✦ DREW STARKEY, DEMI-MAN, HE-THEY✦JAXON FAIRCHILD the TWENTY-EIGHT year old has been in Hidehill for HIS ENTIRE LIFE (RECENTLY RETURNED AFTER A TRIP) and was a FORMER STUDENT to Miyeon Kang, the murder victim. Whispers on the streets are that the PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR who lives in HARTLEY AVENUE are said to be INTUITIVE and GUARDED but I guess we’ll find out for ourselves.
tw death
Growing up on Hidehill was live living in a never-ending dream. From the sunny summer days where the sun turned the sand at the beach into paths of shifting gold, to the days where it was all gray and rainy, the nights were the water looked like a blanket of ink with silver streaks running down the middle. Jaxon’s earliest memories were of the immense love he had for the place he called home, and for the people around him that meant the world to him. His parents. It was odd, growing up as the child of two well-known detectives, people who loved mystery and helping others, like two very curious yet merciful angels sent down to give peace to those who needed it the most. Jaxon, loved his parents with his entire being, wanting to be just like them when he grew up, or so he kept telling himself time and time again over the years. Their exploits became so well know that they were sometimes hired for cases from out of town, and for a while they never took those kinds of jobs, not until they felt Jaxon was old enough to be able to be by himself for a while. It wasn’t until he was eighteen that they agreed to go on a job that would keep them away from their son for more than just a few days. Jaxon figured it wouldn’t be long before they came back, his parents, his very own version of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, but weeks suddenly turned into months, and worry began to creep into the back of his mind, the boy now nervously waiting for his parents return…but they never came.
They had been found washed up on a beach in California, the place where their case had led them, and Jaxon had been flown over by their colleagues to identify the bodies and begin to plan out a funeral if necessary. Suddenly the beach was a place he hated, the sands would no longer just be warm under his feet, shifting between his toes as the salty air whipped at his features. No longer would he find the mesmerizing waters of the ocean, welcoming and pristine. All he could see was darkness in the water, and it kept him away from a place he used to love as a kid. Now those memories he would hold in his heart, what was left of it anyway. Jaxon found himself alone in the world, but his parents deaths bothered him endlessly, this case had taken their lives and it had been left unresolved. Several of their colleagues had approached them, some with words of empty comfort, some to just talk about how brave their parents were to tackle something none of them even dared to do. Only one offered to solve the case, to help put his parents’ soul at ease. Life after that was no longer serene and calm, everything became rocky and tumultuous. He became obsessed with finding out what exactly happened to his parents, find out the real reason why they never came home. So, the next few years of his life were devoted solely to this cause, learning, training himself to be like the parents he loved so much, and finally put not only their souls, but his heart at peace.
For years he worked under the tutelage of his parents’ colleague, learning under him as he took on online classes so he could get his degree. Leaving aside his dream to go to school for art, and simply use this chance at higher learning to get the skills and knowledge necessary for him to be able to crack what his parents’ left behind. It was day in and day out of researching of piecing together the pieces of a puzzle that he had never seen before. He could feel himself thinking the same way his two moms did, and for a few moments felt a sense of pride swelling up inside his chest. Which each clue uncovered he could feel himself getting closer, but it wasn’t enough to work locally, he needed to be where they had last been. Without a word to the rest of the people that knew him, he took off with their parents one colleague. 3 years away from the world that he knew, 3 years before he could return home, and it had been 3 years that it took to finally catch the one responsible for ruining all the maybes and what ifs of his life. His moms would never meet the person he would love, they would never walk him down the aisle, they would never get to meet his kids, or see him graduate, see the man that he would become. All of that was taken away, and the moment he saw the cuffs being put onto the man responsible, he felt a weight lifted off his chest. It had been one of the men that worked with them on the case, a man who believed these two women shouldn’t be allowed on the same field as he, a man who had been hurting and ruining lives, almost getting away with it as he pretended to be a concerned investigator the entire time. A man who even as he was being put away spat unsavory remarks about Jaxon’s parents, and he finally showed his true colors, and after 3 years of solitude and obsessions, he could finally let go.
The car ride home felt eternal, and not even the many visages of his favorite places growing up could bring a smile. His home was not what it used to be, it was full of dust and water damage, neglect shown on every surface but that just meant he could actually put his mind to work on something. Within a week he had it back to the shape it had once been, and weirdly enough the place that hadn’t been touched by neglect had been his parents’ room, where he had put up an evidence board, tacks pinning down every picture or clue that he found about the case. He was back home, and he was a different person, now he wanted to figure out if he could go back normalcy, find his old friends, maybe even find love in a place where he never thought he’d actually find it. Jaxon still fears the water, but he’s found that he’s able to paint it, bring back his old passion in art and be able to sell it. Crescent Harbor would never be the same for him, and the maybes and what ifs of his life would always remain, but maybe there would be light at the end of this tunnel, as he’s found himself being playful and smiling once more. Wanting to open up an exhibit and write about the many tales of his parents exploits, including his own, so he could put that chapter of his life, to an end.
