Sorry in advanced for the excessive length…I wasn't sure where exactly to stop it…s
A few minutes later and we were all gathered in my room, standing in a circle around the note.
"Let me see it again," Simon reached out to pluck it from Derek's fingers, reading it for yet another time.
"Go ahead," his brother passed it to him readily enough. We had all long since memorized the simple message.
"Be there or Mr. Saunders dies," Simon quoted, scrunching his brows together.
"Yes, Simon," I hissed, kneading my bed cover between tense fingers. I did not need to be reminded. "We got that part."
"Well, you have to admit, Chloe, it does sound like something out of a cheesy movie." He put the paper down on my nightstand, only for Tori to pick it up a moment later to resume frowning at it.
"Yeah, well, in real life it sucks just as badly as the screen," I snapped.
He shrugged. "I'm just saying-"
"The question is," Derek raised his voice to talk over him, "what are we going to do about it?"
"What question? I'm going to Lyle house in four days," I said.
"No, if we decide that's the best plan of action, we're going to Lyle house." Derek argued. "But let's consider our other options…"
"Oh, like not showing up? Letting him die?" I demanded, voice shrill.
"Chloe, just calm down and think rationally for a moment."
I didn't reply, fearing what would spill out if I did. Instead I stood and stormed out of the room down the hall to my bathroom. I shut the door behind me, deftly twisting close the lock.
I stood in front of the mirror, just staring at my reflection for a moment. My hair was mussed, blonde streaks poking out at random angles. My eyes were as blue as ever but watery with unshed tears and supported by bags that could store groceries. I leaned over and splashed some water on my face from the sink.
A knock came from the other side of the door. "Chloe?"
I didn't bother to respond, knowing I couldn't trust my voice not to break. I gripped the edges of the sink until my knuckles matched the white porcelain, taking deep breaths and trying to hold in the tears.
"Chloe?" the knob jiggled but even he couldn't break the lock.
Actually, he probably could, but not without destroying my bathroom door and he was at least considerate enough not to do that.
After an eternity I unlocked the door, stepping outside. His head snapped up as I did so, green eyes full of remorse. Derek stepped away from the wall across from the bathroom door, reaching for me, but I held up a hand. He fell back again.
When I spoke, I chose my words carefully. "I appreciate you trying to find a solution…but I have to be there. He's my dad."
"And I swear to God I'll do everything I can to protect him," Derek vowed, putting a hand over his heart. "But you are my first priority. And I will not have you going to the Edison Group-"
"But that's the only way-"
"-alone," he finished. "If you go, we all go."
"No, Derek," I sighed. I couldn't let him do that, put himself in danger for my dad, dragging in Tori and Simon with him.
"Fine." It was my turn to snap my head up, blinking with surprise at his suspiciously quick agreement.
"Really?" I wanted to go alone, right? So why did I feel a thrill of fear at the prospect, tainting the relief?
"I'll go alone."
"No." My voice was firm. "Of course not."
"Why not?" he growled, hands clenching into frustrated fists at his side.
"I won't have you put yourself in danger-"
"And you think I'll be ok with you putting yourself in danger?"
"Um…guys?" Simon poked his head into the hallway, bringing with him the awareness that both our voices had risen to shouts. Instantly I ducked my head, shamefaced. "Why don't we think about this in the morning? It is kinda late…and we do have a couple of days until-"
"Yeah. Good idea." Derek agreed readily, voice tight. "'Night, Chloe." I was left feeling like crap as he purposefully bumped my shoulder as he stomped down the stairs.
"What's got his tighty-whities in a knot?" Tori, who's face had appeared next to Simon's, watched him go.
"Ignore him, Chloe." Simon stepped around the door to put a comforting hand on my upper arm. "He's just mad even he can't think up a perfect solution right now."
I nodded miserably, this only making me feel worse because I knew there was no perfect solution. Someone was going to get hurt, either us or my dad.
"Well…" he faltered, looking longingly in the direction of the guest bedroom.
"Goodnight," I said, giving him permission to go sleep.
He gave me a little smile. "Sleep tight, Chloe." I didn't bother correcting him. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
A minute later and only Tori and I remained in the hall. "Are you going to be ok?" her critical eye studied me intensely, seeing through my grim smile to the emotional turmoil beneath as only a fellow girl could.
"Yeah…" I tipped my head away so she wouldn't see the pinprick tears dangling out of the corners of my eyes.
"Listen," when she spoke again her tone was hesitant, yet gentle. "The bed in my room is a double so if you don't want to sleep in your room alone…"
This time I met her eyes, seeing the hope and uncertainty swirling there. We were friends…kind of. She could do nice things for me…kind of. We helped each other…kind of. It was a tricky and perilous relationship we had, full of hesitancy and wavering trust. Still, I really didn't want to stay in the same room as the note source for the rest of the night.
When I nodded she broke into a relieved grin. I smiled tentatively back.
True to my prediction, I did not sleep at all that night. In the morning, I rolled out of bed and straight into the shower, letting the soothing drone wash over me. I think I may have even nodded off when Tori (friendship moment forgotten) began pounding on the door yelling at me to hurry up.
In the kitchen Derek had already fried up some eggs and was sliding four omelets onto plastic plates. When he caught sight of me he froze.
"Hey," I said at last, after an uncomfortable moment of silence.
That turned him back on again; he nodded his greeting resumed cooking.
I set the table for four, even though Tori and Simon were still taking showers. Only once Derek was done did he sit down across from me.
"Chloe-" his voice was gentle and yet strict as only Derek's voice could be.
I didn't give him time to finish, instead resolutely picking up my fork and beginning to slice at my omelet. "Don't, Derek. I don't want to argue right now." It was true; I was sick of the fighting. We had four days to figure it out (more like three and a half now) and I planned to not waste them going in circles.
"Chloe, I just want-"
"We can stay here for the next few days." It wasn't a question but he nodded anyway, frowning slightly that I kept interrupting him.
"Yes, but then-"
"We can relax. Pretend we're normal again…" I continued as if he wasn't even there. I would keep talking over him until he decided to play along and drop the conversation.
"Chloe!" he hissed, frustrated.
"We could watch some TV…" I stared hard at the cabinets as I slowly rolled my omelet around in my mouth with my tongue, knowing I was being childish yet not willing to surrender.
"Fine," he shook his head, shoving back from the table. "When you're ready to have a rational conversation, come find me."
"I'm ready to have any rational conversation except the one you seem bent on pursuing," I called after his retreating figure. He didn't turn around.
Even more miserable I pushed my eggs around on my plate, all appetite forgotten. Soon Tori joined, and Simon, and they chattered happily together about the prospect of normal life. I didn't join in.
The rest of that day I drifted around the house, a ghost in my own home. Tori and Simon had found the wii and spent the majority of the afternoon in a fierce Mario Kart competition. The door to Simon's room was shut, Derek presumably holed up inside.
I was proven wrong on that point when Derek walked in through the back door sometime later. Simon, Tori, and I were sitting around the table eating Mac & Cheese, having knocked on his door but received no answer. I had just assumed he was sulking after my tantrum this morning, but clearly I had been mistaken.
"Where've you been?" Simon cocked his head at his brother who slipped off his jacket and hung it on the door knob. I didn't miss the flash of white that peeked out of his inner jacket pocket before the folds of fabric covered it again.
"Out," Derek rumbled, moving to the stovetop where the extra Mac & Cheese lay waiting in a pot. He got out a plate (it was weird how familiar everyone now was in my house) and loaded the remainder of the pasta onto it until he had himself a squiggly orange mountain.
"Guess I didn't want seconds after all," Simon muttered to himself, shaking his head at his brother. He didn't argue though, not when Derek seemed so tense already. I knew that was at least in part my fault but couldn't bring myself to apologize.
"Care to elaborate?" Tori sighed at last when it became clear Derek wasn't going to explain further.
He paused, head ducked slightly towards his plate so there would be less space his fork would have to travel as he shoveled in the pasta. "At the library. Doing research." Yep, he had gone back to caveman sentences. He really was stressed.
"On?" Simon pressed.
"You know," Derek shrugged, straightening up a bit and putting his fork down. "The Edison Group, and stuff."
"Find anything?" Tori asked skeptically.
"'Course not." As if signaling the interrogation was over, Derek picked up his fork again and resumed eating with newfound gusto.
I wanted to ask about the papers that were in his pocket, suspecting they hadn't been there when he left the house, but didn't want to with Tori and Simon there. I'd confront him privately, when we were alone. That is, if he'd ever let me talk to him alone again.
Derek finished eating at approximately the same time as the rest of us, which was ironic considering we had a head start and about half as much food on our plates. Figures.
The moment the last forkful of macaroni passed his lips Derek stood up and dumped his plate in the sink before gliding out of the room without another word.
"He's still cranky I see," Simon looked after him disapprovingly, brow furrowed and face pulled into a frown.
After "dinner" Simon and Tori returned to their wii game and Derek was nowhere in sight, so I took the time to satisfy my curiosity.
Glancing over my shoulder with every other step, adrenaline rushing through my veins as I thought about being caught snooping by my boyfriend-on my boyfriend. What seemed to be an eternity later and I had reached the jacket. I plunged my hand into the leather, groping around until I felt a roll of paper.
I whipped it out and held it against my side, away from the view of the door in case someone were to go into the hallway. Stiffly, trying to keep the paper hidden, I went to my room and shut the door behind me, locking it for good measure. Only once I was safely tucked away sitting cross-legged on my bed did I allow myself to unroll it.
It was a newspaper clipping. At first that was all I could process, the yellowing paper extra thin, words small and blocky. The edges were jagged and frayed, evidence that Derek had illegally ripped it out to steal it from the library's catalogues.
Once over the initial surprise, I let myself read it. It was an article about a woman who supposedly had a nervous breakdown. She started screaming, wouldn't stop until the police got involved and dragged her to a jail. There she was charged with the possession and dealing of illegal drugs and after a trial was sentenced to a year in jail.
The woman was May Souza.
I sat there for almost a half hour, just staring listlessly at it. He had obviously gone to the library for the sole purpose of checking up on his mom. And he had succeeded.
"Chloe?" A fierce pounding on the door brought me out of my reverie with a snap. "We're opening up the ice cream. Want some?"
"Coming!" I called back to Simon, stuffing the article under my pillow.
Over the next few days we relaxed, knowing a chance like this would be rare to happen across again in the near future. They simultaneously dragged and sped for me. I spent most of my time in my room, refamiliarizing myself with modern technology. An hour on the ipod, the next on the kindle, two surfing cable. It was nice to chill but beneath the outward relaxation I couldn't shake the growing fear within me, the want to do something. I kept feeling that relaxing was risky, that we were all making a mistake. I was just itching to take action.
The night before the night, Derek knocked on my bedroom door.
We had been ignoring each other for the past few days more or less, being civil but not going out of our way to talk. I was sure he had noticed the absence of the newspaper article (which remained hidden beneath my pillow) but he hadn't approached me about it. I hadn't confronted him about it yet, either.
"Chloe? Can I come in?" his voice was hesitant.
"Sure," I tossed the book I had been reading onto the nightstand and scooted up in bed to sit against the headrest.
He creaked open the door, shutting it gently but firmly behind him. "We need to talk," he said as he turned to face me.
His eyes darted uncertainly around the room, resting first on the bed, then the desk chair, then the floor, as if trying to determine where to sit.
"Here," I patted the foot of the bed where he sank gratefully, making the mattress on that side dip slightly beneath his weight.
"Look," he sighed, "About tomorrow-"
"I'm going."
"I know," he sighed again, loud and uncharacteristically dramatically.
"So…" I prompted, quirking a suspicious eyebrow.
"But I'm going with you."
"Derek, you can't-"
"I can and I damn well am." he said, not angrily but forcefully.
"Derek…" it was my turn to sigh, in exasperation.
"Look, if you think I'm going to let you just risk your life alone, Chloe, you're stupider than Tori."
"Don't be mean to her."
"You get the analogy. I'm not letting you put yourself in danger without me there with you."
"I still don't-"
"If we go together, we'll be ok. That's what we have to believe." his voice was so solemn I found myself nodding.
"Ok." A small part, in the back most corner of my mind felt selfishly relieved that Derek was going to surrender with me, that I would have at least one ally as I walked straight into the enemy's territory.
"Great," he let out a breath as if relieved before leaning forward and paused before pressing his lips to my forehead. "Together," he whispered, lips brushing my brow. I felt a stirring of piece flood through me.
After a contented moment he withdrew, pulling back to smile at me. "I hate it when we fight."
"Yeah," I agreed. And that was that.
Hand in hand, bonded by the ordeal we knew we would begin in less than twenty four hours, we went down to the kitchen to tell Tori and Simon the plan.
"We're going with you," Tori jutted out her chin in a firm (and surprising) act of chivalry.
"No-"
"We're not letting the two of you go alone," Simon stood up straighter and crossed his arms, trying to appear intimidating. He would have succeeded, too (stupid tall people…) had he not been standing next to Derek, the most intimidating person in the universe.
"Yeah, you are." Derek growled.
"We stick together." Tori countered.
"Like hell-"
"Look," I shot Derek a pointed look as I interrupted him. "We need you two to stay here." Tori opened her mouth to protest but I hastened forward. "Who else is going to rescue us if we need it?"
Tori and Simon settled into a moody silence, probably trying to think up arguments, while Derek gave me a subtle approving nod at my diplomatic approach.
"Fine. We'll stay behind so we can save your sorry asses." Tori grumbled at last, having failed to think up a disputing comment.
"That's all we can ask," Derek gave her a tiny smile before turning to his brother. "Simon?"
"Fine." he sounded even more dejected than Tori. "We'll hang here."
"Thanks, Si-"
"But you have four days to get in there and out again before we're coming in to get you."
"Fair enough." I agreed readily, just wanting to avoid further conflict.
"Don't endanger yourselves like that-" Derek started.
"Hey, dude," Simon said to his brother, "you told us to stay behind so we could come rescue you, we're gonna' rescue you."
Derek looked away muttering to himself but didn't complain further.
After a while Simon suggested we go to bed, get some sleep for tomorrow. I did so, crawling into bed with a deep satisfaction that tomorrow we would save my dad.
When I woke up I gulped down a bowl of cereal alongside Derek, said my goodbyes to Simon and Tori (both of whom were looking especially grumpy that morning) and hopped on a bus to Buffalo.
Sitting next to Derek I felt the quivering of excitement stirring in my gut, making me almost nauseous. It was like that ants-in-your-pants feeling you got Christmas Eve, the day before a field trip, or as your ascending the first hill of a rollercoaster. That feeling of anticipation that just wouldn't let you be still.
"Relax," Derek hissed, after a half hour of my constant squirming.
"Sorry." I responded automatically. He reached down and took my hand.
The ride wasn't long, about an hour and half, and then we were pulling into Buffalo.
Getting of the bus and into the city, we still had over seven hours before we had to be at Lyle house. We went into a coffee shop for some hot chocolate before just wandering around, trying to look like we weren't victims of a ransom. Hand in hand, arms swinging as we window-shopped, it was almost easy to pretend we were a normal couple on a date.
As the time ticked by, ever so slowly, we stopped for lunch. Then dinner. Then ice cream. Only an hour and a half left now.
Derek suggested we start heading towards the neighborhood that contained Lyle house and I readily followed him, winding through suburbs then warehouses. I shivered as I remembered our escape…who knew how long ago that had been. I peered into every empty warehouse we passed, looking for anything that might be recognized. Nada. They all looked the same…or maybe we were just still too far away. At any rate, I wouldn't be seeing saw-man tonight.
As we drew progressively closer and closer to Lyle house, I began to think some of the buildings did look familiar. Or maybe I was just imagining that because I knew we were getting closer. Either way, we were nearby with still forty-five minutes to kill. I didn't want to show up too early, or too late, so when Derek grabbed my wrist and led me to the shadows around one of the abandoned warehouses around us, I didn't protest.
"What's up?" I noted his hand scalding my wrist and the glow in his eyes. "Wait- are you changing?"
When he answered he seemed distracted. "No. Yes. Maybe. Not now, at least. But, Chloe…"
He trailed off, cocking his head and listening. After a moment he tugged me further into the growing darkness, snapping the lock of a warehouse door and ushering me inside. It was empty but for an array of crates and long metal poles.
Derek sniffed around for a moment while I waited patiently in the center of the room before rejoining me. When he spoke, he seemed to be picking his words carefully. "Chloe," he glanced down at his watch, "in forty-one minutes, we will be in a lot of danger. I can honestly say I don't know what's going to happen," he swallowed; that had been hard for him to admit, "but whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be bad. So," he took a step towards me and I must admit, I felt a small shiver of fear pass through me. In the dim light of the warehouse and with the feverish, almost desperate, gleam in his eyes he looked truly menacing. "I'm going to make sure we don't have any regrets."
I barely had time to choke out, "Derek, what do you-" before he was on me, arms winding around me and pressing me to him as he forced his lips against mine. I was too stunned to do anything but kiss him back, gently then with increased passion as I realized this might be our last time alone together. Ever.
Somehow we sank onto the floor until he lay on top of me, supporting most of his weight on his twitching forearms that rested on either side of my head. He kissed me like he had been wandering in the desert for a year and I was the first taste of oasis he had gotten since. "Chloe," he murmured my name between kisses. His hands grabbed my wrists and pulled them high above my head on the ground.
"Derek, why-" I had salvaged enough of my brain from the mush he was turning it into to feel bewilderment.
"Sh…" he urged. His hands encircled my wrists, twisting around them. His fingertips were rough, coarse. I had the sudden notion that he was mid-change.
"Derek, are you-"
"Sh…" he repeated urgently.
"Derek, stop!" he was starting to scare me with this fearsome desperation. I tried to sit up, push him off me and get his hands that had tightened uncomfortably off my wrists before I realized he was already sitting up, hands held over his head to show me they in fact were not holding mine together. A rope was.
Suddenly I knew with utmost certainty he had never intended for me to go to Lyle house to meet the Edison Group. This had been his plan the whole time.
"Derek!" I spat. He put an arm around my back and supported me until I had fidgeted into a comfortable sitting position. I swung my arms over my head to bring them into my lap, squinting at the barely visible rope wound around and around my wrists.
"Sorry, Chloe," his eyes were still feverish as he stood up and began backing away. "I can't let you put yourself in danger. Here," he bent to leave his backpack next to the door. "There's money, some food, and water in here. Get yourself a bus ticket back to your house. Hole up there with Tori and Simon until I come back."
"Derek, don't be stupid-"
"I will come back, Chloe," he vowed, still backing up.
"Derek, stop!" I twisted my hands around desperately, chaffing the thin skin to a bloody mess in my haste.
"Love you, Chloe." he whispered it before turning and dashing out of the door.
"DEREK!"
God, he is so mean! Sorry if it's a little OOC, but you know me and my drama…
What's Chloe going to do? What's going to happen to Derek? What's the deal with the Edison Group? I WANNA KNOW YOUR PREDICTIONS! (even though I already have the next chapter typed up and am not planning on changing anything…it's far too dramatic ;) let's just say I bring in some other old characters…hey wanna give me your predictions about that?)
:P