ok i drew nolan i know it's not the best but i'm still proud of it yeah enjoy the chapter

Sunshine sits on the red couch next to, though not too close to Tom, Nolan grudgingly leaning on another red couch to their left. She can tell he doesn't want to be here, and it's not like Sunshine really wants to either, but this is footage they might need.

"I'm a retired state cop," Tom says, holding the tv changer in his hand. "The footage you're about to see was taken from the dash-cam of my partner's vehicle." Everyone nods slowly. "I had that night off."

He plays the recording, the static buzzing until it clicks to show a park of some sorts. There's a girl, looking to be around 11 or 12, standing on the sidewalk, staring with dead, black eyes into the camera.

"Oh, well, there she is," Nolan mutters.

Sunshine breathes in sharply. If this is real— well. That's a discovery. "Does she have... black eyes?" Don't crucify her — the video is grainy.

Andrew tilts his head from where he stands. "Yeah..."

She squints. "What is she doing? She's just standing there."

"Well, they tend to do that, Sunshine," Nolan remarks.

She shakes her head. "Mmm, yeah, cause you would know."

"And there she goes." Yep, she just— steps out of the frame.

Wait.

Tom turns the television off.

"That's it?" Sunshine asks.

Nolan grunts.

"Yeah." Tom rubs his forehead stressfully.

"Is..." Sunshine hesitates. "Is your partner okay?"

He sighs and shakes his head. "No."

Sunshine's eyes widen.

"Is he dead?" Andrew blurts.

She widens her arms in a 'What the hell?' kind of motion and glares at the kid. Seriously? Nolan eyes him, like he's an annoying buzzing fly they can't seem to kill.

"No, he's.." Tom doesn't seem immensely bothered, which is fine, but apparently grew furious when Sunshine tried to explain what she knew about BEKs. Yeah, makes sense. "He survived, but, uh— he was never the same after that."

Nolan clicks his tongue, leaning forward with his hands clasped together. "And what does that mean?"

Tom doesn't look at any of them. "He never fully recovered."

"Right.." He nods slowly.

"I mean, after this, he couldn't even put together one coherent sentence, he—" Tom's voice shakes. "I mean, he really lost it. They ended up putting him in a mental institution for the rest of his life."

"Was he a good friend of yours?" Sunshine tries softly.

He looks at her and frowns. "Yeah, we were partners for eight years." Tom looks genuinely sad, so maybe he isn't completely insane. "We were pretty close. I wasn't even there for him that night."

Andrew takes a picture from the table. "Is this him?" It's a man dressed in a black suit and gold-rimmed hat, metals dangling from his chest.

"Yeah," Tom nods.

"Do you visit him?" she inquires.

"I used to."

"Used to?"

Tom sighs. "The night I went to see him, he uh— he actually seemed to be doing a lot better, like he was recovering, you know? He recognized me, we were holding a conversation, and then—stupidly— I decided to ask him what had happened that night.

"He told me, uh, I'm never gonna be able to forget... what you have to understand is that this guy— he was strong, he was brave— in the eight years that we served together, I never saw anything that he couldn't handle." There's a long pause as he tries to find his thoughts. "When he told me, the look of terror in his face.. I've never seen anything like that."

Sunshine stares at him, green eyes wide. "What did he say?"

Tears flicker in Tom's eyes. "When I asked him what happened at the car that night, he said— 'I saw the devil. And they call him Mother. He doesn't just want the flesh— he wants the very soul underneath. He's coming for me. He's coming for all of us. And there's no way to stop it. He is their mother, and he will rend the flesh of any he pleases.'"

Nolan narrows his eyes. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know. But whatever it means, it rocked the very foundations of this man and—" His voice breaks, "turned him into a shell of the person he was before."

There's still something missing. "You said you used to visit him, why don't you anymore?" Sunshine asks.

"He disappeared."

Wait— "He what?"

"He disappeared.. I went to check on him one night in his room and, uh, he was gone." Tom breathes in and leans back. "Shortly after that, I put in for early retirement. There is an evil out there that we can't even comprehend, and I don't want any part of that, and neither should you."

He turns to Sunshine. "Go home. Go home to your real mother and listen to her, because you don't want any part of the mother that the devil has in store for you. I can promise you that."

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They leave Tom Waters's house and head deeper into Portland for more answers. Ominous and chilling story aside, Sunshine... well. She's not sure what to feel. Nolan suggested they go to a BEK hotspot and ask around, so, looks like they're doing that.

However, it's pointless.

Then, when the sun sets and the darkness of night blankets the sky, they find two homeless women.

"Uh, hi, hello." Nolan sets his palms on his knees and leans down slightly, as they're sitting on the ground, wrapped in blankets and warm clothes. He fully crouches to meet their height, and Sunshine goes down with him. "Hi. My name is Nolan, uh— this is Sunshine."

"Hi," she smiles.

"And Andrew— uh, we were wondering if you guys have seen anything strange regarding children. Uh, any—?"

"Black-Eyed Kids?"

"Yeah. Kids with black eyes..?"

The blonde woman shakes her head.

"You haven't seen any?" Sunshine sighs.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Oh. Looks like that's a dead end.

Until the woman with the green jacket looks up. "I have."

Sunshine stares at her. "You have?"

"Yeah, I've seen some really creepy kids.."

"Wait, really?" Nolan asks.

"Yeah."

"Where— where did you see them?"

She shrugs. "There's just a spot where I've seen some of them around."

"Could you— could you possibly show us?" Sunshine inquires.

The woman raises a brow. "Why do you guys wanna go?"

"Uhhh.." Nolan looks at Sunshine. "For fun, I—?"

"Look, I don't really know anything about these Black-Eyed Kids, but they are creepy."

"Yes, yeah, that's true." Nolan looks down. "But we have to find— we need to find out where they're—"

"Could you please show us?" Sunshine cuts in.

The homeless women exchange a glance. Blonde mutters in Greeny's ear, who says "Yeah," though not very optimistically. She frowns when Blondie stops whispering. "Would you guys maybe trade for, like, dinner or somethin'?"

Nolan nods quickly. "Sure, yeah. We'll bring food."

"I don't— I will take you there, but I mean— I'm just gonna say upfront, I don't think it's a good idea. I wouldn't talk to them."

"Right."

"Or approach them, but I'll take you to where they are."

"Yeah, neither do we." Nolan points to all three of them. Right, Andrew's here. "We're thick, you know? We can't be helped." A pause. "We'll bring food, okay?"

"Okay." Greeny leans forward. "If you guys wanna meet me— do you guys know where Pioneer Square is?"

"Yes!" Sunshine says excitedly, because maybe they can finally uncover some of these mysteries!

"You wanna meet me there at 10? I've never seen any of them, like, until it's really late at night, but if you want me to be there at 10, I'll take you to where I see them."

"Okay, definitely, yeah." Nolan stands, and the other two follow. And the camera crew, she guesses. "Thank you so much. 10 o'clock."

"Yeah. If you guys don't wanna show, I'll understand."

"We'll be there," Nolan conforms. "We'll be there."

"We got it, Sunshine," Andrew laughs when they walk out from under the freeway. She giggles and smiles because yes, finally, a clue! "We got it!"

"All right," Nolan smirks, "let's find ourselves some Black-Eyed Kids!"
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They travel to a few food stores and order dinner for both themselves and the homeless girls. Nolan somehow successfully rides a small kiddy carousel, and after, they sit down on some wooden benches and tables under a well-lit drape to eat.

"Sunshine," Nolan says, rounding Andrew and nearing the far side of the bench, "next time we go investigate something, let's go to Hawaii, right? Or Bora Bora. Something cool."

"I'm calling my mom," she says without really acknowledging him. Oh, this'll be fun. Hah.

With Sunshine out of frame, Andrew looks around. "This weather is pretty crazy," he remarks at the downpour.

Nolan munches on his chicken. "Ah, I've seen crazier."

Andrew taps his fingers to the wood for a moment, considering. "Hey, so are you and Sunshine—?" Nolan looks at him and Andrew motions. "You know..?"

Nolan stares at him and raises his brows. "What. What?"

"Are you dating Sunshine?" Andrew finally manages.

"Me—" Nolan splutters on his chicken for a second.

"Are you and Sunshine a thing?"

"No," he says simply, looking up at Andrew. "No. Why?"

"Okay. Cool." Andrew smiles and relaxes slightly. "I was wondering if you would let me ask her out."

Nolan awkwardly smiles and nods slowly.

"I mean, she's—" He twists around to look at her on the phone. "She's perfect in every way."

"Really—?" Nolan dubiously points to her.

"I mean, I think we'd be a great pair—"

"Sunshine?"

"Yeah! And I'd like—"

Nolan laughs. "Okay.."

"I'd do all the boyfriend things and such."

"Buy her flowers, take her to the movie?"

"Yeah," Andrew nods excitedly. "Yeah."

"Okay." Nolan is pretty lax about all of this. When Sunshine looks back on the footage later, she absolutely cannot believe they're having this conversation. "You think you have a shot with her?"

"Why not?"

"Very well then," Nolan states theatrically, "I give you my consent."

Andrew grins through his braces. "Thanks."

Nolan can't stop giggling for some reason. Is it really that funny?

"Okay, so.." Sunshine sighs as she walks back over, dropping into the seat on Andrew's right. "I called my mom, talked to her— she's pretty pissed, but I told her we're coming home shortly. So."

Nolan makes a face and looks forward. "Are we actually coming home shortly—" He sarcastically turns to her, "or is that just something you said?"

"Just— just depending on your version of—" She moves her hands, trying to explain.

"Hey, Nolan, Nolan, it's okay," Andrew says softly, placing out a hand on the table.

"—shortly," Sunshine finishes.

Nolan closes his eyes, clearly frustrated. He shakes his hands. "Why do you keep lying to your mom?"

"Just—" Andrew attempts.

"It makes her angrier and I have to hear about it and—"

"I'm not lying, I'm just being vague, okay?" She rolls her eyes.

"Just leave it alone, okay?" Andrew says.

"Oh yeah?" Nolan retorts.

"So, how's the food..?" she mutters, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere. God, Nolan's being such a baby.

"It's good," Andrew nods.

Nolan's eyes widen, stupefied. He throws his arms out and looks at the camera, probably wondering why they're acting like this is all normal. He clenches his jaw.

Andrew bites his lip. "So— Sunshine—"

She cuts him off. "I know you brought your camera, but—" Sunshine points to Nolan. "You did too, right?"

"Yes, I have my camera," he bitterly says.

Sunshine looks at the crew. "I don't want to be disappointed if you guys bail on us, I mean, no offense, I just— you know."

Nolan stares at her. "Why are you getting on the film crew now? What—?"

"Nolan," Andrew annoyingly says.

Sunshine rolls her eyes. God, what's got him in a sour mood all of a sudden? He looks away and pokes his chicken.

"Yeah, and I— have mine— but—" Andrew stumbles over his words. "Are you—?"

"I gotta pee, I'll be back guys, okay? I'll be back." Sunshine stands and walks away.

Andrew flicks his head to Nolan. "How do you do this?"

"Okay, I'm gonna give that about a 6.3."

"I'm sorry..!"

Nolan squints. "You did well, you just couldn't stick the landing, it's fine."

"How do you— she's so pretty!"

"Okay— I'll tell you what." Nolan stops him from talking with a hand. "Just— next time you ask her out, just try asking her out." He giggles, like he's the funniest guy in the world.

(Seriously. Don't.)

"Shut up, dude," Andrew laughs.

i didn't write as much as usual just because i'm tired but anyway ye enjoy.

aLSO i wanted to hint there that nolan started acting snappy bc of andrew trying to be with sunshine don't @ me ok this happened