Wrong Way to Sanity

Present Day

            It’s a cold day in mid-October; one of those days where the rain hangs in the air as opposed to plummeting to the ground. The sun, attempting to peek through the dark heavy rain clouds, is on the verge of setting, indicating the end to yet another long day. The overworked waitress brings me another cup of coffee as I watch out of the window of the small diner I eat at every night. Outside, sitting on the wet cement in the middle of the sidewalk is a young man. But, he’s not just any man, he’s Harlin Carney, the man I have been following around for the last few months. His clothes are bloodied and tattered, his dark stringy hair is matted to his pale, confused face. And, as I sit here drinking yet another bland coffee in the all too familiar shop, he sits outside in the heavy wind and unforgiving chill, oblivious to the world passing him by with nothing but a second glance.

            After about twenty minutes of nothing, Sophie, my late best friend’s daughter, walks up to Harlin. She’s dressed professionally in her police uniform, reminding me of how much she’s grown. When I met her, she was a little tomboy with braided blonde pigtails and dirt on her face and now, well she’s a tall brunette with a permanent smile and light greenish eyes that hold more misery than most of us have ever experienced.

            “Are you okay?” Sophie asks Harlin as she gets close enough for him to hear her, despite his dazed expression.

            “N-no.” She doesn’t seem too surprised by his answer, her face holding misplaced concern for the young man before her. She steps closer, one hand reaching out to him, the other secured firmly around her gun. Harlin remains still, paying no attention to Sophie or the weapon in her grasp. Not taking her eyes off of him, she calls for back up on her walkie-talkie and takes a few short steps backward.

            “What’s your name?”

            He slowly turns his head toward her, not quite looking directly at her. She c***s her head slightly, studying him, as he turns his attention back to the nothingness it had lingered on for so long already.

            There’s a long silence as Sophie watches Harlin and he sits completely unphased by the people who have stopped to watch them. After a minute or two, Sophie looks around at the people beginning to gather, and I remain in my seat, sipping my coffee, watching the whole thing play out.

            In the distance, there are sirens, gradually growing louder as they approach the suspicious situation. Upon the arrival of the backup, Sophie takes a few steps back, not taking her eyes off of Harlin, as her fellow police officers drag him to his feet and walk through the crowd of nosy people toward a police car. Seemingly out of nowhere, a loud pop rings through the crowd.

            My eyes scan the sea of frantic people who, one by one, drop to the ground as someone might expect during a bank hold-up. I catch a glimpse of a man in a black jacket hurrying away from the scene. The way he nonchalantly makes his way through the crowd, I know it must be Victor, my son.

            My waitress shrieks drawing my attention back to the crowd in front of the diner. Harlin looks around at all of the police who are determined to find the shooter, before getting back to his feet and running away from the scene. No one seems to notice, too distraught by the result of the shooting. The policemen and policewomen give up on their search and gather around Sophie’s lifeless body. My eyes linger on her still corpse as well until I see Harlin drop to the ground and cover his ears.

            Before long, an overwhelming crackling noise is heard as fireballs erupt from the crowd of people. Harlin doesn’t move a muscle until more sirens begin to approach and more frantic people, everyone in the diner included, move toward the scene. And then, he runs, as if his life depends on it. And perhaps, it does.

 

Three Months Ago

            It’s been about two months since I’ve talked to Victor face to face. We got into a fight over his behavior. He’s been in and out of jail for little things like Disturbing the Peace, DUI’s and even assaulting an officer. He thinks that I have no right to tell him what to do and that I’m just trying to get on his good side because I was always an emotionally absent father. He doesn’t understand that I just want what’s best for him. I know what the life he’s living will end up as and I do not want that for him. But, he doesn’t want me around and there’s really not much I can do anymore, so, I’ve just been watching him from afar. As a private investigator, I’ve become an expert at doing this. I’ve followed many people, successfully earning the title as the best in town. But, that doesn’t really matter when it comes to my son. I’m sure he assumes that I’m following him. He just doesn’t care.

Currently, I’m following a suspicious character whom my son seems to be rather fond of. His name is Harlin. I’ve seen them together a couple of times and something just seems rather off to me about him. I know Victor would never listen to me if I didn’t have proof that this man was crazy so I’ve taken it upon myself to find that proof, no matter what it takes.

            The warm July air blows past me as I stand outside of Harlin’s home. The sky is cloudy making it easy to stand in the window without causing much of a distraction. Harlin is standing outside of his bathroom door, impatiently knocking on the door to hurry along whomever is inside.

            “John, what’s taking you so long?” he yells through the thick wooden door. The shower water stops running and the only noise that can be heard is John, I assume, stepping out of the bath.

            A tall blonde man opens the door, water cascading from his matted hair down his toned chest. Harlin stands awkwardly staring at the man, his cheeks growing a bit redder, before making his way around him into the bathroom. John walks into another room, shaking his head with a smile on his face. For a moment, the hall is empty and all is quiet. Harlin makes his way from the bathroom into the same room John disappeared into. The door closes out my view and I take my leave.

            The next evening, I return to Harlin’s home. John is nowhere to be seen and Harlin is lying on the couch. His living room is dark, the only light coming from the cracked bathroom door down the hall. Just as I’m about to leave, Harlin’s phone beeps. Hesitantly picking up his phone, he opens the message from an unknown sender.

            His facial expression changes as he looks at his phone’s screen. His eyes begin to water and his cheeks flush as his hands turn into fists and his breathing becomes long and drawn out. He calms himself before picking up his phone and sending a text to someone. Another few moments of calming techniques, followed by aggravated pacing.

            A shiny new black car pulls up in front of Harlin’s house. John, from yesterday, gets out and makes his way to the front door. Harlin wastes no time letting him into his house. Once inside, with the door shut, Harlin releases all of his pent up anger.

            “I f*****g trusted you!”

John cowers slightly beneath the unforgiving wrath of his newfound enemy. Harlin pulls out his phone and shows it to John.

            “It’s not that big of a deal! It was just one kiss!”

            “That’s not the f*****g point, John! You betrayed me, just like everyone else!” His voice grows louder. He closes his eyes and takes a few more deep breaths.

            “It’s not like it meant anything,” John mumbles.

            “Leave.” Harlin’s hands are balled tightly into fists again, his knuckles whitened with lack of blood flow. John looks at his lover, speechless.

            “I’m going,” is all he can manage to get out before Harlin sends his fist flying into his cheek. John staggers to regain balance, his hand pressed against his freshly bruising jaw. He looks at Harlin one last time before running out of the front door.

            Harlin sinks to the tiled floor, lets out a short yell and sends his fist into his cracked wall.

***

            A few days after Harlin and John’s fight, I went over to pay a visit to Sophie. I make stops to see her every so often, especially since her father’s death. She’s become like a daughter to me.

I stop outside of the cold gray door when I hear her voice.

            “So, do you remember John, my partner at work?” Sophie asks, probably talking to someone inside. Hoping to learn a little more about John, I stay outside the door and listen.

            “Yeah, I think I remember you mentioning him,” another voice says, a little quieter and fuzzier than Sophie’s voice. She must be talking on speakerphone.

            “Well, he kissed me the other day in the van during our stake out.”

Everything goes quiet before a loud, unmistakable squeal erupts from Julie’s end. “Sophie, that’s amazing!”

“Shhhh, you can’t say anything, I don’t want him to get in trouble.”

“Oh, you can trust me, you know that.”

Sophie’s phone beeps and she informs Julie that the station is calling and that she will have to call her back later. They say their goodbyes before Sophie answers the other call.

“I need to talk to you, it’s important,” a male voice says after she answers.

“Yes, what is it? What’s wrong?”

“John was in an accident at work, he was shot in the line of duty.”

“What do you mean? Is he okay?”

“I’m sorry, but he didn’t make it.”

She says her goodbyes, again, before hanging up. I wait a moment, unsure of how to proceed, before knocking. She comes to the door, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. She does not cry, though, not a single tear. Instead, she laughs. It’s a laugh I’ve heard before. A laugh of insanity.

            The only other time I’ve heard this laugh was at her father’s funeral. When she told me what had happened.

It was a cold winter day with snow flurrying through the air. Sophie had apparently been out hunting with her father in the forest located just outside of the city limits. She had just climbed up in a tree to get a better look of her surroundings when she heard a blood curdling scream ring out from somewhere in the forest. She jumped down, picked up her gun and ran in the direction of the scream. She stopped running when the snow went from blinding white to blood red. She walked slowly closer to the heap of person in the middle of the red puddle until she saw that it was her father. His chest had been butchered.

            When she told me all of this, her expression was blank. It remained empty as she explained his last breath. The insanity started when she admitted, probably for the first time since the incident, that she was an orphan. After those words left her mouth, we knew she would never be the same.

***

            After the incident with John’s death, everything seemed to chill out for a couple of months. I spoke to Harlin without admitting that I had been following him. We didn’t say much but I told him who I was. Today, I decided to check up on Victor, and maybe see if he has kept himself out of trouble the last few weeks.

            I followed Victor from his house to the cemetery in the middle of the city. Staying out of sight, I’m now sitting in the car watching Victor as he approaches Harlin who is standing at John’s grave. Harlin has a bouquet of carnations in his hand.

            Victor puts his hand on Harlin’s shoulder causing Harlin to jump and drop the pale purple flowers.

            “Are you okay?” Victor asks. Harlin just stares at the headstone without answering. Victor repeats the question.

            “Yes, I’m fine.” Harlin starts to walk away as Victor picks up the flowers and starts to walk after him.

            “Wait!” Harlin stops in his tracks, refusing to turn around. Victor walks around to face Harlin, offers him a small smile and hands the flowers to him. After Harlin takes the flowers, Victor gestures for him to put the flowers on John’s grave. Harlin narrows his eyes at Victor before walking back over to it.

            He stands there for a moment before mumbling something inaudible. Victor seems to hear whatever it is he says because his curiosity has been peaked.

            “You’re going to what the corner of 10^th and Lao Drive?” Victor asks.

            “I’m going to blow it up!”

            Victor questions how he plans to do it and Harlin’s face lights up. Harlin goes into detail about the plan, His eyes still glued to the grave marker of his recently passed lover.

            “Harlin, you can’t just blow up the busiest intersection in the city.”

Harlin chuckles quietly to himself and looks into Victor’s eyes. “Why not? I killed my ex-boyfriend.”

Victor looks from Harlin’s serious expression to the grave beside him. “Because of the picture I sent you?”

Harlin simply nods before starting to walk away again. “I shot him one night after drawing him in with a street fight. I was hoping that b***h would be with him, but I settled for John himself.” Victor runs to keep up with him. “I’m headed to the corner, my plan is already in action,” Harlin says, unzipping his hoodie revealing his bloodied tank top.

“Count me in,” Victor says as the two leave the cemetery. I follow somewhat close behind until we get to the scene of the future crime. I walk into the diner, sit at a table near the window and wait. Harlin sits on the sidewalk, I order a cup of coffee. Victor disappears the parking garage across from the diner, I call Sophie and report a suspicious character. And from there, well, the plan is put into play.

Reviews

[Kaitlynn A. Black]

Ooooh! This was a really good story! I love how it all loops around on itself so that we're able to see what and why everything happened in the opening sequence. I think it would make for a good independant movie flick! I'd totataly go watch it! =D

What really works with this story is it's seeming absence of morality. It functions from a simply emotional dynamic that happens to work. While most characters in stories are mashed up mix of both the moral and the emotional, this story followed just one side of the curve and I think it came out really nice!

Hugs! - Kate

[Cierra]

Thank you! I really appreciate your thoughts (: I hadn't really thought of it like that. Anyway, thanks for the kind words (:

[Kaitlynn A. Black]

You're welcome! I really enjoyed it! =D