Heavy Rain Chronicles: The Widower
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Heavy Rain. Credits belong to David Cage.
J. EDGAR HOOVER FEDERAL BUILDING
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1:22 PM
2.3 INCHES OF RAINFALL
It was just another normal day at the office for Agent Norman Jayden at the headquarters. Sorting through the stacks of paperwork from solved or unsolved cases, occasionally glancing out of his office window to watch the rain. A knock at his door interrupted his concentration to the weather.
"Come in."
His secretary entered. Mona was her name, a lovely blonde 27 year old who would attract the eyes of the other agents, her perfume smelling of lavender as she passed them. She wore thin-rimmed dark brown glasses, behind them, perfect green eyes. Her voice, soft and soothing.
"Here are the files you wanted, boss. Oh, and the director wants to see you in his office at 1:30. Sounds pretty important."
"Think I'm in trouble?" he chuckled.
"You always seem to find your way out of a sticky situation, Norm." she winked.
A feeling of guilt and arousal came over Jayden.
He finished whatever he was working on and got up to head in the direction of the FBI director's office. Thoughts swam in his mind.
Did he find out about my affair with Mona? No, it couldn't be, she wouldn't be as calm about this...unless she's in on it and conspiring against me. Maybe it's just a need-to-know assignment. I'm profiler of the month two years running, they should give me a damn promotion!
Jayden made his way to the office and knocked, the Director beckoning him in.
"You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Agent Jayden, have a seat."
He seems serious.
"I've got good news and bad news, Jayden. The good news is, you're getting a promotion. Congratulations, Special Agent."
A promotion! I knew it, thank God.
"Thank you, sir. But what's the bad news?" he asked.
"The bad news is, we won't have your usefulness around the office as much. You're being assigned a position in the field. We want you on the Origami Killer case. The thing is, myself and the guys down in the lab have chosen you to be the prototype for an experimental virtual reality system that aids in forensics analysis and investigation. It's cutting edge, real sci-fi shit." the Director explained.
"What is it?"
"We call it, the 'Added Reality Interface' or ARI. It's a set of black sunglasses, a glove that works in conjunction with them...and one more thing, a catch." he began.
"What's the catch, sir?" Jayden inquired.
"An experimental drug, called Triptocaine. You are required to use the drug to mellow out the effects of ARI due to the psychotropic and addictive tendencies it can have on the user."
"This all seems a little extreme, sir. I mean, does the mission outweigh the costs?" he questioned.
"You would do your country a great service by accepting this mission, Special Agent Jayden. Think of how many more young boys you'll be able to save from that monster." the Director assured.
"You're right, Mr. Director. I accept." Jayden confirmed.
"Outstanding. Go see logistics to pick up your equipment, then you're free to go for the day." and with that, the Director sent him on his way.
"Thank you, sir." Jayden said as he turned away to leave.
Virtual reality, drugs, is this what's in store for the future of the Agency?
He made his way back to the office, finding Mona there, leaning on his desk.
"So, what's the big news?" she pried.
"I've been promoted." he replied.
"Ahh! That's great news, Normie!" she got up to wrap her arms around him. That damn smell of hers. "When should we celebrate? How should we celebrate..?" she whispered.
"I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself as usual, Mona..." Jayden moved away only slightly.
"I'd like to get a head on you, Special Agent Jayden." she softly cooed in his ear, licking the lobe, then biting it.
"Steel yourself, Agent St. Claire. I'm a married man."
"Never stopped you before." she looked him in the eyes and batted her own, then walked by him to leave his office.
Fixing his tie, he headed to the logistics department to recieve the ARI and glove attached to it.
"I'm the agent they're issuing the Added Reality Interface program." he stated to the clerk.
"Ah, Special Agent Jayden. Here are your items, the ARI sunglasses along with the motion detection glove. You can pick up your prescripition and Triptocaine vial at the pharmaceutical department. The tutorial for the glasses are included in the programming." he instructed.
"Thanks. Have a good one." Jayden crossed over to the pharmacy and was issued the mysterious Triptocaine by the physician.
"One vial of Tripto for a Special Agent Norman Jayden, 3.5 milligrams. Should be taken by route of insufflation. Watch your intake, this drug is experimental and highly addictive in large dosage. Side effects include euphoria, as it is a local re-uptake inhibitor of dopamine, serotonin and nor-adrenaline receptors, as well as heightened focus. Symptoms may include but are not limited to; irritability, mood swings, vertigo, bouts of aggression, tremors, nosebleeds, anxiety, dehydration, so remain hydrated as much as possible, pale or clammy skin, blurry vision, aches and pains, tachycardia, and in extreme cases such as overdose or excessive use...hallucinations followed by death. Any questions?" he asked.
"I think I got it covered, I'll be sure to keep it out of reach of children." he smirked.
"Happy hunting, Special Agent Jayden!"
Soon after, he recieved a text from the wife.
( COME HOME )
( I NEED YOU HERE NOW )
What the hell is up with her?
He sent a reply.
( Are you okay? What's wrong? )
Ten minutes went by as he got to his car, a 2009 all black four-door BMW. Still no reply from his spouse.
He called the house phone, but only got voicemail.
This isn't like her, I hope she didn't forget to take her meds today...
THE JAYDEN RESIDENCE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
2:30 PM
3.2 INCHES OF RAINFALL
Lightning crackled in the distance near the base where Jayden was once stationed during his collegiate days studying psychology while a seaman cadet at Annapolis. He entered his home, but it was not as he usually expected once inside. The living room was a wreck, so he drew his gun thinking his wife would be in danger from a burglar or something of the sort. As he made haste further in, he found her in the kitchen. Simply sitting and facing the window, watching the rain.
"The first time I saw you, I knew you were the one." she spoke, spinning in the chair, now facing him.
"Honey, are you okay? W-what happened, why does it look like a tornado came through the living room?" Jayden stuttered and chuckled nervously, putting his pistol on the table. "You remembered to take your pills right?"
"I thought these things only happened in the movies, you know? Pounding heart, the sweaty hands and the shaky legs." she giggled.
"Baby...talk to me. What's wrong?" Jayden barely audibly retorted.
"I was coming out of the theater, and it started pouring heavy rain, so there I was; soaking wet, teeth chattering, freezing cold. Then you came up to me. You looked me straight in the eyes and you said; 'need an umbrella, miss?'"
"Yeah, I remember...why...why are you telling me this, babe?" he replied.
"You sent me flowers for weeks and you said you'd love me forever. Three weeks later, we were getting married." she sighed and smiled a crooked smile.
"God, it sounds so stupid. It's such a corny romance! But real life..." she got up from the chair to walk over to the sink.
"...it never ends with being what you think it's gonna be. You think it's gonna be one big happy fairytale; and then one day you wake up and an average little house, leading an average little life...and your real dreams are about paying the bills and maybe someday getting a bigger TV? 'Cause you realize that, maybe that wasn't the life you were dreaming of; you realize maybe things could've been different...and maybe I actually could've lived with all that, but then one day it all. Just. Stops. Starts with something small. A little lipstick on the collar, other nights when you come in a bit late..."
Oh, God. She knows. Fuck, she knows! Flashbacks of Jayden and his passionate lovemaking with Agent St. Claire replayed in his head, torturing him.
"Oh, baby, please...I never meant-"
"At first, I tell myself that I'm crazy. That you would never do such a thing...but, just to ease my mind, one night I follow you as you leave the office. I follow you to the seedy hotel, where you meet the girl...and then my whole world falls apart."
Lightning strikes crash closer. And closer.
And closer.
"Please, honey, I love YOU! God, I'm so sorry! She meant nothing, you're my wife, you're my entire life! I can't breathe without you!" Jayden cried out. "But Jesus...the medications they had you on...it was like you weren't even there anymore..."
"I come home, and I cry for hours in the kitchen! I get the gun from drawer in the bedroom-" Jayden's wife clutches a nine millimeter revolver, with hands that shake like the autumn leaves.
"Wait, what are you doing with that?" Jayden exclaimed in shock, looking at his own standard issue M9 from the corner of his eye next to him.
"-and I tell myself; that 'if this is all that life has to offer me, then I can do without.'" she puts the barrel to her head, as Norman drops to his knees and outstretches his hands towards her, silent.
"Arielle..."
A single teardrop makes its way down from her left tear duct.
"-but then I change my mind." she suddenly says. "After all, I'm not the one who's cheating. So, quietly, I wait for you to come home. In my average, little kitchen." she sits back in the chair in the middle of the linoleum tile floor patterns.
"Obviously, when you get home, you don't suspect a thing, so I press the fucking gun against your forehead and I take a few seconds to watch the fear grow in your eyes."
And that's exactly what she did.
Pressed the fucking gun against his forehead. The Special Agent may as well have been pissing in his pants.
There was no way he could reach for his gun when she had the drop on him from that range, after all, he taught her how to shoot. He was also unsure of shooting the woman he married and was together with for years.
"You tell yourself-" she continued, "she's not gonna do it, she doesn't have the guts, SHE'S JUST TRYING TO TEACH ME A LESSON, but you are so WRONG, honey! I sentence you to death for turning my life into a soap opera cliche. For stepping on my dreams-" she put the cannon into his mouth, "for not giving a SHIT about me all those years, and for LYING to me and BETRAYING me and HUMILIATING ME. I'm making an example out of you, for all the assholes who think they can keep on fucking us over and over..."
She cocked her head for a brief moment before saying her final farewell to him, ready to perform the coup de grace.
"Goodbye, my love." she finally uttered coldly, wishing him good riddance.
Thunder clapped as she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.
Memories of Jayden and his wife flooded his mind as the shot echoed through the house.
But everything had not gone black for him in that moment.
Fuck. My wife just shot me in the fucking face. My fucking wife just shot me in the goddamn fucking face, what the fuck, what he fu-
At the very last second, he was able to smack the inside of her palm, remembering his training, causing the bullet to blow a hole through his cheek and plant itself into the kitchen floor. She cursed and reached for the pistol, but was tripped by Jayden wrapping his feet around her ankles. She reached again for the six shooter, touching it only slightly, but swiping her hand away as he tosses a nearby mousetrap at her wrist, clamping down on her. She cries out, throwing the mousetrap across the kitchen as Jayden, through sheer will, rises to his feet to tackle his former love into the refrigerator. Magnets from the fridge fall around them as she grabs a knife from above on the sink counter-top and stabs Jayden in the shoulder. He screams in agony as she removes the knife and goes for his throat, which he avoids by rolling backwards into the table grabbing for his Beretta, but is stopped by a flying plate at his head. She lunges at him with the knife which he bobs and weaves several times over until he disarms her of the knife, only for her to grab a frying pan from the table to bash him across the side of his cranium. She throws down the pan and proceeds to grab his pistol off the table, until she notices him grab the Smith & Wesson to hold her at gunpoint while on the ground, all the while leaking blood all over the linoleum.
"What are you going to do, Normie? Shoot me?" she laughed as she put another round in his left shoulder.
He screamed and shot her twice, hitting her in the stomach and left lung. As she fell, his gun went off in her hand, a bullet flying into the ceiling, rain water beginning to come down on her face.
Arielle laughed as she lied there, "I know I always cry about the leaky roof, but this time it's just the rainwater on my face, I swear." she laughed again, coughing up blood after.
Norman got up to go kick the gun away from his wife who laid dying, sitting beside her. He rested her back on his lap, holding her hand and letting himself take the raindrops for her.
"You missed my heart, dear." he whispered. "You were always a great fighter, I trained you pretty well, huh?" he smiled, the tears beginning to flow. He wiped blood and water from her face as they conversed.
"I'm a crappy shot, I'll admit." she coughed again. "But so are you for once...you hit the baby, idiot."
"Baby? You were...No, no, NO! Don't you die on me Arielle, you hear me?! Not like this!" Jayden wailed, then screamed in anguish as he felt his wife perish in his arms while he rocked her like newborn.
A newborn he would never have.
J. EDGAR HOOVER FEDERAL BUILDING
WASHINGTON, D.C.
SEVERAL WEEKS LATER
"Good afternoon, Mr. Director."
Jayden entered his boss' office and closed the door behind him.
"Come in, Norman. Come in. Please, sit." the Director instructed. "I'm truly remorseful and heartbroken over your loss. From the bottom of my heart I want you to know, what has transpired was not and will never be your fault. I know I don't speak for myself when I say if you need anything from any of us at headquarters, don't hesitate to ask."
"It's only been a few weeks since the funeral. I would recommend some time off. Talk to someone. It helps. Trust me." he sympathized.
"I'll just take it day by day, sir."
"I understand. Take care of yourself, son."
Jayden gave a nod and got up to leave the office space. On his way, his secretary Mona stopped in the middle of his path and gave him a firm hug.
"Oh, Normie...I'm so sorry about what happened. Is there anything I can do?" she meant sincerely.
"I forgive you. And you can pack up from my section, Agent St. Claire. You're fired from your position as my secretary." he slid past her, leaving St. Claire stunned as she put a hand over her mouth, holding back tears.
Jayden exited the building, knowing he could because no one cared if he worked or not a few weeks after his wife's death. They respected him enough just for showing up anyway.
THE JAYDEN RESIDENCE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
3:31 PM
The Special Agent pulled up to what used to be a home shared between himself and the woman who was going to be the mother of his child. It still had yellow "DO NOT CROSS" police tape around the premises and in front of his door. He yanked them down and walked through the living room, moving into the kitchen, where the tape outline still remained of his family.
He sat at his IKEA kitchen table and cried for a minute or so. Drinking heavily from the bottle of cognac nearest to him.
Removing the tube of Triptocaine from his coat pocket, he examined it, breathed heavily and snorted the blue powder into both nostrils.
After tossing the vial away, he placed the glove on his hand and the ARI over his eyes. Soon, he was transported to an upper-class hotel ballroom where he sat at the piano, playing a few chords of "Singin' in the Rain".
To the side of him was the virtual bartender, tipping his head to the doorway where his wife stood, leaning at the threshold in a magnificent dark blue velvet dress while smiling at him.
"I can take over on the keys for this one, sir. Go get her." the barkeep advised.
Jayden walked over to his wife and stared with awe at the way the light in the simulation seemed to collect around her.
"We're just two lovebirds, singin' in the rain. But can this lovebird dance as well?" she smiled, that crooked smile he once fell in love with.
"That depends...need an umbrella, miss?" he smiled as well, extending his hand to her.
She took it in her own, and they slowly danced the night away in their own little world;
As lovers often do.
END