The Degenerates - Under Edit

n i n e

"Good afternoon, my name is Constable Drew Harris, and this is Constable Steve St Lauren. We do not mean to disturb you,"

Neijla begged her heart to stop pounding, thinking the police would be able to hear it from the living area. She hid behind the wall that backed onto the living room, in his bedroom in the wardrobe, buried behind jeans and many jumpers.

"Hey," she heard Trey say, and imagined him extending a friendly hand to the constables, "what can I do for you?"

"Good afternoon—we weren't sure if anybody lived here." A gruff voice said.

"I attend the university," responded Trey.

"On behalf of Alsbury PD we have been instructed to alert campus residents that we will be conducting a thorough search of the area for missing brothers," another of them said, pausing for a moment, possibly reading something, "James and Bradley Chadwick."

The man who spoke sounded older, maybe would have been nearly fifty, and his partner not much younger. "This may mean some noise disruption, maybe cordoning off some areas nearby, closing off routes in and out of your home. But we will try our best to keep the residents undisturbed."

Trey said nothing she could hear.

"We appreciate it. But we do have to ask, if you could try your best not to disrupt the investigation as it goes on, we don't want to miss anything,"

"That shouldn't be a problem," Trey answered.

"Great,"

"Well, we'll leave you to it. Thank you for your time," the other said.

As Neijla heard the hinge on the door squeak, a faint voice of one of the officers asked: "What did you say your name was?"

Trey paused, "I didn't,"

Neijla sucked in a breath, but after a moment, she heard: "Trey."

"Well, good evening, Trey." Came the quick response.

"I had some classes with the brothers," Trey suddenly said, "They just...disappeared."

"We are conducting a very thorough investigation into the disappearance of both boys. We want the students of the university not to worry, we are doing all we can."

"I appreciate it."

The door squeaked shut, and Trey let the handle go loudly. Neijla relaxed and let her legs straighten out, running her hands over her hair. She stood slowly and waited for Trey to knock on the wall.

She left his room, pulling her jacket right over her torso. "They were tight lipped."

"Because they know it isn't good news."

He rested his palms down on the counter top in the kitchen. "You have one more chance to walk away. Once the police leave for tonight, you will go home, and you will not mention it again."

"Don't—"

"No, you don't." Trey shot back. "What if they saw you come up here?"

"What is the big deal?" Neijla exclaimed, gesturing. "Why couldn't you just say we found—"

"Stop talking," Trey said through gritted teeth.

"And why did you approach Lila today? You gave her false hope." she raised her voice.

"I'm making sure she's not involved." Trey declared in anger.

"Well you can ask me, who lives with her." she yelled back.

Suddenly it was quiet between them and she thought she could hear the ticking of his watch.

Trey shook his head, "You don't know what you're looking for."