Dead End

After a long day of trying to catch the Master Thief, it felt nice to come home. Jey opened the door, instantly welcomed with warm lights and the smell of cinnamon apple.
"GRANDPA!!"
Hearing a barrage of footsteps to accompany the gleeful screams, the detective crouched down and nearly got tackled. He laughed and hugged them tightly before looking back to gaze at them. A three-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy, both bearing a wonderful resemblance to their mother. No matter how tiring the day was - the heavy work, the chief's constant screaming, Officer West's pranks - coming home to them was always worth it.
"Ho ho! You two are getting so strong! I nearly fell down this time, ho ho ho!" he laughed while ruffling their heads.
"Grandpa, I want cookies!" his grandson said.
"Ya!" chimed the granddaughter, more lost in the moment than aware of what was happening.
"Did you finish your homework?" Jey asked. He laughed when his grandson mumbled and turned away. "Alright, alright, ho ho! We'll work on it while the cookies heat up, okay?" His grandson's face quickly shot up to show bright eyes. With a loud cheer, he ran to his room to get his homework, his little sister following while trying to mimic the same sounds.
Jey stood up with a struggle. His back and his legs weren't what they used to be. No matter all the exercise and the healthy diet, he could never escape the struggles of old age.
He began walking to the kitchen when his daughter came into view, an apologetic smile on her face. "You'll never guess what we're out of," she said with a half-chuckle.
"You're kidding," Jey blinked. "Didn't I-"
"They wanted to learn how to bake cookies like you and ended up making them all way too burnt."
The detective hesitated before laughing brightly, his daughter joining him. "What rascals, ho ho ho! Okay, alright, I'll go pick some up. Store should be open for another hour so I'll have to rush." He looked over at the fridge, reaching out to take the shopping list attached to it and shook it playfully in the air. "I'll take care of your shopping list while I'm at it."
"Tch, thank you, Daddy," she smiled softly and kissed him on the cheek before he left.

Just in time! Jey was one of the last customers to leave the store, apologizing profusely to the workers. The large parking lot was empty, save a few employees' cars as well as his own. He strode through the dark lot and clicked his car to life, opening the drunk and setting the bags down neatly. He made sure to get all of his grandkids' favorites: sugar, peanut butter, and, of course, chocolate chip. It was just as Jey closed the trunk that he heard something. It sounded like... was that a scream? He looked over his shoulder to find himself all alone in the lot. That couldn't have been it... No, his mind was just playing tricks on him. The detective turned and fished for his ke-
"HELP!!! PLEASE!!!"
That was definitely a scream.
Quickly spinning to the direction the noise came from, Jey started running. The side of the store, but still nothing. Wait... Wait, it was farther! Over the fence, just a little further down now... There!
At the end of a dark alley Jey pressed his back to the wall of a building. He breathed heavily, struggling to catch his breath while also keeping quiet. The screams were right next to him. The detective leaned to the side ever so closely to peek past the corner.
A young girl, most likely a teen. She was backing away, but wasn't moving correctly. Something was wrong with her leg, her shin; she was also clutching her arm.
"Please... PLEASE SOMEBODY-"
There was a smacking sound.
"Enough of that, c'mon. Haven't you realized by now that nobody's coming?"
A male's voice. Familiar? A past convict? Jey pulled his gun out from the holster beneath his coat and quickly jumped into view.
"FREEZE-"
And it was then that he recognized the voice.
Both figures looked at the intruder. His suspicions were correct, the victim was a young lady looking to be in high school. She had a wound on her arm that was causing blood to leak between the fingers clamped around it, and most likely a badly bruised shin. Not to mention the new, fresh bruise on her face. And across from her... was his fellow officer, Officer Cameron West.
"Cameron...?" Jey blinked, slowly lowering his gun. This wasn't adding up... The girl took advantage of the moment and ran to hide behind him, cowering and shivering while looking at her assailant.
"Detective Walker!" Cameron merely beamed. There was blood splattered across his uniform, staining his badge, yet he smiled so carefree at them. "Shouldn't someone your age be sleeping by now?"
"Cameron, what on earth is going on?" Before he could answer, the girl behind the detective did.
"Please help me! This man's been trying to ki-"
A bullet whizzed past the side of Jey's had and lodged right between the girl's eyes. Her body stood there for a brief moment until collapsing against the ground.
"Yeesh, well there goes my night," the officer sighed. He looked down to begin reloading his gun, not seeming to mind the sound of Jey's gun aiming at him. "Planning on shooting me, huh?"
"I have no idea what happened but there was no need for that! You have to come in for questioning, Officer West," Jey demanded. His hands were shaking, his heart was beating so fast. He had just witnessed a death! A death! And by someone with so much life ahead of her! And... And Cameron didn't even look like he cared! It was giving him awful memories.
Done reloading, the cop tilted his head back and smiled at him. "Go ahead, I don't mind! Fire some rounds into me if that makes you feel better."
"What are you-"
"If you want, we can even recreate how your wife died!"
Jey's eyes widened. H-His wife...? He aimed the gun again. "How do you know about her death? You weren't part of the Force at the time!"
"You know, there's a lot you have to figure out about the world, Jey," Cameron chuckled lazily. "A lot of stuff you have to see to believe. Like how your wife died. Remember seeing that? Broken bones, scrapes and cuts, fingers cut off and shoved into her bullet holes?"
It was all so detailed, down to the last goddamn word. How did he... H-He shouldn't have even been old enough to comprehend any of that! How...?
The way he smiled at him. It was too nice, too friendly. Too wide. There was hidden knowledge in that smile. Jey was so confused and overwhelmed, yet there was one thing his mind was screaming, even if it sounded crazy.
"... You killed her..."
"Hey! It's almost like you're a detective!"
Jey's breathing hitched. His wife, his other half... that murder was done by a man that had been besides him all along; a man that smiled and joked with him. God, he showed pictures of his family to him and he loved them. God no... No...
"NOOOOO!!!" Jey screamed as he pulled the trigger. He couldn't think clearly anymore. His mind just kept forcing him to look at memories of his wife, of how the met, of their marriage, their daughter. And in between all of them was Cameron and his fucking smile.
He pulled the trigger even when he ran out of bullets. Eight were all lodged into Cameron's body, staining his uniform with vivid, red blood.
But he didn't go down.
Cameron had stumbled a few steps backwards, but he didn't fall, no matter how many bullets went into him. Jey narrowed his eyes until he heard a light thud. Looking at the ground, he gasped. A bullet. A used bullet. And another. And another. The bullets were sliding out of Cameron's wounds. He was healing.
"What...?" Jey whispered, trembling at the unholy sight.
"Told you. There's an awful lot of things you don't know about this world." Cameron laughed.
BANG!!!
Jey didn't feel it at first, but he knew something was wrong. He looked down to see a bloody hole on his right thigh. When he looked up everything was spinning. No, that wasn't it. He was falling. He hit the ground with a heavy thud, still not having comprehended what was happening. Was he dying? To the same man that killed his wife?
His wife.
He couldn't die now, not when justice was right in front of him!
Fire clear in his eyes, Jey got up on one knee only for two more bullets to fire through him, one through the stomach and one through the arm. He wheezed and slumped, but didn't fall. The fourth bullet hit his shoulder, the fifth his shin. The shock was wearing off, pain was flaring through him. Jey fell, wincing in agony. The bullet wounds felt like they were searing through him. He could feel blood climbing up his throat.
But he wouldn't... back down...
Even with his body refusing to move, Jey kept trying. Gloved hands clawed at the dirt, dragging him closer to the madman that smiled halfheartedly at him. Cameron crouched down, feeling as though he was more beckoning a dog over.
"Man, you sure have some willpower," he whistled, his cheek resting against the palm of his hand. "You really loved your wife, huh? You know, I don't blame you."
His eyes glimmered.
"She was the tightest I'd ever had."
Jey grit his teeth, blood dripping off the corner of his mouth. He was seeing red at this point. No matter how much of his body broke down, he would get his revenge!
"I'll kill you," he spat. "I'll kill you! I'LL KI-"
BANG!!!



Morning came.
Two young children, a five-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, sat at the couch of their living room, slumped against each other in sleep.
Waiting for their grandfather to come home.