The Boy Who Solved Crimes

36: Five flights of Stairs

Joseph

"Who are you?" The girl did not look as beautiful as she had when I'd asked for her number. I sort of regretted coming here now, but I'd wasted my time, effort, and money in coming here to ensure this ugly wench was okay.

I glared at her, "the guy you're ghosting." How did she not remember what I looked like? I groaned as her eyes went wide.

"Oh, uh, sorry I'm not ghosting anyone. I think you have the wrong apartment." I could hear the shakiness at the end of her sentence and I relished in it. I knew I was in the right place.

"You're Kaylee Brendan. I'm just here to check on you." I smiled warmly, but her eyes confused me.

"I'm sorry, you have the wrong place." I glowered at her. She was clearly lying. And very, very bad at it.

"I don't." I said, crossing my arms as she took a step back and reached to shut the door.

"My husband is inside. Go away." She finally said and I actually laughed.

"What husband, Kaylee? You live alone." At my words, her eyes became wider than before. "And if you had a husband, you wouldn't have given me your number. You're not even wearing a ring. Do you think I'm an idiot?"

She paused, frozen in her spot as the cool breeze flew threw me.

"Go away or I will call the police." She said, glancing around her apartment as if looking for her phone. I stood there, flashbacks from screaming women filled my mind and for whatever reason, Aaron with an invisible fist filled my vision. I shook the thoughts away and took a step back.

"You're right, wrong house." I heard myself say, I didn't even feel like myself in that moment. But, for whatever reason, I found myself getting pulled away from her door. The fear was ever so present on her face and as much as I wanted to relish in it, I was being dragged away without a choice.

I couldn't comprehend why my body was going against everything I wanted to do until I stood in front of a dumpster behind the building and heard a voice call out.

"Help me." It sounded strained and I contemplated walking away. But my feet refused to move and I couldn't fathom a raccoon would've been able to say those words.

I hopped onto the edge of the dumpster, noticing brown hair that was stained with blood. The eyes seemed to stand out and I wondered if they belonged to a wild, mangled animal. It was dark now and I groaned as I submerged myself in the empty garbage container and noticed a young boy at the bottom.

His eyes freaked me out. I had only ever seen one person with eyes that color and he was far from a friend.

"Please help me." I heard him say, but his mouth hadn't moved. I found myself pulling the kid over my shoulder, jumping out of the dumpster, and dialing an ambulance.

In an alternate reality, I never would've gone this far for a worthless stranger. I glared at him as he heaved, wondering why I wasn't able to walk away.

"Were you about to hurt that girl?" The kid asked again, no movement from his mouth, but I could hear him somehow.

"Who are you?" I asked, reaching for his throat in an attempt to end his miserable existence, but my hand froze mid-air. I grabbed it with my other hand and tried to shake it back to function, but I couldn't move at all.

"Your intentions weren't pure." The kid said again, wordlessly.

"How. How are you doing this? How did you bring me here?" I attempted to pull away, step away from the spot I was in, but I couldn't function beyond speaking.

"Answer me. Were you going to hurt that girl?" I tried to walk away, discomfort flooded me as I realized I had no control over my own limbs.

"Look, I'm saving your ass, the least you can do it shut the hell up!" I shouted, frustrated as the gray-eyed kid stared at me.

We could hear sirens from a distance and I wanted to run away. I didn't want to get involved with the police, I didn't want to deal with them, but I was frozen in motion.

"You've hurt women before, haven't you?" He asked and I wanted to punch his bloodied face.

"Stop talking to me!"

"No, you." He said, a laugh surrounding my mind as I tried to speak again. My voice wouldn't sound. I tried to scream, tried to move, but I stood there like an idiot, tears streaming down my cheeks.

I couldn't handle this, I needed to be able to speak, to walk, to move. I needed control over my own body. I cried in frustration, so confused by this child that stared at me.

Was he some sort of God, disguised as an injured boy, coming down to judge me for all I'd done?

Would I die today?

Images of a few girls I'd gone on dates with flashed in my minds, finally ending with the face of the girl I'd dated in high school. Violet and the fear on her face, the screaming I had relished in as I'd taken what I wanted.

More tears crashed down my face. I couldn't wipe them at all as the discomfort of salt water began drying on my face.

"You will come with me to the hospital." The boy said, laying on the ground breathing heavily. It took me a minute to register that he was still bleeding, somebody had left several wounds all over his body. "And once I'm better, you're going to confess to all the women you've hurt. And you'll help me find the man who's eyes are like mine."

I tried to grimace, to oppose and run away, but I was frozen with no choice in the matter as the ambulance turned into the alleyway.

"I found this boy in the dumpster," I heard myself say, strange and completely not how I would speak, "he was shot I think." My eyes widened as I looked at the boy more closely.

"And who are you?" The EMT asked as I was suddenly released from whatever bound me to the Earth. I could easily run away now. The boy's head bobbed to the side, his eyes shut as his breaths became shallow.

I could run away in this instant and never look back again. I'd done it plenty of times, it was almost second nature at this point. But for whatever reason, as I saw him being pulled up to the stretcher by several staff members, I found myself following him, and this time, it was by choice.

"Can I go with him?" I asked as I, somehow of my own free will, followed the boy into the flashing blue and red vehicle. I stood there with my hands covering my face as fear enveloped me and I couldn't help but cry silently during the entire ride to the hospital.