A Story To Die For

“The town is a mess.” The thought rang through my mind as I walked down the downtrodden streets of Portia. The street was bathed in darkness as I turned a corner to see my apartment complex.   “To think it has been five years since the monster of Portia vanished and now everyone is acting like the whole thing never even happened.” The thought sickened me as I arrived at the apartment. I bent over to take my key out from under my rug as a shadow loomed over my head. I felt my heart skip a beat. I whipped around to see the tall frame that cast a shadow well over me.  “Yo-Yo Hiccy C, tough day at work,” A bombastic blond-headed boy said to me as he lowered himself to be on my level.  “Oh hey there Jessy, you know what would happen if I had a knife ” I nervously said as I waved to him. “Oh please, you would never use a knife, to begin with, because by now you should know it's me. The better question is, why are you using my key to get into your house?”  Jessy asked as he helped me to my feet. “ I forgot mine at the office, so rather than looking like a bloody criminal trying to break in, I figured I could get it tomorrow,” I replied.   Jessy has been my friend since we were kids; he was considered more of a brother from the amount of time we spent together. His family was quick to take me in when the Slasher took my mother from me. From that point on, me and Jessy have been inseparable. “So what's that you got there? your latest scoop. Oh, don’t tell me you are gonna coop yourself up in your room and write like there is no tomorrow.” Jessy joked as he gave me a kind smile.  “Yeah, but not the type of story you think I am doing this as a personal project,” I told him triumphantly.  Jessy’s face turned into a frown as he gave me a look I knew all too well. “Please don’t tell me you are still on about that The Sideshore Slasher case,” Jessy said with an annoyed tone. “Jessy, no one just kills five people and can just get away with it. Plus, I am so close. I know with a little more time-”  Jessy placed his hand on my shoulder to make me stop talking. “Hey man, you can’t hold on to this forever, he got away. No one could even identify the bloke. Everyone is fine with just letting him fade away.” Jessy explained. I can feel my blood boil at the thought of forgetting about what he did. “So you want me to just move on like this was just fate or something. I’m not like everyone else, I lost someone who meant a lot to me to that man, and I did nothing but watch.”  I snapped. I quickly regretted my attitude as the words left my lips. “I’m sorry Jessy, I’m just really tired.” I apologized. “I understand man, hey do you wanna come over? We can hang out just like when we were kids, get your mind off of all this.” Jessy asked. “Actually, can I borrow you for a bit? I have a lot of stuff courtesy of the old man and may need you to help me look through it all. Come on man, you know you have a hard-on for serial killers,” I replied.  The blush on Jessy made me chuckle a bit.  “Come on you big champ, we have a long night ahead of us,” I said, taking him by his muscular arm and leading him in. Jessy sat on the couch as I placed the file on the table. “I’ll whip up some coffee and then we can get started. You can get a head start if you want.” I said as I walked to the kitchen.   “ Dude, where did you get the info gold mine? You have other names, victims, hell you might even have his piss color.” He shouted to the kitchen. As I listened to him, I accidentally burned my hand. I let out a bit of a wince but even that was enough to get Jessy to come into the kitchen. “ That looks like a critical wound. Truly a deadly one only a true doctor can treat a life-threatening wound, ” Jessy said in a joking tone, as he reached into my cabinet to pull out the first aid kit. "Come here. This will take a second." Jessy tends to my burn tenderly, as his soft touch makes my chocolate skin blush. He wraps my hand in a bandage and layers it through my fingers. “ Hehe, just like old times, eh? At least this time you didn't try to nuke the microwave. I guess it is really like we are kids”. Jessy apologized “Oh you destroy a microwave and ma bans you from the kitchen until you move out,” I chuckled as I marveled at the craftsmanship of my friends' patchwork."Honestly, I don't see why you don't try your hand at being a doctor."I said as I turned my hand "Well, I'm not the smartest. That's a good reason," Jessy replied. I snap back into my senses and remember the file that sits on the table. “Oh right, guess we should get started looking through the Slasher files. We only have so much moonlight,” I said as I led Jessy back to the table before retreating to the kitchen. I grabbed the coffee off of the counter and walked back to Jessy, who had already taken the liberty of scattering all of my organized notes. “You know the point on numbered notes is for you to read them in order,” I said as I placed a coffee next to him. “Sorry, it’s not every day you just get this much information on The Sundown Slaughterer,” Jessy said starry-eyed. "With all this it's is kind of a mystery that the man hasn't been caught." “Well, not everyone has the sort of connections I do,”  I said triumphantly.  “Speaking of, why don’t you go into the force, why settle for just being a reporter? You can probably get better connections if you work for the police,” Jessy asked.  “I don’t think I can be much help to the force with so many rules. It would be more useful to get information to people. Mob mentality is much more effective than the hands of the law. What brought up this surprise interrogation? You don’t hear me questioning your musical pursuits.” I replied as I picked up another document. I had to stop as I looked it over. Her face contorted into complete terror as her stab wounds made her body unrecognizable. “ That's her right?” Jessy asked with a worried tone.   Jessy took the paper out of my hand. “Here, I'll look over this one if you can’t,” Jessy said.  I wanted to tell him that I was OK but I knew that was a lie. Jessy always cared so much about me. He does nothing but the best for me, with or without my permission. “ Well, pic aside, I may have sent the chief of police your resume and got you an interview,” Jessy replied boastfully. I looked at him half in shock and betrayal. "How the bloody hell did you swing that?" I snapped. Jessy clutched his chest as if he had a pearl necklace that he was scared of me stealing. "You think you are the only one with connections, little dude." He replied “While I appreciate the offer, I will have to politely decline. I have no intention of joining some bluecoat poppycock of a police force that can’t catch a man who sends notes, incompetence at its finest.” I said as I held up a note. “So maybe they need a bit of help but that’s, if anything, more of a reason to join; you're the only person who has seen him. Who else to bring this guy to justice than you? If you don’t wanna move on, at least jump on the brigade who can take him down.” Jessy suggested.  “Jessy, I don’t want to take him down, I want to kill him, I want him to pay for what he did to my life; joining the force will just serve to delay me and possibly miss my chance at justice, real justice. And I have no intention of throwing away my shot,” I replied. Jessy let out a sigh as he took a sip of his coffee. “And what of the missing boy's case you were so fond of? You are obsessed with trying to connect the two?” Jessy asked.  It only just started but people were going missing it started only a few weeks ago so admittedly it was a bit of a stretch to say that this and The Slasher were related.  I drank as I continued to look through the evidence I managed to get. “If you are looking for me to say that I was wrong, well, you have the wrong idea. However, I will say that I lack the evidence to link them,”  I said nervously. The silence was a pungent scent that poisoned the clean air masking us in a sea of awkwardness.   “Hey, how's Darlene by the by? I’m sure she can’t possibly approve of this late-night deep delve into the dark and gruesome”, I asked, trying to drum up the conversation. “ Hehe, you sure put that reporter's mind to work.” He said as he took another sip of his coffee “ Well, let me correct you. Darlene is my ex-miss, caught the wrench balls deep in a bloke.” I nearly spit out my coffee as the news hit my ears, "What!? She...with...WHO?!" I exclaimed "The guy from the flower shop she went to," Jessy said, throwing down a piece of note and taking another sip of his coffee “You know, sometimes I think that I am just not cut out for the whole dating scene,” Jessy said, looking at me. I had finished the last of my coffee and decided it was time to refill. “Hey, I'm getting some more coffee. Do you want some? We can talk about all of that when I get back.” I offered to try to be polite.  He quickly took me up on my offer. He knew that I was quick to change my mind. With a grunt, I retreated to the kitchen. As I watched the kettle, I noticed that my vision began to blur. The steel turned to a world of grey. A loud crash turned my attention to my coffee experience. In between my hazy vision, I noticed the limp body of Jessy; his coffee cup knocked to the floor.  "Jessy" I stammered as my vision blurred into a swirl of colors. I moved no more than a few feet before I collapsed to the ground. Before my consciousness faded into darkness, the sound of footsteps rang through my ears; as I all faded to black.