So, here's the next chapter like I said :D
Anyways, I dunno if this story's going to make it pass the 3rd chapter mark but...there's always place for dreams and hopes xD
ENJOY!
Everything began when we moved to New York City away from the Asylum, away from the past, away from everything that depicted our misery. It was something of the past and we wanted to keep it that way so we could finally be happy and move on with our lives.
I guess it's true what they say about this place, you make it or you don't. The key is to wait and when the moment is right you need to seize the opportunity because you may never get it again.
That's how it was for me and Mattie. We found the cheapest apartment we could that so happened to have a generous owner – even if this part of town was sketchy and crawling with dealers and other thugs. She let us live there for a year provided that, by the following, we would have money to pay for the rent.
And that we did.
During that preliminary year Mattie and I managed to get good jobs regardless of our lack of education and experience in the market. The way I got my job was pretty lucky; I got lost in the wall street area and managed to wander into the stock market building without realising it. The next thing I knew was that I was surrounded by thousands and thousands of people yelling, running around with papers or just staring at the many screens displayed across the room. My only thought at the moment had been to find the quickest way out of the crowded area which had me stumble into a spacious meeting room filled with rich – well richer than us at the time – looking people.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" The one standing demanded angrily, "They told us we would have complete privacy!"
"S-sorry!" I stuttered nervously and lowered my head, "I got really lost and just wanted to escape the crowd…"
"Yeah, shit does get crazy in there…" a large black man in a suit commented. "You'll be in for a long wait. These guys only leave when the security comes out to force 'em out."
I didn't really know what to say to that but it seemed the man standing beat me to it.
"Well that's his problem." He snapped before turning to me, "Now beat it kid."
I nodded sheepishly and made for the door but the amount of people moving in front of it stopped me from going anywhere. "It's like a freaking wall…" I exclaimed loudly without meaning to.
The other people in the room – save for the man standing – all laughed at my comment before ushering me to close the door and come to them again.
"You're welcome to sit with us the time this thing dies down though I warn you it won't be for a while." The black man stated before extending his hand for me to shake it. "Jayden Dawson."
I smiled and went to introduce myself as well but the man standing beat me to it once more. "What!? We can't keep him here!" he shrieked, for some reason he seemed to hate me a lot and we hadn't even met, "What if he was sent here by our competitors to spy on us!? To ruin us!? We're already in shit; this guy can make it worse!"
Jayden Dawson had seem to take this into consideration before pulling his hand away and looking at me in all seriousness. "Are you working for our competitors?"
"No."
"Good enough for me."
I smiled toothily, I had really liked this guy and he did become one of my close friends for a long time.
"Jayden! Don't be an idiot! We don't have the luxury to be careless!" the man had snapped.
Jayden had gotten up from his seat which had taken me aback because the guy was huge. He easily towered over the annoying man who was cowering in fear at a moment's notice. "Mister White." He said dryly, his tone dripping with venom. "Have you forgotten who your boss is? If I say this young man can stay, then he may."
White gulped loudly and nodded, "S-sorry…" he apologized.
Jayden finally laid off and turned his attention back to me. This time, I was the one who extended my hand to greet him politely and introduce myself. "Alfred F Jones."
He smiled to me and shook my hand firmly. "Well Mister Jones. Please take a seat over there." He gestured an empty chair at the end of the table.
"We'd also appreciate it if you were quiet too." Mister White snapped bitterly.
"Yeah, don't worry about it." I assured as I took a seat and observed what they were doing.
Judging by the projection of multiple graphics that represented how well their business was doing, I realised they were borderline bankrupt. And the more I listened, the more I understood how the whole thing worked and, soon enough, I was squirming in my seat to suggest an idea that I thought could fix their problems.
"It would seem Mister Jones would have something to say." A woman that I hadn't yet noticed – because there were more men in the room – stated.
Jayden looked at me and smiled, "Do you know how this works?"
I shook my head, "But I've been watching you guys go at it for a bit and seem to be understanding a few things." I added.
"Like what?" Mister White asked bitterly.
"Like you guys could go bankrupt if you make just one more bad investment." I said which was true. "Here's what I suggest…"
And just like that, I got up and started explaining what I had understood of what they'd been doing this whole time and that I noticed a certain event happened every time that resulted in loss of money for the company. Once I finished explaining that and being corrected a few times by Jayden and Mister White, I began talking about my suggested initiative they could take to regain all the money they'd lost and reimburse their debts.
"That's not a bad idea…" Jayden admitted as he thought what I said through, "And you're sure you didn't study this in school at some point?"
"I've never really been to school." I admitted sheepishly. "My parents abandoned me and my brother at some random orphanage when we were really young. We didn't stay for long because the caretakers were hurting him and I couldn't stand it. We found an abandoned house at some point and have been living there ever since. But we left it to come to New York City to see if things would change for us."
Mister White didn't seem impressed and probably wanted to say something snarky but Jayden beat him to it.
"That's interesting but one would believe someone in your state to be a little less…educated." Jayden explained, "You don't seem like a complete idiot to me."
I blushed in embarrassment a little as I admitted to scavenging a junkyard more times than I could count for educational things. "My brother was always more talented at that stuff so he taught me a lot." I said scratching the back of my head, "the only reason I know how to read, write, count and do the basic calculations is because my brother had learned all that stuff by himself to teach it to me after."
I remember that, at that moment, Jayden had stared at me quizzically; thinking very hard on what he wanted to say to that comment and shushing Mister White the second he wanted to pull out a comment.
"I believe that God makes things happen for a reason." Jayden began slowly, "I started from practically nothing too but got lucky here and there to get where I am now. However, my luck seems to have run out."
"I guess I'm feeling lucky." I stated with a smirk, "I can always spare some of mine if you would accept it."
And then Jayden started to laugh loudly which had me jolt in surprise but smile dumbly too. Once he calmed down, he decided that he would give me a shot and try out my idea, that he would reward me with a lot of money and a job if it worked.
"We won't see any results for about a week so come back then."
A week later, I did and a week later, I could return home to tell Mattie that I had gotten a job and fifty thousand initial dollars that we could spend on new clothes, body washing products and food. By then Mattie had also gotten his own job and was rising to the top quickly.
Over the years, Jayden's company grew but hit a stop five years later when Jayden died from an overdose. The man had become my best friend almost and losing him was one of the worst things ever since he had helped me out so much. In his will he had left the company to me but couldn't accept it. Jayden had a family of his own that had counted on him to provide for them – and that lone woman I saw in that room when I first met him turned out to be his wife – so what I decided to do was keep my current position in the business and give all rights of ownership to her.
The company started to progress once more and expanded dramatically. Two years later it almost seemed like all the workers had been exchanged but they were all – for the most part – still present in the company. The amount of workers were the only things that had changed which was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me because it allowed me to meet Kiku.
Now, I'm not gay but nor am I straight; I'm bi. However, due to a certain brother complex, my tastes seemed to be more inclined towards men than women. But anyways, Kiku and I built up a strong friendship that involved to a serious relationship; something I hadn't had in a long time.
Mattie seemed to get along great with him since he was interested in foreign affair and culture so the two normally got into long conversations about Japanese culture and cooking. I remember, one day I came home greeted to a completely different apartment styled like a traditional Japanese home with a table covered in Japanese dishes.
It had been one of the best meals of my life.
My relationship with Kiku lasted three years before it came to an abrupt and forceful ending. Up until that time, life had been perfect and filled with happiness. The memories of the Asylum were just a thing from the past that would remain where it belonged but I was deadly wrong.
One day, I came home to an apartment awfully quiet but completely destroyed and horrific. The walls had been painted in blood and were covered with the same French and English sentences that increased my anxiety.
Tu ne peu pas t'enfuir. L'inévitable est inévitable. Un jour, le cauchemar reviendra et, là, tu y perdras ta vie. Tu ne peu pas t'enfuir. L'inévitable est inévitable.
You do not just run away. The inevitable is inevitable. One day, the nightmare will return and, there, you will lose your life. You do not just run away. The inevitable is inevitable.
I remember walking slowly down the corridor and taking a left to enter the kitchen where I had slipped on a puddle of blood.
A puddle of Kiku's blood.
My beloved Kiku had had his throat ripped out and his torso carved open in a familiar fashion that had forced me to remember doctor Kirkland's gruesome death. His softly featured face was petrified in an expression of utter horror and pain which could only hint to the pain he had felt before his heart had stopped.
I cried.
I cried so much, in that puddle of blood as I realised there was nothing I could do to bring him back to me because I had gotten home much too late. It was only then that it occurred to me that Mattie had done this and was nowhere to be found. And even though he had killed the man I loved with all my heart, destroyed the happiness I thought had ruled over our home for the past ten years and plunged us back into the insanity of the past, I couldn't hate him.
I couldn't think of hating him or stop loving him.
He was my brother, my twin, my last family and all I could do was think that I was somehow responsible –again – for having him succumb to this chaos once more. I was the older brother and I had to protect him and I couldn't.
I failed again.
Thus, wearily, I called the police who invaded the apartment complex in a matter of minutes and took pictures of every little thing – even the ones that seemed irrelevant – just in case it would turn out as some sort of lead. I, on the other hand, was asked thousands of questions about Kiku and my brother most of which I couldn't answer because I simply didn't know.
"This is some sick hell house." One of the officers passing by muttered. "Straight out of a lunatic's head."
At that comment, the investigator began asking me about Mattie's mental health problems which I answered with lies because I was afraid of what would happen if they learned that the incident of ten years ago with the Asylum had involved us. The investigating officer hadn't seemed too convinced by my answers but let it be as it was because there was nothing to prove me the least bit wrong.
"Right well," the officer said concluding the interview, "Your alibi has been checked and we know for a fact you're not the murderer." I rolled my eyes but continued to listen anyhow. "However, your brother doesn't seem in too much of a good spot. I know he's family but I trust you to do the right thing."
"The right thing?" I repeated.
"Yeah," he nodded, "If he turns out to be the murderer, I trust that when you learn on his whereabouts, you'll report it to us immediately."
And those words stung deep in my heart, deeper than finding the mutilated corpse of my boyfriend because I knew I still loved my brother more than he. To denounce him to the police, to send him off to jail for something I knew he wouldn't have done unless something was seriously wrong was something unbearable and impossible to do. It was at that moment that I realised that I would have to find Mattie first, save him again and move away to start our lives once more and get another chance at happiness. There was no way I was abandoning him.
I woke up with a jolt spilling my coffee that had now gone cold.
"Aww man!" A teenage girl whined. She was obviously a worker at the café I had stopped by. "I was all set to go home…"
"Sorry…" I mumbled sheepishly before getting up and just leaving.
I left the place in a hurry and walked down the street only to notice that it was dark outside. I was surprised that the owners of the café had let me rest for such a long time but maybe it was because they felt bad for me. It was obvious by the looks of me that I hadn't slept in days – two weeks actually, ever since Mattie disappeared. I hadn't allowed myself the luxury of sleep because I was always so afraid that the cops would find him first and that was the last thing I wanted.
Anyways, I figured the best case scenario for now would be to find a cheap motel and spend the remaining of the night there. While I was at it, I could also try to think of places I hadn't yet checked where Mattie could be hiding or think up an effective strategy that would help me locate him.
A few blocks down the street I found the perfectly cheap – but equally sketchy – motel where I would spend the night for twenty dollars. I normally would have been much more concerned about the price but was too mentally exhausted to truly care. I guess insomnia would do that to a guy.
I went up to my cheaply bought room and was surprised to find someone sleeping on the only bed. For a moment I had feared that I had found another dead corpse but the large man on the bed groaned and turned to face me when he noticed the light passing through the open door. I saw his eyes widen for a split moment before he literally jumped out of bed and reached for the gun on the nightstand that I had noticed far too late to avoid being shot or taken in as a hostage. He pointed it at me and glared a promise of death if I dared to run away; all I could do on my end was raise my hands to show that I meant no harm.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" he hissed, his Russian accent was thick but didn't damage the English at all. "You a pig?"
"I…I'm not a cop…" I said after a moment of stuttering like as fool.
He cautiously walked closer and shoved me into the room before closing the door and locking it harshly. He then scanned the perimeters again, paranoia evident in every movement he made before returning his attention to me.
"Strip." He ordered dryly.
Although the last thing I wanted to do was strip, I felt inclined to obey for the simple reason of: he had a gun and I didn't. Hence, I took off my clothes which I gave to him on order so he could examine them for something – maybe a wire – but asked to at least keep my boxers.
"I don't know what you're looking for but there's obviously nothing in there." I stated gesturing my last piece of clothing.
He grunted and rolled his eyes before he continued to pat down my clothes. When he finished he folded them neatly – which I thought was just weird – and then examined me carefully, as if I had something to hide.
"What are you doing here?" He asked again as he walked in circles around me.
"I-I bought a room…and my key opened this door…" I answered in all honesty.
"Why should I believe you?" He stopped walking and I tensed.
"I-I don't know…" I answered stupidly.
He was silent for a moment and nearly gave me a heart attack when he started to walk again. He tossed me my clothes thus having me question why he had folded them in the first place and ordered me to get dressed again.
"C-can I leave?" I asked slipping on my shirt.
"Nyet." He answered, "I want to keep an eye on you, to make sure I don't have to kill you for finding me."
"But I don't have time to just stay here and prove to you that I'm not a cop!" I blurted out angrily. I had to find Mattie.
"Oh? And why not?" he asked truly intrigued.
"I don't have to answer you." I growled forgetting that he was technically in power.
He paused for a moment as if taking in consideration what I had just said before smiling like a child and sitting down on the bed. "Then how about a game, da?" He suggested, "A question for a question. The only rule is that we're not allowed to lie."
I wasn't too sure on doing so but figured that if it would allow me to leave, then it couldn't do much damage.
"Fine." I sighed.
"Oh good." He giggled to himself. "Now why can't you stay? Why are you in a rush?"
"I'm looking for someone." I answered. "Why are you so paranoid about the cops?"
"Because I know things that aren't technically legal." He answered his smile widening. "Who are you looking for?"
"My brother." I answered quickly noticing that the game seemed to be speeding up in intensity already. "What's your name?"
He paused for a moment as if he wasn't too sure about answering that particular question and I immediately regretted asking it. "Ivan Braginski." He answered with a polite bow of the head. "What's your name?"
"A-Alfred F Jones…" I answered with a stutter.
"Now, now, we said we wouldn't lie." Ivan smirked.
"I didn't. I just stuttered." Then I realised it was my turn to ask another question. "What did you do to have to be so on guard towards the cops?"
His smile widened which scared me, "I found out too much information." He answered. "Why are you looking for your brother?"
"Because he…did something…and I have to get to him first…" I mumbled answering vaguely. It only seemed fair since he was doing the same thing. "What did you know too much about?"
"Everything but more particularly, on whereabouts." He responded, excitement evident in his voice. There was something wrong with this game but I had to wait for his cue to stop playing. "Who else is after your brother?"
"The…police…" I replied slowly, I felt like I shouldn't be telling him that. "Who's whereabouts do you know about?"
The question sounded stupid but I was running out of things to ask and he still seemed to have a lot of them.
"Everyone's. Well, almost everyone's." Ivan said with a purr in the back of his voice as if I had asked the question he longed to hear. "What did your brother do?"
"He…killed someone…" I answered slowly but was intrigued by the answer had given me. "So you know where everyone is? At all times?"
"Da, mostly. I just need a picture to know who I'm looking for and then, it's just a question of time." He responded nonchalantly. "Who did he kill?"
There was a lump in my throat as I answered that question. "My…boyfriend…" and I immediately jumped to asking my own question to change the subject. "Does it normally take some time to locate someone?"
"Nyet. I have a talent for locating people." Ivan responded, "Do you want to find your brother first in order to kill him?"
"What?" I gasped.
"Kill him." Ivan repeated, "Are you angry that he killed your boyfriend? Are you looking for him to achieve vengeance?"
"No!" I yelled, "He's my brother! I love him! I want to find him to save him! I would never hurt him!"
"That's strange." Ivan stated, a puzzled expression on his face. "Most people would seek death for those who have taken away what they loved most."
"Maybe but I'm not like most people!" I growled, "I love my brother!"
"Of course you do." He smirked, he then raised the gun and pointed it at me. "But now you know too much about me to be allowed to live."
My eyes widened and I felt cold sweat on my face. I should have seen this coming.
"But…I'm not a cop…" I mumbled.
"Maybe, but you still know too much." He stated cocking the deadly weapon.
"B-but it was your idea! It was your idea to play this game!" I argued.
"And you should have left when you had the chance." He smirked. "You should never believe our kind. We deceive all the time."
He was just about to pull the trigger when I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Wait!" and I didn't think it would have him wait but it did so I couldn't waste the few more seconds I had to live by staying quiet. "W-what if we make a deal?"
He was visibly intrigued and I began to understand how this man functioned. He liked games a lot and a deal – to him – was most likely just some other form of a game.
"Help me find my brother." I said, "I'll be doing something illegal and I don't want to go to prison either so we'll both have a bounty on our heads. You won't have to fear me denouncing you."
The Russian took what I said into consideration, nodding and putting the gun down for a split second before pushing it back up. "Da, true but there's nothing valuable for me in the end." He said but then put the gun down, "But I like you. You're entertaining so I will help you although there will still be a price to pay for my services and my sparing your life."
I nodded, "Fine. I don't care what it is, I just want to find my brother."
I was actually going to call the black guy Jayden Smith but then I was like 'Isn't that an actual person?' So I went with Jayden Dawson because the last name reminded me of Jack Dawson from Titanic *Leonardo DiCaprio fan forever*
Anyways, this story is going to be less horror and more detective crap (I think) and Ivan's actually going to stick with Al for a while (if some of you read the Asylum, you'll notice that Al had a partner but he almost died immediately lol) and I also find that Ivan is necessary so far but THERE WON'T EVER BE A COUPLE!
Maybe I'll put some hinted RusAme moments but that's it! There won't legitametly be one because this story is about Al trying to find Mattie before the cops do!
So now that we got that clear, what do you think Ivan will want in return for his services?
HINT: it's NOT sex.
SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!
