Fear Me, Dear

The walk to KFC was rather interesting to say the least. Dan was walking beside Chris who was skateboarding, seemingly content and rather pleased with his handiwork on his skateboard that's a good three, possibly four, years old. To be quite honest, I'm surprised the actually board hasn't broken yet seeing how often Chris rides around on the bloody thing. Or maybe it's because he looks after it, I don't know for I am not Chris. It will always be one of those questions I will never get an answer to, filed right next to the question 'how the hell does Chris play guitar so well with all of his hair in the way of his sight?' As Chris skated along with Dan beside him, Matt and Max were ahead being what I could only call imbeciles. Jumping all around the place, including one of the other's back, and shouting. Then there was the period of time they sung about their love for chicken, with Matt's solo verse on how much he loved KFC and how it was his second home.

All this was going on, and I was just trailing along behind them all, just thinking. Mainly about the recent murders. Something about them seems slightly...weird. Not quite weird, but they aren't normal. For the time being, I will stick with calling the murders 'weird' until I come up with a better word.

It's weird how these murders seem almost...random. Does the guy (or girl) have a motive? If so, I would be interested to know what it is if it leads him to kill a seventeen year old girl who posed no threat to anyone, and from what I heard was a rather lovely person. I wonder what goes through this guys head. I have a feeling there is something more to all of this, and it isn't just a case of randomly killing people or having a 'normal' motive. No, I feel there is something much more to the whole situation.

It is all rather...

"Unusual! Now that, that is a good word!" I quietly exclaim, leaning forward in my seat and slapping my knees, a smile breaking out on my face as I feel that I have accomplished something great.

"Um...sorry, but what are you on about Josh?" Comes Dan's voice from beside me.

Suddenly I remember that I am in KFC, it seems that I momentarily forgot where I am. The guys are staring at me as if I am slightly insane, which I am not, just to clarify. Although, talking to myself isn't exactly supporting the 'Josh Franceschi Is Not A Nutcase' argument. I scratch the back of my neck and laugh nervously, then I stare down at my order that lies on the table in front of me. Apart from taking a single bite of a piece of chicken, I haven't really touched it and instead it has just been sitting there for however long I have been spaced out for. If my order had a face, it would probably be sad right now.

"Oh, nothing." I mumble, grabbing a couple of chips from where they sit in the small box that contains my order.

"Nothing? Seriously, Josh?" Max says. Well, I think that's what he says. It's hard to communicate through a mouthful of chicken, and it's even harder for other people to understand. Max doesn't seem to have grasped this fact yet in all of the years he has spent on this planet.

"No I mean yes! Yes, seriously nothing." I mentally slap myself, because it is so obvious how panicked my reply seemed.

"You're not going to tell us, are you?" Chris sighs, before eating another few chips and leaning so his arms are resting on the table.

"Nope. I mean, there is nothing to tell you." Now it has gotten to the point where I am internally screaming. There is no way the guys are going to let this slide, seeing how unintentionally obvious I am being.

"Wait a second...ooh, I think I know what it is!" Matt says, finally acknowledging something other than the chicken sat on the table in front of him. I watch his facial expression change from eyebrows furrowed in deep thought as he thinks over what his idea is whilst tapping his chin with the fried chicken in his hand, to a mischievous smirk as he concludes that he is probably right and moving his hand so he is pointing at me with the chicken.

"What?" Dan, Chris and Max ask in sync. I roll my eyes as they don't even try to hide the fact that they are eager to know what I'm thinking and to hear what Matt thinks. Matt looks around the restaurant quickly before leaning forward on the table, and the four of us lean in as well so we can hear what he has to say.

"You're thinking about those murders again, aren't you?" Matt asks in a lowered voice. All the guys turn to look at me, as if silently asking 'well, is he right?'

"No..." I answer, but a few seconds too late.

"I'm right, aren't I?" He asks, but by the smug look on his face he already knows the answer. The way I sit back in my chair and look down at my food, scratching the back of my head as I mutter the word 'no' is the only answer he needs to know that he is right.

"I fucking knew it!" Matt exclaims, but not so loud that he interrupts the other customers around us. Sitting up in his chair, he takes what looks like a victory bite of his chicken.

"Why are you so interested in them, anyway?" Dan asks.

"I'm just curious as to what goes through this guys head, that's all. You have to admit, the murders are unusual."

"Unusual in what way?" Chris questions as he takes a sip of his drink.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I just have this feeling that there is something more to the whole thing."

"Now, I would love to continue this conversation, but crazy anti-KFC Hispanic guys has just walked in."

Just as Max says this, a Hispanic man with greying black hair that reaches his shoulders walks in rather angrily. This man, who I believe is in his early forties, is what everyone knows as the 'anti-KFC guy'. He will always walk into the restaurant and have a giant rant about it, saying that we are all going to hell or some shit. The weird thing is that whenever we come to KFC, he arrives whilst we're still here. Every fucking time. His rants and negative attitude towards the chain fast food restaurant aren't the only things that make him stand out, his hippie-like clothing makes us question whether he got dressed in the dark or not. Due to our regular visits here (mainly because of Matt and his fried chicken obsession) the strange man has come to know us, and he has grown a rather strong dislike to Matt due to Matt being the KFC lover that he is. I notice said KFC lover shrink in his seat and try to make it so that the crazy guy doesn't notice him.

No such luck.

Long story short, the crazy Hispanic guy shouted at Matt and proceeded to throw his chicken on the floor. After a few 'fuck you''s and some 'you fucking twat''s from Max in defense of his friend, we all got up and left. Matt was rather upset to say the least. As we were walking back to our house, he kept complaining about how the anti-KFC guy ruined a perfectly good serving of chicken. A promise of more fried chicken from Max was enough to cheer him up.

As we continue to walk with Chris skateboarding beside the four of us, we reach the alleyway where, further down it, Suzie was murdered. At the alley opening, I stop. At the end, I see a policeman talking into a walkie talkie attached to his vest jacket as he looks down where the alley turns left. I can hear the voices of multiple policemen talking over the obnoxious shouts of my friends.

"Hey Josh, are you coming?"

Blinking, I realise that I have stopped by the alleyway as my friends have walked ahead. Max, Matt and Chris keep going as Dan stops and waits for my answer. My answer should be 'of course, sorry I just zoned out' and then I should carry on walking. Yet I don't. Looking down the alley, I become curious. What if the crime scene is still the same? What if the body is still there? It all sounds so strange and mental, but maybe the scene and the state the body was left in could help me figure out what goes through the murderer's mind. Being as desperate as I am for answers to my questions, and curious about the recent events, I decide against going with my friends. If I do this though, I can't just go down the alley. I need some sort of excuse, maybe say that I need to go into a shop quickly. Conveniently, there is a small newsagents right next to me.

"Um...I'll catch up with you. I just want to run into this newsagents quickly."

"Shall I wait?"

"No it's fine Dan, I won't be long!"

Without another word, I stride into the shop and look around for a moment, before deciding to buy a chocolate bar. If I want to make Dan believe I actually had to get something, I might as well get a chocolate bar to go along with my lie. Besides, it's my favourite brand and we don't have any in the cupboards. After paying, I walk out of the shop and sure enough the guys are out of sight. Shoving the chocolate bar into my pocket, I around the corner into the alleyway.