go looking for him.

You exit your house and begin to call out Pike's name. Eventually you find out he's
at Dawn's house.

> You say "Pike! I thought you left Dawn for me! Are you two back together?"
You expect him to deny it, or say it's complicated, but he just opens the door and
enters the house. You immediately follow and the two of you meet in the living
room.

> You say "Are you back together with her?"

Pike looks at you and sighs.
"Yeah, I'm back together with her."
"What? Wait, when did this happen?"
"The day after I saw you."

> You say "How could you do this to me Pike? I love you."
"I'm sorry boss, but I just couldn't fight her off."
"What do you mean?"
"She told me she loved me, and I just..."
"Got weak?"
"Yeah."

> You say "I don't know what to say"

"I don't think there is anything to say really."
You stare at him in silence.
"Well, I'm going to go see Dawn."
"Yeah, sure."
You go back home to cry to yourself.
The next day you go back to work like nothing happened. Eventually the time comes
for you to release the coolers.
"Alright, let's release the coolers."
You go talk to Jerry from IT.
"Alright Jerry, let's get this release system set up."
"Got it boss, perfect."
You put the key in the lock and turn it. The lock clicks and the doors swings open.
All the cell doors open up and the prisoners escape. You shout to arm yourself
before running out of the room and into the yard, that's when you hear gunshots.
You run back to the room and see several of your men on the floor dead or dying.

> You say "This is all Jerry's fault."

You shout at Jerry that he'll pay for this as you hear more gunshots outside.
Before you know it, the captured criminals flood into the room.

> You shoot them.

You empty your pistol quickly into the crowd of people, ultimately hitting one. You
try to reload, but you suffer 2 more headshots before you can.
Luckily you are wearing a helmet, but you are no longer in the best condition.
After mumbling a few curses, you throw the lifeless body of the man you killed
against a wall and shout for help.
Pike comes running in.
"What's going on boss?"
"The system isn't working, Jerry was an idiot and let them all out."

> You say "You'll have to kill them Pike. There is no other way"
"You got it boss, I'll get these guys."
You watch as Pike runs towards the group of criminals with a smile on his face.
"Time to die pigs."
Pike murders all of them all the while having a smile on his face and stating
something along the lines of "Best day ever."
You are ultimately satisfied with this as a way to kill Pike. It's definitely one
of the more fun ways to do it.
Now however you have a new problem and that's Dawn. Everyone seems to like her and
she seems to genuinely like helping people. She may very well have saved all of
their lives.
Dawn must be taken care of. She got between you and Pike, she needs to be removed.
Also, if she's nice to everyone then she'll become popular and that will just cause
problems in the future.
You decide to track her down the following night when you know she is working.
Not long after midnight, you find her sitting outside in the alley way she prefers
to sleep in.

> You load your gun.

With your gun loaded, you walk up behind Dawn.
"Hey."
"Oh my God. What's wrong?" Dawn says.
"I need to talk to you now."
"What's going on?"

> You say "You took Pike away from me and for that you must pay"
You pull out your gun and shoot Dawn in the back of her head. The sound of the
gunshot is followed by a spray of blood and skull fragments flying in different
directions.
You hear sirens in the distance. You can't let your fellow officers find out you
killed a woman. You speed yourself up and throw Dawn's body against a wall. A look
of pure ecstasy comes over Dawn's face as she realizes her death has come.

> You slam her head into the wall, making sure she is dead.
You punch Dawn's head against the wall over and over again until her skull cracks
and shatters into a million pieces.
You stand back to admire your work and make sure the woman is truly dead.

> You flee from the crime scene.

You quickly get away from the alley and begin running down the streets. A few
minutes later you can hear the police sirens getting louder and louder. You keep on
running until you can feel the jaws of the wolf.
You pass by the house of your aunt and knock at her door.
She answers and you find her wearing a robe, not looking pleased to see you.
"Wasn't it enough that I had to put up with your mother, now you have to come visit
me?"

> You say "Can I use your bathroom please?"

"Ugh, fine."
You make it to the bathroom and lock the door. You sit on the toilet and let out a
sigh of relief.

> You wash off the blood.

You wash off the blood that you've shed and try to think of what to do. The police
will be here soon and you need a new plan.
You can either hide out at your aunt's place or go to your friend Nick's house. His
mom works at the donut shop around the corner, so she should have a room for you to
stay in.

> You go to Nick's house.

You go to the closest friend you have that might help you out of this pickle. They
might have a spare room you could stay in.
You pull up to the donut shop, put the car in park, and head inside.
"Nick!" you yell.
"Yeah?"

> You say "Would you mind helping me out?"

"What's up?"
"I need a place to hide out, and you don't have much use for me so I'm taking you
up on your offer."

> You say "Let's have that road trip to Vegas we talked about"
"Alright. I'll grab my mom's car and we can go tonight."
After getting the car from your friend's mom, you drive to a hotel that you've
stayed at before.

> You check into the hotel.

You walk into the hotel, go up to the counter and ask to make a hotel reservation.
The clerk behind the desk looks you up and down and licks his lips when he looks at
you.

> You say "You okay?"

"Yeah, just busy. How may I help you?"
"I'd like to make a room reservation."
"Do you have a name?"
"Yes. Steve"
"I see. We have a few openings tomorrow night."
"Perfect. I'll take it."
You check in and head up to your room. A little later, you fall asleep watching TV.
The next day, you and Nick meet up to plan your road trip. After finding a gas
station with a working payphone, you call your mom to tell her you'll be staying at
Nick's place over night. She isn't too happy to hear about it, but says she'll come
and get you in the morning. You say "'K" and hang up.
Nick and you talk for a bit before deciding on a route.

> You say "How have you been?"

"Good."
"Where you going first?"
"I'm not sure yet. We can just go wherever."
"Where are you going?"
"That's part of the journey."
Nick laughs. "Yeah, that's what my dad said when I first got here."
He continues to talk about his childhood but you're not really paying attention.
You just zone out and look out the window until he stops.
The rest of the trip is pretty uneventful.
After dropping Nick off, you head home to spend time with your mom and aunt as they
try to help you prepare for the police investigation in the morning.
The next day, you go with your mom to the police department to give a statement.
She makes you do it like 5 or 6 times, even having you write it out. It takes an
entire afternoon, but eventually you're done and they show you a few pictures
they've taken during the investigation. One picture catches your eye.

> You look at the picture.

The picture is of someone with long, dirty blond hair, tucked under a mesh hat.
Under the hat is a girl with her eyes closed and a faint smile on her face.
It's a picture of Dawn, Pike's wife, who you've murdered.
You stare at the photo in disbelief. Your mouth drops open as you stare at the
picture.
"That's my wife," Ben says. "I can't believe it..."
"I think it's her," you say. "Do you recognize her?"
He squints at the photo.
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ScryingGhost