I have been busy

Believe it or not I do have a life outside of telling everybody what I'm doing. And no, I am not going to tell you what I have been doing. I am entitled to my own personal life.

Instead I'm going to tell you about what Ryan's been doing. Because his personal life is more interesting anyway.

He laughed when I showed him this blog. This seems to be a common reaction. Elizabeth laughed too. He also said that it was confusing and started in the middle and I don't take time to explain things.

Because apparently a man with a fifth grade education level is expected to be churning out high quality literature.

But it's possible he's right. So let's clarify, shall we? I am an ex proxy currently running around with a small child and a nosy idiotic reporter on a self-proclaimed mission to preserve the light of the world.

I'm also a little grumpy today.

So, let's talk about Ryan. Ryan is a far more interesting story. Or at the very least one I'm more willing to talk a bit.

I've mentioned that I met him once before he started travelling with us. We were in Germany, and he followed us there too. Of course, when I asked him about anything a proxy would be passingly familiar with, he just gave me a blank stare. I scared him off and didn't really think much of it.

But the second time around, I admit I got curious. So would you if a guy showed up out of nowhere and asked you invasive questions. He has opened up to me a little bit. So I'm going to keep that trust by showing it to strangers over the internet.

No, I really am doing him a favor. One day I might explain it.

From what I can tell, Ryan's life was rather unremarkable up until five or so years ago. not even unremarkable, really good. He was the eldest son of two loving parents, and a grandmother he never shuts up about. He was upper middle class, went to a nice high school, got into a nice college, and got into journalism because he was talented and he found it fairly enjoyable. A happy, sheltered existence.

He probably would have continued like this if he hadn't befriended a person who he later found out to be a reluctant member of a mob. This person began to tell Ryan some rather important secrets, and through him and some good old fashioned investigating Ryan both did a lot of good and furthered his career.

That is of course until the mob boss he was hurting dropped by during one of Ryan's lunches with his informant.

What happens next is stupid. Yet I can't really blame him for it. He was a priveleged, young, brilliant man who was still riding the high of his first big success. That sort of thing can lead even the best to mistakes. So instead of being even the slightest bit careful, Ryan told one of the most dangerous men in New York four of the most dangerous words in the world.

'You don't own me.'

Those in this life get used to a lot of things. Most probably can't even remember their first beating. But I want you to try. Remember the shock, the pain. But most of all remember the fear.

Because that day, Ryan experienced true fear for the first time.

It lasted for a while. For years Ryan did anything the crime lord asked. Even situations that landed him in bigger beatings than the first one. But fear is a powerful thing, and it kept him in line. It ensured that those four words he had uttered in naive confidence were a lie.

It might have gone on that way forever. Except one day he was asked to watch over the mob boss' girlfriend while he went on business. And she didn't manage to completely hide her bruises.

That's the type of person Ryan is I suppose. He can deal with a lot of injustices towards himself. But seeing others hurt bothers him. And seeing them hurt by someone who is supposed to care about them, well he finds that unforgivable.

The fear was gone. And he broke it off. Vowed that he would stop at nothing to make sure that the mob boss paid for all of his crimes.

Investigating some drug trafficking led him to Germany. Which led him to me. Well, Elizabeth. When your whole family goes missing suddenly news channels tend to report it. And so he began to follow us.

 And that led him to where we are now.