[ If it wasn’t for hope, people would be diving off of buildings all of the time. Hope is what keeps humans going. Optimism is what makes the human race prosperous. It’s a lie though, but at the same time so is pessimism. One has to find the median between the two, and then keep it in mind. Keep the fine line between the two less fine, and keep it bold in life. It’s hard to do that, but once somebody masters the art of mediating the emotions of life, it’s nearly impossible to bring that individual down. If it wasn’t for hope… the world would show it’s true colors… those being of the palette of Hell… ]

Tyrone sits solitary in his bedroom. A week since anything out of the ordinary. His life… starting to fall back into place. Not quite place, but rather normality. Maybe it was all a dream, an illusion. Maybe he was just delirious. Maybe he never met this James Kline fellow, there was nobody else around. Besides, he told himself, how could he possibly know so much about me… and have this so called connection with my brother. It doesn’t add up. The equation doesn’t fit the answer. He looks over at his alarm clock, it being 6:46 PM, and the clock switches to 6:47 as soon as he looks over. What timing, as he laughs to himself and turns on his television to the 6 o’ clock news. Great timing yet again, as they hit the regular country wide news. He views just as Judy Peterson is talking about the recent bar fire in Philadelphia. Still no suspect found for the incident. What a shame, he thinks to himself. A man hospitalized with severe burns and no justice brought forth. America. It begins to disgust him, as he thinks about how the crime done unto him never having justice to it… besides the justice he had to make himself… was just another over looking. He turns off the television and as soon as he does this his phone rings. Almost at the exact moment. It shocks him and he quickly grabs around the dresser, finally picking up the phone. He looks at the caller ID, Blocked. He decides to pick it up, and slowly he brings it up to his ear…

Tyrone: Hello?

???: Turn your TV back on… now!

Tyrone: What?

???: I said turn it on… NOW!

Tyrone grabs the remote for his television, again, and hits the power button. The screen slowly fades in and it’s still the news. Nothing unusual to his knowledge…

???: Now watch. I have a surprise just for you.

Tyrone looks at the television, not speaking, and the new casters tell that there has been a report for a missing woman. About twenty-five, she’s been unheard from for about three days. They show a picture of the girl…

[ No… way. When I saw that picture I just about lost my composure. What… the… HELL… is with all of these things constantly revolving around me? How the hell does everybody know how to get a hold of me? This is ridiculous. You don’t even have these many negative occurrences in the wildest of comic books. I picked the phone back up… having dropped it… and with all the power within I kept calm…]

???: Good, I’m glad we’ve already established an understanding between one another. She’s right next to me Tyrone, tied up to a chair. How sweet her blood would taste from her fresh slit neck. How hot it would come out. The thought of it alone has me wanting to hang up on you, say forget it, and do what I please. But, that would be too easy. That’s the work of a serial killer. Me, I’m no serial killer. I am an opportunist. I seize weaknesses, and tear them to pieces. Like bullets piercing flesh, right Tyrone? You would know plenty about that, having killed one of my associates… so maybe I should settle the score. Maybe I should level the dirt. No… she isn’t an associate of yours. Oh no. I should get the old man… but his blood wouldn’t have the passion that her blood will. His blood is just dying hopes… the last remainder of his life trying to undo all of the wrongs he has already done. Trying to find forgiveness. He has no idea the trouble that he has gotten you into, and you haven’t the slightest clue as to what the meaning of this all is. Nor will you ever. Do you trust Mr. Kline? Do you think that he’s there for your good? He could have told you everything in Madison Square Garden, but he didn’t. Typical. He told you what you needed to know. Can’t shake every old habit can you?

Tyrone: How do I know you aren’t lying. How do I know you aren’t bluffing? How do I know that she’s still alive… that you even have her in the first place?

???: Let me tell you a story about two birds that were torn from one another by forces they could not tamper with. Two birds that were madly in love, yet one of the birds flew away without warning… the other broke his wings for eternity. That’s what you always analogized it too, right Tyrone? That’s what you would write in the poems to her… so passionate and full of desire. Look what the “world” made you into now. Void of desire… no passion in you. You are a waste of breath to the world. But now there is a glimmer of emotion in you, isn’t there? I has been brooding within your very own soul since the day you killed Michael, and now it is overwhelming isn’t it? You avoided your past for far too long, and now it is all coming back in one sudden burst. Overpowering to see the things you caused all come back and slap you in the face, am I right?

Tyrone: Don’t bring up the poems… who are you to say I didn’t have emotions? Who are you to tell me what I’m feeling?

[ He has me… he has me cornered. For a girl who I haven’t seen for years… why do I still care so much about this? WHY me. Why is everything coming crashing down on me? It is said that when it rains it pours… but what happens after it pours? That’s where I am right now. Past the raining… past the pouring… I’m in a area that few have been through. I can’t let him get to my head though… I need to keep her alive… though even after what she did to me brings back the sorrow that I felt. ]

???: Who am I to say that? I am the man who has her life in my hands… so I SUGGEST you comply with me before I squeeze that hand of mine… smashing her life with it.

Tyrone: Alright then, what is it you want? What do I need to do to keep her alive? Name a price and I can come through…

???: Now now Tyrone, one step at a time. Be a rational man for once and think before you act. Everything has a consequence and everything has a rea-

He slams his fist down onto the table causing his glass of water to fall over. It shatters on impact. He doesn’t care… his temper slowly taking control.

Tyrone: ENOUGH WITH THE GAMES!

There is a moment of silence over the phone until we hear the muffled scream of the woman and a slap.

???: Did you not comprehend what I just said about everything having a consequence? You yelled… so I made her yell too. Just to settle the scoreboard a bit. So where exactly was I? Ah yes, EVERYTHING has a consequence and reason Tyrone. You have always seemed to have forgotten that fact of life… even the night when your brother was murdered because of what you did. Your questions are out of range for you at this point, for the fact of the matter is… is that you don’t even know WHY I want anything to do with you. That is a key to understanding WHAT I want from you. So, to spare you the breath of asking why you… I’ll go ahead and answer that now. Tyrone, whether you believe it or not, you hold something within yourself that the entire world wants to know. You hold the key to unlocking the future. Without what you hold… the treasure that was buried can never be unlocked from it’s chest.

Tyrone: What is it that I have that you and Kline keep telling me! WHY does everybody know but me? I don’t have anything of importance…

???: Oh but you do Tyrone. You wouldn’t know whether you did or not… nor would you pay any attention to it even if you DID know. That is what I need to associate with you for. To retrieve the key. And that is what I want from you to save the girl’s life.

Tyrone: But I don’t know what the key is…

???: There is no need for you to know, I can draw it from you myself. So it is your choice now… will you save the girl’s life… or will you avoid facing fate and destiny as you seem to have a habit of Tyrone? Are you prepared to change the future of the world… to change the future of the universe… or will you back down in cowardice as you have been known to do in times of adversity? The true character of a man is shown when adversity is persuading him with wings spread wide…

Tyrone: What do I have to do?

???: Meet me in the same place you murdered Michael Cerda… tonight at ten thirty. Meet me when destiny is ready to guide you through the streets again. Meet me… or she dies…

The phone clicks and he just stays sitting in place… not even willing to move at this point. Reluctantly he turns the phone off and puts it onto the hook. He looks over at the clock and it is now five past seven. He walks over to his closet and pulls out his zip up sweater. He puts it on and falls down onto his bed. Mentally exhausted from what has happened these last few days. His eyes close but he remains awake. How much he would love to sleep and wake up, realizing it was all a bad dream… but it isn’t this time. It is very real to him, and he knows that something is being avoided from being told to him.

[ Meet me or she dies. That’s all he could close out with. What am I to think after that? Ironic to me that now I am not choosing to end a life… but choosing to attempt to save one. I can feel myself falling apart now. Nothing makes sense. Three hours until I face whatever destiny is supposedly waiting for me. Three hours until I am at one of the most decisive moments in my life. Three hours… till I find some real answers. ]

Slowly his mental walls break and he dozes off into the world of dreams and nightmares. Two hours pass as he sleeps… and he wakes up at Nine thirty. His ision comes into focus and he looks over at his alarm clock. He realizes that it he merely has one hour till he returns to the murder place of Michael Cerda… and springs out of bed. He walks over to the bathroom sink and splashes some cold water against his face. He looks at himself and finds it hard to stare into his own eyes. He shuts the water off and he can feel his heart rate jump. He zips his sweater up halfway and puts the hood over his head. He walks to the door and begins to open the door. The door to his destiny.

And behind that door of destiny we will find the truth. We will find the key that Tyrone holds. We will find the pages on the concrete which he never knew existed. Till our next issue, Spilling the Key, take heed to the apostle’s warning!