I Am the Infamous

-4- Sweet, By Accident

"So?" Caroline glanced around the room. All but Margaret were back in her living room like they had never left, save for the new, horrified expressions written across every face.

"So, we go to the authorities." Jude replied, sounding obvious. "We have to go to the police."

"The longer we wait, the more suspicious it seems." Winslow hardly moved an inch, his body sagged against the wall adjacent to the fireplace. It roared and spilled heat into the cold room. Théo was shaking, from the chill and from whatever he had walked in on that no one wanted to imagine. Winslow and Jude both looked sick. 

"Suspicious?" Théo repeated nervously, eyeing Winslow's tall frame. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we all just fled from a crime scene like there was no tomorrow." Winslow nodded, skin drained of colour. "You were literally covered in blood."

"I could not have done that much damage in such a short amount of time," Théo laughed darkly, his mouth agape. "Need I remind you that those were my parents."

"He's not accusing you," Caroline held out a hand to stop his spiraling. "He's just saying that if we don't go now, someone else will find it and you'll have to explain why you didn't do anything."

"Plus your shirt— your gorily imbrued shirt— is still on the road." Winslow pointed a finger.

"I was never going to not tell the police." Théo cast his arms in the air. "I'm not that idiotic."

"Aren't you sad?" Jude spoke for the second time they got back. His expression was broken, and his eyes were glassy. "Your parents are dead."

"Yes, Jude, thanks for the reminder." Théo scoffed, shoving his hands into his wet hair. "Am I acting like this is okay in the slightest?"

The curly-haired boy only lifted his shoulders a bit and closed his mouth.

"Well, the clock is ticking." Winslow pushed off the wall and grabbed a handful of walnuts and dried apricots from the coffee table. "If you tell the police, they'll need to interrogate you. So it's either go to the cops or run out of town. Let me know when you decide, Théo."

"How can you stomach anything right now?" Théo brushed off the fact that he truly was running out of time until a bystander would waltz into his house and make this decision for him.

"It's not for me." Winslow simply muttered, then scuffed away to disappear through the balcony door.

"Again with the rodents." Théo attempted a smile at the remaining two people in the room. Caroline looked away, while Jude just stared.

At times, it was difficult to understand Théo. Caroline knew that he commonly covered his emotions and vulnerability with suavity and humour, but in contrast, this was a more extreme situation than the norm.

"It's okay," Théo assured the room, and himself. "I'll figure this out. Plus, if the killer comes to finish the job, I'll be prepared."

Caroline's gaze shot up and her mouth opened in confusion, "How so?"

"I may have grabbed a.... whoops," Théo puckered his lips and pulled out a gun from under the clean shirt that Caroline had taken from her father's wardrobe. The side of his mouth tugged upwards in satisfaction.

Jude snapped, leaping off the couch, "Holy!"

"Why do you have a gun?" Caroline exclaimed frantically. The koi fish in the wall-embedded aquarium squirmed and hid behind swaying plants at the shrill sounds.

"I just told you," Théo defended himself, tucking the gun back into his belt.

"The safety isn't even on!" Caroline bolted from her seat and reached to snatch the weapon. Théo held her back with an arm, pressing on the safety with an exasperated grimace.