The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event

September 9, 1998

["Fly Away" – Lenny Kravitz]

The sound of a school bell fills the air signalling next class as everyone is caught in the ensuing stampede. In all of this, two teenage boys managed to close their lockers almost in synch.

A heartfelt chuckle filled the air as the slightly taller and grubbier of the two spoke. Taking a hand through his shabby hair, he attempted to mat it down a bit. "Oh come on, it's not that bad Eric .'s really not all that noticeable is it?" he spoke, turning to face his friend who was caught in a laugh of his own.

The shorter blonde haired boy held his books in one hand whilst he tried to fuss over the taller boys with a shaky hand, after prodding his glasses up his nose. "I swear, it's a wonder how you even get dressed in the morning Danny." Posing a small and short smile to his face, he cocked his head to the side a little. "It pretty much makes you look like you rolled out of a bale of hay head first" he added, bringing his hand back down to his side.

Sticking his tongue out, he loosely held his own books under his arm. Even looking at them from a distance it was clear that there was a distinct difference between the two boys.

Danny was the type to stick out in a crowd without even trying, his dishelved look being something that many people could appreciate. Most of his mannerisms seemed pretty much lax for the most part, a lack of any real motivation or courage harpooning his efforts to try something different. Then you had Eric, who pretty much was the exact definition of what prim and proper should have been. Everything about him just seemed so neat to the point that there was not even a single hair out of place

"You know you could cut me some slack here, not all of us were trained for 'greatness.'" Danny mocked, a slight chuckle wavering over his tone. It was times like these that he really appreciated having someone as high strung as Eric as a friend. It almost seemed to serve as his own personal counterbalance. Quickly though, his mocking was replaced with a true moment of sincerity. "Who'd have thunk it though, my friend the gnius?"

Upon hearing Danny's words, Eric couldn't help but push his glasses further up his face, trying to compose himself if only for a single moment. "Danny, I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you… I hope you know that" Eric clearly stated to the wind. It was pretty clear by now that Danny's attention had been shot elsewhere. Without hesitation, Eric shook his head at Danny and let go a little sigh.

"You know these things work best if you actually go up and talk to her?" came the voice of a rather domineering Eric, only out to help his friend.

Not even thinking about it, Danny craned his neck backwards to Eric. The raised eyebrow was enough to show how sceptical he was of his friend right now. Was he even serious? "Dude, you expect me to just walk up to Jasmine Chase and expect to stand a shot? What deluded reality are you living in right now" Danny joked. "She'd never go for a guy like me anyway, probably shouldn't even be here in the first place. The only reason I do is because of my brother"

Eric frowned if only for the briefest of moments.

It was clear that his friend just needed some cheering up and no one was more equipped to handle that than Eric. Resting a hand on his shoulder he beamed the biggest smile he could muster in that moment. Eric pretty much owed everything to Danny just for being here in the first place; as far as friends went there was no one greater than Danny. "Well if it helps matters, we could always run a story together."

What followed was a mixture of a good laugh and a very awkward moment of scepticism that came from Danny. After the clear upset that painted his friends face was evident to him, he reeled it in to a soft smile. "No offence dude but with all these prep school stooges walking about the halls you have to really ask, what story could ever be uncovered here?"

Upon turning round again, the halls had died down quite a bit, just the last remaining students roaming the halls in an urge to get to their next class in time. "Look, I really appreciate the thought, but I gotta get kickin'… meet you for lunch?" he said, not a care in the world as he had already taken off down the hall without Eric by his side.

Cupping his hands to his mouth to amplify his voice, the shorter boy shouted back the same words that had made their friendship work for so many years "Forever and always dude, forever and always." Turning to head in the other direction, Eric wandered down the hall, a cheesy grin still plastered on his face

The music fades out as the scene changes to the auditorium. The rows are empty and the lights are out, the only remnants of there being someone actually inside on the stage.

Danny lay's bloodied on the floor of the stage as his right hand clutches onto a bottle of Adderall with the label scratched down. His other hand points to the only other thing on the stage at the moment; a chess board. A few faint breaths can be heard before nothing.

Inside a courthouse, Eric was at his wit's end, unsure of what would unfold next for it could make or break him. Truly though he was already broken, he had lost his best friend and there was just no recovering from that. During the entire case, Eric sat with his head turned to the ground as if not daring to look up into the eyes of the people who would become his executioners.

"Has the jury reached their verdict." The judge asked.

The words bellowed through the room, prompting Eric to look up at the faces of the people who truly made him out to be some kind of monster. The truth of the matter was that he was anything but a monster. He was just a kid and he certainly didn't deserve this.

"We have your honour" came the voice of a middle aged red headed woman who's look seemed so cold and glassy. "We the jury find the defendant, Eric Chambers, guilty of the murder of Danny Thompson."

Cries of victory arose among the crowd, but to Eric, they all felt a million miles away. The only thing he could truly make out was static, as if his ears had simply gone numb from receiving the news that people thought him to be responsible for Danny's death.

Present Day

The sound of a buzzer rang off as the metal gate sidled open allowing Lily Rush and Scotty Valens to enter the interrogation room, quickly closing shut again. Already waiting there for them was Eric Chambers aged by the better half of two decades. No longer was he the professional looking schoolboy that he was back then. Instead, Eric looked very sickly, a man well past his prime and looking to keel over at any minute. It was plain to see just by looking at him that there was something wrong. Despite that, the man sat there with a plain look on his face as he remained handcuffed under his own wishes.

Finally after a brief moment of silence, Eric looked up and flashed the faintest hint of a smile. "Honestly, I thought no one ever took me seriously anymore" he spoke out in a soft tone. "Seeing two of Philly's finest here right now just makes me so relieved."

Both detectives looked at each other with slight confusion filling their faces. As far as they were concerned they were here to talk about some evidence that Eric had about a case that had 'gone cold' long ago. Really though, everyone knew what the journey up here was going to bring; yet another plea of innocence from Eric Chambers. It almost seemed pathetic really. "Okay Chambers, how about we cut the crap and get to why we're here" Scotty proclaimed. Normally, they wouldn't have had to make the trip up here, but the insistence of new evidence made it really hard to ignore the desperate pleas of a guy like Chambers.

As if being signalled, Eric leaned forward in his seat. "I wanna bring up new evidence about the Danny Thompson case."

With that said, both detectives rolled their eyes in scepticism. It had almost been twenty years and it was only now that Eric had called forward new evidence? The guy was either bluffing or just extremely stupid.

"I didn't kill him" Eric stated plainly, looking back and forth amongst the two detectives, pleading to make eye contact with at least one of them. Maybe if he did they'd see what he knew to be true. "The jury got it wrong, the judge got it wrong, the lawyers got it wrong…"

"The cops get it wrong too" Lily cut in with a sharp tone to her voice. Within an instant Danny bowed his head down, quietly concentrating and trying to gather his own thoughts. "Here's the thing Eric, you've wasted the time of a lot of people to just get us here, time which you probably don't have much of."

This pill seemed especially tough for Eric to swallow as he leaned back, bringing his face up once more to meet them with a glassy gaze. Sweeping a hand through his dwindling hair, Eric struggled to force the words he wanted out of his mouth. Nodding for a quick second, he gave a stern look between the pair of detectives. "I did not kill Danny Thompson." The words rang out clear and consistent, something which the man struggled to do at the best of times these days. "The only crime I ever committed was loving him when I knew I shouldn't have" Eric stated, drumming his nimble fingers across the table separating him from the detectives.

Taking a seat down across from Eric, Lily became somewhat interested. Sure, there was no evidence to say that he had not committed the crime, but this only brought in more motives and more elements to the whole thing. Scotty struggled to grasp what he had just been told for a moment, resting his hands on his waist and giving a rather sceptical look.

"We're gonna need a lot more than that to open this case Eric" Scotty responded, not even trying to break eye contact with the man he knew to be a murderer.

With a quick sigh, Eric placed his hands on the table and began to twiddle his thumbs for a moment before looking back up. There was something he needed to say but he just wasn't ready to tell it yet. It was something he swore to never tell and to him, it was a promise made all the stronger because it was the last one that he had made with Danny.

Upon seeing the plight of Eric in this one particular moment, Lily raised a brow. "How long do you have Eric."

The bluntness of the question took Eric off-guard for only a moment. With a sweet and crooked smile plaguing his face he felt like he had no choice but to rattle of the number that rested firmly on his mind. "The doctors say I'll be lucky to make it past the month. They say I got cancer." he struggled to utter as his breathing became more laboured through a mixture of emotions and exhaustion. "I wanna go see him before I bite it, wanna visit his grave like everyone else has got to do… I just want someone to know that the real killer is out there." he rang off, a few tears flooding down his cheeks.

Leaning in to meet the gaze of someone who had earned a slight fragment of her sympathy, Lily couldn't help but utter something to Eric. "Then give us a good reason to open up a case that's closed."

Wincing at the thought of it, Eric brought his hands to his face for a moment, trying to conceal the internal battle he was having with himself. "The drugs the cops found in my locker, the duffel bag full of Adderall prescriptions."

"What about them Eric? What about the drugs?" Scotty spoke, taking a few stern steps forward. Anyone who had read the case file knew that the bag full of the same medication found on Danny when he was found dead was pretty much the main piece of evidence that they had against Eric Chambers.

Sighing deeply, he gave a saddened look towards Scotty. "He gave them to me and he promised me to never tell anyone. Even after all these years I've kept my best friends promise… does that sound like the work of some killer to you?"

The look on Scotty's face said it all. Whilst there was no proof of it, he held his own reservations of doubt in his head. Eric Chambers simply did not fit the profile of someone who would be out to kill his best friend. Maybe looking into this case wouldn't have been such a bad idea. All Eric needed was answers and some release and the detectives knew how to give that better than most.

Taking one of his trembling hands in her own, Lily looked across to Eric with a slight smile. "We'll get to the bottom of this. That we can promise."