I'm the Last One That You'll Ever Remember
Chapter 41: Dark and Scary
Frankie slowly nodded as his hands tightened on his parent’s hold. He couldn’t believe the time was finally here, the time where he was expected to tell his story about his kidnapping. Was this something he should feel eager or excited to tell or was he supposed to feel like running back upstairs to his room to hide beneath his covers for the rest of his life? Frank wasn’t sure he was ready to speak out about his experience with the two detectives AND his parents in the same room, but he did know that no matter how many times he tried to avoid this interrogation it was eventually going to happen at some point whether he liked it or not. These officers were only doing their jobs in trying to find the man that had did this to him, and make him pay for the rest of his life by locking him up behind bars, but…he still wasn’t sure that he even wanted to help in that.
Frank lowered his eyes to the coffee table and focused on recalling those long ago memories back as best as his frightful mind could. “O-Okay, um, my mom…she woke me up to a mini cupcake she bought at the bakery while she was grocery shopping that morning. It…it had a small black and orange pumpkin candle in it and was…chocolate flavored.” He looked up from the coffee table to see Detective Frost scribbling away in a small black notepad while Detective Drebin watched him closely. He was urged to continue by Detective Drebin when he paused for too long. “Uh, yeah um, s-she wanted me to blow out the candle before school started and…I-I did and the cupcake tasted pretty good.”
He wished to god he could end the interrogation right then and there and return back to the safety of his room, but he knew he was far from finished. His hands were already becoming sweaty, and he was beginning to feel nauseas the more he talked. The closer he got to the main point of his tale, the harder it was going to be. Margo wrapped a gentle arm around his back and gave his arm a soothing pat. “It’s alright, Frankie. You’re doing very well.”
Detective Drebin nodded with a comforting smile. “You are, Mr. Iero. You’re doing very well. Were you excited for your birthday? Did you have any plans for the big 15?”
Frank knew the Detective was just trying to make it easier for him to open up more about his kidnapping, and he was thankful for it. His stomach was beginning to feel a little less upset now. “Y-Yeah, I think I did have plans. It probably had something to do with my friends. I…I wasn’t allowed them to see them outside of school anymore because…I did something, I don’t really remember what.”
“Oh honey, you were being a bad Frankie-poo, that’s what.” Margo cooed to him as she coddled him. The detectives held back their smiles at Mrs. Iero embarrassing her son in front of them, according to his sudden rosy cheeks.
“Moooom stop! I’m not little anymore so don’t go around calling me that in front of everybody.” Frankie whined as his cheeks grew warm with embarrassment.
“Oh right, sorry honey.” Margo apologized before gesturing to the detectives. “Please, go on.”
“Frankie, your plans?” Detective Frost continued on from their earlier question, hoping he’s picked up from where he stopped.
Frank’s eyes lit up. “Oh yeah, uh…the night before I had asked my parents if I could get off punishment for my birthday so I could spend it with my friends. They said they’d think about it, and over breakfast they told me that I could after school.”
“Sounds like you boys were about to have a whole lot of fun, huh? What were the names of these friends of yours?” Detective Drebin asked him as Detective Frost’s pen hovered over his notepad in wait.
“Patrick Stump and his boyfriend Pete Wentz, Victor Fuentes and his boyfriend Kellin Quinn, Bert McCracken, Ville Valo, Adam Gontier, and Jacoby Shaddix.” Frank recalled, as the images of each one of their individual faces flashed before his eyes as he said their names.
Detective Frost scribbled the names down despite already knowing about the other missing boys, and having already investigated the many families. Detective Drebin continued on with the interrogation the second he saw the horror dawning over Frankie’s face after mentioning his best friend’s names. He didn’t want the young boy to get sidetracked about his friends when they’ve only just begun their interrogation. Everyone in town knew the nine local boys had a close bond, and so far it would seem that Frank was either not moved by his friends still missing, or that he was still unaware about what was going on around him. The last thing the detectives needed was their only key witness to have an emotional breakdown before they could get to the real questions, and so they planned on avoiding bringing up the other eight missing boys until they had all the information they needed first. “After breakfast you headed to school, correct? How did your day go?”
Falling for the distraction, Frank looked up at him. “I-It was ok. Nothing interesting happened or anything like that, you know, because its school. It was pretty much boring like it always is.”
“Did you or your friends decide to skip school early to run off to the movies or anything, or did you all stay for the duration of the day?” Detective Drebin asked him, already knowing the answer but hoping that the simple conversation could help Frank relax enough until they got to the more frightening part of the story.
“Yeah, we did. I mean, I…I learned my lesson before when I use to do things like that. I knew if I tried to ditch school, and my parents ended up finding out, it wouldn’t matter if it was my birthday that day or the next day, they would throw me into another punishment. I didn’t want that, so I went to school, paid attention, and worked hard on my assignments.”
“Did you return home that afternoon once school was let out?” Detective Drebin moved on.
Frank nodded. “Yeah, but only for a little while. My parents wanted to surprise me with my birthday presents first before I went off to meet up with my friends. My friends…they uh, had been planning on a birthday camping event for me despite me being grounded. I hadn’t seen them for so long, outside of school, I mean.”
“I bet, but at least your parents were nice enough to go easy on you and allow you to go on an overnight trip with them in the town’s camping grounds.” Detective Drebin said in support of Frankie’s parents. He knew the couple pretty well, and knew they were good parents. Hell, he even saw little Frankie and his best friends grow up into the teenage boys they were a few months ago, which made this case all the more heart wrenching for him. The boys were snatched from a crowded friendly and safe camping ground in their town and none of the campers nearby had any idea what had happened to the boys. Now that one of them were returned, Detective Drebin was determined to solve this case and make the bastard pay for touching those kids, but he also didn’t want to approach Frankie too aggressively and have him revert back to his depressive state that he’s finally seem to have overcome.
Frank nodded. “Yeah…it was.”
Detective Frost nudged Detective Drebin in the arm to try and get his attention. When he had it, he handed him the notepad to start taking notes now that they’ve finally reached the part of Frank’s story where the kidnapping was about to take place. Since this case hit more close to home for Detective Drebin than it did for Detective Frost, the newcomer decided to take over questioning Frank about the more sensitive and horrific events that occurred on the night of his Halloween Birthday. “It’s nice to finally meet you Franklin Jr. and I’m sorry that it has to be under these kinds of circumstances, but we need your help. We want to take this guy down, but unfortunately we’ve reached a dead end...that was, until you were discovered in that cabin. Do you understand where I’m going with this, son?”
Frank hesitated before nodding, his heartbeat suddenly starting to pound much faster than it did before.
“Good, because right now the interrogation is going to turn into something dark and scary for you but we need you to try and help us here by giving us as much information as you can, we don’t care how small. For example, if you noticed a caterpillar on that camping trip I want a detailed description of what that caterpillar looked like. Anything and everything, Franklin, I mean it.” Detective Frost urged, hoping to get his point across to the young boy. A caterpillar was probably a strange example, but at this point in their investigation a caterpillar was better evidence than nothing.
“Y-Yes sir, I understand.” Frank stuttered, his eyes beginning to fill with tears as he fought to speak past a heavy lump in his throat.
“Good. Now, I want you tell me about what happened after all the tents were put up, and all your friends had finally arrived at the campsite. What was the conversation about, before that man stepped into your camp?” Detective Frost asked Frank in such a soft and comforting voice that help to aid Frank’s rising emotions, at least some of them.
Frank lowered his eyes to the coffee table and focused on recalling those long ago memories back as best as his frightful mind could. “O-Okay, um, my mom…she woke me up to a mini cupcake she bought at the bakery while she was grocery shopping that morning. It…it had a small black and orange pumpkin candle in it and was…chocolate flavored.” He looked up from the coffee table to see Detective Frost scribbling away in a small black notepad while Detective Drebin watched him closely. He was urged to continue by Detective Drebin when he paused for too long. “Uh, yeah um, s-she wanted me to blow out the candle before school started and…I-I did and the cupcake tasted pretty good.”
He wished to god he could end the interrogation right then and there and return back to the safety of his room, but he knew he was far from finished. His hands were already becoming sweaty, and he was beginning to feel nauseas the more he talked. The closer he got to the main point of his tale, the harder it was going to be. Margo wrapped a gentle arm around his back and gave his arm a soothing pat. “It’s alright, Frankie. You’re doing very well.”
Detective Drebin nodded with a comforting smile. “You are, Mr. Iero. You’re doing very well. Were you excited for your birthday? Did you have any plans for the big 15?”
Frank knew the Detective was just trying to make it easier for him to open up more about his kidnapping, and he was thankful for it. His stomach was beginning to feel a little less upset now. “Y-Yeah, I think I did have plans. It probably had something to do with my friends. I…I wasn’t allowed them to see them outside of school anymore because…I did something, I don’t really remember what.”
“Oh honey, you were being a bad Frankie-poo, that’s what.” Margo cooed to him as she coddled him. The detectives held back their smiles at Mrs. Iero embarrassing her son in front of them, according to his sudden rosy cheeks.
“Moooom stop! I’m not little anymore so don’t go around calling me that in front of everybody.” Frankie whined as his cheeks grew warm with embarrassment.
“Oh right, sorry honey.” Margo apologized before gesturing to the detectives. “Please, go on.”
“Frankie, your plans?” Detective Frost continued on from their earlier question, hoping he’s picked up from where he stopped.
Frank’s eyes lit up. “Oh yeah, uh…the night before I had asked my parents if I could get off punishment for my birthday so I could spend it with my friends. They said they’d think about it, and over breakfast they told me that I could after school.”
“Sounds like you boys were about to have a whole lot of fun, huh? What were the names of these friends of yours?” Detective Drebin asked him as Detective Frost’s pen hovered over his notepad in wait.
“Patrick Stump and his boyfriend Pete Wentz, Victor Fuentes and his boyfriend Kellin Quinn, Bert McCracken, Ville Valo, Adam Gontier, and Jacoby Shaddix.” Frank recalled, as the images of each one of their individual faces flashed before his eyes as he said their names.
Detective Frost scribbled the names down despite already knowing about the other missing boys, and having already investigated the many families. Detective Drebin continued on with the interrogation the second he saw the horror dawning over Frankie’s face after mentioning his best friend’s names. He didn’t want the young boy to get sidetracked about his friends when they’ve only just begun their interrogation. Everyone in town knew the nine local boys had a close bond, and so far it would seem that Frank was either not moved by his friends still missing, or that he was still unaware about what was going on around him. The last thing the detectives needed was their only key witness to have an emotional breakdown before they could get to the real questions, and so they planned on avoiding bringing up the other eight missing boys until they had all the information they needed first. “After breakfast you headed to school, correct? How did your day go?”
Falling for the distraction, Frank looked up at him. “I-It was ok. Nothing interesting happened or anything like that, you know, because its school. It was pretty much boring like it always is.”
“Did you or your friends decide to skip school early to run off to the movies or anything, or did you all stay for the duration of the day?” Detective Drebin asked him, already knowing the answer but hoping that the simple conversation could help Frank relax enough until they got to the more frightening part of the story.
“Yeah, we did. I mean, I…I learned my lesson before when I use to do things like that. I knew if I tried to ditch school, and my parents ended up finding out, it wouldn’t matter if it was my birthday that day or the next day, they would throw me into another punishment. I didn’t want that, so I went to school, paid attention, and worked hard on my assignments.”
“Did you return home that afternoon once school was let out?” Detective Drebin moved on.
Frank nodded. “Yeah, but only for a little while. My parents wanted to surprise me with my birthday presents first before I went off to meet up with my friends. My friends…they uh, had been planning on a birthday camping event for me despite me being grounded. I hadn’t seen them for so long, outside of school, I mean.”
“I bet, but at least your parents were nice enough to go easy on you and allow you to go on an overnight trip with them in the town’s camping grounds.” Detective Drebin said in support of Frankie’s parents. He knew the couple pretty well, and knew they were good parents. Hell, he even saw little Frankie and his best friends grow up into the teenage boys they were a few months ago, which made this case all the more heart wrenching for him. The boys were snatched from a crowded friendly and safe camping ground in their town and none of the campers nearby had any idea what had happened to the boys. Now that one of them were returned, Detective Drebin was determined to solve this case and make the bastard pay for touching those kids, but he also didn’t want to approach Frankie too aggressively and have him revert back to his depressive state that he’s finally seem to have overcome.
Frank nodded. “Yeah…it was.”
Detective Frost nudged Detective Drebin in the arm to try and get his attention. When he had it, he handed him the notepad to start taking notes now that they’ve finally reached the part of Frank’s story where the kidnapping was about to take place. Since this case hit more close to home for Detective Drebin than it did for Detective Frost, the newcomer decided to take over questioning Frank about the more sensitive and horrific events that occurred on the night of his Halloween Birthday. “It’s nice to finally meet you Franklin Jr. and I’m sorry that it has to be under these kinds of circumstances, but we need your help. We want to take this guy down, but unfortunately we’ve reached a dead end...that was, until you were discovered in that cabin. Do you understand where I’m going with this, son?”
Frank hesitated before nodding, his heartbeat suddenly starting to pound much faster than it did before.
“Good, because right now the interrogation is going to turn into something dark and scary for you but we need you to try and help us here by giving us as much information as you can, we don’t care how small. For example, if you noticed a caterpillar on that camping trip I want a detailed description of what that caterpillar looked like. Anything and everything, Franklin, I mean it.” Detective Frost urged, hoping to get his point across to the young boy. A caterpillar was probably a strange example, but at this point in their investigation a caterpillar was better evidence than nothing.
“Y-Yes sir, I understand.” Frank stuttered, his eyes beginning to fill with tears as he fought to speak past a heavy lump in his throat.
“Good. Now, I want you tell me about what happened after all the tents were put up, and all your friends had finally arrived at the campsite. What was the conversation about, before that man stepped into your camp?” Detective Frost asked Frank in such a soft and comforting voice that help to aid Frank’s rising emotions, at least some of them.