Nothing More Contagious Than Love

Chapter 4

We quickly slip out of the trailer, being careful that we don't wake everyone. It was rather late, so no one would be up around this time. People might find it suspicious that two 18 year olds were wondering around this late at night. We took flashlights too, but we were careful not to wave it around too much, in fear of attracting attention. We either directed the light towards the ground, or not at all. That was until we neared the Arkham Bridge when we for sure had to keep the lights out to hopefully find clues. I hadn't realized how cold it was until now, and I didn't bring any gloves. I quietly tried to warm my hands up every few seconds by breathing hot air into them.

"Here" Jerome eventually says.

I turn my head and see him extend his hand out. I blush slightly and take his hand. It was surprisingly warm. Strange being that he never wore gloves. I'm just glad it was dark so it could cover the pink on my face. We both put our flashlights in the opposite hands and carefully flash them around. We walked through a bunch of trees where a bunch of hobos had fires going in trash cans. Those who didn't have fires tried falling asleep on the trees with the rags they had on. They stared at us walking through. They were probably wondering why we were here, but they don't care enough to report it to the police or anything like that. I could tell they wanted our coats. I felt really bad that I couldn't do anything for them. Eventually they lost interest in us and either went back to sleep or went back to their life.

Now we were exactly under the Arkham Bridge, in the park that Lila had been talking about. I looked up at how high the bridge stood above us.

"So say someone threw a weapon from off the bridge, this is around the area it would land" I say.

"I think you're right" Jerome says.

I went one direction, as Jerome went another. But we still stayed close, in case either of us found anything. I carefully scanned over everything that my flashlight went over. Suddenly, I began to see red on the leaves. It didn't look like the color of the leaves. I kneeled down to get a closer look. As I kneeled closer, I definitely smelled blood. I shown my flashlight around me, checking if it made a path. It definitely did. I crawled forward slowly following the smell and the trail. Eventually, I saw a huge pile of leaves, covered with blood.

"Jerome" I call out quietly.

He hears me and walks over. He kneels down next to me and looks at the bloody pile. He removes the leaves and underneath it lies a bloody hatchet. I gasp a little. It definitely looks like the kind of weapon Lila was murdered with. Jerome picks up the weapon and stands up to get a better look at it.

"T-H-F-C"

"What's that?" I ask. 

"If I'm not mistaken, I think that means....The Hellfire Club" Jerome says, "I read about them, they were a Satanist cult that committed a string of ritual murders. But they haven't been around for like... 10 years."

"Do you think Satanists killed Lila? And if they did...why?" I ask.

"If they're murders, I don't think they have a reason for why they killed Lila...if they did" Jerome says.

I sigh.

All I know is that we need to get this down to the police. It could help them with their search" I say.

"Help us with what?" I hear an all too familiar voice say.

Seconds later, a flashlight is shined in both of our faces. We see that the person who did it was the police officer, Jim Gordon. The person next to him was that same woman with him the night Lila died. Lee I believe her name was. It doesn't take him long to realize Jerome was holding a bloody hatchet. This causes Jim to pull out his gun and point it at us.

"Alright hands where I can see them! And put the hatchet down!" Jim yells.

Jerome puts the hatchet down and kicks it away. Then both him and I put our hands in the air. Jim walks forward and grabs the hatchet with his other hand as Lee shines the flashlight on it. He reads off the initials and him and Lee converse about it. It went almost the exact same way for Jerome and I. Afterwards, Jim looks at us.

"Alright, what are you two doing out and why did you have this in your possession?" Jim asks.

"W-we we-were trying to h-hunt down Lila's m-murderer, and we b-believe that's the m-murderer weapon" I mumble.

I was too terrified to talk straight.

"I can't question you guys out here, I'm going to need both of you to come down to the station with me" Jim says.

Jim walks towards both of us and puts our hands down. He takes his handcuffs out and handcuffs Jerome and I together. Jim grabs my shoulders while holding the hatchet, while Lee holds onto him. I sent Jerome a look of sympathy. This was the last thing I wanted to happen tonight.