CHAPTER 12

Bree couldn't believe her eyes. Tears were rolling down her cheeks like a waterfall. Yeon shed a few tears at the sight of that family reunion. He couldn't seem to sink in what's happening.

"Wait! Bree! You sure this isn't some kind of prank he's pulling? Like why would he give back the boys? Now out of all the time he had? It's kind of sus (slang for suspicious), don't you think? " Yeon blurted out, starting to get curious.

"I don't care! He just..... I mean..... they.... no I just missed them too much" she started crying out so loud that the whole neighborhood came out to see what's going on.

"Whatever it is, I think it's best it we take this inside! Come on boys! Let's get you guys something to eat. You must be starving, right? " Yeon welcomed them while helping Bree up.

*Inside*

Yeon made a few sandwiches for the boys. Bree didn't really get anything fancy from the grocery store as she didn't expect the boys to be back so soon. She most definitely didn't expect them to be back without any hustle either. Bree just sat there by the kitchen counter, watching the boys enjoy their sandwiches. They seemed as if they haven't had anything to eat for days. Which seemed quite weird as the last time she spoke to them, they were having so much fun.

"So, boys! How about we have a little story time! " Bree exclaimed excitedly.

As soon as the boys were about to talk, there were loud gun shots fired all over the place. The windows were broken and almost down to the ground and the doors were almost like a semipermeable membrane with all those holes. Bree couldn't think straight. That's when she remembered the boys. She looked around trying to find them. She screamed so hard after the last shot. Then, the whole place went silent. She peeped over the counter to see the boys and Yeon laying as dead as a bug that's just been swatted on the floor. Blood flowing rapidly across the room. Bree crying her eyes out. She ran to the boys to shake them awake, hoping they're just unconscious and not dead. It was no use. They were out cold. She shocked Yeon and screamed his name over and over again but he gave no response either. She yelled a long "NO" before she woke up to reality.

"𝙉𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊" Bree woke up, startled. Not later she realised that she was dreaming. She cried, not knowing if she was happy that they boys aren't dead yet or sad that they haven't come home.

"Can't believe it was a dream inside a dream! " she sighed to herself. "Or was it? " she began to question which is which and without wasting time, she dashed down stairs to check her closet.

As she opened the door she sighed in relief. There was no such bottles as the ones in her dream. However, Bree noticed that the night seemed brighter than usual. Not to mention the amount of sirens she was hearing. At first she thought it was all in her head, like the ones she hears when she wakes up in the middle of the night. Sleep paralysis as many might refer to but Bree always called it a night haunting.

She peeked through the curtains of her beautiful window that was painted with acrylic colours. She was stunned at the sight of few police cars pulled over at her neighbour's place. Being the curious little bean she was, Bree opened the door without making a single creek and stepped out to have a closer look. Lucky for her, the houses had fences surrounding them. Hence, even if she was peeping, not a single soul would know about it. Just as she was peeping through the holes of the large fence, she saw her neighbour being arrested and being taken into custody for further questioning. At least that's what she assumed.

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know? " Bree was startled to hear a sudden voice appear next to her ear. She flinched a little. She sighed to see it was the same officer that came to question her the other day. It was none other than Officer Brian. He smiled at her innocence (so he thought) and continued with "So, what did you expect to see Miss Dallas? Perhaps there's something you want to discuss about? " he slightly pushed the hair from her face to tuck it behind her ear.

"What's going on with Mr. Jones? He's literally the sweetest man in the neighbourhood! Why would he get arrested, officer? " Bree asked trying to break the tension between what had just happened between them.

"Well he is one of our main suspects in the Art Gallery murder case. The one where we came to question you that day, remember? Turns out that he had been hiding a secret stash of thallium. It's most commonly known as the "poisoner's poison" since it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Yeah! It's weird, slow-acting but dead awful! " he explained as he kept starring at Bree.

"How could you guys be so sure that the thallium thing killed him? " she was confused, knowing she used something simpler than that complex poison.

"Well since it's untraceable in post mortem reports, we just assumed it for now. However, we're taking him in for questioning to know for sure. We're definitely going to close the case soon!" he said smirking at the sight of Mr. Jones getting into the police vehicle. "Well then, I'll catch you later!" he went off, smiling seductively at Bree. She could only smile back at him awkwardly before running back into her house. Obviously the officer who was in his early 20s was flirting with her and she didn't feel too comfortable with it. She chose to let it slide as it might come in handy one day. Sly as a fox is what she is.

She went back upstairs, noticing how early it was. She needed the sleep to be able to work on her project and her new target on finding the kidnapper. She rolled onto the bed to see Yeon fast asleep, sucking on his thumb. It's an attractively childish habit but she loved to see him do it. She tried to close her eyes and relax, hoping to fall asleep right away. That was when she felt a pair of hands snaking around her waist. She smiled at his cute behavior and fell asleep peacefully in his embrace.