2 CHAPTER 2

       Ever since my childhood, I've never had any memories with Hayden. That's because we didn't grow up together. To be more precise, I never knew I had a twin until recently. My parents never mentioned him nor Odette did. But why? No idea! The only thing I knew was that he was not a good person.

     I followed him with millions of thoughts running all over my mind. "Stop! Hayden!", I cried. He turned to me a bit shocked. Then brushing off his emotions, with no time he put on a sarcastic face and began,  "Oh! Well well, if it isn't my adorable twinnie! Missed me?" he laughed. "It was you. Ain't I right? Why? Just tell me." I enquired him.

      "Whoa! Slow down there. I know my brother is awesome. You found it. You found me. Well done!" he grinned. I couldn't control myself. I grabbed his collar, "How? How could you? Have you not got a heart? A little compassion in it?" I raged. He carelessly smirked, " Sorry, not my cup of tea", which pissed me even more. " You know what will happen if I disclose you, right? I wouldn't hesitate to do so." I said.

   " Mmm. Is it so? Fine. Where's the evidence? The 'HM'?" he laughed, "Please don't tell me that's your evidence. It needn't have to be me. Got that my dear bro?" , he said with confidence, or should I say over confidence?

" Fine. If that's what you want. I will make you pay. I knew you were bad, but I never expected you to be this terrible. Did you really have to go this far killing innocent ones? Is this who you really are?" I confronted him, fuming.

" Does it matter? Do you think I really care about what you think? You really want to know who I really am? I can be more than this. Let me tell you. This is just the beginning. Just try to stop me if you can. You will suffer", he said with the most wicked face I've ever seen. Did he hate me that much? Before I could say anything, I heard someone whispering my name behind.

   I turned to see Cole standing there confused and speechless. " Cole, I know this is shocking but, there is something you don't know. This is my-" as I turned back, I realized Hayden wasn't there anymore. Where'd he go? Oh. Of course he wouldn't be there. Why would he meet my friend, a cop? Only I know his truth, but without any proof. If Cole could meet him, things would turn into my favour with Cole by my side. He wants to see me suffer after all.

"Uhm, nevermind. Let's go. We've got more things to worry about." I told to the utterly confused Cole, walking past him.

      We went back. We were waiting for the forensic reports, to proceed through the further investigations. I had to think of a way to expose him. But the sad truth is no-one knew about my twin.

The reports were handed to us. Dr. Arnold Smith, our wise examiner explained the things. He had killed her terribly. He probably must be a psychopath because the weapon used was neither a gun nor a sharp thing. It was an elastic lace headband. No other mark or blotch was found on her body except for the scar along the neck, the headband made while she was strangled, and the tick mark on her leg. The time of death was around 3.30 in the morning.

  I planned to check around the crime scene again in case we missed something. Cole accompanied me. When we were about to head, we saw John Harper, the husband of Katherine, along with their five year old kid in the station who absolutely had no idea on what was going. As I saw him, I saw the little me years ago struggling to get out of the awful sight of the blood from my mind, at age same as his.

I quickly brushed off my emotions when Cole beside me, nudged.

    As we reached the scene, we split up. I went to check out the surveillance cameras in and around the field while Cole enquired the local residents. Unfortunately, the cameras of the nearby stores and streets were all broken. He has executed his plan very well, indeed. On the other hand, Cole couldn't gather anything useful from the residents and so he decided to take a walk in the field.

      Disappointed, I glanced the bridge, and the small encounter between Hayden and I passed my mind. If only there was a camera above us, fixed on the street lamb, recording our conversation! I'm unlucky. But I noticed one under the bridge. Huh! Under the bridge? Who wants it under the bridge? This is shit!

   Wait. How come this is shit? It's totally not! It would have filmed every incident under the bridge! "Cole!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. And in return, "Jay!" he screamed. But the only difference was that I sounded excited while he sounded defeated.

      I realized something was wrong.

    I rushed to him only to find another female corpse lying on the ground. She probably was in her late twenties. She had a pale skin with platinum blonde hair. She seemed simple with a reefer jacket and a pair of Oxfords.

We notified the authorities and the forensics. I checked her neck and found a deep mark along, as if she was strangled. Could it be him again? My suspicion was confirmed when I saw the red tick mark on her right leg. But this time they were two. Two red marks. The corpse was taken away for the examination.

   On the ground, there was a carved 'HM' again. I could feel the blood boiling in me with my fists clenched. "Jay" I heard Cole behind me.

      " He's my twin." I stated, confusing him. "What? Who?" he asked. " The murderer. Hayden Maddox. Earlier. The bridge. I was talking to him before you came to me." I just loaded him with random words in my mind.

  " Jay! Calm down! What are you talking about?" he sounded with extreme confusion and worry when my phone buzzed.

" Cole, I'll get this. Now hurry! There's a camera under the bridge. Update all of the videos of the past week filmed and check it out with the Colonel." I told him while attending the call.

" He-" before I could even start my hello, " To the station." She hung up. " Oh hey! Zienna! What a pleasant surprise! Me? Yeah, I'm free. Sure! I'll be right there." I literally spoke to myself when Cole behind me snapped, "Come on! It's obvious. Just go! I came back to return the car keys."

Did he have to point it out like that? Ugh! These two will be the death of me.

I headed to the station. Tommy, the rookie of our dept came to me at the entrance, " Mr. Maddox! There was a man waiting for you the whole day. He insisted on meeting you. Right before you arrived, he was sent by Ms. Bretten to grab dinner." He stated sternly.         

I thanked him. As I was about to head in, I saw the late Katherine's son standing with a cop. His dad must be in the office. I went to him. As I knelt down, I stroke his hair into a side, " Hello there!" I greeted, but I was actually intending to ask his name. I couldn't speak. I was struck when zippy scenes of incidents flashed on my mind.

There was a jalopy- a weird red-neon combo with modern parts of race cars. It was obviously a self-modified one. A man's face caught me. It wasn't  familiar but then something was off with him. That was all.

I looked into the kid's eyes. He was special. All of a sudden, a quick promo ran through my mind, the dream in which Ralpha says about her powers being gifted to a kid. I realized it was this kid. The gifted kid!

I stood up. I wanted to find more about the man. The previous day, I remembered Henry, a cop of the road rules department, talking about a complaint he received from the residents about a weird modified car. He said he was going to check it out today. I quickly called him.

" Henry! Do you think you can help me with something?" I asked him. " Sure, man! What's up?" he replied. " Among the altered car cases, by chance, did you handle a red and neon Jalopy?" I asked him. " Yes, Just in time! I told you about a weird car yesterday. That's the one you're asking. I'm at the guy's place. Is there a problem?" It relieved me.

" It's nothing. I just wanted to check something. Could you please stay there a bit longer? I'm heading there with Cole." I said.

I called out Cole after Henry agreed. Cole was just returning after checking the videos. We headed to the place with the help of the GPS that Henry shared. Cole stated that the video contains only the suspect's posterior part and the only clue found was that he was wearing a dark colored hoodie with a clown picture at the backside.

   We reached the destination. The Jalopy was parked, and Henry, with his arms crossed was talking to someone at the other side. As we neared Henry, I saw the exact man from the flashes. I really needed to inspect this guy. This couldn't be a coincidence.

  I introduced myself to the guy and requested him to get me a glass of water in a humble manner. As he went in, I followed him, giving him friendly talks. His home wasn't that big but it was so messy. There were many racks at all sides. Out of curiosity, I opened a top rack. There were many headbands that women use, but he lives alone. I turned to Cole behind me, to show them only to see that he was already in a shocked state, looking at something.

I took a look at the spot he was staring. What? There was a hoodie with a picture of a clown on the backside. We stood there, staring. By then, he came out with a bottle of water.

I headed out for some fresh air, leaving them in. I saw Hayden. There he was, as if waiting for me to come out. I went to him. He didn't move an inch. He began with no expression on his face, " I know you're in need of answers from me. You get a chance. Ask one. Just one."

" Why are you doing this?" I asked him the next moment he finished.

" Do you think they're all innocent and they don't deserve a death like this? Lies! Just like our mother! Like how she abandoned one child and pampered another. All I ever remember about her is her lace headbands she wore everyday. That's why! I will kill all of them! Every mother who is good to her child. They're all fake! They deserve death." He looked into my eyes with so much hatred and rage and walked away when someone came.

    That's when I heard Cole behind me, " Are you alright? There were worn out headbands in his racks. He completely lied about his where-abouts. He's being cuffed as a suspect. Our people are here."

Without minding what he spoke I asked him, " Why didn't you allow me to tell the Colonel about my twin? It's either you don't believe me or you don't believe George. Tell me."

" I had my reasons. There was a problem. I'll tell you about it later. Now, hurry up! Odette wants us there for dinner. Don't tell me you forgot!" he said, brushing off the topic and walked away.

I drove to the station. The suspect was arrested for interrogation. The headbands were sent to the lab to check if there were any DNA traces of the victims. Adding more to the stress, my head was aching like crazy.

I just needed to get permission from George, the Colonel, and head to Odette's. I knocked the Colonel's door and began without delaying, "Hey. Do you think I could attend a dinner today at my mom's? I really have to be there." He raised his eyebrows and said, " There are so many pending cases! Is a dinner party necessary at the moment?"

" Oh come on, Mr. Handsome sweet Colonel!" I sugar coated him. " Ah, don't you 'handsome- sweet' me! It doesn't work." He said pointing his pen to me.   

"Alright. George! You, stubborn old fart! Let me go, okay?" I chuckled. He took his gun out and I ran out of his office. A few seconds later I opened his door and peeped in, " By the way, you've got an unique way of saying yes" I commented just to annoy him more. It  feels great to look at their reaction when you annoy people, you know!

Cole and I reached Odette's. She was being weird. Usually she would squeeze the flesh out of me when I came.

She'd put on a serious face. "No. It's not what you think." She said out of the blue.

" What? Are you alright, mom?" I asked not knowing what was going on. She sat up straight and began, " The little kid is gifted with the powers, right?" she asked me.

" Yes, mom. You already knew? He is the kid. He was really special. But what is it all of a sudden?" I was a bit confused.

"The kid Ralpha talks about, it's not him; it's you!" she stated firmly.

" What? Haha! Mom! That's not right. She talks about a psychological change too. It's not true. Even if it is, I'm not the one." I told her grinning at her innocence.

Cole replied, " Hallucination is also known to be a psychological change."

" So? What does it have to do with me? Guys. Just tell me whatever it is. I'm already tired with this terrible headache!"

"Jay....

You never had a twin. There is no Hayden Maddox!"

"W-W-what?" I was speechless. " I-I talked to him."

" Hallucination! The temporary psychological change!"

My phone buzzed. " Hey! Sergeant Maddox speaking."

" Jay! We've got the criminal. The jalopy guy! He finally opened up. He was behind all of that 'HM' thing.

Hayes Miller."

***

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