Displaced - Book One of the Alternate Reality Series

Chapter 30

He didn't know how long Ms. Vale stood behind him, syringe in hand, but she must've heard him accuse Chad of murder. If so, she would need to ensure he never uttered this again, as that might blemish her pristine reputation.

Eric wasn't surprised, not given her personality, but oddly enough, Chad reacted unexpectedly. True, he nodded in agreement, but after a noticeable pause.

"It's not going to be as easy," Chad continued, speaking over his shoulder, "as it was with... with dad."

Even more interesting.

Chad, the alleged murderer, wasn't comfortable with this. He even seemed remorseful that something similar happened in the past. Unfortunately, Eric couldn't exploit the occurrence. And worse, he couldn't stop Chad from swallowing his emotions, then summoning anger.

Chad spun towards his mother. "Suicide," he suggested.

Ms. Vale chewed this over. "How?"

"This guy hates his life. He hates society and everyone in it. He hates that he lost his sense of purpose, and he decided to end his misery. Won't that work?" His mother kept shifting her narrow jaw, so Chad spun back. "Right?" he growled. "Isn't that what you told me? That modernity stripped you of everything meaningful. That in this decrepit state, the things you cared for vanished."

Eric could see it now. Chad wasn't angry with him, he was angry with his father. Chad merely projected this anger onto him because he brought up the sore subject. But an anger this intense could only be born of love. And if Chad loved his father, who was the real killer?

"Where?" Ms. Vale followed. "Here?"

Chad spun once more. "No, not here. We'll take care of this at his place. I'll scope it out, and if we're lucky, he lives alone and we can do it tonight. If not, I'll see the patterns of the people staying there."

Ms. Vale pursed her thin lips. "And if you have to see the patterns of the people staying there, how long will that take?"

"That depends on whose there and what their schedules are like. I don't know. A couple of days?"

She crossed her arms. "A couple of days? What are we supposed to do with him for a couple of days?"

"That's the worst-case scenario. And either way, he's gonna be asleep the entire time. I still have tons of sedatives, so we'll move him somewhere quiet, and you won't even know he's here."

Ms. Vale's cast her hawkish eyes over, and Eric glimpsed the real killer, in a way.

True, Ms. Vale harbored the evil necessary for a real space homicide, but she was also manipulative. So maybe she never needed to murder anyone herself. Maybe she merely needed to coax her emotionally troubled child into pulling the trigger.

"Hide him," she went on. "Hide him and keep him sedated. The sooner you take care of this, the better." She turned back towards her son. "And Chad..." She waited for him to look up. "Don't forget why were in this situation to begin with. Don't forget that when people hurt you, they lose their right to fair treatment. And don't forget about the person who hurt you the most, of how much pain they inflicted, and how they hurt me just the same." She paused. "And don't even think about injecting the final substance. Like before, you position the body, and leave the final act to me. Is that clear?"

Eric watched as Chad slowly nodded, doing so after another noticeable hesitation.

With that, Ms. Vale spun on her heel, then started for the door. After reaching it, she extended her hand towards the knob, and the door exploded off its hinges, sending her flying backwards.