The rest of the day was spent trying to avoid Sybil Mira and her remarks about Cress's hair.
"It's far too long, I'll arrange an appointment with the hairdresser."
"It looks absolutely ridiculous. What do the people say when they see you with hair like that?"
"It's a rat's nest!"
These words were not anything new, but it always got on her nerves. And her mother never did anything about it. She tried explaining to Sybil that it helped her when she was overstimulated, but she never understood. She even once tried taking away all the stims that she had, stating that they were 'kids toys' and that she was too old to be playing with them.
She had rescued them before they could be chucked out and stored them in a cardboard box under her bed.
Anyway, no matter what complaints Sybil made about her hair, she never went through with it. She didn't know if it was because her mother had said something to her, or if it was just because Sybil just liked to torment Cress. In any case, she was glad that she was all bark but no bite.
Then she wondered what Ran Kesley had to do with Sybil Mira. All the other people she had invited from her work had around her age, but Ran Kesley couldn't have been older than 26.
A part of her wondered whether she had something to do with what ever it was that Ran Kesley was caught up with. Her mysterious 'side job' had left Cress's mother with a lot of extra money, and at first, Cress honestly thought that she was a stripper, but just decided to keep it a secret, but, looking at Sybil Mira, she could kind of believe that she was a ring leader of a gang of criminals, or something like that.
She had a kind of severity to her that made Cress think of power. With her olive skin, and straight, silky black hair. Her features like a hawk. She exuded confidence and power, and the people who she invited over always looked at her for direction, like she was their superior.
Cress poured more dishwashing liquid into the sink, and scrubbed at the dishes, bringing her out of her thoughts.
It was now nighttime, and Sybil and her mother were watching TV in the living room and Ran Kesley was in the guest bedroom.
Cress didn't mind doing the dishes, it was a routine process that allowed Cress to relax and calm her thoughts. Except for when she touched a piece of wet food that made her gross out, but she usually just ignored that.
Her mother had made a seafood marinara, which Cress didn't eat, because she couldn't stand the taste of seafood, so she had plain spaghetti which was not a very wholesome or filling meal, but it eased her hunger, which was good enough.
She had never seen another person eat so much as she had that day. Ran had not one serving of food, and instead had four servings of marinara. She supposed that Sybil had told her mother about Ran's big appetite because she had made enough to serve 6 Rans for an entire week.
She wondered why it was that he was so hungry. She supposed he worked out, by the looks of him, with veiny arms and rippling muscles only found on the covers of adult books titled something like "Punishing the Wolf" or "Ravaging Red". But those muscles were not really Cress's type, preferring less of a body-builder type and more of a swimmer's body.
Like Carswell Thorne, though she wasn't sure that he actually swam, he just looked like he did.
Still, she appreciated the eye candy, but not so much as the thought that he was some kind of criminal and, like Wolf said, was caught up in a bad crowd. Still, the way he talked about his brother made him seem like he could be saved and helped.
And, well, he didn't seem much like a delinquent. He had manners, and was polite at all times. He was often locked up in his room, when he wasn't with Sybil, much like Cress was.
Cress put the last dish on the rack, the water dripping down from it and making a puddle on the sink. She washed and dried her hands, and made her way out of the kitchen and made her ascent up the stairs.
She could hear faint music coming from Ran's room, slightly muffled. She couldn't make out the genre, or the words. She crossed the hallway and went into her room, shutting the door behind her.
She opened her drawer and pulled out her pyjama's; thin, cotton shorts that had an interesting pattern of disembodied cat hats, that went to her mid thigh, and a black tank top. She changed into them, and she pulled the elastic out of her hair, combing her fingers through the ends all the way to her scalp, setting her hair free.
She grabbed her brush from her nightstand, and began combing it out. Sybil Mira had once told Cress not to brush her hair in the bathroom because she got her hair everywhere, so now, any brushing of her hair was to be done in her own room, where she didn't even have a decent mirror.
She pulled her hair into a ponytail at the nap of her neck, then pulled the length of her hair into a loop and tying it off, so her hair shortened by half in size.
Maybe it was a bit weird that Cress's hair was so long, but it gave her a sense of comfort when she felt it tickling her legs, or when she was all tangled up in it. The only time it gave her any sort of hassle was when she was showering, but the heaviness of it when it was wet made her feel secure, when she plaited it in a crown around her head.
Her hair was Cress's favourite method of stimming, which was why she couldn't bear for it to be cut. Most other autistic people she knew liked their hair to be short, but not Cress. Long hair was something that made her feel good.
She leaned forward on her double bed, and grabbed her backpack that she had thrown in her room when she arrived off the carpeted floor. She unzipped it and connected it to her mom's internet, and opened Facebook and sent a message to Wolf.
Crescent Darnel:
I think he's definitely got something to do with my mom's gf
do you want me to talk to him for you?
She closed the app as she waited for a reply. She opened her music app, and started playing some music, turning it down quickly when it came blaring out of her speakers. She set her tablet on her bed, and pulled the blankets up and crawled into her bed, stomach down, and wedged her pillow between her chin.
She turned her tablet landscape and shifted the cover so it could stand up on it's own. Abstract hip-hop was playing out of her speakers. Fragmented sounds that made Cress feel like she was floating in space.
Wolf messaged her back.
Ze'ev Kesley
Nah, just be friendly to him. I don't want to make him think that I've set you up to something.
Just like, y'know, try to get info about where he goes, so I can call the police on that place or something
…
And maybe try and get information on Sybil, too. If they actually are part of the same thing, she's probably manipulating him somehow.
Crescent Darnel
no doubt about that
but yeah i'll do the best I can!
Ze'ev Kesley
You're already doing great.
Also Thorne wants to know if you've seen your roster yet.
Actually don't worry he's going to message you.
Cress eyes widened when she read that.
Crescent Darnel
what?
omg ok
Not a second later, she got a notification from Thorne, his profile picture appeared in a little circle on the side of her screen. She tapped on it.
Carswell Thorne
Hey did you look at your roster
Crescent Darnel
yeah haha
why?
Carswell Thorne
Wanted to know if you wanted to get together the day before or something so we can practise?
I know youve never been Rap Uncle before its a bit more demanding than Sandy haha
*Rapunzel haha
Soz I havent turned off autocorrect
Crescent Darnel
haha thats okay
well yeah it should be fine im working monday and tuesday but im free every other day so should be good?
Carswell Thorne
Cool, well we can do Tuesday if you want?
Cresent Darnel
yeah that's fine!
what are we gonna be doing?
Carswell Thorne
Ummmm watching the movie, then acting out some of the scenes and seeing how well we work together as the characters
Crescent Darnel
sweet! where are we doing it at?
Carswell Thorne
At my house. I'll send you the address. You can come at 12:30?
He messaged her his address, and Cress copied it and saved it in her notes.
Crescent Darnel
cool! Its a date!
Cress stared at those words she had sent.
"Oh, my god." Cress whispered to herself, right before she shoved her face into her pillow and made a high pitched sound in the back of her throat. A laugh escaped from her mouth.
A knock at her door distracted her. She lifted her head from her pillow. The door opened. Ran Kesley peeked his head in.
"Um, are you okay?" He asked. His eyes darted around her room, taking in the old glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling, her computer on her desk, her books on their shelves...
Cress gave him an awkward smile. "Um, yeah?"
"Sorry, I was just going to take a shower." The door opened wider, showing a change of clothes, jeans and a T-shirt. "And then I heard this weird noise from your room. It was a bit concerning."
"Oh. It's fine." Cress said. "I got a bit excited over something."
His eyebrows raised."Right." He said. "Well, I'll see you later." He closed the door.
Cress filled her cheeks with air,which she released slowly. She heard him enter the bathroom and lock the door behind him.
Her mind jumped to his change of clothes he was holding. Hang on a moment. He was getting changed into jeans and a t-shirt. He was going somewhere.
"Oh." Cress sighed. Then she got an idea.
She unlocked her tablet, and sent a message to Wolf.
Crescent Darnel:
your bro's going somewhere
he's in the shower now im gonna go through his phone.
If his phone has a password what do you think itll be?
It took a moment for Wolf to reply, in that moment Cress was getting antsy.
Ze'ev Kesley:
Going somewhere at this time?
IDK, try RANK if its a four letter password
Like Ran.K, not rank... or try it in its number form if you know what I mean
Crescent Darnel:
yeah I get u
if it doesnt work?
Ze'ev Kesley
Try and look at the fingerprints and see which characters he's tapped on lately?
Honestly I wouldn't have a clue what his password would be.
Try some random letters or something LOL.
He's not a very original person he wouldn't have something too hard.
Right. Cress typed down. She sent it. She heard running water come from the bathroom.
She leapt up off her bed, and snuck quietly over to her door, where she opened it, peeking out the hallways. She could hear the TV on downstairs, so that meant either her mother or Sybil were still awake, or both.
They normally didn't bother Cress upstairs, unless they wanted something, and their bedroom was downstairs, so there was never really any need to come up. But still, with Ran here, and with her new suspicions about Sybil, she never could be sure.
She stepped out of her bedroom and made her way to the guest room. She grabbed the ceramic door knob and turned it.
The bedroom was impersonal. Dark grey silk covers on the bed, a brown bedhead against the stormy grey wall. She looked at the brown bedside table. Ran had plugged his charger into the powerpoint, and his iPhone was charging on the table. Cress crossed the room, sitting on the edge of the bed, and held the phone in her hand.
He had a black leather case, which Cress flipped open, with numerous cards in the cardholder side of it. She pulled them out. Driver's license, credit card, business card for New Beijing Mechanics...
...five hundred dollars in cash...
She quickly shoved the money back in. Then put the cards back in the phone case in the order she found them in. She looked at his phone. It was a newer model, with a larger screen. She unlocked it. His lock screen was an image of a wolf with its hackles raised and it's teeth bared. Ferocious.
He did have a password to get in. If she couldn't guess it now, she could always download or even program her own code-breaker, but that would take time, and Ran was in the shower and Cress didn't know if there would be another chance for her to do this.
It was a number code. She punched in the code Wolf had recommended to her. Ran.K
7-2-6-5
Didn't work. She thought for a moment. In the movies, they would type in a person's name close to their heart and that would break the password. Wolf. She thought.
9-6-5-3
Still didn't work. She would try Ze'ev.
9-3-3-8
Still nothing.
She sighed. Well, I suppose this isn't a movie. She thought. She was all out of ideas, but still, she could do a little more snooping now that she was here. She had spied his backpack beside his bed. She walked over and picked it up. She unzipped the front pocket. A packet of cigarettes. She zipped it closed. She hoped he wouldn't smoke it in the house, she hated the smell, and the smell of cigarettes was inescapable.
She unzipped the top part, and found multiple changes of clothes that Cress was amazed could all fit into this bag, which she thought was kind of an amazing feat.
He had a pair of tan coloured denim shorts, and T-shirts and polo shirts. There was also a smell lingering in his back that Cress couldn't identify. All that she knew was she absolutely did not like the smell. She zipped it closed, her nose crinkled in distaste.
She looked around the guest room, looking for things that might help to get into his phone. She thought about his password when she got into his Facebook account last night, the green text had showed up on her screen: omegakesley. It was a strange password. Maybe it was a nickname that he had. She knew that omega was the last letter in the Greek alphabet... and from all the werewolf TV shows that she watched, that if you were an omega wolf you were the weakest of the pack...
If it was a nickname, it would have been a strange nickname to have. Maybe the gang he was a part of had a sort of ranking system... that would make sense.
But... her mind kept going back to wolves... his brother's name was Ze'ev, which translated to Wolf, he had a picture of a wolf as his phone screen wallpaper... is password was omegakesley... But his password wasn't wolf... she had already tried that...
On a hunch she punched out these numbers:
7-2-2-5
Pack.
The phone unlocked.
"Yes!" Cress exclaimed. Then she covered her mouth. She had been too loud.
She shower was still running. She wondered how long he would be in the shower for. Cress took for ages in the shower. Cleaning her hair took up the most time. But Ran had far less hair than she did. But he did have far more body than what Cress had. He was what? 6'4"? Compared to Cress's measly 5'0 inches, it seemed like cleaning his body would seem like it would take far longer just because he was so tall.
Anyhow, Cress still felt that she should hurry up anyway. She tapped on his most recent calls. She expected to find a lot from maybe Jael, or even Sybil Mira, but instead there were a lot of calls to and from New Beijing Mechanics... In fact there was even more from New Beijing Mechanics than there were from Jael's or Sybil's number. This struck Cress as strange. How would Sybil have contacted Ran if not by calling him?
She went back to his homescreen, making sure that she killed the app instead of just closing it, and opened his messages. There was another message from New Beijing Mechanics.
She tapped on it.
New Beijing Mechanics: Your car will be ready on the 23rd of December.
That was... That was today!
Was this some kind of code? Her mind ran with possibilities. Maybe New Beijing Mechanics was their headquarters or something... Maybe they were planning something. Something big. Something dangerous.
All Cress knew was that she had to tell Wolf about this. And find out why New Beijing Mechanics sounded so familiar.
She killed the app, and set it back on the bedside table, right where it was where she had found it. She listened for the sound of the shower going.
Oh no.
In the excitement of finally finding something, she had not realised that the shower had stopped. Cress tugged on her hair, trying to calm herself... Maybe he was still in the bathroom, getting dressed, and Cress could sneak out of his room without him being any the wiser. She stood up abruptly. Straightening out the wrinkles she had made on the bed.
The door opened.
Cress spun around, facing him. His hair was wet. His face had droplets of perspiration, though Cress didn't know if it was from sweat or water from the shower. He had changed his clothes in the bathroom, and he wore a black polo shirt with tan chinos.
Cress strangled her fingertips with her hair. She felt her heart pulse in her fingertips. She tried to calm her breathing. She gave him what she hoped was an easy grin.
"Sorry," She said. "Mom wanted me to check if your.. uh.. pillows were the... good new ones she bought."
He crossed his arms. "Oh... right." He said.
Cress bit the inside of her cheek. "Um... cool. Well, they're the good ones, so uh... have a nice night?"
"Sure." He said. He had crossed the room. He stood close to Cress. She held her breath. He reached over and picked up his phone, pocketing it. Cress saw a flash of a tattoo on his right forearm. It looked like a bunch of letters and numbers, but Cress couldn't figure out what it said. Cress swallowed. He stepped back. He looked at Cress, and laughed. "You look so nervous. I don't bite."
Cress exhaled. "Right. Well, uh... I'd better go and tell mom."
He raised his eyebrows.
"About the pillows." Cress said quickly. Then she turned on her heel and hurried out of the room.
When she closed the door behind her, she let all the air inside her escape in relief. He bought her stupid story about the pillows, and why shouldn't he? Squeezing the length of her braid, she hurried down the hallway and into her room, she shut the door, harder than what she meant to.
He heart racing, she leapt face down onto her bed. She pressed her face into her pillow, and took a deep breath, then released it. The pillow caught her breath, and she pulled her head up. She couldn't believe she just did that. She couldn't believe she got into someone's phone just by guessing their password, and then proceeding to go through their private information like some kind of spy!
Or stalker. But Cress didn't want to think about that. She was doing it for the good of Wolf. In order to keep his brother safe.
She sat up, crossing her legs. She took a deep breath again, her heart returning to it's natural state. She grabbed her tablet and sent a message to Wolf.
Crescent Darnel:
okay I got into his phone and I didnt find much except this one thing...
he makes a lot of calls to this mechanic place called new beijing mechanics
I reckon its probably like... a secret hideout for his group or something
he had a message from them saying that his 'car was ready'
I was thinking maybe this was some kind of code?
When she had sent that she pressed on the home button, and opened Google, typing in New Beijing Mechanics.
Oh, so that was why it was so familiar. New Beijing Mechanics was where Sybil took her car when it had broken down that one time. It had come back in even better condition than when she had first bought it!
And if Sybil and Ran both went there, that made it sort of suspicious in her eyes.
Still, she thought, it was worth checking out, just in case.
Wolf replied back to her.
Ze'ev Kesley:
Where is that?
We should check it out.
Crescent Darnel:
I was thinking the same thing...
it's in the same suburb where I live
Ze'ev Kesley:
It is?
That's probably why Ran is at your house, so he can be closer to HQ.
Or something.
And also, I don't want you getting more involved in this than you already have been. You've already done so much to help and I don't want to put you in any danger, so you don't have to come along to this if you don't want to.
Cress pursed her lips together and smiled. Wolf could be so sweet. When she had first met him, she was intimidated by his huge 6'4" figure. He was quiet, strong, and slightly scary. But then one time she saw him helping a little kid who had lost their parents, and he had crouched down to their height and helped him find his parents with the gentlest look on his face. The sight was just so adorable that Cress's image of him was changed forever. It was funny how that happened.
Crescent Darnel:
hahah 3 3 3
nah its fine okay
like im happy to help!
Ze'ev Kesley:
Well, you don't have to do anything you don't want to.
My only days off is on Wednesday, so that's when I'm gonna come down to that mechanics. You're free to come if you want to.
Cress was about to type that 'yes!', she could come, but then she remembered that she had to practise with Thorne that day.
Crescent Darnel:
uhh I would but I planned something with thorne
sorry :(
Ze'ev Kesley:
That's alright.
Maybe I'll ask Scarlet to come with.
Cress smiled.
Crescent Darnel:
sure
have fun with scarlet then
Ze'ev Kesley:
You have fun with Thorne.
Cress thought this was the end of their conversation. She checked the time on her tablet. It was 7:09 pm. She wondered where Ran would be going. If it was any normal person, they would probably be going out clubbing or partying or something. But with everything that was going on here, Cress did not think that that was the case.
Whatever it was, whatever New Beijing Mechanics had to do with Ran Kesley and Sybil Mira, Cress would get to the bottom of it. She looked at the name of the owner, which showed up on the screen.
Linh Cinder. Maybe she was the front runner of the whole thing. Maybe she recruited people to join her 'cause' or whatever it was.
Well, whoever she was, Cress would find out.