The ones you Love

Written by Vi Solorio Hernendez

His bright ginger hair glimmered as he walked in the sun, his dark green eyes shining with innocence. He was wearing a normal white shirt with a plaid, light green vest on top. His pants being dark blue, always making sure to look pleasurable to others. Never wanting to be a nuisance or in people's way. His name is Rex Bruce, a 20 year old male.

A month before he moved into his college dorms he was out on stroll with his large, white, fluffy dog named Willow. Rex has taken care of Willow ever since he first rescued her 5 years ago from an abusive household. At first, she was a timid dog, but slowly gave Rex a chance, later becoming best friends. While on their stroll, Rex was putting some loose pocket change into his wallet, taking his eyes off of Willow. She ended up getting loose from her leash and wandering onto the streets, resulting in her getting run over. When Rex looked back, he was frozen. The car that ran her over was a dirty red truck. He sprinted to where Willow laid. Calling out to nearby people to call the ambulance, everyone ignored him. “Why would anyone call an ambulance for a stupid dog?” Somebody in the crowd said. As everyone walked past the accident, not giving a care in the world. 

Rex’s eyes then teared up, his emotions a mixture of disgust, sadness, and anger. He was disgusted at man kind, sad about his fallen friend, and angry at himself for being so naive. 

He carried Willow's body all the way to a vet, arriving covered in blood, looking unrecognizable. Barely blinking, his eyes stood still as he talked to a veterinarian about what happened. Realizing that no matter how well presented or how well behaved he is, nobody cared.

 After arranging the funeral, he was looking at his guest list, nobody but himself was attending. No one batted an eye, no one even remembered Willow. As if she never existed. During the funeral 2 days after, it started pouring, not even a ceremony was made due to the lack of people. Under the dark and gloomy weather, he suddenly remembered the licence plate of the car that murdered his dog. 8XB12T6. He kept repeating it over and over again while he drove home until it was practically engraved into his brain. That day he wore a black suit. Didn’t even bother to look presentable, his hair messy and unwashed, he smelled of old blood, he wasn’t himself.  He didn’t care, there was nobody with him either way. Nobody saw how messed up he looked or how broken he was. Nobody at all. He has never felt so lonely and empty.

While he was driving home, he saw a recognizable car, he checked the licence plate and sure enough, it was 8XB12T6. He decided to follow it. The person driving it was a male in his 30’s or 40’s. He was a buff man that wore old construction clothes. At that moment, Rex wasn’t thinking, he was just reminiscing on all the good memories he had with his dog and how nobody cared about her death. He tailed him until the man, Ricky, parked his car on an empty car bridge. It was late at night, approximately 3:45 AM on a Friday.

Once Rex stopped his car, he made his move, he put gloves on and grabbed a crowbar from under the passenger's seat. Ricky exited his car looking scared, then shouting, “WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?”

Rex took his head out from under the seat wearing a black hoodie and a mask to cover his face. Exiting his car, he sprinted to Ricky, swinging at him before he could react. Ricky fell backwards under the car bridge. There was a river under the car bridge and because of the heavy rain, the current was unpredictable. He died instantly. Rex found a nearby boulder and placed it on the gas, aiming the car to drive itself into the river. Never to be seen again.

He drives back home feeling satisfied about his actions. That's when he decided that he was going to keep up with a fake act. Act like he has always acted, perfect, and under that disguise, he was going to commit crimes. The insanity had caught up to him. So, for the rest of the days he had free until college, became a murderer. The thing is, nobody suspected him. 

On the outside he was a perfect person, not capable of doing anything illegal, but on the inside, he was a monster. After every crime he commits, he goes home feeling like a better person.

It’s been 5 months since Rex started college, and since his first murder. After each class he stops by a coffee house located on school grounds and he’s always served by the same waitress, Rebecca Garcia. She’s a kind person, always thinking of others and not herself. She's the complete opposite of Rex. That didn’t stop him from falling deep in love with her. Later on Valentine's day, he had the courage to ask her out on a date, she accepted. They were brought together stronger than before and started dating. 

She grew up in a broke household so the only source of entertainment she had growing up was books. She tried her very best in school because she wants her parents to thrive and grow happy when she's successful. She wishes to support them like how they supported her. 

Rex was hanging out at Rebecca's house during winter break trying to better get to know about her and her family. They were sitting down on her light green, small sofa. Her living room was filled with fake plants mixed with real plants. She had a bookshelf full to the brim with books. They were looking through an old family album when she flipped to a page with a familiar picture. There was a  picture of a muscular man that was wearing a red and black button up plaid shirt. His haircut being a buzz cut.  

“This is my uncle, Ricky Garcia, from my dads side, he used to always bring me small gifts like dolls or plushies whenever he gained extra or had left over money from his construction job. I loved him, but then, a year ago he suddenly disappeared. I miss him so much.” Rebecca explained while her voice started shaking and then started tearing up. Rex laid her head on his shoulder and thought, “He looks awfully familiar, too familiar..” 

That's when it struck him, he's the same guy that ran over his dog.

 “What are the odds that the person who ruined me was related to the person who’s healing me.” Rex began thinking. He kept a worried expression on for Rebecca but deep down, he was scared. Scared that she was going to find out what he had done. After she stopped crying, he drafted the conversation into books. She started talking about her favorite books and summarized them. He let out a slight sigh of relief, not loud enough for her to notice. Deep down, he knew that his actions would be revealed. The truth always comes to light.

Rex started growing weary of police officers patrolling the streets. He thought, “They know, they all know, they are just waiting for the time to tell her. I won’t let them take her away from me.” He kept repeating those thoughts.

 He was sitting on his bed doomscrolling on social media when he suddenly got a call from Rebecca.

“REX! COME QUICK! THEY LOCATED MY UNCLE.” Rebecca screamed from the other end.

“They, did..? AH! Right, I’ll be there as soon as I can!” Rex responded

He then shot up from bed, quickly got changed, and drove off. His body was filled with nerves. “They know it was me. I’m being led into a trap. I must not let her find out.” He whispered to himself.  His eyes were wide open, barely blinking. He was drenched in sweat. Once he arrived at her house the whole area was filled with police cars. He made sure to clean himself up before exiting his car. He parked his car and ran. Rex has been looking around her front yard trying to spot Rebecca but wasn’t able to due to the amount of police on standby. 

That's when he heard a loud cry. He flinched and ran to where the sound was coming from. It came from her back yard, that's where the most officers were. He pushed them aside and saw her. She was sobbing historically. Her eyes blood-shot red, her nose oozing everywhere, drenched in sweat and tears. Before he could go talk to her, he was pulled aside by an officer.

“Are you Rex Bruce?” The officer asked

“Yes, that's me, what’s going on?”

“Well, we found Ricky Garcia’s body washed up on the river under the main car bridge. We hate to inform you but, he's been declared dead”.

Of course Rex already knew this.

“What? Have you told Rebecca yet? Have you found the one responsible for this?”

“We just informed her a few minutes before you showed up, and no, we haven't found the person who's responsible. But I swear on my life, I will bring the person who's responsible to justice. You see, I was supposed to be on patrol in that area but I abandoned my duties. I feel at fault. This wouldn't have happened if I did my job.”

The officer's name was Wyatt Muldog. Rex felt threatened. As if the officer already had something on him but refused to mention. He then began to walk towards Rebecca. She seemed more calm, but refused to talk to anyone. He went and hugged her, she hugged him back but weakly. “They told her it was me. She suspects me.” He murmured. All night the police were over trying to figure out what happened in Rebecca's kitchen. They then went home but only one officer stayed back. Wyatt was walking to the door, stopped, and looked back at Rex. Later exiting. 

“Hey, did the officers say anything about who they might suspect?” Rex whispered to Rebecca.

She didn’t answer. That proved his theory right. They did know.  But the question was, how did they know. He left no evidence it was him, so why do they suspect him? He must find out. He stayed all night with her making sure she had everything she needed for the night. After she had fallen asleep, he tried looking around to see if the police handed her something that she might have snuck. He found it. It was a yellow envelope hidden in between the couch cushions where she was sitting. Inside he found pictures taken by surveillance cameras that captured everything. Since Rex wore a mask none of the pictures captured his face, but what they did capture was his licence plate. Not knowing what to do, he went home.

A few weeks later, he was resting home when he heard sirens closing in. Then heard a knock on the door. He checked the peekhole before opening it. It was Rebecca, she was standing outside alone holding the same yellow envelope. He let her in.

“Hey Rebecca, what are you doing here?” He asked

“I need to talk to you about something important”

“Sure! Come in, have a seat.” 

“Rex, I'm going to show you something, please don’t panic.” Rebecca said as she opened the envelope.

“What’s this about?”

She dumped out all the pictures from the envelope on a table. Then looking straight at Rex.

“Please, you have to tell me where you were on May 8th, 2051. And I beg of you, please tell me the truth.” 

“Why? What are you getting at, what are these photos about?”

“Please, just answer my question.”

“I was shopping for school supplies.”

“Where.”

“Does that matter?” 

“Why, why don’t you want to tell me. Please! I don’t want to believe that you killed my uncle!”

“Is that what you truly believe? You suspect me, the person who pulled you up from depression. The person who was by your side through all your hard times. The same person who brought you to all those therapy sessions?”

“THEN EXPLAIN WHY YOUR CAR WAS BEING DRIVEN BY MY UNCLES KILLER!”

“PLEASE! PLEASE TELL THEM THEY’RE WRONG, I DON'T WANT TO LOSE SOMEONE ELSE! THIS IS ALL JUST A MISUNDERSTANDING, TELL THEM!”

Rex drove recklessly, almost crashing into other cars. He then realized the street was blocked off by officers. He stopped, yelling, “I’M A GOOD PERSON, WHY MUST I SUFFER AND GET EVERYTHING TAKEN FROM ME, TELL ME WHY!” 

A loud speaker spoke, “REX BRUCE PULL OVER NOW, AND SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES FOR ALL THOSE CRIMES YOU HAVE COMMITTED."

They knew. All along, they knew of every crime he had committed. The killing of Ricky Garcia was the breakthrough on the investigation. That’s when he spotted Rebecca in a police car. Remembering all the warm memories between Rebeca and himself. Realizing that he had lost. With hot tears running down his face, he stepped out of the car, being forced on his knees, getting handcuffed and held down by officers. 

Then police officers came tumbling through the door. Rex shot up from his seat. Rebecca was wired, she has a microphone on her shirt collar. That's when he realized that they already knew.

“So, if you knew it was me, why drag her into this. Why make her come here and question me?” He said practically yelling.

That's when Wyatt walked in through the door. 

“We wanted you to admit it yourselves, to make you realize what you did was wrong. I gave you a chance to come out, what happens next is on you.” Wyatt explained with a calm tone.

Rex’s eyes grew, he was shocked. He was thinking of a way to escape, that's when he spotted his keys near the back door. He ran to the keys and sprinted outside. Once he got to his car there were some officers inside their car and others chasing him by foot. He drove off, but before he left he heard Rebacca’s words.

Glancing one last time at Rebeca, thinking that maybe, if he had met her while he was going through tough times, she would have been able to save him.