~*Chapter Eight: Truths Untold*~

 Damien whistled a bit to himself, the tune of a childhood nursery rhyme he had stuck in his head all day, as he stood on the shore of the creek, his and Siara's usual meeting place, his hands shoved into his pockets. They had both planned to take Tidus for a walk in the park that day, as a way to get Siara out of the house and avoid Cryler at any cost. He had a feeling the cops would be finding that body in the creek very soon now. Though, after that incident, he still felt coming to the creek was a little spooky, despite that the water was no longer flowing red. Either somebody moved the body, or the guy bled dry.. he thought deeply.
 Soon the sound of Siara and Tidus got closer. Siara spotted Damien, rushing over to him.
 Damien stopped whistling when her heard their footsteps and turned, smiling warmly. "Hey there."
 "Hi." Tidus pulled on his leash, jumping up on Damien's legs, his tail wagging happily.
 Damien laughed, scratching Tidus behind the ears and leaning down so the dog could lick his face. "Hey, boy. Ready for a walk?" he chuckled.
 Siara smiled. "my mom doesn't suspect anything," She said quietly.
 Damien looked up at her, then stood straight, leaning in and giving her a kiss. "Good. Then let's go." he said, gently taking Tidus' leash from her.
 Siara shoved her hands in her pockets, her eyes focusing on the ground.
 Tidus gave an excited bark and began pulling Damien along at a jog, as if he knew where to go.
 Damien laughed and looked back at Siara. "C'mon! What are you waiting for?"
 Siara looked up, forcing a smile. "Coming!" she called back, running to catch up.
 The day was sunny with only a few clouds spotting the vibrant blue sky, but a gusty wind blew every few minutes, suggesting a storm for later on in the night. There were a few families in the park, having picnics, walking their dogs, and just having fun. Rather a surprise, considering all the murders that had happened those last few days. Damien sighed lazily, walking slowly to let Tidus sniff at a few random spots.
 Siara bit her lip as she thought. She was drawn out from her thinking, though, when Tidus suddenly began to bark, pulling Damien over to an old man.
 The man was sitting on a bench, his head ebnt over the book in his lap. He had white hair, a white beard, and glasses. he was wearing a dark green shirt splattered with paint, and dark green pants. He wore a pair of brown sandals.
 "Whoa!" Damien shouted, suddenly being jerked by Tidus over to the old man. "Tidus! Slow down!"
 Tidus barked and growled at the man, apparently scarring him.
 "I'm so-" Siara stopped when she saw the sketchbook in his lap. Her jaw dropped. It was like the other one.
 "Sorry." Damien finished for her, getting a better grip on Tidus' leash. He too had noticed the man's sketchbook and it's similarity to the one Siara had, but kept under control about it, more curious. "He acts up sometimes.. I dunno why he's barking atyou- Tidus, shut up!" he said at the dog.
 Tidus whinned and sat, his tail between his legs.
 "Did you, uh...loose a sketchbook a while ago by any chance?" Siara asked, licking her now dry lips.
 "Why yes, I did. Have you found it?" The old man asked, his voice thich with a british accent.
 Damien shifted his weight from foot to foot and nodded for Siara. "Yeah, we did.. Not to sound rude, guy, but there's some pretty sick and twisted stuff in there."
 The man's brow furrowed. "I only drew what I saw. i guess you could say that I drew what people can really be like on the inside."
 Siara swallowed thickly. She was sickened tot hink that people could actually be like that. She was even more upset that it was true.
 "Right well.." Damien muttered, wrapping the extra length of Tidus' leash around his hand. He looked to Siara. "You didn't happen to bring it with you, did you?"
 Siara nodded lightly, taking the sketchbook out from under her coat. "I was going to throw it back into the Creek.."
 "Ah, well, perfect. We can give it back to him and hopefully all the damned trouble it's given us will stop." Damien said, taking it from Siara and tossing it into the grass next to the man.
 "What are you talking about?" The man asked, clearly confussed.
 Damien's eyes narrowed and he pointed at the sketchbook as he spoke. "Your drawings come to life. They've murdered people in town. This one.." he said, kneeling and opening the book to the boy with the ghoulish eyes and sinister grin, "..killed Siara's father." His eyes scanned the image as he spoke, a hatred woven into the words.
 The man chuckled. "Drawings cannot come to life. I don't know what you're talking about."
 Damien seemed perplexed. "But.. this one-" he stopped, turning a few more pages until he came upon the one of the dog, half his face torn down to the muscle, bones showing beneath patches of fur as he snarled at the on-looker with dark eyes. "This one possessed poor Tidus and made him kill two elderly people!"
 The man paused, thinking for a moment. He then said, "Now, young man, there are things in the world that can make you..imagine things.."
 Damien let out a frustrated growl and threw the book down again, standing. "Siara, you tell him!" he shouted. He turned and walked a few feet away, muttering bad words to himself and running his fingers through his hair in annoyance.
 Siara sighed. "They really do come alive," she said quietly. "In fact, one killed my father. Please believe me. PLease! I saw him come out of my closet where the book had been."
 The man sighed, then said, "my dear..."
 Tidus whimpered a bit, nuzzling Siara's hand with his nose to be petted, his tail tucked between his legs. His ears were lain back, sensitive to Damien's loud swearing in the background.
 Damien looked back to watch them, both hands on his hips, glaring at the man.
 Siara knelt on the ground, putting her arm around Tidu's neck. She cooed and petted him, trying to calm him down a bit. "please sir, believe us," she whispered.
 The man sighed, yet again. "Listen, child. I lost my sketchbook over a year ago. A lot could have happened in that time." and with that he stood, walking away.
 "Wait! What the hell do you mean 'a lot could have happened in that time'?!" Damien yelled, walking after him. "Are you not listening to us?! Take the damned thing back!"
 "Damien!" Siara scolded. "Leave the man alone." She sighed, closing her weary eyes.
 Damien growled loudly and threw his hands up in frustration, shaking his head. "Fine! What now?!" he asked angrily, turning back to her.
 Siara's face harbored a hurt look. "I don't know."
 Damien breathed heavily a moment, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking away, as if in shame. "God, Siara.. That thing kills people. If the guy made it, he must've had some kinda barrier or control over it. I just don't know what the hell to do anymore.."
 Tidus whinned again, sitting sheepishly between Damien and Siara, looking between both of them.
 Siara fought back tears. She didn't know what to do anymore. She just didn't know.
 Damien sighed again and went to Siara, hugging her. "Look, I'm sorry for shouting okay? This is all just so.. frustrating." he whispered.
 "I'm scared," Siara whispered back.
 Damien suddenly felt really bad and pulled her into another tight hug, stroking her hair. "It'll be okay.."
 Siara cried softly on his shoulder. She was so tired of all of this..
 Damien bit his lip at hearing her cry, and felt a wrech in his stomach. He hated seeing her cry. He wondered what he could do to make it better. "Hey.." he whispered, pulling back to look at her. "You want some ice cream er something? I'll buy?"
 Siara smiled, whiping at her tears. "Yeah. that sounds nice," she said.
 Damien smiled back a little and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Okay then. Now shut off the water works, kay?" He leaned in and kissed her cheek.
 Siara smiled, and sniffled. "Okay," she replied.
 Damien nodded and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and began to lead her away. He gave a whistle to call Tidus and gave the old man one last glance over his shoulder as Tidus ran to catch up, barking and wagging his tail.

At the Ice Cream Shoppe

 Tidus wagged his tail, watching Damien and Siara-or more, the ice cream in their hands- with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He whinned every here and there, hopeing they'd have enough mercy to bestow some of the icey treat on him.
 "Tidus, stop begging." Damien chuckled, ruffling Tidus' hair between his ears.
Siara laughed lightly. "He's so cute," she said, smiling. She licked at her chocolate ice cream cone lightly, enjoying the cool treat.
 Tidus' eyes moved to Siara when he heard her speak and watched her now, licking his jaws.
 Damien rolled his eyes. "Yeah, when he sleeps." he joked, sipping at his strawberry malt.
 Siara chuckled. "Awww, be nice Damien," she teased lightly.
 Damien smiled at her as he sucked on his straw, then opened his mouth with an "awwwww" to show her the contents inside.
 "Yuck!" Siara exclaimed, sticking out her tongue. "That's disgusting!"
 Damien closed his mouth and grinned playfully. "Make me." he said in regards to her "be nice" comment.
 "Well, I guess no more hugs..or anything for you," Siara said with a wink as she took another lick of her cone.
 Damien raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that a threat?" he asked with a smirk. "How about I dump this malt all over your head?"
 "You wouldn't dare," Siara replied simply.
 Damien popped off the top of his malt, raising a teasing eyebrow as he lifted it up over her head, standing slightly to look down on her.
 Siara stood as well, her eyes meeting with his.
 Damien grinned. "Try me." he said, tipping the malt ever so slightly so a couple drops missed her head and fell to the ground. Tidus ran to them and licked them up greedily then sat and looked up at the malt as if waiting for more.
 "If you did do it, I'd have to leave," Siara replied.
 Damien pondered this a moment, then gently set his malt back down on the table, never taking his eyes off hers.
 Siara stuck her tongue out at him, sitting back down as well. "That's what I thought," she teased.
 "Just don't think you'll get off so scot-free next time. I'll get you." Damien smirked, sipping his malt as he sat down. He looked at Tidus, who was pouting with his large dog eyes in a beg for more ice cream. Damien rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, you win!" he sighed, popping off the lid of his malt and holding the cup down for Tidus to stick his muzzle in and drink from it.
 Siara giggled. "Oh Tidus!" She chided lightly.
 Damien laughed as he pulled the cup away, seeing Tidus trailing it with his nose, trying harder and harder to drink more the further it got away from his muzzle. Soon, he was licking at nothing but air and whinned for more. "No! No more, you silly mutt!" Damien laughed, scratching Tidus' ears. "You'll get fat."
 Siara shook her head lightly as she chuckled. "Wow," she said simply.
 Damien raised a brow at her. "wow what?"
"Wow...I can't believe what's happened since the beginning of all this," Siara said simply.
 Damien couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing, and so, kept his mouth shut. He tossed the slobbery half-drank malt in the trash and returned to the table, sitting next to Siara. He grabbed her hand in his and looked at her, smiling softly.
 Siara smiled back, leaning to put her head on his shoulder.
 Damien wrapped his arm around her shoulders, rubbing it reassuringly as he leaned his head on hers. She was right.. so many things had happened since the whole sketchbook dilemma started.. but there was one thing he was happy for. He kissed her head gently.

<The Sketchbook