Cath Trilogy: Hey Jane

Jane and Rhys were glad to find that they were able to get to the address in 45 minutes which was still longer than was appreciated. Each of them knew that there was a possibility that they could be to late. Any multitude of things could have happened, and they both went to worst case scenario. They were unsure of whether or not it would be most appropriate to knock on the door, but Jane eventually couldn't take the waiting and knocked on the door without a word.

The patting of foot steps on stairs could be heard, and Jane looked at the house. It was one of the San Francisco houses that used to amuse her so much when she was a child. It was a bright shade of blue, and it would have blinded her had the sun not disappeared over the horizon hours ago. The door was bright red as well as the window sills. The windows which fit the description that is given to San Francisco housing. The window were tall and skinny which proved to be most resilient to earthquake destruction. The house itself was also structured that way, tall and skinny. The houses surrounding it on both sides made it look like a line of compacted bulimic brightly clothed teenagers. It was quite unfitting for the situation.

Ryan opened the door, and Rhys and Jane were relieved for only a moment. Well, Jane had a few more moments than Rhys. Actually, a lot more moments, "We're glad to see you're okay."

Before Rhys could put in a word, Ryan started sobbing. They were loud and rattling. His knees wobbled, and they could see this mainly because he wasn't wearing any pants. Just underwear and a Pierce the Veil T-shirt.

"Did I say something?" Jane asked in a scared voice.

"Jane," Rhys warned his partner not to speak.

Ryan calmed himself, and his sobs turned into whimpers and his whimpers into speech. "Sorry," he muttered. He ushered them in saying, "He's out of liquor, and he went to get some stuff. He's gonna be home any minute."

"First things first," Rhys told Ryan. "What happened?"

Ryan whimpered, and his voice caught in his throat.

"I'm sorry to say this but as you said, we are pressed for time," Rhys put a reassuring hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"Danny and I were... you know," Ryan looked into Rhys's kind eyes and the man nodded. Jane gave a confused look.

"What?" She asked thoroughly confused.

"Jane," Rhys hissed again as Ryan shifted uncomfortably in his spot. "Go on."

"We were having sex," Ryan said for Jane who made a silent o with her mouth. "And Danny decided to stay here. We passed out, and my... my dad woke us up. He... he threw me across the room, and I.... I couldn't... I couldn't get to Danny. My dad was choking him, and I couldn't do anything," tears rolled down his cheeks, but he managed to keep himself together rather well given the circumstances. "My dad didn't know that I'm gay, and he certainly didn't like to find out this way..."

Rhys smiled weakly at Ryan for reassurance, and Jane copied the motion with her own lips. "Where is Danny?" Rhys asked.

"Upstairs in my room," Ryan told him. "My dad told me to bury him, but I couldn't touch him."

Rhys nodded to Jane, and they walked up the stairs that were just down the hallway. They passed a kitchen, living room and dining room on their way to the stairwell. Each step creaked as they walked up, and at the platform, the detectives saw that Ryan was following them. He explained himself, "I really don't want to be alone right now."

"Come along then Pond," Rhys tried to lighten the mode with a quote. He really didn't know if Ryan understood it, but either way, it was the kind of quote that could make most anyone smile.

Ryan's smile was bright and genuine, "My mom has made me watch all of Doctor Who more times than I can count."

Rhys returned the smile, "Well, she sounds just great."

Ryan suddenly went serious, "You need to protect her too."

"Where is she?" Jane asked.

"She's at work," Ryan confirmed.

"Tell her to stay there," Rhys told Ryan.

"I tried to call her, but her phone is off," Ryan whimpered.

"When do you think she'll be home?" Rhys asked.

"Around now."

"We'll make sure you're both safe."

Jane had already wandered down the hallway, and what she saw scarred her. There was a bathroom and two bedrooms on this floor. The walls were painted beige, but here and there, there was a mottled red haphazard pattern. The dark red that came from dried blood. There were fingernail marks leading to each room. One of the walls of fingernail scraping was more thick, and it seemed to grow. The fingers moved farther apart with newness and became smaller in the older sections. The other was only three or four times run through, and they were all the same size.

The carpet was also covered in blood stains that had been attempted to clear away. There were also a few piss stains that looked a few years old.

Rhys came up and covered his mouth with his hand. How had this gone on so long without being noticed?

"Oh, my..." Rhys started then looked at the doors. The doors to the bedrooms were across the hall from one another in a parallel fashion. Each one appeared to have been replaced, and each had a lock... on the outside.

"He wasn't always like this," Ryan sounded as though he had told himself this many times. "There was a time when he was a great dad, and even now, he can be nice sometimes. Just the other month, he took me to see a movie."

Jane just stared at him. It didn't occur to her how this boy could still even remotely like his father after what had been done to him. Rhys took a different route, "I know he must mean a lot to you, but right now, we can't have you getting caught up in emotions. Your father is going to go to jail for a very long time."

"Is it bad that made me happy?" Ryan looked worried.

"Not at all," Rhys walked over to the door that he suspected to be Ryan's room and opened it. Inside, there were posters, papers, drawings, discarded clothing and a dead body.

Danny still had his eyes open, and they stared at the ceiling blankly. The green pigmentation was still there, but it was less bright than Rhys and Jane had seen them, and it was unsettling for even them who had known him for only a few hours. Danny only wore boxers and nothing else.

“You may want to step outside. We’ll be right here,” Rhys assured Ryan.

Ryan nodded and sat himself against the wall with an expression of gratitude. He had not been looking forward to seeing his boyfriend examined, and he was grateful to have an excuse not to be part of it.

Jane knelt by the body and looked down at what had once been a living, breathing boy. “He looks to have been strangled.”

Rhys crouched next to her and said, “It couldn’t have been Ryan.”

“Right, the person who did this would have to have been strong enough to pick up this man and apply more pressure than Ryan looks like he could administer,” Jane nodded.

“It has to have been the father,” Rhys stood and looked away.

“You’re going to believe that just because Ryan told you that.”

“Why not?”

“People lie, it’s in our nature.”

“Ryan wouldn’t lie about this. Anyway, who else would do this?”

“Okay first off, slow down. You need to not rush into any conclusions. Not if we want to find out who murdered m... the Prentice family.”

“But, it’s obvious.”

“Not as obvious as you’d like to think. You haven’t even gone over the possibilities in your head.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I’m a smart S.O.B.,” Jane smiled and went back to examining the body.

“Fine,” Rhys rolled his eyes.

When he bent down, Jane heard the door slam shut. Ryan slipped into the room with a terrified look on his face. “Ryan, get your ass down here,” a masculine voice shouted. They had to think fast.