Work Text:
" 𝑶𝒉, 𝑩𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒚. 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈? "
On Saturday at three pm, Neil Josten leaves the coffee shop.
On Sunday at seven pm, Neil Josten is reported missing.
Neil Josten’s relationship with life is dangerous. It has been since he was born as Nathaniel Wesninski.
His luck with life got worse when he ran into Andrew Minyard on Mink Street. That’s when his life truly became dangerous.
But this isn’t about Neil. Not really. Although he’d love to think it is.
No. This is a story of destruction. It’s a story of disaster and betrayal and kidnapping and murder.
It’s the story of the edge of a razor blade smile, pale hands tightening around a neck, the gasping of breath and the ghost of a soul.
It’s the story of a false god.
It’s the story of Andrew Minyard.
Murder is a complex thing. Andrew didn’t realize just how broken it made a person until there was blood on his hands and the body of his mother lying on the road beside him.
He didn’t wait around for the police. He ran and didn’t look back. She should have known what was coming. She deserved to die, he reminded himself constantly. She was a piece of shit, lying and saying she loved Aaron.
Of course she didn’t. No one would ever love them. But Andrew would. Andrew would love Aaron.
Andrew loved Aaron so much. He wanted to give him the world, to protect him from every bad thing. Because no one deserved that much pain, and if Andrew could stop it, he would.
And then Aaron died .
Died wasn’t the right word. No, Aaron was murdered . And Andrew was going to do everything he could to make it right. Maybe if he took out all the bad in the world, the only good thing would come back, Aaron would come back.
-
It’s December 19th, 2009 when Andrew finds his first victim. He slits his throat from the right side and stabs him twice, just like they killed Aaron. He watches the blood bubble from his mouth, escaping from the side and slipping down. Andrew smiles.
He didn’t feel bad. He didn’t even try to.
In the back alley of Mink Street, Andrew left the body lying, blood still fresh on his gloved hands. In his maserati, he stuffs the blade into the center compartment underneath his ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ cassette and a pack of watermelon gum. He strips himself of his gloves, shoving them into a plastic bag and tying the top in a delicate bow. Simple, as if it weren’t his first time.
He stares at himself in the mirror, his sharp smile still playing on his lips. For a moment he doesn’t recognize himself. He fixes his hair quickly and runs his hand over his button up.
He blinks once and starts to drive. He has a date.
-
Andrew sits down and he waits. Always waiting. He looks at his fingers. No signs of blood. It’s just him and the white tablecloth that’s mocking him. He wasn’t sloppy. And even if he was, he did the right thing. That man deserved to die.
Andrew is aware of who is sitting in front of him. Of course he is.
Nathaniel Wesninski.
Andrew wonders if he can see the blood on his hands, the droplets hidden under his sleeves. Always curious, Andrew thinks to himself. This is how he gets into trouble.
The date goes fine. Andrew used his charm, got Neil’s number, and now they have another date on Thursday. It was too easy, but Andrew wouldn’t complain. Not with a Wesninski right there in front of him.
Except this one… he’s different, like a lingering taste of chocolate or the echo of a glass breaking, shattering under unsteady fingers. Andrew can’t shake him, and what’s worse is that he doesn’t want to.
Not yet at least.
So Andrew lets Neil warm up to him. He gets used to seeing him around the house. They become a natural pair, harmonious.
Neil tells Andrew about his past but Andrew already knows it all. Andrew tells Neil about his past, even the details about Aaron. It’s simple.
But better than that, Andrew is happy to note that Neil doesn’t suspect a thing. Wesninski’s men are going down and Neil is relieved . It makes Andrew’s skin tingle with microscopic pin-pricks. Neil should be worried . He should be upset and trying to figure out why.
Andrew would have to find something else to get to him. Another way.
Because Andrew has to remind himself that he wasn’t Neil Josten, but instead Nathaniel Wesninski. The son of the man who killed his brother in cold blood.
He was doing the right thing, ridding the world of evil and making it safe. If Aaron was here… If Aaron was here, he would be okay. They would both be okay.
Andrew is going to be okay.
-
Neil is home too soon. Andrew still has a knife in his hand as he sits on the couch, his white button up covered in the crimson spray of a sloppy kill.
“Andrew,” Neil greets. He doesn't sound surprised. Or maybe Andrew can’t hear the emotion because he doesn't know it. Andrew looks up and Neil looks drained, both exhausted and pale. How long has he looked like that? Like the life is dripping off of his bones and pooling around his feet, deadweight against his limbs. Andrew pictures shackles holding Neil to the ground, his past keeping him there. Because that was why he was here, right?
And then Neil turns and he walks downstairs to the basement, sealing his own fate. Andrew almost feels gratitude. But still, there’s a cold, dead emptiness holding him down, keeping him still. Because he can kill Nathaniel Wesninski, that isn’t hard. But Neil… He can’t kill Neil.
“Oh, bunny,” Andrew says quietly, his left eye twitching. He trails his finger along the edge of the blade, smiling to himself as he stands up to follow Neil, putting the dirtied knife down on the table. Too many kills with that one. “Why are you running?” He looks at him with false care, something he had learned from Tilda. That’s how she looked at Aaron. Aaron . Andrew’s heart speeds up at the thought of his brother.
“You look so much like your father,” he says thoughtfully, unsheathing his favorite blade. It’s new, one that Renee got him last week. Of course, she didn’t know why he liked it so much, but she would when he explained why Aaron was alive. He imagines her smile, her thankfulness and praise. Because he would be the god that could raise the innocent; the ones who didn’t deserve to die brought back to live peacefully. He could bring Aaron back.
The blade is light against his palm. He sharpened it for this occasion, in case he needed it one more time. “It’s beautiful, don’t you think?” he asks, watching the light glint off of it with a smirk.
“Yeah, it is.”
Andrew looks over at him with a smile. It’s amazing how calm he is in the face of death. Maybe he knows Andrew could never kill him. Andrew isn’t sure if that’s the truth.
He catches sudden movement on his left side in the corner of the basement. He turns his head and bites back a chuckle. Who put a mirror there? But then the image moves and he understands. It isn’t a mirror, of course not. He’s almost there. He’s coming back and Andrew has never been happier. He’s really done it.
“He didn’t deserve to die,” he says quietly, staring at the outline of his brother. “There’s so much evil in the world, wouldn’t you be scared?” He tilts his head but his eyes stare into Aaron’s empty ones. Andrew expects him to flicker or to vanish, but he’s there, as real as life. “But I’m taking the evil away, don’t you see?” He doesn’t know who he’s asking anymore. He thinks he’s talking to Aaron. “You can come back. They’re… Everyone who has ever hurt you is gone.” He moves his fingers to the blade and he slits his palm open, blood dripping onto the ground in time with the pang of his beating heart. “They’re all gone,” he mutters. And then he turns away because Aaron’s heart isn’t beating. He isn’t alive. Why isn’t he? “He’s not back. Why isn’t he back?” he yells, and the knife clatters onto the ground but none of the three move, not even a gentle flinch catches Andrew’s eyes as he spins around. He’s so far gone but he’s so fucking close .
“You aren’t a god, Andrew. You can’t bring him back,” Neil smiles sadly. “He can’t come back. He’s dead, Andrew.”
“You’re just saying that,” Andrew snarls and his left hand tightens around the hilt of the blade. “He’s there, waiting for everyone to be gone. I’m making it safe for him.”
Neil’s eyes are laden with sadness. “Andrew,” he says quietly, pleading and begging him to listen. “Andrew, you can’t.”
And Andrew doesn’t want to believe him. He doesn’t want to because it’s a lie . That’s all Neil is. A stupid fucking evil liar who he is going to kill.
Andrew turns to face him, a predator facing prey, and he smiles that same razor blade smile. Neil doesn’t cower. Andrew feels weak.
“You’re the last one,” he says quietly. “It’s your fault. It’s your fucking fault he isn’t back.”
Neil holds Andrew while he cries, eyes filled with tears, staring at the ceiling.
He waits until Andrew is seconds away from sleep, and he mumbles out a tiny, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry .” He takes the knife from the ground, slowly, his pale fingers shaking as he watches Andrew’s eyes move under his eyelids. He wonders how he did it, how he killed all of those people without help. Neil knew this would happen. He noticed Andrew’s deflection of questions, sneaking out late at night. And part of him wishes he had been cheating instead of this. He thumbs the blade, pressing until there’s a bubble of bright crimson blood. He takes his time to breathe, to get ready for what he has to do.
Is this what Andrew felt like? That it was his god given responsibility to rid the world of all this evil? Neil doesn’t think much more about it.
He lifts the knife, wincing as he slits the right side of his throat, stabbing twice. Just like Andrew had done to 23 others. The blood bubbles from his mouth. He wants to take it back, wishes Andrew would speak again. He shouldn’t have he shouldn’t have he shouldn’t have.
Neil walks away, hands covered in blood.
Neil Josten left the coffee shop at three pm on Saturday.
On Sunday at seven pm, Neil Josten is reported missing.
Neil Josten is arrested on Tuesday at 11:57 pm in front of Andrew Minyard’s house. They find his body buried in the backyard, throat slit from the right side and two stab wounds.
Neil Josten is sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of 24 victims. Those killed include Lola Malcolm, Patrick DiMaccio, Romero Malcolm, and Andrew Minyard .
Neil should have let the story be about Andrew, but he couldn’t. He was with Aaron now. At least he hopes so as he looks to the corner of his jail cell. Waiting.
There’s a flicker.
“Hey, bunny.”