Misery loves Murder

Regret Seeps in

I spent the next few days visiting all the other survivors, I tried my best in getting to know them without digging too deep or sounding suspicious. I used words of sympathy and concern to get to know about each member of the family living along with them. All of it coming from an unsociable neighbor would have raised some eyebrows but since Emma accompanied me and her genuine concern for these people helped me a lot, it wasn't as out of order. A lot of the heavier and more concerning questions I left to her and she eventually asked them as a genuine response to their pain.

A lot of families lost their belonging in the fire along with money, one of them even lost a kid. By the time I was discharged I was able to form a somewhat friendly relationship with these four surviving families. While three of them were a married couple only one of them had a child and they lost him during the fire, the fourth person was a single father and fortunately his kids had gone for football training in school at the time. The man had a defeated look on his face, his eyes were always half shut and his rough silver beard made him appear much older. The flames had burned his hair and damaged some part of his ears. One of his ears was bandaged up and apparently he had lost all hearing through it along with his sense of balance when he tried standing up.

In comparison to him the other families and myself included survived in a much better state.

The apartment building had a total of four floors and the only people who survived, surprisingly, were me and the first floor folks. While the fourth floor burned to ash the second had their ceilings settle down on them burying them completely. I managed to get out before that happened and when the second floor settled the first floor peeps ran with their lives and yet unfortunately as one of the rooms also had the ceiling above settle down on them one of the kids instantly died.

"Martha's kid went to the same school as ours." Emma said, strolling me inside the house in a wheelchair.

I could feel the dust in the air settling inside my throat as we entered the place.

"He was just under our noses and we didn't know." she continued. Taking out a handkerchief she covered her nose before coughing frantically.

"You okay?" I asked, turning my head to face her.

"Y-yeah don't worry I'm fine." she said and then coughed a bit more.

She obviously wasn't too used to living in dirt but should anyone be? she strolled me near the sofa in the living room before dusting it and sitting down on it herself.

"Is this really okay, living in your mum's house?" she asked, her hand covering her eyes and her face all worked up.

We were moving together into my mother's house. Since the arsonist haven't been found yet, sticking together sounded like a sure plan and it didn't take much from me to convince her, after all we had just lost our home and along with it quite a lot of documents that would've helped us or were required to move, rent an apartment without them nobody would rent us even a shack. So until we find some ways of re issuing our papers we decide to stay here.

"Don't worry she left it in my name, I should've moved here a long time ago anyways." I replied.

The discomfort on her face showed no sign of wearing off, and quite honestly I wasn't too sure about moving into this old den.

"By the way, she passed away on that very sofa you are hogging on." I informed her.

She instantly jumped out of the sofa and started dusting her bum.

"What the f**k?! you should've told me sooner!" she yelled at me I couldn't help but chuckle. She appeared a bit angry but that anger quickly turned into a sweet smile and then a chuckle.

After that we waited for the cleaning company and the plumber to arrive. We had decided to divide the expenses and turn this place into a liveable environment again.

There were two bedrooms, a hall joined directly by the front door and a basement I never intended to visit. The kitchen was just by the hallway and a small overgrown garden just behind it.

It took a few days before we could even use the beds and the expenses only seemed to be skyrocketing, so we decided to let the garden be the way it was and since we didn't need a basement it was left the same.

And after three days of work the place was finally complete, not a speck of dust and the old paintings were stored away and the dusty old carpet was replaced by a new fresh one with wood design.

As we laid on the bed tired and finally done with work I had forgotten all about my worries and felt somewhat elated from all that we've accomplished.

"Even if we leave this place soon, you should rent it for money." What Emma said made sense but I wasn't too sure if I could handle someone ruining this place after we've worked so hard on it.

"I mean all the expenses of this place are pretty high so it might be a good idea but," I turned to look at her, her hands rested on the white sheets, she wore a warm smile along with a white shirt with red floral pattern slightly revealing her clevage and a blue pencil jeans went well with her slender legs. Her hair was a curly mess and lips naturally red.

I gulped down as I felt the rush in my heart and my thoughts ran wild.

"But what?" she asked.

it brought me back to planet earth, somewhat.

"Oh… It's nothing." I replied, trying to hide my blush I buried my face in the mattress.

She punched me slightly on the side and asked again but at this point I had forgotten whatever it was that I wanted.

"I think we should get back to teaching again." I tried to change the subject.

As I said that I noticed a slight drop in Emma's emotions. She moved her lips trying to say something but her words fell off in her mouth before they were even heard.

"You should.. I need a bit more time." she finally said.

Her husband had died and I understood how she felt and what she needed was not an answer not even a word but a moment of understanding silence.

I lay my hands around her, my head still buried in the mattress, I pulled her close and slowly moved my other hand under her neck. I could feel the warmth of her body and the nervousness of the situation made me all the more tense. I moved closer, my face right in front of hers, I gulped down my saliva as I moved my lips closer to hers, my heart beat so fast I could feel it outside my chest, as our bodies were pressed onto each other as tightly as they can, I could feel her heart racing as well.

I nervously licked my lips as I finally moved in for the kiss.

"Sorry." she said, putting her hand over my mouth. A strange sense of realization hit me in an instance. I might've just destroyed my friendship with my only friend.

She got up, her face covered by her hands although I couldn't see her eyes I could hear her sobbing again.

"I'm sorry but I can't." she said leaving the room.

I'm an idea, why did I do that? I might have just lost my best friend.

It was too soon but what bothered me more was how I reacted to the situation for as long as I have known I've been straight and had no s****l interest in girls, then why did I react in that way and especially why did I react that way to Emma.

I was confused and frustrated and even mad at myself for ruining the way things have been.

It bothered me to no end and that's when I remembered what was more important than getting worked up about this situation.

the face of the man 'Billy Macbel' flashed inside my head.

"f**k!" I yelled.

I had a job to get back to and a dysfunctional relationship with my best friend and as if that wasn't enough there was a man chasing me without even knowing it.

For the first time since the start of this mess I regretted my action. I regretted killing Arthur, I regretted setting the building on fire. There was blood on my hands and it was just now setting in my consciousness. I had piled up the body of a kid and disabled a single father.

While the whole mess brewd inside my head the face of but one man came to my help. Without wasting any time I grabbed my cell phone and dialed the number labeled as 'GO'.

A few rings later I heard his voice, it brought me comfort in knowing that I had another ally.

"Go, I need your help." I said.