Disclaimer: I don't own Heavy Rain the game, the plot, or the characters. However, the Alston family and the Williams family are my characters and I will be very offended if you take them. :3 Thanks!

Thanks Syncerity, PrincessPoisonx3, and grable42 for reviewing and the rest of you guys for alerting, I like to see that people are reading and enjoying, for the most part. Keep it coming, I appreciate it! :)
Ugh, sorry if this chapter kind of drags on a little bit, but I kind of wanted to write it for people who haven't played Heavy Rain, too. Bear with me, pleeease. Alsoo, I changed the summary since I felt the original was a bit tasteless.

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Chapter II, "Tyler"

I didn't go to school the next day.

To my surprise, it hadn't been my decision. After hours trying to explain to my parents why I needed to be picked up at the police station, and that I hadn't done any drugs and I wasn't drinking or partying, they sent me to bed and told me to stay in from school. This was a blessing; I knew that the moment I stepped onto campus I wouldn't hear the end of it. The last thing I needed was to be bombarded by college kids that wanted some sort of "and-my-life-flashed-before-my-eyes" television story out of me. I hardly even wanted to explain it to the few friends I did have. Plus, I'm pretty sure anyone would pounce on the opportunity to get a good night's rest without the taunting reminders they would have to endure in the morning. Nonetheless, I found myself waking up early in avoidance of the haunting nightmares the night before caused.

The news had been blaring from the TV all day and I'd found it near impossible to get the monotonous voices of the reporters out of my head. By the end of the day, I was cringing every time I heard "Origami Killer's eighth victim was found" blandly slide out of one of their mouths. It was some late hour in the afternoon before my mother had, thankfully, shut off the television and gone out to run errands. I took the chance and stepped outside onto the stone steps in front of the home. The air was humid and heavy, and with a quick glance up to the sky I quickly found out why. The murky grey clouds hung low enough to kiss the top of the city buildings I could see in the distance, and even completely engulf a few. I sat down on one of the steps and brought my knees to my chest, wrapped my arms around them and watched the city and the clouds that hung above. I stayed there for a long while, thinking of all the things that I hadn't gotten a chance to while my mother was around. I was growing more and more thankful of her departure, as sad as it sounded.

"Addie!" The familiar call caused me to perk my head up and break away from my thoughts.

I stood up and continued down the rest of the steps, poking my head out to catch a glimpse of the tiny child heading in my direction. I grinned as he scurried toward me, reaching his arms out to grab hold of me for a hug. I stumbled backwards - he ran at me harder than I expected, however, I wrapped my arms around him as tightly as he had his around me. "Tyler," I managed to sputter out between giggles, "You're gunna break me." I ruffled his chestnut hair through my fingers playfully.

I know it's hard to believe, but my little brother is my everything. Some days I honestly can't understand why he still adores and looks up to me today. You'd expect something like that out of a seven year old, maybe, but even after his eleventh birthday, he still clung to me the same way. Sure, he has his moments, like any other boy, but compared to the other siblings-from-hell stories I'd heard, he was an angel.

Following not too far behind him was Sam, Tyler's soccer coach and one of my closest friends since we moved here. We'd been paired up in some obscure chemistry project we both didn't care much for in our freshman year of high school and ever since then we were inseparable. He stuck out most to me due to his interest in sports (he was godly skilled at soccer), something we both obtained. And on top of that, he's most likely the sweetest person you'll find in San Francisco. His shaggy blonde hair always had this way of looking so messy yet neat at the same time. I'd always wondered how much - or maybe how little - he had to try to keep it like that. To this day, my mother and father keep this silly joke that we'd end up getting married or whatever, and I always wave it off. He lifted his hand up from out of his jacket pocket for a wave, and when he grew close enough he uttered, "Hey."

I smiled at him and nodded my head as a greeting. "No visible scratches or tears… I'm guessing practice went good?" We had an odd, teasing sense of humor he could only get.

"Rude," was Sam's only response before Tyler butted in once again.

"Addie can we pleeeease go down to the park today?" He pleaded, letting go of me and raising his head to stare at me with those big, brown eyes. I watched him for a moment before bursting out into a light, short laughter.

"Didn't you have enough at practice today?"

He pouted and shook his head animatedly, tugging at my jacket. "Pleeeeeeease?" He repeated, beginning to jump with excitement.

I sighed and shrugged helplessly. There was no way I was going to convince him otherwise, but it wasn't like I minded. It wasn't like there was something to do at home, and it would be nice to try and cheer myself up with Tyler's smiles. "Alright, alright, calm down. We'll go, but only for a little while, it's going to pour soon."

Tyler cheered with excitement, a jubilant grin coming to his lips. He hurried up the stairs, skipping two with one jump, and swung the door open recklessly. "I'll get my jacket!" He squealed back to me.

I smiled to myself again as I watched him drown in his own anticipation. "Thanks for bringing him home from practice." I turned to Sam with the same beaming smile.

"Stop thanking me, you act like it's the first time or something." He chuckled, his bright blue eyes sparkling as they squinted.

"Wow, taking my gratitude and make me feel special, that's Sam."

"Lovely hair day you're having," He tried to redeem himself. I rolled my eyes.

Tyler hurried down the steps in a frantic rush, trying to slide his arms through his coat at the same time but failing miserably. I stopped him as soon as he reached me then proceeded to shift his coat around to help him out. He smiled and wrapped his tiny fingers around my long, skinny ones, beginning to pull me down the street mischievously. I let him pull me along, slowing only when I heard Sam's quiet footsteps trailing behind me. I turned back to him, confusion lingering in my brow. "You're coming?"

"Why not?" He slid his hands back into his jacket pockets casually. "You really just don't want to be around me that bad?"

I laughed and muttered, "Shut up." I didn't need to say he was wrong. That was the wonderful thing about hanging out with him. I never had to try too hard to impress him or anything, he just hung out with me for me, unlike some of the other people I reluctantly called friends.

The park was only a few blocks away from our house which was an ingenious decision on my parent's part, probably knowing that Tyler would want to go every day if he got the chance to. Nevertheless, it was unusually empty on the weekdays; sometimes I would walk by it on my way home and find it completely abandoned. Shockingly, today was one of those rare days when no one showed up, most likely due to the ominous clouds hanging overhead.

We spent most of our time playing tag or crawling through the rusted jungle gym, laughing and giggling childishly, and for a moment, Sam and I were kids again. Something about goofing around with Tyler made me throw away that adult mask I always had to wear around everyone else. It was an incredible feeling - stress from exams, finding jobs, tiring friendship dramas - all of that seemed to melt away and be replaced with the sound of warm giggles being exchanged between the three of us. We got tired quick due to the humid air clogging our lungs from too much laughter. I rested on the squeaky swings next to Tyler, who swung himself veeeeery slowly, simply to hear the shrill noise of the rusted metal tickle his ears. Sam sat not too far from us on a bench that looked like it was about to break any moment under his weight.

I watched Tyler with inquisitive eyes, a smile wondering to my lips inattentively from his peaceful nature. He didn't say anything. He just watched, looking out into the sky and all around the park, his eyes sometimes stopping when he noticed something that caught his eye. He would always do the littlest things that would somehow bring me so much hope. It would inspire me to push through whatever was going on at the time, no matter how silly or insignificant it was. He made me feel so happy, so complete as a person, and it made me feel incredible to know he probably felt the same toward me. I turned toward the horizon where the sun was beginning to set. My eyes beamed when I took notice to the gorgeous shades of purples and hues of orange burst through the thick clouds. It was perfect, everything was so unbelievably perfect.

We'd decided to head home before it got too impossibly dark, for Sam's sake. To my surprise, Tyler didn't fuss; he seemed content to head home, which only peaked my pleasure. We walked back down the empty streets, Tyler clutching my hand while Sam followed by my side. Everything was quiet until I heard an almost inaudible gasp from Tyler.

I stopped. "What, what is it?"

"I… I think I left my coat back on the swing set…" His voice was shaking; I could tell he was nervous.

"Hey, it's fine, we're not too far. We can just run back and get it, champ." I rubbed his shoulder reassuringly. Luckily we hadn't been walking for more than a couple of minutes, otherwise I would have been a little bit more upset. I spun around to walk back but then I felt Sam grip my wrist and I halted.

"Wait, I'll take him," He stepped in front of me and looked down at Tyler, then back to me.

I raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head, Addie, we'll be two seconds." He winked, then patted Tyler's head. He kneeled down to his eye level and grinned, murmuring quietly, "Hey, I'll race you."

I had enough time to mumble, "Famous last words," until they dashed away, leaving behind a trail of their laughter to echo against the buildings. I leaned against the coarse, concrete wall behind myself and crossed my arms. I giggled to myself softly, thinking about the past hour or so and how much of a relief it was. I sighed and looked up at the sky again, taking note of how much quicker it darkened compared to yesterday.

Then I waited. And waited. And waited.

It was supposed to be two seconds and it was turning into five minutes.

At ten I was growing suspicious. I kept peeking down the road to see if they were close, and when I saw nothing, I convinced myself they just needed a few extra moments to search.

Fifteen was beginning to make me uneasy. I drummed my fingers anxiously against my thigh, trying to push the possibility of something going wrong out of my head. The thoughts came in anyway. I shoved my hands in the back of my jean pockets to try and calm myself. No help.

When twenty came I couldn't take it. I took a couple steps down the road, slowly at first since my knees were unbearably shaky. With every step, the more my heart started to pound, and the faster it beat, the quicker my steps became. In seconds I was in a full-on sprint and the cracked fence of the park started to come into my sight. I continued forward as quickly as I possibly could, but somehow I felt it wasn't quick enough. It felt like a dream where I was trying to get to something but I was running excruciatingly slow and I didn't know why. I slowed my pace when I reached the entrance and continued in, eyes frantically searching for the two familiar faces.

Then I saw it. I felt my heart come to an abrupt stop when I lowered my eyes. A sickening feeling waved over me, churning my stomach and almost causing me to vomit. I had to press my fingers over my lips to prevent it

Sam laid lifelessly in the grass, a small pool of blood gathered in his hair and poured out into the brick path. His limbs were sprawled out in uncomfortable positions, twisted together in a way that made my stomach drop. I gawked at his body with sickness and shock, my heart beginning to pound so fast it was in my throat. I took a wobbly step closer to him, my body beginning to shake so much, I felt like I was having a panic attack. Everything started to get dizzy, blurry. I kept blinking, waiting for my mind to stop joking with me, but it wouldn't go away. I blinked harder but more blood just seemed to come out. The green grass was now a disgusting, crimson shade of red. I fell down to my knees in painful disbelief, another gurgle of disgust coming from my mouth. I lifted my head up again, much too quickly, since the dazed sensation flickered abruptly. Tyler was gone. He wasn't here. I swapped my eyes from side to side but found nothing except for a few silent leaves blowing through the wind. I tried to call out his name but it felt like all of the breathe had been taken out of me, stolen away like he had been. I waited for the hyperventilation to stop before I tried once more.

"... Tyler?" I whimpered silently. Nothing.

I threw myself up from the ground and screamed. "Tyler!" My throat burned from how loud the scream was. It echoed eerily as I waited for a response; the quieter it grew, the more my heart began to flutter. The weird throat feeling came again and the waterworks started to flow.

No, this wasn't right. It couldn't be right. I kept waiting for myself to wake up but it never happened. I just stood there, dumbfounded, like a complete idiot. I kept calling his name again, wondering through the park hopelessly even though I knew there wasn't going to be anything there. He wasn't there. I panicked. What was I going to do? Sam could die! But where was Tyler? Why didn't he come back to get me? Did... did someone taken him? I made several attempts to try and catch the enormous amount of breath I had lost but when I saw that my gasps for air remained, I went straight to the next step. I hastily reached for the cellular in my pocket, nearly dropping it in the pool of blood by Sam's head. I cried harder at the thought of that.

I dialed the number without hesitation, this time. A man's voice came from the other line which was soft and quiet. I had to concentrate as hard as I could to put his words in the correct order. "911, what is your emergency?"

"Riverfront Park. A-ambulance, I need an ambulance." I wiped tears away from the corners of my eyes. My hand was completely soaked from that one mop. "My friend - something happened to him..."

"Alright ma'm, I've dispatched an ambulance. Stay on the line with me, please. Can you tell me what happened?" His previously easygoing tone was growing more distorted as the reality started to set in. I could feel myself going mad.

"…" I didn't say anything for the first few moments, and instead I felt myself cry harder. "Are you still there?" I heard the operator ask me.

"I came back to c-check on him, he's bleeding r-r-really bad," I fumbled with my words feebly and pausing only for a sniff, "My brother… he's gone." I said this quietly, almost as if I was afraid to admit it to myself.

Tyler was gone.

The unstained white walls of the station had only brought back haunting memories of last night, worsening my condition. Oddly enough, I had managed to hold back my tears, no matter how tempting it sounded to just burst out in hysterics and curse myself for what happened. But, that wasn't going to solve anything, now was it? If there was anything I had learned from my last unfortunate trip to the station, it was that keeping your composure and sanity was key. One frail step backwards then there would be no way to fish yourself out of your own swamp of despair. I had to avoid losing my balance, for now.

I could see Blake's brow furrow with a mixture of sympathy and frustration even from afar. He spoke quickly on the phone - I could hear the sturdy tone in his voice but his lips were unreadable, but I had a gruesome idea of what he was saying to my parents. I swallowed hard, watching as he set the phone down on the receiver and run his hands through his hair with anxiety. His interrogation with me hadn't gone any smoother than the last and left me feeling even more pathetic than before. He and I both knew that the real answers would be with Sam, and to be quite frank, part of me believed that Blake suspected him to be some sort of accomplice. I tried to push the alluring suggestion out of my head, but as I sat in the office corner, I couldn't help but wonder. Sam was secretive, and he did have a lot of free time on his hands. He'd been acting so weird lately, always gone...

"Adalyn?"

I blinked, snapping back into reality when the sudden voice flowed into my ears. I hadn't noticed that I'd somehow buried my face into my knees until I saw nothing but blackness. I lifted up my head, letting my legs slide back off the chair slowly as I did so. Another cop stood in front of me with a concerned gaze, this one I recognized from yesterday as well. His burrowed eyes watched me curiously; a humble feeling washed over me as he kept his stare on me. It was a strange relaxing feeling that only deepened when I locked my own eyes with his. "Yeah… Agent Jayden, was it?"

He nodded, his eyes not escaping from mine. "I'm sorry." His apology was genuine and had a hint of hurt behind it. I lowered my face again and didn't respond to him. To be quite honest I didn't know what to say. I almost didn't want to hear it, but from him, it was reassuring. He was probably the only person who could really help in a situation like this. I had to trust him.

There was an appropriately placed silence. "I'll take you home." He held a hand out to me to help me up, which I accepted after a feeble nod. His hand was callused, but at the time, it was so much warmer than the rest of the building that I didn't care.

The drive home was quiet, but I hadn't expected it to be anything otherwise. I stared out the window solemnly while Jayden drove. The rain drops pelted against the windows softly, a sound that would normally have soothed me, but now, it only made me grow more upset. The car was warm and was starting to make me feel nauseous, but I couldn't tell if that was from the heat or my disposition. A few times I glanced toward Jayden, examining his strained eyes and uneasy expression, but then I looked away, back out into the dark city streets that were being coated with rainwater. It was a long while until I finally spoke above the radio to give him the final directions. "It's the next house." I'd interrupted a quiet Metric song that had been successfully holding my attention since I got in the car.

He came to a slow stop but didn't unlock the doors. For some reason, I hadn't expected to leave anyway, so I sat there, listening to the patter of the rain and the inaudible lyrics of Metric.

"I'm going to do everything I possibly can to find him." It came out of him so profoundly that it almost shocked me. I turned my head to him, my eyes probably casting the same stare they'd held before. It was hard to see him in the dim lighting, but I knew his face was flashing with determination. He looked toward me and spoke again, a little quieter this time. "Everything. I swear to you."

I felt tears of gratitude begin to swell up but I held them back. I prayed he hadn't seen them. "… Thank you." I responded weakly. "… So much, really. Thanks, Jayden." I repeated it again, scared he hadn't heard the first time.

"Norman," He spoke, "Call me Norman."

I nodded slowly. "… Thank you, Norman." I corrected myself.

He gripped the wheel a little tighter. "You still have my number, right? Just… call me, if anything goes wrong - or even if you just need something…" As he continued, his voice grew softer and more comforting. I nodded my head again, a quaint, welcoming smile curling on my lips. For that moment, he seemed less and less like a detective and more like sometime I could turn to if I ever needed to break down. Someone like that was what I needed.

I heard the doors unlock - a loud click that made me jump. I pushed the door open and stepped out into the rain, looking back into the car to wave. "Bye." Jayden nodded in return and I shut the doors to head up the stairs into the home. The last thing that lingered in my mind was the silent song, playing over and over in order to comfort myself.

Lord, lord mother, we are all losing love, lord, listen mother lover we are all missing mama.

No one said a word when I shut the door behind myself, but I was running too fast for them to have a chance to. I didn't want to talk to my parents. I didn't want to talk about what had happened. I needed to be alone for a long, long time. I scurried through the house and pushed the door to my room open and let it spring close by itself. My hand absently flew to the light switch and shut it off and I threw myself onto the bed. I didn't care if the rainwater soaked my sheets. I didn't care about anything. I buried my face into my pillow and all of a sudden, the tears flowed out like rivers and I couldn't stop them. I cried and cried and cried. I just wanted to wake up and go back to how everything way before. I wanted Tyler to come home happy and I wanted to play around with him and help him with his homework but I knew that I couldn't.

He was gone and I couldn't do anything.

Oh my god this was so long but I couldn't adjagdf4235qd. I'm so sorry, I had to cut so much out, but I didn't want to split it into two chapters because then I would feel terrible making you guys wait for the inevitable. I'm just glad I got this done! I'll have the next one up soon, and I swear that we'll be getting more into the bulk of the plot. ;)