The Key Chased the Blade

We got to Elysium Avenue in about five minutes. I'd never seen Simon drive so fast in my entire life. I was surprised a cop didn't pull us over. But when we saw the payphone in the booth on the side of the street, I didn't have one thought other than to find my brother.

John wasn't there. Simon continued down the street and I panicked. I was swearing like a sailor and babbling nonsense. "It's alright, Noah," Simon said. "We'll find him."

"How could you be so calm in this situation!?" I shrieked. Simon kept driving. My fists were red from pounding on his dashboard. But then Simon's calm composure vanished. He swerved to park by the street. "Look! He's there!" Simon jabbed a finger in the direction.

I didn't even need the time to register what Simon had said. I jumped out of that car like the devil himself was chasing me and I didn't even stop to see if Simon was following. I saw him now. I saw John's mess of brown hair and his blue backpack he carried around for school. I screamed at him. "John! JOHN!"

My brother snapped his head around. Obviously he was not expecting me. But he burst into a sprint and tore down an alleyway. I raced after him screaming bloody murder. I knew that he was faster than me, but John was weighed down by his backpack, and with a mighty screech, I caught up to him and tackled my brother to the ground.

John and I fell hard and flailed in a tangle of limbs. He shouted something I couldn't understand and tried to pry me off of him. I hit him furiously with my hands. "Go home!" he was screaming. "Go home and don't look back!"

But he did something I didn't expect. He struck me. My older brother struck me across the face and knocked me off of him. My head smacked against the gravel. I thought I was going to lose consciousness but I didn't. After a second I picked myself up and saw him standing over me.

"You..." I managed. "You... hit me."

"I'm not the murderer." John's hands were visibly trembling. He looked bad. He looked pale, washed out, and filthy. He was wearing Rico's old ACDC T-shirt. "You have to believe me. I didn't kill Sadie."

He started to turn. "I believe you!" I screamed. I tried to pick myself up and chase him, but my head was swimming. I couldn't get off my hands and knees so I made a dive for his legs. I swiped his pants. "I know you didn't do it!"

"What?"

I looked up at him. My face felt hot and I felt blood in my mouth. My nose was streaming it out over my lips. John stared down at me wide-eyed.

"I know you didn't kill her," I said again. "I know it."

John sunk down to his knees and took my face in his hands, but after that he just picked me up off the ground and smushed me into a tight embrace. His whole body was quivering. I couldn't move; he was holding me so fiercely his grip almost hurt. But I couldn't say anything to make him let me go.

"You need to go home, Noah." John's low voice was next to my ear. "I'm sorry."

I struggled. "You need to go home too," I said. "You can now. I can tell Rico and Dad that you didn't do it."

John's muscles tightened. "I can't. I really can't. Rhode is mad at me. I got into a fight with her and she'll come to our house if I go home."

"What!?" I tried to wrestle out of his arms. John was really hurting me now. His fingers were digging into my arms hard enough to leave bruises. "John, that's insane! You're not going to go home because your goddamn girlfriend is mad at you!?"

I managed to get far enough from him to lock eyes with him. His were bloodshot, dark rings around them. He didn't look right in the head. His eyes were wide and glassy, like he wasn't even in his body. "Look." I slowed my speech. "Let's get you home, okay? We can get you home and let you sleep for a bit. I'll go get Simon and we'll drive you home."

"No." John sunk his fingernails into me. I gasped at the pain. "I need to go. And I need you to go too. Go back home, okay?"

"John-" but then he released me. He let me drop back to the frozen gravel and he got to his feet. "John, wait!" I tried to grab him. "No! Don't go!"

I heard someone calling my name in the distance. It was Simon. John heard it and panic streaked across his face. "John!" I shrieked. "Don't you dare leave! Don't leave!"

Simon's voice grew nearer. John turned. "Bye, Noah," he whispered. "I'll explain everything if I get home."

"John, no!" It felt like my lungs were tearing apart.

Then I heard Simon's voice right behind me. John just gave me a strange smile, saluted me, and took off running.

"Noah!" All of the sudden I felt Simon grab ahold of me.

And the last thing I saw was John and his messy brown hair and blue backpack running further and further from my grasp.