Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault

by Candace Robinson

  The day everything went downhill between Neven and me was seven months ago. Everything in my life felt perfect. I was worried about the future and college, but life at that moment was great.

  Neven wasn’t at school and had called me that morning saying that he wasn’t feeling good. I’d told him that I would see him right after school.

  I remember every single detail about that day including the smell of the fall air and the wind, the sound of the trees, and even hearing Nev’s neighbor grilling meat outside.

  Maisie had dropped me off at Nev’s house on the way home. I still didn’t have a car at that time—my Dad was going to buy me one right after I graduated high school.

  I walked up the stairs, turning around to Maisie and waving bye as she backed out of the driveway. Maybe I should have told her to wait, but I didn’t think that I would need her to.

  Nev’s car was the only one in the driveway. I went to the front door and tried to turn the doorknob, and it was already unlocked. He would always leave it unlocked for me when he knew I was coming over. When I opened the door, the music echoed loud from upstairs.

  I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottled water from the fridge before going up the stairs to his room. The door was already open, and I heard noises. They hit me and made my chest hurt so badly. I knew what the sounds were from the second they hit my ears, and make no mistake, I felt I needed to torture myself a little more to confirm what those sounds were.

  I reached the doorway and looked inside the room. My attention was drawn to the ground where there were clothes scattered around, and Nev was in bed with a red-headed girl that I had never seen before. Then again, I couldn’t see her face, but I would have recognized that hair anywhere. It was the color of fire. She was on top of him and getting down to business.

  His eyes were closed, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I left. Yes, I might have been a coward for not interrupting. I should have pulled her by the arm off him and yelled at Neven at least. There is always the should have, would have, could have, but instead, I chose to leave.

  I walked down the stairs slowly as if in a daze and walked all the way home. He called me several times that day when I got home, and I never answered the phone.

  The emotions never came, and I felt like a robot that whole night and the next day, until I let every emotion imaginable come out in that Orchestra closet with August.

  The phone rang when I got home the next day, and I answered it. I told Nev it was over, to leave me alone and never speak to me again.

  He wasn’t at school that day either. He claimed he had started vomiting again. The day before he had thrown up in the morning, was fine around lunch time, and then he decided to go for a quick run before I came over.

  It sounded like a dumb excuse. I mean who the hell goes running after they just vomited all morning? I may have possibly believed him if I had run out of there before seeing him, but I’m not that stupid. The fact that I saw his face only proves what a liar he really is.

  Neven stands there, and then he slides his hands in his pockets, looking hesitant to say anything.

  “Well?”

  He looks at me directly in the eye. “Have you been down Oak Street lately?”

  My eyes open wide. “You saw the Glass Vault?”

  He is stunned when I mention it. “Yes! I went down the street this morning on the way to school and noticed it. When I asked the guys at basketball, they had no idea what I was talking about.”

  I rub my chin with my thumb and forefinger. “I was with Maisie and August, and we saw the Glass Vault yesterday. Maisie already has a job there.”

  “So, she’s gone inside the place? When I stopped there this morning it was locked, but it was early,” he sighs.

  “No, she just talked to the owner, Quinsey Wolfe, through email. He hired her without even meeting her. It’s incredibly odd. “

  His eyebrows shoot up. “This creepy building appears out of nowhere, and Maisie gets a job there, even though she has no idea what is inside, or what she will be doing?” he pauses. “It sounds just like her.”

  I let out a small laugh. “It so does.” I catch myself and stop laughing.

  He lets out a long breath. “Is there something going on with you and August?”

  I cross my arms across my chest. “No. Not at the moment. There could be, but that is none of your business.”

  Neven pulls his hands out of his pockets. Raising his hands, he laces his fingers at the back of his neck and lets out a frustrated sound. “Damn it, Perrie. That’s fine. August seems like a good enough guy, and I just want you to be happy even if it isn’t with me, but I still don’t understand what I did wrong. You say that I cheated on you, but I never did.”

  I turn away from him before I blow up and break everything inside of the house. I still can’t say it to his face, so I turn the complete opposite way. “I saw you Neven. I saw you having sex with that red-headed girl,” I whisper.

  “What girl?” he yells.

  I turn around and feel nothing but furious. “I don’t know! She was naked, and you were naked, and there was fiery, red hair!” I scream back.

  His anger is growing. I’ve never seen him look so mad. “Either you have been making this shit up for the past seven months to mess with my head, or there is something seriously wrong with you if you think I would have ever cheated on you. I don’t even like red hair!”

  “Well, apparently, you did that day!” I retort.

  He leans against the wall and tries to calm himself down. “Okay, I have told you over and over that I was sick in the morning, and then I felt fine about an hour later. It was already late, so I had decided to stay home. You know how antsy I get, so I decided to go for a run before you came over, and when I got home, you never showed up. I called you several times. The next morning I was sick again and stayed in bed that entire day.”

  My head is starting to hurt from this conversation, so I rub my temples.

  Neven continues. “It doesn’t make sense, but let’s just say maybe you did see someone that wasn’t me that came into my house and was having sex with some girl on my bed.”

  I can’t keep from rolling my eyes. “That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. So, two people break into your house just to have sex in your bed, not to mention one just happens to have your face? Come on, Nev.”

  “I get it. There is something strange going on here, and I’m going to figure it out. Please trust me this one time, Perrie. I’ll figure this shit out and prove it to you. I just want my best friend back.”

  “Damn it. Fine.” I may be stupid, but I see the sincerity coming from him. I’m not dumb enough to doubt what I saw, but I will let him do his thing and see what he comes up with.

  He slowly nods his head. “You know you are not the only one that is pissed. I wish you could have trusted me. I loved you then, and I still do, Perrie.”

  I’m staring so hard at him that I’m sure my eyes are burning his, and then I look away because I have no idea what to say. Why can’t he move on already?

  He walks to the door, opens it and looks back before he closes it. “I need you to believe that the only girl I have ever slept with is you. See you tomorrow, Perrie.” Then he closes the door and is gone.

  But, I wouldn’t see him the following day.

  Chapter 6

  Early on Wednesday morning before my alarm went off my phone rings, and I answer it. “Hello,” I say groggily.

  “Perrie?”

  My eyes are trying to adjust to the darkness. “Yes?”

  “Hello, dear. It’s Julia, Neven’s mom.” Her words are rushed and blend together, as if it’s one sentence when she speaks.

  I have no earthly idea why Neven’s mom would be calling me much less calling me this early, but it wakes me up with how panicked she sounds. I sit up in my bed and lean back against the headboard.

  “Hello, Mrs. Lee.”

  “Listen, I know you and Neven haven’t been around each other for some
time, but have you talked to him?”

  I’m fully awake now. “Yes, ma’am. As a matter of fact, Neven stopped by for a little bit after school yesterday.”

  “What time was that?”

  “I don’t remember, but it was the afternoon sometime. Why? What is going on?”

  She pauses. “He never came home after school yesterday.”

  That doesn’t sound like Neven at all. He is not one that would just disappear. They have a great relationship. After Neven’s dad died, if he ever ran late when he was hanging out with me, he would call her and let her know.

  “Are you sure he didn’t stay the night somewhere and forgot to call?” I hope that is the case, but my stomach has started to churn from my growing worry.

  “I don’t know. If that is what happened, he is in a lot of trouble for making me worry like this. Can you call me if you see him at school, or better yet, tell him to call me?”

  My hand is beginning to shake with worry. “I promise I will.”

  “Thank you, Perrie. I hope to see you soon, too. The house is not the same without you.”

  I tell her I will come over later and hang up. I miss Mrs. Lee, but I couldn’t face being in that house after everything.

  My thoughts fly in every direction that could come to mind. The worst-case scenario is that he is part of the growing list of missing victims, but I don’t want to think that that is a possibility.

  I haven’t prayed in a long time, but I’m praying now that I will see Neven at school, so that he can make me feel anger throughout my body instead of this nervousness and worry that is beginning to overtake me.

  I toss on the first clothing I see in my closet and pick up the phone to call Maisie. Her phone rings twice, and she answers already awake and in a good mood. “Hello!”

  “Maisie!” I practically yell.

  “Perrie, what’s going on?” The bounciness leaves her voice.

  I rush to tell her the story of what happened on the phone call between Neven’s mom and me, and I tell her that he stopped by yesterday.

  Maisie is first angry that I didn’t tell her that Neven stopped by yesterday, but then she shifts into detective mode and thinks that he most likely stayed at a friend’s house from the basketball team. He would do that sometimes during the school week. Something about how he forgot to call his mom is rubbing me the wrong way, though. Maisie is going to pick me up after she finishes dressing so we can get to the school early and hopefully find Neven.

  Maisie is already waiting in her car when I rush over to meet her. I throw open the door, toss my stuff in, sit down, and buckle up as quickly as I can.

  She is all about safety, so I have to finish buckling before the car moves. She goes the exact speed limit and will not let herself go above or under. The ride to school is almost like watching the second hand on a clock rotate which makes everything seem that much slower.

  “Come on, Maisie! Can’t you at least go forty-two instead of exactly forty today?”

  Her right eye squints, and she is thinking hard about it, while her left eye is comfortably hidden beneath a patch today that is shaped like a donut with little sprinkle jewels glued on. Where the donut hole should be is a nude piece of colored cloth. Yes, the patch did distract me for about ten seconds from what we were supposed to be doing. Finally, she speaks and lets out a little huff. “I guess just this once.”

  The speedometer makes it up to forty-three, and I can tell it’s bothering her. I will give her a proper thank you later for her massive sacrifice.

  As we pull into the school parking lot, we are some of the first students here. When the car stops, I practically leap out of the car and leave all my stuff in there. I will grab it all later, opting to haul butt into the school with Maisie directly on my heels.

  “Gym first!” Maisie calls out.

  Not every morning, but a lot of the mornings Nev will practice basketball before school starts.

  When we reach the gym, I look all around and see several guys practicing, but I don’t see Neven anywhere.

  Maisie spots Neven’s friend David first. “Hey, David! Can you come here for a second?”

  He looks at us like we have lost our minds, but then jogs over to Maisie, who by the way he has had a crush on forever. “What’s going on?”

  Somehow in our mad dash, Maisie managed to grab her small notebook and pen. “Have you seen Neven?” She looks at David, starts writing down the question, and then looks back up at him awaiting his answer.

  David looks at the notebook and then at me and then back at the notebook. “Well,” he starts. “I did see him at school yesterday.”

  “And what about after school?” I blurt out.

  Worry lines begin to appear on David’s forehead. “Is there something wrong, Perrie? You have been mad and ignoring Nev for a while, and now you are asking where he is?”

  His eyes grow wide as he seems to have come to his own conclusion. “Wait, did someone kidnap him?”

  My hands fly up to my face. “No! Well, I don’t know. All I know is his mom called me and said that he never came home from school yesterday. It may be normal for a lot of people, but I know you know Nev. He would never not come home without calling his mom and letting her know.”

  He nods in agreement and then looks at Maisie who has been writing down everything we say. “What is the deal with the notebook?” he asks Maisie.

  She looks at him and just smiles before winking with her right eye. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  I think he is taking her wink as flirting, even though that is just how Maisie is. She winked at him probably because she thinks he wants to see her notes that she wrote. He begins to give her a crooked, flirtatious smile that is making me want to vomit even more because of the anxiousness I have about Neven.

  “Okay. Well, let us know if you find Neven.” I grab Maisie’s arm, and we turn around to leave.

  “Likewise, and see you in class, Maisie,” David calls.

  The rest of the day I spend looking for Neven between classes. I even went to the bathroom during my first-period class, passed by his classroom to see if he was there, but he wasn’t.

  When the bell rings for lunch, I find August waiting for me, so I rush over to him to tell him everything that has happened.

  I wrap my arm around his waist, and he rests his head on top of mine. “I’m really worried, August.”

  He pulls back and looks into my eyes. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

  “I don’t know! There have been all those missing people.”

  “Yeah, I know, but we have to try to be positive here.”

  We walk to lunch, but I can’t eat anything. The rest of the day is a blur, and I’m starting to get mad at myself for yelling at Nev. Then I’m angry with Neven for making me mad at myself, and it’s a game of repetitiveness.

  After Orchestra, August offers to come over, but I tell him I’m stopping by Neven’s house to see his mom.

  “I can go with you and Maisie, if you want me to?” he asks.

  “Thanks, August, but you can stop by my house later if you want?” I reply.

  He reaches Maisie’s car and gives me a quick hug. “I will.”

  Maisie drives us to Neven’s place at the exact speed limit. When we arrive at his house, there is a cop car outside.

  Maisie parks in the street, and we’re not sure what to do. “Should we turn around and go home?”

  I look over at her. “I have no idea. Let me knock on the door, and you wait here so it isn’t like an ambush.”

  Maisie agrees. “Wave at me if you need me. I’ll be right here waiting for you.”

  I climb out of the car and walk slowly up the driveway. My pulse is pounding from my heart that is aching with frustration, and the damage to come to it if anything truly bad has happened to Neven.

  When I reach the door, I ring the doorbell and patiently wait while flexing and un-flexing my fingers.

  Mrs. Lee answers, and I have never seen her so d
isheveled. Her blonde hair is a mess and her brown eyes—that are the exact shade of Neven’s—are bloodshot. She is still wearing her pajamas.

  Neven is an exact copy of his parents, right down the middle. He has the perfect mixture of features from his Asian dad and Italian mom. Even in her sadness, Mrs. Lee is incredibly beautiful.

  “Hi, Perrie. Have you heard from Neven?” she asks anxiously.

  I wish I had better news to tell her. The small amount of hope I see glimmering in her eyes is killing me. “No, Mrs. Lee. I was hoping that you had better news for me.”

  Her shoulders slump, and the hopeful look she had slides from her face. “No. I was just answering Officer Rodriguez’ questions.”

  I look in the door and see a small female officer with black hair pulled up in a high ponytail. Even with her small stature, she looks like she’d be able to hold her own. “Are you Perrie Madeline? I heard Mrs. Lee call you Perrie.”

  Okay, now the tension pulls my muscles taught, and my hair on my arms begins to stand on end. “Yes, ma’am. I am.”

  She steps forward with a notepad and pen in her hands, and it reminds me of Maisie. Only this is an actual officer. “Can you answer a few questions for me?”

  “Yes,” I squeak and then clear my throat. “Yes,” I say again.

  She seems to have no issues with my speech. “Julia here tells me that you saw Neven Lee after school yesterday, and you seem to be the last person that saw him.”

  I startle. Oh, God. I start to panic inside. Does she think that I did something to him? Beads of sweat are starting to form on my back, and my shirt is beginning to cling to it. This is uncomfortable and scary. “Yes I did, but I have no idea what happened to him after he left.” The words pour out of me.

  “Relax. I’m only trying to figure out where he might have gone, so we can try and locate him. Can you tell me everything?” Her tone is gentle this time.

  I let her know exactly what happened yesterday, about us fighting and everything. She doesn’t seem surprised by any of it and is probably used to hearing about teenagers arguing.

  Officer Rodriguez finishes writing some notes and hands us both her card before she leaves.