Darkness Finds You [Andley]

Chapter Twenty-Four

A/N: 1. New Years Day cover of Sleep is fucking great 2. this chapter fast-forwards a few months bc I'm again v idea-dry for smooth transitions lol 3. Lodge photos above

As planned, Andy and Ashley moved that spring. Ashley's grandparents, who were quite wealthy in their time, had left him most of their belongings in their wills, including a large sum of money and a beautiful lodge in the Rocky's. Their original plan was to move somewhere on the coast, but they both agreed it would be a shame to let such an opportunity go to waste, and it would be just as beautiful given the lodge's location.
By the time they had moved, their relationship had calmed down. Andy only wore his ears and tail when he and Ashley were playing around, but other than that, they stayed in the bedroom. Along with their fresh start, they were going to work on maintaining a relationship that was more than just sex, but instead full of love, passion, trust, and all that cheesy stuff. So far, it was going great.

A few days after getting all of the furniture inside and set up, Ashley had planned to renovate it a bit, as some places were a bit dusty and rickety, and Andy decided to work on unpacking boxes, decorating, and rearranging furniture and such. Around noon he decided to take a break from all the work, going to see if Ashley wanted anything.

He went down into the basement, where Ashley was working on installing some new carpet. Ashley looked up, glancing at Andy, who had just appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hey, Kitten. Need something?" Ashley sat back on his heels and put down the tape measure he had been using to measure the dimensions of the floor space. Andy smiled a bit, shaking his head.

"No. Just wondered if you wanted anything to eat or drink."
"Ah, okay. No, I'm good for now. Thank you, though." Ashley chuckled. "How's the unpacking coming along?"
Andy pouted a bit. "Tiring. I'm leaving your box of things for you to worry about, though." He wrinkled his nose.
"You love my box of things." Ashley winked, causing Andy to blush a little bit. "Maybe we can have some while I unpack them?"
"You are such a kinky bastard.." Andy rolled his eyes.
Ashley grinned. "You know you love it."
"Uh-huh. Sure." Andy teased. "I'm gonna go make myself a sandwich. Let me know if you want something." He waved a hand and went back upstairs.

Andy rifled around a few boxes in search of a plate. He found a Tupperware lid and sighed, deciding it would have to do. "Moving is such a bitch." He mumbled to himself as he pulled out one of the grocery bags from his trip to the store the day previous. Andy pulled out the fresh loaf of bread and the jar of peanut butter, exhaling out a sigh of exhaustion as he began to make himself a peanut butter sandwich. The fridge at the lodge was busted, so until Ashley could get around to fixing it, they were without any food requiring refrigeration.

After his sandwich was made, he got a can of Coke and sat down on the sofa, looking around the living room. It was a large room that was connected to the kitchen, but the thing that separated it was the large, wide stone pillar that had a built in fireplace. There was a chandelier light fixture hanging down from the middle of the ceiling, a few lamps around the room. The room had yet to be decorated, but Andy was more worried about getting their clothes all unpacked and their room set up before tackling decorations.

To his left was a sliding door that led to the deck, which overlooked the mountains. Andy would go outside if it wasn't currently raining. Even from where he was sitting, though, he could marvel at the beauty of the nature surrounding them. Andy relaxed in the sofa and exhaled contently. This was the life. No work, no stress. It was perfect...

By the time he had finished his lunch, he had lost all motivation to continue working for the day, so what he decided to do instead was pull out his laptop with the intent to watch Netflix. What better way to spend a rainy day, right? Before opening it, Andy decided to check his Facebook, as he had been receiving many notifications that he had proceeded to ignore up until then. He saw a long list of notifications saying people had tagged him in status updates and such, all of which saying goodbye, or wishing him well, or saying they miss him already. They were all from people he used to work with. All except one. There was a post on his Facebook profile that Andy didn't understand.

All it said was 'See you guys soon :),' but Andy didn't know the name, and there was no profile picture. Who was Nait Sirch?

"Well that's certainly an odd spelling of Nate." Andy muttered to himself.

"Carpet is finally all laid down..." Ashley came jogging up the basement stairs just then, catching Andy's attention. He craned his neck to look around the stone fireplace, finding him digging through the grocery bags.

"Uh, hey, Ashley? Do you know anyone named Nait?" Andy got off the couch and brought the dirty Tupperware lid that served as his makeshift plate and his empty pop can to the kitchen. Ashley pulled out a box of Cliff bars and looked at him as he peeled open the box.
"I dunno. Does this Nait have a last name?" Ashley raised an eyebrow.

Andy though for a moment. "I'll go look at it again. It's some weird foreign name, I think." He set the dirty lid down and tossed the empty can in the recycling bin before going back to his laptop.

"Uh... Si.. Sir..ch? Sirch? I have no idea how to pronounce this..." He looked over his shoulder and saw that Ashley had frozen in spot, motionless.

"Spell it. The full name." Ashley said tightly. Andy frowned and looked back at his screen.

"N...A...I...T..." He said slowly. "And then their last name is S...I...R...C...H... Why?"

It didn't take long for Ashley to respond. In fact, the response was quite snappy.
"What did he say."
"He said 'see you guys soon' and a smiley face. Do you know him?" Andy sat on the arm of the couch to face him. Ashley ran a hand through his hair and muttered something to himself. "What?"
"I can't believe this- that bastard!" Ashley slammed his fists on the counter, causing Andy to flinch a little. He carefully got off the arm of the couch and approached him, putting a hand on his back. He began to massage Ashley's back gently in an attempt to comfort him, but Ashley remained just as tense. "Andy... Andy, I am so, so sorry..."
"Why? For what?" Andy frowned.
"That man- Nait, he- He is a very, very bad man." Ashley said quietly, turning to face him. "He is.. He is a monster... He's manipulative and he gets what he wants when he wants it."
"How do you know?" Andy frowned.

Ashley closed his eyes and leaned back against the counter. "We didn't move just because I was afraid of getting caught." He exhaled shakily. "You're the detective. Fit the pieces of the puzzle together."

Andy furrowed his brows, shaking his head as he gazed at Ashley. This was all a bit too confusing. They were supposed to start a new life together- start fresh. What was Ashley getting at with this?
"I don't get it... What do you mean it wasn't just that? What more could it be? A detective and a serial killer fell in love, I'm pretty sure that's enough to-"
"I'm not a serial killer." Ashley hissed.

Andy suddenly took a step back, blood running cold. Part of him really wanted to believe it; honestly, who wouldn't? But it didn't make sense. Ashley had confessed, and he fit every piece of evidence they had found on the crimes committed. What did he mean he wasn't a serial killer?
"Ashley... Ashes, just calm down... You aren't anymore, but you were. Someone who kills more than three times is considered a ser-."
"But I never killed anyone." Ashley snapped, looking up at him. He put his hand against the side of his face and closed his eyes. "I lied to you about that. I- I stalked you, I sent those notes, those texts, those 'gifts,' I played you like a puppet, but I swear- I never killed anyone."

Andy stood still, frozen where his feet were planted on the finished wood floor. He couldn't form an intelligent response at this point. What did all of this mean?
"Andy, kitten, I'm so sorry..." Ashley exhaled shakily. "I was played, too, and I am so, so sorry.."
"What do you mean, Ashley."
"I had a partner, and he used my weaknesses to get me to go along with it." Ashley stared at the floor. Andy shook his head slowly, but it slowly began to make sense. Ashley was never violent. He was demanding and forceful at the beginning of their relationship, but he was never violent, or angry to the point Andy actually feared for his life.

"What does he want?" Andy asked hesitantly, fearing the answer. Ashley glanced up at him with sad, yet slightly fearful brown eyes.
"Honestly? I don't know."

A/N: so like i felt like this story needed another good kick

idk if this is a good twist or not tho bc i have a habit of deviating from main plots too much *coughGameOvercough* rip me ok pls give feedback :') ily<3