Of the Twisted and the Lost

Chapter 35:

"Junjie!" Seth breaks through the police office, eyes widened with panic. "There's been a situation!" 

"What is it?" Junjie asks. "Is it Sera?" 

Seth shakes his head, which makes Junjie's heart sink. 

"Murder," gasps Seth. "At 4142 Tenby Lane!" 

Junjie goes cold. "They think it's me, don't they?" He mumbles a curse under his breath. "Idiots." 

Seth lowers his head. 

Damn it. 

"Drive," Junjie orders, cutting his eyes towards Seth's police car. "Now." 

Both of them rush into the car, exhilaration flowing in Junjie's veins. 

"You have information," says Junjie. "Do tell." 

"They think you murdered Jared because you apparently got into a fight with him," Seth informs as he presses the gas pedal. 

"Oh." Junjie sighs, flicking a dismissive hand. "Jared got murdered. Ah well. That's a pity." 

Junjie doesn't actually care that it's Jared that got killed. Besides, he hates him all the same. 

"That's also why they think you killed him," snorts Seth. "At least try to act like you pity him." 

Junjie lets out an irritated noise, as he tucks his coat closer to his body. 

"You've been searching for evidence, haven't you?" Seth notices the small movement with a raised eyebrow. 

"What else would I be doing?" Junjie replies smoothly. 

Seth acknowledges the statement with the slight tilt of his head. 

The car veers sharply to the right and Junjie taps his thigh impatiently. "Just open that light bar thing," Junjie sighs. "Then we could be there faster." 

"Emergency only," Seth reminds him sternly. 

Junjie grunts in annoyance, but he remains silent, sitting back in the passenger seat. The silence is stifling with tension, as Junjie allows his body to finally relax. 

You failed again. . . 

Damn it. 

You failed the one person who mattered most to you. 

Again. 

It's like a cycle. Round and round the story goes, me failing and not closer to finding Sera at all. 

Work harder, one part of his head says. The least you can do is fight harder for her. Work harder. Fight harder. 

The other part of his head screams: Yeah, but I literally already tried finding evidence but there's nothing! So you expect me to shrivel in the snow, chasing after nothing? 

Shut up. I'm not giving up. 

"We're here," Seth says grimly. "Try to be polite, alright? We don't want them to be suspicious." 

Junjie arches an eyebrow. "That would be going against my whole personality," he replies back, before stepping out of the car. 

The man standing in the door scowls, obviously already notified that Junjie is a suspect. 

"Let me in," Junjie snaps. "I'm here to examine the crime scene." 

"Because you want to cover up your crimes?" grunts the man. "Yeah, that's what I thought, little man." 

"Oh, for God's sake!" Junjie groans. "I am not the killer." 

"Let him through," Seth says, flashing his police badge in the man's direction. "He's with me." 

The man casts one last suspicious look at Junjie, before moving aside. 

Junjie immediately begins to examine the room, his eyes sharpening, checking for anything out of the place. 

Security on the left, police officers milling the area, crowding the place — Beth still near the desk, hysterical, most likely. Floors have so many footprints on them, but it's nearly impossible to identify the killer unless we know their identity. Snow and mud mixed together, adding on to making it impossible to identify them. 

Junjie finds Jared lying on the ground, a knife stabbed deep in him. Blood spills around him, ruby-colored, looking a little bit like a warning. 

"Maybe he's a serial killer?" Sam suggests. 

Sam? The hell? 

"What are you doing here?" Junjie asks bluntly as he jerks back. 

Sam looks up, his lips twisting into a sneer. "Hello, Junjie," he spits out. "We meet again, eh?" 

"We meet again, since the last time I punched your face," mutters Junjie, before faking a smile. "But sure. It's always a pleasure seeing you." 

After Sera had gone missing, Sam had grown even more mean-spirited, unleashing his wrath upon Junjie, Avelyn, Cami, and whoever decided to challenge him. 

Junjie had gotten bored of Sam's cruel ways, so he decided to punch his classmate in the face and that brought Sam into the hospital. 

"Right back at you," Sam says, raising his chin snootily. "Though I must say, you're looking worse than I saw you a month ago." 

Junjie grits his teeth, clenching his hands into fists. "So are you," he fires back, before cocking a grin. "Your nose looks better, though. I'm glad a whole month in the hospital has fixed that." 

Sam glares. 

"Whatever, Junjie." Sam spits the name out like it's lethal poison. "No one likes your freaky talent or your attitude either." 

"Same goes for you," Junjie says with a shrug. "No one likes your broken nose or your fear-inducing tactics." 

With a growl, Sam stomps off — only to trip over the yellow tape that has the words "stay out" printed on it. 

"Stop laughing at me," Sam snarls. 

Junjie raises his hands in the air. "I'm not laughing," he says. "Does it look like I'm laughing?" 

"I can hear you secretly laughing at me!" yells Sam. "So stop smirking at me with that snobby smirk of yours, like you're better than me!" 

Junjie sends Sam an amused look. 

It appears that all this time in the hospital has made Sam slightly loose in the screws. Not that he isn't, before. 

"You're contaminating the crime scene," Junjie points out. 

"What?" Sam looks confused, as his eyebrows furrow together. 

"Your shoe," Junjie says. "It's inside the tape." 

"For goodness sake!" Sam spits out. "No one cares if my shoe is in the—" 

"I do. Plus, there's an eighty percent chance the killer walked on that tile, the very one your shoe is on." 

Sam narrows his dark eyes, though he still stands up. 

"Thank you," Junjie says. "Now good sire, you may leave." 

"Actually," Seth speaks up. "I decided to have you two partner up to find out who murdered Jared."