It was the dead of night, and even crickets were nestled into their dusty homes. Cars zoomed by, their headlights carving a path through the darkness. The large group of apartments were still, with no lights turned on. In one apartment, a cat, two men, and a teenager lived. Now, only the teenager and one of the men were related, but something was brewing between the two men.
Alfred, in light sleep, turned over on the small bed with a smile on his face. Hero, the cat, slinked over to the boy, and jumped onto his head. "Hey… Hero, whatcha doing?"Alfred mumbled, pulling the fluffy cream cat towards him. The cat purred and pushed itself closer to Alfred, who murmured in his sleep. Once he had successfully pushed itself into Alfred's chest, Hero sniffed his shirt. With an inquisitive purr, the cat cocked it's head. "Shh, Hero."
Abandoning it's expedition, the cat leaned into the shaky pets. Once they stopped, he fell asleep close to Alfred.
NEXT MORNING 7:00am
Arthur woke up to blankets strew over the living room, and the smell of food coming from the kitchen. He glanced over, seeing Francis, which brought a whole new shade of red to his face, and scrambled up.
He had previously slept in Francis's spare room, but since Alfred had came to stay, he had slept in the living room. Soon enough, Alfred and Arthur could move back to their apartment, but for now, well…, Arthur was enjoying staying at Francis's apartment. Looking into Alfred's room, he spotted the cat curled up close to Alfred, and smiled happily.
Backing up, he headed towards the bathroom, as he always did, only to run into Francis. Face burning again, he stumbled. "Hey, F-Francis." The Frenchman nodded with a smile, then walked over to where Arthur had just come from. He stuck his head in the door. "Hey, Alfred, breakfast time!" Arthur could hear Alfred's groan from where he was standing in the living room.
"But I don't wanna wake up."
Francis chuckled, and Arthur's face heated up once again. Before he could hear the rest of the conversation, he walked along the hallway, his bare feet cold from the wood floors. Pulling up a chair, he sat down and watched as Francis walked into the room, a disgruntled Alfred following him, still slightly limping from his leg injury. Hero walked alongside Alfred, curling around the boy's legs. With a titled head, Arthur spotted a bit of blood on Alfred's shirt, but then realized that it was the shirt he had been wearing when he was hurt, so that was where he had gotten it, right?
Grabbing a plate for Alfred, he filled it up and placed it in front of him. He looked up and mumbled a 'thank you'. His cowlick hung in front of his eyes as he began shoveling food.
Arthur looked and grabbed his own plate. Once he had sat down, Francis began talking. "Well, Alfred, we both have work today, so you'll be fine home alone, right?" Alfred nodded. "You'll have to take care of Hero, you know." Arthur added.
"I know, Arthur." Alfred mumbled, one eyebrow pricked as he stared at Arthur. His half-asleep eyes stared ahead at the TV as Francis and Arthur left the apartment. With an raised eyebrow again, he noticed that they only grabbed one set of keys this time, and they were a bit early. "Huh." He thought, turning off the TV and heading to his room, pausing to feed Hero. "I'll be right back buddy." Then he heard a bump, and he curiously walked along the hall.
With a gasp, green eyes snapped open in the dim light. He was facing a large wall, and as he tried to crane his neck to see, his hands rustled against the rope holding him and he hissed with pain. "Wh-what happened, Antonio?" Lovino could turn his head a bit, so he knew there was a person in the room, and Antonio was with him last he remembered, so… "Tomato bastard! Wake up!" He heard a snap as he spotted movement in the corner of his vision.
"Lovi? Where are we?" With a sense of tredeptation, Lovino could hear footsteps outside the door. With a shudder he hissed at Antonio. "Quiet, tomato bastard, or they'll hear us!" Quietly, Lovino thought back on when the police had found his brother, and he wondered if this was the same killer, or if the brothers were really this unlucky.
"Who'll hear us?" Antonio suddenly stopped as a bright light flooded the room and blinded from where he sat, tied up. A tall figure stood in front of him, black mask pulled over it's face.
"Me." The figure spoke menacingly as he strode forward. Antonio watched, frightened, as it strode towards Lovino, who sat as rigid as the back of the chair he sat in.
"Lovi?" Antonio's voice trembled when the figure was out of sight, and his whole body began to shiver when he heard a sharp crack follow by a hiss of pain. "Lovi, answer me!" There was a final large snap and there was no more sound.
The chuckle started out small, before booming to fill the large space. "I've been waiting for this all night, and I want you to see! Your friend won't talk to you now!" Antonio was suddenly jerked and turned around, and before he could close his eyes, he felt like throwing up.
Lovino lay limp, slumped forward like a puppet without strings, and his wrists were at an odd angle, as well as one of his ankles. The most horrifying sight, however, was the fact that his head was slumped over onto one side, and Antonio could see his best friend's blank expression. He made the move to scramble forwards, only to be caught.
Antonio's soon-to-be killer spoke again, this time in a softer tone, but with a giggly undertone. "My friend…" Antonio could hear the contempt in the voice. "My friend thinks he's the fucking hero, you know?" The voice paused, and Antonio's throat was suddenly caught in a tight grip. "He's not, though. He's not. I am. I save people from lies and treachery in their life. He does nothing!" The last thing Antonio saw was thick blond hair, the killer having pulled off the cap. Then, there was nothing.
Alfred watched languidly as Arthur and Francis crept through the door of the apartment, red-faced. He flipped off the TV and spoke. "Hard day?" His soft tone startled Arthur as he drew his hand through his hair.
"You could say so." He sighed unhappily. "There's been two more murders."
Thanks for reading! I love you guys, but I need a bit more feedback, alright? I need to know how I'm doing with this. Plus, I'm sorry for killing off Romano and Spain. Please don't kill me?
AutobotCopperShadow
09 – 21 – 15
8:30 pm
