The Right One

Twenty nine

"Are you really certain she's in there?" Raymond inquired yet again, hope sweeping through him as he repeated the boy's words. He raised his phone, one inch from shoving it into the boy's face for what was the third time and counting. In that moment, they all posed a convincing picture of two grown men harassing an innocent boy, even though the boy looked everything but innocent. It wasn't a conclusion Raymond came to only on the account of his crazy crazy jeans and tank top that had a huge skull on it, it was more of the aura the boy gave off even while he was doing literally nothing.

The boy didn't bother glancing at the photo, shoving it out of his face even as his eyes rolled exaggeratedly. He looked like he regretted saying anything to them at all and that had Raymond searching for words so he wouldn't leave them to their own. Ultimately, he was the only lead they had -- if he was, that is.

"I mean -- It's not like we don't believe you-- it's just . . . "

"She's in there," the boy interrupted, voice biting and taking on a defiant stance.

"You keep saying that, but how do we know we can trust you and this isn't some trap of sort," Alex demanded, his suspicious gaze boring down on the boy, but the boy was unfazed and Raymond had to give it to him. Alex's gaze could be really . . . hard when he put his mind to it.

Raymond was thinking the exact same, but unlike his brother, he was more inclined to believe. He wanted badly to believe.

"Thinking about it now, you're right," the boy conceded, an arrogant smirk curling up on his face. "I don't think she was the one I saw afterall. Bye."

Before the boy could take a step, Raymond instinctively reached out, pulling him back by his shirt. The boy surprisingly didn't weigh much, judging by how easy it was to drag him back. Momentary distracted, Raymond let his gaze roam over the boy and he for the first time noticed how skinny the boy was. It was so glaring he was undernourished.

"Let go of me!" The boy demanded, annoyed. Raymond did, his eyes not straying from the boy.

"You said she stood out to you because she didn't look like she's from around here?" Alex demanded.

The boy snorted. "Now you choose to believe me?"

"Why didn't you call the police then?"

The boy stared at him as if he'd suddenly grown a horn. "Call the police and tell them that I saw a woman willingly enter into a house and then what?" He scoffed, coming to the conclusion they were both nuts. "Look, I saw her go in there, she caught my attention because she looked kind of different from the girls you usually see around here, then I saw you weirdos lurking around and figured something was up. Simple. End of story."

Raymond sighed. "A man told us that house has been empty for a long time."

"Aje?" The boy chuckled. "Yes, I saw you talking to him. He's high 24/7. We all know better than to listen to anything he says."

"So someone does live there?"

"Yes, a man moved in there a few weeks ago. He doesn't really relate with anyone and hardly goes anywhere. You know, I think I'm his best friend around here . . . " the boy informed, a bright smirk on his face. " . . .  and he slams the door in my face every single time I go over."

"Mm."

The boy grinned evil wider. "What can I say? I love a good challenge and it's just so much fun to mess with people."

Raymond and Alex exchanged meaningful glances. Was that what was happening right now?

If that were true, that was probably half an explanation as to why he hadn't bothered with removing that 'for sale' sign.