I Did Something Bad ✓

onze

22nd January 2024
09: 00 P.M.
Outskirts of Decatur

The Chief of the Decatur Police Department, Anne Peters, heard the patrol car from the Huntsville Police Department race into the woods and instantly knew that it was Vedika and her team.

“Where is the body?” was the first thing Vedika asked as she got out of the car and her eyes met Anne Peters.

“Inside.” Anne pointed at a tiny entrance at the corner of the living room and was interrupted midway as she noticed Vedika was in no mood to listen further.

Vedika's fast-paced steps slowed down to single digits per second as she entered the room full of officers of DPD and forensic scientists encircling an unnaturally pale body, and knew it was Alex.

She pushed through the people to take a clear peek at Alex, only to regret it the next moment to see the pale, skinny guy whose nails and teeth had fallen out as if he had fallen right then. It was as though she was facing something more of a skeleton set than of a dead human being. Despite the paleness in his body, she noticed his head bulge a little, and her gaze fell on the scattered pieces of a glass bottle.

“I'm positive that the person had died around a month ago. You can check whether it is the missing person or—”

“His family is on the way,” Lora interrupted an officer from DPD, answering on the speechless Vedika's behalf. “We have contacted him.”

“How long will it take for them to come? Because we can act further only if we knew he is from Huntsville,” added the officer.

“His brother said it would take two minutes. Could you please wait until then, Mr Clover?”

The officer obliged with a subtle nod and walked outside, but stopped midway as the muscular chest of a five-feet-one-tall man was on the verge of hitting him, allowing the officer to glance at him and the dead body of Alex.

“Oh, you came,” Lora broke the silence as she walked towards Alex's brother. “I was telling about you to Mr Clover, and—” Looking beneath his shoulders, Lora questioned, “Ummm… Where is his fiancee? I thought she was coming.”

Alex's brother stated, “She was the one who sent me here. She…” Eradicating the lump in his throat with a swallow, he continued, “She was not ready for it.”

“Oh,” Lora whispered as her voice lowered to the awkward mode. “Are you sure you can do this, Mr Hudson?”

“As if I have choices,” whispered Jaden Hudson, the step-brother of Alex Davis, teardrops waiting to be shredded and letting out a humourless laugh.

“Then, come.” Lora pointed inside and welcomed Jaden with his dead and awful-to-witness step-brother.

He stood near Vedika, who greeted him with a nod and stepped back a little and shifted his focus to Alex, with much more difficulty than usual.

Though it would be easy for him to identify Alex within half a minute, it took time to realise the ground reality of his life: that the sole, emotional support of his life was no more. It took time for him to step out of the world where he imagined all the shit Alex had gone through before his death. It took time for him to not feel guilty for asking him to wait at the bar and secretly meet his ex.

“Is he—”

“He is,” Jaden gave the reply he never wanted to give to Vedika before she could complete her question. “He is,” he repeated with more firmness that time.

“Good,” Vedika replied, and then regretting her wrong word choice at the wrong time. “I mean, I think we could proceed with our procedures. Yes?”