Chapter 14

I jumped back realising just who I was playing around with.

"S-Sorry!" I felt colour explode in my cheeks as I stumbled over my words.

Suddenly George grabbed my shoulders with his hands. I looked at him surprised and was silenced by his conflicted gaze.

"You should pick up your phone when I call at least" he murmured. He rested his head on my shoulder for a few seconds as if he was drained.

I understood why he asked me such a strange question at that moment. Why he looked so washed out and tired.

"I'm sorry" I whispered back and patted his head gently.

He pulled back slowly, not making eye contact with me and sat on my bed.

"It's... not actually your... fault" I nodded slowly at the sentence. It's wasn't really my fault but was it anyone's fault? Thinking about it, it was someone's fault; Mr Nathaniel's.

"We should really- carefully think about what Kevin said" it wasn't what both of us wanted to hear, but it seemed necessary.

It was like a warning. That if we stalled any longer another victim would be found dead.

"It's kind of funny how the one who wants to orchestrate this whole thing is also... a murderer..." he laughed out dryly.

"Well... you also have"-

"Don't put me in the same box as that freak!" He snapped at me, cutting off my accusation.

I jolted at his sudden outburst, my body tensed up knowing this was a very dangerous situation.

"I-I'm just"-

"I didn't mean to kill him!" He shouted and suddenly lurched forward and grabbed his head. "He wasn't supposed to- I didn't know" he started groaning, muttering incoherent sentences.

I quickly scooter over by him, alarmed at his reaction.

"G-George?" I lifted a hand towards his shoulder, but it was quickly grabbed.

George's grasp was strong and caused me to whimper slightly which thankfully knocked him out of his blind rage.

"S-Sorry- shit- I'm so sorry" he started fumbling apologies with a guilt filled expression.

"No- No don't worry, I'm fine but... are you okay?" I asked caressing my possibly bruised wrists with my hand.

A silence filled the room. I could see the eyes filled with guilt that pierced my wrists.

"I don't want to speak about it." He stayed firmly to which I nodded.

"Okay", I softly said.

My eyes lingered on his wrist with his black bracelet and wandered about its contents. What was his experience like? I was very sure it was gruesome and George was fully aware of what he was doing, but what actually happened?

"I can see how people killed their victims" I confessed amidst the silence.

"What?" George stared at me, shocked. "You can see how? How?" He spoke slowly.

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Could you say 'how?' One more time?" I chuckled, until I noticed George's glare. I straightened up, clearing my throat, "If I touch the bracelet, I can see what caused it to appear".

Another silence penetrated the wrong.

"Your crazy" he muttered, "which arm is it on?".

I smiled at his words but a trickle of nerves quickly followed. What was I about to see? Could it be worse than- the images I saw from Kevin and Mr Nathaniel? I felt bile rise in my throat.

"Right" I swallowed my fear and grasped his wrist.

George just left a pub and entered a run down street, dodgy looking enough to seem ever so slightly familiar.

A man suddenly ran at him, his face was bruised and beaten. His hair stained heavily with blood and his eyes were blood shot. He seemed to barely be able to control his limbs. Regardless, he sprinted towards George with a murderous expression.

"I'll knock your head off , you bastard!" He screamed at him, but before his raised hand could touch George, he was pushed back by George.

His back slammed against the cold concrete road and his red rimmed eyes widened as they stared into space.

He started squeaking suddenly and opened his mouth as if he was chocking. His body shaking madly, causing George to step towards him in worry, until suddenly he flopped lifelessly back onto the floor.

I opened my eyes with a shocked expression. That was in no way murder. Manslaughter? Possibly. Defence? Definitely.

I looked at George who stare back at me curiously.

"What did you see?" He questioned.

"You pushed this beaten up guy... and he just..." i was at loss. I didn't think people would have bracelets for things like this.

Whatever scepticism that George previously held onto was gone.

"Y-you actually saw" he was startled, I wasn't surprised, but a bit taken back. I thought he trusted me?

I nodded.

"That wasn't murder- that was an act of self-defence" I shuddered at the state of the man. Something was wrong with him...

"After he- he died, some people came and took him away. They said he was a drug addict and owned a lot of cash to some dealer gang..." he looked confused, but seemed to slowly accept my confession as he slowly unravelled the after story. "They just took him away and I never saw them again..."

A look of guilt was evident on his face. In contrast, my face was trying to figure out why George had a black bracelet when he didn't actually intend or attempt to murder anyone.

"A loophole or just a broken system?" I muttered amidst my confusion. This meant not everyone with a black bracelet was a murderer. So that theory wasn't valid anymore.

"But I guess I did actually kill him"-

"No! You didn't kill him! Something else played a part in his death most likely his drugged up system and from the blood stains on his hair... some type of brain damage. From the stains he lost a lot of blood..." I rushed out my words. It wasn't fake comfort, it was real. George had no hand in his death.

"You- saw him?" He chocked out as he stared wide eyed at me, "I barely remember what he looked like".

His words felt like a blow to my gut. My own eyes widened in confusion.

I thought I saw through the murderer's memory but, I was wrong.

"Are you sure you don't remember how he looked?" I questioned.

"I was in shock after what happened so I forgot most of the less important details" he said staring at me in confusion.