Date: September 14, 2000
Location: Chicago, IL

It was that time of year where the weather was beginning to change as well as the leaves on the trees. Winter had begun to slowly stretch its cold fingers to the south, and her effects were beginning to show around the areas surrounding the Great Lakes.

It had been nearly two years since Garth had actually discovered that he turned invisible when it was dark outside. For how long he had been turning invisible, he did not know, along the realization did seem to explain several past events in his life. However, now that he had discovered his awesome power, he was beginning to take advantage of it. For example, he was now able to sneak out of the orphanage whenever he chose after lights out now. The caretaker was obvious suspicious of the random opening and closing of doors, but he was a superstition old bastard and thought the ghosts of the house were just acting up again. That left Garth with a safe way of getting in and out of the house without having to worry about the consequences. All he had to do was pile some pillows up under his covers and slip out invisibility.

Now, that Garth was outside. He had begun to explore the surrounding areas. The grounds of the orphanage led to a nearby neighborhood that was filled with lots of interesting secrets. Over the past two years, the invisible little teenager had been able to stockpile tons of interesting facts that would ruin more than reputations.

For example, take Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, happily married for seventeen years. However, they had no children. On the outside, they said they never wanted any children, but they had in fact been denied three times by the orphanage for adoption due to an unknown large amount of the debt that they had acquired. The truth was Mr. Thompson had in fact been tortured in the Korean War and was now a eunuch. The large amount of debt had resulted from a scam they had fallen victim to which was suppose to restore Mr. Thompson to full manhood again. However, it only left him with a serious infection and one less kidney. Garth had discovered the information by accidently stumbling across a heated argument they were engaged in over their financial troubles. It was definitely more information than he cared to hear.

Another great example would be that of Mr. Brown.

Mr. Gary Brown had been a school teacher for over twenty years behind retiring. He lived by himself and many people wondered why he lived by himself, including some of his past colleagues who tried to set him up with their friends. However, he always politely refused. The simple answer was that Mr. Brown did not want to meet anyone. He was perfectly fine living alone. The truth was that he had lost his only love a long time ago, not that anyone (including Garth) knew that. The only thing that the scrawny teen knew was the old man gave him the creeps. And Garth realized why one day.

For Mr. Brown's lost life was a lover of cats. So as a way to remember her, Mr. Brown had a multitude of the furry felines roaming through his house. This is perfectly normal for people. However, the weird came out around meal times. For everytime the dinner bell, and yes he had a bell, all of the cats would take their respected places around the table with Mr. Brown at the head. After which, he would serve them all their meals. Garth had the misfortune of happening upon Mr. Brown's house at dinner time- before having to run away from a raging old man flinging spaghetti and cats running in all directions.

It was so interesting to Garth what people did when they thought no one was around to see them. With no one to judge their every actions or criticize their choices, people would reveal their true identity and indulge in their deepest fantasies. The invisible mutant was surprised to see how carefree people became without the watchful eye of another. Walking around the house naked was a common trait shared by both men and women. Other people loved to sing or talk to themselves. Still, others would indulge in their vices that were forbidden by their husbands, wives, parents, or even children.

The amount of adultery in the surrounding suburbs was too complicated for Garth to keep straight. Smoking hidden cigarettes and downing bottles of forbidden alcohol was another shared vice. Mrs. Sherry Fitzgerald was a petite woman who would devour hordes of chocolate that she kept hidden under her bed before vomiting it into the toilet whenever her husband left to go to the store. Mr. Russel Westbrook would beat his two children every time his hawk-eyed wife was not around to watch them. And Sgt. Jacob Allen was a morphine addict and post traumatic stress disorder victim from Desert Storm who still talked to his platoon every time his live-in girlfriend left the room.

Now, most of these people were functional members of society and their hidden pleasures or pains never would have caused anyone more trouble than an unexplained bruise or off-handed comment. However, to the developing mind of the invisible teenager, this was a breeding ground for dark and dangerous thoughts. For as Garth witnessed every forbidden love or unspoken desire that revealed itself at night in the dark, the boy began to see what the world was really like. For underneath the fake smiles, slick suits, and shiny new cars, everyone had their dark secrets. Everyone was just as guilty as the person standing next to them.

Every person was a criminal.