Carter Blake sat at his desk, half asleep with papers about Norman Jayden scattered about him. Though he was out of it, his mind was still trying to recognize the numbers on the origami figure.
'47 23... What do those numbers mean...'
His brain started trying to put a new number between the two. '47123... 47723...' Eventually, his brain clicked. '47023. Why does that seem familiar...?'
He jolted awake and looked through the papers about Jayden. He froze, panicked.
47023 was Jayden's agent number in the FBI.
Blake pulled out the origami figure again and unfolded it. Squinting at it, Blake tried to see through the mud.
'This... This is Jayden's federal ID card. I can't fucking believe it.' Terrified, Blake quietly walked towards the bedroom.
Jayden was not in the room.
'Oh fuck oh shit oh fuck oh shit...' Blake started to freak out a little, but to comfort himself, he pulled out his handgun, which he always kept on him.
That when he heard Jayden groggily moan and walk down the hall. It sounded like a casual, normal walk, so Blake hid the gun.
When he turned into the doorway, Jayden gasped in surprise. "Blake? Blake, what are you doin'...?" The ex-agent asked as he rubbed his eyes.
Blake revealed the gun, pointing it at Jayden, who held his hands up quickly as his eyes widened.
"Blake, what the fuck...?!"
"I've got you all figured out, Norman. The numbers 47 23. Add a 0 between them and they're your agent number."
Jayden stood still for a second before his demeanor changed completely with an evil smirk. "You've done yer homework, Cahtah."
'That is horrifying. It's like he has a split-personality now.' Blake thought. "How did your ID card end up folded into an origami figure and in the hands of Grace Mars?!"
"I know whe'e Shaun is." Jayden changed the subject.
"What?!" Blake gripped the gun tighter, threatening to pull the trigger.
Jayden dropped his hands. "If you shoot me, no one will know whe'e Shaun is. I'm essential to findin' him, Cahtah. I'm the only one who knows."
"Not for long, because you're going to spill everything."
"Make me, asshole." Jayden dared before he pulled out a half-empty tube of Triptocaine.
"You still take that shit?"
"Of cou'se. I love destroyin' this body." He then snorted some of the drug and lost balance.
Blake caught him as he fell limp, the tube rolling across the floor. "Fuck! Jayden!"
"Hnn.." Jayden woke up from his brief loss of consciousness in Blake's arms. "The hell...?"
"Jayden, what the fuck was that? Are you alright? You damn near smacked your fucking head on my dresser."
"Huh... Uh.. I don't know..." He seemed disoriented.
"... Jayden, what do you remember?" Blake asked with a sense of panic in his chest again. 'God, what if he really has gone mad?'
"I... I woke up cravin' fer Tripto again..."
"What else?"
Jayden shrugged. "The rest of it's a blur... Why a'e ya holdin' me, Blake?"
Blake gulped. "You're kidding, right? You don't remember our argument?"
"Argument?" Jayden raised a brow with this look on his face that made it clear that he thought Blake was joking.
"Uh..." Blake felt very unnerved. "I... Yeah, I... I'm kidding. I'm going to go back to my desk now..."
"Oh, Blake?" Jayden called out before Blake left the room.
"Yeah...?"
"Have ya seen my ARI? I think it was in one of my pockets..."
"You still have that thing?! Isn't it FBI property?"
"W-well, yeah, but... It went offline a month aftah I resigned. My boss offahed it to me; said I could keep it, so I accepted." Jayden shrugged, looking a tad guilty about something.
"Goddammit, Norman..." Blake facepalmed.
"It's not the same enehmo'e, though."
"What on Earth does that mean?" Blake asked in Perry's voice.
"I dunno, I just... It makes me feel... almost scared to wear it."
"Well, yeah, I'd be scared too if a pair of glasses nearly killed me twice."
"No, it... It seems like someone's the'e with me. In the ARI environment. Sometimes files are moved around, infohmation is added or deleted... and I always feel like I'm bein' watched..."
Blake said nothing. He only stood there, waiting for Jayden to laugh and tell him he was kidding.
Jayden went silent, occasionally gazing up at Blake for a moment and then looking at the tube of Tripto that had rolled away.
Blake reached over to pick it up, but before he could, Jayden threw himself over and clutched it, glaring at Blake.
Blake raised his hands and backed off; it seemed he still hadn't regained trust with possession of the drug since he'd flushed it down the toilet the first time. "It's destroying you, Jayden." Blake warned. "You said so yourself just a minute ago."
Jayden's glare turned into a confused gaze. "I did...?"
Blake sighed and left the room, closing the door. But then he opened it again. "Jayden?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember earlier today at all?"
"Uhhhh..." Jayden tried his best to remember, but all he managed to come up with was the faint realization that he must have gone to the police station. "My memory's been shit since I woke up in the hospital two years ago... I can't even remembah how I got the'e..."
Blake hastefully said goodnight and closed the door. He didn't want Jayden to know that he'd been the one to save him that day; it seemed out of character for him.
Jayden sat in the dark room alone. He remembered that they'd had an argument earlier in the day, that he'd tried to murder Blake, and that Blake had invited him over, but that was about it. He looked to his right and saw an origami figure on the floor. "Wh-..."
He picked it up and saw that it was his federal ID card from when he had been an agent. "Huh...?"
'Blake... Blake! It was Blake all along! He... Was he the Origami Killah? He must have been; that's why he killed Ethan! Dahmmit, it was so clear! Why didn't I think I was right the first time I assumed it?! I could have saved Ethan's life... I'll make him pay. I'll make him pay!' Overcome by rage, Jayden ripped the origami and therefore his ID card to shreds. He pulled at his hair and snarled at the floor quietly.
It'd have to wait until the morning.
'I'm exhausted... But then again, so is Blake...' He was torn.
'Do it, Nahman. Kill him. Avenge Ethan Mars.'
Hearing that part of himself talk again made him glance at the Triptocaine. He must not have taken enough. But did he really want to take more?
He refused to speak back to that part of himself as he slipped the Triptocaine back into his pocket.
'That's right, Nahman. Don't fight me.'
Jayden wasn't sure if taking Tripto could be considered "fighting" it or "giving in" to it.
'Kill Cahtah. No one will miss him.'
"No one'll miss him..." Jayden droned, subconsciously beginning to succumb. He shook his head. "Fuck, I can't kill Blake...! What am I thinkin'...?!"
'Yer thinkin' of revenge.'
"I am not talkin' to you..."
'You are now.'
Jayden rolled his eyes at himself and stood, going back to the bed. 'I need to sleep...'
That other part of himself didn't respond. Jayden smiled and laid down, trying to fall asleep.
When morning came, Blake had hardly slept a wink. He was too busy thinking about Jayden.
'He admitted it. The fucker admitted that he's the Awrigami Killer right in front of me. Or at least, he admitted that he's the new Awrigami Killer. Yet... Why can't I act on it? Is it because he's only half the Awrigami Killer? God fucking dammit, he's still a criminal!' In the back of his mind, Blake realized his feelings for the ex-agent were the only thing keeping him from arresting him.
Jayden walked out of the bedroom, looking a little better than he had the night before, if only just barely. "Good mornin', Blake." He said in an unusually happy tone as he smiled warmly at the lieutenant.
"Uh... Good morning, Jayden... I see you're... feeling better...?" Jayden's kindness set Blake on edge; he had expected Jayden to walk out depressed and angry at him as usual. However, if the happiness was legit, he didn't want to spoil it.
Jayden walked over, getting a little too close for Blake to handle.
"Uhhhh... Jayden, are you okay?"
"I've nevah been bettah, Blake."
"You sure? You're acting a little strange, and it's making me feel awkward to have you breathing on me like this."
"Sorry." Jayden stepped back, but was still a bit too close, especially with what was lying around Blake's desk.
"You're hovering. You must want something."
"Is my suit done dryin'?"
"Maybe, I don't know."
Jayden walked off to go check while Blake rushed to put all of the papers on him away.
'And I thought he was being creepy before. This is just fucking scary. Why does he seem so affectionate?'
The rain outside had calmed just a bit. Blake wondered if they'd be able to find Shaun by normal means.
After a couple minutes, Jayden walked back into the room wearing his suit. He was still smiling, but his eyes looked dead.
"... Jayden?"
"Yes, Blake?"
"... Are you sure you're okay?"
Jayden's smile grew. It reminded Blake of Jayden's smirk of warning during the meeting two years prior, so he started slowly backing away.
For every step he took backwards, Jayden took two steps forward.
"Norman, what are you doing." Blake said more like a statement than a question.
"I know what I have to do now."
"What are you talking about?"
"I found out the truth last night, Blake."
"What truth?"
"Yer the Origami Killah."
"What?!"
"You. Are. The. O-ri-ga-mi. Kill-er. And I will kill you, and avenge Ethan Mars."
"Jayden, this whole Awrigami Killer thing has driven you crazy!"
"So? Aren't we all a little crazy, Blake?"
Blake backed up against his wall. "What are you going to do, Jayden? Beat me to death?"
"No~." Jayden pointed Blake's gun at him. "Y'left yer gun behind last night."
"Jayden, snap out of it. You're not thinking straight."
A sly grin appeared on Jayden's face. "Oh, but Cahtah, I'm thinkin' as clear as evah."
"Jayden..."
"Why did y'have to go and kill Ethan, Blake? If ya'd've just waited and not given that ordah, I wouldn't be tryin' to kill ya right now. I wouldn't be suffahin' so much right now. Why, Blake? Why?!"
"Because I didn't want him to have you!" Blake roared quickly, not thinking of any consequences in confessing his secret. "I saw the way you looked at him! I was a little jealous, okay?!"
"Yer a fuckin' introverted sociopath, Cahtah. It isn't up t'ya t'decide who I should like. At least he showed that he cared about me without seemin' like an asshole 'bout it! Maybe if ya had done the same, I wouldn't hate y'so much!"
Suddenly, Blake wished he could go back in time and start over. "Please forgive me, Norman. I fucked up, okay? You happy? I admitted it. I like you. You happy? I admitted it."
"Yer still seemin' like an asshole, Blake. It's too late eitha way, though, so don't evehn botha."
"Give me a chance!"
Unfortunately for Blake, his words only seemed to fuel Jayden's urge to kill; with every new plea, Jayden's aim steadied more.
"Jayden, for fuck's sake, put the goddamned gun down!"
"No, Cahtah. I'm goin' to avenge an innocent man and woman right he'e and now."
Ex-federal agent Norman Jayden pulled the trigger, sending police lieutenant Carter Blake into a world of darkness in a matter of seconds.
... Wait, Carter Blake is supposed to be the main character. He can't be dead yet...
Oops.
