COLDER

= EIGHT =

Jenny played with the little girl, Alyssa, in her pink - walled bedroom, full of barbie dolls. She didn't seem jovial and chirpy like usual. 

She cupped Alyssa's face in her hands and asked gently, "What's wrong?" 

"Where is Ray?" she asked abruptly. "I miss him… When is he coming back? I want to play with him…" 

Jenny frowned, looking deep into her eyes. 

"Your brother was taken," she said sadly. "He's not coming back…" 

Tears stung her eyes. "He's not coming back? I'm never seeing my brother again!" 

She engulfed her in her arms. "You'll be fine, baby…" 

Amber busted in through the door. 

"Why would you tell that to my daughter!" she glared at her. 

"I… I…" Jenny stuttered. 

"No! Why would you say that to my daughter! Do you know where my son is! Are you hiding him! Did you do something to him! How do you know he's not coming back to us!" 

"Because my brother disappeared too!" Jenny blurted out. "Because I know what it feels like to have someone close to you disappear and you sit there wishing that they come back every single day. And then the days go by! And then the months pass by! And soon it's a year! Then decades and decades! The hope of finding the person is what kills you every single day! I saw what hope did to my family! "

Pain seered in Jenny's eyes. 

Tears sheened in Amber's eyes. 

" My son is going to be found! " she cried. "Ray is not your brother! He's going to come back home to us! I know he will!" 

She brushed away the tears from her eyes. 

The wailing of dozenz of cars and ambulances outside their compound suddenly caught their attention. They rushed outside to see what was going on. 

The noise came from Tensen Truce's house. 

Law enforcement and medical personnel loitered around the compound. 

What was going on? 

From a distance, Amber could see the female Detective that had asked her questions regarding her son, Ray? 

What was she doing in Tensen's house? 

God! Had they found Ray in his house? 

Amber races quickly to the compound and tapped the Detective on her back. She was surprised to see her. 

"What are you doing here?" Det. Megan asked calmly. "This is a crime scene. You shouldn't be here!" 

"Did you find my son!" she cried. "Has this asshole been hiding him? Huh! Where is Ray?" 

"Mrs. Ripper, I'll ask you to please calm down and let us do our job," said Det. Darren. 

"I won't calm down! I want to see my son! Where is he!" 

The two detectives frowned. 

Megan broke the news to her. 

"We are here not because of your son's disappearance but because…" she paused. "Your neighbour hanged himself." 

"What!" 

"He committed suicide." 

===

It was Saturday so the green Kingsville park was packed like it was most weekends. Dozens of people paced around lazily and happily from one corner to another. Some couples were smooching, others just taking walks, others holding hands and others just laying on the grass enjoying the sun. A bunch of kids were playing around with their balls and dolls as their parents watched some five feet away. 

Caleb and Scarlett sat on the stone bench, holding hands as they conversed. The boys played around happily but Emilia kept 

"I don't like the way Emilia is looking at me!" Scarlett complained. 

"She's not looking at you…" he defended her daughter. "She's talking to her doll." 

"She was looking at me as if I did something to her… As if she hates me!" 

"Come on…" he shrugged. "She's just a kid… She doesn't even know what it means to hate someone…" 

"I know what I'm saying, Cal. Emmy used to love me. She used to play with my hair and fondle my face all the time. She's suddenly changed and she doesn't even want me to touch her or talk to her…" 

"Come on!" he rolled his eyes. "That's not true, Sweets. The little thing adores you…" 

A scuffle disrupted the conversation forcing them to rush to stop it. A fight broke between the kids and Derek had some random blonde-haired boy pinned to the ground. 

He grabbed him by the collar. 

"Why are you picking on my sister, huh!" he barked. "Coz' she can't fight for herself! So you think you can just pick on her coz she's a girl!" 

"Derek! Get off of him!" Caleb bellowed. "Let the kid go!" 

"He was picking on my sister and making fun of her!" 

"Don't fight him!" The dad's kid demanded. "I'll deal with him myself!" 

But Derek was not planning to let the boy go easily for picking on his sister. 

"Son! Stop it!" Caleb barked. 

"It's him you should tell to stop picking on my sister!" 

Caleb dragged Derek away from the kid, who ran to the safety of his parents. But the young lad was still trying to get his hands on him and strangle the life out of him. 

The parents shook their heads as they turned to leave, holding their son's hand. 

"Teach your children some manners," The boy's mother snorted. 

"No you teach your coward of a son some manners! He really needs that!" Scarlett snapped. 

They left the scene, leaving Caleb still trying to calm Derek down. 

"Dad! You should have defended Emmy!" he glared at him. "That boy was calling her names and making fun of her because she found her playing with dolls!" 

"But you also tease her for playing with dolls all the time," his father scoffed. 

"But I'm her big brother. He's not!" 

"No, you're my hero," Emilia said softly as she lifted her legs to hug him. 

Daryl joined in, making it a warm brotherly group hug. 

It was still a wonder to Caleb just how different the twins were. They were identical twins ; Dark hair, brown eyes, pointed little nose, thin lips, chubby cheeks with dimples. But they were two polar opposites. 

Derek was talkative, feisty, cocky, impulsive and defensive. Daryl on the other hand was quiet, calm, cool and collected. Though most of the time Derek influenced him to do what he wanted, he tended to be thoughtful about his decisions. 

Daryl would never pick a fight but he always cheered on his brother. 

"Bro!" Derek pulled away from the hug. "Bring on that ball! Emmy, your little babies are calling you!" 

Caleb and Scarlett giggled. 

In no time, the boys were playing with the ball and Emmy was playing with her "babies". 

"Lemme go play with her," Scarlett said casually. "You play with the boys." 

She sat down on the mat beside Emmy, who was braiding her barbie doll. 

"What's her name?" Scarlett asked, trying to touch the blonde doll. 

"Don't touch my babies!" she hissed. "You're a bad bad witch!" 

===

Back to the office, Det. Darren and Det. Megan slumped on their chairs still in total disbelief over the suicide of their prime suspect. 

Tensen Truce was now gone. 

In a blink.

It was just the previous day that they had talked to the troubled, disturbed guy and now he was dead?

Criminals tended to commit suicide when they suspected the police were a step ahead of them and it was game over for them! 

So they often took their own lives as the easy way out. To them, suicide was a million times better than an eternity behind bars. 

But, not only was his suicide shocking but also the suicide note he left behind which was written:

==========≠=======≠=≠======≠===

To the families of Brian and Brandon, 

I know you all hate me by now. I know you hate what I did to your boys. They were beautiful boys who deserved to grow up and chase their dreams. They deserved to share the bright light they had with the world. But most of all, they deserved to live… And, I took that away from them for my own selfish reasons. 

And I'm sorry. 

I'm writing this letter not to justify myself or to ask you to forgive me… But I'm writing this letter to confess to killing the boys… And molesting them… And to give you closure… 

I hope some day, you find it in your hearts to forgive me. 

I didn't do it… He did it… The demon… 

I have to stop it once and for all… 

Bye. 

================================

Megan kept reading the suicide note over and over again. And every time she read it, she got angrier and angrier. 

The evil asshole had gotten the easy way out. 

Suicide? 

"It's clear he had nothing to do with the disappearance of Ray Ripper," Darren stated. 

She hated that he was right. 

"Please let me mourn the dead asshole in peace," she retorted. "Moment of silence."

"Does he even deserve a moment of silence?" 

"Sssh! I need to hear him scream down there as he gets thrown in the eternal fires!" 

He chortled.

She suddenly banged the wooden desk, startling him. 

"Why would you do that to the poor piece of furniture?" 

She glowered at him. "Can you stop trying to be funny? It's the wrong time to want to see my teeth…" 

He suppressed the laugh. 

She cleared her throat and raked her fingers through her hair in frustration. 

"I can't believe it man!" she groaned. "I can't believe that Tensen is not in any way responsible for the disappearance of Ray!" 

They had searched the entire house, along with the help of law enforcement. 

But they had not found anything that belonged to Ray. Or anything that suggested the boy had been there. 

Not his clothes. Not his bicycle. Not his school bag. 

Nothing. 

" Now we're back to square one!" 

They had no persons of interest. 

No lead suspects. 

No eye witnesses nor informants. 

No evidence to work with. 

No body. 

She frowned. "This Case is going to be a hard one." 

He winked. "What's the fun in easy?" 

She contained a laugh. "Don't use my line on me, silly! Unacceptable!" 

They looked at each other and laughed. 

===

The doorbell rings. 

The pizza guy is here. 

After saying a big "Thankyou" to the guy, I shut the door and resume to my cosy, colorful couch. 

I waste no time in digging in on my pizza. 

It's hot and spicy and full of cheese just like I like it. 

I take bite after bite after bite as I watch the iconic sitcom of all time, 'FRIENDS'. 

Yes, I am watching 'FRIENDS'. 

I have worshipped the series ever since I was a teenager. People always joked that I would eventually grow up and watch grown up and manly stuff like "GAME OF THRONES'. 

But nope. 

I am still hooked to 'FRIENDS'. 

I don't get what's the big deal about " GAME OF THRONES' honestly… 

There's just a lot of murders and a lot of s****l scenes and just a lot of sins… May God forgive them…

I know what you thought… 

That a cold killer like me would watch a lot of murder documentaries and murder mysteries. 

Maybe Tyler did that… 

But I don't… 

I don't have to watch some stupid show to show me how to kill and dump a body. 

First of all, those killers made mistakes and got caught. That's why a murder documentary was being made based on them… 

But I don't plan on doing that… 

I'm never getting caught… 

I will accomplish my mission without the lazy cops sniffing any guilt on me… 

My phone rings. 

We talk for a few minutes. 

When the call ends, I stand from the couch, still eating my pizza. 

I go downstairs to the basement. 

I open the freezer. 

"Good evening, Ray!" 

His naked, tied up body is frozen to ice. 

"Told you it's colder here…" 

===