HOMEOSTASIS

Chapter X

"'Cuz everything that you thought I would be,
Has fallen apart right in front of you."

⦻⦻⦻

The trip to Minnesota was worse than they thought. Apart from all the bickering between Jane, Jeff, and Liu, Jack would intervene every now and then to stop Jeff from developing a God complex. Then the two of them would start beating the shit out of each other too.

Natalie was still at Hoodie's and Masky's care. She woke up once or twice only to pass out right after. Then, she would wake up again, and not remember shit.

Chaser and Toby were at the front of the van, making sure they didn't run into anymore cops. They can't get rid of the five bodies in the back anyway. At least not yet.

But eventually, they arrived. And as always, they stopped to get their stuff together. They parked in the middle of a forest, a big one. The girl walked up from the driver's seat, Toby following her trail.

"She's awake, right?"

The brunette laying on Masky's lap showed a weak thumbs up. "Never felt better."

"Alright." The proxy extended the map in the middle of the van as they all gathered around. "We're going after Helen Otis. Also known as "The Bloody Painter". He's 36 years old."

"Huh. He's even older than me." Masky mused.

"Great. Now we have an artist. This day just keeps getting better."

"Look, Jeff, it's not funny. This will be an extremely hard one. Harder than Clocky here. Helen is constantly moving states, much like we're doing right now."

"Wait..." Natalie groaned, slowly sitting up. "Helen Otis? You have a picture?"

Said picture was passed from the folder beside her. Six pictures, in fact. Three of his face, and other three of his mask. The rest were just photos of crime scenes- bodies tangling from the ceiling, walls scribbled in what was most likely blood too. His mask was white apart from the smile painted in blood. Natalie gasped upon seeing the material.

"I know him... We met in North Dakota, last summer. We stayed together for like... two days, before we parted."

"SHIT, f-fuck! Really?" Toby asked, "Did he tell you any useful info?"

"Not much. He's a very quiet person." Such a coincidence with no worthy material to work with. "Although, he did give me his contact... He has a disposable phone in case something happens. I just hope it didn't."

"Please tell me you have it saved somewhere..."

"I remember it."

"You... remember it?"

This is what's been bothering Toby all along. This is too easy. Too convenient. Almost as if everything is suddenly going according to plan. He's not complaining- God no- it's just too weird. He knows there's some type of force binding them together, he knows because of past events. Killers like them are meant to stay together, because no one else will offer to be by their side. But it should never be so easy. I mean yes, it's all been taking a shit ton of time, and coincidences do take a lot of planning, but he's used to fight for things. How did he not have to kill anybody this whole time? How are his hands not stained with blood? He doesn't get it...

"I don't have any contacts saved because I'm constantly changing phones, so I always remember the important ones." Afterwards, she requested one of their phones, and soon, Chaser's was in her hands. Slowly and a bit hesitantly, she dialed the number, and put the call on speaker. They just pray he answers. "By the way, you guys still owe me an explanation on this "experiment" you talked about in your video."