Chapter Text
Avery Iglesias, born in Tuscon, Arizona, at 244 W 33rd Street. Born in the early eves of the morning to Carmelita Iglesias and Evelio Iglesias, and youngest to two older sisters; Delfina Iglesias and Aída Iglesias on the sixteenth of May in the year of 2001.
And he had just witnessed the prelude to a man’s death in fucking Minecraft of all things. Tears, hot and wet ran down his cheeks, hand trembling as he moved his mouse. An unknown email had sent him a document, though Avery was sure he knew who it was really from.
He clicked on it.
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This was his address. Cambridge Village Apartments. Avery sucked in a breath and walked inside.
The first smell that assaulted his nose was the pungent stench of blood. Avery’s stomach churned.
He pushed the door open further. Everything seemed to be covered in a layer of dust, at least in the living room. Avery walked towards the sofa and ran a finger of the top of it.
"Lots of dust…" Avery muttered, and turned to the door adjacent to the sofa.
The smell was especially bad here…
"C’mon, Avery…" He breathed in. "You can do this…"
Mustering up the courage, his fingers reached the doorknob. He turned it slowly…
…it creaked open.
Avery fell to his knees—bile came out in spurts, and his body shook like never before.
Lying on the floor was Derek. Protruding from his head were what was left of his decaying brain, along with bits of his skull strewn around. The entire left side of his face was split apart; the jaw hanging limply, and the rest of it so torn up it was hard to make out a person in that red mess. His tongue was also shredded, and many of his teeth were missing and scattered around the room. The rest of his body was covered in his own bile and blood and other bodily fluids there might be; creating a rancid scent that brought tears to Avery’s eyes.
"O-oh my god…D-Derek…"
'It feels as if I look away from the screen, my head will explode.'
Avery had taken that as a slight exaggeration, but…
It was not.
Avery looked up at Derek’s corpse and once again keeled over, spitting up whatever was left of his breakfast all onto his shoes.
"I-I can’t…" Avery, on weak hands and knees, crawled over to Derek’s body. "A-alright…where’s your phone…"
Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
Avery gently moved Derek’s hand(he almost threw up again)away from his chest. Derek had cradled two things to his chest—his phone, and a crushed can of Monster Energy. Avery wrinkled his nose—he was getting used to the smell at this point. As long as he didn’t look at Derek’s face, he would be fine…probably.
"O-okay…" Avery slowly stood up; he didn’t exactly trust his legs yet. He reached over to his desk—where his wallet and computer lay.
"Sorry, Derek…" Avery mumbled. "…I think I should leave you here for a bit…I’ll let your family decide what to do with…you…"
Though his words were confident, his tone was not. It was shaky, and sad.
Now, he had the biggest issue of all: facing Derek’s family. A sick feeling rose in his chest…how was he going to explain this?
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118 W 32nd St was where the home of Derek’s ex-wife, Ji-eun resided. Avery had originally planned to go find Derek’s mom, but that plan was quickly canceled once he figured out that Derek’s mom lived in Dallas.
Avery stood outside the door, weak on his feet. It was swelteringly hot, as it always was in Tuscon. He raised a hand…
And knocked.
"Coming!"
A woman, only a head shorter than him, opened the door. She had dark black hair cut to the nape of her neck, and deep brown eyes. Her eyes narrowed as she leaned against the doorframe.
"Oh? What is it you need?" Her voice carried a bit of her accent, but Avery hardly noticed it.
"I…need to talk to you. Can I come in?"
The lady’s brows furrowed.
"I’m sure you can say whatever you need to say out here," She said sharply, shutting the door behind her.
Avery fiddled with his hands. How should he approach this? This lady, Ji-eun, he presumed, didn’t seem give off the impression of a lady who messed around. Like, at all. She was a bit like Derek, in that regard. Avery’s heart twisted at the thought.
"I-it’s about Derek-"
"Oh? Derek sent you? What could he possibly say to me, after skipping out on his custody payments the past few weeks? He hasn’t even had the courtesy to visit his daughter!" The mad tone in her voice made Avery wince. It also made a fire light in Avery’s heart—it wasn’t Derek’s fault, at all! She would dare to insult him for saving the entire universe?
But…
How could she know what fate had befallen him?
Avery folded his hands behind his back, unsure of where to put them.
"I…I don’t know how to say this…" Avery winged.
"Spit it out."
"…Derek’s dead. He’s been dead since yesterday."
The woman was silent and stared at him with a blank expression.
"…you…you’re lying." She was deathly still, and her face looked like it had been frozen in time.
Avery shook his head.
And when he finally saw tears trickle down her face, did he cry for the second time that day.
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Peppermint tea was not Avery’s favorite by a long run, but he would take whatever he could get.
The inside was cozy and warm, though Avery was sure he had quite throughly ruined the entire vibe with the news he brought.
Upon Avery’s entrance, the two children( Imani, Derek’s youngest sister, and Tanika, his daughter—Avery felt a twinge of misplaced and completely inappropriate jealousy) had been quickly ushered into the other room by Ji-eun with a quick hushing of all their confused questions. Now, the lady sat across from him. Her face looked like she hadn’t cried just two minutes ago; Avery was sure his eyes were still red.
"Now, who are you to Derek?" She was also straight to the point, like Derek.
Avery twiddled his thumbs.
"I was…a friend of his. He sent me a document around, I dunno…twelve, maybe? And that was what brought me to his apartment, where I found…" Avery took a breath. "Where I found him."
Most of it wasn’t a complete lie.
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Ji-eun narrowed her eyes at the stranger who had just entered her house. His name was Avery, he was likely twenty-five years old, and was Derek’s friend.
Funny, Derek had never mentioned an Avery. Derek wasn’t one to keep secrets from Ji-eun, through arguments and divorce, they remained wholly truthful to each other.
Possibly the most damning evidence was that Avery hadn’t even known Derek’s last name.
Perhaps Avery was just an online friend. But considering that he had…found Derek…she assumed that he was not.
"Do you know how he…died?" Her voice was gentle; Avery clearly seemed to be distraught over Derek’s death as well. She watched as Avery twiddled with his thumbs once more.
"Uhm…I think he could’ve…killed himself?"
Ji-eun frowned, and she hadn’t meant to, but that sounded unlike Derek. She knew him, he wouldn’t have killed himself under any circumstances.
"That’s not possible."
"What—"
"Derek wouldn’t have killed himself." Ji-eun was sure of this. More sure of anything she had ever been in life. Avery shrunk under her gaze.
"T-then I dunno."
Ji-eun was growing tired of this boy. He clearly didn’t know anything about Derek, but apparently, Derek had trusted him, not anyone else, with the knowledge of this ‘document.’
"May I see this document?"
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Avery wasn’t sure how to answer that.
"I—ah, uhm…"
Avery rubbed the back of his forehead as he felt Ji-eun’s eyes bore into him.
"Avery, I-"
"Hey, Jamie?"
Both Ji-eun and Avery turned to the speaker. It was Imani.
"Is Derek really…gone?"