Chapter Four...
Jess turns down her TV & picks up her phone. This is the first time she hasn't called me back?She ALWAYS returns my calls, what's wrong with her tonight? She thought to herself. She hears the ringing until the machine picks up;
~Hey, it's Alice... you know what to do.~
*beep*
" Alice, listen I won't call again cuz I know you're probably out doing something but seriously, it's not like you not to call me back, so..." but before she could finish leaving her message, she heard someone pounding LOUDLY on her apartment door.
What in the world?! Jess turned around abruptly and called out "Who is it?"
no answer.
The pounding just got louder & louder...
"HELLO???"
No answer, just pounding so loud that now her head was starting to hurt... almost as if someone was knocking on it!
"HELLO, JESS! WAKE UP!" Alice, tapping on Jess's forehead to get her attention, was shouting at her friend in a panic.
"Wake up Jess, holy shit, there's a news crew & fucking cops outside my house!" Alice startled her, rousing her from her dream.
"What? I must've been dreaming, I thought I was just calling you & then this pounding and, wait... what's going on? A news what?"
"OH MY GOD JESS, A FUCKING NEWS CREW AND GOD DAMNED COPS! WHAT THE FUCK DO WE DO? WHY ARE THEY HERE?!" Alice panicked
"I don't know, we answer the door?" Jess hesitantly replied.
"ANSWER THE DOOR? ANSWER THE FUCKING DOOR? ARE YOU INSANE? NO WAY IN HELL ARE THEY COMING IN HERE!" Alice snapped.
Jess looking a little taken aback said, "Ok, ok... so we just lay here quietly until they go away, right? I mean they can't sit out there forever. We'll just wait it out, but if you go on shouting like that they're going to KNOW we're here, so let's be quiet, ok Alice?"
Alice shaking & beginning to sweat a little says, "Yeah, ok you're right, we'll just be quiet, they'll go soon, ok fine, quiet..."
"Alice," Jess asks, "why are you so wound up about this? It's not like we did anything wrong, they're probably just coming here because you were his girlfriend & everyone knows we're best friends & maybe they went to my place first & when they didn't find me, just assumed that we'd both be here. You know how the news is, they interview anyone for a damn story..."
"Ok, you're right, I mean, I just don't think it makes sense to be showing up here without calling first, I mean, it's the friggen news ya know? Don't they call first?" Alice still in panic mode was sputtering out sentence fragments & not making much sense, she knew it.
"Alice, it's ok... probably one of the guys from his band gave them your info. Heck it's not like they don't know you like a sister at this point, you've been to every one of their practices faithfully for years now, right?" Jess told her.
"Yeah, you're right, I have gone to nearly every practice, only missed that one in senior year of high school when I had mono." Alice remembered.
"Right, so see, they probably are just here to interview you to see what you know about what happened. If you were with him or heard from him etc..." Jess explained.
"I WASN'T WITH HIM!" Alice jumped at her, "I TOLD YOU I WENT TO THE STORE TO PICK UP A FEW THINGS & GOT ATTACKED, REMEMBER?" pointing to her busted up nose with a shaky hand, Alice tries to remind her friend of the events of last night.
"Alice, calm down, it's ok... I'm your friend, remember? I know you weren't with him, but all I'm saying is, that they don't & they probably just want to ask you a few things to clear the air, no big deal, right?" Jess tries to calm her friend.
"Right, ok right... no big deal, just clearing the air." Alice crawls back into bed next to her friend & pulls the covers up over her head. "I'm just going to hide here for a while until they go away, ok? Just until they go away..."
Jess reached her arm over to her friend & began gently rubbing her back, "It's ok hon, yes, until they go away, we can just curl up here & keep warm, alright?"
Alice's house was frozen to the core, turning the heat up to 68 the night before didn't help much. Another thing to call the damn landlord about. "This place sucks" she said out loud. "I hate my apartment, and my landlord!"
Alice's toes were frozen and Jess was too for that matter.
"How come it's always so damn cold in here anyway?" Jess started to get up out of the bed to go see what was up with the thermostat, when Alice reached over & grabbed hold of her friends arm, tight, "Don't GO!" Alice begged, "stay here please? We can keep each other warm for now & anyway, they might see you, I just want them to go away, please, you stay, ok?"
Jess returned to her warm spot on the mattress, "Ok Alice, I'll stay. Let's get back to that nap we were trying to have before all this commotion woke us up, ok?"
Jess curled up next to Alice in a spooning position & then wrapped her left arm up & over Alice's shoulders & chest. Alice reached up to grab Jess's hand & hold it tight."
"Don't ever leave me Jess, promise?" she whispered.
"I promise..." Jess said, "Now let's just get some sleep."
Alice fell into a deep sleep almost immediately, but Jess wasn't tired at all. She waited until she was sure Alice was out cold & got up to go check the thermostat & put some water on for tea.
She noticed that the camera crews had gone but that the cruisers were still parked outside across the street.
She upped the temp to 72 and went into the kitchen to put some water on the stove.
Walking to the front door, she peeked outside, noticing the cops sitting in their cruiser, enjoying what looked to be a doughnut & some coffee.
Jess smiled & shook her head a little, "Cops & Dunkin Donuts" she laughed a little to herself at the thought of it. "Typical..."
She quietly shut the door to Alice's bedroom & walked over to the couch, grabbed the remote & turned on the TV;
"Sources tell us that people are home at 132 linden street, but that nobody is answering the door. Police officers are staked out waiting for any signs of life so that they may begin questioning..."
"Jesus," Jess thought, "Do they think Alice hand a hand in this? My God."
The kettle started to whistle & Jess jumped up to quiet it before it woke Alice. She poured herself a cup & headed back to the couch to continue watching the news.
"...band members, Tony Vitale and Nick Nucci said they didn't think anything was off Friday night with their friend Jeff, just business as usual for the band & their regular Friday night practice sessions. The band, known as Krackdown, has been together for years and has been playing locally now for over five." Jess listened as the newscaster continued her story; "James Macavoy, the owner of the building where the band rents it's space from, said that he's not had any trouble with them in the six years they've been renting from him."
"Those boys were good people, loud, but good. Never late on the rent & always in good spirits, but did I mention LOUD? Never did much care for that type of music, but hey, they paid on time, I don't question, you know?" mister Macavoy told the reporter.
Jess sipped her tea, piping hot & hurt going down, just the way she liked it.
She grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch & pulled it over her legs.
She remembered then her cell phone, which had been turned off nearly 24 hours now, after first learning of her brothers death.
Walking over to her jacket, she pulled the phone out from her pocket & turned it on.
"Ugh, nearly dead, hopefully enough charge to check the messages at least," she thought.
She called into her messages & heard, "You have three new messages..."
she held the phone up to her ear, hearing the first one, "
"Miss Hathaway, this is detective Bianchi from the Collins Cove police dept. We'd just like to ask you a couple of questions concerning your brother's whereabouts on the night of Saturday January 6Th. We'd appreciate a call back as soon as possible, we really need to talk with you, thanks." *click*
Well she knew that was coming, of course they'd go to her first, she was his sister after all, it makes sense to go to family first... only too bad she didn't know much about what her brother was doing Saturday night. She didn't talk to him as much as she'd like after he started the drinking. They used to be so close, but lately she just kinda kept tabs on him through Alice, she figured, if Alice was with him, then he's ok, and left it at that.
"Received Sunday January 7th, at 10:17am; "Hey Jess, you there? What the hell happened? We just SAW Jeff Friday night! Me & Tony hung with him all Friday but then he never showed up for practice last night, I don't understand how he's fucking dead now?! Call us back ok? We're freaking out ova' here!" click.
Nick sounded just as horrified as Jess felt over this whole thing.
Last message,"Received Sunday, January 7Th, at 10:31am; "
"Jess, hey listen, it's me again... Tony just told me to call you & tell you that we'll keep all of Jeff's things safe for you until you want them. His guitar, his lucky pic, he even has a couple of friggen shirts over here can you believe that? Oh, and maybe we could like, kinda keep one of the shirts, for old times sake? Let us know, call us when you can ok? We know you must be as freaked out as we are! We love ya Jess!" *click*
Nick & Tony are good guys. Been friends with Jeff ever since grade school. Even way back then they all used to 'talk' of one day starting their own band, who knew they'd ever actually do it.
Not that they were headed to Hollywood anytime soon, they weren't 'that' good but, they were good enough to entertain a small Massachusetts town all these many years & people loved them for that.
Jess gets up from the couch & heads over to the door again, it's now nearly 12:00pm on, what day is it now? Monday? Yeah, it's Monday the 8Th. Christ, what happened to the weekend? she thought to herself. It's all still just a big fat ugly dream to her.
Not having any idea how long those news crew people stayed outside the house, she knew one thing, those cops weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Eventually someone was going to have to talk to them, and seeing as how Alice is finally peacefully resting, and she WAS his sister after all, she should be the one to go out & talk to them.
She put her tea down on the mail table by the door & slowly opened the door letting in the bright sunlight. The air was freezing and the reflection of the sun on the leftover snow on the ground, nearly blinded her! She threw on her coat, grabbed her tea again & head out the door & across the street in the direction of the cruiser...
~Hey, it's Alice... you know what to do.~
*beep*
" Alice, listen I won't call again cuz I know you're probably out doing something but seriously, it's not like you not to call me back, so..." but before she could finish leaving her message, she heard someone pounding LOUDLY on her apartment door.
What in the world?! Jess turned around abruptly and called out "Who is it?"
no answer.
The pounding just got louder & louder...
"HELLO???"
No answer, just pounding so loud that now her head was starting to hurt... almost as if someone was knocking on it!
"HELLO, JESS! WAKE UP!" Alice, tapping on Jess's forehead to get her attention, was shouting at her friend in a panic.
"Wake up Jess, holy shit, there's a news crew & fucking cops outside my house!" Alice startled her, rousing her from her dream.
"What? I must've been dreaming, I thought I was just calling you & then this pounding and, wait... what's going on? A news what?"
"OH MY GOD JESS, A FUCKING NEWS CREW AND GOD DAMNED COPS! WHAT THE FUCK DO WE DO? WHY ARE THEY HERE?!" Alice panicked
"I don't know, we answer the door?" Jess hesitantly replied.
"ANSWER THE DOOR? ANSWER THE FUCKING DOOR? ARE YOU INSANE? NO WAY IN HELL ARE THEY COMING IN HERE!" Alice snapped.
Jess looking a little taken aback said, "Ok, ok... so we just lay here quietly until they go away, right? I mean they can't sit out there forever. We'll just wait it out, but if you go on shouting like that they're going to KNOW we're here, so let's be quiet, ok Alice?"
Alice shaking & beginning to sweat a little says, "Yeah, ok you're right, we'll just be quiet, they'll go soon, ok fine, quiet..."
"Alice," Jess asks, "why are you so wound up about this? It's not like we did anything wrong, they're probably just coming here because you were his girlfriend & everyone knows we're best friends & maybe they went to my place first & when they didn't find me, just assumed that we'd both be here. You know how the news is, they interview anyone for a damn story..."
"Ok, you're right, I mean, I just don't think it makes sense to be showing up here without calling first, I mean, it's the friggen news ya know? Don't they call first?" Alice still in panic mode was sputtering out sentence fragments & not making much sense, she knew it.
"Alice, it's ok... probably one of the guys from his band gave them your info. Heck it's not like they don't know you like a sister at this point, you've been to every one of their practices faithfully for years now, right?" Jess told her.
"Yeah, you're right, I have gone to nearly every practice, only missed that one in senior year of high school when I had mono." Alice remembered.
"Right, so see, they probably are just here to interview you to see what you know about what happened. If you were with him or heard from him etc..." Jess explained.
"I WASN'T WITH HIM!" Alice jumped at her, "I TOLD YOU I WENT TO THE STORE TO PICK UP A FEW THINGS & GOT ATTACKED, REMEMBER?" pointing to her busted up nose with a shaky hand, Alice tries to remind her friend of the events of last night.
"Alice, calm down, it's ok... I'm your friend, remember? I know you weren't with him, but all I'm saying is, that they don't & they probably just want to ask you a few things to clear the air, no big deal, right?" Jess tries to calm her friend.
"Right, ok right... no big deal, just clearing the air." Alice crawls back into bed next to her friend & pulls the covers up over her head. "I'm just going to hide here for a while until they go away, ok? Just until they go away..."
Jess reached her arm over to her friend & began gently rubbing her back, "It's ok hon, yes, until they go away, we can just curl up here & keep warm, alright?"
Alice's house was frozen to the core, turning the heat up to 68 the night before didn't help much. Another thing to call the damn landlord about. "This place sucks" she said out loud. "I hate my apartment, and my landlord!"
Alice's toes were frozen and Jess was too for that matter.
"How come it's always so damn cold in here anyway?" Jess started to get up out of the bed to go see what was up with the thermostat, when Alice reached over & grabbed hold of her friends arm, tight, "Don't GO!" Alice begged, "stay here please? We can keep each other warm for now & anyway, they might see you, I just want them to go away, please, you stay, ok?"
Jess returned to her warm spot on the mattress, "Ok Alice, I'll stay. Let's get back to that nap we were trying to have before all this commotion woke us up, ok?"
Jess curled up next to Alice in a spooning position & then wrapped her left arm up & over Alice's shoulders & chest. Alice reached up to grab Jess's hand & hold it tight."
"Don't ever leave me Jess, promise?" she whispered.
"I promise..." Jess said, "Now let's just get some sleep."
Alice fell into a deep sleep almost immediately, but Jess wasn't tired at all. She waited until she was sure Alice was out cold & got up to go check the thermostat & put some water on for tea.
She noticed that the camera crews had gone but that the cruisers were still parked outside across the street.
She upped the temp to 72 and went into the kitchen to put some water on the stove.
Walking to the front door, she peeked outside, noticing the cops sitting in their cruiser, enjoying what looked to be a doughnut & some coffee.
Jess smiled & shook her head a little, "Cops & Dunkin Donuts" she laughed a little to herself at the thought of it. "Typical..."
She quietly shut the door to Alice's bedroom & walked over to the couch, grabbed the remote & turned on the TV;
"Sources tell us that people are home at 132 linden street, but that nobody is answering the door. Police officers are staked out waiting for any signs of life so that they may begin questioning..."
"Jesus," Jess thought, "Do they think Alice hand a hand in this? My God."
The kettle started to whistle & Jess jumped up to quiet it before it woke Alice. She poured herself a cup & headed back to the couch to continue watching the news.
"...band members, Tony Vitale and Nick Nucci said they didn't think anything was off Friday night with their friend Jeff, just business as usual for the band & their regular Friday night practice sessions. The band, known as Krackdown, has been together for years and has been playing locally now for over five." Jess listened as the newscaster continued her story; "James Macavoy, the owner of the building where the band rents it's space from, said that he's not had any trouble with them in the six years they've been renting from him."
"Those boys were good people, loud, but good. Never late on the rent & always in good spirits, but did I mention LOUD? Never did much care for that type of music, but hey, they paid on time, I don't question, you know?" mister Macavoy told the reporter.
Jess sipped her tea, piping hot & hurt going down, just the way she liked it.
She grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch & pulled it over her legs.
She remembered then her cell phone, which had been turned off nearly 24 hours now, after first learning of her brothers death.
Walking over to her jacket, she pulled the phone out from her pocket & turned it on.
"Ugh, nearly dead, hopefully enough charge to check the messages at least," she thought.
She called into her messages & heard, "You have three new messages..."
she held the phone up to her ear, hearing the first one, "
"Miss Hathaway, this is detective Bianchi from the Collins Cove police dept. We'd just like to ask you a couple of questions concerning your brother's whereabouts on the night of Saturday January 6Th. We'd appreciate a call back as soon as possible, we really need to talk with you, thanks." *click*
Well she knew that was coming, of course they'd go to her first, she was his sister after all, it makes sense to go to family first... only too bad she didn't know much about what her brother was doing Saturday night. She didn't talk to him as much as she'd like after he started the drinking. They used to be so close, but lately she just kinda kept tabs on him through Alice, she figured, if Alice was with him, then he's ok, and left it at that.
"Received Sunday January 7th, at 10:17am; "Hey Jess, you there? What the hell happened? We just SAW Jeff Friday night! Me & Tony hung with him all Friday but then he never showed up for practice last night, I don't understand how he's fucking dead now?! Call us back ok? We're freaking out ova' here!" click.
Nick sounded just as horrified as Jess felt over this whole thing.
Last message,"Received Sunday, January 7Th, at 10:31am; "
"Jess, hey listen, it's me again... Tony just told me to call you & tell you that we'll keep all of Jeff's things safe for you until you want them. His guitar, his lucky pic, he even has a couple of friggen shirts over here can you believe that? Oh, and maybe we could like, kinda keep one of the shirts, for old times sake? Let us know, call us when you can ok? We know you must be as freaked out as we are! We love ya Jess!" *click*
Nick & Tony are good guys. Been friends with Jeff ever since grade school. Even way back then they all used to 'talk' of one day starting their own band, who knew they'd ever actually do it.
Not that they were headed to Hollywood anytime soon, they weren't 'that' good but, they were good enough to entertain a small Massachusetts town all these many years & people loved them for that.
Jess gets up from the couch & heads over to the door again, it's now nearly 12:00pm on, what day is it now? Monday? Yeah, it's Monday the 8Th. Christ, what happened to the weekend? she thought to herself. It's all still just a big fat ugly dream to her.
Not having any idea how long those news crew people stayed outside the house, she knew one thing, those cops weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Eventually someone was going to have to talk to them, and seeing as how Alice is finally peacefully resting, and she WAS his sister after all, she should be the one to go out & talk to them.
She put her tea down on the mail table by the door & slowly opened the door letting in the bright sunlight. The air was freezing and the reflection of the sun on the leftover snow on the ground, nearly blinded her! She threw on her coat, grabbed her tea again & head out the door & across the street in the direction of the cruiser...
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