Class Of 96': 1994 (BxB Mystery)

Chapter XXV - "Thank You."

"What . . . "
I stare at my PC's screen. It's been five minutes. Innes just made her first appearance to our friend group after a month and a half of silence.

I receive a call from my rotary phone.
My legs took me faster than I ever imagined. I sprinted to the wooden nightstand beside my bed and picked up, panting.
"You guys saw that too, didn't you?!?" I yell, tripping into my bed. I didn't even need to ask to know this was a three-way call.
'Naahhh. No way Innesa wrote all of that.' Molly sighed, considering Innes might have actually written that. 'Okay, maybe Innesa wrote all of that.'
'She's finally gone mad.' Ah, that unmistakable high-class British accent. Ollie.
I look around my room as if my orange walls would give me an answer. "Are you guys going?"
Molly shouts into the mic and almost makes me deaf. 'Duh! Ollie, if you're not ready in five minutes, I'm leaving you.'
And she drops the phone.
I sigh. "Are you still there, Ollie?"
'Per usual.'
I hold the phone closer to my cheek. "See you there . . . I guess."
'See you there, Stephan.'

***

I bike my way through the gloomy streets of Britain illuminated by the dark moonlight. It was nothing like at day. On a night like this, you never know when danger jumps head-first at you.
I anxiously look around, my heart beating out of my chest as whips of wind gushed into my face. I squint my eyes and try to see the path through the air blowing in my face.
God, I know I've done many bad decisions . . . but please let me live through toni—
A figure stood before me.
"Ahh!" I swerve my bike to the right and lose balance, crashing to the ground.
Horror fills my lungs as a throbbing pain hits my head.
I look up in fear to be met by mad eyes of a man.
I gasped.
He held a knife.
Ragged wheezes of air spat through his greasy beard. My chest tightens like rubber bands ready to snap. I back up from the ground, my legs too shaky to stand up.
That look on his face . . .
He seemed confused, mad, and out for blood. He wanted revenge.
He slowly raises his blade to the top of his head.
This is it. He's going to stab me. Kill me where no one would witness.
My limbs refuse to move and stay still. I freeze as my eyes turn glossy from horror. I can already see the headline for me.
Poor boy found stabbed, bled to death, on a lonely empty street on his way to his friend's house.
His knife quickly darts down as I shut my eyes. This is the end.
Honk! Honk!
White fills my vision. Headlights.
I open my eyes and shield my face. I look back to see a familiar hot red Porsche blaring light at our faces. The Blossoms.
"Get in!!!" Molly yells, aware of the danger.
Yet . . . I don't move a muscle.
I look back at the man, my eyes wet and fighting to hold back terrified tears.
I know this man . . .
"Get the fuck in!!!"
I stumble to get up and trip on my own footing as Ollie opens the door and pulls me inside.
"Fuck you!" She shouts at the man, flipping him off as she steps on the gas, swerving out the block. "Who the fuck was that?!?"
I turn my head and watch as we got farther and farther from the man. He stared at me up until he was nothing but a dot, knife in hand.
"I-I . . ." My eyes flicker. My body trembles. If it wasn't for the Blossoms . . . I would've been dead.
"Are you hurt?!?" Ollie checks my clothes for blood, almost crying. "A-are you okay?!?"
"I know him . . . " I whisper, scared.
"Speak louder!!!" Molly was breaking all the laws of driving, going over the legal speeding limit.
I take a shaky deep breath. I was confused and felt the fear of a dead man. "I know him. I've been to his house. He's Jane Doe's dad."
They stay quiet. What else were there say?
A man who once accepted me under the roof of his home . . . tried harming me. A father of a friend.
I sit there in silence. I know why he tried stabbing me.
He thinks . . . he thinks I attacked his daughter.
But why?!? I didn't attack her! Had he gone mad?
I . . . I don't understand . . .
"Stephan, you need to be careful." Ollie's concern fills the air as tension melts in. "This is a matter of life and death. Even if we aren't particularly involved in The Hazard attacks . . . we still are."
Molly grunted as the roofless car drove faster, hot wind blowing against my face. "That's so fucked up!"
She stops the car. We're here.
In front of us was a sad, glum building. It stood countless stories high with its chipped dirty white paint and rusted balconies. It looked . . . so different at day. Now it just seemed like an abandoned factory.
It was hard to believe people actually lived here.
"You boys go ahead. I'm gonna go park the car." Molly nudges her head for us to get out.
Ollie sighs and looks around. "Be careful."
"Yeah, yeah."
He gives me a pensive and worried glimpse before stepping out the car.
I silently follow behind him, closing the rear door. I heard Molly drive away behind us, left alone in the quake of solitude.
Ollie held my hand. He saw my fear, how helpless I felt. I was almost murdered by a man I knew. "Stephan . . . I'm so sorry that just happened. You didn't deserve that. If me and Molly didn't see you in time . . . who knows what would've happened?"
I stay quiet. I could have died. Lost it all. Just wiped from the face of the earth. And that isn't an easy thing to accept. It isn't at all.
His eyes start to turn shiny. He almost breaks into tears until he hugged me. He hugged me so suddenly, I flinched.
The world hushed. It fell into melancholy and just let Ollie and I exist.
A sense of dread and comfort came with his hug. And when we broke apart, I wish we hadn't.
"Thank you, Ollie." I whisper. A whisper was all I could manage.
He faintly smiles. "One day, you'll learn how much I treasure you."
He let go of my hand . . . but I didn't. I clung to his touch. We may have broken our hug, but at least let me keep this.
He notices. His smile doesn't fade. It seemed like it grew wider. He held my hand again and walked to the apartment.
I didn't let go and nor' did he.