Chaos Chapter Ch. 02

Chapter 04

Two days after our last night at the hotel was a Saturday. I'd gotten one day of work on Friday and had to get back to work on Monday. It was a cool day and I had nothing to do but watch the television and relax.

I didn't feel the need to answer my phone when it rang, but when I saw the name "Jer" on the screen, I forced myself to.

"Yeeeesss," I dragged out the word just to annoy him.

"The police are here. Something's happened."

I could tell from the panic in his voice that this was not a joke. He joked sometimes but his jokes never went that far.

"Wait, what happened?"

"I don't know, but they said-"

"Oh shit, hold up, there's a knock on my door."

I dreaded to see who it was. As if I didn't already know.

I opened the door to two cops in suits standing there. They didn't say anything for a second and we all just looked at each other, like they knew I was expecting them.

"Tyr-"

I cut him off.

"Yeah it's me but look, I don't know what you're here for, but I wasn't there okay?"

I sounded guilty as hell but it was the truth. Nothing I had done in recent memory warranted two stern faced suited cops, not even the shoplifting, which I was suddenly regretting. They flashed their badges.

"We need you to come with us to the station to answer a few questions about March seventeenth."

I pondered for a second. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had happened to me on that night.

"Two days ago?"

"Yes, two days ago."

I wondered why I had to be questioned about such an unremarkable night. I'd have much rather spent my weekend doing something more boring. I gave them a confused look.

"I'm not sure if anything out of the ordinary happened on that day to be completely honest, can't we just do the whole thing here?"

They were trying to keep their cool, but I could see one of them slowly losing their patience. The calmer one responded. "Best to do this at the station actually. It's just a few questions, you don't have much to worry about."

The look on his colleague's face told me otherwise. I sighed, clearly, apart from an outright refusal, which could serve to make things worse if something had actually happened, there was no easier way out of this one. I obliged, and made them wait as I got my phone and my house keys. No way was I using my own gas for that purpose.

"You're driving me back here by the way," I remarked from behind them as they led the way to their expensive car. In hindsight it was probably not a good look for me to be riding in the back of a police car.

The ride was quiet and all I could feel was discomfort and worry. The situation was an unusual one, from the phone call to the need for me to be out of my comfort zone to the weird uncomfortable cop.

My gut was warning me but I felt like it was probably too late for me to back out. It was likely the best option to get their interest in me out of the way as soon as possible.

We arrived at the police station and they led me into an unwelcoming gray-walled room that smelled like death. This did not bode well for me.

Chapter 05

We sat there in silence, just staring at each other yet again. They sat across the table with their arms crossed. The "good cop" was calm and collected and I could hear the bad cop's breathing getting louder with impatience. I was only confused.

I figured if I didn't say anything we were probably going to spend the whole weekend in that room, eyes on each other in silence.

"Is anybody gonna tell me what this is about?"

My patience was also wearing thin.

"What happened Thursday evening?" the aggressive cop asked, not bothering to introduce himself. I shrugged.

"I dunno. I was at the seminar I was with my friend, we were in my hotel room, we went to the bar and got drunk, then came back to my room and we slept."

That was pretty much the gist of it. There was no possible way to fit in a crime into that night. I knew I was probably wrong about that one.

"You sure about that?" the bad cop snapped. Good cop put a calming hand on bad cop's shoulder.

"Do you two need a room?" I thought to say. I didn't.

"Yes I'm sure. Are you gonna tell me why I'm here or should I just leave?"

Good cop joined his hands and laid them on the table. I just knew it was bad.

"There was, ahem, a string of murders at the hotel the night you were there."

What?

WHAT!?

He cleared his throat again before he finished silently, "on the floor you were on."

My jaw dropped to the floor.

It was probably inconsiderate but I couldn't help but feel lucky that one of them wasn't me. I did wonder who it was. Nobody I knew was on that floor fortunately, whatever that meant.

"Um, uh, wh-, what?"

Good cop nodded.

"So you see, right now we're still gathering information, checking the footage, names, places, the people who were around, you know the drill."

It was almost funny how he was so collected as opposed to his friend who was about to rip my head off. His words still failed to assure me since I was still one of the few people that "survived". I'm sure my survival was in question. Hell, even I questioned it. How had I had such a casual night while people around me were dying.

"Six people, four different rooms."

My jaw was at my feet yet again. I almost couldn't breathe. It felt surreal to be questioned for such a heinous crime. I knew it had to be done, but I also knew that if I wasn't extremely careful with my words going forward, I could end up in very big trouble.

"But, but... I uh..."

Words failed to come out, my thoughts were all jumbled up.

"The footage, clearly, um, it wasn't me," I finally managed. It was scared to death. I was already picturing myself serving life in prison. Or worse, a death sentence.

"So far it looks like that. But surely, you know something, even just a tiny detail could help. Any suspicious people, strange sounds, anything."

I feared the bad cop was about to bite. It was very hard to think when he was staring murderously at me like that. I found it somewhat funny how at that point I hadn't even learned their names.

"Your friend is making me uncomfortable. It's hard to think," I confessed. He turned his attention to his friend.

"Calm down Joe," he whispered as he put a hand on his shoulder. I involuntarily rolled my eyes, I wished I was somewhere else, somewhere where I wasn't being questioned for murder.

"Take a walk."

Joe didn't flinch. I thought it was only matter of time before he lunged at me from across the table. 'Innocent until proven guilty'.

"Stand up Joe."

Joe stood up and walked behind his partner and started pacing around slowly.

They're definitely fucking, I jokingly thought to myself. I almost smiled.

"Look man, the story hasn't made the news yet, but rumours are starting to make the rounds. We're just trying to make sure that we get the right people before fingers start getting pointed okay?"

He put a reassuring hand on my wrist but the statement itself made it seems like they actually didn't believe what I had told them. It sure felt like the finger was already pointing at me. I backed up.

"I already told you everything I know. Ask Jermaine he'll tell you." I raised my hands defensively.

"Sorry but I have a hard time believing anything the two of you say," Joe spoke up. He was combative and his hands were already on the table. I couldn't blame him for wanting to get to the bottom of the mystery, but perhaps his approach was a bit heavy-handed.

"That's not my problem though, you have all the proof that you need about my innocence," I argued with him, raising my voice too.

"Oh it WILL be your problem when you're looking at a death sentence."

He pointed a finger at me. He was probably bluffing but he accomplished what he wanted. My mouth hung open for a moment.

"I think it's time for me to leave. Good luck with your investigation officers," I said as I stood up. I had probably taken more from that guy than I should have allowed myself to.

Before I could reach the door, "wait."

It was good cop.

"We need your DNA for some tests. Mind volunteering a saliva sample?"

I turned my head and looked back at them. I locked eyes with Joe. He was going to bite my head off if I said no, but I didn't care. Yet, I had absolutely nothing to hide.

"Fine," I relented as I walked over to him and opened my mouth.

I stared at Joe while his partner probed my mouth with the cotton bud. He had a few polaroid photos in his shirt pocket. Part of me was curious, but I knew I really didn't want to see them.

He noticed me staring and his hand ran over them and then held onto them, making sure I wouldn't get even a glimpse.

A few seconds later, I was out of that room and trying to call Jermaine.

"Dude, what the fuck?!" he yelled as soon as he answered. I felt exactly the same way.

"I'm leaving the station now, meet me at my place," I said before hanging up. I didn't even wait for an answer. I knew he was going to be there.

Chapter 06

"Dude, dude, what the actual fuck is happening right now?"

His elbows were up with his hands at the sides of his head and his mouth hung open. I felt all of what he was feeling.

Words couldn't even come out of my mouth. I didn't even know where to start. It was probably a while before I started talking.

"No but how are we gonna murder that many people with no sign of it whatsoever?"

He didn't have a response, just barely shrugged. Our involvement in the case was confusing. Needless even. He attempted an answer.

"Like, it's a hotel, hundreds of people stay there, I'm sure there's a reasonable suspect out there somewhere. But us?"

I was equally perplexed.

"At what point would that have even come up?"

"Seriously," he scoffed. Clearly he was more annoyed by it than anything else. I was actually fearful. For my security and my job. I wondered if he'd met the crazy-eyed cop. He was too calm to have met him.

"They said they saw us wandering around the floor. The fuck we did, it's a fucking hotel. What else are we supposed to do?"

I agreed with him. I was under too much pressure to form coherent thoughts and ideas so I followed his lead.

"Alright wait let's back up a bit," I suggested. It was for the best to just get everything in order. That's what I was going to attempt to do.

"We went to my room, got high, went down and got drunk, went back up and went in, continued drinking and then fell asleep. Did I miss anything?"

He nodded throughout.

"That stupid game you made me play," he added, the first hint of humour showing up in his face. It was nice to see. I shrugged, "by the way."

"You said you bumped into someone?"

He rolled his eyes humorously. It was exactly like us to start bringing jokes into serious situations.

"Yeah, that mysterious side best friend of yours Vivian whose name you wouldn't even tell."

He said her name like didn't even believe it was real.

"We discovered her name on the same day though. Do I detect some jealousy there young man?" I joked in a comical voice. He rolled his eyes again.

"I mean, you could at least introduce us," he suggested. It would have been a good suggestion if even I knew her that well. I was tongue-tied for a second, but luckily he spoke before I had to. "They're probably grilling that poor lady, evil bastards."

"People did die," I reminded him.

"Do I detect you defending the poli- wait, wait."

His eyes widened as the thoughts clearly went through his head.

"There WAS a strange sound that night, like, a very brief scream, I heard it, I thought it was you making jokes."

Confusion and curiosity flooded me. My brows were RAISED. I definitely had not jokingly screamed that night.

So there were actually pieces to this story. Intriguing.

"I had my headphones in soon as I was in the room so I wouldn't hear you cries for help," I shrugged. He shook his head at me.

"Wasn't me," I finished, raising my hands defensively.

"So that means we do know something?" he questioned as he pondered.

It probably meant nothing. It didn't seem like a piece of the puzzle anyone could fit anywhere.

Someone screamed? People scream when they're being brutally murdered. It seemed like the kind of information the police would think we're making up to look innocent, thereby making us look even guiltier.

I only shrugged. I didn't know.