Uh….hi guys. Why haven't I updated in a while? Because life sucks; well for the most part. Anyways, I won't keep you waiting anymore.
Disclaimer: Still don't own the Outsiders (unfortunately).
Friday, September 24th, 1965
Curtis Home
7:09 am
Darry woke up the next morning to the telephone ringing. He opened his eyes looking over to see that he now was the only one in the bed. Slowly, he sighed and got out of bed heading for the kitchen.
"Hello?"
"Darry? It's Jim. I'm sorry for calling so early but I wanted to catch you before you left. I heard about your brother over the radio and I can't tell you how sorry I am.
"Thanks, Jim, but this isn't going to stop me from getting the job I need to do done," Darry explained.
"No Curtis. I don't want you coming into work today. Not just because I feel sorry for you, but it's a safety issue. I don't care how good you think you are at hiding your emotions, you're not going to be able to concentrate on that roof when someone has kidnapped your brother. Take the day off or-you know what? I'm giving you the entire week off so you can cope with this and be with your other brother."
"Jim, no. I can't afford to take an entire week off…"
"Then take 'afford' out of your mind. I promise, I'll pay you for the days you miss as vacation time but you're not coming in! Last thing I need is you falling off the roof because your thinking about your brother missing.
"But…"
"Let me put it to ya this way Curtis. If I see you over here, then you can kiss your job goodbye and I'm not kidding. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir," Darry replied.
"Good. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call," Jim said and hung up without a goodbye. Darry hung up the phone and walked towards the front door which was slightly opened. Darry fully opened the door and saw Soda sitting on the steps in his white shirt and shorts looking at the sky as the birds chirped away greeting the sky. He opened the screen door and sat next to him.
"What are you doing out here?" Darry asked.
"It never came," Soda mumbled.
"What never came?"
"The sunrise. Pony always said he liked sunrises more than sunsets. But it didn't come today; it's just grey clouds," he said and Darry looked up at the grey sky with him while putting an arm around him holding his little brother close. Soda allowed a few tears to fall down his face as he leaned into Darry's embrace.
The two stayed like that for a few minutes before Soda stood up and went back into the house with Darry following close behind. Soda then went over to the radio and turned it on before sitting on the sofa, but Darry raced over immediately turning it off.
"You really think that's a great idea?" Darry asked.
"Maybe they found something," Soda said.
"So the radio station found out something about Pony and Johnny before the FBI and no one bothered to tell us about it?" Darry asked and Soda just shrugged his shoulders.
"I HATE THIS!" Soda said slamming his fist against the sofa.
"Me too little buddy," Darry said. Once again, the two sat in silence for a moment before Darry broke it. "Are you working today?"
"No. Steve's letting boss know when we open. He's working a full shift since they're still…..i-investigating the high school," Soda mumbled.
"Really?" Darry said while putting his hands in his pockets. "Pepsi, I'm gonna go out for a minute. I'll be back soon."
"Where're you going?" Soda asked.
"Just…out," Darry said.
"Can I go?" he asked.
"No, just stay here alright?" Darry said going over to the table and grabbing the keys to the truck.
"Darry!" Soda said and Darry looked back up at Soda. "I wanna see if they found anything too," he said softly. Darry rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Fine, you can go too."
Break*Break*Break
Soda and Darry arrived at the school that was surrounded by a couple of reporters and some teachers.
"Soda, just wait in the truck. You don't need to see this," Darry said.
"It's fine. I'll be alright!" Soda barked getting out of the truck and slamming the door shut. Darry rolled his eyes and he got out and walked over to the crime scene with Soda. However, the two froze when they got a good view passed the taped up scene. There was a body on the ground near the backdoor entrance with dried up blood everywhere surrounding it both on the concrete and the grass nearby. A photographer was carefully taking pictures of various objects scattered on the ground including a knife with more dried blood on the blade, a baton, and another body that was closer to the parking lot.
"Oh God," Soda mumbled when he saw the amount of dried blood on the grass and concrete.
"…Most of that blood isn't Pony's or Johnny's I heard one of them agents say," a familiar voice said. Darry and Soda looked to their right and saw Two-bit standing there with his hands clutching the yellow tape in front of them.
"What are you doing here?" Darry asked.
"Eh I couldn't really sleep so I'd thought I'd come down here for a bit to see if I could find out some stuff about the kidnapping," he explained.
"Did they tell you anything?" Soda asked.
"Not much. Turns out that bas**** killed the science sub over there around the time he grabbed Pony and Johnny," Two-bit explained.
"Who's the other guy?" Darry asked.
"Didn't hear his name, but I overheard one of the detectives whisper that he's got a record downtown," Two-bit explained and then turned his attention to a middle-aged man with brown hair. "Hey! Look who's here playing detective again. Hey Helms!" Two-bit shouted. Richard Helms looked at the little group and stomped his way over. "You mind telling us what the hell is going on here?"
"What are you all doing here? You need to be standing by at your house in case Lynch makes a ransom," Helms told Darry in particular.
"You know damn well he ain't gonna be calling for a ransom. He kidnaps and tortures kids as a hobby for God's sake!" Soda snapped.
"Where did you hear that?!" Helms asked and Soda just crossed his arms glaring at him. Helms slammed the pencil on the ground and stormed over to the group stepping over the police tape. "Come with me," he snapped and the group followed him to a trailer. They walked inside that was filled with notebooks, zip lock bags with various clues, and hundreds of papers everywhere. Immediately in front of a little kitchen area was a large map of the mid-west with little red and blue pins in various locations with some post-it notes scattered around.
"Look, you all can't just go around yelling out how Lynch is a killer who tortures children for fun. It'll start a massive panic around town more than it already is. I understand that you want to find your brother and friend Curtis but there's a reason why he hasn't been caught yet, and some of what we've discovered…. " Helms said surprisingly calm until Darry gave a deep glare at him. "Nevermind. I promise my team is going to do everything in our power to find your brother and friend."
"Promise me you'll find them alive," Soda said with glassy eyes and a shaky voice.
"….I can't….." Helms said turning his head away from them.
"Then let us help you search. Please!" Darry pleaded. The group sat in silence for a minute before a knock on the door was heard. Helms got up and went to answer it. He opened the door and saw a middle-aged man with glasses gasping for breath.
"Sir? I'm sorry to interrupt but…..we….we found something in the suspect's car that you might want to see," he said. Helms quickly glanced at the trio before stepping out. Darry, Soda, and Two-bit got up and followed Helms to the parking lot where a blue car was. The trunk was opened with a few agents standing by with a man taking photographs of something.
"What have we got gentlemen?" Helms asked and went to the trunk to begin scanning whatever was in the back of the car. That's when Richard's eyes went wide and gave a quick glance at Darry, Soda, and Two-bit.
"Darrel? Come over here please," Helms said and picked up a black binder while he came over. "Don't touch it whatever you do," he said and turned the binder over so Darry could see it.
Name: Ponyboy Michael Curtis
Age: 14
Address: 397 Cedar Lane
Family
Mother and Father deceased from a car wreck. Older brother Darrel Shane Curtis Jr. (20) has legal custody of him and another brother Sodapop Patrick Curtis (16).
Likes: Reading, daydreaming, running track for Tulsa track and field, watching sunsets, going to movies, writing
"What the hell is this?!" Darry asked and Soda came over. Helms turned the page and there were photographs of Ponyboy walking to school, running on the track, and the newspaper article all about them after they had saved the kids in Windrexville. There were also some pictures of that day when they all went to the lot together to play football and Ponyboy sitting by his window smoking while watching the sunset. Soda was at a loss for words as all the color from him face disappeared once more.
"He's been watching us this whole time?!" Soda gasped. With that, Darry grabbed Soda's shoulder and squeezed him as close as he could muster. His eyes unwilling to look away from the horror in front of him as a chill continually went up and down his spine. Some of the agents stealthily started looking around over their shoulders for something unusual.
"Get forensics to scan these books for prints. Our theory may just be fact gentlemen," Helms said putting the books back down.
"What theory?!" Two-bit asked.
"Shhhhhhhhh! The press is still here! We can talk more back in the trailer," Helms whispered and the group ran back to the trailer locking the door behind them.
"So what's this theory?" Two-bit asked again.
"Why the hell does someone have pictures and information about me and my brothers? Whose car is that?" Darry demanded.
"Do you know that teacher that we found dead by the school?" Helms asked.
"Mr. Glass? He was our science substitute," Two-bit said.
"Well…some of Tulsa's homicide squad did an examination of his body and found a total of $500 in his pocket and some clutched in his hand."
Break*Break*Break
Meanwhile on the outskirts of Tulsa
Ponyboy shot up from his deep slumber when hundreds of sharp needles attacked his body all of a sudden. He screamed and heard Johnny gasp for air next to him. Both boys were soaking wet with Lynch standing in front of them holding a now-empty bucket.
"Godammit!" Lynch said and kicked Ponyboy.
"Ahh!" Ponyboy let out.
"I'm such an idiot. I wanted to use water torture today but now I can't because you're already wet! Man!" he complained as he stomped his way back to the stand while Johnny and Ponyboy shivered still holding onto each other. "That messed up my whole schedule for today. Now, what do we do?" Lynch asked grabbing his chin and using his pointer finger to tap it as well.
"I'm really not in the mood for ceiling chains today so…I guess this will have to do," he continued and ran over to the table. Carefully, he stroked his hand across his display of knives slowly. "I don't know why I'm not really into it today. I guess because I had an unexpected late shift, but the investigation of the crime scene after a homicide and kidnapping always takes forever. Maybe I'll feel better once I get started." Lynch selected a simple but longer than normal pocket blade. He then went over to Johnny sitting on top of him again while a blade was pressed against his neck. Johnny started gasping for air as he felt the cool, sharp blade against his neck completely petrified.
"Johnny!" Ponyboy screamed trying to move closer to him.
"Remember the Soc you killed Johnny-boy? The one you got off scot-free for killin'? Golly, when I read what you did in the paper, I was so proud of ya. Didn't it feel so satisfying to see the horror in his eyes? The fear?" Lynch asked with a huge grin so close that Johnny could smell a hint of alcohol.
"J-Johnny, don't listen to him!" Ponyboy said shivering.
"So that's why I picked ya. I just knew I had to meet ya in person; killer…to serial killer," Lynch said chuckling. Johnny shivered at that accidentally causing the blade to cut him. "Now that's what everyone calls me of course, but to be honest; I don't see what the big deal is. There's just something about killing and torturing others slowly that's just so….exciting. Don't worry though. I'm not going to bore you to death about my 'traumatic' childhood where the classic mother and step-father beats me up every day because no one cares about that." Lynch explained as Johnny started to cry.
"Yes! Give me more of that!" Lynch continued as his grip on the blade tightened and put more pressure. "It's just like how you feel whenever the gang treats you like the little 'pet' of the group; the one everyone gets along with. Except for me, this is how I find my joy."
"Please stop," Ponyboy begged while reaching his arm out towards them and Lynch finally looked up at Ponyboy while still holding the knife to Johnny's throat.
"You know, it's rude to interrupt a host when he's working on another 'guest' Ponyboy! Thought Darry would have taught you better by now but I guess not. After all, it's your fault that he's in the situation he's in right now," he commented. "Darry could have been the one to work hard and get out of Tulsa. But instead, he just gave everything he had up just so you could do it."
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Ponyboy screamed squeezing his eyes shut and scrunching up his face as if he were in pain.
"UGH! Why am I not into it today?! Everything's in place but I'm not enjoying it the way I should be. You know what? I think I'm done for today," Lynch said and removed the blade from Johnny's neck while getting off of him. "You might want to put this on your neck Johnny-boy. Can't have you dying on me just yet," he said tossing an old, wrinkly bandana from his pocket on Johnny's chest. With that, Lynch walked out the door slamming it shut behind him as the padlock was put back in place.
Well was that worth it or what?! I hope it was! This was fun, yet really hard to write if you can believe it.
Review and Happy 2019!
LaurenHardy13