Murder was the Case they Gave Me

Chapter 10

I sat down in my bed with my laptop, looking at some articles about pregnancies. I really wanted to call Officer Jackson, but I knew I've been bothering him too much recently. He hasn't had anything new and I didn't have anything new to give him. No word from the bunny men at all.

I've been doing painting jobs to try and earn money, selling my art online and even just painting people's houses. Not quite the version of painting that I wanted to get into but it paid the bills.

My laptop dinged with a notification and I switched over to the tab with my email open. When I refreshed my inbox, I saw a new email from someone with a string of letters and numbers.

"Henry!" I called. "Henry! I got an email!"

He hurried in and my cursor hovered over the video. I was hesitant, I didn't know what to do.

"You don't have to watch it," he said. "I can just watch it. You don't need to put yourself through all of this psychological torture."

I shook my head and pressed on the video.

Eli was bleeding from his cheek as he laid on the ground. It wasn't too bad but it could definitely be worse, thankfully it wasn't.

"Eli, my boy," the man holding the camera crooned.

"Fuck you," Eli spat.

He tried to get up but someone in a bunny mask pushed him back down to the ground. He groaned, tugging at the ropes that tied his wrists behind his back.

"I've got a little surprise for you," he continued. "It's about your pretty little fiancée."

Eli froze as he stared up at the man with the camera.

"Don't touch her, don't you dare touch her!" He yelled. "I swear, you'll all regret it if you lay a single finger on Emma."

"No, no, we haven't touched her," he denied. "At least, not yet."

Eli made a low sound that was almost like a growl. I've never seen him so angry before. His face was practically red.

"This is something else, something completely different," he said. "You're gonna be a daddy."

"What are you talking about?" Eli asked, his hair sticking up from how dirty it was.

"Well, a little bundle of joy is going to be coming to your life," he said. "Emma is pregnant with your child."

"She's on the pill, she's not pregnant," he denied. "If you're going to keep me here you should just leave me alone instead of spreading weird lies."

"Just listen, you idiot," the bunny man said. "Your girlfriend is nine weeks pregnant with your child."

The man's arm stuck out into view of the video, showing Eli the ultrasound photo. Eli gasped as he stared at the little black and white square.

"Really? You're serious?" Eli asked, all anger seeming to be gone from his body. "I'm gonna be a dad?"

"Yeah, it's just a poor shame that you're never going to meet your child," the man said. "Because you are never going to go home."

"This video is going to go to Emma?" Eli asked and looked at the camera. "Emma, I—"

Eli was interrupted when someone kicked him in the stomach. He curled up in a ball of pain. They didn't stop. They just kept hitting him and hitting him until the video ended while Eli screamed.

            "He's still alive," I whispered. "He's being tortured but he's still alive. We can still find him."

            I sobbed and Henry held me tight.