Courted By A Killer (Edited Version)

Chapter 1

"So, how far is the new place?" I asked as Zane and I loaded the last of the clothing boxes from his apartment into a van. "I know you guys couldn't choose one close to home, but I hope you're not too far away."

Zane, who was about 2 years my senior, shrugged. "It's about forty-five minutes South. I thought we'd have to go further since the FBI are still on the lookout," he explained. "But Cliff said as long as we keep our heads down for a while longer we should be okay."

"You have to promise to come over on Saturdays to play video games," I said only semi-sternly. "It's the only day neither of my parents are home."

"Kevin," my best friend said in mock insult. "Of course I will come over on Saturdays. But only if you provide me with games, food, and a day of fun-filled adventures."

The both of us laughed, knowing no adventure could ever compare to the daring rescue from several months prior when we, along with two criminals, had broken into a mental institution to rescue another criminal that ended up becoming Zane's boyfriend. There were a lot of other details that went into that interesting story, but we tried not to think too much about them as many were more depressing than exciting.

As we reentered the apartment, I grabbed my soda off the coffee table and took a sip. "So, how's your relationship with Cliff?" I asked. "You sounded a little miffed on the phone the other day."

"We sorted that out, no big deal," Zane said. "We're actually really happy. I never thought I'd say this, but Cliff is kinda the best thing that's ever happened to me. There are still moments when I need some space... but we're working on it. And Cliff respects everything I'm still sorting through in my life."

"That's good," I said, and it was good. I was happy for my friend, even if he was living with a murderer. "I'm glad you're not depressed or something like when you were living with me."

Zane rolled his eyes. "I'm so sorry," he said, sipping at his hot tea to avoid looking at me.

I shouldn't have brought that up, I told myself bitterly. Thankfully, the door opened just then and Zane's killer boyfriend walked in, and when I said killer, I meant it. Though he didn't do that sort of thing anymore, Cliff used to kill people. Zane had never explained why, I don't think even he knows, but before Zane and Cliff had settled down together, Cliff had murdered Zane's entire family and kidnapped him. There was a lot more to it than that, and if it wasn't for Zane, maybe Cliff would have gone on to kill even more people, but that was over, Zane was safe, and Cliff didn't kill anymore. At least, not to my knowledge.

Zane smiled at Cliff from the couch, seemingly just as glad for the interruption as I was. "Welcome home," he said.

Cliff smiled and gave him a one armed hug from behind; the other arm was loaded down with bags of groceries. "Thanks. Glad to be home" he said. Next, he waved to me. "Hey, Kevin. Zane said you'd be coming today."

"Yeah," I said. "He dragged me into moving duties."

That made Cliff laugh, still a strange look on him, but less strange now that he had color to his face. "Hope he wasn't annoying. He didn't talk about me too much, did he?" he asked sarcastically.

Zane rolled his eyes and I laughed. "No, he mainly talked about the new house you guys just bought."

At the mention of the house, Cliff suddenly looked very excited and I knew I was going to get another earful of how wonderful their new place would be; I had already heard all about it from Zane. "We got the real deal. It's a one story with big rooms and lots of space," Cliff explained. "It's probably this apartment times three."

"Wow. That's pretty big. When do you think you'll be finished moving?" I asked.

Cliff started putting groceries away in the fridge. "We only started a few days ago, so we're still pretty far from being finished," he said. "But hopefully in the next month or so."