The Fire

Chapter Twenty-Two

Present

One month is a long time when your brother is in jail. And even longer when you have nothing to do apart from stare at false news reports filled with wild rumours about your family's "past." I didn't even know where they got these things from; they were obviously not true else it would be all over the news, but I couldn't help myself from finding these articles deep on the internet: it's a scary place down there.

Social media was buzzing with appreciation pages of Josh, sending all their love to Katie...and some even mentioned me, but only briefly. Katie was always the main event, no matter what the situation. She would always get herself involved somehow, even if the situation had nothing to do with her. Long story short, she was an attention-seeking idiot who loved nothing more than manipulating everyone she possibly could.

I didn't believe James was the culprit. Maybe because he was family, but also it just didn't sit well in my mind. I had a gut feeling someone else was doing this and someone framed him. I hadn't had a message from The Hooded Man or J for weeks now and it did make me question myself, but I knew I was right: the murderer was not my brother.

My phone pinged on the sofa to the right of me. Millie's name flashed up on the screen as I picked it up.

Millie: Heyy, u wanna come round in a bit? I know ur feeling down and I get it but we need to see each other...for our own sanity lol

She was right. Being on my own with just my depressed mum for company for days on end definitely wasn't good for me. But that was the problem. My mum. I couldn't just leave her alone. I looked at her from across the room. Huge bags were hanging from the bottom of her eyes: dark and sunken, like a corpse. On her head was a bird's nest of hair that hadn't been brushed for days. Her shaking hands held a steaming cup of tea that looked as if it was about to spill over the edges. You could tell she needed me; I could see Millie another time.

I messaged her, kindly declining her request and trying to explain my reasoning without sounding as if I was avoiding her.

I'd given up all hope of trying to talk to my mum. She only replied with a nod or shake of the head and the occasional grunt if I was lucky. Instead, I turned the TV on. The screen turned grey and flickered a few times before I could see the BBC reporter on screen in front of Elmley Prison.

James' prison.

This surely couldn't be about him, could it? I couldn't think of anything that could be anything to do with him. Unless he had escaped of course but he was definitely not the kind of person to do that so what on earth could it be? I turned up the volume.

"...we have had no further information about what the police are doing to investigate the suspect's confession, however, we do know that James Lepton requested to see an officer early this morning before confessing to the murder of Leah Cartwright and Josh Stevenson..."

Confession? Murder? My brother?

The surrounding sounds had drifted away, now distant mumbles in my head. There was no way. He confessed. My brother confessed that he was a murderer. My brother confessed to killing my best friends.

But why?

He had no reason to do that. Yes, there was a reason for Leah...the whole blackmailing about his girlfriend thing, but why Josh? I was in shock. In disbelief. But confused.

I wasn't even upset about any of this...I was just angry. I didn't quite know what I was angry at, my brother maybe? The police? Myself? My head was one big whirlwind of emotion and I couldn't wrap my head around anything.

I could feel my mum's presence again. I turned to her and saw her wide, watering, unblinking eyes. This would be the last straw. This would break her.

But something still didn't fit. I needed to know why they arrested James in the first place. Something might click then.

Another thought crossed my mind. If he really was the killer, why would he confess now? Why couldn't he have waited for his appearance in court?

Then it clicked. If my brother killed Josh and Leah, then he was The Hooded Man. He was the man who threatened me for months on end...the one who interrupted Leah's funeral. My own brother had threatened to kill me.

I guess some of it made sense. Looking back, I couldn't remember James being at Leah's funeral. All the DNA forensics found on the crime scene of our house and whatever they found caused the police to arrest him in the first place. The way he acted after Josh's death. And, of course, J.

I refocussed on the news to see if they had any information.

"The police have been fairly private over the Cartwright and Stevenson cases, but we do now know that..."

Come on, give me something.

"...Lepton was arrested over a month ago after forensics reportedly found DNA of what remained of Josh's shoe that matched with James'..."

What?

They found James' DNA on Josh? Josh's body? This couldn't be real. There was no way. How did I not know about this? Why didn't the police tell us? I refused to believe that I was living with a murderer. But, then again, who on earth could it be? Maybe I just needed to accept my brother's criminality. But how I would do that, I had no idea.