Hanru Sazuki

Hanru Narrating: These 6 sisters shared an unexplainable bond. None of them were related by birth, but they all remained close family. Kristen was destructive and use her destructive charm to win over men and feel empowered. She takes advantage of weak men and she took advantage of my brother Lawrence after he broke up with Israel. Israel found out about the situation and in uncontrollable jealousy, she killed Kristen. Now her 5 sisters are out for revenge. Anne was caught by both Lee and I but she chewed her own hand off to escape. Janie poisoned my uncle but only with a weak poison which wasn’t enough to kill him. But he makes everyone think he’s dead. Both Janie and Anne were setup and caught by LJ, what remains of them now is a mystery. Judy, Velma, and an unknown sister are the last three sisters and their whereabouts are unknown. Shaun, Kenneth, Teegan, and myself, have been in Oregon trying to figure out the mysteries of Kenneth’s wife’s “murder”. No leads yet, but I’m sure we’ll find something soon. She claims to have some sort of connection with Jason and his group. Hopefully we find answers soon.

(Hanru just stares out at the window while Kenneth sits in the driver’s seat driving along an empty street in the middle of the desert. The sky is dimmed blue and the hour strike 7:00 AM.)

Kenneth: Why are you lookin’ so gloomy kid? Is because we weren’t able to catch Carry? (Pats Hanru twice on the shoulder) This must be the first time; your person of interested escaped?

Hanru: Not the first time, no. Eventually I did catch whoever it was escaped.

Kenneth: What made you… wanna do this, kid? Explain to me what shaped your mind into wanting to be a secret detective.

Hanru: I’ve thought about it many times over the years. I just gave up. I gave up on everything in life. I decided to try and solve a murder because it was a desperate attempt to find some direction in life. I wanted to help out someone who needed help desperately, and… (Silently sighs) I also hoped that in the end I would maybe be killed by the killer if I caught him, and if by some miracle he didn’t kill me, maybe he could’ve been my teacher and taught me how to kill.

Kenneth: Why would you want to kill anybody?

Hanru: My entire life I’ve suffered from the urges. My thoughts and my mind were just very unstable. The thought of killing and the influence of evil was just such a great feeling. That pressure feeling from within was so empowering. That feeling of black and dark red blood flooding in the back of my eyeballs was a feeling of ecstasy. The buildup process was great; the thoughts were great. But I never had the full release.

Kenneth: You use to be a sociopath.

Hanru: I partially still am.

Kenneth: This would explain why you never show much emotion when you talk. You’re just a big blah.

Hanru: I use to not be able to feel emotions. I wasn’t always an empty shell though; only when I was alone did I feel a complete disconnection. But usually I would know what emotion I was supposed to be feeling when the moments presented themselves. When I was around my friends I would act happy and I would think I was happy, but really, I wasn’t feeling anything. I just psyched my mind out.

Kenneth: How did it feel growing up with such a messed up mind, and how did you end up curing yourself in the end?

Hanru: I fell in love. Love was my cure… But I think it was more than that, I think it was… something watching out for me my entire life and preventing me from fully committing to my darkness.

Kenneth: Ha! So you think it was god then?

Hanru: Well…

Kenneth: (Grins) Come on, don’t be shy; be honest now.

Hanru: Uh… maybe it could have been.

Kenneth: So you do believe in him.

Hanru: Maybe I do…

Kenneth: Oh.

(Car gets quiet for a few seconds.)

Hanru: What about you?

Kenneth: Hm? Oh, nah! (Lightly shakes head) I’m not into that kind of stuff. Carry made me go to church back when she was still… well… back before she seemingly passed away. I didn’t quite get it. Church to me was just nothing but talk and talk about blah and blah and stuff from the great beyond and things like that. It was like listening to a fancy script from a movie being read to you, but being expected to understand it and follow it completely. It’s just… Nah. I would never go back either. I didn’t even want Carry’s funeral to be in a church, nor do I want mine.

Hanru: It’s so easy for you to just block this information from your mind.

Kenneth: Why do I need it if I don’t believe?

Hanru: I don’t know the answers to everything, but I do know that this information is pretty important. I mean The Bible did predict many things of its future and our present. The bible tells us all how to live and honestly if we lived by what it said, we would be better than we are today. Our race has fallen because of the way the world shifted and-

Kenneth: Okay, enough. One thing about atheists is they get frustrated very easily at the thought of always having religion shoved down their throats all the time. I understand why now. It’s like, the more you talk about it, the more my mind feels violated and used. It’s not entirely an easy thing to explain but the point is… I don’t wanna hear it.

Hanru: I respect that. I mean I’m not perfect either. I don’t fully commit to certain things myself. I just choose to believe in the things I’ve learned from the bible, but I don’t always act on them. I don’t always live by them.

Kenneth: Yeah, well I once believed in God, but then things changed. I got my job at the FBI, and I learned secrets about the world normal people couldn’t handle. I saw how corrupted our government was and how much wrong and evil we did to our citizens and just to the world in general. I literally- COULD NOT- believe what world I was living in. I became an angry person. I started drinking a lot to try and get the edge off before I completely lost it and just yelled out the truth about the world to hundreds of people out in the public. After I started drinking, I soon became abusive to my wife and neglected my daughter. But my wife was strong. She was a… very strong woman and she didn’t take my inexcusable behavior for very long. She had a very short fuse and after only a few mistake, her short fuse exploded and just like that… POOF! She was gone. She went missing. And in the back of mind I felt her dying. Of course you already know about my affairs with Carry’s twin sister. That was happening around the time my drinking started. (Sighs in disappointment) The point is, kid… The world is such a messed up place. I’ve seen how corrupted it is from the inside and I couldn’t handle it. And I couldn’t believe what was going on right in front of my face. So I stopped believing in god after seeing how much evil controls this world.

Hanru: How did you get out of the FBI?

Kenneth: They told me that they didn’t need me anymore. They said that I was too destructive and that I did a lot for their company. And in respect of the hard work and loyalty I put in for them, they will agree to let me leave the FBI, but with no pay and I had to live off the grid. They didn’t want to see my face or hear my name ever again. I got off lucky, kid. No chips, no memory extraction, no bugs. My daughter and I were free.

Hanru: And sometimes you think that God made that possible. You sometimes wonder if he let you get off Scott-free to give you a second chance to return to him.

Kenneth: Why would he do that thought? Please, I mean, just explain why God would force me- NO! Explain to me why God sets people up and causes their entire world to crumble and completely fall apart, just to get people to suffer and feel lost in life and be forced to seek him and follow his rules of life! Please, explain to me why this is, if there really is a god!

Hanru: Like I said I-

Kenneth: Well what’s your personal opinion?

Hanru: Well um… God says that… Only those who follow him and have faith in him will get into heaven. I think that maybe… (Shrugs) I- well… Maybe he tries to force people into seeking his word and following him.

Kenneth: In that case, why doesn’t he just let us all go to heaven?!

Hanru: Because unlike us human beings, God never goes back on his word. God said that only those who follow him make it into heaven, so he forced people to want to follow him so they can make it into heaven.

Kenneth: He never goes back on his word, huh? Is that the excuse for why millions of souls have to burn in hell for all eternity?! He doesn’t want to go back on his word?!

Hanru: Think about how far God will go to stand by his word and keep his image of honesty. This is just like… a confirmation of heaven existing and being real.

Kenneth: Cause he never goes back on his word… (Shakes head)

Hanru: God gives us the choice.

Kenneth: (Sarcasm) Yeah that’s really a fair choice.

Hanru: With all religion and personal perception aside, do you think anything would be here right now or exist?

Kenneth: Well there’s always the big bang.

Hanru: Okay, so what if God is the big bang? Like I said, putting religion aside, what if God is just simply a form of all energy? What if this energy spread itself throughout this infinite space called the universe? That is exactly what energy does and did do to create the universe. Just think about if God was energy with a consciousness.

Kenneth: Energy can’t speak.

Hanru: Oh but it does. It speaks to us all the time. Energy is everything non-physical. This means love, emotions, ambitions, desires. Emotions are what really speak to people, but our physical bodies are what physically express what we’re going through inside and what we’re feeling. Thoughts are energy. They are non-physical. Most non-physical things enforce a physical change in some way.

(Car gets silent for a few seconds.)

Kenneth: All this religious talk is making me a bit shook Up; I’m gonna check and see what’s on the radio.

(As Kenneth turns the radio on, nothing but static can be heard on every channel except one.)

Radio: So, you see, Tammie; God does have a plan for your life.

Crying young woman: My real name is Allison. Please call me Allison Mars. I just… have this sudden urge to be honest after what you just told me. (Sniffs) Thank you reverend. I can’t remember the last time I’ve cried. I’ve been so disconnected from my emotions and I’ve done such cold and heartless things with no remorse or second though of how other people might be effected by my evil actions toward them. Thank you so much.

Radio: (Chuckles three times) Oh please; I am only doing my job. I am not a reverend; I am simply a follower of god; delivering onto you, messages from above. Now Ms. Allison, I know God has a plan for you. And your murderous confessions have only proven that you are ready to fully commit to being a contributing member of God’s people. You are to be baptized; if you are ready, and cleansed of all mortal sins. It is important to know that baptism isn’t only a second birth; it is also a sacrifice and a commitment to God. You must always follow him, you must always obey him, you must always follow in his word and the rules of the plans he has set for your future.

Allison: I’m done killing. I want a second chance in life. I just wanna live peaceful with my mother and little brother Tommy and my sister Serena. I want another chance to do the right thing.

Radio: You must realize that after this sacrifice you make, you ca no longer commit another murder. Under no circumstances do you ever follow your darkness. Be honest with not me; but yourself. Are you truly ready to make this commitment, or are you just saying you’re ready because you are momentarily feeling influenced by the presence of God’s grace?

Allison: No, no; I’m truly ready to make this commitment.

Happy Woman: What a blessing this night turned out to be. Let us all embrace the loving embrace of God’s grace and celebrate the new way of life for this individual known as Allison!

(Kenneth turns the radio off with a look of uncertainty in his eyes.)

Kenneth: That can’t be a coincidence that, that station was the only one that was working. That woman talking-

Hanru: Was, Carry; I know. I recognize her voice; I’m good at that.

Kenneth: Looks like we’ve found a lead to where she is.

Hanru: Let’s go find this radio station then.

(Hanru and Kenneth sit at a gas station less than an hour later looking at a map, on the trunk of the car.)

Kenneth: Alright, so what’s the plan, JR. Detective?

Hanru: I’ll try and make this short. We had a clear signal so the station isn’t too far from our location; maybe a few miles. I talked to Allison’s sister a few days ago and she told me they were on the run. The town we were just in was a perfect place to stay off the grid. It’s not even noticeable on any of the maps we’ve seen. This town has only a limited number of cheap motels, so most likely Allison and her sister Serena are hiding out in one of those motels in town. The radio station can only release a signal in the town’s area, so all we need to do is cross off as many rooms in as many motels as possible until we shorten our search window. Eventually we’ll close in on them and we can question them about where they’ll be baptized at. Once we learn where the baptism spot is, we’ll be able to find the man on the radio and if Carry isn’t with him, we’ll tail him till he reveals her location. So no suspicion is raised, we need to switch between different vehicles when we track him. Shaun still has his van and it still works; not to mention it’s also tinted so it’s easier to not be recognized. Now if Carry is with this man who is going to baptize Allison, we do whatever it takes to make sure they do not escape.

Kenneth: Instead of doing all of that, why can’t we just google all known radio stations in the area and show up their?

Hanru: Cause you never know- maybe Carry and that man wanted us to hear that conversation. Maybe they rigged our radio to only receive that one station so that we would go to the radio station and seek them out.

Kenneth: Then they’re inviting us in for a drink. Maybe they want to talk to us.

Hanru: Or maybe they’re setting us up for a trap. Think about everything we know; think about what kind of information we’ve learned about Carry and her sister and about Shaun’s murders. They might be setting us up to die. I’m convinced that whoever this man was talking over the radio to Allison is Carry’s partner. Shaun recently became highly religious after supposedly killing your wife Carry.

Kenneth: but he ended up killing Carry’s twin sister instead. She was pretending to be Carry because of how crazy she was.

Hanru: Was Carry’s twin sister religious?

Kenneth: No, she wasn’t. Carry’s entire family had a total of one religious occupant. She never even shared her beliefs with anyone accept for me and Teegan.

Hanru: Carry somehow found this man on the radio and they teamed up at some point. I’m guessing that the man over the radio is also familiar with Shaun and perhaps the two of them know each other.

Kenneth: So we need to go back?

Hanru: We do, but we need to stick to our plan and under no circumstances have our cover blown. Let’s move; we have a lot to do and we have to stay cautious.

(Dead forest)

(Shaun stares down at his backyard graveyard flickering a lighter in his hand over and over again. Carry walk up beside him and stares down at the empty graves.)

Shaun: I wanna know the truth of what happened. I wanna know everything.

Carry: My husband cheated on me multiple times with my sister and he didn’t think I knew about it. I was so hurt; I was going to leave him. My twin sister confronted me about it and said she wanted to be with my husband. I admit what I did was very disturbing and highly unlikely. I helped my sister get plastic surgery to look exactly 100% like me. Once that happened, my sister tried faking a head injury so it would seem like she had amnesia. I was supposed to meet her in a secluded area where she would hurt herself badly and I was supposed to be there to call the ambulance for her after she injured herself. But I was late, and by the time I got there, I witnessed you kidnap her. I was then kidnapped by some guy who was watching you.

Shaun: I think I’m remembering that. I remember your sister. She found me in a secluded area and asked me to hit her over the head with a pipe but just with enough force to knock her out. But I accidentally hit her too hard. I panicked, went and got some plastic wrap, and I just threw her in my van and I drove back to my cabin and by the time I got there, she was just fine; just scarred.

Carry: You hit my sister with that pipe and she died. What you didn’t know, was during the moment after you killed her and ran away to get some sheets to wrap the body in to put in your van, that man who was following you switched my body with my sisters. He injected me with something to put me to sleep as soon as he kidnapped me. When he saw you kill my sister and then run away, he quickly made the switch between her and I and you ended up retrieving me instead. You kept me alive for a while. There was something special about me and the love I had for my family that touched you. You couldn’t let me suffer and bleed out to death after you attempted to kill me by stabbing me in the gut weeks after you kidnapped me, so you threw me in a coffin and buried me alive so that you wouldn’t have to see that look on my face of me suffering while I died. That man came back and dug me up. He switched my body with my dead sister’s. Her body was the one in the coffin. I’ve been living with him this entire time and he was the one who nursed me back to health. He and I have been keeping tabs on you, but also we’ve been working with this man named Jason. You don’t have to worry about Jason though; he’s not important. He’s just interested in recruiting you to his family of killers.

Shaun: So that’s the full truth? What about the blood sample I took from the dead corpse that was in the coffin?

Carry: We paid off the geeks down at the lab and they gave you fake results. You did take a sample of blood from my sister’s body, but the results said it was my blood sample.

Shaun: I’m trying to change my ways now. I don’t want to be a killer. So you and your boss and this Jason guy can just go ahead and turn me into the police cause I’m not going to join a bunch of killers and be a part of their group. Killing is wrong. It pains me to say it, but it’s true. I’m trying to change my ways. Please just leave me alone.

Carry: We can’t exactly do that, Shaun; because you see… (Gets closer to Shaun and gently places her hands on his shoulders) During that time you kidnapped me, you felt sympathy for me, Shaun, and that sympathy is what normal people would call “love”. You had your first taste of love. You love me, Shaun, and the reason why you’re so obsessed with wanted to better yourself is because of how much I affected you. I’ve changed you as a person; I’ve shaped who you are today. You want to feel worthy enough of having the feelings returned. You want to be seen worthy of being loved in my eyes. (Wraps her arms around him from behind and gently kisses the back of his neck) You could be with me… all you have to do is come join us. I do accept you for being a killer, Shaun, but personally, I do want you to stop. I can help you control your urges and help you stop killing, but first, there are some people you have to kill first.

Shaun: No, forget it. (Pushes away from Carry and makes eye-contact) I’m not killing them. Hanru and Kenneth do not deserve to be killed!

Carry: I know that. Despite what my husband did to me, I still love him. And the boy, well… He’s an innocent soul and doesn’t deserve to be killed. My boss has manipulated me for far too long and he’s forced me to do things against my will. I don’t have it in me to take someone’s life, yet I work with an entire group of killers. I want them all dead, Shaun. They hurt and kill the innocent and they don’t deserve to walk among us. (Opens arms wide and cracks a smile as she turns her head to the side) Please, Shaun; for me? Once you kill my boss and all his followers, you and I can be together forever. We can live in seclusion- away from people. If you ever have urges, I can be here to help you fight ‘em. I’ll do whatever it takes to make your life perfect. (Shaun walks into her chest and she embraces him)

(In broad daylight, Shaun sees an owl up in a tree in front of him. He stares at it for a few seconds and then looks down at the ground.)

Shaun: I don’t like this feeling. What you’ve done to me I don’t like.

Carry: (Gently strokes the back of his head) Shhh. I know it’s not easy for you to accept these feelings; they’re still new to you, but as long as you have me, that’s all you’ll need. I’ll make everything better for you. I promise not to ever hurt you.

(Shaun wraps one arm around Carry’s waist. The owl hoots and flies away.)

Carry: Don’t be scared; you have me now.

(An hour has passed. Hanru, Teegan, and Kenneth all sit in the car, stuck at a McDonalds drive through.)

Teegan: (Smells under her arm) I haven’t taken a decent shower since I got here to this miserable state. Dad, could I have a few bucks for some deodorant; ran out of money and can’t afford to buy any.

Kenneth: Yeah. Sure, doll. We’ll get it, once we drop back into town.

Teegan: Wait, back into town?

Kenneth: You were asleep in the back seat when Hanru and I were discussing our plans for our next destination.

Teegan: And that destination is back to that disgusting motel?!

Kenneth: Not necessarily that motel; we have others to choose from.

Teegan: Dad, we’re running out of money and that motel is the cheapest one in town; it is the only room we can afford.

Kenneth: Then I guess you’re just gonna have to use that deodorant money to buy you a sleazy outfit and find a corner, huh?

(Both Kenneth and Teegan look at each other. Teegan looks at Kenneth with a look of unbelief; Kenneth cracks a smile and lightly chuckles as he turns away seconds later.)

Teegan: You are kidding, right?

(Kenneth pulls up to the window. As he makes the transaction, Hanru and Teegan say a few words.)

Hanru: We’ll explain everything to you on the way. Just know that you’ll be seeing your mother really soon.

Teegan: How do you figure?

Hanru: You’re father had an affair with your mom; she faked her death, got kidnapped by Shaun and Shaun didn’t have it in him to kill your mother. Your mother was spiritual, so it’s possible that her spirituality somehow rubbed off on Shaun and shaped him. For once in his life, Shaun probably felt love and that was one reason why he couldn’t see her dead. He buried her alive, but he didn’t make the hole deep enough. He also left the coffin unlocked. It’s possible that Carry has been working with this mysterious man who has been tracking Shaun for a while now. He could have dug up Carry and he could have helped nursed her back to health and he could have taker her under his wing. Your mother had a twin sister who was obsessed with your father. I think she was buried in your mother’s place after Shaun put her in the coffin.

Teegan: Wait, so you think some random man, who has been watching Shaun, took my mother’s body out of the coffin and placed my dead aunt’s corpse in there as a replacement?

Hanru: That’s just my opinion of course, but yes I do believe that.

Teegan: Why would someone go through all the trouble?

Hanru: So that Shaun wouldn’t suspect anything. Whoever was watching Shaun knew that at some point, Shaun would reopen that grave to see what that body looked like or to see if the body was still there, cause remember he did leave the coffin unlocked. Once Shaun did see that a corpse was in there, he thought it was your mother’s. He felt something was off, so he took a DNA sample and took it to get it tested. I’m guessing something must have went wrong or maybe the people down at the lab were paid off to give false results.

Teegan: If all of this is true, why would someone go through so much effort to make Shaun believe she was dead?

Hanru: To manipulate Shaun.

(Kenneth finally drives out of the Drive-in and continues on down the road with the bags of breakfast in his lap.)

Hanru: Your mother is a master manipulator. I could tell the moment we first met. She is a temptress. Her and whoever she’s working with want something out of Shaun and they’re manipulating him into getting what they want.

Teegan: Ok, so why would my mother and this guy want to make Shaun think she is dead? Why so much effort?

Hanru: Well… (Thinks for a few seconds) Perhaps to… AH! Shaun regretted ever seemingly killing your mother. Through that regret evolved guilt, then came denial, than assurance. Shaun regretting killing your mother, for once in his life made him feel guilty about taking another’s life. He denied her being dead and hoped she was still alive. He had to have assurance of whether or not she was truly dead, so he got a sample of the dead body and tested it. Once the sample was given to him false and it confirmed that the body was hers, he had to accept that she was gone and through his grief, he decided to keep her alive in his heart by following her godly ways and committing to the same religion as her. But that’s beside the point. Shaun has to suffer every day with regret of killing her.

(Kenneth stares straight at the road as he drives, but it’s obvious he’s deep in thought and feeling sympathetic of Hanru’s words.)

Hanru: After living with the pain for so long, Carry comes back and reveals to Shaun that she’s still alive. This is going to throw Shaun in a loop of confusion and cause him to conflict with his own mind and morality. This allows the temptress, your mother, so take advantage or Shaun and guide him down a path that may not be right for him. She will have complete control over him.

Teegan: How did you figure all this out and how is it you’re solving this mystery now?! Why couldn’t you have solved it back when were still with Shaun earlier?

Hanru: While your father was driving last night, he told me the history of your mother and he told me about all the things he and Shaun talked about. One thing about me is that once I start a case, my brain is always processing different possibilities non-stop. From all the facts I learn, and from reading people’s personalities and analyzing their mentalities, I can easily come up with an accurate scenario of what really happened during a murder.

Kenneth: (Continues to focus on the road) Wow, kid; you sound like me. Once I started a case, I couldn’t stop thinking about the different scenarios and how everything would play out.

Hanru: Looks like you and I are alike in more ways than one. (Thinking) He’s avoiding eye-contact. I think I know what’s going on with him.

(Miami)

(As Jessica walks up to the door, a very satisfied man opens the door and chuckles at Jessica before walking away. Jessica stares at him until he gets enough distance. She walks in and sees Tammy smoking a cigarette and wearing a bathrobe. She lies stretched out on the couch with her legs crossed.)

Tammy: (Deeply inhales) Look who came just in time. (Deeply exhales)

Jessica: Look who came all over the couch.

Tammy: Oh yeah; I forgot, you sleep here.

Jessica: Not anymore. (Walks toward the kitchen area.)

Tammy: How did the job hunt go?

Jessica: (Pulls out a bottle of water from the fridge) Same as always; no one is hiring, and if they are they only want me to be an office display or a down payment of snatch in their face.

Tammy: Wow. (Sits up and puts out cigarette) So they want sex from you or then want for you wear some sexy outfits so that all the guys can look at you. That’s a rough predicament. Oh wait… Duh; not it’s not! Guys are gonna always look at you as a sex object no matter where you go. Being a woman is difficult enough and the way society views us doesn’t make things any easier. I’ve learned to just accept what I am and not fight for something that would never happen.

Jessica: You think getting respect from a guy is never gonna happen?

Tammy: It hasn’t so far. Out of all the guy’s I’ve been with, they’re all the same in the end. Sure they put on a front and make me think they’re nice guys but then they use me for some pretty sick stuff when it’s bed-time.

Jessica: I can’t see how someone would want to degrade their selves. I mean, don’t you ever feel disrespected or degraded or used?

Tammy: I do, I’m not gonna lie. But it doesn’t entirely bother me much.

Jessica: Oh it doesn’t, huh?

Tammy: Nope. I feel like I’m doing the right thing by selling myself. I mean you should see what kind of clients I get. I get so many married men who complain about not getting any from their wives. So many young punks who feel so degraded and have low self-esteem because they either can’t get a girlfriend, or they’ve been rejected because their penis is too small. Some men have such weird and creepy and just plain messed up fantasies that sometimes they need to be able to express themselves sexually without fear of being rejected or criticized. I’ve even had two or three guys who said they were having urges to rape woman off the street so they would come to me instead to get their fill. So you see, I’m happy with my profession. I help men express themselves with no fear of judgment. If you’ve ever been judged before, you would know it’s not a pretty feeling. I’ve been judged my whole life, so I know what it feels like.

Jessica: Well since you put it like that I mean… There’s no argument against it.

Tammy: There’s always are argument that could be made.

Jessica: So you enjoy pleasuring others, but what about pleasuring yourself? What do you want out of life?

Tammy: I’ve never really gave it much thought honestly. I know what I want now and I’m living it in the moment. Life is about living in the moment, right? We all die in the end, but we live here in this messed up world… in the moment. So when you’re in the moment, enjoy it as much as you can, cause you never know when it’s all gonna change or… end. (Stares down at the table and holds hands together.

Jessica: (Clears throat) Maybe I should get going. I have plenty more jobs to shoot for. (Chuckles) Get it; shoot for- job hunting?

(In complete depression, Tammy stands and walks directly into the bathroom. She locks the door behind her. Jessica can’t help but to stand conflicted over the choice to give Tammy some space or help figure out what is wrong with her.)

(Hanru, Kenneth, Teegan, and Shaun are all sitting on Kenneth’s porch talking hours later. Hanru closes his eyes and holds his head like he has a headache.)

Kenneth: So she wants you to kill this group of killers than, huh?

Shaun: Is that really your response to this whole thing?

Kenneth: (Slowly shrugs) What else am I supposed to say?

Shaun: I just told you about how your wife came to me and offered to be my lover. You don’t have anything to say about that?

Kenneth: I’ve tried my hardest to learn the truth about what happened to my wife. I realize it was her choice to leave me and fake her own death. It’s amazing how someone can just turn on you.

Hanru: (Opens his eyes and looks at Kenneth) Love is hard. When you love someone to the point when you would do anything for them and they just… look down at you or get angry with you because you did something for them out of love, it just proves how cruel love really is. I’ve never told anyone about this, but… I met this girl and she was… amazing. She was truly one of a kind. She accepted me for who I was, she was lost like me in so many ways. She helped cure me of my homicidal thoughts and urges. She helped me see through the light. She helped me become more mature; look at life differently. I use to… suffer from a type of depression and I had no motivation to go on living. Once I’ve given up on living, she came into my life and she gave me a reason for living. I dedicated my life to her and I promised to do all I possibly could for her and to make her life complete. I had nothing else to live for. I could say anything to her and she would still love me; she would still stay by my side and laugh and joke about whatever it is I said. Our spiritual connection was amazing and what we had was… majestic. She constantly pushed me away over the first few months we’ve known each other, but she eventually learned to accept me and let me into her circle. Our philosophical beliefs, spiritual, mental; everything about us was shared and accepted amongst each other. She was who she was though- a lost soul. She would easily get so angered an annoyed as if she constantly felt that way every second of everyday. Not a day went by when she slipped into depression. She constantly thought about her life and her future and how destructive and wild she wanted to be in life before she embraced death. But she never had any excitement in her life. All she had was me. Despite how strong our love was, she and I were long distance and we’ve never even really met. But what we had was real. She… (Sighs and closes eyes tightly) She hated school and dealing with people, but in order to start her life, she had to go back. So she did… And once her first day of school started, she stopped responding to my messages, she stopped communicating with me, and she stopped all contact. So after a few weeks, I sent her another message again on Valentine’s Day and she ignored it so after a few hours I messaged her again asking if she had a few minutes to talk. We talked and she told me she… She told me to stop living for her and that she didn’t want me living for her anymore and that she wanted to take care of herself. I messaged her back three times after that and she never responded. After changing me as a person and after giving me a reason for wanting to live and exist in this life, in one moment, she just completely shut me down. Our love was a strong one. Whenever she felt a certain way, I felt it, whenever she thought something, I thought it too. Whatever her thoughts for me were, I felt them. So you see I wasn’t just a fool in love, I felt our souls linked together. Whenever she tried pushing me away, I felt her soul struggling to try and rip away from mine. I accepted all of her flaws and she was unlike any other woman I have ever met. She was like a friend, teacher, student, sister, partner, lover, mother, therapist, kindred, and more all wrapped up in one. She was so much to me and just like that she just changed her mind about our plans for moving to New York and living happily there until eventually we died and the world ended. She completely left me behind alone with no other reason to live. After all the buildup of our bond and linking our souls, in one moment she just… threw it all away… I’m sorry this explanation is so long, I just needed to let out my inner feelings and talk about what I was feeling deep down inside. Sometimes I wish that she would never in her life mention me again or even want to meet me. Because… After how cruel she was to me and after everything she did for me and to me, in the end, all that mattered was the pain of her throwing everything away and leaving me out in the cold alone and with no one to turn to. If I ever see her in person, I might end up killing her. I know that’s a crazy thing to say, but I might end up taking her life. I’ve tried talking to other people about this, but all people ever do is judge me. They tell me to just get over it, or they try and compare their situations with mine- telling me about how there are other fish in the sea or how everyone goes through heartbreak so I’ll get over it. And when I try and explain to them about my deep spiritual connection to her, they tell me “oh you’ll be okay; don’t worry about it.” Or they’ll say things like “I’ve been through lots of breakups; it’s no big deal.” “I don’t know about all the spirit stuff, all that’s just in your head.” I never have anyone to talk to. At your weakest moment, the people you need most turn on you.

Teegan: Hearing that story makes me terrified to be with you. I used to like you Hanru, but if I have to worry about being murdered by you when you’re depressed or feeling bad well… It doesn’t feel worth it to be with you. Word of advice, don’t ever tell that story to a girl ever cause that’s a good way to turn them off to you.

Hanru: My stories were never a turn off to her.

Teegan: Yeah well… Still; that’s freaky. You need a girl who won’t let you feed into that psychotic-ness and help be more normal like most people.

Hanru: (Glares at Teegan and twitches his eye) You obviously don’t accept me, Teegan. I thought you were my friend.

Teegan: Friends are supposed to be people who you can trust; I can’t trust you because I’m afraid of you. I’m sorry but just… Ugh.

Hanru: So after that entire story, I told you; when I’m feeling vulnerable, all you heard was the part when I said I would probably kill her for what she did; and all you can do is criticize me for feeling it?

Teegan: Well yeah…

Shaun: She is right. I mean I’m a cold-blooded killer and once I fell in love with Carry, it was mentally, physically, and emotionally impossible for me to take her life. Even now I couldn’t take her life. No matter how much wrong she’s done me or will do to me, I will never hurt her because I love her! If she hurt you that bad, why can’t you just remember all the good she’s done for you, accept what she’s done and move on with your life?

Hanru: I’m trying to move on, but it’s not that easy for me.

Shaun: WHY! Because you’re a sociopath and your brain doesn’t work like most people?! Instead of sulking like a little baby and wanting to kill someone because you can’t get your way, maybe you should just grow up and get over your loss. We all lose people. That’s no excuse to go around killing people. And in your mind you’re feeling like no one is on your side, no one cares about the way you’re feeling; you feel like you’re all alone in your own little world where no one could ever accept you for who you are. I’m psychotic too; I know how you’re feeling and what you’re thinking! Once you get some time to yourself, you’ll probably end up killing yourself. The feelings I just explained are feelings that most feel when they commit suicide. They feel alone.

Hanru: All I ask for is just a little sympathy.

Shaun: Well TOO BAD! BE A MAN! Cause in real life, you don’t get sympathy! People like us who are psychotic and are unable to relate to the average minds of others live in our own universal mind. We live by what goes on inside our heads; we do not care nor want to live by the standards of society and its normal people. In our world, we want things to go our way, and when they don’t; or when we let someone into our world and they treat our invitation as a joke and just toss us aside like we’re nothing, the darkest part of us is awakened and we do have ill feelings toward whoever hurt us. But you love this woman; whoever she was… and that love should be powerful enough to overcome your darkness.

Hanru: It was. Her love cured my darkness but it’s not my darkness that wants her dead; it’s me. I personally want her to suffer and I want to be the one to do it. I... want to be the one to hear her scream out in fear and have her beg for her life as I mutilate her body and after she’s terrified to her peak, I’ll either take away her beauty and what’s most precious to her and let her live her life miserable until the day she died, or I’ll just kill her and feed her flesh to some wild animals and then use her bones as trophies. But then I’d probably crush her bones into tiny dust particles and toss it deep into the ocean. My darkness isn’t talking; that’s just me!

Shaun: It is your darkness. Your darkness has and always will be a part of you. Even if your darkness goes away and vanishes, there will always be a piece of it etched into your soul and into your mind. You are talking and yes the feelings you have are yours, but that etched darkness within you is what’s driving you to feel the way you do.

Hanru: (Thinking) I’ve suffered from this darkness my entire life; now at my weakest moment, I let a small taste of it out. I feel so… (Looks at everyone) Exposed... All of those around me who are seeing the inner me are disgusted. My whole life I tried avoiding that look. I remained quiet and in the dark. I’ve told people about my darkness, but never have I explained its details. I spill out one detail… and now I’m looked down at and now the three friendships I’ve gained are lost. And the one person I had to talk to left me. She’s gone and I am alone and exposed.

Shaun: This partnership is over, kid. Now that I know what you’re capable of, I don’t ever want to see your face ever again.

Hanru: Why are you judging me? Is it because you’ve been secluded your entire life-

Shaun: My parents were just like me. Whenever I had to go to school I was always teased and made fun of and called weirdo. But I had my parents who accepted me. I understand you probably weren’t your entire life keeping your darkness a secret. I can’t imagine how you felt; I had people to talk to; you didn’t, but I’m not going to sit here and complex my emotions for you or feel sympathy for you. You had no one to talk to well TOO BAD FOR YOU! I don’t care how you feel, cause in the end, I ended up killing my own parents without a slight hesitation or a blink, or even a regret. I didn’t care about being accepted or having someone to talk to when I was teased. I never asked for comfort, it was given to me, so I’m not sympathetic to you. I don’t care anymore about any of you. I know who I want in life and I’m going to be with her no matter what it takes. Kenneth, I know how much you care for your wife Carry, and I also know how far you will go to get her back. So if I have to, I’ll kill you too. Most likely I will kill you- no… I will kill you; I’d just rather get you when you least expect it. So that your daughter won’t seek revenge, I’ll kill her too, and as for you, Hanru, I’ll kill you because you disgust me!

Hanru: What about wanting to better yourself and wanting to follow god?

Shaun: I’m not going to beat myself up over that anymore. I have plenty of time for that later, but right now I’m indulging in my darkness and in these few kills I have because these next few kills will be my last. Once my deed is done, I will dedicate my life to god and I will seek out my light.

Hanru: And what happens if you die while still indulging in darkness? You gotta chose right now what you wanna do, cause you can’t just live by the 11th hour philosophy- living your entire life in sin and having fun, but then once the last hour strikes, you decide to do the right thing and completely change your ways. You never even know when the 11th hour is gonna come or when the hand of God strikes midnight on your clock and ends your life. You gotta always be good; always be ready, because midnight is unpredictable.

Shaun: My 11th hour will come as soon as I kill these last few people. I know what I’m doing. Now please leave before I decide to kill you all now.

Kenneth: Fine; we’ll leave. But Hanru, I’m dropping you off back by the main road. After that, we go our separate ways and we never engage in contact ever again. My daughter is terrified of you now and I’m trying to rebuild what she and I once had. I thank you for helping us find each other again and I thank you for helping out with the situation regarding my wife, but now it’s time for you to go.

Hanru: It’s ironic how much of a twist this is. Kenneth, you once wanted to kill Shaun because you thought he killed your wife, but now you’ve forgiven him. And now, Shaun, you want to kill Kenneth for wanting to save his wife. Wow… Shaun I know these killers who Carry wants you to kill; they are like friends to me and believe me they will kill Carry once they sniff out your true intentions.

Shaun: I won’t let that happen.

Hanru: You say that now but you don’t know them like I do.

(About a minute later, Kenneth’s car pulls over off the side of the road. Hanru gets out and Kenneth takes off before Hanru even has time to turn around and close the door. Teegan reaches in the back and closes the door for him with a depressed look on her face. She turns back around and looks directly at the floor. Hanru can’t help but to look around at the dead forest surrounding him. He hears a rumble. Hanru looks up and a drop of rain splashes him in his face and into his eye. He looks down at the ground and wipes the water from his face. The rain begins to endlessly poor down on Hanru’s head. Kenneth peaks over at Teegan for a few seconds then turns away to look back at the road.)

Teegan: Dad… We did do the right thing, didn’t we…?

(Teegan stares at her father in hopes he’ll make eye contact.)

Kenneth: (Takes a soft deep breath) We did. We just gotta find out where your mother is and get to the bottom of why she really left us.

Teegan: Dad, she left because you cheated on her and became very aggressive and mean.

Kenneth: I doubt she would leave so quickly over that. Your mother and I have too much history she wouldn’t just throw everything away because of my temporary breakdown.

Teegan: Would you ever kill mom?

Kenneth: (Makes eye contact with Teegan) Never. (Stares back at the road)

(Hanru is walking through the rain when all of a sudden, he gets a phone call. He stops and answers it.)

Hanru: Hello?

Jessica: You sound depressed; what’s the matter? Wait, what’s all that static in the background?

Hanru: It’s uh… it’s rain. I uh… I’m standing in the rain.

Jessica: Why be standing in the rain when you could be dancing in the rain?

(Both chuckle.)

Hanru: Yeah…

Jessica: (Giggles) I know you don’t like dancing, but come on; shake yo’ groove thang! Pop that booty in the rain! Come on!

Hanru: (Lightly chuckles) I… don’t like dancing, Mamimi; you know this.

Jessica: You haven’t called me that in a while, but who cares?! Come on, bust a move! Hey, I’ll even do one with you right now. I know I’m over the phone and you can’t see me, but I’m doing the one handed robot HAHAHA!

Hanru: I’m uh… (Sways left to right) I’m just moving back and forth; swaying like a rubber ducky in a bathtub.

Jessica: (Laughs) Do your happy dance!

Hanru: No, Jessi-

Jessica: (Motivating) Come ooooon… You know you want to. Come on, do it for me!

Hanru: (Sighs)

Jessica: Come on, there’s no one around but you and I. Do your happy dance and be serious about it.

Hanru: Okay, I’ll do it, but hold on; I don’t want my phone getting wet.

Jessica: Don’t you have a case around it?

Hanru: I do, but if water gets inside the case, it makes it impossible for the touch screen to work.

Jessica: Oh I forgot, you have one of those fancy rich people phones. HAHAHA

Hanru: Hold on.

(Hanru puts his phone in his pocket. He balls both of his fists and brings them up to his face. He moves his head back and forth and moves his fists around in circles like if he was riding a bike with his hands. He then looks up into the sky and continues this dance as he looks left and then switches right every few seconds. After doing this dance for a few seconds, he stops and waits a few seconds before grabbing his phone.)

Hanru: Are you happy now; I did it?

Jessica: Are you happy now?

Hanru: What?

Jessica: Are YOU happy now?

Hanru: Well… hey wait, why would you want me to do that dance for you if you’re not even here to see it?

Jessica: Because I know you too well, Hanru. Rain brings out a different side to you. Rain has this strange spiritual effect on you that makes the real you and your real feelings come out. When the real you is revealed, you become a darker; more depressing person, and I only want you happy. I know that’s a hard thing for you to feel and it’s very rare, but when I see you untroubled, it makes me smile.

Hanru: Thank you.

Jessica: So what’s going on with your new little squad?

Hanru: Well they uh… They turned against me. I accidentally let my dark side come out a bit and I confessed to them my feelings of wanting to kill a certain girl who hurt me deeply.

Jessica: Hey, I know exactly who you’re talking about and to be honest with you, she was like perfect for you. I never thought things wouldn’t workout.

Hanru: Yeah, well it didn’t. She’s gone and I’m left all alone.

Jessica: After Chris used me to take my virginity then threw me out into the streets and then said all those cruel things to me, I wanted to hurt him really badly. I’ll even go as far as to say I wanted him dead and I wanted to be the one to do it. Hanru love is very hard and painful and I’ve experienced what you’re going through; I just always kept my feelings to myself. There’s nothing wrong with what you’re feeling, but don’t let that feeling take control of you and cause you to become obsessive. People like Lee and I really do love you and we’ll always accept you and your dark side. But we don’t want you indulging in it. We both know that you’re not a dark person. You are kind and loving and I honestly don’t know why you even have a dark side. But hey, Lee and I will always have your back no matter what. (Smooches with cheer) So cheer up, okay?!

Hanru: Ok… Thank you, Mamimi.

Jessica: you’re welcome, Han.

Hanru: I think I should get going. I need to find a ride back to Miami; I’m all the way in Oregon.

Jessica: Don’t worry; I’ll get you back home ok. Maybe I can call someone like Ada and have them come pick you up.

Hanru: No, it’s perfectly fine; I can just hitchhike my way back.

Jessica: Okay… but don’t get kidnapped and sacrificed on the way here.

Hanru: Honestly I’m surprised that hasn’t happened yet.

Jessica: See you son, kid. Keep me updated.

Hanru: I will.

(Hanru walks into a church about an hour and a half later still soaked from the pouring rain outside. He walks toward the chapel and sits in the front row of the church starring at the holy statue.)

Hanru: I’m not here to rant really, so I’ll make this quick. I don’t know why you’ve allowed these bonds of mine to be cut, but I trust that whatever plans you have for my future, will be worth enduring this pain for. I have nowhere else to turn so I’m here.

(A beautiful blonde woman I well-dressed clothing sits right next to Hanru.)

Hanru: I’m not sure what to say.

Carry: Then don’t say anything. I’m guessing you know the truth by now?

Hanru: What, how you’re manipulating Shaun into taking out a group of people you don’t get along with?

Carry: The difference between my partners and my boss is that my boss doesn’t believe in unrighteous killing.

Hanru: What is that? It sounds like an excuse to kill and make it seem okay.

Carry: It is. My boss kills only those he feels are not worthy of life. He judges them and decides whether or not they should live or die. But then he tells Jason or one of his group members to kill whoever he judged. It’s wrong. He has no right to judge whomever he chooses. I don’t have it in me to kill a person, but Shaun does. Shaun’s evil can make this world a better place. All he has to do it kill these last few people then we can be free to live happily together.

Hanru: So you really do love Shaun?

Carry: … I still have strong feelings for Kenneth and Teegan will always be my little baby. But I’ve been through so much since I left my family, I don’t think I could ever go back to them. With Shaun, I could guide him down the right path. I can show him full love and affection and he can return those same feelings to me. You see, Shaun is like a combination of both a husband and a child. I have an opportunity to make things right; with him. I can be a better mother and a better wife!

Hanru: Just don’t mess him up like most parents do their kids.

Carry: (Cracks a smile) You have no faith in me. I am offended.

Hanru: You just make sure to keep him away from me, Kenneth, and Teegan. He wants us all dead, but he has no good purpose for doing so. You keep your dog leashed up. (Stands up and sighs)

Carry: And where might you be going?

Hanru: To find Allison and Serena in hope’s they’ll lead me to your boss. I wanna finally meet this guy face-to-face.

(Miami)

(Jessica knocks on the bathroom door and presses the side of her face against it.)

Jessica: Tammy?! (Knocks three times) Tam; you alright?!

(There is no response.)

Jessica: Okay, I’m coming in!

(Jessica tries turning the doorknob but it’s locked. She then bangs harder three times in a slight panic.)

Jessica: Tammy, this isn’t funny; open the door now! (Bangs harder) Tammy!

Tammy: Leave me alone, Ginger; I’m fine; just need some time to think!

(The doorbell rings.)

Tammy: Would you get that please?!

(Jessica walks away from the bathroom door. She answers the front door and there is a very angry and distressed woman at the door.)

Jessica: Can I help you?

Woman: I see the whores really do start young!

Jessica: (Offended) Excuse me?! Who are you?!

Woman: Oh I’m no one; just the lady next door who has to suffer from those loud obnoxious moans all through the night and day! Oh I’m no one important.

Jessica: Okay, well sorry for the noises, but name-calling is totally uncalled for.

Woman: And why not?! It’s not like I insulted you; I was simply stating the obvious truth! I see a new man walk in here every hour; every hour! What am I supposed to think, hmm? Oh what, you’re having workout sessions with a new client every hour, huh?! Do I look stupid to you?!

Jessica: First of all, yes, you do, second of all, I’m not having workout sessions; the men who come over here come to play twister. (Grins)

Woman: I have no problem hitting a kid! Do not get me fired up; I’m already super pissed!

Jessica: (Cracks a smile) Someone must be on the rag.

(The woman smacks Jessica in the face with full force. Jessica’s head is turned but she laughs and turns back to the woman while laughing with a smile on her face.)

Woman: What’s so funny?! What, you think you have leverage on me because of this? Besides the stretched out lasagna gape between your legs; I have all the proof I need to get you kicked out of this complex and arrested for prostitution. Not to mention the marijuana I’ve been smelling through the door.

Jessica: Like I care about all of that. First of all, you old wretch, my parents put me up for adoption when I was little and before a few months, I’ve been living through abuse every day! Your hits don’t threaten me. And hey, maybe if you’re a good old broad, I’ll send over some guys to play around in your dusty little sandbox after I’m done with them; how’s that?

Woman: (Shoves finger in Jessica’s face) You got one more mess up. One time! One time to mess up before I call One Time and have you arrested and kicked out of here.

Jessica: Offer’s on the table; I can send over some guys for you after the business here is done. You sure you don’t want it?

(The woman stands glaring with her arms crossed.)

Jessica: You sure… Okay, going once; going twice…

Woman: I’m not a hooker like you. I don’t parade myself around like a show dog! But maybe…

Jessica: Maybe what…? (Grins)

Woman: Nothing! Forget it! (Storms off)

(Jessica closes the door and walks into the living area holding her nose. Tammy comes out of the bathroom and watches Jessica walk toward her. Tammy quickly paces herself to Jessica and kneels down.)

Tammy: Oh, my, gosh; what happened to you?! Are you alright?!

Jessica: Some fat neighbor lady with an attitude smacked me.

Tammy: Let me see your nose.

(Jessica moves her hand and Tammy examines it for a few seconds.)

Tammy: (Panicking) Alright, go drink some cold ice water; it’ll help slow down the circulation of blood going through your body. I’ll go get you some tissue. Now when I get you the tissue, do not tilt your head back; that only causes the blood to ooze down your throat and get into your stomach and just… AH! Don’t do that. Just lightly pinch it and hold it to cut the flow of blood coming out of your nose! Okay; you got that?!

Jessica: It’s a nose bleed; I’m not dying.

Tammy: (Takes a deep breath and takes a few seconds to calm down) Okay, you’re right, sorry. I’ll uh… go get you a tampon. I’ll be back. (Stands and walks away)

(A few minutes later, Jessica and Tammy are sitting on the couch. Jessica has a tampon in her nose to absorb the blood.)

Tammy: What do you think woman used for tampons back in like the time before technology or feminine hygiene products? I mean, they didn’t have any type of absorbent material back then. Unless they used their old clothes. But wait, they didn’t have washers back then so when their clothes were stained how did they…? Wow…

Jessica: I heard in school a long time ago that whenever women were on their time of the month, they had to be placed in some kind of a room where they had to bleed out their impurities and avoid contact with people.

Tammy: Wow. Women had it rough since the beginning. It must have been awful having to live without being able to take care of yourself. How did men stand it and how did women stand the criticism?

Jessica: (Smiles for a second) You know it’s funny. Hanru actually prefers the old ways better.

Tammy: I find that weird and disgusting.

Jessica: (Chuckles) Every does. Hanru has lost so many friends and lost respect from so many people because of how different he thinks from everyone else and because sometimes he says the wrong things to people and it causes them to get freaked out and dislike him. He’s always remained a mystery his entire life. He never opens up and shares himself, but when people are lucky enough to have him open up to them only a tiny bit; they completely shut him down and lose all respect for him. Hanru has tried becoming a detective and ended up getting into a whirl of mess. He’s gotten involved with the mafia. People really only know Hanru by his adventures and if they were to ever read his story, they would only focus on the crazy situations he gets himself in. But no one would think about who he really is deep down inside. Nothing of Hanru’s personal life or philosophies or beliefs in life have ever been revealed. They wouldn’t even know what he did for fun, or his school situation, or why he doesn’t have a job. No one really bothers to get to know the real Hanru Sazuki.

Tammy: Well if he did write a story about himself and his life experiences; if the story has some interested plots and twists in it, why should they care about who he is personally? Why should anyone care about this character and how he’s feeling? It’s just fiction anyway.

Jessica: Is it? I mean, is a story fiction just because it’s a story?

Tammy: Well yeah of course it is. I mean just look at movies. People watch movies to see the action and plot twists and seeing how fancy the story can get before they’re really entertained. People watch movies for entertainment because it’s all fake.

Jessica: Is it?

Tammy: Yes it is.

Jessica: Hanru taught me something. He is a writer and I once said to him the exact same thing you just told me and Hanru told me- he said… (Sighs) He says that too a writer, a story is not always something that he creates. Usually a story is told to him and he writes it down on paper as the messenger. He also told me that there are millions and millions of people in this world and possibly and endless number of universes; so how do we know that a movie or a non-fictional story book isn’t real? How do we know that forces beyond us tell writers about their experiences through their souls and writers unknowingly write everything down and assume it came from their own imagination?

Tammy: I honestly don’t know what to say to that.

Jessica: Of course you don’t.

Tammy: What if he’s wrong and these stories really do come from imagination?

Jessica: I asked him that question too. He said that there are billions of people in this world and trillions of experiences felt by all these different people. These people are real and they go through some crazy stuff! But despite everything they go through, there are people like me and you and Hanru who never meet these people in person. Despite us not meeting these people and despite all the crazy things they’ve been through, they never had any contact with us. Their lives and experiences affect us in no way whatsoever. So you can look at a non-fictional movie or story and you’re looking into the world and watching the experiences of characters whom you’ve never met before. What makes story characters different from all those billions of people in the world, whom we never meet, is that we can watch the lives of characters and watch their experiences? We can draw from them and learn new things in life and look at life differently.

Tammy: That’s pretty deep.

Jessica: Hanru told me all of that. He said that a fictional story is sometimes better than life or maybe even the same as life.

Tammy: How does he figure?

Jessica: Life is a storybook; God is the author. The characters are created by God but how the story unfolds is completely up to the characters. The author knows the characters better than they know themselves and he pretty much knows how every character’s story is going end. But the author stretches out these character’s adventures and sees how far they can go before he feels it’s time to make this character move on and leave the story. The difference between a story and life, is that that a story has a shorter length to it and you can choose whether or not to bring a character back. But usually once a character is killed off, that means the author has decided that it was for the greater good for the other characters of the story.

Tammy: I’m confused; when you say author are you talking about an actual story author or God as in the author of the storybook of life?

Jessica: When Hanru said this to me, he was talking about both. As characters, we all have a story that ends, but what kind of adventures do you want to tell your author? In the end, we tell our author our story; they just write it down.

Tammy: So we tell them our adventures, but they decide whether or not our character dies off?

Jessica: That’s right.

Tammy: So what if we die before we finish telling our story?

Jessica: Then make your adventures worthwhile. Fight your hardest to give yourself satisfying adventures, because in the end… all that matters is you died doing what you loved, or pursuing what you loved, or… being surrounded by who you love.

Tammy: That’s amazing. But at the same time depressing. Not a lot of people believe in “The Author” so what about those who can’t relate to your message?

Hanru: It’s not my message; it’s Hanru’s. This is Hanru’s message and his belief. He stands by his belief and he urges others to do the same. No matter how much you tell people about your beliefs, in the end, it’s their choice whether or not to believe it. This is why Hanru dislikes Atheists because they get angry and upset at the beliefs of others instead of just deciding not to believe and moving on with their lives. They had to create their own organization and motivate each other into hating another organization who have different beliefs.

Tammy: You’re talking about Christians, right?

Jessica: Yeah, I am. Christians do not hate atheists because they are hated by atheists; Christians simply accept atheists. Christians may not like the idea of Atheism, but that’s only because of how powerful the Christian organization faith is for their beliefs.

Tammy: So Hanru is Christian and hates Atheists?

Jessica: No, he loves and respects everyone for who they are; and he accepts them for whatever belief they may have. But if he does have a problem with a certain belief, he learns to keep the peace and move on. Just because you don’t like something or someone, that doesn’t mean you have to dwell on your negative feelings towards them.

Tammy: Yeah… that kid has a point. So he is Christian?

Jessica: No he’s not. I don’t think… Well he says that you don’t have to be Christian to believe in God or talk to him or pray to him or even have a relationship with him. Hanru does believe in Christian baptism though.

Tammy: So are you saying that Hanru follows his own type of religion that doesn’t focus on praising God all the time?

Jessica: Hanru said that if he could follow a religion, it would focus on how people could better themselves and live better lives. When it came to the worship of the all mighty, Hanru would strongly advice his follows to serve God and live by his word, but having a relationship with him is something a person must want deep in their heart, so they could follow Hanru’s religion and not have to focus on praising god, but Hanru frowns upon it; but again- he would accept them.

Tammy: Why doesn’t this kid start up this little cult of his?

Jessica: Because the world is filled with so much sin and evil that it’s impossible to find people who would want to better themselves. A life of sin has become mainstream to society now so people can live in sin and feel like they’re doing nothing wrong and they’ll feel like they don’t need to change.

Tammy: Well who knows? Maybe I’ll think about seeing what this kid’s cult is all about and I’ll possibly be the first member to join.

Jessica: (Smiles) Yeah, maybe.

Tammy: I’m Atheist by the way. And you know sometimes I fell conflicted. I’ve lost a child and a husband a long time ago and sometimes I just can’t help but wonder where they are. They’re not here around me, they’re not in my dreams so… (Shrug) Where are they?

Jessica: (Pats her on the shoulder) That would explain your little episode in the bathroom today and why you babied me over that nose bleed.

(Both chuckle.)

Tammy: Yeah, sorry; I’ve been thinking about my son all day. He died back when I was 16. But… you know it does get easier after 10 years. It only gets a little easier, because you’re not constantly living your life in the shadow of your child’s death. You finally have time to think later on and your brain can finally breathe. You don’t accidentally do things like have a slight moment of happiness and then all of a sudden realize that your child isn’t even here anymore and you packed his lunch or set the table for two and then all of a sudden that small window of joy you had that lasted 5 seconds, just disappears like if it never happened. Enough talking though. (Clears throat) I’m curious to know more about Hanru and his situation.

(Oregon)

(Hanru walks through the hallway of a very cheap hotel. A hooker high on cocaine being escorted by a well-dressed young gentlemen walks passed Hanru and Hanru peeks over his shoulder for a second to make sure they’re alright. He turns back around and stands in front of the brown wooden door. He knocks twice and waits exactly 4 seconds before the door opens. A pretty young brunette, about the same age as Hanru, opens up the door with a huge smile on her face.)

Serena: Oh, hey! Hanru? (Chuckles) We weren’t expecting you. How did you find this apartment?

Hanru: Carry gave it to me. She knew I’d eventually find you two so she decided to save me some time and gave me your address.

Allison: (Comes to the door) So wait, you’re working with Maze?

Hanru: Maze?! Shaun Maze?!

Allison: No, silly, reverend Maze. Well he was originally born Shaun Maze SR.

Hanru: You’re expecting him here?!

Serena: Yeah, why; what’s up?

Hanru: I need you two to do me a huge favor.

(2 minutes pass. There is a knock on the door. Serena opens the door and her face lights up bright with a smile.)

Serena: It’s a pleasure seeing you again, Reverend. Please come in.

(With his face unseen, he nods his head and walks inside the apartment. When he gets far enough inside, Hanru closes the door and keeps his distance as he points a black pistol at the back of the reverend’s head.)

Hanru: Turn around so I can see your face!

(He slowly turns around and it is revealed to be an old white man. He keeps his hands help up over his head.)

Hanru: So this is what you look like?

Maze: Amazing you’ve found this place.

Hanru: I wanna know everything. I wanna know your plans and your intentions with Shaun.

Maze: Why? You shouldn’t care; you have no reason to want to save him. His soul is already damned.

Hanru: No… (Shakes and holds the gun tighter) I believe he can still be saved.

Maze: He’s my son. And I know what’s best for my son. He is a killer; he always has been since he was only a child. I didn’t know what to do with him, but Jason found me and offered me a position in his group. He assigned me as a lookout for Shaun. I’ve been keeping tabs on him since, unsure of when the right moment came when I should recruit him. I originally kidnapped Carry so I could plant her as a kill for Shaun and see how he reacted to a gifted subject. I never would’ve imagined how much of an affect she had on Shaun, but now thanks to her, he’s beginning to find his human side. Now is the time to recruit him. It’s Carry’s job to lure him in now. I can’t have you or the former cop getting in the way, so perhaps it’s time I have you all dealt with.

Hanru: You’re lucky. You’re so lucky I can’t kill you right now.

Allison: But I can.

(Maze turns around and gets bashed in the head with a lamp. He falls to the ground unconscious.)

Serena: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

Allison: What kind of a holy man was he?! HUH?!

(Serena runs up to her sister and clenches her face to force her to make eye contact.)

Serena: You listen to me, you promised to stop this, ok? NO MORE KILLING!

Allison: I’M SORRY, OKAY!

(Serena forcefully hugs her sister.)

Allison: I’m so sorry… Sister, please, pray with me. Please.

Serena: Okay, ok.

(The two sisters fall to their knees praying as the two of them cry and pray.)

Hanru Narrating: Fear… Fear of the unknown or even fear of suffering for all the wrong you have caused in life. Allison was a manipulator and when she couldn’t get her way, she murdered. After suffering in so much pain and so much darkness, she decided to find her light through prayer. Allison isn’t a part of any religion; she’s just a believer in God because she’s afraid of what’s on the other side. She’s afraid of being tortured by those very souls whom she cursed to death. She wants to be cleansed of all traces of murderous venom circulating through her system, and she used belief in a higher power as an antidote. Whether or not God does exist, or whether you believe he’s real or not, those who seek God always come out living happy lives and learning to live in peace in this messed up world. And those who do chose to believe are not afraid of death. They know what’s on the other side waiting, and they are ready to face it. It’s amazing how many different reasons people turn to faith. I’m pretty sure Maze isn’t dead, so calling up Shaun seems like the best thing to do right now. I don’t know who else to call. Then again… maybe I do.

(Hanru makes a phone call and a man picks up.)

Man: Hello?

Hanru: I know you’re surprised to hear from me. But I’m sure by now you’ve realized that I stole your pistol. If you want to get it back, you’re gonna have to meet me somewhere. If you refuse to meet me to come get your gun back well… There’s a person I know you’ve been dying to talk to who I have hostage right now.

TO BE CONTINUED…