The Dream

Chapter 8

I was terrified now. There was just one way now to confirm if I was the killer. I tried to match the fingerprints found at the crime scene with mine. It was a perfect match. All my hopes of being innocent were just shattered. Yes! It was me! I am the murderer of Mr. X a.k.a. Steve Spindler and I don't really remember it.

I was at the end of my wits. I really couldn't understand what to do next. If this comes to the notice of any of my colleagues, I was sure to be dead meat and surely I would end up behind the bars. The investigation officer Robert Kocher was unknown to me too. There was no way I could talk my way out of it; all the proofs were against me.
I felt like I was trapped in an inescapable vicious typhoon. The only way I could prove my innocence was by getting hold of the actual culprit; and now more than ever, I needed to know the truth behind my dreams.

Jack was my best buddy in the office. He was the only person here I could trust, with my life and this truth. I decided to tell him everything about the weird dreams I was having and how they have started to become the reality. I also told him that, there was almost a 100% chance that I am the culprit in this murder but I was not aware of doing it.
Jack heard every word of it patiently and he was astonished to hear all that.

"Are you doing fine Richie? You have been through a lot of shit brother!"
"No Jack; I am not good at all. The fact that I am a killer is haunting me. The dreams and all the running I had done behind that man had already been rough on me. This is now way more than I could take."
" I can understand you bro but Shhh keep that down!! If Robert hears that, you would have spilled your ownn beans!"
I tried to calm down.
"But what are you planning to do next? Robert is not gonna believe anything you are going to say. All the evidence is against you."
"I know and this is where I need your help. I am going to call in sick for a couple of days and try to investigate this personally. I need you to somehow stall Robert till then.Please, Jack! This is my last chance to solve the mystery as well as prove my innocence."

"Okay, I am all ears. Tell me what are you planning to do"
"Thanks a lot, Jack. So this is what you gotta do.
You've got to misdirect Robert by throwing in some false data. Try being as convincing as possible and lead Robert into a rat chase, which will keep him occupied for a couple of days. I'll try my best to get to the roots of the matter in these two days, otherwise, I've got no option but to turn myself in."

"Richie, you know right you are taking a big risk here?"
"I know Jack I know. Not only am I risking my life here but also your career. I will go to prison but you too will be charged with a felony and hiding a crime and that is why I want you to know, that it is okay if you don't wanna do this. I will think of something else"
"No brother, I will do this because I trust you. I am sure you won't kill anyone. There is something fishy going on here and I want you to find out the truth. I'll handle the things here. You can focus on solving the case."
"Thanks, Jack! I will never forget this. Thanks a lot for taking the risk and I will make sure this doesn't go to waste."

I left my office and called Alice. She was the only person who could help me find answers to all my questions and help prove that I am not guilty. I started blabbering as soon as she answered the phone.

"Hey Alice. This is Richie here. I desperately need your help. A lot has happened and I need to talk to you. Are you free? Can we meet? Please."
"Calm down Richie, Calm down. Take a few deep breaths first."
I was palpitating. I was drenched in sweat all over and I was shivering with fear and anxiety. How could I be calm knowing well enough that I could land up in prison in two days and on top of that I had dragged Jack into this mess too. But still I tried to collect myself and stay calm.

"Now say, what happened? What is wrong?"
I gave her the entire narrative with full details of what was going on.
"That's really horrendous that's going on in your life. You have my sympathies. Sorry to hear all this mess and I will do whatever I can to help you. Come here at once. Let's talk about it."
"Thanks a lot, Alice. I'll be there in about an hour."

I took a cab and reached S.T.A.R labs. But there I was greeted with a heart-wrenching sight. It was as if the whole universe was acting against me now.

Someone had snuck into the lab caused a security breach into the systems there and caused a lot of the machines to fail and on their way out they had stabbed one person who was in a serious condition now.

That person was Alice!!