Last update of 2017!!
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Herobrine's point of view-

Sitting in the monotony interrogation room had left me tapping my fingers against the table, the iron handcuffs tightly squeezing around the tender skin on both of my frail wrists. I pulled at the cuffs of my coat and moved the iron on my wrists as much as I could to gaze down at the lesion left behind. A growl vibrated in my throat from irritation rising, my claws beginning to pick as the contusions, which only brought more pain, yet it was like I could not stop myself.
While the room was bland and soporific, my nerves kept my mind occupied. They would not find the the experiment, that I was sure of, but Armen...I had no clue of his fate. I did not want to care, but deep down I could not help it. I have learned the hard way that full repression of human emotions is near impossible... Death, I did not fear deep down, although it is only human nature to fear what lies beyond one's demise.
My paranoia was rising, my leg shaking and eyes darting around, well aware that I was being watched. I jumped at every faint sound coming from behind the walls; footsteps, ringing phones, chattering of other individuals. It all left me on edge. I clenched my teeth until it hurt, finally resting my elbows on the cold table as my fingers entwined with my brunette locks and yanked, sending a wave of unflattering pain across my scalp. My breath came out as hyperventilation; fast and harsh against my lungs.
I had been questioned already, stayed firm in remaining non compliant no matter the consequences. I have put too much into this experimentation to allow it all to go to waste with a simple slip of the tongue. D9ak8 will remain where he is; alive and relatively safe. I hope that Armen will know what to do if something goes wrong with him while I am away.
My fingers lifted, allowing my unkempt hair to fall back over my face, the pain slowly dwindling now that the strands were no longer under stress of being yanked. My arms fell limp, slamming onto the metal surface of the table, only digging the cuffs further into my bruised flesh. My teeth bit down onto my lip as I hissed in pain.
Finally, after what felt like hours, in an exaggerated sense of course, my attention was pulled to a faint click at the door. I straightened my back and stared at the door as it opened up, fresh air flooding into the room and being taken in by my nostrils for a brief moment before the door was closed, two men stepping in prior. Both wore suits and ties, each wearing a serious expression upon their faces, perhaps even frustrated.
Despite that I was near fuming with frustration, I continued to play the swave act; painting a smile across my cheeks to mirror a false confidence. Surely my act was not a pleasure for the formal men before my bound person.

  "Herobrine Jackson, not sure if you should call this lucky, but it seems you're being granted your request!" He slammed a yellow file with my name on it onto the table before me, though in no way an aggressive act; more so dominating.

I crooked my head to the side, keeping on my mask of a smile as he continued. "Seems that the mayor has requested for us to bring you up to his office. Perhaps this is your lucky day! Or, you really could be in a heep of sh*t."

I could feel the pressure in my face ease yet still remain as the facade of a smile transformed into one that was genuine. My leg stopped shaking and my breathing relaxed, my nerves growing more calm but remaining riled to a lesser degree. He flinched when I stood from my seat, the other stepping back and reaching to his hip to draw out a weapon.

  "Now, now officer," I teased. "No need for harsh language. That being said, let's not keep the big boss waiting, yes?"

They both expressed uneasiness and agitation with my upbeat mood, which was my intention. Yes, emotions were an issue with myself, but there were rare occasions such as this that I did not mind feeling, aside from the crippling anxiety in the back of my thoughts that would have caused me to hurl much earlier if I had not taken my medication prior to my arrest.
So then, I was taken by the handcuffs, yanked out of the room. My smile lowered as pain from the cuffs against my raw skin flared up my arm, yet a sliver of my smug grin remained.
...

The stone structured city hall was old, yet grand in its age. It only stood at two stories tall with four columns holding up a triangle shaped overhang. Beneath that overhang, shrouded in shadows, were three windows and copper doors. Both stories had eleven windows, twenty two in total.
Immediately as the police vehicle pulled up to the city hall, I began to tremble and feel sick to my stomach once more. An angry crowd stood outside, screaming and chanting their lungs out to ridicule my being. I suppose that egotistical man could not keep my arrest to himself; desiring praise as always! Behind the worry, a chuckle slipped from my throat.
The car stopped in front of the chanting crowd, enraged yet too frightful to approach the county vehicle. The officers stepped outside of the car, shouting for others to get back and make a path for us to travel up to the front doors. Reluctantly, the crowd compiled, though continued with their chanting ridiculement. An awful dread filled me up once the back door was opened, the shouting growing louder until I felt the sensation of liquid running from my ringing ears. It took nearly every ounce of my strength to keep a panic attack from setting in. I stepped outside, the hatred of the raging people burning into my being. Both officers gripped me by the arms, leading me down the narrow path, holding batons in their other hands just in case the crowd got too out of hand.
As my eyes scanned the many faces in the small sea of human beings, I immediately recalled a few, some with tears on their faces, red in hurt and rage. I remembered them from those petty school conferences when we had to discuss Armen being bullied; the parents of my sons persecutors.

  "Lynch him! Lynch him and that abomination!" Just hearing the words put a pressure around my neck.

I looked to the ground, avoiding eye contact to calm my racing nerves and hoping that nothing would be thrown my way. Unfortunately soda cans and rocks began to rain down, two cans hitting my arm and hip, and a mediocre sized rock slamming against my head.
I felt it cut my skin, a thin line of red going down the side of my head. A wave of pain shot down my upper body, my head throbbing as I collapsed to my knees. My vision had no time to adjust, my body being given little time to adopt to the sore aching before my handcuffs were gripped, pulling me back up to my feet.
People spat in my direction, shivers running up my spine as I hoped that none came into contact with me, though my vision was so out of focus that I could not tell. Even so, I could not mistake those voices.

  "That little monster nearly killed my boy! I want that devil killed in the most painful way possible!"

  "You're dead Jackson! You'll never hurt our children again you b***ard!"

  "You and your little freak can go to h**l!"

I attempted to ignore their words, focusing on placing one foot steadily in front of the other as my clouded vision cleared. I tried to at least, my head spinning and causing me to stumble. The cops practically dragged me up the steps leading to the doors, pulling me inside and down the hall until the spinning ceased and the world settled around me. Once my blurred vision cleared, I looked around at my surroundings, pictures of the city hung up upon the bland white walls, the floor covered in red carpeting. Oddly, the scenery calmed my nerves.
I was taken upstairs and over to the door in the middle of the hallway, my heart racing with anticipation. Was this it? The decision that would determine my fate? Or would I have to wait weeks for a trail that surely would not end in my favor? I took in a breath through my nose and released it slowly from my mouth, hoping to calm my anxieties. The officers opened up the door, sunlight pouring into the large room with a circular crimson carpet covering the polished oak floorboards. A flag of Minecraftia sat in the right far hand corner of the room with the crimson flag of the state resting over on the far left hand corner. Central in my line of vision and positioned close to the windows, was a dark oak desk with pens, papers scattered, and a name plate. Behind that desk, the back of a swivel chair faced us, a lump of shining brunette poking over the top.

  "Herobrine..." His slim fingers traced the armrest of his black leather covered seat. "Getting into trouble again, as always I see."

His voice caused me to twitch, the grip of the police officers tightening around my arms as they believed that I was attempting to pull away. My eyes narrowed as I huffed, old memories flooding back.

  "Long time no see, Alduin. What's going to happen this time?"

He continued to watch the people below from behind the windows before finally spinning around his chair to face us. Much like that Grayson fellow, his hair was pulled back into a ponytail, although he had a bit more hair dangling over the left of his face than the blonde. Dark circles were around his hazel eyes, his body draped in a black suit and red a tie around his neck.
He swirled slightly, kicking one of his legs over the others as he leaned back casually in his seat with a smile of his face and a twinkle in each eye. Seeing his face after so long sent a chill down my back.

  "Well, you're not going to be able to get out of this one without consequences, my old friend. I'll try to help as best I can, but since multiple children have been injured... there's going to be quite a large lawsuit and citizens of Rudy shire are demanding the execution penalty for you and your hybrid."

A shiver ran down my spine once more. What was going to happen? I continued to try to seem unaffected. I wanted so badly to feel numb to the situation but I could only falsify my emotions. "Well, at least you can't bribe me if my life is already on the line!"

Alduin smiled then lifted his arm and told the officers to uncuff me, which they were both reluctant to do and seemed to think that he was crazy for wanting them to do so. After standing and waiting for awhile, they complied and undid my binding, unlocking the handcuffs to my relief. Once they slipped off, I pulled my hands in front of myself and rubbed my sore flesh, pulling down my sleeves to once again gaze at the darkened skin turned a near purple.
I huffed and looked to the two men beside me, disgusted and mistrustful expressions upon their faces. I gave them both a smug look before Alduin ushered them both to leave us be. They refused at first, saying that I could harm and potentially kill him, before Alduin once again demanded our privacy. They left rather slowly, surely staying not too far from the door once it was shut behind them.

Alduin approached me as I lifted up my hand and wiped away the red streak running down my face. "What happened there, Hero?" I flinched when his fingertips touched the bottom of my chin for a brief moment.

I shook my head, twitching as I gazed at the red now on my fist. I twitched and looked away before he pulled a red handkerchief from the pocket of his jacket and wiped it away.

  "Still got that...issue I see." He giggled.

In returned I only gave a huff and dusted off my sleeves, finally answering his question. "The mob outside was throwing objects. A rock hit me in the side of the head. I am alright though."

His gaze strengthened, growing more harsh at the thought. He spun around and walked back over to his desk, standing there for a moment before turning around and pulling himself up to sit upon it. His head gave a tilt, a wam yet somehow unnerving smile from cheek to cheek. His legs covered by black pants gently kicked, almost childlike.

I continued. "About the demands of execution, death does not affect me. I don't care about my own demise, as I'm sure you can tell, after... well, you know. Besides, I'm sure that you do not desire that, and as for my hybrid, well... that will not be a simple task, I'm sure."

He nodded, tapping his finger against his chin as he gazed off to the side. "I suppose. After seeing the crime scene photos, your hybrid is exceptionally powerful! I still wonder how you managed to do it successfully. You always were the smartest one in the team!" He laughed.

My back straightened and eyebrows crossed, my attention being gripped as he continued. "That being said, your experiment has really caught my utmost interest. Always has!"

I could not help but to feel pride in that moment. I had done it alone for years, no one to help unlike back then. I pulled through the hardships when everyone had left me to rot in my own mess of a mind. His smile brightened, though remained cocky as usual. My pride dropped, as well as his grin as he continued.

  "Although the people will be upset if he is not put to death and you face no consequences... You and I were once partners, don't think I have forgotten that and do not think that I have grown any less fond of you or my old job after our departure, but I have a new job that I need to serve, and we need to establish something to avoid capital punishment."

He looked down, his hand in his chin as he thought of a solution to save the lives of myself and D9ak8. What could possibly resolve this dilemma? I could feel the stress and anxiety building up, biting my tongue to keep myself from laughing, an old habit I had picked up while under extreme stress.

He stood and placed a hand upon his chest. "Now,  you need to provide the money for medical bills and emotional trauma for the children and their families, and that will not be cheap. As for the execution orders, I can not bring myself to allow that, seeing the fact that I'm quite fond of you. So I want to make an arrangement with you, Hero."

He turned around and sat back in his leather chair, tossing his legs up on the desk as he leaned back will little care. His fingers taped together before entwining, his soft hazel gaze locked solely onto me. His tongue slid along his bright white teeth, smile widening.

  "Give my your hybrid, or you could create more! You and I, we have similar minds, a need to stay dominant. With your little experiments, think about what we could do! This town that persecutes you, we could make them kneel to our genius!"

My eyes grew. Over the years, I had forgotten how controlling this man was, always striving to remain on top and dominate. I suppose that our minds are not too different after all; both controlling and mad. I admit, I thought about the offer but I recalled everything I had gone through and lives at risk if I had done this. My son could be in danger if I proceed with the offer.

  "You know d**m well what it cost for me to create him! What I sacrificed!"

I looked to the floor, my blood burning hotter as I began to gasp. I... No! Don't think of that! A growl vibrated in my throat as I pushed the memories back. My eyes snapped open, without moving my head, I glared at my old partner until my eyes were burning and sore.

  "I created him to be powerful, yes, but that is no longer my intention. He is for my son and I have suffered too many loses to just give him up!" I caught my eyes tearing up. "I will not lose him and I will not sacrifice anything else!"

Alduin's expression changed, now shocked yet confused. "Are you sure that it is no longer your intention? Herobrine, I know you better and it's not just the strength of human capabilities that you desire. Perhaps once that was all, but now I know that you're perception of right and wrong have been wounded, after what happened."

My eyes grew. What was he talking about? He continued, laughing underneath his breath. "Don't play innocent with me. You don't want to feel a thing, do you, but suicide doesn't fit you? You don't want to live a life persecuted because you tried to do what was good in your beliefs. You want them to pay."

My body shook as his eyes burned into my soul. It was almost physically painful in all honesty. He let his head fall back as he swirled around in his chair, once again having his back towards me. For a minute or so, he remained completely silent, contemplating before chucking.

  "Very well. I assume that with the damage caused at the school, emotional trauma and one child's broken wrist, you owe the court around 4 to 5 thousand dollars. Perhaps 6. Execution charges, I will tend to, but you provide the money or you rot in prison and your project is killed...your choice. I'm sorry."
...

Armen's point of view-

Once again, all I could see were blurred images, splotches of color within darkness. I could hear a gruff, deep voice screaming out, a heartbeat racing in my ears. I do not know why I felt so afraid, so terrified. I saw green, red, blue, teal, white, purple, brown, among other colors within the sea of blurred black and grey. I was breathing heavily within my sleep, a sheer panic claiming my being. What the heck is going on? Why does this all feel so familiar?
I gasped as my eyes shot opened, sitting up to find that I was now in my bed, unlike where I had known I had previously been; which was down I the laboratory with Drake. I hissed and rubbed my aching head, looking over at my clock and the window to see that it was five in the afternoon, meaning I had been asleep for about an hour.

  "Grayson must have put me up here." I mumbled to myself.

I kicked off the sheets covering my body and sat up, stretching my legs and arms until they popped at the joints, then I proceeded to leave both bedrooms to go out into the kitchen. I looked around for Grayson. His car was still parked in the same spot, yet I could not find him, meaning that he was down in the basement with Drake.
I want over to the basement door and opened it up, squinting as green light poured into my eyes. My hand rose up and pulled at my hair in pain from the aching in my pounding skull yet to fade. As I looked down the steps, I saw a familiar head of blonde laying on the steps, breathing slowly and steadily as if he were asleep. Judging by his position, he must have been uncomfortable.
Once I began to walk down, the wood screeching beneath my feet, Grayson jolted away with a pain filled grunt.

I laughed as I continued down, walking around him as he groaned. "Wakey wakey Grayson!"

He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to crack it as he tilted his head from side to side, letting out another groan before greeting me. I smiled at his presence, thankful that he was around in these hard times. I leaned against the wall and looked at Drake, who had not moved but seemed to be okay for now.
He sat up and stretched his arms, giving a weak laugh as he complained that he was hungry. I laughed and agreed, the very thought of food causing my stomach to growl.

  "Why don't we go upstairs and get something to eat. Drake will be okay being alone for a few minutes."

I stood up, the joints in his knees popping as he spun around and began going upstairs, my eyes trailing back over to my brother. It was so hard for me to leave him alone. Abruptly, I remembered his jacket that I had fallen asleep with, wanting it back. For some reason, it made me feel secure, like Drake was with me.

  "Grayson, where's Drake's jacket?"

He opened the door and stepped out into the main room of the house. He stood there and held the door open until I came up and walked into kitchen, immediately going over to the refrigerator and searching through it. Grayson replied to my question, saying that he put it back in Drake's closet after cleaning some blood off of it. My brow lowered and I could not help but to chuckle. I pulled out some bread and lettuce, along with some leftover ham from a few days ago. It may be old but at least it was something in the relatively empty refrigerator.
As I took out two plates and set them on the counter, he came over and took everything from me, insisting that makes sandwiches for both of us, a bright smile on his face.

I commented, "You have a fatherly personality, you know. I've only known you for a few hours and you definitely feel more like a dad than my own father."

A pink blush came to his pale cheeks. "Just old instincts." For a brief second or so, his smile dropped and blush worsened.

He appeared flattered by my statement yet slightly distressed by his own comment. It was not an expression of embarrassment that he wore, but a familiar expression of hidden secrets. He finished making my sandwich and set it down in front of me, but as I thought about his reaction, my appetite became less of a need to quench.

My curiosity and smarts once again got the better of me. "Old instincts? You mean, you're a father?"

He froze with what he was doing, his own sandwich halfway made before he abruptly halted in place. His pupils constricted as his head hung down, staring with a blank gaze at the plate below. Seeing his face, I felt I had pushed my boundaries. Finally after a moment, he snapped out of it and shook his head, sitting down and finishing with preparing his meal.

  "I've said too much."

I looked away, picking at my food as I swallowed a lump in my throat, feeling guilty while playing possible scenarios in my head about what happened in this man's past. Did he get into a divorce? Did his child get old and move away? Did his kid...no. Is that what happened?

  "Three years ago, almost four," He began to speak, as if responding to my thoughts. "I had a beautiful wife and a son. He was only six years old. We lived in the center of the city, wealthy, happy. Everything was right with the world."

I listened in with intrigue, looking down at his leg as it began to shake, but he tried to stop the convulsive movement. His skin was sweating, a stutter in his shaking voice until he cleared his throat and took a moment to gather his thoughts.

  "One night, I was working late on the Collin Jackson case, and I wasn't supposed to be since it was a case for a different county. I don't know why I felt so drawn that case, but I think I just found it suspicious. The kid killed his mother, and before then, neighbors told the city police that Collin was acting...odd. Agitated, insane, hiding himself underneath hoods and jackets. They figured he was being abused. Based on the reports, his father said that he was gone with his other son and that son was never questioned. Collin ran off and was never found. So did he did he commit the crime or did he think he was next? Was he kidnaped? No one seemed to ask those questions."

I was unconsciously eating as I listened, my eyes not ripping away from him for even a moment.

He shook his head, getting back on track. "Anyway, I was investigating it without consent. That night...my wife and son went out to get to get groceries. I got home late that night, around midnight, and they weren't there. I drove around the town in hopes that I would find them, but we only found the car parked on the side of the road turned off. They were gone. There was no evidence left behind, not even fingerprints or footage from security cameras since it seemed that someone had hacked them to hide their tracks."

He paused, taking in a deep breath. His emerald eyes were glittering with tears that I could tell he was fighting to hold back. He lifted up his lunch and took a large bite out of it, looking away from me the entire time as he chewed and forced it down. His sleeve came up, wiping the tears from his eyes before wiping away the crumb on his lips.

  "We never found them... People began to suspect that I was the culprit, being a cop I knew how to dispose of evidence without leaving a trace."

I interrupted. "That's what Tyler meant by accusations."

He nodded and gave a repressed chuckle. "Yeah. Even my best friend, my partner in stopping crime, suspected that I had killed them. I felt so hurt; so betrayed! So, I became obsessed with bringing them home and bringing consequences to whoever had taken them. Years went by, and I had spiraled downhill. I was angry and vengeful. I had not solved a case in years, letting so many victims down because I could not let go. Finally, I decided that I had to let go, so I retired and moved up north with an old friend of mine. We both work on an old oil rig to this day."

I turned my head and wiped the tears from my eyes, hoping that he would not notice. He laughed and rubbed my head, saying that it was all the past now. I asked how he was not convicted, his reply being that there simply was not enough evidence to prosecute him.
I finished off my food, which I suppose could be considered my lunch since I had not eaten since breakfast. Although I had nothing to do with his past, I apologized, which he laughed at in response but meant no ill will. Once he finished with his food, I got up to go back into the basement, heading over to the door. Before I could reach out and grab the doorknob, the attention of both Grayson and I was drawn to a sound from outside of the house. A car.
I rushed over to the door, narrowly avoiding being hit as it swung open and slammed into the wall; my dad standing in the frame.
He looked exhausted, not physically, but mentally and perhaps even emotionally. He did not say a word to me as he shuffled his feet across the floor, taking himself to the basement door. Grayson looked to him with a brow raised, seeming to equally as confused as I was. Herobrine pulled open the door, and almost underneath his breath, he spoke up.

  "Thank you, Grayson. You can go now. I have...a lot of work to do, so don't bother me." He looked to me with his tired silver eyes, bags beginning to become visible beneath his eyelids.

  "Armen...if..." he emphasized the word, voice void of emotion, "...he wakes up, I will let you know. As of now, leave me be." With that, he stepped onto the stairwell and closed the door behind himself.

I looked to Grayson, who in return looked to me before putting on a weak grin and gazing at the floor. He sighed and slowly began walking to the front door with eyes downcast and hands in his pockets before scratching at his beard.

  "Well, I suppose that's my que! So, I'll see you around, and...I would like to meet your brother after his recovery. Perhaps I could babysit since you're father, well...he's probably going to be busy for awhile!" He seemed enthusiastic about the idea.

I hated the idea of being babysat, but I liked the idea of him and Drake getting to meet. I smiled and told him that I would have to ask my dad. He nodded then lifted up his head with his green eyes lighting up. He asked for a pen and paper, which I went and got from my own room. Once I came back out and handed it to him, he placed the paper against the wall and began scribbling numbers.

  "Here, give this to your father if he decides that it's okay for me to babysit. But don't start calling me unless he says yes or it's an absolute emergency, okay?"

He handed me the piece of paper, his phone number written in sloppy handwriting and blue ink. I took the pen back, looking up to him with a smile. I could not keep myself from giving him a hug.

As I put my face on his torso as his arms awkwardly touched my back in a weak attempt to hug back, I mumbled. "Thank you." I pulled away, my smile sore. "I'll see you around."

He nodded before turning around and opening the door, leaving and shutting it behind himself. I watched as he got into his car, starting it up before driving off. Once he was gone, I turned around and looked to the basement, recalling my father's grim expression. What happened after he was arrested? What fate has been decided for our family?