The Survivor

Chapter One

"Alan, are you coming?"

Alan stared at Sam, looking unsure of why he was talking to him. His dark hair clung to his forehead, matted down by sweat. It was unbearably warm in the store, and even hotter outside. Sam wanted to go out and get ice-cream to help cool down. Edgar agreed; they only had to wait for Alan. Edgar was growing annoyed for having to wait for his brother's reply. Even the most simple of questions could be proven difficult for Alan to answer, something that had always bothered Edgar; it should not be that difficult to answer a yes-or-no question. Finally, Alan shook his head.

"I'll stay here in case someone comes in."

"No one is coming," Edgar said. "It's ten o'clock, and we have been empty for hours."

"You never know."

Edgar stared at him, and for the briefest moment of time he wished that they were not brothers, or at least Alan could be different. He was weird. Their whole family was, but Alan was weird in a sad, desperate way that Edgar could not stand. "Fine, be that way," he said.

"Can I borrow if you are staying here then?" Sam asked.

Alan scratched at the surface of the counter top with his thumbnail, trying to remove some sort of mark. "Go for it."

"Thanks! Do you want to bring you back anything?"

"I'm fine. You guys go ahead."

He would not want anything, Edgar knew this before Alan even answered Sam's question. As soon as his focus turned towards the counter, Edgar knew that Alan had left to whatever little world he escaped to. It was fine with Edgar; he did not always need Alan tagging along, at least not with Sam there. The two friends turned and headed towards the door. As Edgar exits the shop, he says to Alan, "Try not to die of boredom while we're gone."

Twenty-five years, one month and three days later this moment still plays in his would be the last moment that Edgar Frog would see his brother alive, the final moment in which his life would be normal, or at least as normal as it ever could be. And the last words that he would ever say to Alan were, "Try not to die of boredom while we're gone."

Ha! The irony of it! But such is life- at least Edgar's life. It is funny, almost amusing in some sort of twisted a way that only Fate could conjure up, that he would tell his brother not to die and then goes and does it anyway! Well, Alan did not die on purpose and he did not die from boredom, he died from asphyxiation. It is a terrible word, isn't it? It has an evil, hissing sound to it, like a large snake trying to choke the life out of whatever poor victim it had managed to ensnare. Asphyxiation; it can still make Edgar's skin crawl. And not only was it asphyxiation, it was asphyxiation at the hands of a pedophile, a type of beast that twenty-five years ago Edgar did not completely understand the horrible depth to its nature. Now he can see better how defenseless his brother was against that man, how terrified he must have been being abused by someone over twice his size and foot taller than him, or so Edgar had read somewhere. Alan was still young, and, as far as Edgar knew, had no interest in sexual relationships with any sort of person. Not that it mattered to his killer. The man, whose name Edgar becomes ill at the very thought of, decided that he was in love with the child, or so he claimed in the morbid journal he kept, and did what he thought was the only thing he could do. He kidnapped Alan, took him right off the streets back to his house, the house of horrors as many news papers dubbed, to rape and then murder, leaving Edgar the sole surviving child in his family.

Survivor; it is another word he cannot stand. Edgar is the surviving child, the surviving brother. He survived growing up with a dysfunctional family and the gruesome death of his brother. Survivor is a glorified status, one that is often quickly forgotten. People rarely remember those who are deemed as survivors. They will remember the victim and most often the killer, but it is often the relatives that get lost in the aftermath. Chances are that very few people remember Edgar Frog, aside from the small group that continues to follow the murder. Yes, in his death, Alan had gained a sort of fame/infamy. The boy most people would pass without so much of a glace while he was alive had his own little group of cult followers, and thanks to the connections provided be the Internet, people interested in serial killers and crime in general could discuss the case more easily.

It had not been that way at first. There was nothing too interesting about another boy being murdered. It is sad, but not interesting. But throwing a serial killer into the mix catches more attention. Even the people of Santa Carla, who are quite familiar with murder, were giddy with morbid fascination. A serial killer? In their town? Of course it would not be all that surprising considering that Santa Carla is considered to be the murder capital of the world; there are bound to be a few running about, but this particular serial killer had been active in the streets for over twenty years, spreading his crimes to several other states. He had up to seven known victims, Alan being the last and the most well known. It was his picture that was placed right next to his killer's on a cover of a run of the mill true crime novel written by a man that, in Sam's words, a travesty to the world of literature and perhaps humanity in general. The other boys were briefly mentioned in the book as well as in the media. No one cared to hear about the teenage drug addict or the seventeen year old runaway. Alan was the youngest, the most attractive, as their mother claimed, and compared to the others, the most innocent. His home life also gave the story a heartbreaking twist, gaining more sympathy for the poor boy that lost both his childhood and his life.

During the brief period of time of the height of his brother's fame/infamy, Edgar had grown to near insanity. It was hard enough dealing with the loss of Alan on his own, but seeing his name and hearing the emerging details was something he could not stand. There was nothing to distract him once that vile mad was dead and the authorities had arrested his just as crazy sister, and Edgar was left to his own thoughts that were plagued by his brother. As the years passed, all twenty-five of them, those thoughts became less constant. There were new distractions, new experiences and new memories to help fill in what was lost. He tried to push that summer further back into his mind, but just as he believed it was safely locked away, there it would come randomly bursting out, shattering his world once again.

On one of these such days, today in fact, Edgar found a trigger while he was on the internet, browsing the local news page. He does this daily to see if there were any headlines that indicated vampire activity. It had taken time, but a few years after Alan had died Edgar was able to go out hunting vampires again, though he was not as passionate about it as he had been when he was younger. It was not the same, of course, not even with Sam there for help. Sam would try his best, but he was not nearly as good as Alan had been even at the age of fourteen. Sam could get too fussy or talk too much for Edgar's taste. Still, Edgar appreciated the effort.

Just as the homepage finished loading, Edgar goes into shock. Right there in front of him is a picture of his brother, one taken at his last Christmas and that has become the most used. Alan smiles at him through the screen. On his left is a photo of his killer and to the right is the mad sister's mug shot. The thought of his brother being near those two monsters in any sort of way sickens Edgar; he should drop a call to whatever idiot conjured up that bright idea. Below the pictures is a title that reads "Serial killer's sister set to be released in Two Weeks"

Two weeks? Could twenty-four years already be up? Edgar wondered. That was all the woman got. She was charged with manslaughter and child abuse, only receiving twenty-four years for taking part in the crime. In Edgar's opinion, she should have gotten more for knowing what her brother was doing to Alan and doing nothing about it. She was just as terrible as the killer. Edgar can still remember the trial quite vividly. He was forced to sit with his aunt and uncle on uncomfortable wooden benches. His parents were next to him, his mother breaking out into random sobs and out bursts, causing her to often be ushered out of the room. The Emerson's would come to show their support, most often being Michael since Lucy did not want to object Sam to the experience. Edgar did not have to go; he was advised not to. But he chose to, only to make sure that he would be there to make sure justice was served. The woman, Kim, was crazy. Edgar could tell as soon as she went to the stand. Kim complained that it was not her fault that her brother brought home the little slut, a name that she often referred to Alan as. There was no way she could have gone against her brother without getting her or the boy into more trouble. It was also revealed through the journal left behind by her brother, that Kim had been the one who carved the word "whore" into Alan's stomach. It was at that point that Edgar decided she must die; no amount of jail time could make up for what she had done.

Knowing full well that he would most likely regret it, he clicked on the title and skimmed through the news article. It held little interest to Edgar; he already knew most of the content. The idea of that woman being released in two weeks, free to do whatever she pleases, made his blood boil. Her sentence could not possibly be over, not yet. It just isn't fair.

Edgar scrolled down to the comments section. He often avoids reading them as it only frustrates him to read just how stupid people can be, but he could not resist this time. One wrote that the police should have shot her with her brother to save the city the money. Edgar smirks at this; it would have been the best solution for all. Most comments were like that, expressing hatred towards Kim and giving sympathy to the poor child she helped kill. There was only one that Edgar read that said different. The man, or so Edgar assumed judging by the user's name, John S, said that if Kim had done her time, then she should be free to go. Edgar disagreed, of course. If he would ever to run into this John S, he will have to punch him in the face.

Edgar exited out of the web page and stared blankly at the computer screen. His mind is reeling. There are too many thoughts and memories flying at him, and he cannot keep them straight. He has kept this away for so long now, kept it buried so deep that he had nearly forgotten that there had ever been a Brad or a Kim; only Alan and their life before that. But now Kim will be back walking around Santa Carla; the city he and his brother had grown up in, the city he tries to protect from all types of monsters. She is still alive and breathing, and Alan is not. Edgar thinks of Sam then, and wonders if he has seen the news yet. He searches for his phone amongst the mess on his desk. He will have to clean later, before Sam arrives and goes into a rant about Edgar's less than adequate housekeeping skills. Edgar locates the device under some crumpled paper. He goes through his short list of contacts, stopping at Sam's name. The phone is about to reach a third ring and Sam has yet to answer it. Still, Edgar waits, knowing full well that Sam is never too far from his phone.

"You better pick up," Edgar mumbles to himself as he pushes some loose papers into a pile.

So, this is rather short and not very good for a first chapter, but I did try! I have been debating for some time about writing a sequel to The Hunter. I wanted to be finished for it, but it kept getting ideas, and I thought it would be interesting to see what it would be like with Edgar growing up without Alan. I am not sure how good this is going to be, but we will find out! I am also working on another multi chapter length story, which I need to update, so hopefully I will not fall too far behind in both. It was probably foolish to start this, but oh well! Thank you for reading!