Casey’s POV
I just stared blankly at the officer for a few moments, before it finally hit me.
“Missing? How would that even be possible?” I shouted, my hand running frantically through my hair. “I saw them earlier today, and now you tell me that they’re missing? Don’t they need to be missing for like twenty-four hours or something before you guys start looking for them?” I questioned, my voice a pitch higher in worry.
The officers both nodded, their faces solemn.
“Yes, usually there is a twenty-four hour wait period before people can be reported missing. This however, wasn’t just a missing persons case. The Kels and Capellos both found some… alarming notes addressed to them.”
This made my heart rate spike.
“Alarming notes?? What does that mean?” I asked, my voice strained.
They exchanged a glance, before pulling out a plastic evidence bag with a piece of paper in it.
“Oh my god,” my mom whispered from behind me as she stared at the note on top. My eyes were glued to it, and my head started to spin.
There were dark red splatters on the note, almost brown.
“Is that… blood?” I gulped, chills running up and down my body.
“We believe so, but we won’t know for sure until we get the lab results back,” they informed me.
I gave a nod, and began to read the note. I already felt tears welling up in my eyes.
Mr. and Mrs. Kels
I have your sons Dakota and Nick. They will be killed regardless of what you do.
It was like my mind was detached from my body as I read the note.
“Killed?” I whispered, the tears building up even further. Then my eyes landed on the name signed at the bottom.
-Lucifer
Dread and confusion spread through my body.
“Lucifer?” I said softly, my arms wrapping around my body of their own accord. “Lucifer?!” I repeated, screaming it this time. “No, it can’t be! Not him! But how? That doesn’t make any sense, he couldn’t have kidnapped them too!” I rambled, my mind on overdrive. My entire body was shaking, and despite the house being a snug 74 degrees Fahrenheit, I felt cold all over.
“Casey, do you know this ‘Lucifer’ person?” one of the officers asked, looking into my bewildered eyes intently. However, I couldn’t focus on him but I managed to shake my head.
“No, I don’t know who Lucifer is. But..” I trailed off, before letting out a slightly maniacal laugh. “This is all a hallucination isn’t it? Okay, you got me you stupid voices, now just let me out of here! This isn’t funny,” I yelled at myself. Yet the voices were quiet, which wasn’t unusual during a hallucination. I squeezed my eyes shut, and hoped that when I opened them, the officers would be gone and I’d be sitting up in bed.
No such thing happened.
“Hallucination? Voices?” I heard an officer whisper to my mom. I registered her concerned look at me before she nodded.
“My daughter has schizophrenia,” she answered them.
They looked at each other once again, and I could feel myself growing frustrated as I was trapped in this goddamn hallucination.
“Can you guys please like disappear now?” I growled at them. “This hallucination is absolutely stupid and I know that my friends haven’t been fucking kidnapped. That idea is absolutely absurd, it could never happen. And definitely not by that stupid Lucifer guy, hell, I’m sick of hallucinations involving him. It was bad enough when my mind forced me to imagine that Johanna woman’s murder. But now this involving Lucifer too? It’s ridiculously annoying,” I cried out, beginning to pace.
“Honey, this isn’t a hallucination,” my mom said to me, placing her hands on my shoulders. I shrugged them off, shaking my head. .
“Of course it is,” I scoffed. “You really expect me to believe that my friends got fucking kidnapped, despite them being three healthy boys? Hallucination-mom, this isn’t a fucking book or movie. This is real life.”
Completely disregarding my outburst, Detective James spoke.
“You mentioned the murder case? What does that have to do with Lucifer?”
“Not sure why that’s even relevant seeing as my disorder caused me to imagine it, but I might as well tell you. Basically I had imagined I was in the park, and I saw someone bash her over the head with a rock.” I purposefully left out Dakota’s name, feeling obligated not to mention him, even in a hallucination. Who knows, I could be blubbering all this out loud and I wouldn’t want anyone to suspect him of anything. Especially considering he was a figment of my imagination too. “They were screaming about Lucifer and from there it’s a blank,” I told them truthfully.
“Could you please come to the station with us?” Detective Remos asked.
“Why? This is a hallucination,” I declared, still convinced. There was just no way this could be real. It was too surreal to be real. “Look, even though this hallucination won’t let up, I’m going to bed. Maybe if I dream I’m sleeping, I won’t feel so tired later.” I started my way towards the stairs, intent towards getting some sleep.
“Casey, wait,” my mom said, grabbing my arm.
“Don’t touch me,” I scowled at her, yanking my arm away. I felt a tinge of guilt despite this all not being real, but shrugged it off as I glared at her. “Just leave me alone, okay? All of you. Clearly my mind has a sick sense of humor for making this go on for so long, and I’m not in the mood to deal with a bunch of idiot---“
A resounding slap echoed throughout the room, and for a second my cheek was numb before I felt the sting.
I gingerly touched my cheek, mouth agape as I winced at the sharp pain. “Did you… did you just slap me?” I asked my mom quietly, looking at her with big eyes.
Her jaw was clenched, and I could see the guilt and regret swimming in her eyes. Yet her next words surprised me.
“Yes, I did. You will not speak to anyone this way, regardless of whether or not you think you’re hallucinating. And this is not a hallucination Casey, this is really happening.”
Her words really hit it home, and I could feel my chest tightening.
“This.. is really happening? So.. so…” I choked, tears resuming their place in my eyes. I couldn’t say it. I wouldn’t say it. Not them. Not Dakota, Nick, and Ollie.
Ignoring the fact that I was just slapped, I fell into my mom, my arms wrapping tightly around her.
“Mom, no, please. Please tell me this isn’t real, it can’t be real,” I hiccupped, my emotions running rampant.
She gently stroked my hair, and I could feel her sadness mixing with mine. It must be hard. Telling your daughter that her only friends might be killed.
“I’m so sorry honey,” she whispered, and my eyes were tightly shut, the tears quickly running down my cheeks.
“It can’t be, please mom,” I begged, as if she could make it go away with just a wave of her hand. “N-not them,” I cried, my voice breaking.
“I know it must be hard sweetie, but you need to go to the police station and help out these nice officers with anything you can tell them, okay?” she said, trying to fill me with strength.
I sniffled, giving a reluctant nod. “Okay.” I let go of her, the tears still flowing fervently. “Y-you’ll come with me, right?”
“Of course,” she said, giving me a sympathetic look before grabbing my hand. She led me over the officers, who simply nodded. My mother and I slipped on our shoes and jackets before walking out to our car. We followed the officers to the police station, and I didn’t even care that I was a mess as I walked into the building.
All I could think about was them. I couldn’t even bear to say their names, as if that would somehow doom them further.
We were then seated in an interrogation room, and told that I would need to answer verbally to every question.
I could only manage a nod.
“So, you do know Dakota Kels, Nick Kels, and Oliver Capello, correct?”
“Yes,” I said, my voice coming out surprisingly strong. I honestly just wanted to huddle down in my comfy bed and snuggle with Kyo.
“And who were they to you?”
“We were all classmates and we had hung out a few times.”
“Do you know who Lucifer is, and if he has any connection to those three?”
I shook my head as well as answering. “No, I don’t know who Lucifer is, but I have heard his name mentioned before. I don’t know if there was a connection between them.”
“Where did you hear Lucifer’s name mentioned?”
“It was in a hallucination, seeing as I have schizophrenia. I had seen that jogger from the park, Johanna, get her head beat with a rock and I heard someone yelling about Lucifer.”
“So were you at the park at the time of the murder?”
I bit my lip uncertainly, before giving another shake of my head. “No. I was at tutoring with Nick and Ollie at the time of the murder.”
“You hesitated before that last answer,” Detective James pointed out. “Are you leaving anything out?”
I hesitated again. “W-well, it’s just that I can’t seem to r-recall ever going to tutoring.. Or even asking to be tutored..” My voice trembled slightly.
“In other words, you can’t actually account for your whereabouts?”
I had no other choice but to nod, seeing as my only alibi were missing. Although I knew I was innocent, and I was hoping to God that the American justice system will prevail for me. Cause by the looks of it, they were getting really suspicious. “I can’t.”
“Okay, and did you happen to see who was shouting about Lucifer in your ‘hallucination’?”
I made sure not to hesitate this time. “No, I didn’t see anyone shouting about Lucifer. I was already distraught in my hallucination, so I wasn’t really paying attention.” Okay, I’m pretty sure lying to the police is a crime in itself, but I’m willing to take the risk. I might be developing feelings for Dakota, and you shouldn’t throw a friend under the bus, especially in these situations.
“Can you tell me anything else you might think have a connection with either the murder or the letter?”
I shook my head. “Sorry, I can’t.”
“I think we’re done here then. Thank you for your time.” The detectives stood up, and shook both mine and my mother’s hands.
“So.. I can leave?” I asked, and they nodded.
“You’re free to go. But please stay in town for the remainder of our investigation in case we have any questions,” they said sternly.
My mother and I nodded, before we left and drove home.
I still felt as if this could all be a dream, and that at school tomorrow they’d all be smiling and up to their usual antics.
But there was a twisted knot in my stomach that told me this might have actually been real. They're really gone. They really might be killed.
.
.
.
if you’ve forgotten, Kyo is her stuffed orange cat :3 and seriously, anyone who had gotten that Fruits Basket reference [first presented a few chapters back] is amazing XD like seriously, i loved that anime so much. anyone else?
okay, aside from the anime stuff [which i could literally talk about all day - but i won't cx] what did you think?? no big dramatic event that happened, but i guess you might be able to call this the climax? idk because from here things will start to reveal itself. like everything will make sense in the end.
i'm planning on faster updates but i made the mistake of taking higher classes this year [too many honors classes ;-;] so i'm constantly swamped with homework and studying. not to mention art projects, and this current one will most likely take 10+ hours.
sorry for such a long A/N but uh.. yeah. so that happened.
[dedicated to @_GothicGirl for the current cover! also on the side ----->]