The Other Side

Impulse (Ch. 3)

The sun's gaze falls upon me, and yet I do not feel its warmth. Today is especially sunny. If God is trying to cheer me up, it is not working. Though, I am confident such a thing doesn't exist anymore.

The spot is coming up. The alley where that dirty freak pulled me into. The thought of just how grave of a mistake that was for him gets a chuckle out of me. I bet he never expected his life to come to such an abrupt and violent conclusion. He never anticipated his insides being consumed by his 'so be' victim.

I recognize the vehicle ahead of me. The red and blue lights on top of it along with its black and white paint. A police car is parked right beside the alley where everything happened. I must say, this is a bit sooner than expected. I wonder what the person who stumbled upon my handiwork must have thought. Were they impressed? Likely not.

What happens now? There's no way in hell I'm going back to how things were. To my boring, miserable life; forced to hide a craving for something that can be so easily obtained. I'm a hard-working citizen. I should be entitled to something that gives me joy just like everyone else.

As I get closer to the alley, I hear multiple voices at the scene. A part of my mind is worried once I get closer, all I'll hear is "FREEZE!" before I'm pinned to the ground and have cuffs slapped onto me. It's completely irrational, I know, but it's a fear nonetheless. I'm really not in the mood for any more out of the ordinary to happen. A normal day at work and maybe a little taste of blood will do just fine.

I finally walk in front of the alley, and I am admittedly surprised by what I see. David. My idiot brother is surveying the corpse of my attacker. The body is just the way I left it. The area has been sealed off by police tape. It's crazy to think I did all of this with the single plunge of a knife.

David is talking to an officer when he notices me in the corner of his eye.

"Excuse me, Perez," he says as he approaches me.

He stops in front of the line of yellow tape.

"What are you doing here, Jack?" he asks.

"I'm on my way to work," I explain. "I saw this on my way over here. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. Sorry I couldn't give you a ride, this sorta came to me last minute. From the looks of things, it looks like a simple stabbing."

"That's awful," I say, trying not to smile.

David's expression subtly changes. He looks at me with a hint of interest.

"Hey, Jack, you took this route home last night, didn't you?" he asks.

"Yeah, I did."

I see no point in lying. He knows I always go down this street, whether it be to or from work every time I'm forced to walk.

"You seemed pretty shaken up when you came in last night," he continues. "Did you see anything? Anything out of the ordinary?"

Damn, he's good.

"No," I answer. "I just had a long day, that's all. An exhausting seven-hour surgery."

"Oh, gotcha."

My brother is a lot of things. Despite how he may act at times, he's both intelligent and perceptive. Though, he's never been able to tell whether I was lying, even in our youth. He has no idea what kind of person his little brother is.

"Well, stay safe," he says. "These streets are full of wackos nowadays. You should get going, but before you do, know that I have some really good news to share when we get home!"

"Good news?"

"Yeah, it's about Milly and me."

I'm not able to understand how 'good news' and Milly can fit into the same sentence, but whatever.