December 12 2021

Arc 3: Smoke Signals

Alex was at the principal's office as he saw Harrison sitting by the chair while Tess was talking to Strode until she noticed Winters entering the office and she told him to take a seat as he nodded. Alex took his seat as he asked the principal what was the matter until she told him everything that happened.

Strode: Harrison scored higher than
any student has ever scored on the school placement exam.

Alex:. . . . . So you had me come all the way down here to tell me how great my kid is?

Strode: Tess left the room for minutes and when she came back, he was done.

Harrison: The test was easy.

Alex: The test was easy.

Strode: Some of the questions on this test are for Advanced Placement students. College-level. I believe while Tess was gone, Harrison used his cell phone to look up the answers.

Harrison: I did not.

Alex: Did you cheat?

Seeing that Alex wasn't taking his side, Harrison had a frown on his face as he looked at his father in the eye before he said something to him.

Harrison: Are you accusing me of lying. . . . Jim?

Alex: No. . . . . .

Tess: I'm happy to proctor the exam again.

Alex: There you go. You take it again, no phones.

Harrison: I did not cheat. . . . . .

Alex: Then you prove it.

When his father said that, Harrison was upset and had anger coursing through his veins. He expected his father to take his side but instead he didn't even do that.

Harrison: Oh, thanks for having my back. . . . . . Like always.

He immediately got up from his seat and left the office with Tess to retake the exam as Alex was silent and sighed to himself before he left the office and decided to go back to Fred's Fish and Game to continue his work while thinking about what he has to do with Matt's remains.

Night time [Alex's Cabin]

Katherine was talking to the officers at the camp as she looked at the time on her watch until she saw Alex walking towards her and gave her a cup of tea as she smiled at him and took the cup as she said something to Winters.

Katherine: Oh, that's perfect. I'm about to head out. Got to check on the results of the DNA test and confirm the search dogs team.

When she said that, Alex was shocked to hear about that as he was worried. Those search dogs will find a straight line from the crime scene to his firepit where the body is buried and he will be caught. Winters was even more worried but hid those emotions while speaking to Katherine.

Alex: Search dogs?

Katherine: Yup. Should be here tomorrow.

Alex: Wow. You're ramping things up.

Katherine: At this point, I'm just
hoping it's not too late.

Ten minutes have passed and Katherine along with the officers were gone as Winters was at the bathroom and splashed water on his face until he looked at his reflection and saw Olivia standing behind him as she said something to her brother.

Olivia: Search dogs? You gotta be kidding me, Alex.

Alex: I know.

Olivia: You have to move Matt's body. Those dogs are gonna walk a straight line from the crime scene to your f****** firepit!

Alex: I know. . . . . .

Olivia: It's not just about you anymore.

Alex: I know!

Olivia: Do you?

She pulled out a pistol and pointed it on Alex's head as he stared at her until Winters said something to his sister.

Alex: It was a one-time slipup. It doesn't change who I am.

Olivia: Who is that, exactly?!

Alex: Stop. . . . . . . . .

Olivia: Or what?! You gonna kill me again?! Or are other people gonna die?! Because that's what always happens, right?!

Alex: Not this time, no.

Suddenly Winters heard a knock on the door as Olivia was gone and Alex immediately opened the door as he saw Harrison and Winters said something.

Harrison: What are you doing in there?

Alex was silent and left the bathroom as he was gonna go to his room until Harrison said something to him.

Harrison: Just so you know. I retook the test. Got a higher score than the first time.

Alex: That's great. Congrats.

Winters entered the room and closed the door as Harrison was silent and looked at the door before he sighed to himself and went inside the bathroom as Winters looked at his reflection in the mirror.

Meanwhile Kurt Caldwell was at his home as he poured a glass of whiskey for himself and began drinking it while looking at some photo frames of him and Matt as he felt sad and continued staring at the pictures until he heard his phone ring as he answered the phone.

Kurt: This is Kurt.

Katherine: It's Katherine. Apologies for calling so late.

Kurt:. . . . . . Good news or bad?

Katherine: I'm afraid it's a match. The blood we found is almost certainly Matt's. . . . . . I'm sorry.

After hearing the news, a tear fell from Kurt's eye as he immediately wiped it off and anger began coursing through his veins as he said something.

Kurt: Well, you should be. . . . . . You made my son out to be some kind of criminal.

Katherine: I wasn't wrong about that.

Caldwell's blood began to boil even more when Katherine said that as he gritted his teeth in anger and said something.

Kurt:. . . . . . . . Excuse me?

Katherine: Matt shot a deer on sovereign Seneca territory. A crime that carries a sentence of at least several thousand dollars.

Kurt: I don't give a s*** about that! I only care about what happened to my son!

Katherine: My guess is that the other person out there in the woods. He saw Matt shot the deer and wasn't too happy about it.

Kurt: Well, at least now you're starting to sound like a real cop.

Katherine: With all due respect, I have been running this search with zero state funding. At the crack of dawn. I'll have volunteers as far out as Clarke Mountains. The next day, we will cover the entire quarry. The day after that, we will canvass the caves. We will not stop until we find your son.

Kurt: The caves? You think he's that far out?

Katherine: Matt's a smart guy. Maybe he went looking for shelter.

Kurt: What about the summer camp?

Katherine: I'm having a group splinter off. We're searching there, too.

Kurt sighed to himself as he poured another glass of whiskey for himself as Katherine said something to him.

Katherine: Listen, Kurt. I know you're grieving and I-

Kurt: Just call me when you have an actual lead. . . . . .

Caldwell disconnected the call and closed his fists in anger before he kicked the table away and let out a scream as he threw the glass on the wall and had a sinister stare when he was looking at the broken glass on the ground.

Avalanche by Leonard Cohen plays

Alex saw Harrison was asleep in his room as he slowly closed the door and put his jacket, gloves and boots on as he stepped outside his cabin.

Well, I stepped into an avalanche

It covered up my soul

Winters had a plan, he was gonna dig up the firepit to grab Matt's vest to create a false scent trail so that the search dogs will be confused and will run around the woods. Soon he began digging up the firepit and saw Matt's vest as he immediately grabbed it and buried the firepit yet again.

When I am not this hunchback

That you see

Alex went back to the crime scene and began moving the vest around the scene before he began running around the woods to create the false scent trail.

I sleep beneath the golden hill

You who wish to conquer pain

You must learn, learn

To serve me well

Alex continued running even further into the woods as he was breathing heavily and was feeling tired but he continued pushing through and ran even further into the woods.

He does not ask for your company

Not at the center

The center of the world

End of Song

Meanwhile Lily was sitting by the corner as the room was destroyed. She was wondering why she was trapped in the room and wondered what he wanted from her. She searched the entire room for a way out but there was no use. Lily was nervous as she looked at the camera until she heard something from the intercom.

????: [Via Intercom] You can go now, Lily.

The door to the room was opened as her eyes were widen in shock and she immediately got up as Lily ran towards the door and opened it as she saw the long hallway.

However as she ran towards the hallway, Lily heard a song being played but she ignored it. However as Lily opened the door, she saw the woods and immediately began running but unknown to her, someone stepped outside the cabin as Lily turned around and her eyes were widen by who was there.

Lily began running away as the mysterious killer had a rifle in his hand and she began running even further as the song continued to get louder and the killer was loving the song.

As Lily continued running, the mysterious killer aimed the rifle at her as he activated a laser sight and stared at the scope.

Lily continued running even further until the mysterious killer shot Lily in the back, instantly killing her as she fell down and snow continued to fall around the cabin.

Meanwhile Alex heard the gunshot as he stopped running and was confused by the sound but he had a feeling the hunters woke up early to hunt for their prey. Winters ignored the sound and continued running even further.

Meanwhile the mysterious killer was staring at the ground where Lily was at as a small sinister smile creeped up on his face while he heard th lyrics from the song.

My little runaway

My run-run-run-run

Runaway

A/N: Thanks For Reading And Stay Cool :)