After the boy had hidden the box with the deceased animal He went into his residence with the file folder he had taken from the dining table and put it back where it had been left behind by his mother. He let out a deep sigh and glanced around the dark space.
‘ I’m starting to have second thoughts, if Clark is correct and the box is a warning to my mother…and she continues with the case…‘ Y/n gulped as a foreboding future began forming in his head ‘Perhaps I can coax her to stop investigating,’ the male bit the inside of his cheek as another voice echoed in his mind ‘What about all the victims? and their families? they will possibly never get closure by knowing the killer is behind bars if my mother stops investigating.’ Y/n closed his eyes in his internal conflict ‘If I consider my mother’s life and all the victims, isn’t it obvious where the scale should tilt?’
Y/n smacked himself at the thought ‘I need to pull myself together.’ The boy gazed up at the second floor. ‘damn it all’
The h/c haired male began moving up the stairs to his mother’s chambers. He stood in the hall just a few meters away from his mother’s room, staring at the door in indecisiveness. Y/n moved closer to the door, putting his hand on the doorknob before he stopped in his tracks.
just beyond the door, he could hear soft sobs, the boy stayed motionless in his stance.
Eventually, the boy dropped his hand off the doorknob and proceeded to stare at the door as he listened to his mother’s weeping, sympathy tugged at his heartstrings but his body couldn’t find the strength to move, to ask his mother what was wrong, to comfort her.
How long did he stand there? he didn’t know. he just knew the longer he stayed the more agonizing his mother’s cries started to become. It soon became too much for the male and he turned to move to his own space. ‘What’s up with me? Why did my body not do what I wanted? I just froze.’ The h/c haired ran a hand down his face in a tired fashion ‘Maybe Dad was right. I’m not really good at anything. Hell, I can’t even comfort my own mother.’ pessimistic thoughts started flowing through his brain eating away at his mental health.
He stumbled into his bedroom, he felt his eyes water obscuring his vision as he thought about…well his mother, the box, the killer…thought about everything.
His heart started racing, sending chills down his body, he slumped his posture and tried to support himself by leaning his trembling hand on his knees. His breath became rigid, Sweat dripped down his temple as his head started aching. Y/n dug his nails into his skin, gritting his teeth trying to fight his body’s sudden reaction ‘Stop it, what are you doing? pull yourself together man.’ Despite his desperate demands to compose himself, his body did not comply. His hand started feeling clammy, he felt his eyes stinging more by the second begging him to release his pent-up melancholy.
Y/n squeezed his eyes tight shut to prevent tears from streaming out. “No..no. Not now,” he mumbled shakily.
The boy was dragged out of his spiral by the blaring sound of his ringtone and his head snapped to his mobile device. He took a few seconds to stare at the device from his slouched position. he quickly wiped off his sweaty palms on his pants and reached for the device he glanced at the caller.
Ezra
The boy let out a breathless exhale and answered the call putting the phone to his ear “Hello Ezra?” He sounded out, his voice raspy. “Hello Y/n, How are you?” a voice came out from the speaker.
“Uh..” his nose wrinkled, he glanced out the window near his bed. “You are aware it’s pretty late, right? Do you need something?”
“Do you I have to need something to talk with you? I just simply wish to know how you are.” Ezra chuckled
Y/n inwardly glared at the ash blond’s provocative statement “And why couldn’t this wait til morning?” He snapped, There was a soft noise from the other line, a hum or laugh. whatever it was, it was meant to show how light-heartily Ezra seemed to be taking the h/c haired’s hostility.
” Well..are you okay?” Ezra questioned “Don’t change the subject, Ezra!-”
“Because it appears you are upset”
Y/n shut his mouth “Why would you say that? he said monotonously.
Ezra made a clicking sound with his teeth before answering “Your voice was hoarse when you picked up, not to mention your unsteady breathing coming through.” Y/n gawked at the phone “…I’m fine.” there was silence.
“Don’t lie to me Y/n…” the ash blond sighed.
Y/n knitted his brows in a mix of confusion and frustration “I’m not lying to you.” the other line went quiet again. “Are we really gonna play this game?” Ezra’s voice was blank. “I’m not playing, I am okay, I just needed to run a few errands around the house that is perhaps why I have a bit of a shortness of breathing.” the h/c haired lied.
“…”
Y/n felt sweat go down his neck, he didn’t know why he felt nervous, why would it matter if he lied? it’s not like Ezra was gonna force an answer out of him. But he still couldn’t help but feel like he did something wrong.
“Am I gonna see you tomorrow at school?” Ezra muttered. Y/n pulled up at the brow at Ezra’s lack of response to his previous answer but didn’t probe for a reaction, he didn’t think he wanted to know. “Yes?” He responded.
“Okay! just wanted to know, I’ll see you tomorrow then Y/n.” Ezra happily ended before he hung up the line leaving y/n to question the other boy’s reason for calling him. ‘Well that wasn’t weird at all…totally a-ok.’ Y/n chewed on his lower lip and put down his phone to start getting ready for a night’s slumber.
‘Perhaps I should listen to Clark and just try to keep a small distance between them and myself.’
Y/n slowly opened his eyes and stared around his environment, something had woken him up. he glanced around the dark space in suspicion ‘What the hell…i swear I…’ The hairs on his neck stood up and the boy bit the inside of his cheek before he pulled the blanket away setting his feet on the ground, getting out of bed.
He now stood beside his bed. he felt a shiver go through him as a gust of cold wind flew past him. Something wasn’t right. ‘Why do I feel the wind? I didn’t leave my window open so that shouldn’t be logically possible’ The boy looked over to his window.
He nearly jumped out of his own skin. His window. Was wide open.
what the f**k what the f**k what the f**k?
Y/n moved to his window and looked out seeing nothing but an empty street. As he was staring at the outside world he felt someone behind him and he quickly turned on his heel and met sight with a figure.
The same creep as in the forest.
Before he could let any noise, gloved hands shot to his throat squeezing his windpipe shut.
The boy felt his throat hurt as fingers hardened around his throat, he instinctively reached out for the wrists holding him in a choke hold and tried to pry them off with no success. He continued clawing at the individual’s hands until he started feeling his sight blurring, and his body slowly started feeling a stinging numbness as the oxygen to his brain was cut off, he felt a ringing in his ear and his consciousness slipping. there was one last thought before everything went dark.
‘I’m Sorry…’
The h/c haired boy woke up in a cold sweat.
immediately sitting up in his bed, his hands grasped onto his neck expecting to feel gloved hands cutting off his circulation. But there was nothing, there only seemed to be a phantom skin sensation touch of fingers reaching around his, a tingling feeling but an absence of actual pressure against his larynx. When the boy had calmed himself down he looked toward the time read 5:56 am. Y/n lowered himself back into his bed and stared at the ceiling above his bed.
‘What the hell was that about? That wasn’t one of the usual ‘dreams I’ve had since I got here’ He thought over his confusion for a few moments before rolling his eyes ‘I mean duh. This time it was a nightmare and not a flashback. but…’ his hand gently rubbed his neck ‘Why? Is it some subconscious fear that the creep in the forest will come back? and he choked me. My dips**t father used to strangle me when he was drunk. is there a correlation? a fear of my father and the creep combined in one hellscape of nightmare?’
He shook off the thought and rolled to his side to stare at his clock sitting on a small table, the red colors changing form ever so often. 5:59 am.
‘Should I get ready for school just like yesterday?’ Y/n suddenly remembered a person who possibly also would be at the school if he decided to go in early. ‘No…I need to avoid them for a while.’ Y/n creased his brows ‘It won’t be that hard. We’re not as close as we used to be so they won’t be clinging to me all day like in middle school.’ A giggle erupted in his throat at the memory of their younger days. How the four males had always been following him around like puppies, refusing to leave him alone until he was inside the walls of his own house. And even then, they snuck in and asked him for sleepovers and play dates so often that it was practically abnormal to not see all of them together.
‘Yea. It will be a lot easier than back then’ With that thought he closed his eyes once more and tried to savour the last hour of sleep he could have.
an alarm blared through Y/n’s room, the boy groaned and lazily stretched out his arm to hit snooze ‘Ugh…Five more minutes.’
Y/n woke up again, not by his alarm but by his mother banging on his door “Y/n! you gotta wake up, you overslept and you’re going to be late! your classes start in a half hour” The h/c haired boy groggily regarded his mom “Mhm…I’m coming…” His mom once again banged on the door “Now Y/n, you’ve already missed your bus, but someone is here to pick you up!” She said the last sentence with a giggle with that, she walked away.
Y/n sluggishly got out of bed and went to grab his uniform resting on the chair near his desk he passed his trash can and his face contorted, the boy made a mental note to throw the bag away when he got home.
he got to the bathroom and moved in front of the mirror. As he was brushing his teeth he stared into the mirror and noticed his exhausted state, he had visible eye bags under his eye and his hair was a mess, quite frankly, he couldn’t be bothered to fix it. ‘I need to work on my sleep schedule or something.’ the boy spat out the remaining toothpaste and wiped his mouth ‘But then again, it’s not really easy getting a proper night’s rest with a serial killer on the loose’
Y/n changed into his uniform and went back into his room to pack his bag. he slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way to the first floor and saw his mother sitting at the dining table with a cup of tea when her eyes landed on Y/n she gave him a wave “Have a good day at school dear.” Y/n sent her a smile “I will Mom, bye.”
The boy prepared to walk out the door before his Mother called to him once more ” Oh and one more thing Dear?” Y/n glanced back “Yes?” The woman tapped her nails against her cup “Say Hi to them from me.”
Y/n looked back at his mother “Wh-?’
“Go now, don’t be later than you already are” Y/n huffed and opened the door.
He walked down the front porch and his eyes strayed to the woodshed ‘four pm at the town’s sign.’
a honk of a car was heard, Y/n jolted at the sound and he moved his sights to the car that stood in front of his house.
‘Are you f**cking with me right now?’
in the driver seat sat Ezra. The ash blond smiled “Hey, we’ve been waiting for you for a while, you coming? we’ll give you a ride to school.” Y/n hesitantly walked up to Ezra’s car “We?” he questioned. Ezra nodded. someone sitting in the passenger seat leaned forward and waved towards Y/n. “Yup! it’s us, how’s it going Y/n?” Nova greeted. Y/n stayed speechlessly staring at the brothers
“What the-…What are you guys doing here?!” The two males grinned at him “We’re here to pick you up!” Nova beamed jesting his hands in surprise. Y/n opened and reopened his mouth in astonishment “How long have you been here?!”
Exra looked at the digital clock above his stirring wheel “Well we arrived around 6:50 am so I would say around forty to fifty minutes, wouldn’t you say so, Nova?” Ezra said towards his brother, Nova grinned mischievously.
Y/n grumbled at the Brothers’ antics. “Thank you for the offer but I’ll have to decline.”
“Really? What, you’re gonna walk to school? the bus already left and it takes a good hour to walk from here to school and you don’t have that much time left Y/n” Ezra stated matter-of-factly. Y/n’s mouth twitched and look ahead of the road trying to determine what his best options were ‘They’re right. i can’t afford to come to school late, especially on my third day.’
Y/n deadpanned before letting out a sigh in defeat “Fine. Thank you.”
Y/n was sitting in the backseat staring out the window, Ezra’s car was comfortable, the seats were soft and colored a dark wood brown. one thing the h/c haired male noticed was that the car was spotless, almost too spotless, like it had recently been thoroughly cleaned. there was a smell of bleach surrounding the small space.
Y/n pulled up his nose at the smell ‘Why does it smell so..clean in here?’ Y/n looked to his sides to see if he could spot the source of the smell under his seat, There was a grey-whiteish colored bottle lying under his seat. he stretched his arm to grab the bottle. He turned the bottle around to read the label.
Hydrogen Peroxide
‘Why do they have this in their car?’ Y/n glanced at Ezra and Nova ‘Whatever I don’t care.’ He put the Bottle back under his chair and leaned back up, he met sights with Ezra in the rear mirror “So Y/n how’s your mother/” Ezra asked. Y/n shuffled in his seat. “She’s well.”
Ezra hummed non-commital and looked back onto the road “And how are you?” Y/n Pupils dilated as he thought back to the previous night.”I could be better.” At Y/n answer, Nova perked up and glanced at the boy “Why’s that?’ He inquired to which Y/n shrugged not wanting to go into detail for… obvious reasons.
“I had a nightmare.” Nova snorted receiving a stern jab from Ezra. “What was it about?” Nova asked holding in his chuckles.
Y/n glanced out the window “Don’t know kinda forget…I just remember I got my shit rocked” Nova gave him a perplexed look. Y/n rolled his eyes ” I got-” The h/c haired drew his hand swiftly across his throat and made a gurgling sound. to emphasize his point.
“Oh,” Nova sounded out “Yea that does sound like crap.” Y/n Crossed his arms “Pfft. Tell me about it.”
The trio arrived at the school, Nova and Ezra offered to walk him to school but Y/n declined. They did walk him up to the gate of the school and Y/n looked around the school gate and noticed that there were posters hung up in front of the school. Y/n moved closer to the posters and felt a chill go down his spine as he looked at the poster.
There were two posters that stood out. Two missing people posters, or rather, a missing person poster and a missing pet poster.
His gaze shifted to the pet poster, a pet he remembered. the picture was of a cat, with milk-white fur and light eyes under the photo, was a text.
“Bella
Thai Cream Point cat
Eye color: light blue
Last seen wandering the streets of its owner’s neighborhood
if you know anything call: —–“
Y/n gulped, and his mouth became dry, this was the cat that had been at the crime scene. and now in Y/n’s shed. dead, her life stolen.
“That’s Mrs. Hatherall’s cat. Bella. She has been missing for around two days now.” Nova spoke up from behind “It’s really tragic, Mrs. Hatherall got Bella a gift 10 years ago by her deceased husband who died from a terminal condition a few months later. i do hope Bella gets found soon.” He solemnly continued. Y/n didn’t respond he was too busy in his own mind.
‘The cat was gifted to someone before their loved one died. and the poor cat got murdered by a maniac, and now Clark, Kiara, and I are gonna…’ He felt dizzy at the newfound information and quickly looked away from the missing pet poster to avoid fainting.
His eyes locked on the missing person poster at what he saw made him even more nauseous, staring back at him was a girl, with gold blond hair and e/c eyes.
HAVE YOU SEEN ME?
Avery Emmons
age: 18
last seen: 16 October [5 months ago]
Hair color: blond
Eye color: E/c
last seen: Leaving her house to hang out with friends, wearing a dark blue sweater with gray jeans and silver hoop earrings.
Any information please inform the sheriff or Detective at: ——
Y/n let out a shaky breath as he stared at the female in the picture. Avery Emmons is considered missing, not dead. missing. which means they hadn’t found her dead body. Y/n didn’t know what happened to this girl but, he could make an assumption. and it didn’t look good.
Ezra leaned against the school gate “There have been rumors going around circling Emmons.” he said. Y/n turned around to face the steel blue-eyed male. “That she ran away from home. It hasn’t been proven, and evidence shows it would be out of character for her. The sheriff is close to presuming her legally dead. but her family is still fighting for her to be found, putting missing posters all around town”
Ezra narrowed his eyes and put his hands in his pockets “Alex Emmons goes to our school, he sometimes goes around asking people if they’ve seen something, anything. that could indicate her whereabouts. But it seems like even Alex is slowly coming to terms with that Avery is possibly never coming home” He shrugged.
Y/n sucked in a breath. “I see…” he looked down at his feet. “Well…i gotta get to class, bye,” he muttered before striding away with haste leaving Ezra and Nova alone.
Y/n got to his homeroom class and chose a seat next to Clark, Kiara seemed to be absent. “Kiara has an appointment, she’s coming back for lunch,” Clark stated bluntly. Y/n Nodded slightly soon enough his homeroom teacher came into the class and started her speech “Good morning students!”
Y/n didn’t pay much attention to the class his mind was occupied with the missing poster of Avery. ‘Does Avery’s disappearance have something to do with the Runswick killer? must be. Has she been killed? left to rot somewhere? That wouldn’t make sense though. From what I’ve heard about the killer, they’re confident in their methods and always leave their victims out in the open to be found by unfortunate unaware people.’
Y/n began twirling his pencil between his fingers ‘So why would they go out of their way to dispose of the body suddenly? But then, what happened?’ I don’t know.’ he let out a deep sigh.
Soon enough Homeroom ended and Students began leaving chairs scraping against the floor. Y/n picked up in bag to go to his next class. but someone stopped him by tapping him on the shoulder.
Y/n turned around and met with Jade eyes “Hello. Um, Y/n L/n right? Son of detective Evans?” the stranger quietly asked “Yes that’s me” Y/n answered the green eyed male smiled at him “Nice to meet you Y/n” he nodded
“My name is Alex, Alex Emmons.”
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