Finding Beauty (Rewrite)

Chapter 48

~The Hunter~

The thread was finally unraveling.

It had been bound up so tightly: his heart. When the pieces of it threatened to scatter into disjointed fragments at the base of his ribcage, he took out the thin twine. He wrapped it, looped it, tied it - did everything he could to keep the punctured fragments of the organ together. When it threatened to skip a beat, he added another layer, another loop. Bethany had started to undo the knot like a kid opening a present on Christmas morning. He let her because he thought he was the gift. He thought she would be happy to finally be his. Then, she delivered the fatal blow.

Standing there in the entryway of his parents house, staring at the door she had walked out of, he felt the string snap.

He hadn't realized it but all this time, things were leading up to this one moment. Everyone had to have been following their cues like actors on a stage. Each of them delivered blows to Grayson's gut only to step back and show the audience how close he was getting to reaching his limit. All he needed was for someone to understand him. He needed someone to be on his side. Instead, he had a room full of people that knew he was in over his head.

His heart was shattered but those pieces refused to remain purposeless at the bottom of his stomach. They were dissolved by his stomach acid, liquifying in the heat of his anger and then cooling in the bitterness of his soul. It was molded into a different shape. It had a different drive. The determination that had kept him striving for the day he'd see Beth again had pivoted to an idea that he had tried to hide from himself. It was an action he knew would define him forever. His story would no longer be the one of a hero saving a princess or an adventure or a romance or a horror.

It would be a tale of revenge.

He couldn't do it alone.

He marched back into the dining room, ignoring the wide eyes that were glued to him. His mother began to say something, something that was supposed to be comforting or soothing. She should have known he was far past that.

"I need your car keys." It was a statement not a question. His father glanced at where they were hanging beside the mail rack.

"I don't think you should go chase after her -"

"I'm not chasing after her." Grayson pulled the keys off the hook and marched towards the door. He could feel his new heart thumping against his chest with a renewed vigor. "Never again."

The police station was bustling. Everyone appeared to be more busy than usual, ironic as they never seemed to be when Bethany was still missing. He quickly discovered why through a quick chat with the man at the front desk. He informed Grayson that the superiors were visiting. This was his chance to kick up some dust.

He maneuvered through detectives, their comically giant stacks of paperwork and the desks shaking with the clacking of computer keys. Detective Brendan's desk was the one that lacked personality. No pictures of his 'missing' wife or the son he had to be very proud of. It brought a smile to his face to think that he had enough information to ruin his whole life. Maybe he would do that sometime but for now he needed to ruin his son's. He wanted the Beast, dead or alive.

The detective visibly paled at the sight of him. "What? What could you possibly want now?"

He appreciated that the detective had cut the professional charade. "He's still out there."

"We're aware of that." Brendan glanced at the other detectives surrounding them that had lifted their heads from their work to listen in on their conversation. He placed a pen behind his ears and interlaced his fingers together with a tight smile. "We're working on it tirelessly."