Levi Winchester

I stood next to Tyler in the gym for the moment of silence at the end of the longest service ever, near the end of a long school day. It was bliss that we were granted a free period, because I was extremely pissed that I healed quick enough to attend a school memorial for someone I couldn't care less about. It was the longest thing ever and honestly I should've feigned some pain to skip with Tyler.

On top of that, the place that I was held captive had been burned to ashes, along with George's body! So there goes my promise to bury him properly. Well, the body wasn't my problem.

At least I hope it wasn't.

It wasn't public knowledge, I think, but a body was found and it wasn't able to be recognized because the fire was so hot. Nothing was even salvageable and the firefighters even struggled to put out the blaze.

Now I had to deal with this fool, Jay, if that was actually him. It looked and sounded like him...but he also looked and sounded like George. Whoever did that makeup was quite skilled in pissing me off.

It had to be him though. My gut never lies about these things and I was stupid to ignore it. Still, I couldn't be sure. Which means, my opponent is gaining the upper hand.

And I'm just standing here like a dope!

I'm actually confused as fuck. It was definitely Jay....but it could've been someone else impersonating Jay in makeup, like they did with George.

Was Jay a key player or just someone getting paid like Giovanni? There are so many loose leads, I wasn't sure if I should believe Jay.

Then again, he's proven himself a formidable opponent.

"-or maybe it's not him!" I heard a voice say clearly in my ear.

"Shut up," I muttered pissed off.

"What?" I looked towards the voice to see a confused Tyler. Fuck, I'm speaking my thoughts! "I didn't hear what you said."

"I said 'what's up', Tyler," I covered up with a smile.

"I'm going to move a bit closer for a second. I'll be playing again next week so I want to go talk to the guys." Tyler told me. "Will you be ok by yourself for bit?"

"Yeah, if anything, I'll just go find somewhere to sit."

"You sure, you look kinda scary right now."

"I'm just not in a good mood. My ribs feel uncomfortable," I lied. The doctor definitely greatly exaggerated the extent of my injuries to them for some reason, but thank god I never corrected him. Because of this, it looked like Tyler believed me.

"Come find me if you do." Tyler moved forward to his soccer team buddies and silently conversed. "I'll be back."

Once Tyler moved Jay and I stood next to each other. This was as good a time as any to get all the information I needed and clear up all my confusion. "How does it feel to attend a service of someone you killed, psycho?" I asked.

"He was a waste of life anyway." Jay answered matter of factly.

"And to know that your plan failed?"

Jay smiled and finally looked back at me. "I'm not sure you have the right to call me a psycho. You're definitely one as well. Remember, we're cut from the same cloth, Levi."

"Why do you keep trying to put us on the same level?"

"Anyway, it looks like you've already recovered, I didn't think I'd see you in school today. You're really tough. And here I was, looking forward to you realizing that loving someone makes you weaker and begging me to kill you."

"You obviously don't know what I'll do to protect him."

"That attachment isn't love, it's obsession."

"Fuck you." Why do people keep saying that?!

"Aw, is my little buddy angry? Don't worry, I won't beat you up like last time. You should just go pay your respects with Tyler. Let me guess, now you want to talk because you don't like what I said or did? You being alive still pisses me off too."

"Mad, because I got you hit by that car? Are you actually injured from that? There's a reason they tell you to look both ways before you cross the street, You know."

"Asshole."

"You're one to talk. Be sore at Karma."

"It's more like I'm sore at the constant irritation of not being able to beat you in games." So he was a sore loser? That means I should expect him to hit harder next time. And I can confirm what I already suspected.

"It was you right? You burned the building with George's body. A fire so hot it burned everything up?"

"What?" Jay looked instantly annoyed.

"A fire broke out, no casualties, no bones found."

"You have no proof that I did it. And I didn't do it. No one I know did it. You and I were the only ones who knew his body was in there-"

"Where is George?" I snapped. If it wasn't him, then who was it? "If only we knew, how could you not know?"

"Maybe.....We weren't the only ones that knew."

"What do you know?"

"I don't want to tell you," Jay crossed his arms. He was trying to hide his obvious shock but it came thru clearly in his voice. Why wouldn't he return to the scene of the crime? He had every reason to go back and clean up his mess. "And I don't have to. Find out the truth for yourself."

This could only mean one thing. "Does this mean....that you're being watched as well?"

"Duh, took you long enough."

"So you don't work for whoever is playing with our lives?"

"Why would I work for that asshole?"

"Why didn't you say-"

"Levi! I almost forgot, grandma told me to give you this book," Tyler rushed back over before I could question Jay further. Dammit! "She wants you to return the book personally but you don't have to. I swear that old woman is going senile. She wants to see you and not her grandson. I'll disown her I swear."

"No, I'll return it myself. She said she would surprise me with a book when we were there. Tell me about your next game," I smiled. As Tyler went on about everyone on his team and the next game, I watched Jays demeanor change.

His reaction was odd. When I spoke about George, he believed me when I told him that George's body couldn't be found. Why wouldn't he, he knows Tyler's dad is a detective. That means he didn't set the building on fire. And if he didn't set the fire, he actually had no idea where George was.

Jay has to know something about it though, he looked like he knew more than I did about what happened. But maybe he's just been investigating at the same level that I am. Which means he's as clueless as I am.

Why would someone go thru all this trouble for Tyler in the first place? The kidnapper must be related to him in some way. Are they close to Tyler? Did Tyler wrong some crazy person who made it their life's work to revenge kill him?

How could he? Tyler was never bad to anyone. He was literally an angel.

I need to find out without making it obvious. Which means I need to know more than I already know, so I can narrow in on the kidnapper.

How do I do that?

"Levi, since we have a free period, let me show you something," Tyler pulled out a textbook. "I've been trying to study this but I just don't understand a thing and I get really tired looking at it."

"This isn't hard at all. Finding the most correct equation can be a bit confusing, assuming a equals b..." I droned on explaining the math to a lost Tyler.

"This is bullshit! Why do I need calculus? I'm not a fucking rocket scientist!" Tyler snapped. "I'm only in this class because of you."

"They use physics," I corrected. "Which calculus is a part of."

"So Same fucking thing!"

"Im taking a little break from studying," Jay suddenly said before walking off quickly. It would be a while before he figured that I sussed him out, and honestly it felt really good to see him rattled. Good for me, i bought myself a little bit of time.

"You want me to open up right?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I'm earning your trust so you can. Which I find insulting, now that I say it out loud, because-"

"I'll tell you everything I know. Everything except the reason why I'm so protective. In return I want to know even more about you too." I proposed.

Tyler gave me a hard stare, as if trying to blow my defenses. "Whatever, what do you want to know?"

"Let's write it down." I suggested. Tyler screws up his face in confusion but agreed and handed me his notebook.

What should I ask Tyler? The people closest to him. I know it was Jay and i right now, but anyone else? The kidnapper can be closer to him that I think. I should ask about everyone around him and gain as much information as possible.

I opened the book Tyler handed me when I was done with my questions. "I'll tell you when I'm done and we can ask them later or something." Tyler mumbled tearing out a page and starting over.

I opened the book Tyler handed me to see the acknowledgments. An interesting choice to send me a book on psychology. I guess she was super interested in the subject.

As I looked at the authors picture I felt a terrifying sense of deja vu. I think I read this book while I was being held captive. Seeing the picture and name, I'm sure that I have.

This is Tyler's grandmother? A highly regarded professor in psychology, no wonder she seemed so well versed. It's normal to have a copy of a book you wrote, but this felt intentional. I wasn't exactly sure what I was feeling right now.

Nostalgia?

She mentioned at the hospital that we had read the same books. Is this just a coincidence? But another close person to Tyler is his grandmother. She just wanted me talk about books because not many people are into psychology.

Could it be her?

What can a sweet old lady do from a hospital bed? Then again, I almost believed Jay wasn't a threat.

That's too extreme, calm down, Levi. She wasn't going to harm Tyler, and I don't think that she would pay someone to do this...so could it be because of her?

If it's a possible connection, I had to look into it.

"It looks like something was ripped off. Like a library thing." I pointed out to Tyler. "You know the checkout record."

"It's an old book. My grandma reads those things so much to keep her brain fresh," Tyler brushed it off. "Here are my questions. I'll answer yours tonight and give them to you tomorrow."

"Yeah so will I." I smiled putting the book in my bag.