Haly's Circus ~ Jerome x reader

9: Interrogation

I put my thoughts aside. "Jerome, Barbara is right over there." She doesn't see us yet, so we walk toward her. "Hey sis, is that your boyfriend?" I smile proudly. "Yes, yeah he is." Barbara walks to Jerome and they shake hands. Jerome smiles. "You look a lot like your sister Barbara, you guys have the same eyes." My sister looks at us both. "Aren't y'all cute together?" I grin. "Maybe it's time for Jerome to show you the circus from the inside?" My dad wasn't around here anymore. Barbara walks hand in hand with Jerome to the circus, and I go walk behind them.

Jerome was so nice for my sis, I love to see him with kids. Especially when it could be ours in the future.

"I wanna see everything behind the curtains!" Barbara let Jerome's hand go and runs behind the curtains. "Wow." With her jaw open she takes a look around. "So this is where you work y/n?" I nod. "It's just that your sister could be an acrobat." Jerome talks about me. "Obviously. I'm still waiting to get promoted, plus I've done a few years of dancing when I was younger." "You still think you can do that? What if I come work here?" Jerome laughs. "You're too young yet. But always welcome to come over, and have a V.I.P place where
only employees can come."

Barbara looks at me with disbelief. "It's true." She was so excited to just come up here, and be able to walk between the show king and queens. I was wondering when I could be one of them though, since I met Jerome I didn't care about what work I was doing. It was important to me that I could be with him. That was all I need.

We had fun for the rest of the day, but night came. It was time for me and Barbara to go home again. We said goodbye to Jerome, and I kissed him. Jerome kissed me back and gave the rest of my face some soft kisses. My sister was standing there just watching us doing our thing. "Ah. Y/n are you coming?" Oh yes, that's right. "Bye-bye J!" Funny how my sis calls him the same as I do. I'm really happy they got close together.

It was getting dark outside as I write in my diary. Barbara knocks at my door asking me if I could teach her some fighting again. "It's fine sis, you're good and you won't need it." "Okay then. Can I sleep by you tonight?" Actually, I was gonna stay awake to text with Jerome, sometimes we do it for hours long. We didn't have an appointment so I didn't mind. "Sure, of course." She cuddles up against me in my bed and we watched The Little Mermaid together. "Would you turn into a human for Jerome if you were a mermaid just like her?" I laugh. "Of course!"

"You're in love with him aren't you." "Yes, very very much."

My dad said he would come home tonight but we didn't hear him come home yet. If he was by Lee- I swear to god. This also reminds me of the fact that it's possible it could be just a matter of time before my dad finds out who the killers were. Except I didn't want to think about it and just enjoy the movie.

It was around 10 pm when I got a message on my phone.

"Who is it? Is it Jerome?" "Barb, let me check it." It was my dad.

Jim: Hello Y/n, I'm coming home by tomorrow morning. There got some stuff in my schedule, I hope you understand.

There always is "some stuff" to use as an excuse to leave us for what we are. I didn't send a message back and fell asleep as my sister did.

Jim pov:

"So what are we looking for exactly, do you think?" I and Lee were walking under the bridge, it was cold and dark outside. Still, it seems like she knows what she's doing. "Let's not make a habit out of it, okay? This is no place for a lady." "Ha!" She laughs sarcastically. "You say you want a strong woman to share this crazy life you've chosen... But when push comes to shove, you want me to stay home and bake cookies." I couldn't disagree with that. She's right. "Not cookies, necessarily."

I was worried about my daughters, but Lee really wanted this, and I couldn't just say no. She starts talking. "So if someone threw something from a car on the bridge, this is where it would land." "Yeah, I guess you're right." I shine my flashlight at the ground, and I spot a used hatchet. I pick up the blood-covered hatchet carefully with my gloves on. "T-H-F-C, what does that mean?"

"The hellfire club. It's a Satanist cult that committed a string of ritual murders. They haven't been active for a decade or more."

"I guess they're back."

"No... No, I don't think so."

When we came back to the police station I have a quick conversation with Lee about this all. We decided to invite Mr. Cicero, the person who led us actually to the bridge. He must've known the killer, and is one of our biggest suspects. Leslie and I came into the interrogation room when Paul Cicero already has taken a seat at the table. "We solved the message Lila sent you. Took us to Arkham Bridge Park. We found a hatchet there." "Dear Lord." He responds as soon as I finished my sentence, and took off his glasses.

"Do you know what this means? It means you're an accessory to murder." "I merely passed along a message." I interrupt him. "You had someone plant the hatchet for us to find. You're protecting somebody."

"Lila spoke to me. That's all." "You're protecting someone close. Someone you love." He tries to stop me. My fellow worker opens the door and the son from Lila walks in. "Hi Jerome, please take a seat." "You know Mr. Cicero from the show." Jerome looks at Paul. "Hello, Mr. Cicero." I sit down on the chair in front of them both. Jerome looks at me innocently and asks if we know who killed his mother. "You killed your mother, Jerome." He opens his mouth and looks offensive to me. "Me?" "You killed her up on that hill, and Mr. Cicero let you clean up in his trailer." "Sir that's absurd and- And offensive." "But it's the truth. What I don't know is why this man risked so much to help you."

"I think he's your father." After they both didn't want to admit a thing, I got an idea. "We can do a blood test to prove I'm right. Takes only half an hour to get a result. Isn't that right, Dr. Thompkins?" Lee nods. "Yes." "I do hate needles." Mr. Cicero speaks as Jerome turns to him. "I'm sorry Jerome." "What are you talking about?" "He's right, I am your father." Jerome knows he killed his mom, but all this stuff about his dad he didn't know a thing of. I can see it when people emotionally don't know a thing.

"Your mother was a cruel woman. She was often unkind to me, but she did once love me in her way. And she loved you very much, that's why she gave you a better father." Jerome let his head go down as he sobs quietly. I feel bad for him, just a bit. But this changes fast as he turns up his head and looks me in the eyes as he starts laughing evilly. I was too stunned to speak and he closed silence. "My mother was a cold-hearted whore who never loved anyone. And she'd never touch a pathetic old creep like you." Jerome says to Mr. Cicero.

"If I wasn't your father, would I help you as I have after what you did?" Jerome looks mad at me, then again at Paul. "My father. Hm. That's very funny." He laughs again and imitates a drum with his hands. "Looks like the bitch got me with a zinger in the end." "Why'd you kill your mother, Jerome?" "Oh, you know how mothers are. She just... Kept... Pushing. And I'm like fine mom, be a whore. Be a drunken, whore even. But don't be a nagging, drunken, whore. You know?" He smiles and I can feel the look on Lee's face.

"Don't come yell at me to do the dishes... If you've been banging a clown in the next room!" It's quiet for a few seconds. "You know?" Jerome laughs loudly and tries to scare us with it. I'm not scared. I'm... Confused.