Broken Hearts Can't Be Fixed? (Frerard)

I was awoken by the sound of my dad’s CB radio firing out codes and requests from other officers. Yes, my dad was the chief of police. “Officer Iero, we have a 187. I repeat, we have a 187.” The radio crackled and filled the house with static. Murder. There was a murder. I could hear my dad’s muffled footsteps and grumbles as he went to answer the radio. I had crashed on the couch as soon as I had gotten home. Right next to the radio. I faked sleep, and listened to the chatter between my dad and the others.

He cleared his throat before starting in a tired voice. “This is officer Iero, what are the details.” The radio clicked.

“The body is on site, no signs of forced entry.”

“Has the suspect been apprehended? What else.” He paced back and forth, pulling on his uniform. Looks like he was going out to see it himself.

“Uh, no sir. But we have found some evidence that you may want to see.” New evidence?

“Where are you?” He was pulling on his shoes and grabbing his keys.

“The Thorn residence.” Holy shit… the Thorn family owned all of the land that the town sat on. They were the founders of our little slice of nothingness. This had to be another one in the long list of murders. Fuck! They were already up to thirty-two. Thirty-two people dead, in just over a month. A victim for every night they had stayed. But why suddenly start killing inside of their houses? Every other case was in a public area, parks, alleys, and roadsides. Why start going into their victim’s home?

I hopped off of the couch as soon as I heard my dad’s car pull out of the driveway, and grabbed my backpack. I have to see it. I’ve been following this case for too long to give up now and just call it quits. Thankfully, my dad never caught me sneaking around the crime scenes at late hours. Slipping on my beat up Vans, I hiked my backpack further up my shoulder and began my long walk to the mansion that sat on the outskirts of town.

It was quiet, the only sounds being my soft steps and shaky breath. A shiver wracked my spine. Its fucking freezing… The soft sound of leaves scuttling their way across the deserted roads almost completely covered the distant wailing of sirens. Other than that, it seemed like your typical night in a sleepy little town in the middle of Jersey. The anxiety had started seeping into my veins. I pulled out an old pack of cigarettes, bringing one to my lips. This was the only part that I hated. The actually getting there.

“Need a light?” I almost jumped out of my skin, spinning around to come face to face with a smiling Gerard. I gave him a quizzical look. What the hell? A small flame emerged from the tip of the small device. “Well?” I leant in, dipping the end of my cigarette into the small, yellow flame. I kept my eyes on him the entire time.

“Thanks…” I mumbled before inhaling deeply. I could already feel my muscles begin to loosen and the panic begin to fade, replaced by a feeling of weariness. Something about him just… seemed out of place? Naw, maybe it was just the nerves talking. I stopped off at the side of the road next to him. I might as well waste some time, let the commotion die down before I get down and dirty with my snooping. Plus I wanted to dig at Gerard for anything suspicious. He had on a dark leather jacket and dark jeans. He lit up a cigarette, tilting his head back as he took a hit.
“I never took you for a smoker…” Gerard said, staring ahead and flicking the ashes into the wind.

I shifted nervously, pulling my cig away, exhaling a plume of grey smoke. I played off my nervousness with a small shrug. “You don’t even know me.” He gave a small nod, before taking another puff in. It was like that for a few minutes, just the two of us filling our lungs with smoke. Breathing in, and breathing out. I started getting anxious again, despite the remedy that I had. It could only work so much before it had stopped working. “I kinda f-figured you smoked, I mean- you have the body for it… Wait- that came out wrong…” I laughed embarrassedly and scratched at the back of my neck. God I must sound like virgin nerd…

I looked up to Gerard to see a thin smile tug at his lips. He had a nice smile…Yeah…He should definitely smile more often. As soon as he glanced at me I flushed crimson red.

“Thanks.” He beamed. “You seemed more like a goody-two-shoes instead of the kind of kid that sneaks out at night to smoke with his classmate.”

Defying all possibility, I blushed even harder. “I’m not here to see you! I’m here for-for…” Shit, I can’t tell him what I’m doing!

He quirked an eyebrow. “For…?” I hid my face from view. I heard him sigh heavily before falling back into silence.

I snuggled deeper into my jacket, hugging the strap of my bag tighter. I have to get him to leave, so I can go. “Why are you out here so late?”

He put out his cigarette in the gravel with an uneasy, sad glance. “I couldn’t sleep.” Gerard put his hands in his pockets.

“Oh… Nightmares?” I asked. I’ve had my own share of night terrors and bad dreams, for as long as I can remember.

“Something like that.”

“Want to talk about it? I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it used to help me when I couldn’t go back to sleep.” I rubbed my hands nervously.

He gave me a lopsided grin, some of his blazing red hair falling over his eyes. “Thanks, but the kind of nightmares I have don’t get any better when you talk about them.” With a tired wave, he turned on his heel.

Huh. Weird… I checked my watch. It was close to one in the morning, at least some of the cops were bound to have left, giving me an opportunity to get whatever bits of evidence were left and add them to my personal files. The rest of the walk was easy. The Thorn house was completely deserted, not a single car or flash of lights. Guess they got done pretty fast tonight. They didn’t bother to even close the front door, instead just hanging police tape across the entry. I ducked under the tape and entered the house. It was huge, just like everyone said. Although, thankfully, having only one level. I slipped my flashlight out of my bag and made my way through. The sharp smell of blood instantly filled my lungs as I entered the master bedroom. I felt something splash beneath my feet. Oh God, pleeease tell me that it isn’t what I think it is… I grimaced, looking down to find myself in a puddle of thick, red blood. Yup, just what I thought. “Ugh… Sick.” I pinched my nose closed as I stepped away from the pool of dark liquid. The body would already be gone since I got here after the officials left. I followed the wet trail that branched off from where I was previously standing, leading to the body’s old resting place. “Fucking hell…” They did a shitty job cleaning up, not to mention how easy it was to get in here. It was apparent that it was the same killer from before. Same kind of blood spatter. I’ve learned how to tell from just the dark stains if it was him or not. And this was definitely it. But something was off about this one.

“What the hell?” I crept nearer to the corner where the body once lay, taking out a small hand-held camera. In neat, scrawled handwriting, there was a message. “This is new… ‘Life is but a dream’….” I bit my lip, mulling it over. Who would they want to get this to… Their techniques and style were shifting to bolder, calculated moves… I snapped a picture of the painted message, and hurriedly stuffed the camera into my bag. This is getting more exciting, I just have to wait for my dad to bring the other evidence into his office and then I can get a complete look at this. I stepped out into the cold air, breathing in deeply to get rid of the stench.

When I arrived back at home, dad’s car wasn’t in the driveway. I shrugged. He’s probably sitting at the police station, gathering all of his files. I pushed the door, hard. The lock jammed, for the millionth time this week. I twisted the key a few more time until it finally open with a groan. Yes, finally! I padded tiredly into bed, curling up against a pillow. Soon, this is going to all pay off… I glanced at the clock before drifting off to sleep, it was already four twenty-three. Looks like I’m only getting a few hours of sleep…

Notes

Hi people :) I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff. I was going to post this on Friday or Saturday, but I have plans for my birthday this weekend :D Lots of cake, bad movies, and silliness. My week as been very.... eventful? For starters, I got into a car wreck on Monday, and then I had to babysit my niece and nephew, and I've had a crap load of school work. How did your week go? Hopefully not as crazy as mine.

As usual, remember to comment, because I enjoy reading all of your lovely feedback :) Oh, and have some frerard: