"WE SHOULDN'T BE DOING THIS."

Harry let out a drunken giggle, that was a mix of half laughter and half giggle. Tyler hushed him, "Either shut up yourself or allow me to shut you up!"

Harry found his step faltering moment after another as Tyler dragged him by his hand, shooting fleeting glares over his shoulder at his friend who seemed to have been drowned in alcohol by the looks of him. He shook him by his hand and urged him forward.

"C'mon. Hurry up."

Harry's eyes threatened to close with his body on the brink of collapsing to the inviting gravel. But his feet (and Tyler's force on him) kept him moving after Tyler. "Tyler! What are you doing?"

Harry couldn't help but moan as fatigue took over his body. He could not make sense of Tyler's reticent actions in his incredibly inebriated state, but still he knew they both - or more like Tyler - was up to something bad.

He could feel himself being dragged, his hand clasped firmly in Tyler's. He couldn't make sense of his surroundings; his eyes drooped too low to allow that. He could perceive his vicinity, but could not see anything other than darkness it blurred lines blending together in front of his eyes.

Harry knew they both were out of the Miller's beach house as the loud music was gradually replaced by a mélange of faint, thumping bass and the swishing of the rising and falling water. The sea breeze tickled Harry's hair and cooled the sweat gathered on his skin.

"Where are you taking me, Tyler?"

Tyler ignored the drunken slur of words, more focused on the way ahead. Harry continued his drunken ramble. "......freaking exhausted. Too much to -" hiccough "-drink......can't even see two centimetres clear. Ty-Ty? Tyler? TYLER FUCKIN-"

Tyler whipped around sharply, making him stumble over his own feet at the sudden halt. He glared inscrutably at Harry - to his benefit, seeing that his besotted mind could only understand that he was being scolded instead of what was actually being said to him. He chuckled, after making the comparison between Tyler and an angry man muted while speaking.

"I only understood a bit when you were speaking," He brought his thumb and forefinger close together for extra emphasis, "that you look really ugly when you're angry."

Tyler swallowed down the words he was going to say next. Instead, he shook his head and continued walking again, "I knew it was a lost cause bringing you here while you're this drunk. Again, fault on my part."

Harry didn't understand what he meant by that. Instead, he was now standing inside a dimly lit room and he had no idea how he got there. Tyler was by his side, and he had half a mind of considering teleportation as the method for their transportation. "What.......am I imagining things Tyler?"

"You must be," he grumbled, "for the state you're in."

Tyler moved further in the room, Harry trailing behind inattentively. His hooded eyes fell on the darkened silhouette of Tyler by the overhanging lantern. A silver glint was visible to Harry in Tyler's eyes even in the darkness, but then he thought it was something else instead as no eye could shine that brightly in the darkness. Tyler's lips were moving: he was saying something unintelligible to Harry, which was not making sense to him at all.

".....guide when I'm not."

Harry tried to comprehend the meaning behind those words, but felt himself falling. The sudden jolt in his body, like his organs were taking a leap. He had a sudden perception of being bodiless before falling back into his senses.

And then he woke up.

****

⇒ MAY 9th, 2017
THERE WAS A KNOCK ON the door at somewhere around five.

Harry stopped arranging the files he had been given to sort out and faintly called out for the person to come in.

"Packed for the day?" Jason Miller stood at the door, lips wide in a friendly smile. His chatoyant eyes shone so evocatively that it was difficult for Harry to not smile back at him.

"Welcome Jason." He shuffled forward to free the chair of the bad he'd placed, making room for Jason. "What brings you here?"

Jason sat in the chair just evacuated. Harry, though having known Jason for as long as he'd been in Fairweather, still felt uneasy having him sitting in front of him. Jason was an easygoing person - perhaps too easygoing - and Harry didn't have any problem with him except for the fact that Harry liked to keep his distance from Jason because he was basically his employer.

"Jus' came to ask whether you'd be joining us peeps at Duncan's. We are jus' heading out."

Harry looked at his face that was redolent of a happy time, but he politely declined his offer with a shake of his head.

"No, thanks. I'm covered for the evening."

Jason laughed and preceded to leave his room. His eyes crinkled mischievously, "You wouldn't happen to be meeting Tyler, would you? That bloke told me the same thing a minute ago."

Harry chuckled. It was such an enigma that their minds worked sometimes just alike. Like twin telepathy, except for all the twin idea.

"I am. I'm meeting with him at his home after I hit gym. It's been so long since I've actually seen him, y'know?"

"I mus' leave, then. Have a good time."

"You too."

Harry picked up his bag and waited for Jason to leave before following his lead and locking his office door behind him. He watched Jason's retreating figure clad in a blue suit. Harry found it hard to believe that this person was already nearing fifty years with the physique he had, but rendered the secret to be hidden in the Millers' genes. For all the Millers he knew - Jason, Agatha and Tyler - shared the same lean physique, Agatha more on the feminine side.

He neared his parked Volvo and preceded to drive. The local gym was only a ten minute drive from his workplace. He didn't bring anything except for an empty bag, since he was thinking of clearing up his locker instead of going to exercise. It had been Tyler's idea not so long ago as, according to him, it was the breeding place of several forms of fungi and weeds.

Given that Fairweather was only a few hundred acres and considerably smaller, he reached the gym in no time. The smallness of town didn't matter, since the entire town felt more home to Harry than his parents' house back in London did. As small as the place was, the hearts of the people residing here were quite as large.

The gym building looked fairly old from outside, as it was before a theatre built in nineteen-something. More than fifty years had been passed since its construction but the interior was as good as new. The owner Augustus Clearwater was a good friend of Agatha Miller, so Harry naturally got VIP treatment there.

"Hey Gus," Harry greeted the owner, who, funnily enough, reminded him of Tyler's grandma Giovanni. Augustus was around fifty-five, but spent majority of his time in the gym even if he wasn't able to exercise well. He wasn't that much old, yet still supported the same caring aura around him and crinkling eyes that were a reminder of his halcyon days.

"How you doin' Harry?" He greeted him friendly, as Harry adjusted the duffle bag over his shoulder. "Here to exercise? Haven't seen you or Tyler around lately."

Harry smiled apologetically, "I'm just clearing up my locker. You know I'm busy in the publication of the new magazine, and Tyler's been handling the situations regarding the oil field over in Wheatland. It's been a tough couple o' days."

Gus hummed understandingly, beckoning him towards the locker room. "Ah, see what it is, eh? Anyways, I won't hold you up for long. Say my hello to Agie when you see her." Harry nodded, pressing his lips together in a farewell smile. "Sure will when I head over to Millers. I'll see you around Gus."

He turned around, ready to walk towards his locker, before Gus' voice made him halt in his tracks once again. "Oh Harry, I almost forgot to tell you-" but he was cut off by another customer approaching him. Harry didn't think much of it, regarding as another talk about refreshing his membership or something meaningless like a promotion. He covered the few short steps towards his locker and dialed the combination of several numbers.

A pink paper came peeking out the minute the locker opened. Harry stuffed it in his bag along with several other advertising leaflets, muttering how people managed to sneak them in his locker. The state his locker was in made him think that Tyler was, indeed, right about nameless species breeding in there. It was a miracle it wasn't supporting the stench of rotten bodies.

When everything had been stashed in his bag for washing, he proceeded to head out, muttering farewell to Gus on his way out. It was nearing the time when he was required to meet Tyler. He had returned from a week's trip to Wheatland yesterday. Today he'd been busy in sorting some problems, and made plans to see Harry later. Harry instantly agreed, seeing that Tyler was quite busy lately as he was the head the project at Wheatland's oil field.

Harry's phone began ringing as soon as he had started the car. Agatha Miller's number flashed on the screen.

"Hey Agie-"

Frantic words rushed in his ears even before he had finished his greeting. "Oh Harry! Thank God you picked up. Come-hurry! H-Harry, he- he-"

Harry hurriedly stopped the car as rushed words mixed with anxious sobs made it quite difficult to understand what Agie was actually saying.

"What's wrong, Agie? Calm down! Take a deep breath and relax. Just try to slow your breathing."

Harry was himself trying his hardest to stay calm but his hands were getting clammy. Agie was usually a really collected person, and only became agitated only in situations where Tyler was involved. Like, some four years ago, Agie had called Harry in the same way like now because Tyler had gotten in an accident.

He noticed that his words did zilch to calm Agie down since her breathing was growing frantic by the second. He could only pull the gears and start driving again.

"H- Harry, h-have you seen T-Tyler?"

"Tyler?" His brows furrowed and heart sped up in his chest. "No. I was supposed to meet him at six thirty. I'm on the way right now Agie. Why? Is-"

Her breaths grew even louder as Harry's heart thumped painfully in his chest. Hearing her cry was just as painful to him as hearing your own mother cry. "Agie, calm down. Tell me what's wrong."

"H-He's g-gone, Harry," She let out an extremely pained sob that made Harry's own chest constrict in pain. He pressed the accelerator and drove speedily. He didn't remember Tyler's house to be this far from the gym.

"Gone? Wh-Whose gone? What do you mean?"

"T-Tyler," she spoke out heavily, choking the the end.

Harry's eyes widened in horror. "Tyler's gone? What are you saying Agie?! I swear if this is a prank-"

"No," Agie chocked in a painstakingly sorrowful voice, "H-He's really g-gone. Tyler's g-gone. They f-found his c-car in the l-lake."

Harry's eyes blurred for a moment. Something was stirring unsettling thoughts in his mind.
His stomach was churning horridly. Tyler's gone?!

Somehow he forced himself to force the next words out, "Don't cry, Agie. Try to calm down. I'm on my way." He clenched the stirring wheel and sped as fast as he could. His mind was racing.

He couldn't fathom a word of the conversation he had just had with Agie.

Notes

Hello everyone. Hope you're all well.

I hope you like my first story on here. It's a mystery and i love writing them so i hope you like what i write as well. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the first chapter. Is it fast-paced? confusing? What do you think about the dream Harry had? about the call with Agie (Tyler's mother)? And about Tyler, the main man in our story, what do you think happened to him?

That's too many questions but I'd love to hear what you think. Until next time.