Chapter Twenty-Three

The Final Survivor

When Tanzi opened her eyes she found herself in the middle of what looked like some kind of supply cupboard. She shivered in the chill of the room and she shakily pushed herself to her feet. She felt slightly dizzy and brought her hand to her head, surprised to trail her fingers across a long plaster across the side of her forehead. Wincing at the touch she approached the closed wooden door, wondering why she had ended up in the cupboard after falling…

Ruby! With a start, Tanzi patted in her pockets for her mobile but found it was gone. A spark of panic lit up in her mind. She remembered getting her phone out but did she manage to contact Ruby? How long had it been? Were Zach and Lacey safe? Tanzi reached out for the door when she heard an unfamiliar voice in the room. It was male, she guessed, though particularly high and spoken very deliberately.

"Do you have a preliminary report, Bludworth?"

"It seems clear to me, Furrow. The wire tore his throat to shreds and he essentially drowned on his own blood."

"No other exterior wounds?"

"I've found evidence of old drug use. Evidence in the lungs that this guy was a smoker. But no, nothing strange. Nothing suspicious. Seems clear to me, Inspector, an accident and nothing more."

"Please do not assume to tell me how to do my job, Bludworth." That voice was cold and unfeeling, devoid of any emotion. Tanzi kneeled down on the tiled floor and put her eye against the keyhole.

Directly ahead she could see William Bludworth standing behind his silver table; the table which now held an unmoving male body. Tanzi's eyes drifted to the body's face and a sharp jolt of recognition ran through her chest.

It was Jay Scythe! There was no mistaking that small frame, the faint goatee, and the vicious mangle of flesh around his neck. The wound had been thoroughly cleaned and looked strangely like make-up with no blood gushing out of the wound, though Tanzi could still feel the warm liquid against her face.

She quickly looked away from the body to see a very tall man with a very thin frame standing with his hands clasped behind his back at the head of the table. He was dressed very neatly in a grey suit complete with black tie and had nearly white hair slicked back over his skull.

"The victim's sister will be arriving shortly," the man said as he glanced at a golden watch on his wrist. "I would suggest you give her some space. Please wait in your office."

Tanzi caught William's expression as he glared at this man. His dislike was apparent. Nevertheless he pulled the white sheet up and over Jay Scythe's face and turned to walk into his office. The man slowly circled the table, looking down at Jay's body with analytical eyes, even though Jay was completely covered with the white sheet. He came to a stop just as the click of the door could be heard. He turned on his heel and watched the stairway.

A woman dressed in a grey coat walked slowly towards the man, looking concerned. She cast her eyes over the cold morgue and her eyes lingered on the white sheet for a moment. She seemed to close her eyes before looking back over to the man.

"Miss Scythe. Thank you for coming."

"Maxine, please." The lady, Maxine, said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Tanzi's heart jumped slightly. This must have been the sister Ruby had spoken to over the phone.

"Detective Inspector Nathan Furrow," The man said in that cold tone of his. "We believe this body to be that of your brother, Jason Scythe."

Maxine winced slightly but otherwise her expression remained the same.

"I would like you to identify the body, if possible."

"…That's fine…" Maxine said; her voice quiet.

"There is some exterior damage. It may be… shocking."

"Just show me."

With a nod, Nathan Furrow pulled the white sheet down to Jay's chest. Maxine let out a small gasp and squeezed her arms tighter around herself for a moment. Nathan remained silent as Maxine looked down at the pale face of her brother.

"I…" Maxine's voice broke for a moment before she swallowed and turned away. "I always knew that racing would kill him. I take it this is how that happened?"

"He was found in his vehicle, yes. Whether or not he had been racing is unconfirmed. You confirm that this is your brother?"

"Y-Yes… Yes it is."

"I am sorry for your loss," Nathan Furrow said, sounding not sorry at all. "Miss Scythe, do you need a moment alone with your brother?"

"No… I-I can't see him like that. Not now. I can't…" Maxine shook her head. "This was an accident, yes? Do you need anything of me?"

"If possible, I would like to speak with you back at the station, to ask you some questions about the movements of your brother."

Maxine looked to the Inspector. "Is that necessary? Are you… Are you saying that this isn't an accident."

"We have evidence that proves there were at least two more persons in his vehicle with him at the time of his death."

"What!?" Maxine's eyes widened.

"That surprises you?"

"Jay never let anyone in his car… That stupid Volkswagen was practically the love of his life…" Maxine closed her eyes suddenly. "Okay. I will answer your questions. If this… this wasn't an accident…" Maxine looked back to Jay's face with a grim expression. She swallowed her words. "Maybe… Maybe I do need a moment…"

"I understand," Nathan Furrow nodded and slowly ascended the stairs, leaving Maxine Scythe to silently stand over her brother in solemn grief. Tanzi could only watch and feel an ugly feeling rise up in her stomach – the same feeling she had when Daniel Gecko had fallen to his death. Part of her wanted to leave the storage cupboard and confront Maxine; tell her the truth, tell her that her brother died unnaturally… But if what Nathan Furrow had said was true then it was completely possible the she and Ruby would soon be in the police's crosshairs.

While The Miracle Skyhawk's had performed on stage for their practice, it certainly wasn't like their concerts. They sung some signature songs but mostly played around with the crowd, performed a few covers, and just set out to have a great time. Sticks challenged himself to a ten-minute drum solo which practically broke his arms. Murphy had gone down to the front row of the unorganised crowd to sing with the fans. Jade and Bethany had perhaps the most fun of everyone, their arguments long behind them. Jade improvised lyrics to Bethany's random tunes with nonsensical songs that the fans absolutely ate up.

They had finally finished as the evening grew cold and chilly and the wind started to blow strong. Jade had thanked the crowd for the turnout and left the stage with the Skyhawk's in tow. Sticks massaged his arms, Murphy let out a smile, and Bethany laughed out loud.

"My God… I haven't had that much fun in such a long time, guys," Bethany said as they walked through the series of tents set up behind the stage. They would stay here until the actual concert at the end of the week.

"It was frickin' crazy," Sticks agreed, grabbing a bottle of water proffered to him by one of the staff members and poured it all over his hot face. "Phew…"

"What do you reckon, Jade? Feeling better?" Murphy asked, pushing his sunglasses up onto his forehead.

"Hell yeah," Jade nodded firmly. "Thank you, guys… I think that was the first time we truly felt like a band. Together. Synergised… and that wasn't even the concert."

"The fans won't know what will hit them," Bethany said as they reached the tent that contained their personal effects. "Your songs'll blow it out of the park."

"I hope so…" Jade said breathlessly. The four band members stood around each other for a moment before the weight of the evening seemed to suddenly crash onto their shoulders. Bethany fell to sit on a bench, Murphy slumped against the main pole of the tent, Sticks fell to his back on the cold grass and Jade sat down cross-legged.

Nobody said a word as the energy seeped from their bones. They had been moving all night, singing and playing and having a great time. Now it had caught up with them and the four just breathed heavily, feeling extremely content.

"Guys?" A man poked his head into the tent tentatively. It was one of their security that Murphy had hired out.

"Yes?" Murphy looked to the man in interest.

"We have a couple of women out here… They claim to have something important to tell you. One of them says she knows you from college?" The security nodded to Jade. "A… Paige Calloway?"

"Paige?" Jade said disbelievingly. What the heck would someone like Paige Calloway come to her at one of her concerts for? Jade and Paige knew each other certainly but never really hung out at all. Jade was too busy with the band and Paige's reputation kept them apart for the majority of their time at college. Paige had never showed much interest in Jade's concerts and certainly never claimed she was a fan. Intrigued, Jade nodded to the security guard. "Let them in. She's certainly not a crazed fan. You said a couple?"

"The other one said her name is Ruby but said that you wouldn't know who she is."

"Hmm… A couple of girls?" Sticks' face lit up. "Go for it, Jade, let 'em in."

"Bethany, Murphy, you guys all right for it?"

"I'm too exhausted to care," Bethany said from the bench. She was now lying down with her back on the hard wood. Murphy just nodded.

"Always pleased to meet new people," He said, lowering his sunglasses. That was the thing about Murphy – he never really like to let people he didn't know see his eyes. Nobody knew why but that was just the way he liked it so they had never questioned it.

The security nodded and held the flap open. Paige came in first looking completely casual, as if she was just popping in for a planned drink. Following behind her looking rather unsure and nervous was a bright red-haired woman that Jade could only presume to be Ruby.

"Paige… What are you doing here?" Jade asked as a way of greeting.

"Hey Jade. Sorry to run in on you like this. I know you've had a busy evening. Unfortunately, it's kind of serious."

"Serious?" Jade raised an eyebrow. "What's going on, Paige?"

"It's best if I let my friend here explain it. This is Ruby."

"Hey…" Ruby greeted. If she was honest, a small part of her was feeling very giddy at the prospect of meeting an actual band back-stage. And these people seemed like the real thing as well – not unsocial at all unlike a certain Bridge. However, she had to swallow that excitement and focus on the seriousness of the situation. "I'm not too sure how to start all this so I'll just say it. Jade, your life is in real danger."

"Excuse me?" Jade smiled as if thinking Ruby's words were some kind of joke. One look at the red-headed woman proved that she was being serious. "What do you mean, real danger? Are you with the police or something?"

"No, nothing like that," Ruby sighed. "Can we talk in private?"

"…Anything you got to say to me you can say in front of these guys."

"I don't think this would count. It's very sensitive…" Ruby looked to Murphy, Sticks, and Bethany. She really didn't want to involve anyone more than she had to. Lucas was one more than necessary and involving other non-survivors would become an issue. More chances for people to die… more blood on her hands.

"Either you talk or I invite security back in to take you away, friend of Paige's notwithstanding. Speaking of which, it's unlike you to have a friend like this, Paige, especially someone this old."

"Old?" Ruby replied, aghast.

"What are you, thirty? With hair like that? Trying to keep your youth going?"

"Why you little—"

"Guys!" Paige quickly got in between Jade and Ruby. "Please… Are you sure you don't mind your band knowing what we're going to tell you?"

"We'll be quiet. Like mice. Don't mind us," Sticks said from his position on the grass. He had sat up now and was looking with great interest at Ruby, making a very obvious show of looking her body up and down. "Besides, Jade, you haven't introduced us properly. Bit rude, don't you think?"

"That's a good point," Jade sat back down on the grass. "Come on, sit down." Paige sat down without argument while Ruby was a bit wary and remained standing. "Whatever," Jade rolled her eyes before motioning to the other band members. "Not many people get the chance to meet us like this so be glad that it's been one exhausting evening. The spindly guy over there is Sticks. The one with the glasses is Murphy. And she's Bethany." Jade glanced to Ruby, "And I'm Jade Skysong."

"Please to meet you, love," Sticks said as he hopped to his feet. "What do you reckon me and you go out for a drink sometime?"

"Why, you hiding something from the rest of your band?" Ruby raised an eyebrow at Sticks' forwardness.

"Hiding…"

"You secretly a girl?"

"One hundred percent pure man, 'least, that's what the ladies tell me."

"Then I'm one hundred percent not interested," Ruby declined and looked back to Jade, finally deciding to sit down on a bench opposite Bethany.

Ruby glanced to Paige for a moment before taking a deep breath. "I'll start with this, Jade. Everything I say is absolutely serious. I'm not pulling your leg and I'm not kidding around. This is a very sensitive scenario… and I meant what I said when you were in real danger. It's a life or death situation."

A/N:- Well, that's the end of the unofficial third act. It turned out longer than I expected but that's alright. Got to introduce some important characters to the over-arching plot and that's always interesting. Two more acts are to come and I am excited for what's in store for our survivors are for you, the readers, 'cause things are going to get iiiiiinteresting! See ya next time and as always, thanks for reading!