Minny felt as though he was in a dream. There, in front of him, was Lennard. The long lost twin. He looked like how Minny remembered, but he didn't at the same time. This version of Lennard was well groomed, poised and proper, and looked like the real son of their father.

Minny wanted nothing more than to get out of his school uniform and put on his usual clothes. His colorful socks and his pants with the folded bottoms, his wild crazy hair. He missed it all. He missed who he used to be.

"Lennard, why did you do it?" His voice sounded like a wounded animal, cracking in the middle. It was sad, childlike, watery with tears. He felt on the verge of crying, just because he was looking into the eyes of his best friend. The boy who left him.

Lennard shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry, Benny. I thought you would never make it on your own. You were a weakness I had to get rid of."

Minny's heart was shattering in two. His own twin wanted nothing to do with him. His older brother was a lunatic, a psychopath, and the girl he loved would never love him back. Minny hated his life with such a passion it surprised him how little he would care if he ended it. He was depressed. He was sad. He was weak, just like his brother said.

"Fuck you, Lennard. You left me with dad. He's threatened me, he has me going to the worst private school, and he hates me. You left me here. You left me behind when I needed you the most."

There was no hugging. There were no tears. Just shattered hearts and bitter words. Minny wanted nothing to do with his brother. Absolutely nothing.

"Minny, c'mon. I was stupid, and we were young. What matters now is that I didn't abandon you because I'm here. I left that rat in Polly's locker for you. I was hoping you would remember the time I put it in your bed. I was hoping you knew it was me."

Minny looked into Lennard face, trying to find the lie. His brother had always been the troublemaker, the liar. His brother was good at being two faced and doing what was the best thing for him, and only him.

"I had an inkling, but I didn't want to think it could be you. Why didn't you just approach me? Why send elaborate riddles and clues?"

"You would have never listened!" Lennard voice exploded. "Just like you're not listening now. I'm sorry for what I did as kids, but this is bigger than that. Dad's running for governor, and I need you Minny. I need you to help stop him. I want Tanner to run against dad."

Minny staggered back, shocked. "Tanner? He's a psychopath, Lennard!"

Lennard shook his head, his hand clenching into a fist. "No, he isn't. I visited him many times at that camp, Minny. Tanner didn't like what he was doing. Dad was forcing him. He was making Tanner do all those things. Tanner isn't a bad person, Minny. And we need him to stop dad. If dad gets in office, say goodbye to Polly, because she'll be back in conversion camp."

Minny's head was swimming, and he felt nauseous at the thought of his father as governor. He was a politician, but he would be horrible for the state. He would ruin everything. Tarnish the state. He wasn't a good man by any means, but he would win.

"No one is running against him." Lennard put his hand on Minny's shoulders. "And if no one is running against him, then he'll just waltz into office. He'll kill people, Minny. He'll take Polly away and lock her up for good."

Minny's shoulders were shaking. He was terrified of his father, but even more terrified of what his father was capable of. Killing was something he was. His father was blood thirsty, and would stop at nothing for the kill. For the thrill of the hunt.

Polly was his hunt. And Minny would stop his father before he got to her. "Okay, so Tanner runs. Then what? People know he was with that camp. It'll be hard to turn it away from that. Politics can get ugly, you know that."

Lennard pulled out his phone, scrolling through his gameplan. "Dad's responsible. It'll be linked back to him, not Tanner. Tanner was a minor when he started the camp, and so he was forced to do it. What's important here is Polly. I want her as the face of the campaign."

Minny ran a hand over his shaved head. "She won't do it."

"I know. She already said that. But, we need her Minny. She has a direct story against dad. She's a victim who lived to tell her story. And we need her to tell her story. Nothing like using ethos to appeal to an audience. You know that."

"Yeah, I do. But, we're just a couple of teens, with the exception of Tanner. We know little about politics, but not nearly enough. We're going to need a team of experts."

"A team willing to go against the favorable candidate. Because while dad's platform is gruesome, he's a likable person. People trust him because they know him. I'll make some phone calls tonight, and we'll see where it goes."

Minny grabbed his brother and hugged him tightly. "I missed you, Lennard. I missed you so much."

Lennard hugged his brother back, and just as tightly. They had been best friends. They had been everything to each other. And now, they were reunited. Hopefully stronger than before.

* * *

Gryphon Gypsy didn't know why he cared, or why he noticed, but he knew that something was wrong when Benjamin didn't come to school. It had been three days in a row without his classmate.

It wasn't that Gryphon had a crush on him; that was his childhood, not his future. But, being in the private school hadn't given him any favors in the friend department. Not that Benjamin had been overly friendly, but Gryphon had decided that he wanted to be his friend.

It was hard to be friends with someone who didn't show up at school.

When school let out, he trudged to the front steps of the school, watching as his classmates jogged down the steps towards their cars. Gryphon didn't care for any of them, mostly because they were different than he was. They treated him differently because of the color of his skin, and he knew it. He saw their looks, their accusing stares, their timidness near him. As if the fact that his skin was darker than theirs was a reason for him to be violent.

He didn't fit in. He never had. And what made it worse was that at this school, he was trapped within the confines of a uniform he didn't want to wear. But, education was important to him, and so there was little he could do.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, and dialed his own mother. When the parking lot looked more empty than full, he headed to his own car, listening to his phone ring. He knew his mother was at work, but he was hoping she would see his name and answer the call.

When she didn't, he put his phone back into his pocket, then unlocked the car. He slid into the front seat and listened to the car roar to life underneath him. Again, he called his mom, pulling the car out of the lot and driving towards his home.

His mother didn't answer the phone again, and he cursed at the device in his hand. He had something important to talk to her about, but it was clear she was busy. He'd have to try her again later.

When he looked back to the road, he pressed his foot down hard on the break, his car squealing to a stop before hitting the person crouched in the road. When the car stopped, Gryphon stared out of the windshield, his heart hammering in his chest. He couldn't see anything.

He opened the car door and peeked around the edge of the bumper. There, crouched on the pavement, was a girl. Older than him, but her body was on all fours, and the scraps she wore told him she was probably homeless.

"Are you crazy?" He asked, but she didn't answer him. She blinked at him with her wide eyes, but said nothing. Didn't even bother looking embarrassed or sorry for being in the middle of the road.

She started moving away from him, crawling away, and Gryphon reached for her. "Wait a second. Where are you going? What is wrong with you?"

Something about her was unnatural. She reminded him of a horror movie, walking on her hands and feet the way she did. While she looked creepy, she seemed harmless to him. But, she definitely needed some sort of help.

"Do you need a ride somewhere?"

She tilted her head at him, then looked back at his car. While she debated whether or not to join him in the car, Gryphon wondered why he was even doing this. Helping her like this. He owed her nothing, but that didn't mean he didn't want to help. He thought of himself as friendly.

She moved towards the passenger side door, and Gryphon got the message. He opened it for her, and she climbed in, looking more animal than human. He waved to the cars behind him, silently apologizing for the build up of traffic, and then he jumped back into the driver's seat.

He looked over at her, and let out a sigh. "Okay. Where to?"

* * *

Hello my skeleton children!

Happy new year! (i know... it's like, three days past. oops)

How do you feel about Tanner running for governor? How do you feel about Lennard?

And most of all, where do you think Gryphon fits in all of this?

Happy Tuesday!

I love you all, XOXO