My Hero

Attack

When it all happened, I was 25. I was short for my age but I didn't mind. My hair was long and wavy. I had always hated its red color. It caused me to be pale and I had what seemed like a million freckles. I had always been friends with Dewey since we were in the same grade throughout school. I had never thought of him as anything more than that though. But let's get on with the story.

I had just woken up and thrown on some skinny jeans and a T-shirt. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, poured a bowl of cereal, and turned on the TV.

"Two teens murdered last night, they go by the names of Casey and Steve." I clamped my hand to my mouth.

"Oh my God." I muttered under my breath. "I gotta call Dewey. I'm sure he knows about this." I said rushing to my phone. I quickly dialed his number and held the phone up to my ear.

"Hello?" He answered after a few seconds.

"Dewey, it's me. What the hell had happened?" I heard a shaky breath come from his end of the line.

"I don't know. It was horrible. It felt like last year all over again." His voice was shaky and his breath was uneven.

"Dewey. God I'm sure it was awful to see." I hated this for Dewey. He was such a nice guy. He didn't deserve all of this.

"Emma. She was hanging in a tree." His voice went cold. My breath caught in my throat.

"Are you free at lunch today? I wanna see you. Make sure you're alright." I said after a few moments of silence.

"I'll try my best. Please be safe, I can't handle seeing you strung up in a tree somewhere." He had no hint of joking in his voice at all.

"Ok meet me at the library. And you be safe to. I will not be getting a call that you've been shot on the job." He agreed, we said our goodbyes and hung up the phone.

I spent the rest of my day thinking about the kids. Not just the two that had been killed, but also Sydney. I used to babysit her and Dewey's little sister Tatum. This must be so hard for Sydney. I'm sure Gale Weathers is having the time of her life. I had always hated that woman with a passion.

"Dewey." I breathed, wrapping him in a hug that would put his mother's to shame. "God I've been so worried about you." I ran my hands down his arms to find they were surprisingly toned.

"I've been worried about you to." He gave a soft smile. "Have you seen that idiot Gale Weathers on the news?" He asked as we sat down on a bench outside of the library.

"No but I've got a pretty good idea. How's Tatum?" I tried to read his facial expressions the best I could.

"She hasn't been phased. You know... teenagers." We both chuckled a little, but were too in shock of the whole situation to really laugh.

"I talked to Syd. Did an interview with her." He said after a minute. "She seemed a little shaken but over all ok."

"That's good. God it's almost been a year since..." I trailed off.

"Yeah, I know." He said rubbing my arm. "I know."

We talked for a little while longer before he had to go back to the school. Sometimes I wondered how he did his job. It seemed so... horrifying.

I was in the bathtub when I got a call from Dewey.

"Hello?" I answered the phone.

"Em, it's Dewey. Sydney's here at the station. She's been attacked." He sounded like he hadn't slept in a week.

"Oh my God! Was it... was it the killer?" I asked breathlessly.

"We think so. It was her boyfriend Billy Loomis." He sighed. I could tell he was running his hand through his hair. He always did that when he was stressed or tired.