Gerardo had just woken up. He mixed a cup of coffee in his kitchen, his spoon knocking and clattering into the glass cup. He walked outside of the house, and went to sit on his porch. It was dark, the cold night uttering silent sounds. He would at last have his final cup of tea. 

The night was cold, just as he had expected from one with such an adverse omen. Soon, it would only grow significantly colder for him. 

He had spent his life doing things that remained only trivial to him. Playing board games. Winning. Playing board games. Winning. His IQ was always unrivaled. And as such, he was able to find exactly who the mole was.

Gerardo saw a figure in the darkness, appearing as a silhouette, approaching him. The figure's build was wider from the shoulders and thinner and narrower at his waist. The figure walked such that he was in the light, revealing his identity. 

Gerardo sat on his porch chair, rocking. "What brings you here, Earl?"

Earl glared sternly at Gerardo.

"Well," Gerardo closed his eyes, smiling, "are you going to speak, or what?"

Earl tossed an object. Gerardo caught it in his hand. He carried the hand closer to his face, and then slowly outstretched his fingers. There was a chess piece resting upon his palm. A king in his hands.

Gerardo looked up at Earl, smirking. "Ah," he said, "so you saw the chessboard I left amidst your house. A chess board where white besieged the black team, and on the black team there was nothing but a surrounded King," he looked down at his hand, "this

the exact King, isn't it?"

Earl glared at Gerardo. 

"Very keen of you to find this," Gerardo looked up at him, "I was not expecting this. But you are, after all, the mole."

Earl clenched his fists. "Funny you should say that without the slightest bit of fear. This place ... this area you chose to live. It's almost as if you'd ostracized yourself from the colony. Sure, it's amidst the walls ... but if you scream, would anyone hear it?"

Gerardo shuddered a bit, but staring at Earl. "I don't fear death. All I have is intrigue."

"You entered my house," Earl said, "out of intrigue too, right?"

"Precisely."

"You probably saw that I've never slept a night in there. But what else did you see that made you certain that I'm the mole?"

Gerardo averted his gaze, slumping the chair. "I saw enough."

Earl furrowed his brows. "I'm not the mole."

"That's not going to make me change my mind."

"What proof do you have? My house was clean."

"Precognition allowed me to that house's past, but nothing else, including you. Nothing moved. The bed wasn't rumpled. You never slept a second in there. And that's all I'm saying."

Earl gritted his teeth. "You arsehole! I was just doing my duty."

"What human," Gerardo interrupted, "never sleeps."

"I did sleep! In fact, I've slept every single night even after killing!" Earl snapped.

"The question is where?"  Gerardo said. 

Earl opened his mouth, but then closed it again. Suddenly, he felt inarticulate.

"That's right," Gerardo chortled, "can't say nothing. The mole was proven to have left the walls of the village. Perhaps, he spends his nights elsewhere."

Earl gritted his teeth again. "You're wrong. I'm not the mole."

"You're lucky my precognition doesn't work on living beings," Gerardo said, "lucky lad. But I honestly don't need precognition to tell that you're the mole here. It's quite obvious."

"Then why don't you report it to the Wizard?"

"Because," Gerardo said, "you wouldn't let me." 

"Clever."

"There are more than fifty facts that prove me correct," he looked at Earl, "you are ... the mole. We'd be here for hours should I choose to say."

"Well," Earl said, approaching him, "I think you've said enough."

"Then I suppose this is my goodbyes to the world," Gerardo smiled, "I'll finally get to see what death is like."

"Don't worry," Earl said, carrying an arm to Gerardo, "I'll make it the most memorable fatality you could ever experience. Not that you would remember anything once death but ... you get the jazz. And Oh ... when you're up there," he leaned in, "say hi to my mother for me."

Suddenly, there was a twisting ball of fire in his hand. He touched Gerardo and he went up into flames. 

Gerardo screamed atop his lungs as the fire burnt away his flesh. Earl made a clutch at Gerardo's neck, raising him off the floor with but a single arm alone. He smirked widely as the flames destroyed his target before his eyes. The scream thundering into his ears.

The most painful way to die. 

The scream led to a nearby witness' growing alert. It was one of Jin's clones. He quickly teleported to the scene, and hid in the distance. There, he saw Gerardo being burnt to death by Earl. He quickly shapeshifter, copying William's body. 

He was about to approach Earl in this form, but he relented. He wanted to make matters worst. There was a cluster of glass bottles on the floor. He deliberately tripped over them, making a lot of noise. 

Earl quickly spun around just before William disappeared into the corners of a house. He quickly furrowed his brows and vanished. He reappeared on the rooftop of that same house. William was nowhere to be seen.

***

"I still can't believe you have TV here," said William, sitting on one of Rosita's couches. "That's so cool."

Rosita sat down on the floor, leaning against the chair and drinking a bottle of alcohol. "You can take it home with you if you wanna. I don't have time to watch shit."

"You're a boring gal, aren't you?" William said.

"No, I'm just stern and mature."

"Maturity doesn't mean you gotta be boring all the time."

"When did I say it means that?"

"I don't know," he looked at the TV again, "I just assumed that."

Rosita stood, lowering the bottle of booze to her side. She walked over to William and plopped down next to him on that same couch. "Hand me the remote she said. You're watching trash." She put out her hand.

William blushed a bit. She was very close to him.he fumbled but got grip of the remote which rested on his lap. He placed it in her hand.

She almost yanked it from him. Aggressive. She then directed it at the TV and started switching the channels. She switched until she was on a specific show. 

"Crime With Chuck and Chris directed by Courtez Leonardo," her words trailed off and a frown took her face, "my father."

William opened his mouth, about to say something, but then he relented, closing it shut again. It was best not to kill the mood. He simply turned his head, and started watching the show. 

"It's about two arseholes escaping the madhouse, and doing crime to make money to repurchase the sperm they donated because they believe it gives the ability to make children with heterochromia: two different eye colors.

"It's a comedic crime action. The men find themselves changing as time goes by. The problem is that the sperm had already been used to impregnate woman whose husbands couldn't reproduce. Which meant that the children were already born. That didn't stop Chris and Chuck from trying to buy the children from their new parents.

"I watch this show .. the same episodes," she said, "every single night."

William frowned. "I lost my dad too. But the difference is that he abandoned my siblings and my mother and left us. Never saw him again. You think that stops me from loving him? Hell no."

Rosita looked at him. "William," her face became rubsecent, "can I kiss you?"

William's eyes widened. His face grew crimson. "W-what? I didn't hear you. Can you repeat that?"

"It's been over three months. We haven't dated," she said, "but is it okay if we have sex. Right here. Right now? You see," she averted her eyes, "I love you."

"This is all so sudden, I-" suddenly she grabbed him by his shirt and kissed him. 

William's eyes widened to an even greater extent after she slipped her tongue into his mouth.

She then released him. "I'm sorry ... I didn't get the permission. You're supposed to be my comrade, not my romantic partner. I let my feelings get in the way of my job," she sighed, rubbing at her right temple with a hand, "shouldn't have invited you here. I kissed you."

"Well," William said, "it's about damn time." He suddenly grabbed her by her shirt. He was about to kiss her when suddenly the ceiling came crashing down on them. 

***

William saw nothing but smoke. 

He coughed. 

"Rosita! Where are you?" He coughed again. 

He quickly climbed to his feet. "What the fuck happened?" He muttered to himself, a demeaning ringing in his ears.

"I happened," said a voice of a man in the mist. 

As the smoke cleared he was able to see Earl choking Rosita to death.