Levi Winchester

~~~~~~~~~~~Two Days Ago~~~~~~~~~~

"Nikolaos Baros!"

"Huh?" I turned around to see Coach Nichols jogging up to me. "Coach? What the fuck do you...what did you just call me just now?"

I'm not even sure if I'm hearing things at the moment. My mind was consumed with thoughts of Tyler because I was going to go see him today. But, even so, there's no way this pervert just called me-

"Nikolaos Barros," Coach Nichols smiled. I didn't hear him wrong and this was impossible to ignore.

I immediately backed up a bit. "Who are you? Do you work for my father? Why are you revealing yourself now so obviously? What's your plan?" I put my fists up in case he swung. I had a pretty good chance against this guy and I'm sure I could kill him.

"I'll get straight to it then, since you can't trust me even though I'm a teacher. You want to escape your father, Hannibal Barros, yes? But you probably have zero plans on where to start. I understand, that of all people it was your own father who did this to you. You were always powerless on your own, if you're afraid you can't do it alone, I can help you out though."

I lowered my hands when I saw he was standing in a sort of surrendering way. Was he waiting to attack me when my guard was completely down? I took a step closer but he made zero hostile movement.

"You-"

"I have no intentions of playing a game. I just want to help."

"What are you saying? Why would you help me?" I asked. "What-"

"Follow me. I'll tell you in detail." Coach walked past me motioning for me to follow. If he was up to something then I wasn't in the mood. I just wanted to go see and hold Tyler and let him know all about my visit to Liam and how I took responsibility for real this time. How I was going to take responsibility for everything else too!

But it wouldn't hurt to find out a clue if has one.

Surprisingly we didn't have to walk very far, just a block down into an office space that looked run down. I mean, there were homeless people taking shelter in some hallways. Coach greeted a few people in passing claiming me as his nephew from out of town to security. We looked nothing alike for him to say that and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought that.

"Isn't this a sloppy job?" I asked him. "Anyone can tell that you're lying about the relation."

"Who's going to question me?" Coach waved off my concern. "Ordinary people don't care about these things. Everyone is too wrapped up in themselves to really care."

Finally we reached an office. "I thought you would talk during the walk?" I said.

"And spoil the surprise?" Coach Nichols pulled out a stack of papers about a foot high front a desk drawer.

"You're not going to try dirty things with me are you?" I asked.

"WHAT?!!"

"Aren't you well known for being some kind of pervert? Some girls were talking about you and a student. Have you switched to dudes now?"

Coach looked genuinely shocked and appalled. "I'm not interested in children! Especially your generation of shitty brats at the school!"

"Guess that wasn't true. I apologize for calling you a pervert," I guess this shows he has some restraint. "What are these papers for?"

"Just Familiarize yourself with all these people. This will be easy for someone like you, right?"

"All of them?"

"Yeah."

"Someone like me?"

"You have an eidetic memory like your father. You should also stop sleeping at that abandoned house. It's about to be torn down in about a month or two. I have an extra room for you here at this building." Coach offered. "Plus, it's a better for you to have food and running water available at your age."

I sucked my teeth at this. If you cared that much about my living situation, why not step in sooner, you prick? "How can I trust you? You work for my father don't you? Surely, after all this time and every event that's taken place, it's not weird that I don't believe you at all."

Coach took a deep breath. That's right, just reach across this table and we can start our fight. I just want to get back to Tyler, right now, so let's make this quick. "You have a point."

"What?" I could tell he wasn't going to try anything, seeing as he was just leaning back in his chair. What a shorty time for this to happen. Why couldn't he stop me tomorrow.

"You asked why I want to help you?" Coach asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm sick of your tyrant asshole dad. I'm sick of following his orders with him threatening my family. I'm sick of that guy acting like he's the smartest guy in the room. Being a part of this and acting like I'm fine with it. It sucks! Most importantly I found some secrets I'd rather not know about. You know that saying ignorance is bliss, right?"

"Secrets?"

"Right! You followed me here because you want to escape as well, didn't you? What I'm suggesting you do may seem like grasping at straws, but it's your only option at the moment." Coach gestured to the stack of papers. "The people on those papers mostly hold political power, so don't expect them to pay for anything they endorsed. But, some of them have your dads back, if you get them in a corner, you can get to your father."

"Then why don't you just tell me who they are? What's the point in memorizing them all?"

"Because I can't figure out who they are or how to get to them without risk."

What the hell? "You work for him, isn't there a list of names-"

"There is no list or names. If there's no paper trail, you can't get caught easily. It's all up here," Coach pointed to his head. "He can remember it all, just like you can. You not only have his looks but his brain too."

Then, back when I saw the white board with Tyler's picture...with his parents and Uncle and grandparents....if he could remember it all why did he need all those pictures? If I remember correctly Tyler's grandfather died mysteriously. And his picture was there too.

If I was meant to see those pictures, why would he wipe my memory? Just how long has he been planning this game. He even thought to set his characters to his liking before the game even started. "Tell me, where do I start?"

"I know it's not the smartest method, but it's the only option we have right now. Memorize all the peoples faces and find out who they are. You'll also have to see who he socializes with and what kind of people they are. If they're in the list I gave you and if they meet multiple times, they're most likely backers."

"Process of elimination? For a stack like this? Isn't there too much of a chance to be wrong?"

"No, these people meet him quite regularly. Those people rely on your father emotionally and to maintain those important relationships and fundings, he has to put in the effort to meet up with them."

"Any means necessary is his game. He can get anyone to do what he wants. And I'm not good at that without using violence." I admitted. "I'm not as effective as you think-"

"Doesn't matter because you won't need to for the time being. None of them know your face and for all events he brings this lady with him. She a blond lady." Coach Nichols pulled a picture up on his phone.

"She used to cook for me, and used to beat me up sometimes. So, Kanstantinos mom is still alive, huh?" It was insane the anxiety I felt seeing that face.

"Not his mom, it's her sister. Watch out for her. She stopped drinking, so she's extra sharp now and twice as nasty as her," Coach Nichols informed me. "You can do this right?"

Can I actually do this? I'm just a regular guy that turned out to be a walking social experiment. But if this was my only chance to save both Tyler and Kanstantinos. "I can do it."

"That Tyler kid really means a lot to you, huh?" Coach said. "He's a good kid and I saw how you two stuck together. I know married couples who wouldn't have done half of what you did to protect Tyler."

"What I did?"

"You injured Liam Hart, right? It was no fall down the stairs, something was done to him. You also killed Chris Gallagher with his steroids, and you found a way to make it look like an accident. I saw you go into the locker room after what happening Tyler. It seems like your motivation for violence is Tyler."

"Because he is. I'll never let anyone else touch him, and people won't just stay the fuck away and stop meddling!" I declared before dropping my head in shame. "He's going to be worried sick, I didn't say a thing before I disappeared again. He has no idea what's going on at all."

"But you didn't tell him because it's dangerous and Tyler would definitely try to follow you and get involved. If you can't focus on the task at hand more people have to die. You can't be unfocused so you just keep him in the dark."

Tyler was already in enough danger as it was. "His survival is too important to possibly compromise everything."

"I did say keep him in the dark."

"It's the right thing to do! I know it was selfish but it was for his own good!"

"Right, because taking away someone's right to choose a different path is generally considered a good deed. You know that feeling personally." Coach said.

I felt like a piece of shit! I did do all that and it just put Tyler in more danger! So, why couldn't I just tell him? I never forgot...I just couldn't say anything! "I just....I'm doing whatever I can."

"I know it's hard kid, but love is never easy. Of course it's never usually to this extreme, but you're an unlucky case." Coach said. "I don't care if you keep him in the dark or not, just keep him out of danger."

"I'm aware of that," I told him. Best case scenario, I can save Tyler and my brother and we can all live normal lives. "Worst case scenario everyone dies."

"Let's not get too dark now."

"But it's the truth. Why start sugarcoating it now?"

"Have a winning mindset," Coach scolded. "Your father has no doubt he will succeed no matter what, arrogant prick. You need that same confidence."

"Fine."