The Last Suspect | Fiction

A boy disappeared on a Monday, it was circulating on the news. There was total fourteen people missing in past one month and many more went missing in the previous month. The entire city had already decided who was behind all of these and it was none other than the man Edward in Apartment 101. He entered the grocery shop and suddenly noticed the changes around him. Parents pulled their children closer as he passed. Even his own landlord is scared of talking to him with and never dared to look into his eyes. Whenever he was about to enter his apartment door he could see painted three words across his door. There was written WE KNOW IT'S YOU.

Edward sighs and stares at the dripping black paint. He had spent eighteen years pretending to be ordinary. He was hiding his true form which no normal human being should possess. When he was frightened, his body would start to produce electric and he would get angry, ice crept across windows. He used to have nightmares where people always blamed him and on the other hand he could hear some whispers in an unknown language, he couldn't understand. He wasn't a murderer but something worse because he was a mutant. He was told by his parents to keep it a secret because if the government ever discovered what he was, he knew exactly how his story would end and like other mutants in a laboratory.

Edward ignored the whispers and the accusing stares. But nothing worked as there was a detective after him now and her name was Swedny Hale, one morning she knocked on his door.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions."

She wasn't asking.

Inside, her eyes scanned the apartment. She noticed how empty is Edwards place. She saw few books stacked in perfect order. She couldn't find anything suspicion. She somehow found his passport.

"You've lived in seven cities in twelve years," Swedny said.

"I travel often," Edward replied.

"So, you never stay?" She again asked.

"No," Edward hesitantly replied.

"And why is that?" She asked.

"Be..because people get suspicious," he said.

Swedny raised her eyebrow and asked, "Should they?"

Their eyes met.

There was a silence in the room. Swedny took a pen out and wrote something in her notebook.

---

A few days later, another person disappeared. In the CCTV footage of a convenience store it was seen that outside the store the victim had an argument with Edward, victim pushed him down, as Edward was about to do something but he stopped and got out of the place hurriedly. In the footage it was seen that the video froze for ten seconds and after that when it resumed the victim vanished into ashes.

Within a day the footage spread across every news channel and apartment 101 became the city's obsession. Some people called him a a sociopath and some kidnapper. Even an old lady claimed she had seen blue light glowing beneath his apartment door every night. None of them were entirely wrong.

---

As time passed Edward was diagnosed with Insomnia. He couldn't sleep because of the same nightmares. But this time he saw something different, a guy in black hoodie was trying to strangle someone with some sort of power and when Edward tried to stop that guy, he suddenly woke up. He was feeling restless for a while and wanted to get some fresh air.

He went to the balcony and saw a guy standing near the road light lamp, it was the same guy wearing a hoodie. Edward decided to follow him. On the other hand, detective Swedny was keeping an eye on Edwards apartment. When she saw he was going outside in the midnights, she was suspicious and decided to follow him from an unmarked car.

Edward seemed to know exactly where he was going. Eventually, he entered an abandoned factory, which was far away from the city. Swedny radioed for backup, as she knew Edward was up to something maybe another victim. It was dark there but moon light was making everything visible. Edward heard a scream and a young boy stumbled into view, running for his life.

Behind him a strange looking shadow was standing. In a while, the shadows detached from every corner and merged into a towering human shape.
"You shouldn't have followed me," it said to Edward.

Swedny froze as she couldn't in understand what was happening..She had spent weeks preparing to arrest one monster.Instead she'd found another.

It started talking, "Everything went according to my plans, they suspected you."

Edwards face turned pale and he shouted, "So it was you!"

The creature laughed.

"I have left ashes, and every clue pointed to Apartment 101."

Edward asked, "Why? Did you do that to me?"

He replied, "Because humans always fear what seems different. They despise us and so do I. They don't deserve to live, I couldn't have done it without you Edward."

It stretched a hand toward Ethan, "Join me, let's give them what they truly deserve."

Edward replied, "No! I will never do that."

The creature replied, "They were hunting you and you still want to be on their side?"

Swedny witnessing all of it got scared and tripped, the noise alerted the shadows. Swedny began to run and the shadow was about to catch her in that moment an icy wind stopped the shadows, it was none other than Edward who helped Swedny.

In a while, the factory exploded with icy wind all of the windows shattered. Flames were coming out from Edwards body, twisting around him like a living dragon. Two of the mutants collided with each other and it was enough to shake the building. The creature screamed as blue flames consumed its body. Black ash drifted gently to the floor.

---

Police flooded the factory minutes later. Officers stared at the frozen walls. They saw an impossible destruction.

Detective Swedny looked at Edward and remained silent. She knew everything but Edward who had been framed wrongly, was innocent. She felt guilty and wanted to protect his secret for saving her life.

She said, "I'm sorry, I have spent weeks trying to prove you were a killer."

Edward sighed and replied, "I know."

She lowered her eyes and asked, "You never tried to stop me, why?"

He replied, "Then you would have become even more suspicious."

She asked again, "All this long you weren't hiding because you were guilty?"

He replied, "No, I was hiding because people always suspect what they don't understand."

Outside the factory the crowd was already there, they gathered behind police barricades. Still convinced the monster was Edward, who had finally been caught.

In a way...

Edward was right.

People had simply been suspicious of something they couldn't understand.

---

Pictures are created with: chatgpt.

All content is original unless otherwise credited.