Chapter Thirty-Four
What Becomes of Us
Peyton
"Oh for the love of God Nathan!"
I look away from Jake – okay, I admit it, I've been one of those sickeningly sweet couples all night, the one's I usually vow to hate – and look at Brooke.
"You have no idea who's texting you?" she goes on, throwing Nathan an aggravated look. I strain my neck and see that he's looking at his cell phone.
"No, I don't" He says with a raised eyebrow. His eyes scan the text in front of him and immediately I can tell something is wrong. Nathan and I may not have had the most meaningful relationship, but we still had a relationship and right now he is using his 'I'm-seriously-worried' face.
"What does it say?" Brooke asks with an expression that's two-parts curious, one-part annoyed and about billion-parts concerned. I'm wondering the same thing.
Nathan doesn't answer, just seems to spring to life and runs across the ballroom to the entrance doors.
"What's happening?" I say to no-one in particular. Jake shrugs in confusion. All of us watch as Nathan turns away from the entrance doors and runs back through the ballroom.
"Nathan, what's going on?" Lucas shouts. A whole load of people are watching now as Nathan runs for the fire exit.
"Why is he using that door?" Brooke says, looking at us all with concern in her eyes. "He can't use that door, that's a fire hazard!" She raises her voice and shouts at Nathan, "Nate, you can't open that door!"
Nate either can't hear her, or he chooses to ignore her. He pushes open the door and runs through, his cell phone still clasped in his hands.
Brooke runs to the entrance doors and I follow her while the boys talk among themselves on why Nate is acting so weird. Lucas gets out of his seat as does Jake. I think they want to follow Nathan, but they're unsure whether they should. Nate was acting scary – it must have had something to do with that text message.
"Follow him," I shout to Jake over my shoulder as Brooke and I reach the door. She puts a hand on either side of the door and pushes. The door is stuck fast.
Brooke's eyes widen and she looks at me with horror expressed clearly. She pushes again, harder this time and a little hysterically. "It's not opening Peyton! Why isn't it opening?"
I put my hand on her shoulder and push her back from the doors a little. Maybe it's a pull door. Maybe Brooke's just worked herself into a panic and she can't remember. I grab the door handle and pull.
It won't budge.
Brooke is crying now. "Calm down," I say, even though I feel anything but calm myself. I don't know what's going on here, but it can't be good. Suddenly, even through the loud music I can hear a banging from the other side of the door. I ignore the people now crowding around us and step closer.
"Who's there?" I shout.
The banging stops, but I can hear a loud voice. A hysterical voice. Haley's voice.
"Peyton! Peyton is that you? I think Nathan is in trouble. Oh God, please tell me he's in there with you!"
Brooke's eyes widen again and she practically hurls herself at the door. "Haley! What do you mean?"
There's no sound from the other side, and both Brooke and I shout "Haley" at the same time.
"Oh my God!"
We turn to see Lucas run into the ball room from the fire exit. His eyes are wide and scared. Brooke runs towards him and lands in his arms as he tells her something. I don't get to see Brooke's reaction as a clicking sound comes from the door, and two seconds later the door is open with Haley practically falling into my arms, her mascara smudges by tears.
I look up at the door and see a scared looking busboy with a handful of keys.
"What happened?" I ask Haley forcefully. She doesn't answer me but looks up at Lucas as he walks over. Brooke isn't there. I can't see her.
I turn to the busboy. He's still rooted to the same spot in the foyer. "What happened? Why was the door locked?" I ask him, sounding way more in control than I feel. Everything is so confusing and I can't find a single constant. It's like the ground itself has shifted from beneath my feet and I'm struggling to keep my balance.
"I-I don't know." He stutters. "One of the fire alarms upstairs went off and the Doorman went to see what was up. He told me to wait here, but – but loads of people were passing through. I didn't see anyone lock the door. Only me and the doorman have a set of keys." His words are shaky and tripping over each other, but I can just about make them out.
As soon as he's finished Lucas walks over. His eyes are watery, and he looks like he's trying not to cry. Haley clutches onto him, fear in her eyes. She looks so scared and weak – it's horrible to watch.
"Please tell me he's alright," she says, looking up into his eyes, almost pleading. Lucas can't meet her eyes, and that's when it hits me like a ton of bricks. Something's happened to Nathan.
"We need to sit down," Lucas says. "You need to tell me what happened."
"But… but Nathan," she says, her voice breaking. Lucas puts his hand on the small of her back and leads her over to the table we were all sat on before. I look around for Jake, but I can't see him anywhere.
"Um… can I have your attention please, ladies and gentlemen?"
The voice crackles and seems to come from everywhere. The music has stopped and I look up to where the band was playing and see Kevin Devino stood looking awkward at the microphone. "I apologise for the interruption, but I just wanted to tell you guys not to panic, and that the party will carry on as normal. Please ignore the disturbance and have a good time… and, uh… get drunk! Um… yeah."
Oh, well that's appropriate. Kevin jumps down off the stage and walks over to the table. I follow him. "What was that?" I ask.
"Brooke couldn't go up herself. I offered to do it for her," he shrugs.
I nod and look back to where Lucas has sat Haley down. He kneels down next to her. "Haley, you need to tell us everything, okay?"
"What's going on?"
I turn to see Haley's Sister Taylor run over with wide eyes. "Haley, are you okay?" she goes on.
Haley nods but doesn't look at her. Instead she looks straight up at Nathan. "Tell me what happened to Nathan first."
Lucas looks down at the floor and then back up again. "We ran out and… and we saw him get hit by a car."
Everyone around the table gasps, and my hands fly up to my mouth. "Oh God," I say. "Is that where Jake is, taking Nathan to the hospital?"
Lucas shakes his head. "Nathan's not going to the hospital," he says. The table gasps again, like stupid lemmings.
"What do you mean?" Haley asks, her voice getting high-pitched. "He – he's okay, right? He's not… he's not…" she can't finish the sentence. "He's alive, right?"
Lucas looks down at the ground again. "We didn't react quickly enough. The car reversed and someone got out. He pulled Nathan into the back of the car. By the time we got over there, the doors had been locked. Jake smashed the passenger window, but the car drove of before we could do anything."
I feel a tear run down my face. "But… but he's not dead. He's still alive so… so all we have to do is find the car! Did you get the license plate?" I ask. I can tell that I've managed to inject a false sense of hope into my words without realising it.
"That car hit him fast…"
I turn around and see Jake stood behind me. His hand is covered with a makeshift bandage, his shirt cuff is covered in blood, and his eyes have the same watery look as Lucas's. I jump up and throw my arms around him. I feel his arms close around me and wish that this could make me feel a little better.
"Who was it?"
I turn around to see Haley looking at Lucas with fire in her eyes. She's been sitting so quiet up until now, but now she's speaking with a harsh edge to her words.
"I don't know… I couldn't see the face. I was too busy looking at Nathan."
"I got a text," Haley is saying now. "It was from Nathan… at least, I assumed it was from Nathan, now… now I'm not so sure."
"Nathan wasn't sending any texts," I offer, remembering the look on his face as he looked at that last message he's got. "He was receiving them, but he wasn't sending any."
Haley nods. "Whoever did this is sick… seriously just… just sick. They've planned the whole thing out. They made sure I was in that parking lot…"
"You were in the parking lot?" Lucas asks.
"Round by the front. That's why whoever's done this locked the front door. Because he wanted Nathan out at the back… but why? I don't get it. He rang me…"
"When? Are you sure it as him?" Lucas asks.
Haley nods. "Yeah, it was him. I think he was ringing me from the parking lot himself. He was telling me to stay put, and then… and then the phone went dead." Her voice goes flat at the end, and we're all thinking and hoping the same thing. That Nathan, unlike his phone, isn't dead.
We're all silent, even as the loud band music goes on behind us and someone is singing about how 'somewhere beyond the sea' his 'lover stands on golden sands'.
"Where's Brooke?" I ask now.
"In the parking lot, waiting for the police to come," Jake says, kissing the top of my head.
Before any of us can respond to that, Haley jumps out of the seat and runs out of the fire exit, which is still open and letting a soft breeze through.
"God no," Lucas whispers, jumping up. I grasp Jake's non-injured hand quickly, then let go and follow Haley.
The wind is soft and comforting, and it completely contrasts with the events of the night. Haley is stood still, staring at something on the ground, and Brooke is nowhere in sight. She must be at the front of the building, where Haley was earlier.
"Haley," I say softly. As if in slow motion, her knees buckle and her dress billows out as she falls to the ground. I reach forward and catch her by the elbows, seeing what's made her fall in the first place.
A pool of dark, red blood, glistening under the street light. Nathan's blood.
"Oh… oh God… oh Peyton, that… that's Na-Nathan's blood. That's his… wh-why is there so much?" she cries, turning around and burying her face in my neck. I stroke her hair and try not to let the horrifying sight upset me. I need to be strong for Haley.
"It's okay," I soothe, turning around to see Lucas watching us with tears in his eyes.
"I – I kept telling him we couldn't date," Haley is saying now. "Wh-why did I do that? Why did I stop 'us'? I sh-should have gone with my heart because I l-loved him Peyton! No! No, I do… I love him. Present tense. I was going to tell him tonight. But I can't… because he's gone. He's dead!"
Tears are falling down my cheeks and mingling with Haley's hair. "No!" I say in as stubborn a voice as I can manage. It still comes out shaky. "No, you can't say that Haley. Nathan needs us to believe in him, okay? He's strong Haley. We'll find him, okay? I…" I falter but draw myself up. I need to do this. "I promise Haley. I promise that you can tell Nathan exactly how you feel about him."
I feel a pair of strong arms encompass us and lean into them. Lucas. Haley's sobs are getting louder, and I feel torn. I want to help, but I can't. I'm powerless.
"I think I know who did this," Lucas says, almost as if he's trying to come to terms with what he's about to say.
"Rob Klein?" I ask incredulously. I've got my hand around Haley and we're sat on the wall of the parking lot with Brooke on the other side of her, stroking her hair. Lucas is stood up. The police cars are just driving away now as Lucas and Haley gave their statements. The Ball is over, and all of those people walked away none the wiser that someone possibly died tonight and someone else was knocked out. Turns out the doorman had been whacked with a shovel. That's how whoever did this managed to lock the doors – with his keys. Brooke's father wouldn't let her cancel the party though, that's why Kevin gave the speech. She refused. Kevin and Jake are off… somewhere. Roaming the streets for Rob or his car. Haley and Lucas wanted to go too, but the police wanted to talk to them.
Dan Scott is at the police station, like a bull in a china tea shop by all accounts. The cops kept exchanging looks as he went on about how stupid and unqualified they are, and how if Lucas gave them the license plate, why hadn't the car been found. He insisted on driving to the station with them, and we weren't about to argue. Anywhere with Dan Scott is a place we'd rather not be. Unfortunately. We've just spent two hours with him in the Parking Lot.
"Rob Klein… couldn't do this. He's a coward," Brooke says, obviously sharing my incredulity.
"Oh yeah, because it takes a lot of guts to run someone down when they're defenceless, huh?" Lucas says with an edge of venom to his voice.
"Why… why would Rob do it? Did you find him?" Brooke asks, making it clear that she's referring to the beating Rob was promised after his little drugging game.
Lucas nods. "Yeah, and I was all ready to beat his ass for what he did to Haley and Peyton… but Nathan wouldn't let me."
"What?" I ask, thinking I must have misheard. Nathan was out for that guy's blood. "Why not?"
Lucas looks at Haley. "He didn't want to lower himself to his level. He said Haley wouldn't want that."
I look down at Haley. Her shoulders are shaking. She's crying again, and who can blame her?
"So… why would he want to kill Nathan? Nathan stopped his butt from getting kicked." I say.
Lucas shrugs. "Rob would probably look at that as some kind of insult to his pride… look, whoever did this is clearly not right in the head. I can't give you an MO."
Silence…
"A what?" Brooke asks.
Lucas gives a faint ghost of a smile. "An MO, a motive."
"Oh."
Silence again.
Suddenly, as if sensing the moment, Haley's phone starts beeping. We all look at it like some kind of weapon. Haley pulls it out of her bag and looks at the screen. Her face goes white.
"It's the number I thought was Nathan's…" She says quietly. Lucas grabs it off her quickly and presses a button.
"Crap…" He mutters under his breath.
"What?" Haley yells. "What is it?"
Lucas shakes his head, but Haley reaches forward and takes the phone before he can stop her. A small whoosh of air escapes from her lips like she's been punched in the stomach. I lean over and look at the screen. My mouth drops open and I snatch the phone from Haley, like some perverse game of 'pass-the-phone'. I press the 'cancel' key and put the phone in my own bag. The image is haunting me.
Nathan's bloody, unconscious body, and beneath it, a simple sentence.
If you want to say goodbye, come to the only place he's not a God…
Brooke, the only person who never saw the message is looking from one face to the other with tears in her eyes. "What did it say?" she asks.
"The only place he's not a God," I say to myself. Where could that be?
"The tutor centre?" Haley offers.
Lucas shakes his head. He's already turning on his heel and the three of us jump up onto or feet and follow him. "Where are you going?" Brooke shouts.
"The only place he's not a God…" Lucas says, like it's blatantly obvious. He's walking towards his car and not paying the slightest attention to us.
"Where's that?" Haley asks. Her voice is so quiet it's like a ghost's whisper.
Lucas opens the car door and climbs into the front seat. Brooke goes into the passenger door and Haley and I clamber into the back. "Luke!" I yell, getting exasperated.
Lucas turns the key and sets the gear into reverse. As soon as he's out of the space, he begins to speak:
"Last year, when I first started playing for the Ravens, I couldn't get used to the gym, so Whitey took the whole team to the place I used to play. We had a game there so Whitey could show the others why I was on the team, and Nathan had a really bad game. At the end… at the end Whitey said something to him. He said, 'I guess you're not a God of the game here Nathan, huh?'"
The whole car goes silent.
Haley breaks it. "The River court." Lucas nods at her though the rear view.
"You really think that's where he is?" Brooke asks.
Lucas nods again. "Yeah, Rob was there, he heard it. He was the one who blamed the tarmac for Nathan's bad game… said he wasn't used to such cheap surroundings."
We spend the rest of the ride in silence. Scared at what we might find when we get to the River court.
