We Are Bulletproof

Hi

😋

@Seth Spiros

Hey
Are we okay to talk?

Is it too awkward? 🙁

@Judah Hyunh

Hey baby
You doing okay?

@Dakota Choi

Hey
I know you said you weren't picking up your phone tonight but

I need to talk to you

@Judah Hyunh

Through the bent slats in the blinds, Alejo could see the colored lights outside. He laid on his side on the hard mattress in his motel room, head propped up by two lumpy pillows that smelled vaguely of moth balls. After leaving the downtown core, he didn't immediately return to his room. His feet led him on a wandering, meandering course through some of the narrow streets of Hazleton. He took in the sights and the sounds, the people walking past chattering with their friends or hurrying home.

Eventually Alejo came back to the motel and to his room. He left the lights off as he toed off his shoes and curled up in bed on top of the comforter and blanket, laying in silence while he listened to cars driving past. A siren went off in the distance, reminding him of home--New York, the city that rarely slept. Most nights he was carried off to sleep by the sound of sirens. Or he'd be in one of those cars zipping down the street, chasing after petty criminals and drunk kids out on a midnight joy ride.

Tonight, Alejo wasn't a cop. He was... He didn't know exactly what he was tonight. The encounter with Jack left him shaken in a bad way and as he laid there, his mind kept circling back to certain words, certain phrases. It was harder to pull himself together tonight than any other night, helped in no way by the strong liquor that Jack had plied him with back at the club. Alejo wasn't dead drunk but he still felt muzzy, a little light-headed. The usual barriers that he slammed up to avoid looking too closely at himself were weakened and crumbling down.

He cheated. He found someone who was like him in so many ways that he could hardly believe Jack was real and not a figment of imagination. He thought he found someone who could fill the emptiness inside but the further away he walked from Jack's apartment, the lonelier he felt. At the corner of the street he'd looked back at the Sunrise and something in his chest lurched unpleasantly.

Would he be happier if he'd asked to stay? if he was in bed with Jack right now, warm under his covers? If he could lay his head on Jack's chest and listen to his heartbeat and spill out all of his secrets to somebody who knew exactly what it felt like to be broken inside? Would voicing any of his inner thoughts somehow make them disappear, or would he still feel... wrong? Off?

Alejo felt a little better... then a little worse. Disappointment ended his night, like so many other nights. He blinked into the darkened corners of his room and slowly reached over onto the spare pillow laying beside him. His fingers slid over his gun. His badge. Lights from outside made the burnished gold glow softly. Alejo had been so proud when he received his badge, thinking that having a purpose--saving people--could save him but as with everything, the initial excitement faded. Left him a little emptier, a little more desperate, despondent inside.

His index slid over the trigger on the gun. It was a simple plain affair, black, standard issue. Alejo's eyes closed. His finger tightened slightly around the cold metal.

If only he could be

a little braver

Hey babe! Guess where I am~

Hint: It's a quaint, sleepy lil ole town

@Judah Hyunh

Siiiiip

A steaming mug of artisanal coffee was a joy on a cold morning like this. Alejo had wandered down to the area known as Little Asia in search of breakfast but somehow ended up at a hipster cafe. Just a coffee, a danish, a couple of newspapers and some time to himself to peruse the local news. He had yet to unpack his things--they were sitting back in the small motel room he'd rented out--but staring at suitcases made him feel homesick so here he was.

The barista behind the counter gave him a friendly smile when he looked up. He nodded gently, smiled back and pulled the Hazleton Gazette towards him. Most of the stories were puff pieces. An article about a rare fennec fox sighting had his interest piqued momentarily but it was just something about how the little fox lived near the woods, along with some nice pictures. Cute. But not what he was looking for.

So far, the trail had gone cold. Alejo didn't think this assignment would bring him here of all places but once he got to Hazleton the leads dried up. It was kind of a bummer, yeah... But then he remembered Judah grew up here and admittedly part of him hoped to go around and see all the places that Judah used to talk about. Little Asia was one of them; there was also Old Downtown and the Outskirts where the ranches were.

He rustled the paper softly with a crinkle as he turned a page. Hmm... Nothing about mysterious disappearances except--wait. Hold on a sec. Missing kids? An ad for leads into the disappearance of a boy called Danny Clayton... Interesting...

"Oops!" A gust of wind swiped the page from him and blew it into the face of a person walking by. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" He laughed softly as he stood up and reached out to pull the naughty newspaper away. "Are you okay?" Getting smacked in the face by a random flying piece of paper... Probably not a nice thing to experience in the morning.