Her Best Man

Chapter 18: Hollywood's Tragic Mystery

Chapter 18: Hollywood's Tragic Mystery

The picture didn't seem real at first. I tried blinking, thinking that I would vanish from the dark room, waking up nestled underneath my warm comforter in my apartment. Cody's eyes were full of pain and anguish, as he stared at the picture sitting across the room, his jaw clenched.

I turned towards him to speak, but nothing came out. Just a gasp of air. A bout of thunder erupted, now sounding further away. I wanted this storm to end.

Without a word, I took the flashlight from Cody's hand and progressed to the corner of the room, where the dusty picture sat on a dresser. The light shone on the portrait of him standing next to an older man, who looked so much like Cody. Cody didn't look older than twelve, and appeared to be smiling in the picture.

But his eyes were full of sorrow. I studied the man, who featured the same dark hair and grey eyes. His expression was cold and emotionless, and he appeared to be as pale as a ghost. Although the two were in the picture together, they seemed so distant.

The reason why I was so shocked, was because I recognized the older man. It was Derek Anderson, the famous actor who had died many years ago in a car crash with his wife. He was in several movies I watched growing up, mostly action films. I knew that some of his movies caused controversies and stirred up some crazy people, and that was believed to have been the cause of the so called car "accident."

There were stories all over the news about the case, confirming that the circumstance screamed murder. It was evident that Derek had a dark side, and there were many stories of him involved in shady prospects. I even remembered watching Dateline on NBC, and how reporters went over all the insider details of what happened. They never found out who did it, and the case eventually went cold. The world mourned and called the death of the Anderson couple, "Hollywood's Tragic Mystery."

I placed the flashlight down on the dresser, letting the light cast over to the wall. The beam of light made it so that I could walk back over to Cody.

"He was your father?" I asked, my lip trembling.

His back was turned to me, and his hands gripped the wall. His neck was arched towards the ground, his shoulder slumped. His body looked full of hurt.

"Cody." I came up behind him and placed my hand on his back, rubbing it gently.

He flinched, jerking his head to the side to look at me. His eyes were vehement, so vulnerable. It was so unnatural to see him like this.

"You're the son that vanished." I concluded in astonishment, utterly shocked.

After the death of Derek and Sophia Anderson, I recalled hearing about his son, who basically vanished from the public eye. No one really heard about him, and no one really cared. It was more about finding out who caused the car accident.

Cody was that son.

He lifted his hands off the dresser and walked over to the picture. I watched his silhouette in the dark pick it up and examine it. I heard a slam, and just stared, flustered. He had knocked the picture over, and was now facing me.

"Son of his estranged father." He spoke in a tone of venomous rage, his shadow advancing to me.

"Gone missing." He inched closer.

"Who is he? What did he become?" Cody continued. There was anger in his eyes, and I found myself to be rooted to the earth.

He stopped an inch from me, looking down at me from underneath his eyelashes. The light from the flashlight was barely enough to see his face.