by C. L. Stone
What papers? Had she gotten him to drink?
“Who knew that he’d be such a brat drunk,” George said, backing up a step. “Let him go and sleep it off.”
“You can leave here tonight,” his mother said through her teeth in such a cold tone it was like she spoke to someone she hated, “but you can either come apologize or don’t expect us to welcome you back. I will never tolerate such disrespect to our guests. I can’t imagine what damage you’ve done.” She turned away and walked toward the tent. Mr. Blackbourne was still playing. No one else had come out.
Damage he’d done?
Was his health and well-being not more important than what other people thought?
George did nothing but watch with a sneer as I took Victor by the arm, walking him toward the driveway. I wasn’t sure where to take Victor. If it wasn’t to the house, where should I bring him? I tried aiming for the driveway, hoping to see a familiar vehicle nearby that we could use.
“What happened back there?” I asked once we were out of earshot. “Victor…”
“It’s okay,” he said. “Yes, they made me drink a lot. Right after I took some medicine…”
I paused, trying to put it together. “Medicine?”
He stopped his slow walk just before reaching a row of carefully parked vehicles lined up by valet service. He swayed a bit, even with me holding his arm, looking off toward the darkened sky. “No one came, Sang. No one was here to help. I was alone.” He shook his head, a little violently. “But it doesn’t matter. I needed to be able to be an adult. I’m sixteen… seven… I’m older now.”
“What do you mean alone?” I asked.
“No one came, Sang,” he said. “Silas… everyone. Mr. Blackbourne showed up but right on time and I was already supposed to be prepped and on stage.” His voice changed, sad and a little strained like his voice was going. “No one came.”
The others weren’t here?
He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and the screen illuminated his already paling face. “And Volto. We missed him.” He showed me the screen.
It was some text message. There was only one message highlighted that he showed.
DEPTHCRAWLER: Lost.
“I don’t understand,” I said. He was giving me so much at once.
“We were trying to track him, lost him. First time we traced him since we started. Wasn’t a false trail…” He groaned. “I was too busy to help. Too caught up in… this.” He waved a little too much back toward the tent. “Stupid.” He leaned forward, a bit much and I had to use every ounce of strength to keep him up on his feet until he could correct himself.
The smell of alcohol was intense.
I had to get him out of here.
There wasn’t anyone where we were at the moment. I pulled my phone out, sending a text to Kota.
Sang: Are you still out in traffic?
Kota: Be there in two. We’re next in line.
Sang: Don’t get out of the car. I have Victor. We’re leaving.
Kota: Meet us out front.
No questions as to why. I wouldn’t expect him to know what happened, but I appreciated he understood quickly that it must be important if we were leaving.
I tugged Victor gently by the arm, away from the parked cars and toward the front of the house. “Come on, Kota’s on the way.”
“Sang,” Victor said, not moving. I wasn’t strong enough to tug him to continue. “Sang, I know why you couldn’t be here. Why did they forget me? Why didn’t they come?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, unsure how to answer him. I wasn’t sure if he was just asking random things because he was drunk and if he’d remember. The question hurt to hear; that the others were too late for him. “Something terrible must have happened. And Kota and Gabriel… they got held up by me.”
He reached out to me, holding my cheeks in his palms, a little too strong so my lips puckered at the pressure. “Sang… I don’t blame you.”
“We need to go.”
“Sang… I have to tell you I love you.”
I stared at him, shocked, unsure. “Victor…”
There was a moment there, like he thought to kiss me, as he looked at my lips way too long. Time passed, his eyes glazed over, like he couldn’t think of what to do next.
I wanted to say it back. I really did. But with my concern and the way he held me, the shock of the night, I hesitated.
Suddenly, a girl about our age came into view from behind Victor. She had dark hair up in a bun on her head and wore a plain but elegant dark dress. “Hey,” she said to me and did a short wave. “Need help?”
I clenched my teeth, embarrassed. I did need help, but who was she?
Victor seemed surprised but also was slow to turn to the girl. “Brie…” He hiccupped and turned to her fully. “Brie, I did it.”
“I saw that,” she said. “Good job.” She forced a smile and motioned to me. “Do you need to get him inside?”
“There’s… a car on the way to the front…” I said.
She nodded and came over, taking Victor by the elbow. “Come on,” she said. “Adults go to the car and get in.”
This caused him to react, and he took a step toward the nearest car.
“Not that one,” Brie sang a bit as she spoke. “Front of the house.”
I was grateful for the help. Brie seemed to know what to say to compel him to move, even if a bit slowly. We took the route away from the tent, using the house to shield us from view until we got to the front gate that allowed us out to the sidewalk. Neighboring houses sat dimly nearby, shadowed by the brightness of the Morgan house in full party mode.
Kota’s sedan just pulled up and Gabriel hopped out of the passenger seat. He worked on unknotting his tie as he came around.
He hurried quickly around the front of the car, arms open. “What the hell happened?” he asked, scooting me over to try to take Victor’s arm.
Victor said something but it came out in a mumbling mess.
“It’s my fault,” Brie said. “I gave him something earlier to help his anxiety. He seemed to need it.” She paused, a little breathy like this had taken some energy to get him to walk with her. “But then his parents kept forcing him to take celebratory drinks for his birthday and then he had to toast the guests at the start… and then… they kept going with trying to pressure him into everything, photos and his gifts. And every time they gave him more to drink.”
Gabriel shook a finger at Victor. “You dumbass. Drinking and drugs? Way to go.”
“It wasn’t just drugs,” Victor said.
Brie snorted once shortly. “Seriously? You’ll blame this on him?” she said to Gabriel. “Where were you? He said his friends couldn’t make it and got really down. He’s been trying to cope all day.”
Gabriel’s face reddened. “Then I’m a dumbass but…”
The driver’s side window rolled down and Kota stuck his head out. “Everything okay?”
“We’ve got him from here,” Gabriel said to Brie. “Sang, get in front.”
“Thanks,” I said to Brie, paused shortly and then continued hesitantly, wanting to be nice since she helped us. “Do you need a ride?”
“My mom is here and I should go with her,” she said. “I’ll try to do some damage control. His mother might be more forgiving if she really thinks it was the drinking and it isn’t totally his fault he basically said fuck off to the audience.” She waved shortly and skirted off toward the front door to disappear inside.
“I don’t need forgiveness,” Victor said, but then wobbled a bit more.
Gabriel mostly carried Victor to the back of Kota’s car and made him get in.
I rushed around, getting in next to Kota. “Should we say something to Mr. Blackbourne? He’s inside playing.”
“I’ll send him a message,” Kota said. He used the rearview to check the seat behind us. “Are we okay? Do we need water? A puke bag? Do we have our seatbelts on?”<
br />
Victor had slumped into the far side of the car away from Gabriel, eyes closed, arms over his stomach. He mumbled but said nothing. His cheeks flushed.
“Get me water and the puke bag,” Gabriel said. He gingerly reached around Victor, with a lot of care, and made sure his seatbelt was secure. He put a gentle hand on Victor’s elbow. “Just a short ride and we’ll get you out of here.”
Kota stretched over my lap to the glove compartment and pulled out a set of napkin packs and a folded plastic bag from a grocery store. “Sang, under your seat, there’s usually water bottles tucked there.”
I reached under without looking, feeling around, finding a couple of plastic bottles, and pulled them both out to pass back to Gabriel.
After that, Kota started to drive. Gabriel had a bottle of water, urging Victor to drink it. “Come on,” he said. “It’ll make it better.”
“You don’t have to embarrass me,” Victor said, pushing the bottle away.
“What’s more embarrassing, drinking water or puking?”
“I’m not sure puking is entirely a bad idea right now,” Kota said. “It might get some of the alcohol out of your system.”
“I’m not puking,” Victor said, in a voice a little too loud. He opened his eyes, grabbed at the water bottle, sloshing a little water over his clothes. With a loose, open hand, he brushed away the water from his clothes and brought the bottle to his lips at the same time. He took just a small sip and put the bottle in his lap, then rolled his head back, closing his eyes again. “I don’t really want to do anything but sleep.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Gabriel said. “What’s this anti-anxiety thing you took? And why were you drinking after?”
Kota had his phone in his hand, likely texting Mr. Blackbourne about what was happening. When he heard what Gabriel said, his hand jerked and he stopped. “What? What’s this?”
“It’s nothing,” Victor said without moving.
Kota had made a left turn but he turned the blinker off, readjusting the car to roll forward and cross the street instead. “Then we go to the hospital.”
Victor jerked his head up and blinked rapidly, pressing the water bottle to his cheek as if it might cool his face. “I don’t need the hospital. I just need to sleep.”
“Unknown medications react differently per person as it is. Alcohol on top of it can do a lot of damage.”
“I said I’m fine,” Victor said. “Why won’t anyone listen to me?”
“I’m taking you there anyway,” Kota said. “We’ll spend the night. Dr. Green is on call tonight anyway. You don’t have to be admitted, but you’ll be on premises if anything happens. We can sleep in his office.”
Victor muttered, turning away from everyone and didn’t say anything else.
I swallowed, looking ahead, my cheeks warming. Poor Victor.
Was what happened totally his fault? It didn’t sound like it.
Gabriel kept sitting awfully close to Victor, encouraging him to drink water when he could. Victor only listened occasionally and only took small sips.
The car fell silent. The sun was hanging lower.
This whole day had been disastrous.
I wanted to ask so many questions of Victor, but I didn’t want to upset him any more.
At the hospital parking lot, Kota pulled right up to a side entrance and stopped the car without turning the engine off.
Kota got out, walking around the car to open Victor’s door behind me. “Come on. Can you walk inside on your own?”
“I can walk, but I don’t want to go in,” Victor said, remaining in the car.
“Get in the hospital or I’m carrying you inside.”
Victor didn’t move for a minute, but then seemed to register Kota was serious. He moved a little and was about to stand up but sat down in the seat again quickly. “Hang on, I’m dizzy.”
“Which is exactly why we’re here,” Kota said. He reached in, taking Victor by the elbow, practically picking him up out of the car. “Gabriel, take her… actually go see if anyone else needs a ride back to Summerville. I think we’re done tonight.”
Gabriel got out, running over to open the door for Kota and Victor to get inside the hospital. When they were clear of the door, he came back, got in the driver’s seat, and did his seatbelt. “All dressed up and nowhere to go,” Gabriel mumbled.
“I don’t know if I’d feel like going anywhere after tonight,” I said. This whole day felt like a never-ending loop of problems.
“Victor will be okay,” Gabriel said. He braked at a stop sign in the parking lot but instead of continuing after, he turned to me and put an arm around the back side of my headrest. His left hand reached for my face, cupping my cheek. “Are you good?”
I nodded, my cheek brushing against his palm. His skin still smelled like sweet fruit from before. “Yes. I think so. I just feel bad for Victor.”
His fingers near my hair shifted, tugging gently at a loose curl near my face. My hair was back in the black clip again but I found it appeased him if I kept a few extra lengths of hair out. “Victor will sleep it off and be just fine. Kota’s being overcautious but this is the best place for Victor right now. I do feel bad I missed what was going on.”
“Me, too,” I said. “What a miserable birthday.”
Gabriel did a short groan and pulled away from me to continue driving. “Yeah, I think we fucked up. Maybe we should have kept going and gone to his party.”
“I should have been okay with staying by myself,” I said. “Nothing happened.”
Gabriel reached for my hand, holding it palm to palm, our fingers intertwined while he drove. He squeezed my hand gently. “I know we shouldn’t dwell on what we should have done, but I feel damn guilty. What happened to the others?”
“I think Luke’s still at the hospital with Dr. Green,” I said. “North and Nathan were with him. He got too sick. I don’t know what happened after that.”
“That’s four,” he said. “Kota and Victor are six at the hospital. I’m seven. Who are we missing? Mr. Blackbourne? Where’s Silas?”
“I thought Silas was with Victor this whole time,” I said. “What happened to him?”
“Text him,” he said. “Find out.” He pulled off to the side of the road. “We might need to go get him.”
I sent a quick text to Silas.
Sang: Are you okay? We had to leave with Victor from the party. Are you still there?
There was at least a couple of minutes before he finally responded.
Silas: Yes. Security problems.
That’s it. I showed it to Gabriel.
He frowned. “I don’t like that.” He pulled his own phone out and sent a text of his own. “Mr. Blackbourne is there. If he can get offstage, he should find him right now.”
“He might not be able to get offstage if he’s replacing Victor for the entire night,” I said. “Should we go back for Silas?”
“He didn’t say he needed help,” he said, but his hands twisted on the steering wheel while he drove. “I don’t like it.”
“Can we drive by?”
“We’ve got the time,” he said, and he turned the car around, heading back downtown.
♥♥♥
Gabriel had a brilliant idea to go behind the Morgan estate via side roads and not in front where the traffic was backed up still.
Only when we got to behind the estate, we were stopped immediately by a collection of people, including some security.
Gabriel rolled down the window to talk to one of the security people. “Hey, I know you,” he said.
The security guard seemed to recognize him immediately. “Hey, Gabriel,” he said. His badge was covered, so I couldn’t tell what his name was but he had dark hair and dark eyes, and looked bulky under the security uniform. “Do me a favor and run these people over, will you?”
Gabriel smirked at the joke. “Why?”
“Reporters,” he said. He shook his head. “
First Mrs. M wanted them on the street only. Pictures, but nothing up close and nothing beyond the gate. Then it’s let one or two in the gate but pretend to suddenly catch them like they aren’t supposed to be there. Then it’s let them back out and keep them far away. Only now they won’t go.”
That didn’t make any sense. Or maybe it did. Mrs. Morgan wanted good press, and if Victor had acted badly… this wasn’t good.
“Is Silas with you?”
“He’s been running background checks with Ralph in the guardhouse, making sure everyone is who they say they are. We needed more hands on deck for this.”
Gabriel looked at the collection of reporters and nodded. “You know how to get rid of them?”
The guard shrugged.
“In like five minutes, start talking with one of the other guards about a celebrity sighting downtown. They’ll go chase that for a while.”
“Maybe,” the guard said. He waved goodbye as Gabriel made a U-turn to go back the way we’d come.
“Great,” I said. “They might have caught the whole incident.”
“They’ll be lucky if someone with their cell phone hasn’t uploaded it to YouTube already.” He started to head back to the highway but stopped the car suddenly in the middle of the road. He leaned over and looked at me. “I don’t want to go far. Just in case.”
“Then go somewhere close,” I said.
He drove the block until he spotted a place to park on the road, where we were within walking distance to the estate but tucked out of view from all the crowds of reporters. The block was quiet, with other cars along the street parked. No one seemed to be around.
Gabriel sent a quick note to Silas to let him know we were keeping nearby for a bit. He turned the engine of Kota’s sedan off. It rattled and clunked a bit before it actually silenced.
“This old piece of shit,” Gabriel said. He slapped his hand against the steering wheel. “If I had the money, I’d buy him a new one and tell him to get over it if he complained.”
“We could get him one,” I said quietly. I considered how much it might cost to buy a car. “I guess the Academy money doesn’t buy cars for us.”
