Chapter Twelve
Nick, Kevin, Howie and AJ all stared blankly off in to the distance, feeling numb, hurt and most of all, confused. It had been one full week since Brian had been found guilty. Even though they’d seen it coming, it didn’t change the fact that when the Judge had spoken the words, each of them had felt shock. They’d even felt a tinge of remorse when their friend’s head had dropped to hide his tears as two officers drug him away to be put back in to his prison cell one final, permanent time. Life as they knew it would never be the same again.
“I still can’t believe he actually did it,” Howie stated, looking up to the sky, squinting as the bright, hot sun poured down upon him, “I mean, I doubted and suspected him from early on, but was praying so hard that by some miracle, I was wrong.”
“I know,” Kevin replied simply, “So was I. We all were.”
It was safe to say that nothing was as it seemed anymore. Brian had been the one person in the world they’d have never thought possible of committing such a heinous crime. Ever since the conviction, the relationship between the Boys had been different, strained. They all silently hoped that the feeling would pass and they could get back to normal in time. Nobody knew what to expect though at this point.
“I’m not fully convinced that it was his fault completely,” Kevin said out of nowhere, and when his friends looked at him expectantly, he continued on, “I’m ruling it as he’s insane.”
“Well, clearly-“ AJ started, but he was cut off.
“No, hear me out” Kevin held his hand up to stop anybody else from speaking, “Like, bipolar, or schizophrenic- some sort of chemical imbalance in his brain that caused him to act so irrationally and out of character all of a sudden.”
“I believe you’re thinking irrationally now.” AJ pointed out, trying to keep his tone light.
“I’ll agree.” Howie stated with sympathy as Kevin’s face fell, the last bit of hope he’d been clinging to that his cousin was innocent leaving him, “I’m sorry.”
Kevin shrugged, not trusting his voice to speak. He wondered if the pain and disappointment that he was feeling would ever go away or always be this intense. He felt so bad for Julian’s parents, wondering if now that everything was out in the open, said and done, things were easer or harder on them. He couldn’t even begin to imagine. What was it like to lose a child to something so violent. Something that could have, and should have been prevented? Kevin was humiliated to have anything to do with the killer. He was embarrassed that they were related by blood.
“I just wonder what provoked him.” Kevin finally asked, more rhetorically than anything else.
“Well, he said that she’d been cheating on him.” Nick pointed out.
“But most people just do some screaming, break up…” Kevin sighed, “Not murder the person.”
“That’s true…” Nick bit his bottom lip as he looked down. His once very best friend was a convicted murderer. How many times had he done something that angered Brian? How close had the man been to killing him?
Another long period of silence passed. As much as they all kept saying that they didn’t want to talk about it, the situation always managed to sneak its way into conversation. It was as if they couldn’t help but talk about it, like they all had so much on their minds about the situation that they needed to get off of their chests. It was as if talking about it helped make them feed better in some weird sense.
In the one week, nobody had gone to visit their friend in prison. They wondered how Brian was, if he was making friends with fellow criminals, if he was lonely, scared. If he regretted what he did. All of these questions were running through each of their heads, however their curiosity wasn’t strong enough to ever make them want to go and find out. It was just shrugged off as insignificant and unworthy of thinking of.
It would be a lie to say that nobody missed Brian, because each and every one of them did. It was weird not having him there with them. For thirteen years, it had been the five of them, and besides some rough times throughout, they’d been close and almost inseparable. It was safe to say that this would definitely take some time getting used to. None of the men were good with drastic change that was unexpected and in a bad way, yet.
“So, um, are we like….ever going to visit him?” Nick asked aloud what everybody had been thinking.
Nobody spoke at first, just sitting thoughtfully, thinking. The situation was delicate, and as much as they may want to, there had to be more consideration put in to than just saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ right away.
“I don’t know,” Kevin finally spoke, “He is my cousin, but at the same time…” he ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head sadly, “I don’t know…” his voice trailed off, that being the best answer he could muster at the moment.
“I think visiting him would kind of say that we agree with what he did,” AJ pointed out, ‘That we’re okay with it and support him. There is nothing to support about murder.”
“True…” Nick shrugged, “Maybe in time, we’ll feel different.”
Those were the last words said as Kevin stood, walking away with slumped shoulders. Howie followed, then Nick, then AJ slowly behind the rest. Stopping for a second, AJ watched his friends go as he breathed out a huge sigh of relief before smiling sadistically, his eyes shining. Brian had been charged for murder, but there was more to it than what his friends knew. Much more, and he knew the whole story…
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Flashback
March 25th, 2006
AJ heard screaming as he parked his car alongside the street just outside of Brian’s house. Everytime the woman’s voice would sound, apologizing, crying out how sorry she was, Brian would verbally abuse her in some way. He winced, wondering if he should interrupt or come back a little later. Instinct told him to come back, however he was there for a specific reason, and to him, it couldn’t wait any longer. By the screaming though, AJ sensed that Brian already knew, and the secret was out in the open.
Just as he was about to knock on the door, a shrill female cry filled the night air, followed by her body falling through the second story window of her and Brian’s room. AJ’s eyes widened as she hit the ground, his own body frozen in shock. At first, he didn’t know what to do. When he heard her let out a soft whimper though, he looked up to the room before advancing cautiously towards her. He knelt down, seeing that she was still conscious, but barely, and severely injured. She turned her head the slightest bit, looking up at him through foggy eyes.
‘A…AJ” she weakly sniffed, “He…help me.”
AJ smirked as he waited only a second. It was only that long before Julian’s eyes rolled in to the back of her head.
“Such a shame,” AJ muttered, reaching to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear to reveal her face, “If only you hadn’t been such a damned tease, then none of this would have happened. Now what are we going to do with you?”
He sighed, feeling a little sad, but he was also hurt, feeling it necessary to take revenge on the woman who’d caused his heart so much pain, and for his so called best friend yet.
Scooping her limp body up in to his arms, AJ looked around to ensure nobody was watching before carrying her off to his car. This was turning out to be more perfect than he’d ever dreamed of, plans entering his head that would be an even sweeter payback. Something that would ruin the lives of both Julian and Brian for deceiving him, for stabbing him in the back. Upon reaching his car, AJ tossed Julian in to the back seat carelessly as if she were a rag doll, her head hitting the other side of the car with a thud, slamming the door shut. It was then that he got in to the drivers seat and sped off down the street, looking in his rear view mirror every few seconds to make sure she was still in an unconscious state.
‘Dear, sweet Julian. You should have never gone and fucked around on me. I loved you. We could have had the perfect life together.” AJ clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in distaste, shaking his head, “Now look at what’s going to happen to you, and you brought it all on yourself.”
AJ wondered where things had gone wrong between him and Julian, for they too had dated once, before Brian had come in to the picture. He’d thought that everything was fine between them, but then one day, Julian had told him that she felt it would be best if they saw other people. Imagine his surprise when Brian had brought his new girlfriend to meet the gang for the first time, that it had been his ex. And he couldn’t say a thing about it either.
“She’s quite the steal.” AJ recalled saying as he just looked at her, and only she had known what he was talking about.
He’d eyed her, his gaze following her for the entire night in amusement, and he could see her in her eyes that she was pleading with him not to say anything. And he hadn’t. What killed AJ the most though, was the fact that they had agreed to keep their relationship secret, therefore, his friends had never met her until Brian had introduced her. They didn’t know that his ex was Brian’s current love interest. But then for Brian and Julian to turn around and make everything public and open? AJ wondered how their friends would react if they knew everything…
And now, because of how they had hurt him so, he had to get them back. He had to get both of them back to prove that nobody messed with AJ McLean. True, Brian had no idea about any of the past, unless he’d found his boxers, which was AJ’s guess of what had caused the fight to begin with. He smiled, his eyes glowing with evil, for he’d left them in the bedroom on purpose when Julian had called him out to talk, and much more had happened during their three days off during the tour. He’d wanted Brian to find out that Julian was messing around on him, and what was more perfect than leaving behind a little gift? True, he had no idea whom they belonged to, but the fact that the boxers were there was enough.
Julian though…she should have known better. Did she not know that you never ever date an exes best friend? But because of her mistake, Brian had to pay too, even though he was in all reality, innocent and naïve. He was just dating the wrong person at the wrong time, getting in the way of something that should have been.
As he drove along for what seemed to be hours, AJ finally stopped at a bridge overlooking the Kentucky River. It was just past two in the morning. AJ got out of the car, waiting for another to pass before looking around, pretending to stretch. When he was confident that there were no other cars in sight, he opened the back door, dragging Julian out. Her eyes were beginning to open slightly to just slits, watching him in confusion as he picked her up. Still weak from the fall out of the window, she could hardly move, small moans escaping her mouth from the agony she was feeling.
“Don’t worry, Julian,” AJ whispered, placing a kiss on her forehead as he walked over to the edge of the bridge, “In a few minutes, you wont feel anything.”
He sat her on the guardrail, and she looked down lazily when he forced her head to turn. Realizing what was about to happen, Julian tried to cry out, but her screams were muffled when AJ placed his hand firmly over her mouth. Tears starting to stream down her cheeks as she realized what was about to happen to her.
“Goodbye, Julian. May you rest in peace.” AJ seethed softly in to her ear, his voice chilling enough to send shivers up her spine.
And with those last words said, AJ pushed her over the rail, her body falling over fifty feet in to the icy cold waters. He turned around without looking back, knowing that the girl had no chance of surviving, getting back in to his car and driving away from the scene without the least bit of remorse. One was down, now he had one more to go. Now, he had to frame Brian to make it look like he killed Julian. After she was missing for a few weeks, her parents were sure to press charges, and after a few months, he would pay somebody to say that they saw Brian dumping the body in to the river. Then everything else would take care of itself. All he had to do was be patient. In just a little bit of time, all would be right in the world again. Both were going to get what was coming to them, and he would get away with it all. AJ smiled satanically as he continued to drive in to the night. This was his revenge, and he would play it all off and let Brian take the fall, letting him rot in prison. One woman dead, one man’s life ruined. AJ had gotten his justice, and nobody but him would ever know the truth, and nobody ever would. He would take it to his grave.
Author's Chapter Notes:
So here it is....the final chapter. Thanks so much to those of you who've read this, and BIG thanks to the reviewers!
If you could, leave a quick review (it just takes a minute!!!) lol...let me know what ya thought of the ending, weather you've reviewed or not before. I like seeing peoples reactions...especially to the ending. So thanks agai, and enjoy reading!!!
If you could, leave a quick review (it just takes a minute!!!) lol...let me know what ya thought of the ending, weather you've reviewed or not before. I like seeing peoples reactions...especially to the ending. So thanks agai, and enjoy reading!!!
