Sunshine's sitting in her room. It's the night before the Portland trip and Sunshine is super excited. They're gonna visit Tom Waters, talk to him about his experience with all the BEK knowledge stuff (which is really exciting), and then they'll probably go visit some well-known hot spots. Well, she doesn't really know how Portland knows they're hot spots— is there, like, a website or something? It's kind of weird, but, she's really enthusiastic.

A knock on the door jolts Sunshine from her babbling at the camera. "Yeah?"

"Hey, sorry to interrupt your... camera time." Her mother sits on the bed next to her. "How you doin'?"

"Good, I'm getting all pumped up for tomorrow."

Kat nods slowly. "I actually came to apologize.."

Sunshine's eyes widen. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Her mother laughs. "You're gonna have it on film."

"Mm-hmm."

"Mom apologizes. Make that a whole— whole series on YouTube." Sunshine makes a face. "I think I probably over-reacted a little bit."

"A little? Hmm." Sunshine leans against the wall and eyes her mother.

"A little bit," Kat echoes. "Uh, I guess exercise will do that to me."

"Yes."

"It's just that I'm worried."

Sunshine raises a brow. "About what?"

"About all of this— about the whole— adventure, and going to Portland, and... all of it."

She yawns. "Why?"

Kat scoffs.

"I'm tired."

"I see that," Kat laughs.

"It's late, man— what, what do you mean? I mean, I don't understand, why is it a bad idea?" She looks down and picks on her fingernails, a bad habit that's formed lately.

Her mother hesitates, contemplating. "I think we don't know what we would get into in Portland, and there's too many unknown factors with all of it—"

"I've researched this for months," Sunshine counters, "I've thought this through, I am ready to do this. I'm very excited and it's gonna happen."

"I think just hiring a film crew and doing some internet web searches is not preparing for any of this."

"Uh, hello, we did personal experience outside, we were runnin', that was nice."

Kat sighs. "Uncle Tommy and I have been talking about it."

Sunshine leans her head back and looks at the ceiling in exasperation. "Of course you have, little traitor."

"It's only because.. we love you, and we don't want you—"

"You still have to put on a fake smile," she says sarcastically.

"It's not fake, we just don't— we don't want anything to happen to any of us." Kat waves her hand.

Sunshine shrugs. "It's not gonna happen," she says matter-of-factly, "we'll be fine."

"We don't know that."

"There's four of us, it'll be fine."

"I don't think that you're getting it. I'm saying no. We're not doing it."

Sunshine does a double take. Wait, what? That's where this conversation has been leading?

"As in we're not going tomorrow, you can— the film crew can film you running in the backyard."

Well, that would be a stupid movie.

"I already paid them," Sunshine hisses, pointing to the crew, "I can't get my money back, can I? Can I get my money back?" They shake their heads. "No. I didn't think so."

Kat lightly shrugs. "I'm sorry." She doesn't sound sorry.

Sunshine isn't done, though. "No, you can't just— seriously. This has been months of preparation, we have thought this through, I had— I had a kickstarter for this! I had to pay these people! Like, you can't just say no now."

Kat shakes her head and presses her lips together. "I can, I'm the mom. I said no."

Sunshine stares at her, completely baffled. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Mm-mm."

"It was gonna be awesome. It was gonna be, like, Veronica Mars awesome. It was gonna be so cool, and you're like the guy from the WB that just cancelled Veronica Mars out of no where."

Not to mention that Sunshine wants to get her mind away from all the other shit. Victoria's murder of Anna, Nolan's strange past, her father being a Luiseach... this is the perfect distraction. She needs it. They all need it!

Kat's jaw drops. "I am not that guy."

"Yeah you are. You're that guy."

"No—"

"Yeah, you are." Sunshine shrugs defensively, trying to calm her anger. "No, I just said it, it's— it's done now. Done. You're that guy. How's it make you feel? You feel like crap now."

Her mother raises her brows. "I feel good that my daughter will be safe."

"No."

"Here in her little room."

"Mkay."

"Yes. That's what I think." Kat stands up.

"It's just little because this is where we live." Sunshine motions toward the ceiling. "It's a tiny house. With this tiny room!" Her mother walks out of the room. "You're that guy!" she yells. Sunshine's head hangs. "I feel like crap now."

So.

Contemplating.

Sunshine doesn't really know what to say. She feels like this adventure simply isn't gonna happen. It just sucks that her mother is acting like this. Seriously— what's she gonna do with the rest of the footage she has so far? It's frustrating and upsetting and she's sorry the movie is gonna be so short and shitty.

This would usually be the time Sunshine wishes Victoria would come around to help, but oh wait, no. She doesn't.

Ugh. Maybe Nolan will have some ideas.
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Sunshine's sneaking out.

It's, like, 6 AM and Sunshine's sneaking out. If this isn't new, she doesn't know what is.

Look, okay, it's not Sunshine's fault her mom doesn't want to listen or allow her to do this. It looks like she's gonna have to do this alone, because Jesus, this is happening.

Of course, she technically isn't alone. Guess who's coming along? Yep. He is.

Nolan's standing in the front, black leather jacket and all, leaning against her white car with his hands tucked in his pockets. "Morning, Sunshine," he says sarcastically at her annoyed expression.

"No, cute, really cute, okay." She rolls her eyes.

"Hello film crew." Nolan nods at the camera.

"Ready? Let's go." Sunshine flicks her keys out from her pockets but Nolan doesn't move.

Oh. Yeah. She hasn't exactly told him that Kat isn't coming.

"Yeah," he says suspiciously, squinting, "where's your mother?"

She doesn't look him in the eyes. "Get in the car,"
Sunshine attempts to deflect.

Nolan nods slowly, smirking slightly. "Where's Uncle Tommy?"

"Explain on the way, okay? I'll explain on the way. Just—" She tries to push him and open the door, but Nolan still doesn't move. Ugh. Now he's being annoying.

He considers his options before moving aside, rounding on the other side of the car. "We haven't even left the house yet and we're already leaving people behind."

"Oh my gosh, we're not leaving anyone behind, we're just—" She opens the door and sighs. "Get in the car."
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Something Sunshine's learned from this little experience— Nolan really likes to lecture her on what she should and shouldn't do.

"It's not a big deal," she grunts, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"It's irresponsible is what it is." Nolan looks at her from the passenger seat.

"The film had to get made, okay?"

"Well, okay, maybe, but your mother is probably gonna kill us." Wow, okay, someone's scared of Kat.

"She's not gonna kill us, first off." Sunshine rolls her eyes. "Second—"

"Yeah, that's right, she's gonna kill you."

Sunshine glares at him. "She'll forgive me." She turns back to the camera. "She'll forgive me."

"She— okay." Nolan glances out of the window. "She's not gonna forg— um. Oh, take this right up here."

"Oh," she mocks.

"At the— at the stop sign, just—" He clicks his tongue and points to the right.

"Okay, what—?"

"Just do it." He smiles. "Trust me."

"Where are we going?" Sunshine raises her brows.

"Ehhhhh. Okay. You see this little guy right over here?" She can see some teenager standing in front of a white house. "I want you to pull over right here."

"I have to— pull over?"

Nolan nods. "Just pull over."

"What— why?"

"Because we're gonna take this guy with us."

He's a lame-looking teen wearing a red shirt with a black and blue jacket over. He has blue jeans on, a black hoodie, and medium-length ginger hair.

Fucking fantastic.

"You've got to be kidding me." She stares at Nolan incredulously.

He smiles. "No."

She scrunches her nose to mock him and winces when Nolan jumps out of the car to greet strange teenager dude. "Oh, good, you made it."

"I was hoping you weren't gonna leave me out here," the kid says. Oh, he's also wearing gloves. Sunshine already dislikes him. It's cloudy, yes, but he's being a little melodramatic. "Cause my mom dropped me off like thirty minutes ago, and it's startin' to get kinda cold out here, you know?"

God, even his voice is annoying. High, whiny, bitchy... Nolan's is tame compared to this. She grudgingly pads to her friend's side.

"Right, okay, that's fine," Nolan nods, towering over both of them. "Uh, Sunshine, this is Andrew."

"Hi," she says with a forced smile.

"Andrew, this is Sunshine." He turns to the bald men. "Andrew, this is film crew. Uh." Nolan eyes Sunshine, who is staring forward with a very mixed expression. Andrew smiles like an idiot. "We're gonna go catch monsters with Andrew, okay?"

Andrew steps forward. "So— you're the real life Sunshine?"

She flinches back, caught off guard by his— excitement. "Oh, hello, yep.." She grunts and tucks her hands into her pockets.

"He's— he's what one might term a fan," Nolan attempts to explain.

Sunshine looks up at her friend. "Where did you find him?"

"Craigslist."

"You really can find anything—" Her laugh turns awkward when Andrew shuffle closer to her. "—on Craigslist," she finishes.

"Yeah, you can," Nolan nods and looks forward. Oh, yep. He's gonna tell a joke in 5, 4, 3... "Except for, uh. A date."

"Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's.." She raises her brows at Andrew. "So, you excited?"

He waves to the cameras and laughs nervously. "So, what are we doing?"

Sunshine glares at Nolan. Seriously? He didn't even tell the guy?

"Uh, don't worry about that now, Andrew, go ahead and get in the vehicle." Nolan nods. "And we'll tell you, uh, when we feel it is appropriate to tell you what's going on, okay?"

Andrew snaps and smiles. "Do I get shotgun?"

Nolan stares at him.

Sunshine stares at him.

"What do you mean, do you get— no." Nolan shakes his head. "No, hop in the car."

"I'll hop in the backseat."

"Yeah, there you go."

"Okay, um—" Andrew raises his fingers to count down. Oh no. Does he have, like, a peanut allergy? "I hope it doesn't involve swimming, because I don't like swimming or heights. I don't really do heights either."

"Okay," Nolan says quickly, "no cliffs or waterfalls, got it. Now get in the vehicle."

"Thanks man, you're a god." Nolan opens the door for Andrew and Sunshine backs away, very clearly agitated. Thanks, Nolan. "You— really? This is— we're—?"

"I'm just being—" He swivels to her once he closes the back door. "Just be cool, he's a nice kid—"

She turns away and walks to the driver's seat. "Stop saying be cool, that doesn't— that's not helping me feel any better about your idioticness..ness."

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So. Tom Waters's house.

"Hey, uh, Sunshine," Nolan says when she walks by both he and Andrew, who is messing with his camera.

"Yes." She lightens her tone just slightly.

"Uh, okay, so—" He's looking up but eventually cranes his chin to meet her gaze. "We know for sure this is— the— the Tom Waters house, right?"

"Yes?"

"Good." Nolan smiles. "Also, we know for sure that....? He knows something valuable about the investigation?"

Sunshine raises a brow. "Well, that's what he said in his letter, so I'm just gonna bank on that there."

"Okay, well, here's the thing—" He shifts his body from side to side, contemplating. "People can put whatever they want into a letter, and I just want to make sure, y'know, for sure, for my own—" He laughs awkwardly, but the smile drops immediately after. "—piece of mind, that he's not absolutely insane and planning to murder us."

She stares at him. "You brought your rape whistle, right, so..?" That catches Andrew's attention. Probably a creep.

"Oh, my, my rape whistle—" He sarcastically checks his pockets and grins. "Yeah, yeah yeah, I did. Let's go." He jerks his head toward the russet-wooded house.

She makes a face and begins to walk toward the door. "Then we'll be fine."

"Yeah, fine," he mutters, walking behind her.

"Wait, guys?" They both turn to Andrew, who's holding his camera in his gloved hands. "So we don't actually know this person?"

They don't reply.

"Then why are we going into their... house..?"

Sunshine purses her lips and whirls back. "Okay."

Nolan smiles. "Because we're on an adventure," he says in a tone like he's talking to a child, and allows a flicker of annoyance to prosper before it disappears. Andrew doesn't question it.

So, skip boring long intro, but Tom Waters lets them inside and now Nolan's talking to his camera in the corner like a freak.

"Hello, folks," he nods, "This is, uh, Nolan, and uh, Sunshine makes, uh, me carry around this camera." He scrunches his nose. "Still, in case the film crew decides to leave or— or dies, or explodes.. um." He clears his throat. "This is them, over here— they're setting up for our big interview with this Tom Waters guy."

He tilts the camera over and shows the process for a moment, before furrowing his brows. "And, honestly? I don't really like this Tom Waters guy. I think he might be a little crazy— a little off his rocker— and, uh, y'know, he has... shifty eyes and difficulty focusing, and I—" Nolan shrugs. "I don't know, he just bothers me. And I would like to leave this house as soon as I possibly can. Unfortunately, this is Sunshine's gig, and I have to do whatever she wants."

Nolan makes a face. "I just think that this Tom Waters guy may be.. a little more dangerous than a kid with black eyes." He shakes his head and purses his lips. "Well, that's all."

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When everything is set up and ready for shooting, Sunshine sits in the chair beside Tom Waters. He's a little different than she'd expected— a stocky guy, a little plumper (not that she has any problem with that) with a graying beard and short hair that slicks over his forehead. He's wearing a simple pale green undershirt with a lighter kaki jacket, and it's like he refuses to look at the camera.

Creepy, but... whatever.

"So— yeah. Uh." She turns to him. "So, Tom, do you wanna talk about the BEK knowledge you have, I mean..? What do you know about— them?"

He bites his lip and breathes in. "I think the real question here is what do you know?"

She furrows her brows. "Um, well, I know it's a really creepy paranormal legend, and I happen to be really—"

Tom scoffs and looks away for a moment before glaring at her. "You don't know anything." He swiftly stands up and stomps past her.

"Um, I'm sorry—?" She glances with wide eyes at the camera and jumps up. "Follow him..!"

"You heard me," he snaps back. "You don't know anything. You're just a stupid little girl."

Oh. Haha. Okay. Excuse me?

"A stupid little girl—" He lumbers into the kitchen and opens the pantry, pouring alcohol into a glass cup, "who's stickin' her nose where it doesn't belong." He breathes heavily. "Listen. You don't want to be a part of this, all right?" Tom exits the kitchen. "You don't wanna know— get out of my way." He shoves the cameraman aside and staggers into the living room. "It's gonna come around and bite you."

Nolan instinctively nears Sunshine, fists clenching. He glares at Tom, dark eyes narrowed. Andrew cowers behind them both, filming with his own camera.

"Okay, well, um—" Sunshine stutters, not really sure how to take all of this. I mean, she needs to be professional, right? God, if this were any other time she would be pissed... "If I had known you felt this way, I wouldn't have come all this way, um—" She backs away slowly when he nears her. Sunshine tries to keep her voice steady and calm and offers a reassuring smile. "I mean, you couldn't have just sent me a message on YouTube like all the other haters? I mean, Facebook? There's that option too. Okay.."

"Oh, yeah, I could've done that," he says bitterly, taking a sip. "But it's so much more impactful when you do it in person, don't you think?"

Sunshine nods slowly. "You're probably right, um. We should go."

"Yep," Nolan says quickly and angrily, "we should go."

"Thank you for your time.." Sunshine claps her hands.

"You're going?" Tom snarls.

"Yep," Nolan says.

"Mm-hm," she confirms. Maybe they should get that rape whistle out.

"What are you talking about?" Tom glares at them. "I thought you wanted to know about the Black-Eyed Kids!"

"Not this badly," Nolan says, then walks past the crew.

"I did," Sunshine tries, following behind Andrew, "but— clearly you don't know that much."

"I don't know anything?" He takes a step forward and Sunshine flinches back. "I don't know anything?!"

Nolan crosses to Tom's side. "Hey, relax, man."

"How dare you?"

"Woah, woah, woah—" Nolan puts his hands out and his brown eyes widen.

Sunshine glares at Tom. "We should go," she says in a low voice, not looking away.

"Yeah." Nolan nods and points at Crazy Tom. "It was great meetin' you."

Tom sighs. "Wait a second, wait, wait—" Sunshine presses herself next to the desk. "Don't go, all right, look, I'm sorry." Everyone stops and he wipes his nose. Nolan nears Sunshine again, leaning against the wall. "I've got a little bit of a problem with my temper."

"I'll say," Sunshine breathes.

Tom looks at the cameras then back to the group. "I should probably... show you the footage."

She furrows her brows. "What— the footage? You have real footage?"

He stares at her and nods. "Yeah."

"Is this some kind of joke?" Sunshine asks awkwardly.

"No," Tom sighs.

"Well then.. yeah. Yeah, let's see it."

Nolan rolls his eyes.

Maybe Tom Waters is only, like, 99% insane.

sorry for the 2 day wait i've been busy with homework and had a headache on friday blah blah blah here u go one of my favorite chapters i've ever written (: