Rose's Journal

Chapter 36: The Demon

"Are you sure?" Willie asked Alex, still stunned by the news.

"Yeah. This is the guy at the hot dog stand. I think his name was Sam. I just recognize the smile. Maybe I'm overanalyzing, but I'm almost sure that's him."

"So, the same person killed you and Rose 25 years apart?" Willie paused, "Or is it a person?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you three were sacrificed, then it was probably a demon that killed you."

"So, he's a demon. Which also means the Rose Julie brought to us was definitely the right Rose, since that would mean that her soul was sold too, giving her the powers, which the other Rose claimed she didn't have."

"Why would he need to sell another soul? He was already rich and famous," Willie asked.

"Maybe there's something else he wanted. I'm not sure, but that's not important," Alex replied. "What's important is that we found the killer, so all we have to do is track him down, and BOOM we solved it!"

Willie looked at Alex with sad eyes, both knowing that figuring out who killed them may mean that Alex crosses over, and they might lose each other forever.

"Willie, this might not be it," Alex tried to reassure him.

"If someone killed you, figuring out who it was is typically how you cross over," Willie replied as he sat down on the bench, beginning to regret showing Alex that picture.

"I know that neither of us want to leave, but, at this point, we have to do it for Rose."

"What if you just prove that Bobby killed her?"

Alex sighed, "I think we have to find evidence linking him to both murders because this picture isn't enough. But, this picture, with the email and evidence of his attachment to our own murder, may just be enough to prove it, and we would just have to get him to plea and say it was Bobby."

"Would a demon do that?"

"I don't know, but it's worth a try. Do we go to the ghost club to look for him?"

"Demons can take all different human forms, so it would probably be difficult to find him."

Alex sat down on the bench next to Willie, feeling defeated. He thought they were close to figuring it out when they connected these dots but finding out that it would be difficult to find the demon was disappointing. But there was still something that could help them. "Why would he stay in the same form for both murders then?" Alex asked.

"I don't know for sure, but some people I've talked to said that demons typically leave a trail of evidence after a murder to make it possible to expose someone. I'm not sure why, but a lot of people have been able to find loose ends to expose when someone sold their soul, and it's often easier to connect than an actual murder." Willie sighed. "Or at least that's what they tell everyone before they cross over."

Willie looked into Alex's eyes, and Alex could see the pain behind them as he said that. Alex could see his internal struggle of whether to show him the picture or not, and, while Alex was slightly annoyed, he wasn't mad. He knew that he would do the same if there was something that could mean him losing Willie for good. If it wasn't for Rose, he would have probably ended the investigation right then just to ensure he could stay with everyone that meant the world to him. There was no guarantee that he would ever see them again, and he didn't want to live a life without them.

"Willie, I hope you know that if I can, I will fight to stay with you. But I can't just ignore this. I can't let Rose die when I know there's something we can do about it. I don't want to leave. I would never leave you just because. And you know why." Alex reached out for his hand as Willie accepted, gripping it tightly, hoping that, somehow, they would never let go, and they could just stay like that, forever.