10/12/2022

Coming too, Gael found himself in a hospital room. Sitting up on the bed, he saw his mother asleep on the chair beside the bed.

Trying to call her, he felt his throat burn.

Looking around the room, he saw a jug of water beside him. Reaching for the glass, the tubes attached to his arm bumped against the table, making a noise waking her up.

She quickly got up, “Gael, baby, how are you feeling?”

He waved to the water.

Handing him a glass of water, she asked, “How are you feeling?”

Placing the glass down, he looked at her, asking, “Why am I in the hospital?”

“You don’t remember?” She asked him, worried.

He shook his head, trying to recall.

His mother became agitated, “Gael darling, you went to a party with Loralei.”

Hearing her words made the memories of that night return. His eyes widened, thinking of Troy. Then that man’s menacing gaze and smirk appeared.

He started trembling recalling the sound of him beating up Troy and even choking him, “Because I can… You’re so quick to defend that fuck show who ran away the moment his fuck buddy was harmed but look at him now, laying there in his own blood.”

“The police found you laying on the floor in one of the rooms,” she explained.

“The police?” He confirmed.

She sighed and started pacing around the room.

Frowning, he asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything, mom?”

She stopped and turned to her son, worried, “A young couple was standing outside the house making out when the girl felt something drip on her face. It was blood, so a few of the kids went up to look where it was coming from. They found a man’s dead body on the roof and called the police. They found another body, but luckily she wasn’t dead, just badly beaten. Also, that boy Troy that you are always with was badly beaten. He was naked, too. They thought he was raped because of the semen found in the room and then you were found unconscious with a bruise around your neck,” she explained.

“Because I can,” rang in his ears, and recalling those words made his stomach turn.

He quickly got up and ran to the toilet in the corner, emptying his stomach. His mother rushed to his side, asking him if he was alright as she rubbed his back, but he couldn’t wrap his mind around her words.

‘Did he do all of that? It was Troy who he beat up and choked me, but the other two? Was it really him?’ He thought.

His mother went out to call for the doctor once she saw he was out of it.

Gael took heavy steps back to the bed and sat down.

Wiping his tears away in panic as he realised that he could be in trouble. ‘I know and saw who did it. If I tell anyone now, wouldn’t he come after me?’

He recalled the smack Kian gave him and his words, “I don’t care what your relationship is with him, but it ends now.”

His eyes darted around the room as his thoughts raced. ‘What? Why did he say that?’

Picking up the jug of water, he drank the rest of its contents, trying to calm himself down.

It took his mother some time to return, but not only did she bring the doctor and a nurse but also an investigating officer. 

The doctor checked his vitals and asked him a few questions about pains in his body. It was only the soreness in his throat that was a problem and the doctor informed him that although he had bruises on his body, nothing was broken.

The doctor left, giving the investigating officer some space to question Gael about what he had experienced at the party.

The officer cautiously started his questioning after seeing that Gael was jumpy, “Mr Becker, I am officer Crane. I’d like to ask you a few questions about the party.”

Gael nodded his head but frowned, saying, “I don’t remember much, but my mother told me what happened.”

Officer Crane wrote it down, nodding his head, “I see. So at the party, did you notice anyone suspicious?”

Staring at the officer, the first one who popped into mind was Kian, but he didn’t even know the man’s name and if he were to describe his features…

Officer Crane could see that he was trying to think of something and said, “Anything you can remember would be of great help.”

Gael shook his head, feigning ignorance.

Officer Crane raised a brow. “I spoke to a friend of yours. She told me you had an encounter with a male, taller than you, with dark eyes and dark hair.”

Gael’s heart shuddered. He could only be talking about Loralei. “Oh that? Why would it be of concern?”

“I am just asking routine questions to eliminate all possibility,” he said.

“He was just rude to me and I was rude to him too,” Gael answered.

He wrote down what Gael said and added, “She said that he kicked the door in that she was inside of with another. According to her, he seemed to be looking for someone or something and when he saw how she looked, he seemed to be disgusted.”

‘Looking for someone? Was he looking for me? He did look like he wanted me to leave the party with him?’

“Did you remember something?” He asked.

Shaking his head slowly with confusion, he said, “Officer, do you really think it could be him? If he was looking for someone, did he find them and Loralei? What was she doing when he looked at her?”

Officer Crane found Gael’s questions defending the suspect, but answering his questing, he looked at his notes, saying, “She was intimate with another.”

Nodding with understanding, he asked, “Did she tell you she was transitioning, but keeping her male parts?”

Officer Crane put two and two together with a shake of his head. “She did not.”

“And about Mr Troy Levi. According to Miss Price, you and Mr Levi have been secretly dating and that the two of you left during the party. Can I confirm that the room up the steps is the room you left to?” He asked his next question.

Gael glanced over at his mother and saw the shock on her face.

It was no secret he was gay and out in the open, but his parents had made it clear, they wanted a decent guy to date their son. On the several occasions after they met Troy, they greatly disapproved of him from his manners to his lifestyle of spending too much and his job as a club owner.

Even though his parents were rich, he wasn’t son-in-law material.

Nodding his head, “Yes, we’ve been together for over a year.”

“Gael!” His mother called to him in disbelief.

He looked over at her apologetically and ashamed.

Officer Crane looked at Mrs Becker, asking, “Is there a problem?”

She hit Gael, asking, “How could you do this to us? Your father will be furious once he hears this!”

Gael had no desire to argue with her. Turning to Officer Crane, he started, “Troy and I haven’t seen each other in days. He was holding the party as a coverup for us to meet. Our families don’t know that we are together. We went up to the private room to spend some time together where we got intimate. I don’t know for how long we had been intimate when we were attacked. We were resting when a man appeared in all black. He wanted to know if we were done because he wanted to watch some more. Then he threw me with candle wax and I was blinded for a moment.”

Gael suddenly started sweating as his heart raced. He didn’t know what he shouldn’t say. It wasn’t like he was told to keep quiet by that guy.

“Mr Becker?” Officer Crane called after he stopped speaking and stared at his hands.

Gael snapped out of his thoughts, “Sorry?”

“You were saying?” He asked, concerned.

“Oh, where was I?” He asked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Mrs Becker grew anxious. She could see how Gael was trembling. It was even in his voice.

“You said you were blinded by the wax?” He probed.

“The wax? Yes, the wax. It didn’t hit my eyes. The room was just dark. It burnt my cheek and after that I heard running. The floor moved too, almost like it was lifted. Then I heard Troy screaming. Oh yes, the glass, something broke. I stepped in a piece of glass when I went down the steps.” He spoke, rambling off.

Officer Crane’s intrigue sparked. “Down the stairs, you say? Why was that? Is that why you were found downstairs?”—‘He seems to know the perpetrator.’

Scratching his head, he said, “I stopped him from hitting Troy, but it was too late. He was already dead when I got to him. That man, that man, he opened the curtains, then told me to get my clothes. He dragged me to one of the rooms, where he washed his hands. He also took out the glass from my foot and bandaged it up.”

Officer Cran recalled seeing the bloody footprints, thinking, ‘He beat the one man up and took caution with the other? Could this be the same person who killed the man and beat up that woman?’

Gael suddenly remembered, “Cameras. Troy’s house and car have cameras. Maybe you could catch the man that did this to us on them.”

Raising a curious brow as he noted down Gael’s response and agitation, he said, “Everything has been erased. The server as well that stored all the footage.”

Gael paled. He clutched his hair, wondering, ‘Could he have done it?’

“Is there anything you can tell me about his appearance?” Officer Crane asked.

Gael snapped in his direction as he looked at Officer Crane. It was as though he was staring into the assailant’s warning gaze that threatened him.

“Black clothes, black mask. His eyes were black too.” The thought of how heavy he was when he pushed him off of Troy and the strength he had when he choked him came to mind, “He was strong, very strong.”

After writing the description down of what he had on from Gael, he took out photos of the dead man and the beaten up women.

“Do you recognise this man?” He asked, showing the picture of his lifeless face.

Gael hook his head. He didn’t know this man, not even seeing him at the party.

Officer Crane showed him the next picture of the woman that was beaten up, but she was so badly beaten that she was unrecognisable.

Once he saw Gael didn’t recognise her, he showed him a picture of the woman they found on social media.

Gael’s eyes immediately widened. He even gasped!

Officer Crane was happy and relieved that Gael knew her. “Do you recognise her?”

Flashbacks resurface of the encounter he had with Kian. It’s because this woman bumped into him that made him and Kian argue, but then he heard words from Kian’s mouth that he didn’t know he heard: “I’ll take care of you later.”

He suddenly realised that those words were spoken before he asked Kian if he got hurt. And with this realisation and the pain inflicted on his body, he remembered something Kian said to him in the bathroom when he was taking care of the wound under his feet.

Flashback

Kian had just finished washing his face when he noticed something on the floor in the mirror.

Turning back, he saw it was bloody footprints leading to where Gael was seated on the toilet getting dressed.

‘Blood?’, He wondered, then remembered the candle he broke against Troy’s head.

He remembered the first aid box he saw under the sink when he shoved the bag in the cupboard under the sink earlier on.

Taking it out, he knelt down in front of Gael, who looked like a blank canvas. Taking his foot, he placed it on his lap, but Gale pushed him away from fright, making him fall on his butt.

Kian stared at him and saw that he was out of it. Taking the foot by force, he held it in place then pulled out the glass, making Gael yelp from the pain.

After the glass came out, Kian wrapped it in a piece of the plastic that was wrapped around the bandage and shoved it into his pocket.

Cleaning the wound, he said, “I was going to take you out for ice-cream but it looks like I’ve terrified you but a broken toy is a nasty thing to play with and I’ve had my fill for the night.”

He looked at Gael once he was done dressing the wound and said, “If you tell anyone about me, I won’t be happy and who knows, you might end up like the others when I find you again.”

He stood up, cupping Gael’s face as he added, “Just imagining you covered in blood makes my heart excited for you. You’d make a fitting display for my memories, so be good and go home.”

End of Flashback

Shaking his head slowly in horror, he said, “I, i, saw her on my way to the toilet.”

“Is there anything else that you remember about him?” Officer Crane asked.

Gael was thinking hard through the constant invasion of thoughts. Shaking his head, he said, “I can’t remember anything else.”