Part Twenty-Three of the PW Timeline
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a complete series I wrote from July 2019 to July of 2022. Chase and Marvin set about finding information and people that will help in their investigation into where Anti took Schneep and JJ. Meanwhile, Mina continues to gather information about what happened to Schneep during the time she was away—turning to unlikely sources to do so—and Anti continues his attempts to manipulate Jameson.]
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Someone was at the front door. They had been for the past minute or so, knocking regularly every couple seconds. Given the very clear ‘No Solicitors’ sign out front, this person was either a very stubborn salesman or visiting for some other reason.
But Jennifer Newson—formerly Dr. Newson, now unsure if she had the right to call herself that—didn’t trust visitors who dropped by without a call. They were usually strangers, and not the nice kind who were all “Oh I baked too many cookies so I’m delivering them to the neighborhood!” No. Recently, all the unexpected visitors she had were either journalists or there to tell her what an awful person she was. Which…they had a point. But it didn’t give them the right to harass her.
Still, out of curiosity, she peeked through the peephole in the door. The visitor was a dark-haired woman, wearing a brown jacket. She kept checking the time on her phone. Worried about something? Did she have somewhere to be? That possibility only further intrigued that curiosity. Newson hesitated, then slowly opened the front door a crack. “…hello?”
“Hello, I am sorry to bother you.” The woman’s voice was instantly familiar. Or rather, her accent was. “I just wanted to ask you some things. You are Newson, yes? The doctor who was on trial?”
“Why are you asking?” Newson narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She’d instantly known where she heard that accent before, and her mind was already forming connections. Could this woman know Henrik von Schneeplestein? A friend, perhaps? If she was, there could only be unpleasant reasons for this visit.
“I wanted to talk to you,” the woman said. “My name is Mina Pfeiffer—”
“You’re his ex?!” Newson blurted out.
“No! No, we are not exes,” Mina said. “We may have separated, but we did not get a divorce. It is different, a-and for different reasons. Anyway, can I talk to you?”
Newson was too shocked to say anything at first. What was Henrik’s ex-wife—or separated wife, whatever—doing here? Again, Newson was struck by the thought that nothing good could come from this. “I’m sorry, I’m actually uhhhh busy right now.” She started to slowly close the door. “You know how it is. Sorry.”
“Wait!” Mina hurriedly put her foot in the door, just in time to prevent it from closing. “This is not what you think! I am not angry with you.”
…That was even more unexpected than her appearance in the first place. Newson was stunned into silence again, for a significantly longer period of time, as she processed the possibility that someone so close to Henrik wasn’t angry at her. Was this…a trick?
Mina tried to fill the silence. “I know, I probably should be. And I have to be honest: I cannot say I…like you. But I need to—I-I need to know everything that happened. I have seen the news stories, and I’ve talked to the other doctor at the hospital, but…I-I don’t know. I do not know. I think you could help.”
Newson couldn’t help but laugh. Without opening the door any further, she said, “If you saw the trial, you know I was fucking awful to your husband. Why would you want my help for anything?”
“Because nobody will talk to me!” Mina’s voice cracked. “His friends hate me, Dr. Laurens was nice but I know she cannot discuss details. I even tried to find some of Henrik’s coworkers, but they were all busy and awkward and didn’t want to talk to me. I-I have—” She let out a small breath, heavy with exhaustion, and ran her hand through her hair. “I have been trying so hard to make up for the lost time. I-I need to talk to him so badly. But then, Dr. Laurens says he is…gone. Again. That he has been taken. So I cannot do that, a-and I…might not be able to ever again.” She pauses, blinking.
Unconsciously, Newson has opened the door a bit. It was…scary. Having someone so close to you disappear. She knew that. “You never know. The police could find him,” she said gently.
“But if they do not, I am missing this time,” Mina said quietly. “I need…I need to know what happened to him while I was gone. So that I can…” She pauses significantly, hesitating to finish that sentence. “I just need to know. Everything. You are the last person I can talk to.”
Newson laughed again, grimly. “Things must be really bad, then.”
Mina didn’t say anything more. She just…looked at her.
After a few moments, Newson sighed, and opened the door. “Alright. I can talk to you about him. It’ll put me in a horrible light, but I’ll help.”
Mina brightened up immediately. She started to step forward, but then hesitated. “You will tell me…everything you know? Even though it will make you look bad?”
“Yeah. I mean, I can’t hide from it, you know? I was…terrible. Can’t pretend I wasn’t, that’s how you stay stuck.” Newson sighed. “At least, that’s what Tom says.”
“Who?”
“My, uh…counselor,” Newson said awkwardly. “I should have gone to see someone sooner, but—a-anyway, I get it. You’re missing someone, so you’re trying to do what you can to make up for that. Seeking out information is pretty harmless.” At least compared to what she herself did in that same situation. “So…yeah, you can come on in. You don’t have to stay, though. If you decide you actually do hate me.”
A pause. “Thank you very much,” Mina said, her voice almost a whisper.
“You’re welcome, I guess.” Newson stepped aside so Mina could come in. She really hoped this wouldn’t turn out to be a mistake.
But…somehow, she didn’t think it would be. Maybe it was because…for the first time in a while, she felt there was someone who knew, if only a little.
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“I must say, I’m surprised to see you, Mr. Brody. Is everything okay? People don’t usually just drop by the police station.”
Chase laughed awkwardly, shifting in his chair. For some reason, he was flashing back to the couple times he’d gotten in trouble in elementary school. Probably because it was the same setup, with him sitting across from an authority figure sitting at a desk. But this was different. Detective Nix was much nicer than his school principal. Of course, he also had the power to get him in much more trouble. So maybe that was why he was a bit nervous. “No, everything’s fine. I was heading somewhere else and this was on the way. I, um…I wanted to ask you about something.”
“Oh?” Detective Nix idly straightened some of the papers on his desk. “And what is it?” He sounded like he already had a good idea.
“Well…” Chase hesitated. “I just wanted to know if you could…like…tell me how the case is coming along. With the search. And stuff.”
Nix nodded, his expectations fulfilled. “You know you could have called me. You still have the number I gave you, right?”
“Yeah. But, uh, like I said, it was on the way.” Chase laughed again. God, why was he laughing? That didn’t sound suspicious at all. Not that there was any reason to suspect him of anything illegal. Nope. Just nerves. “Anyway…do you guys have anything new? Figured out?”
A pause. Then, Nix sighed. “Mr. Brody. If you’re worried about us being able to find Anti and your friends, you don’t have to. The police force is very capable, after all.”
“You didn’t manage to track down Anti or Schneep during those nine months.” Chase immediately regretted saying that the moment the words left his mouth. He hadn’t meant to; it was just a knee jerk sort of reaction.
But, surprisingly, Nix gave him a small smile. “Well. That’s true. But that was because this Anti was well-supplied, with various stashes and safe houses across the city, and probably outside of it as well. Now, we know about his existence, we’ve found many of those safe houses and confiscated their contents. And, with your help, we’ve even uncovered his website on the dark web. He’s running out of places to hide, and it’s really only a matter of time before we corner him.”
Chase nodded. “I know, I know. I’m not doubting you guys or anything. I don’t know why I said that, really. Sorry.” He took a deep breath. “But…even knowing you guys are on the case, I’m still worried. A bit less worried, but…still. That doesn’t just go away. And I’d really like to get updated on what’s happening. Preferably…frequently? If it’s not too much trouble.”
Nix stared at him. The silence that followed could not have been longer than a few seconds, but it felt like minutes to Chase. What he said, about being worried, that was true. But he and Marvin had decided they would no longer sit on the sidelines and wait for something to happen. They were going to look into this on their own. Which required information. And that was the true main purpose of his stop by the police station.
It was also why he was so nervous. Sure, doing an investigation on their own time wasn’t illegal. There was nothing saying that only the police could look into cases. Private investigators existed, after all. Not to mention true crime shows and podcasts did their own amateur investigations anyway, and those weren’t against the law.
But still. He was nervous. If Nix, an experienced detective, figured out what they were planning and tried to talk them out of it, Chase was worried he would cave easily and give up. And that meant going back to just watching…and waiting…and worrying. And he was so tired of that. He so badly wanted to help, and this was what he could think of doing.
“Alright, I can tell you a couple details,” Nix finally said, breaking the silence. He leaned back in his chair and pulled open one of his desk drawers. “Just so you know we’re on the case.”
Chase slumped in relief. “Thank you.”
“It’s no problem.” After a short moment, Nix pulled out a file and set it on the desk, opening up to a printed street map of the city. “Here’s an example of our progress.” He pushed the map towards Chase, which had circles and dots on it in pen. “Those circles are where we suspect Anti has safe houses and weapon stashes. If it’s crossed out, that means we’ve found something there. Those two scribbles were mistaken locations.”
Chase looked over the map. “That’s a lot of X’s,” he muttered. There were about ten circles drawn on the map, and only three remained un-crossed out.
“Exactly.”
“How’d you find all these places?”
“Well, it appears that Anti has himself a symbol. Hang on.” Nix pulled a loose piece of notebook paper out of the stack on his desk, then grabbed a pen from the nearby cup and started drawing. “It’s a semi-common practice, often used in gangs. It signals to other gangs, as well as anyone deep in the black market or various criminal enterprises, that this territory belongs to them. Anti seems to be using it for a similar purpose. Possibly to either attract his ‘customers’ or warn off threats.” And Nix slid the drawing across the table to Chase.
At first, the symbol appeared simple. A circle, inside a diamond, inside a square. But in actuality, it was a bit different. The ‘circle’ was actually a dot inside a hollow circle, and the left and right corners of the diamond were curved. The overall impression was that of an eye tilted ninety degrees so it was vertical instead of horizontal. “Huh.” Chase furrowed his brow. “Isn’t that…the one…?”
“That your friend Henrik saw, that led us to finding the first safe house with your friend Jackie inside,” Nix nodded. “It was painted on the street sign, but we’ve also found it scratched on fences and spray-painted on building walls. Never any bigger than hand-sized. It always means that Anti has something nearby.”
“That seems…kinda stupid, honestly,” Chase muttered. “If someone figures it out, it’s all over.”
Nix shrugged. “Gangs usually bank on the safety of numbers, thinking we’d be too scared to get in a fight with them. But in this case, we know it’s just one person. Not as much risk.”
Chase nodded slowly. “Um…can I keep this?”
“Sure.” Nix shrugged.
“Thanks.” Chase folded up the paper and put it in his coat pocket. “Uh…do you have any ideas…where Anti himself could be?”
“Hopefully, at one of these remaining locations,” Nix said, gesturing at the map again. “We haven’t found the symbol at any of these places yet, but we’re looking. And if he’s not in any of those, well, there’s only so many places in one city someone can hide.”
Again, Chase nodded. But what if…what if they weren’t in the city? What if Anti had fled, taking Jameson and Schneep with him? He pushed the thought out of his head. No, he shouldn’t assume things that they had no proof of. That wasn’t good for his mental state, he knew. “Thanks, Detective,” he said, standing up. “Can you…You have my number, right?”
“I’ll call you with any updates,” Nix assured him.
“Thanks.”
Nix tilted his head. “You have a good day.”
“Yeah, you too. Bye.”
“Goodbye.”
Chase turned around, trying not to walk too fast as he left the police station. He came for information, and he was walking away with some. Not as much as he would have liked. But it was a start.
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Marvin took a deep breath as he stood outside the door. It was cool. Everything was okay. Nothing to worry about. In fact, shouldn’t he be happy? He was visiting a friend, one they had feared they’d never see again. That was great. He was just anxious. That’s all.
He cleared his throat, and stepped inside the room.
Jackie yelped, sitting straight up in bed and wildly looking around. He calmed down when he noticed Marvin, but still looked a bit shaken. “By jesus! Marvin!” He leaned forward, breathing out. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry, I thought you’d noticed me. I mean…the door is open. I was standing right there.” Marvin shifted awkwardly on his feet.
“You were. I was just, uhh…not paying attention,” Jackie said.
Marvin narrowed his eyes. The TV wasn’t on. Jackie didn’t have a book or a phone or computer. When Marvin had approached the doorway—and stood there for quite a while—Jackie had just been staring at nothing. Marvin assumed he didn’t say anything for some other reason, but…“Daydreaming again?”
“Yeah,” Jackie mumbled. “But hey. You’re here now. C’mon, sit down.” He gestured to a nearby chair.
Walking closer to the hospital bed, Marvin grabbed said chair and pulled it over. He sat down slowly. “So…How are you?”
“Uhhhh good, I guess. I mean, all things considered.” Jackie shrugged. “I can, like, walk better. But apparently I still have to stay in bed most of the time, unless it’s for physical therapy. Kind of boring. But that’s fine.”
“You’re…impatient, right?” Marvin asked. “It’s only been like two weeks, you know. This kind of thing doesn’t just fix itself overnight.”
“No, no, I know that.” Jackie waved off Marvin’s comment. “Doesn’t make it better, though.”
“Yeah.” Marvin nodded understandingly.
“Especially since…” Jackie hesitated. Then he scooted a bit closer to Marvin. “I met up with Jack a few days ago. He told me…he told me that Anti got Schneep again.” His voice cracked.
“…he did,” Marvin growled. “Fucking freak.”
Jackie was gripping the edge of the hospital blankets. He squeezed them tight, wringing them back and forth. “I—I can’t stop thinking about it,” he said quietly. “Schneep…Hen. The thought of—Anti—and Hen being stuck there again, it’s—it’s just awful.”
Marvin nodded awkwardly. He wasn’t sure if Jackie was looking for reassurance or just venting his anxieties. “Do you…want to talk about it?”
“About what?”
“I—I don’t know. Why it’s so awful, I guess.”
Jackie looked at Marvin directly in the eyes—something that his friends rarely did, since they knew how Marvin wasn’t comfortable with eye contact. “Because Anti is FUCKING TERRIBLE,” Jackie said, dead serious. “Nobody else was there. I know how he interacted with Schneep. I-it was…” Jackie took a deep breath. “Are you sure you want to hear about this?”
“If you want to talk about it,” Marvin said evenly.
“I-it was just—the things he DID, Marvin. It was like the whole thing was a game for Anti. I mean, I wasn’t there for all of it. Hen and I were separated a lot, I was stuck in the basement most of the time and he was upstairs. But what I did see a-and experience…fuck, man. I’d go a few days without seeing Schneep, maybe even a week or two, and then he’d show up again, a-and he’d just be a wreck. Half the time, he’d be sobbing because of what Anti made him help with. The other half, he wouldn’t even know where he was, o-or what he was doing there, because Anti would feed him a bunch of these lies, fucking… DELIBERATELY twisting his delusions.” Jackie shuddered, his tone disgusted. “Fucking…evil. Evil is the only word I can say.”
He paused, but then continued. “I-I remember one time, Schneep came down the stairs, and I had to just sit with him because he was terrified. He kept saying ‘Anti gets power from speaking his name,’ over and over, in English and German, too. Crying about Anti’s eyes being in the ceiling, or something. Calling him some sort of shadow monster. A-and I had to—I had to help him. He was having another panic attack, and I had to ground him.” Jackie’s eyes grew distant. “It…it hardly ever worked. Usually he just wore himself out and eventually fell asleep. I wonder if Anti was drugging him or something. Using some sort of substance to make it all worse. Because…it never worked. It never worked. He was just so…so scared of it all.”
Marvin couldn’t say anything. He was stunned, shocked speechless. Even if he could put the horror he felt into words, his throat had closed up. All he did was shake his head.
Jackie buried his face in his hands. He took a few more deep breaths, until the shakiness eventually subsided. “Sorry, Marv,” he mumbled. “You didn’t come here to hear all my trauma.”
“U-uh a-act—” Marvin struggled on his words for a bit before giving up and turning to sign language. 'Actually…I did come here to talk about something serious. I guess it’s related.'
Jackie looked up at him. “What d’you mean?” he asked cautiously.
'Chase and I are going to investigate,' Marvin said. 'We’re going to find out where Anti is, and where Schneep and JJ are.'
“…what.” Jackie blinked. “You…are going to…Marvin. I’m not sure if you know this, but that’s exactly how I got kidnapped. And I have experience in investigation.”
'We’re not going to confront him or anything. Might not even go to any physical places. But we have to do SOMETHING,' Marvin emphasized. 'So, if we can at least figure that out, we can tell the police and they can do all the dangerous shit.'
“…okay.”
Marvin made a strange choking sound. “Y-you—just—like that?!”
Jackie smiled sadly. “I told you, right? I can’t stop thinking about Schneep being back there. And JJ, too, fuck. Anti was pulling every trick in the manipulation book on him, and it’s probably even worse now. So. Yeah. What can I do to help?”
Honestly, Marvin hadn’t expected it to be this easy. He didn’t know if Jackie would want to talk about the serious stuff. But apparently, he did. So…might as well. “Um…just talk about what you remember, I guess. Like, any details that might help find him.”
Jackie nodded. “Right. Of course. This detective came by a while ago, asked about the same thing. Only fair that you guys know too. Apparently the police have found a whole bunch of locations, including the first house.”
“First house?”
“The one Schneep and I were trapped in,” Jackie explained. “And Rya, too—er, Dr. Laurens. You know her?” He waited for Marvin to nod. “Yeah. She was there for a bit, but she escaped. And after that happened, Anti moved me back to that second house, where the police eventually found me. Well.” He paused, thinking about it. “Actually, I was in that flat for a while.”
“…you were in an apartment?” Marvin asked, confused. “Do the police know about that?”
“Yeah, yeah, I told them, too. It was—okay, let me start over.” Jackie sat up straight, holding his hands out in front of him as if indicating the length of something. He gestured vaguely along this imaginary length, silently getting his thoughts in order. Putting together a timeline. “Okay. I track down Schneep. He’s in this house with Anti, and I get caught and also kept there. That’s the first house. After months, Anti abandons Schneep or something, and for some reason takes me to this flat. I don’t remember much of that trip, I was drugged for most of it. But eventually, we go back to the first house. Rya—Dr. Laurens—is there for a while, then she escapes, and Anti takes me back to the flat. I think he was out of sedatives, because I was conscious for this. Then JJ gets caught, and Anti takes us to a second house, where we stay until he decides to take just JJ…and Schneep, apparently. And leaves me behind.”
Marvin nods. “So, those two trips to an apartment. You’re sure it was the same place both times?”
“Uh-huh. I recognized the wallpaper and stuff.” Jackie shrugged. “Probably not all that reliable, considering the drugging I mentioned before, but I’m like 90% sure.”
“Huh.” Marvin pulled his fingers. “Sounds like he retreats to this apartment or wherever when things get tight for him. It sounds like the two times he brought you there, he was worried about information about him getting out through Schneep or Dr. Laurens.”
“I thought so, too,” Jackie muttered.
“Do you think he’s there now?”
Jackie blinked. “Huh?”
“I mean…if he goes there when shit gets rough, and the last times he did was because he lost a hostage or whatever, wouldn’t he do it now?” Marvin reasoned. “After all, you could tell the police information same as Schneep or Laurens.”
“…huh. I…hadn’t thought of that.” Jackie sat back, and considered it. “But…I know about this flat. Would he risk going there?”
“You don’t know anything about what’s outside, though, right? And that’s what’s important.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” Jackie looked at Marvin, impressed. “Good job, man. I didn’t catch that possibility. You ever think about being an investigator?”
“Nope. Sounds like too much pressure.” Marvin shrugged.
“But…you’re doing investigator stuff right now.”
“Yeah, but only for JJ and Schneep. I can’t imagine doing it for strangers like you do. Seems…overwhelming,” Marvin said carefully.
Jackie gave him a small smile. “Well…if you ever change your mind.”
“I’ll make a note of that.” Marvin returned the smile, then dropped it, going back to the serious matter at hand. “Now. Is there anything else you remember?”
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Laurens wasn’t sure why she continued to come in to work. She hadn’t had anything to do for the past two weeks. Dr. Fells didn’t want to assign her any more patients because of the “pressure she must be under,” and without patients, there was nothing for a psychiatrist to do.
Yet, it seemed a good thing that she kept clocking in. Because visitors kept coming here looking for her.
She was working the front desk today. Technically, she didn’t HAVE to, but again, there was practically no job for her without anyone to work with. So, she volunteered to take over the desk during her shift so that busier people could do their duties. She was idly playing solitaire on the desktop computer when the front door opened. And when she looked up, she saw a pair of familiar faces.
“Oh cool, you’re just right here.” Chase smiled and waved at her, quickly closing the distance between them as Marvin followed.
Laurens nodded at them, faintly surprised. “Um…hello. What are you two doing here? You know, now that…” She hesitated to say it. “Well, there’s no reason to.”
“We, uh, wanted to talk to you, actually.” Chase fidgets with the zipper on his jacket. “See…we had this idea. We really wanted to, like, do something to help. You know? A-and we thought…you might want to help, too?”
Laurens stared at him over the edge of the desk. “Sorry, I’m a bit confused. Help what?”
“Uh—”
“So you remember how I broke in here?” Marvin asked. “To do some investigating? We’re gonna do more of that.”
“Breaking and entering?!” Laurens asked, alarmed.
“No, investigating!” Marvin hurried to correct. “We’re probably not gonna break into anywhere.”
“He means we’re DEFINITELY not going to do that!” Chase added, somewhat panicked. “Because that’ll be illegal and dangerous!”
“Okay, okay, you don’t have to be so loud about it.” Laurens was still unsure what the two of them were proposing. “What do you mean by investigating?”
Chase coughed, clearing his throat. He leaned closer to Laurens, across the front desk. “We’re going to try and find Schneep and JJ.”
Laurens blinked. “…wait. You mean…like vigilantes?”
“We were thinking more like private eyes,” Marvin said.
“But…don’t you need a license for that?”
“Actually, no,” Chase said. “I mean, you CAN get one. It gives you some credibility. But it’s not required by law, according to Jackie. At least, not in the UK.” He paused. “HE has one, though. Says it makes it a lot easier. But, uh…we’re not becoming investigators. We’re just…looking for them. On our own. And…we wondered if you wanted to help.”
“I…” Laurens had to process this. Honestly, it seemed like a very dumb idea. Because…what if, in the course of looking for their friends…they found them? And, therefore, found Anti? What would he do if he knew they were searching for them? “Ar-aren’t the police handling this? You two really don’t need to—”
“We’re not going to just WAIT,” Marvin interrupted, frustrated.
“Well, why not?” Laurens stood up from her seat at the desk. “Yes, it’s terrible waiting, but it’s a lot less dangerous than looking for a serial killer!”
“Look, we might be in danger anyway,” Marvin said. “We’re friends with the two guys who Anti seems to be obsessed with. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides to kidnap or murder us one day.”
“Grim, much?” Chase muttered.
“Grim, but possible,” Marvin insisted. “So, might as well try to do something along the way.”
Laurens started to protest again, but then stopped. Didn’t Marvin have a point? After all, Anti had…taken her, as well. Just because she was assigned to Schneep’s case. She didn’t like reflecting on the month she’d spent in captivity with Jackie, but that didn’t erase it from the past. Or erase the possibility that Anti could, once again, try to find her. She shuddered. “…alright. I guess…I can help a bit. I don’t really have much else going on, anyway.”
Chase and Marvin exchanged a look. Happy that she agreed, but also not forgetting the seriousness of what they were doing. “Thanks,” Chase said softly. “Is there…a time we can get together to talk, or…?”
“I have a pretty regular schedule. My shifts are around ten to three each day,” Laurens said.
“Great. Neither of us have anything to do, really. My only thing is when I have the kids over for the weekend, and it’s Monday so they’re already back with Stacy.”
“Yeah I got nothing. Sooner the better,” Marvin added.
The three of them talked for a few minutes before agreeing to meet tomorrow at 3:30, with Chase’s house as the designated meeting spot. Once they decided on that, the two men quickly left the hospital, with Chase once again thanking Laurens for agreeing to help them. Marvin didn’t say anything, but he nodded every time Chase thanked her.
Now alone again, Laurens sat back down, leaned back in her chair, and let out a long, slow breath. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. Her every instinct was screaming “Danger! Danger! You’re going to get killed!” But…Anti had already planned to do that. So, really, what was stopping him from doing that on his own? Marvin was right. Might as well try to fix this mess on the way. So, even if she was still uneasy about it, she would try. She would try.
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It had been two weeks exactly. JJ could tell that Anti was going crazy being stuck in the tiny apartment. He was spending more and more time pacing about randomly, or muttering to himself angrily while on the computer. When not doing either of those two things, he was either messing with Schneep—he tried to do it when Jameson wasn’t paying attention, but JJ could still hear the things he was saying to Henrik—or pretending everything was normal.
That seemed to be his new strategy for dealing with Jameson. Pretend everything was normal. Like they were a normal family, and not, in fact, an assassin/serial killer and his estranged brother who he’d kidnapped. At first, Jameson tried to resist this strange new change. It was…weird. But that only led to Anti’s mask cracking, giving in to threatening him and Schneep. So, now? Jameson just went along with it. Not to say he cooperated. But he didn’t cause any trouble. Maybe, if Anti slowly lowered his guard enough, JJ and Schneep could find some way to escape.
Part of the “normalcy” strategy was dinner. For the past five nights, Anti had dragged Jameson over to the apartment’s kitchen, where there was a small square table set up, and made him eat dinner with him. As if that could convince Jameson to be friendly again.
Either way, Jameson refused to participate. Every night, he would just sit there quietly, listening to Anti talk. Afterwards, he would go back to the bedroom to bring Schneep some food, since he wasn’t allowed out. He’d stay there, talk with Schneep some more, and eventually fall asleep, waiting to see if the next day would bring an opportunity to get out of here.
This night was no different. At around 6:00, according to the living room’s wall clock, Anti put away his computer and silently appeared in the bedroom doorway, staring at Jameson until he stood up and followed him into the kitchen. Tonight was soup. Not that it mattered. The same thing happened anyway, they sat down, and Anti started talking about something or other.
It was always the same. Why? Didn’t Anti know by now that this wasn’t going to get Jameson to like him again?
Maybe he knew. But maybe, he just wanted to pretend.
“—swear to god, it’s like they’re trying to be as annoying as possible.”
Anti sounded irritated. Jameson briefly snapped out of his internal reflection on the fruitlessness of this exercise, wondering what he was going on about tonight.
“Maybe I just never noticed it because I never spent this long in this place,” Anti was saying. He scowled. “But I don’t think that’s it. I think they’re new in the building. Fucking hell, though, I swear they’re tap dancing up there. Have you noticed it?”
Jameson blinked, and said nothing.
“Of course you have, not sure how you couldn’t,” Anti continued. “It’s at like three a.m., too, fuck.”
Wait a minute. Jameson actually knew what he was talking about. A couple times the past few nights, when he couldn’t sleep, he could hear the sound of heavy footsteps from upstairs. It didn’t help the sleeping matter. Partially because of the noise, partially because it was really bizarre to think about other people, going about their lives, completely unaware of what was happening literally beneath their feet.
“I don’t want to talk to them or anything,” Anti muttered. “Don’t want to show my face to anyone around here. It’s very identifiable.” His tone sounded bitter as he unconsciously reached up to touch the scars on his face. “And I don’t even have anything here to make a proper disguise. Shit sucks.”
Jameson started to space out again. This wasn’t anything important. He looked down at the table, stirring his soup with a spoon. He wondered where all the utensils were. He hadn’t seen any in the two weeks he and Schneep had been stuck here.
“Luckily, nobody here cares. Which is good, that’s why I picked it out. This neighborhood sucks, most people know not to poke their heads into places where they might lose it.” Anti chuckled, but then his expression darkened. “Although…there was this one guy. A real fucking pox. He’d show up at everyone’s doors asking them to keep the place neat. Shut the fuck up, nobody cares about neatness in a place like this.”
Where was this apartment located, anyway? That bit about the neighborhood sucking was the first hint Jameson had gotten about that. Huh. Maybe, if he figured it out, he could then find some way to get a message about where they were to…someone? The police, maybe?
“He might’ve just been annoying if he hadn’t gotten all hot about the graffiti.” Anti leaned back in the chair. “Wanted to find out who in the building was doing it. And at that point, he crossed the line. Can’t have anyone paying too close attention to that.” A smile twisted his face. “Well. Doesn’t matter now. That guy’s been taken care of.”
He said it so casually. Jameson tried to keep his expression neutral. It didn’t matter. He already knew what sort of person Anti was. Anti had made that abundantly clear two weeks ago, when he’d left Jackie behind.
Was he still talking? He was. Jameson gave up on paying attention and let his mind wander. He wondered if Schneep would be awake when he went back to the bedroom. Wondered if he’d ask him about how dinner went. Wondered if…if Anti would follow through on any of his threats he’d made towards Schneep.
Well. According to Anti, that depended on Jameson.
And he knew he couldn’t let that happen.
So, for now, he sat at the table and pretended to listen to Anti. Pretended Anti was right, in thinking everything would go back to normal.
.............................................................................................
It was late into the night by now. Newson could see the moon through the gap in her curtains. She couldn’t remember the last time she spent so much time with someone. And of all the people, it was Henrik’s ex-wife. Neither of them had meant this to happen. But somehow, they were here now. Honestly? Newson strongly suspected the half-empty bottle of wine on her coffee table had something to do with it. But she didn’t care.
“It’s the chance that…that we could have missed this, you know?” Mina was saying, half-lying and half-sitting on Newson’s sofa. “I think we never should have took a break in the first place. That everyone was right, I should have stayed by him both times.”
Newson leaned back in her chair, settling against the upholstery. “What was the deal in the first place? Why’d you take that break? Fighting or something?”
“He started to act strange,” Mina said. Her eyes glazed over with recollection. “Looking back now, I recognize the symptoms. But at the time, I just thought he was having weird mood swings from stress. I did worry he was depressed. But he did not want to talk about it. Eventually, out of nowhere, he accused me of…of…ah, what’s the word? Being…unfaithful.”
“He thought you cheated on him?” Newson repeated, surprised. “You seem really nice, though.”
“Danke. I mean, Thank you. But see, this is the strange part. He thought the other man was my tennis instructor. But…I do not have one. I like playing, but only with friends, for fun. Why would I have an instructor? And I think, at the time I think, I think…” Mina stumbled over her words for a bit. “I think he is wanting me out of the picture for some reason, and making up an excuse. So I say, ‘we take a break.’ And we do, and then about a month later he realizes the truth. This disorder that he has.”
“But you said you wanted to get back together, right?”
“Well, this is the thing. We were starting to. Around in…last June…ish.” Mina shrugged. “His idea. But he was not quite sure, so he didn’t want to be public about it in case we didn’t fit anymore. I say, yes. I want this. And…and things were all going great. Until that August.” Her eyes started to tear up. “And then I left. And I never should have done that.”
“Hey, I mean, it’s not your fault, is it?” Newson shrugged, mirroring Mina exactly. “Everyone was fooled. That other guy, uhhhh I’ve forgot his name, but the real bad guy. He did a good job of setting him up. We all thought he did it.”
“His friends hate me now,” Mina muttered. “Because I left.”
“Tell them to fuck off next time you see them. I bet they thought he did it, too.”
“I should have come back sooner.” Mina leaned forward, rubbing the sides of her head. “Before he was taken again. Because now…now I may not see him again. I may not get to tell him I’m sorry, or that I really…I really still love him. Or that…” She trailed off. “They’ll never meet. A-and I cannot bear to think of that. I should have come back sooner. Should have kept up with the news. But I did not. And now I’ve missed him. I-I cannot see him again. It’s too late.”
Newson fell quiet. Then, she nodded. “It sucks, doesn’t it? It’s like having a hole inside you.”
“You understand?” Mina asked, looking up.
“Kinda. It’s not exactly the same thing, but…kinda.” Newson paused. “I had a brother, you know. Jeremy. We were twins, each other’s only family. But he’s gone now. I thought Henrik killed him, but apparently it’s that other guy who did it.” She blinked. “That lost time…I hate it. I hate that we’ll never celebrate our birthday again. Or that I can’t text him and ask if he wants to go to dinner at that new shop that opened recently. Even the little things, you know? Like, he used to constantly complain about people vandalizing the building he lived in, talked about all this little graffiti. It was annoying, sometimes, but…now I miss it. He was determined to find the culprit. But he never did.”
Mina nodded. “The little things. Henrik and I would watch TV together. Only with each other.” She giggled a bit. “He would always complain when a character was injured and then instantly got back up. He said it was inaccurate and no fun, anyway.”
It was strange to hear these things about Henrik. And, really, it made Newson feel even worse than she already did about how she treated him. For the longest time, he was just the bad guy in her mind. The one who killed Jeremy. Not someone who had friends and a job and a partner. Not someone who did things like complain about TV shows. Maybe that was why she didn’t have any problem doing those things. Hard to be cruel to someone you knew was a person.
“…Mina. Listen.” Newson sat straight up. “You have a chance.”
“Huh?” Mina glanced at her, confused.
“Henrik isn’t dead. I don’t think this bad guy would hurt him. Er…at least not permanently. You have a chance to talk to him a-and watch TV shows together again.”
“Jennifer, they can’t find him,” Mina said softly.
“Well, then, you fucking do it. I don’t know.” Newson shook her head. “And if you can’t, get help. Henrik had friends, they’re probably as upset as you are.”
“Did you hear me? I said they probably hate me now.”
“I dunno,” Newson said vaguely. “Maybe they’ll put that aside if you’re real with them. Like you have been with me. I mean, seriously. How did this happen?”
Mina didn’t say anything, but she still looked unsure.
“Hate is a product of love,” Newson said quietly. “If you love someone, you hate those that hurt them. Even if it was an accident or misunderstanding or you only thought you knew what was going on. Henrik’s friends love him a lot. He’s lucky like that. Not everyone has that. So it makes sense they’re defensive of him. It’s not really your fault. After all, you didn’t mean any harm. So you have that going for you.”
“It is getting them to listen that’s the problem,” Mina mumbled.
“Well they can’t listen if you don’t talk,” Newson pointed out. “You gotta try, at least. Maybe you start out with the big news. You know. Come right out and say it. That’ll get them to think about it further.”
“I think…you are right,” Mina said tentatively. “It will be tough. But I have to try.”
“You have to,” Newson repeated. “Oh. And, uh, if I can give you any other advice? Just…about life in general? Don’t…hate. Even if it seems right. It’s just poison.” Her voice fell quiet. “It’s just poison.”
Mina stood up, staying surprisingly steady. She walked over to Newson, and took her hand, squeezing it tight. “Thank you,” she said softly.
Newson rolled her eyes. “It’s still weird to me that you showed up. But…well. You’re welcome, I guess.” Her voice softened. “I should be thanking you, actually. So…thank you. You’re a good person.”
Mina smiled a bit. “I will be seeing you, then.” And without another word, she left, heading out into the hall. The front door opened and slowly closed.
Newson stared at the moon out the window for a moment. She leaned back into the chair. “You’re a good person,” she repeated. “Better than me.” She closed her eyes, and slowly drifted into sleep.