~The Beast~
His eyes darted back and forth between his alarm clock by his bedside and his laptop on his desk.
2:00 am.
He had been trying to sleep for the last three hours and it wasn't working. He might as well get up and be productive . . .
But he couldn't do it. He couldn't go out after a criminal so there was no point in doing research. Why couldn't he go out and hunt for criminals? It was because last time it ended with Bethany almost dying.
He groaned and turned away from the laptop. When that didn't work he brought the blanket over his head.
"I'm not going to look at the news."
He cringed. Had he really resorted to talking to himself? If he wanted to look that badly maybe he should.
He threw the blanket off of him and sat up. "I'll only look."
Instead of checking the more reliable sources like accredited news outlets, he got on social media and went through various crime related hashtags. He hoped this way he wouldn't find anything of substance but would still satisfy his craving. Scrolling through a few pages posting about recent shootings in the city, he found a more innocent looking post. Innocent - meaning the post had fitted hearts on it. However, at further inspection, he realized that the face that had been surrounded by the hearts was a Columbine shooter.
He winced, reading the caption that was glorifying the twisted murderer. It seemed the person's account was a fan page dedicated to their likeness. The person was arguing with many people in their comment section who had the sense to call him out for their warped perception on the event.
After reporting the account, Teigan checked out the person's other linked social media pages. He was appalled to find that the page belonged to a sixteen year old boy.
The Beast had stumbled upon numerous people who liked what he did and supported him. He felt proud that at least some people had seen the good he was doing as good. He was trying to be a civic defender, not a killer. However, knowing that some of the people who were shouting his praises could be the same depraved people running accounts like the one he'd found made him sick.
He clicked on the boy's feed and scrolled until his eyes hurt. A lot of it was normal teenager things; opinions on music, emo statements, and dirty jokes. What concerned him was sprinkled in between those things were small rants about how everyone was a hypocrite and untrustworthy or cursing out what he assumed were his teachers and classmates for making school a 'living hell.'
An hour had passed but he remained on the laptop until he found the boys school. He bookmarked the page just in case.
Just in case of what? He didn't want to think about it.
~Beauty~
Beth was watching the family show Teigan had made fun of a couple days ago. She found it entertaining but that might have been because she knew he hated it and wanted to spite him in some complex psychological way.
The main character, a brown haired girl with light blue eyes in 90's clothes, was about to kiss her ex-sweetheart despite having just gotten engaged.
"Don't do it! Step away from him! Step away!" She squeezed the couch pillow to her chest and scrunched up her face. "You're better than this!"
A loud banging sound interrupted the scene. She couldn't hear what they were whispering under their breath.
She threw her hands in the air. "Come on!"
Teigan was dragging something down the stairs at a painfully slow rate.
Figuring she'd catch what was said in the next episode's recap, she turned over on the couch, kneeling on the cushions. He wasn't struggling with it but rather being extremely careful. He handled it with such ease she wondered how much he could lift in a gym.
"Whatcha got there?"
Having reached the end of the staircase he spun the wooden box around. It was a low shelf. "A present . . . for you."
She blinked at it.
"Wait here." He ran up the steps, taking them two at a time. He came back down with a pile of books in his hands. She recognized some of the titles from the storage room upstairs. He shoved them into the two shelves and stood back. "You said you loved to read so I thought this would complete your room."
Her mouth fell open. "Where did you get it?"
He shrugged. He was shrinking into himself like a turtle in its shell. "I . . . I made it."
"What?"
"I couldn't sleep."
"So you went into the woods, chopped down a tree, and crafted a whole bookshelf?"
"I had some wood in the shed."
She couldn't help but laugh. "You're insane."
"Maybe."
She went over to get a closer look. The wood felt smooth and sturdy under her hands. "I'm surprised you dedicated that time to making my room look pretty. I mean, the whole upstairs level is going to need a makeover if you're going to sell the house."
His eyes widened, like the thought had never occurred to him.
"You're right."
Beth felt giddy, giddier than a prisoner had reason to be. She would have something to do, something to make the time she spent locked away from her life move faster. "Maybe that'll be our next project."
She expected him to shrug it off or not reply but he was nodding.
"It'll have to be."
~The Hunter~
Grayson wondered if he could get the nurse to drug him if he said he was in intense pain. Anything to get him out of another conversation with his mother.
He had told her the story he'd told his brother and the police. He got jumped on his run. No, he didn't see who it was - open and shut case. He picked the wrong day to be fit - end of story.
Or so he thought it would be. His mother was back in his room after arguing with Grandma Li in Maderin just behind the curtain. It did nothing to conceal their conversation, if that's what they were trying to accomplish. The only thing that did give them privacy was his inability to understand the language. He wished he had let his father sign him up for the language class when he was younger.
"Your grandmother seems to think you are lying," she said, arms crossed. He hadn't noticed the bags under her eyes a few days ago. Had they always been there?
"Why do you think that, Grandma?" He was exasperated and the skin under the wrap around his ribs itched.
"I know your lying face! Your eyes get wide like a little fish."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not lying."
"There it goes! The face of a liar!"
His mother was playing with her wedding ring, twisting it around her finger like it was a loose screw. "Listen, while you were away I heard that Beth's mother has checked into a rehab facility."
"About time." He seconded his grandmother on that one.
"She won't stay."
"Don't say that, Grayson," she scolded. "It would be really good for Beth if her mother is clean when she comes home."
He couldn't stop the words from coming out or maybe he just didn't want to stop them from coming out. "She'll relapse and make things worse for Beth."
"Grayson -"
The curtain pulled back again, this time revealing not another family member or nurse but Detective Brendan.
"Good evening, Li family." He shook his mother and grandmother's hands. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything. I only need a moment to talk with Grayson."
His grandmother stared up at him with a mighty scowl. "He is resting! Do you not see his injuries?"
He gave a courtesy glance at him, his lips pressed together in a line. "It'll only take a few moments. I'm afraid it's urgent."
His mother took the old woman's arm and backed away. "Okay. We'll be back in a few minutes."
The detective waited until they were out of earshot to speak.
"I have several eyewitnesses with agreeing stories saying they'd seen you on a bus this morning. It's pretty hard to forget a half dying man on public transportation." He clasped his hands together behind his back. "One even went up to the bus driver, who then called 911."
Grayson swallowed. What could he say to that? Maybe he was bluffing.
"I don't know-"
He held up a hand. "I'm going to stop you right there. It hasn't escaped me that the area in which you waited for the bus is a short distance from the location the Ryan Daniels ordeal took place."
Grayson counted the stitches on his arm.
"It also has not escaped me that you tried to get involved in police business during the Ryan Daniels search."
He couldn't be more busted.
"This is your second and last warning, young man. I know you care for Bethany Rodriguez and I know the feeling of wanting to do good. Heck, that's why I have this job." He sat in the seat pulled up to his hospital bed. He wished he could scoot the bed away. "You aren't a trained professional. We discouraged your involvement because we knew something like this could happen. I trust that this has been a lesson learned?"
He clenched and unclenched his fists. The last thing he wanted to be was lectured. "Yes."
He smiled, an expression that looked more like a snarl on his face. "Good."
He got up and headed towards the curtain. "Oh, and I have an update on Bethany's disappearance."
Grayson's heart fluttered in his chest. "What is it?"
"We've determined that she is no longer in captivity of the Beast."
His eyebrows came together. "How? Where is she then?"
"I can't further explain. It's to protect the integrity of the case but . . . I can say that we believe this is no longer a hostage situation." He pulled back the curtain, already leaving. He didn't even want to hear what Grayson had to say about it.
"Then what is it?!"
He wanted to break something but how could he when he was broken?
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