Born To Die Part One - The Case Chase

Frozen In Place

Kristoffer tosses and turns. Maybe the message he sent last week didn't go through. Maybe it isn't real, and this is all just a stupid dream. He'll wake up, and he'll be sixteen again, at school, with Ashton. How he loved him. He'd do anything for that back. He checks his phone. The time is 11:59 pm. The date is the twelfth of February. His heart thuds against his chest. 00:00, February Thirteenth. He places his phone down and covers his face with the duvet. He feels the red-hot, gloomy, infuriated tears prickle in his eyes and run down his face.

*

Kristoffer's alarm goes off at five in the morning. He has to await the arrival of the AMI, simply if they don't knock the door down. He messages Niall; he wakes up incredibly early.

You

Hey Trenton, when are you guys going to arrive today?

Trenton

I'd say about seven AM. Can you wait that long?

You

Thanks a lot. I can.

He can wait that long. He would. He wanted to stay here. Sure, things could be boring sometimes, but it brings him comfort.
He loves it here.
He pulls on his clothes, trying not to cry once more. He sees his face in the mirror. He sees the bags under his eyes and the tear tracks on his cheeks. Scars and burns cover his arms and legs from previous cases, monumental to his emptiness. He sits on the bed, watching time tick by.
Nothing feels real. His mind feels empty. Everything aches. A message pops up on Kristoffer's phone after he'd been staring blankly at the clock for an hour and fifty minutes. He rips his eyes away from the clock.

Strangelove

Today's the big day! You did a very good job on these cases, I'm impressed. Trenton told me you messaged, and we will be arriving at seven AM. We won't be a minute earlier or later. We'll see you then.
-S. L. V. Strangelove

He doesn't respond to the text. The silence feels too loud, roaring and pulsing in his ears. He waits until he hears Ashton and Alexis go down the stairs.

Six fifty-seven.

Kristoffer places his gun in his hoodie pocket.

Six fifty-eight.

He rushes down the three flights of stairs, almost tumbling down them.

Six fifty-nine.

'Hey Kristoffer,' Alexis smiles from the dining room, drinking a coffee and reading a newspaper. She is wearing a large, black T-shirt and a pair of electric blue leggings.

'Guess we're all up early,' Ashton mutters from his phone. He is wearing a purple woollen jumper and a pair of large blue jeans.

That could be the last outfit he sees them in.

Twenty seconds until the AMI busts the door down. His hands tremble.

'Are you alright, Kristoffer? You look nervous,' She asks, a quizzical expression on her face.

Fifteen seconds.

'Fine, yeah,' He walks to the front door.

Ten seconds.

'Where are you going?'

Three.

Two.

One.

The hinges fly off of the front door. Kristoffer steps back to avoid the fragments of glass scattered across the hardwood floor. Niall Trenton, Eudora Kathlyhan, and Sam Strangelove stand in the doorway, guns at the ready. Eudora jerks her head to the side, raising her eyebrow.

'They're in the dining room,' Kristoffer whispers. Alexis and Ashton hurry from the dining room. Ashton has his wings fully outstretched, making himself look bigger. Alexis's eyes turn red, claws growing from her regular nails. They immediately stop, seeing the guns ready to open fire at them.

'AMI, don't move a muscle unless instructed!' Niall yells. He points his gun towards Ashton, while Eudora points hers at Alexis, 'We're here to take you into custody. Come quietly, don't put up a fight. It'll only make things worse.'

'Kristoffer, did you know about this?' Alexis asks desperately, clinging to the shreds of hope that he didn't know. Something was just happening coincidentally, 'Do you?'

Kristoffer fumbles for his gun. Pointing it at Alexis, he says, 'You heard him. Come quietly.'

A look of utter betrayal crosses both of their faces. It burns into Kristoffer's eyes, the guilt welling in the pit of his stomach. Heavier than ever.

'Kathlyhan, take Florakis. Trenton, take Rockwell,' Strangelove instructs, 'Take them to the cars. Then take them back to the AMI. We'll figure out what to do with them when we get back.'

'Yes, Ms. Strangelove,' Eudora and Niall respond in unison. Placing their guns by their side.

'Don't even try and escape,' Strangelove grins at the two people being taken away. A look of hatred and disgust crosses Ashton's face, 'It'll make things worse.'

Kristoffer feels the ice start in his brain. That freezing, aching guilt of knowing you've done something wrong. He tries not to look at his friends - could he even call them that? – as they are escorted away. Strangelove flicks a hair from her face.

'Good job, Kristoffer,' She turns to him as Eudora leaves, kicking the back of Alexis's shins as she does. It alerts him from his trance-like state, 'I am aware I have already told you, but this was difficult. Come back with us. You need rest.'

Kristoffer nods, his neck feeling stiff from his fear. Why was he even scared? There is nothing for him to be frightened of. Strangelove smiles her cold yet fond smile. She promptly turns on her heel, and paces towards where the others are. Her footfalls make a crunching sound as she walks over the glass.

There he goes again. Ambling uselessly behind his boss like a lost sheep.

Stupid.

Everything feels distant. He locks eyes with Ashton as the car door is shut on him. The pure dismay and betrayal on his face rocks Kristoffer to his core. His head feels heavy and the air in the world doesn't seem to suffice for his lungs.

At least it was done.