Ronald Wilson sat in a dirty prison cell at the police precinct for an entire night. They knew they couldn't charge him with anything. They also knew that if they didn't release him, they would lose him and his generous donations. The commissioner personally removed his cuffs and watched him walk out the precinct.

   School was like hell to me once. Now, it's a place I go to to take a break from the real hell I get at night. This double life is draining, stressful beyond belief, and mind boggling. For the last few weeks, I've been trying to keep up with my grades, while still trying to get leads on "The Kingpin". Yesterday, I didn't get home till three in the morning, and I still had to stay up to finish my homework for today. It was rough, but the worst part of it all, Alex.
She wasn't talking to me, at all. I tried talking to her in class, and at lunch, but she just ignored me. Last time, I almost told her that I was "The Vigilante". I still want to. I think that if I tell her, it'll explain everything. The late nights, the missed days, the detachment, everything. I rather tell her my secret than lose her as a friend. Of course, Mike doesn't think I should. He said the more people that know my secret, the easier it'll be for my enemies to use them against me. I understood him, but I won't lose Alex.

I went to Alex's mom's store after school. She ran a local grocery store, Angie's World. I knew Alex would be there. The bell above the door ringed as I entered. The store smelled of apples and flowers. Packages and boxes of groceries filled every shelf. Her mom noticed me when I walked in.

"Hi Jake! How are you?" she said, nicely.

"I'm fine Mrs.Willis. Is Alex here?" I asked her.

"Yeah, she's in the back."

"Can I see her? I really need to talk to her." She was hesitant. After a few seconds of thought, she smirked and gave me the 'ok'. She let me behind the counter, then I opened the door to the backroom.
The room was lowly lit; the room was taken over by these tall shelves packed with big brown boxes and white labels. I walked in to see Alex with a clipboard in her hand, checking the labels on the boxes. There she was, with her hair tied up in a bun, wearing her favorite "Sarcasm is one of my many talents" T-shirt, some baggy pants, and her favorite Converse.

Seeing her at that moment made me think about her in a dress. Then I remembered, she hated wearing dresses. She absolutely hated it, and when she told me, I knew she was serious. She had that look on her face. The same look she was giving me right now. That look of hatred. She ignored me, and went down the aisle. I followed her.

"Alex?" I said, trying to get her attention. She just ignored me, and continued checking labels.

"Alex!" I said even louder. Still she ignored me.

"Alex, I know you're mad at me." She went down another aisle, and I followed her.

"You have every right to. I've lied to you, repeatedly. I've kept things from you." She kept moving.

"I know you feel like I abandoned you." She finally stopped to listen.

"I'm sorry Alex." I said, looking her in the eyes.

"Jake you blew me off repeatedly, lied to me, snuck out of my house for no reason, you cost me a letter grade, and to make it all worst, I don't know why." Alex lectured.

"I know, I know." I said, putting my head down. She huffed.

"Why are you here?" She asked me.

"I'm here because I'm sorry. I'm here to make it up to you, and I'm here to tell you everything." She seemed hesitant.
"How about this? You and me, later today, your house, we can watch your favorite scary movie." She loved scary movies. Which was ironic, because I'm terrified of them. She was still hesitant.

"Come on, what do you say?" I asked her. She looked me in my eyes, then punched me in the chest.

"Ow." I said, rubbing my chest.

"You deserved that." She said, then she punched me again. "My house, at eight, and you are going to tell me everything."

"Bet." I said. She gave a little smirk, letting me know she was happy. She went back to work and I left.
Now, I needed to figure out how I'm going to tell her that I'm "The Vigilante".

It was just like old times. Alex and I, the Two Musketeers, having fun. She seemed so happy, so happy to finally get some time with me. Don was over his grandmother's, which was perfect. I really needed to just make it up to Alex. We watched her favorite scary movie, The Conjuring. I'm not going to lie, I jumped at least three times, which made her laugh. In the back of my head, I kept thinking I needed to be working on leads on "The Kingpin". Mike hadn't texted or called me the whole time I was there, I guess there was really no action tonight. Which was good, I got a break and I got to spend it with my best friend.

Alex and I have been friends since the fifth grade. We know everything about each other. What each other like and don't like, our favorite candy, our biggest pet peeves, and especially, when the other is hiding something. Alex was the first to notice something was wrong with me, which made it so hard to hide it from her. But tonight, that's going to change. I'm going to tell her everything. I'm going to tell her, that I am "The Vigilante."

Her mom was working late at the store, so we had the house to ourselves. We're sitting on the couch in the living room. She laid her head on my arm, which made me a little bit uncomfortable. I asked what she was doing, then she immediately got off of me. It made things a bit awkward, but after while we were back to normal. The movie was almost over, I figured it was the perfect time.

"Alex." I said.

"Yeah." she replied.

"I have to tell you something." she looked up at me, then sat up on the couch.

"I'm going to tell you everything, just like I promised." She gave me her undivided attention. I took a deep breath, and started taking it very slow.

"It all started when my uncle died. I was there that night...when he.... It all happened right in front of me. You know what the worst part was...I couldn't save him." She became glued to every word. "I got low, I didn't know how to handle it. It was all, too much. It was too much." She took my hand, comforting me.

"But then something happened. I learned something about my uncle, that I didn't know before, and it changed me." I kept going, and she never stopped listening.

"The reason I have been so distant, the reason that I have been lying to you, to D, to everyone, is because I-I-"

My phone vibrated. I tried to ignore it, but then it vibrated again. Alex noticed it that time. I slipped my phone out of my pocket, just so I could peek. It was Mike. I knew it was urgent. I knew I needed to go, but I didn't want to. Do I tell her now, or later?

"Look, it's my mom. She wants me to come home." I lied.

"Really? Right now?" She said, sounding disappointed.

"I'm sorry Alex, I'm sorry. I gotta go." I grabbed my jacket off the coat hanger, and left.

   It was dark and quiet. I was surprised, didn't think I would come back here. Last time I was here, the commissioner had a gun pointed at my face. Mike told me the commissioner wanted to talk to me, probably wanted to reconcile. I understood why the commissioner was so mad, so I was ready to reconcile. As much as he need us, we needed him. So this was the best thing to do. I watched from a distance for a while, then he finally came through the rooftop door. Then I swooped in.

"Commissioner" I said, in a very deep and muffled voice.

"You. You're here." he replied.

"I guess you wanted to reconcile." I said.

"Something like that." he replied.

"I'm sorry commissioner, about Officer Brown. I know he was, very close to you."

"Yeah he was, but that's in the past." I looked in his eyes. "We have to look to the future."

"We can do this commissioner, we can take down 'The Kingpin'." I said, confidently.

"I'm not worried about him, my only concern is you."

"What?" I was confused. I slightly stepped back.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Something didn't feel right. A red light ran past my face. I looked down, and six red shots were on my chest.

SWAT officers came rushing out of the door. I looked around and I could see the snipers in the distance, with their red dots pointed directly at me. I looked up at the commissioner and he had his gun pointed at me, just like before.

"Don't you move! You are under arrest for several accounts of assault and battery." I didn't move, not an inch. I couldn't believe it, he tricked me. He went on with the charges, but I was trying to think of a way out of this trap. I was not going to let them take me. I took a risk.

   I quickly turned around, and jumped off the roof of the building. The wind blew past me face, my adrenaline kicked, as I flew through the air. I landed on the roof of the building next door, the rough landing really hurt my right shoulder. I quickly got back up to my feet, and took off running.

"Put an APB out for 'The Vigilante'. Cover a two block perimeter, he is not getting away!" the commissioner said into his walkie talkie, watching The Vigilante run away from the roof.

I was running for my life. Running and jumping, from rooftop to rooftop. I was not going to let them catch me. I tried to jump to another roof, and my foot slipped. I screamed. I fell down though the gap, and landed hard in the dumpster. Groaning in pain, I struggled to get up. I hopped out of the dumpster, and two cop cars pulled up right in front of me. I went the opposite direction, deeper into the dark alley. My adrenaline was at a new high, blood pulsing through my veins, my anxiety growing every second. I kept running, turning left then right, hopping over a fence. I found another opening that led to a street, but a cop car was there already.

I turned right down another alley. I tried to climb this fire escape. "Don't move!" A cop yelled behind me. I kept climbing. BANG! I felt the bullet penetrate my left calf. I immediately let go, and came crashing down onto a bunch of trash cans. The cop tried to grab me, but I pushed him off. I ran away. I tried to fight through the pain and keep running. I stopped for a second, hiding behind a dumpster. I took the tape off of my hands and wrapped it around my leg. I tried to take some deep breaths and calm my heartbeat. Fighting through the pain, I started running again.

I ran, and ran, and found myself in another dead end. "No-no-no-no-no-no." I said, to myself. Another fire escape, I thought. I started climbing it, when sparks went off above me. I looked back and a cop was pointing his gun at me. I hopped down. I figured it was over. I had given up. I put my hands up, accepting my defeat. The cop still pointing his gun at me, put it down. He grabbed his walkie from his collar and spoke into it.

"This is Officer Kelly, I spotted 'The Vigilante' heading west. I am in pursuit."

He looked at me and said, "Go." I was confused. He was, letting me go?

I asked him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because this city still needs saving." he said. I was still surprised he was letting me go. "Now go!" he told me again.

I quickly turned around, and climbed up the fire escape. I kept looking back, making sure he wasn't going to shoot me. He didn't, just watched as I climbed to my escape. I struggled, trying to fight through the pain in my leg. I made it to the roof, and then headed north. I was home free.