The Devil is Marvelous

Chapter 35

Officials did find Rogue's bandana. The damn thing must have fallen off of him while we were either entering or leaving Patrick Devonshire's house, because it was found underneath the bench on his front porch. Of course that would happen, because mine and Rogue's life can never be easy.

The autopsy report for Patrick Devonshire came out on Thursday while we were at lunch. Everyone, and I mean everyone had their phones out, scrolling through social media, watching live reports come out in real time on Twitter. The outdoor court was a goddamn madhouse, everyone was playing detective, trying to piece together why Patrick Devonshire committed suicide.

Now, I had mixed emotions about this whole situation. For one, I was exhausted. Physically from the lack of sleep I got last night, and mentally from worry. When Rogue told me that he lost his bandana, I tried to stay calm for the sake of his sanity, but I wanted to fucking scream. Rogue was correct that any evidence found at the scene would be investigated. Any DNA found on that bandana could be traced to Rogue, who would more than likely be questioned. That would be a major pain in the ass, for as much I would hope Rogue wouldn't throw me under the bus for being there with him, I didn't trust he would leave me out of it.

Secondly, I was fucked up from watching a man kill himself. Who the hell wouldn't be? When it happened, I was too shocked to react. Rogue had latched onto me, shaking, balling his eyes out. I dragged him outside as fast as I could, hoping no one noticed us. Once again, for Rogue's sake, I buried any possible emotion, telling him that shit happens and we need to move on. It took fucking forever to calm him down, I even let him crash at my place.

Now that the adrenaline had died down I was sick to my stomach. The moment that Patrick slit his throat was playing over and over again in my head like a fucking GIF. I knew there was no way I could let myself react over the situation, it would look suspicious. Besides, my job as a member of the Crimson Blaze is to be strong and unbothered. It requires absolutely no emotion when carrying out tasks from the boss. It doesn't matter what the assignment is: robbery, torture, or even murder, we are to carry out the task then move on with our lives.

There have been few other times since I joined the Crimson Blaze where gang members were sent after people for one reason or another, and came back with the news that the person had offed themselves. These members seemed completely unfazed; some even laughed at the situation. Fortunately, none of them lost a goddamn bandana that the police could trace back to our gang. In that way, Rogue and I were in for a long, hard beating from the boss when he returned.

Amidst the lunch craziness, I noticed Ava get up from her table and run inside inside the school. Red riding hood tried to follow her, but that Lucas guy held her back.

Nonchalantly, I strolled across the courtyard, trying to not draw attention to myself so my friends didn't stop me or tag along. I found Ava by the school entrance, leaning with her back against the doors. Her arms were tightly crossed, and her head hung down so that her hair created a curtain around her face.

"Why so sad, doll?"

She seemed startled at first, but when her eyes rested on mine, so loosened up, taking a deep breath. "All this talk about death and murder...it's just getting to me, ya know?"

Murder?

"I thought... the reports said that Patrick killed himself?" I asked calmly. Meanwhile, my heart felt like it was about to beat out of my fucking chest. Had the reports changed?? They couldn't change, he DID kill himself, I fucking watched it happen!

"They did say that it was a suicide" she responded in a hushed tone, "but people are starting to speculate. That bandana that the police found... Lucas and Rylee were telling me that there's been cases before with that same bandana found at the scene of a crime. What if... I just think maybe..."