The Mandela Catalogue Swapped

Eyes wide open

10:45 Pm, Mandela police station

Ruth's pov

"God loves me, always remember that. He loves all of us because at the end of the day no matter what happens we're all his children. .He will help me be at peace in hard times like this. ." I seemed quite confused after reading the page. Has he not heard what the broadcast said about religious practices. .? No wonder the alternate must have been after him. .I flip over to the next page and continue to read. "Today I need god's love more than anything. .Despite IT still being behind the door using HIS voice I feel alone. .I need you to be there to reassure and comfort me. . .I truly am afraid and need you to help me against all evil. ." I couldn't help but stop and take a breath before continuing to read. .all of his pain and suffering could have been prevented if I had just ignored it. . .if I had just not worried about what may happen with my job and worried about A HUMAN BEING. . After taking that time to breathe I turned to the next page, most of it was scribbled at the bottom so I could only read some of the top. "I'm left with no choice anymore the cops never came for me. . .NADIE ME SALVÓ. . . (NOBODY SAVED ME) If anyone manages to read this I beg. . .stop it before it does this sort of torment to anyone else. . ." I continue to read the rest, feeling guilt weigh over me. "I pray everyday hoping  that god would help me out with my situation. .but after that dream I had it makes me wonder. . .who have I been praying to all this time. . ." The sentence kept repeating over and over again eventually causing the writings to darken into scribbles. I decided to skip that page and move to the next, only having two sentences left. "My eyes are wide open. I'm free." It then ends off there. .no other pages filled with overwhelming emotions or religious prayer. . just blank pages. . With all the evidence I have and the phone call conversation between me and the stranger, it didn't take long for me to realize the stranger must have been Torres. . Who is his best friend though. .I wanted to figure that out but the only way of doing so is asking the others he knew and they were probably asleep. Even if they were awake, good chance she wouldn't wanna talk to me. .yet she was the only person I knew that was close to Cesar. .so I decided to talk to her tomorrow and get back home, after all dealing with this has really made me tired. .

3rd person pov

Ruth put up the evidence she had and grabbed her car keys headed to the car, once she got to the car she let out a long sigh, second guessing weather she even did anything right. But she didn't wanna think about it anymore and just wanted to go back home and rest. She started up her car and drove off into the street, barely being  conscious enough to think straight. Once she made it home she dropped the keys into a small box and walked to her room. After getting changed she slumped onto the bed and attempted to go to sleep, yet instead of sleeping all she could do was lay there and continue to do the one thing she'd rather not do.

Think. 

She wanted to stop yet it felt like her mind sometimes had a mind of it's own and controlled itself, finally after a few more minutes of thinking she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep feeling relieved her thoughts had finally calmed down enough to rest.

7:23 Am, Ruth's house.

Ruth slowly opened her eyes as she felt the sun burn her eyes, she rubbed her eyes a bit before covering them. "Great, sun could have shined anywhere else. ." She grumbled. She got up and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash up. She felt like she was forgetting something but decided to move on from it and continue on with her morning. As she was getting dressed she heard someone knocked at the door. "Who is it. .?" She said in a drowsy tone of voice. "Someone still sounds tied, you sure you aren't just sleeping now?" She scoffed and quickly put on the rest of her uniform before opening the door being met with her friend Thatcher and some bags he was holding. "I decided sense you were probably too tired and I was at some place getting breakfast that i'd get you something." He handed her a bag of eggs, pancakes, and sausages. She sighed before smiling at him. "You know you didn't have to do that right?"  "I did have to, otherwise you'd starve yourself and continue on with that case. Speaking of which, you wanna show me that 'lead' when we get to the police station?" It then hit her, the case. .she forgot she was gonna call up one of Cesar's friends for the case. "Holy shit, thanks for reminding me Thatcher I nearly forgot about what I was gonna do on it!" He seemed confused yet at the same time worried. "Oh great, what did you find out. .? And how much of your time are you gonna spend on this case. .?"  "I'll explain, just come sit at the table." He nodded and followed her to the kitchen table listening to her rant on about the things she discovered that night. After she was done with her ranting Thatcher seemed to be left in shock. "No way you found all that out in one night. ."  "Mhm, and you reminded me earlier that I was gonna call one of Torres's friends to see who this best friend of his was. ."  "And you're doing that because the alternate took on his best friend's form and pretended to be them. .?" She nodded yes in response, They both stayed in silence as they continued to eat their food. Thatcher them spoke up. "Aren't you basically doing the same thing those two criminals in Bythrone are doing?" Ruth looked up in confusion before responding. "No, i'm not just going around 'solving' cases with random tech I got and a bounty on my head."  "That sounds like exactly what you're doing! Minus the bounty and the fact that you are a cop. ."  "Well they were meant to be hunting for ghosts, not alternates. .plus, I heard that they stole from some tech place. ."  "Oh," After eating their breakfast they threw away the trash and headed to their cars. "Hey, be sure not to stress yourself out too much today Weaver, i'll be making sure you take a 10 minute break every few hours or so." She couldn't help but laugh a bit causing Thatcher to look confused. "What are you laughing at?" She looked back at him. "I'm sorry it's just that you sound too much like a father or parental figure!" He seemed offended by the comment yet sighed. "Just worried. ."  "I understand. ."

| Transition to the police station via car |

They head into the police station and look around surprised. "Usually there are more cops around here. ." Thatcher said under his breath. "Most people must have quit or decided not to come in today, we can't blame them. This job has gotten stressful. ."  "Indeed, luckily I have someone by my side to make things less stressful and cheer me up when i'm sad! can you guess who?" Ruth smiled as she watched Thatcher try to turn this situation into a more positive one. "Is it me?"  "Correct!" He said as he gave her a hug, Ruth hugged back and after the hug Thatcher walked off into the other room. "Well if you need me just let me know, i'll be on the watch for any crime. .and remember! I will be back to make sure you have that 10 minute break!"  "Of course of course, i'll be sure to call when I need you." After the conversation ended Ruth went over to the phone and took out a contact list. She couldn't help but feel a bit anxious to how  she would respond to her call yet in order to continue on this case and find out who made Cesar commit suicide she was left with no other choice. .She slowly dialed up the number and waited as the phone rang. Finally a voice picked up. "Hello? Did anyone find out anything new about what happened to him?" She said sounding both concerned yet hopeful. "Hello Miller. .it's me. .do you mind if I ask you some questions. ." She went silent on the phone, Ruth could already tell she wasn't happy with hearing her voice yet decided to cooperate. "Fine then, but don't keep me on the phone just to apologize. I don't wanna hear that shit. especially from you. ." Ruth bit her tongue for a while before responding. "I promise I won't waste your time with that Evelin. ."

(Why is her identity always some big reveal, I did the same thing at the end of swapped volume 2-)