PART 17 - FURTHER

 I scuffled past the gravel and soil, like a crawling insect, in a vigorous attempt towards getting the scraps of paper that seemed to linked towards Nicholas' letter. Each paper looked as aged as fossils, with the writing appearing more inscribed than inked. Nicholas' name covered the top left corner of one piece, that faded in the middle letters. I tried to keep on going to find out if I could find more, and only picked up more dirt in my nails and fingers, as nothing more seemed to be found. The four pieces, and, one, that was slightly torn up, flipped between both of my hands, when I attempted to decrypt and decode, the messages that came from the papers. In the midst of finishing the attempt to quell my curiosity, a phrase, was isolate on one of the papers, that, said, "...To find in the middle...A." My brain entangled with thoughts like an anxious individual, trying to understand the clues I had obtained. I made my way back towards the van. A rumble of the engine and pressing on the accelerator to rev the engine, shook my confidence to eye raising and deep breathing composure, and highly anticipating and wishing for a better drive into the city.

The van made a few false starts, as the people within the city, seemed to already pour their anticipated dread at the sound of the engine of the van. I moved with a slow speed and at times increasing the speed, out of being unfamiliar with regulating the speed on the car. Coming into a decelerating speed, the busy and highly crowded parts of the middle of the city, blew the sound waves of noise right through the windows of the van, rattling the frames and the equipment that was in the van. Before, I could try and gaze at the numerous lights that beamed into my eyes, hooting from various cars, threw surprise at me as they came at almost unpredictable times, almost doubling the pace at which my heart kept beating. I slowly drove towards, what seemed to be a safe spot to park. I dug into the pockets in my jacket, holding finger after finger, the papers of Nicholas' letter. My arms went up, over, around my face as I made my first step towards off the leather squeaking seat into the tarmac, as the loud sound of music and chatter crashed into my sensitive eardrum, making me crawl into a ball of my hands. I felt confused but at the same time excited I could have fun and let loose from the seriousness. The number of junk food spots, poured a smile onto my face, which couldn't let go of salivating at the same time. An engine rumbled as loud as could be, and a car sped past me, only a few inches to knocking my body and the alertness and call back to reality quickly jolted through my body and I went around to look for the first clues. 

"He....Hello sir, do you know....of anybody called Nicholas? A bit tall, well, uhm crazy?" I said, approaching one of the clubs security guards, in a humble manner hunching my back and shoulders, to cover my skinny frame. "Don't know him, haven't heard about him!" A straight and fast forward answer flashed into my ears with no hesitation. The security guard with a muscular frame, and a vest, flexed his muscles as he stood, trying to catch some attention of the ladies. Soon, as I began to walk away, his phone rang. Distracted my the attention, I looked back, and as he struggled his bulk to get the phone out of the pocket, he dropped it, and I saw the name "John."