NEXTSTOPANGSTVILLE: Aaaand welcome to the third and final act of this three-part play within a three-part trilogy! Everything's going to be moving pretty quickly from here on, so strap down and keep your hands and feet inside at all times.
Now, the song for this chapter, as well as the rest of the fic is 'The Tears' by Robots in Disguise. This song is amazing, and it describes Vince perfectly. It's basically his entire mindset for this entire half of the story, and the lyrics hold some nice little hints for the dark future to come hehehe. If you've never heard it before, I'd definitely give it a listen! The song's practically linked to the Boosh, anyway.
I'm also glad to say my writer's block has vanished completely for now, so expect chapters every week! Unless something goes awry and I'm not able to get internet, which is unfortunately a possibility :( but hang tight cause I'll try my hardest to get the remaining nine chapters out to you guys!
Chapter 28
Howard smiled goofily as he ended his weekly phone call with Tristan. They spent Sunday nights conversing for hours on end, talking about nothing and everything until finally one of them got too tired. Howard had yet to agree to a date with the woman. He really didn't want to go out with her while he was so unsure of his feelings. He knew he fancied her, but was it more than that? Or was he just smitten by a pretty face. He really didn't want to go through the whole Gideon crisis again. No, this would be taken very slowly. Maybe by the end of the month he'd ask her out. Maybe. When he was actually sure of his muddled emotions.
Yawning widely, Howard crawled into his sleeping bag, looking over at the quietly sleeping boy before he too drifted off.
"Had a dream you and I was in a band."
"Oh? And how'd that work out?"
Howard sat down beside Vince, coffee in hand as he awaited the boy's answer. This wasn't the first time the kid talked of he and Howard being in a musical group together, even though he refused Howard's offers to perform with him at one of his gigs.
'The boy's a labyrinth.'
"Not so good. Them two girls from before were in the band with us. They wanted to stab me up."
"Sounds eventful. Did they? Stab you up, that is."
"Nope, cause you came strollin' 'round the corner right at the last second."
"Like some sort of action hero, huh?"
Vince laughed, but didn't tell anymore of the dream, as he was known to do, so Howard smiled back and relaxed into his cooling mug of coffee. He had a feeling that the day was going to be quite peaceful.
Howard was surprisingly correct. The day was peaceful, up until lunch hour. Howard was feeling slightly ill, and so decided to go toward the bench early without fetching any food. This was when he discovered two things.
One, that Vince apparently left his post early in order to stand across from the bench, leaning against an exhibit wall.
The second was that Vince had the remains of a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he pulled a small can of spray from his jacket pocket. Vince then moved to a nearby bin, throwing the stub inside before spraying himself with the can of deodorant.
When Vince turned to see Howard, standing with arms crossed, he froze slightly before stuffing the can back into his pocket and sitting down. Howard, after a moment's indecision, joined him. The two sat in strained silence, until Howard turned to face the boy, who was already studying him.
"You do know I'll not allow you to start up a habit."
Vince turned away with a smirk playing up the side of his face, causing Howard's ire to rise. He pointed at Vince, eyebrows rising.
"I mean it, Vince. You're not taking up smoking."
"Well...it's a little late for that."
"You're only si- wait what, what do you mean too late?"
"I mean you're about four years too late. I've nearly quit, actually, but sometimes I just need a quick smoke before lunch."
Howard stared at him, mentally trying to back-track through the months, attempting to spot a time when he caught Vince smoking or saw evidence of the fact. Vince, reading him like a book, laughed quietly.
"Oh don't worry, Howard. My guardians didn't even know. You see, I'm good at hiding things that I don't want no one knowin'. And to be honest, you're a lot easier to trick than they was. You don't see what you don't want to, Howard."
Vince's voice had gotten softer and slightly wistful as he spoke, and by the end he was watching Howard from the corner of his eye, a solemn smile on his face. He didn't seem at all bothered that Howard now knew about his smoking. As if it were no big deal. Well, it was a big deal to Howard, and the man was determined to make Vince see that.
"What I said before still stands, Vince. You're not smoking anymore; not now that I know. You hear me?"
"Yeah, I hear you."
Vince's expression didn't change, irking Howard all the more. The little brat thought he could outwit him! And Howard had to admit to himself, the kid was more than a little right. Howard couldn't keep watch over him at every turn. Didn't mean he had to be alright with it.
The rest of the hour passed with Vince walking serenely around the zoo while Howard hovered around him, drilling smoking facts and risks into his head the entire time. Howard even needed to be reminded by the teen that their hour was up, and the flustered man had stomped off to his post in simmering silence.
Howard had calmed down by the time closing hours arrived, in no small thanks to the never-ending mantra he'd taken to repeating in his head.
'You're not the boy's father. You're not the boy's father. What does it matter what he chooses to do with himself? It's his choice. You're not his father. Tethering him to the sofa is frowned upon in the eyes of law enforcement.'
The kid's presence on said sofa didn't help much, though Howard knew if the boy was out, Howard would've taken to roving the countryside just to make certain he wasn't off getting into more trouble. Seriously, though, Howard was becoming quite paranoid now. The kid had acted on as if he had a million-and-one secrets, and Howard was simply too ignorant to observe them. Yeah right. Howard was very observant!
'Don't notice what I don't want to...what a load of toss. I notice plenty that I wish I didn't! What's with him being all cryptic like that, anyhow?'
Needing to clear his mind, Howard went about opening all the windows, reveling in the light breeze. He also turned off the tv, mostly out of spite, as it caused Vince to send him a look of disdain before the boy retrieved his book and began scribbling in its pages. The man walked over to his gramophone, which still had a record in it. He switched it on, music filling the air as Howard turned the volume as high as it would go.
As the man went back into the kitchen to begin making dinner, he heard Vince say something, but couldn't make it out in through the soothing notes of Coltrane. Looking at the boy, Howard supposed he had simply imagined it, as Vince didn't repeat himself, head and shoulders bent over his book.
There was a sound that pierced through the music, however. It was a round of loud metallic clangs, followed by screaming. Dropping a pan, Howard ran for the door. Flinging it open, he moved cautiously toward the sound of the nearby commotion. He felt Vince lay a hand on his back, and moved his left arm behind him to grip the kid by his shirt, effectively keeping the boy behind him as they rounded a second corner.
There Howard froze to a halt. Before him was Ivan the bear's exhibit. Three rusted bars were lying in front of it, bent and broken. That's when one of the female keepers came screaming toward them, bear not too far behind. Howard quickly moved back into a wall, not fully realising that he still clutched Vince captive behind him until the boy was crushed up between Howard and the bricks. Howard felt the breath leave the boy on impact, and winced in empathy, but refused to move an inch as the fellow keeper ran past them.
The bear, not really running, came meandering down the pathway toward Howard, who sucked in a breath and held it, as if staying absolutely still would convince the bear that he and the kid were part of the wall structure. Just then, Fossil appeared around the corner, no doubt having taken his time to investigate the screams. Ivan spotted him immediately and let loose a low growl, taking up an aggressive stance as he deviated from Howard toward the chief manager. Howard felt it was poetic justice, after having caught Fossil teasing many of the zoo animals on numerous occasions. Fossil went completely white, arms raised as he backed into an exhibit, Ivan advancing.
"No, wait, please! Don't kill me, I love Lennon!"
Howard would've laughed had he not been certain he was about to witness Bob getting mauled to death by a large bear. He wanted to turn and cover Vince's eyes, but feared attracting the bear to them once more.
Seemed Fossil possessed an unfair amount of luck. As Ivan stood on hind legs before the trembling man, the bear suddenly toppled like a tree to his side. He quickly rose, stumbling down the pathway, roaring and throwing over anything not nailed to the ground. As the three watched after him in confusion, Naboo came into view, face stoic, tranq gun in his arms. Howard would never admit it, but he was impressed, and grateful as well, if only so that Vince had been spared the sight of a mauling. The boy was surprisingly still and silent behind Howard, and the man quickly stepped forward, afraid he might have hurt him. He distantly heard Fossil praising and blessing Naboo, who seemed entirely disinterested, following the trail of overturned bins and benches to where Ivan no doubt lay in medicated slumber.
Howard carefully looked Vince over. The boy seemed winded and subdued, but Howard knew that was mainly out of lingering fear. Howard couldn't blame him; he felt a bit wobbly himself. It wasn't every day you had an escaped, angry bear stroll right past you with every intent to kill your manager.
"Are you alright?"
Vince seemed to come out of his thoughts at Howard's question, looking him in the face with an expression of mixed disbelief and awe.
"Yeah. Can you believe that! Never thought he could just up and break through solid bars like that; must've been well mad over something. Was your stupid jazz what did it, I bet."
Later that afternoon, after the bear had been placed in one of the zoo's holding crates, Fossil called Howard and Vince into his office. The man still appeared quite shaken, and very angry. He'd fired the woman in charge of Ivan, blaming her for the rusted exhibit bars. He fixed Howard with a look that left no room for argument, and gave no insults or smart comments the entire time. Howard was quite surprised that the man could be serious when he wanted.
"I want you to be the one who transfers the damn bear. That means I want you awake and ready first thing tomorrow morning at five, got that? We're using that old transport car. I'll give you a map with directions to the facility."
"Where's he going to?"
Vince had asked the question before Howard could. Fossil, seeming to notice Vince for the first time, dropped his solemn expression and adopted a mockingly happy one, voice patronisingly sweet, as if he were talking down to a three-year-old. Howard knew he was doing it on purpose, and sighed long and hard through his nose. So much for a sombre Bob Fossil.
"Well, Vincey, you see, when animals are bad, they go to a special little zoo for animal offenders. It's sorta like animal prison. You got the Ku Klux goose there, and a Nazi turtle, the whole nine yards."
"Who runs it?"
Vince seemed genuinely curious, whether he actually believed Fossil or not. The blue-shirted man's grin widened, saccharine tone pouring out through his teeth.
"Why, my brother of course! Wilbur, my twin brother, owns the place. Yep! He'll be happy that we've got a new addition for him."
This was when Howard excused them from the office, bidding Fossil a very venomous "good day", wrapping a firm hand around Vince's arm and guiding him out of the building.
Howard wasn't sure this transfer counted as a day off, and was more than a little pissed off when Fossil stated it as such. He had also included Vince in the transfer, even though Howard was certain the man had initially meant only Howard to go. Howard was secretly glad for that, not liking the image of Vince alone for nearly two days.
The kid was beyond chuffed, treating this as though it were a roadtrip; a grand adventure. He stayed up into the night packing and repacking, before Howard finally forced him to lay down and go to sleep. Honestly, the kid got so excited over the simplest things. He'd once found an abandoned shoe just outside the zoo gates one day, and had carried the dingy thing around for ages, grinning and telling everyone all of his theories on how the shoe had gotten there, much to Howard's mortification. The older man had resorted to throwing the smelly thing out when Vince was asleep one night.
Yawning widely, Howard stood, bag thrown over his shoulder, as he listened to Fossil carry on about how he expected everything to go. He finally handed over the map and instructions to Howard, who made his way to the transfer car, which wasn't much more than a shoddy, outdated van with the back end sealed off.
Vince joined him in the passenger's seat, grinning widely, and Howard gave a small sigh as he pulled the vehicle through the open zoo gates and out onto the road.
The man knew not five minutes into the trip that it would be a long one, as Vince immediately pulled out a pile of cassettes from his bag, many of which clattered messily around them. He popped one in, and Howard grated his teeth as he fought off the beginnings of a headache at the annoying ear-blasting beat that raged from the ancient speakers. It didn't help that Vince thought it appropriate to dance about in his seat, bumping obnoxiously into Howard repeatedly, causing the man's tight grip on the steering wheel to jerk.
Ivan could be heard shuffling about behind them, and Howard's nerves rose considerably. He reached over to turn down the music, earning him an outraged look from Vince.
"Hey I was listenin' to that!"
"Well you can listen to it like this. Anyway, I want to keep an ear out for Ivan. Don't think he appreciates you blasting him with that gloomy racket."
"Oh come on, he loves it! He was just dancin' to it, is all. You just wanna put on one of your shit jazz tapes."
"Well what if I do? I'm the driver; I say it's my music we listen to."
"Uh uh, no way. It was your jazz that made him escape the last time. You want him poppin' out the back o' this van?"
Howard settled a glare Vince's way before pulling his eyes back to the road. That was about the hundredth time the kid had blamed Howard's music for the bear's escape. He seemed to take it as some sort of ultimate proof that jazz was the Devil's art.
A full hour of electro nonsense and Howard was nursing an ache just beneath the skin of his forehead. He could feel himself going slightly cross-eyed when he focused on it, like a single bullet point on his head. He was quite proud of himself for not snatching the cassette from the player and throwing it out the window; Vince still hadn't forgiven him for chucking another of his tapes on the dirt a few weeks ago.
It didn't help that his stomach took this opportunity to growl loudly. He hadn't had the mind to bring any food with him, so intent was he on seeing to his and Vince's packing. He'd been certain there would be at least one station or market on their trip. But it seemed as though Fossil had chosen the most desolate route possible, and Howard dreaded to think what might happen if they ran dry on fuel before arriving at the bear sanctuary. There was nothing but trees on either side of the lonely, narrow road.
Not able to take one more synthetic note, Howard ejected the tape, sighing heavily in relief as the silence poured over him like cold water. It didn't last long, of course, as the man felt Vince's eyes pierce into the side of his face for all of five seconds before the boy's voice was filling the air.
"You know, this forest actually reminds me of the old monkey king's territ'ry. I ever tell you 'bout the monkeys?"
"Those face-stealing ones? Yeah, you've mentioned them a bit."
Vince smiled now, and Howard leaned back in his seat. As much as the boy's voice grated on his nerves, when he started up one of his tales, no matter how wacky or illogical, they always lightened Howard's mood. And it had been a few months since the kid actually sat down with Howard and told him a full story; Howard had begun to miss them.
"Well, back when I was with Bryan, and we still lived in our bus ticket house, Bryan left on another of his tours. I always missed him, but it was alright, cause he left me with Jahooli the leopard. Me an' him were great mates, and he'd take me hunting in the jungle, and would even let me eat meat! Bryan would've kicked off if he ever found out."
Vince broke off into laughter that was filled with such genuine fondness that for a few moments Howard himself believed the boy to be telling the truth, before he quickly reminded himself that Vince was more than a little delusional. This always brought Howard's mood crashing, so he pushed such thoughts aside and listened as the kid continued, grinning still.
"Anyway, one afternoon, me an' Jahooli were just noddin' off, up in a tree, when old Calooni the cobra came slithering over.
"Oh, you should never sleep," he said.
"Why, Calooni?" I asked.
He then told me that the monkey king was looking for a man's face, in order to be a proper king. He'd seen my face, and said that was the one he wanted. Calooni was known to be a liar, so I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. Still, I tried my best to stay awake...but it was so hot out that day, and I was so tired. I couldn't help it, I fell asleep!"
Howard smiled back at the kid, enjoying the suspense that the boy always managed to instil in each of his fables. He really should try to convince the kid to write these stories down and sell them one day. Together they could certainly make enough money to get the zoo back on its feet. The boy was now looking out his window, and Howard raised his voice, curious at the silence.
"And?"
"And what?"
"What happened next?"
"Ahh, that's another story for another time."
"What d'you mean?"
"I've told you all you need to hear-"
"No you haven't, 'cause you haven't given me the ending."
"You'll hear the end another time."
"Another time is now because I want to hear the end."
Vince laughed lightly again, and Howard bit back a few choice words. The damn kid was pulling another one of his abrupt ending shticks. The older man was certain he did it on purpose sometimes. Howard resolved to gripping the steering wheel tighter and staring out onto the road ahead, silence ringing once more.
It was the boy who broke the quiet again, this time with the distinct crinkle of a paper bag that he pulled from seemingly nowhere. Howard glanced over, relieved that one of them had had the mind to bring along food. He gestured at Vince as the boy dropped gummy bears into his mouth one at a time.
"What have you got in there? I'm starving."
"Um, I got some bootlaces, some flyin' saucers, candy sticks, what do you want?"
"...No, I mean real food. You got any real food in there?"
"Yeah, I got some pips, a few-"
"No, Vince, I mean real actual food. You got any fruit in there? Some, I don't know, rice?"
"I got a rice crispy's bar if you want it."
"No, I'm fine, thanks."
Howard took note of the time, groaning inwardly at seeing that they still had seven hours to go. Howard could only pray that there would be food when they got there. Vince then proceeded to show Howard his impression of a turtle eating, and Howard absently rubbed at his forehead, headache still thrumming.
Confections all gone, Vince was now incredibly bored. Howard knew this because the teen was currently launching balled up candy wrappers at him. Vince had also taken to laying propped up against the passenger door, legs stretched out across the seat, feet planted right on Howard's lap. Howard wanted to point out that not only was it incredibly unsafe to put all of your weight against a car door like that, but having the boy's feet shifting about impatiently in Howard's lap was terribly uncomfortable. Thankfully the kid had taken his red boots off, although the neon glare of his mismatched socks did little to soothe Howard's head. He could see from the corner of his eye that Vince was busily scribbling with a red marker onto a piece of folded paper. The boy suddenly flung the paper to the floor of the van, huffing.
"I'm bored, Howard."
"I can tell."
"Tell us a story."
"I don't know any stories, Vince. Besides, you're the one who's always doing that, not me."
"Exactly! So I wanna hear one. C'mon, it don't even have to be an adventure story. Like...tell me about the zoo. Y'know, before I ever worked there. You don't talk about that much."
Howard had to think for a while; it was true that he preferred not to reminisce about the 'golden days' of the Zooniverse. He'd told Vince hardly anything about those seven years. The kid was once again tearing holes into his flesh with those eyes, waiting silently for the man to speak. Not feeling he had much of a choice, Howard opened his mouth to start, voice quieter than he'd intended.
"Before Bainbridge owned the zoo, it was ran by a man named Tommy Nooka."
"Yeah I know; heard Fossil talkin' 'bout him one day, so I asked what happened to him."
Howard was taken aback, and glanced at Vince.
"Really? And...what did he say?"
"He said that Tommy was livin' in the Jungle Room, and that he was cheese now. Or somethin' like that. Can't really remember; that was nearly a year ago."
"The Jungle Room?"
"Yeah, where they keep all the zoo's wolves."
"Vince. We don't have a Jungle Room, and the zoo doesn't own any wolves."
Vince tilted his head in Howard's direction, feet shifting again, causing Howard to press the accelerator a bit too hard for a moment. Really, did this kid have no concept of personal space!? Vince was visibly awaiting for Howard to continue speaking, so the man gave in with a huff.
"Well, whatever Fossil said to you, Tommy is not in a jungle, and he's not cheese. He disappeared completely, just out of the blue. There was an investigation, but nothing ever came of it. Police figure he just up and ran off on another of his expeditions. Preposterous, I say. Tommy was supposed to go on another adventure, to Spain, and he said he would take me along with him. He wouldn't have just up and left with no word to anyone, and he certainly wouldn't have abandoned to zoo. The Zooniverse was his life."
Howard gave a short laugh, thinking of the grand adventures he would've had, deep in the heart of Spain with his hero.
"It's too bad I never got to go to Spain. Might've gotten to meet my uncle Pedro. Don't think I ever told you this, Vince, but I'm actually Spanish."
Vince gave Howard an incredulous look, leaning up a bit.
"You are not. You're clearly from Leeds!"
"Well yes, I'm from Leeds, but my part of my grandfather's family came over to England from Spain a long time ago."
"Oh alright then; well why don't we go to Spain?" Vince's feet began shifting once more as he leant forward.
"Well, Vince, we can't just pack up and move to another country, now can we?" The boy was clearly joking; had to be.
"Sure we can! It'll be easy; might run into some of my relatives as well." Maybe not.
"What do you mean?"
"Well I'm Spanish."
"No you're not." Howard felt his head pound in rhythm with his pulse.
"Yes I am, I'm deeply Spanish." Now that was a particularly uncomfortable twitch of the boy's feet.
"Why do you always have to do that? Why do you always have to have what I have, copying me at every turn? I'm trying to tell a serious story here. And I am Spanish, by the way."
Vince just grinned in a way that spoke of how little he believed Howard, and the older man went silent in frustration, foul mood returning in full force.
"Anyway, Tommy...he was a great man. He was the kind of man that I wanted to be; a wise man, a man of action. A man of great pride and stature-"
"Get lost, I've seen a photo of 'im! Naboo had one he nicked out of Fossil's office. Don't know what Naboo had it for, since he never met the bloke neither. Nooka was short; not much taller than me, I'd bet! With his little squat legs-"
"Alright now, don't be bad-mouthing my hero! Women would swoon over Tommy. He had everyone's respect. Tommy was a good man, a handsome man."
"Did you have some sorta crush on 'im?"
"Wai-no-what? Vince, I think you need your head checked. Now don't be speaking ill of my idol. Tommy and me, we would've gone on great adventures had he not vanished. He wasn't only an adventurer, Tommy, he was also a deep thinker; a man of thought, and of dreams. We all dream, but do we really dream? That's one of his-"
"Can you just shut up about him now? You're gettin' on my nerves with all this Tommy rubbish."
"I'm getting on your nerves? You've done nothing but rub salt into mine ever since we got in this damn van. And get your flippin' feet off of me!"
Howard grabbed one of Vince's sock-clad feet, throwing it up into the air and away from him. Vince glared at Howard as he pulled his knees up, back still leaning heavily against the door. Howard didn't trust the rusty thing to hold the child's weight, and horror scenarios played unbidden in his head. Images of the door giving way and Vince falling backward out of the vehicle only to get run over by the tires had Howard snapping at him once more.
"And sit correctly in your seat! Stop leanin' against the door for christ's sake!"
Vince shifted back into a proper sitting position. Silence was on them a third time, weighing down over Howard's shoulders thickly. He read his wristwatch again, and then reached down to grab the map. He handed it over to Vince, not wanting to take his eyes off the road.
"Can you tell me where we are exactly? And if there's a stop somewhere nearby."
Vince went a bit tense as he held the map in his hands, and Howard glanced at him in confusion. The boy's eyebrows were drawn together as his eyes moved about on the map, and after minutes of silence, Howard was growing impatient.
"Well? You know the name of the road we're on, right?"
"Yeah!"
Vince glared sideways at Howard once more, indignation clear in his tone.
"Well, do you see any markers indicating stops anywhere?"
"Umm...no. It just goes on for a while, curving around this foresty bit."
Howard sighed heavily, allowing his eyes to close for a moment in defeat. Vince suddenly perked up, leaning over the map to stare out ahead of them.
"Wait a minute! Look up ahead, there's a road!"
Howard leaned over the wheel, searching for what Vince saw. There was indeed a small dirt road leading into the trees. Howard didn't trust it. Vince began shifting about beside him, but Howard didn't bother to look over at him; the child had been fidgiting annoyingly the entire bleeding trip.
"No, Vince, we should keep to the trail the map is giving us. We'll just get lost otherwise."
"Well good thing there is a path on the map, then. See?"
Howard looked briefly at the map, there was a indeed small red line cutting across the shaded aread indicating the forest. It led almost directly to their destination. Howard slowed the vehicle down, deliberating on whether or not to take the small road that lay before them now. His caution gave way to the painful growl his stomach let loose, and Howard turned left onto the trail before he could think better of it.
"Where the hell are we!?"
Vince didn't answer him, merely gazed at the map with a look that Howard didn't like. He looked entirely lost, and...was that guilt?
"Vince, let me see the map, maybe we missed a turn somewhere."
When the kid continued to stared dumbly down at the paper, Howard brought the car to a quick halt. Dusk was upon them; they had been driving for several hours, following the trail, which dwindled as they drove until eventually they were simply driving through forest, no road to be seen. Howard leant over and grabbed the map up from the kid, opening it and reading it for himself. His eyes followed the small red line as it flowed up and through the forest. There were no turns that they could've missed. In fact, the road was incredibly straight, no curves to be seen. In fact, when Howard looked at it closely, it didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the map at all. That's when he saw, to his horror, several other red lines scrawled all over the map, each one connecting to existing roads, to create a sort of image of a cat's face. Howard looked up sharply at Vince, who sighed through his nose in defeat and held up a small red marker. Howard's stomach dropped. Vince was quick to come to his own defense, sitting up straight as he spoke.
"I noticed the path through the trees and knew you was gettin' hungry, so I figured it had to lead through the trees somehow! I didn't think it w-"
"No, Vince, you didn't think, did you? You never do. And now we're hopelessly fucking lost in the middle of a jungle. It's getting dark, and we're nearly out of petrol. "
Howard firmly kept his voice low; he didn't want to agitate Ivan, who grunted restlessly in the back. Great; just fucking peachy. They were stranded in a jungle at night with a large bear. He wanted to reach over and pull that white scarf taught around the little blighter's neck. How did he ever imagine he could depend on the boy for anything? That's all their relationship was, really, Howard thought. Vince doing insane, stupid shit, and Howard chasing after him, taking care of him, keeping him out of trouble. And he was incredibly tired of it.
Looking again at the map, Howard figured that if they had been traveling as straight as Howard thought they'd been, they should be on the outer edge of the forest. Howard could continue on foot to a nearby road, which he would then follow to the sanctuary. He hoped. God he was hungry, and exhausted.
Vince seemed to hit the same thought as Howard. The boy turned to open his door, speaking over his shoulder.
"The road should be close, I'll just-"
"You'll stay right here."
"Howard, I want to help."
"I think you've help enough."
Vince didn't reply, just opened his door and dangled his legs over the seat. Howard reached toward him and pulled him back into the car by his jacket. Howard then turned off the engine and got out of his own door, walking quickly around to Vince's side. Vince sat with his knees up once more, facing Howard with a mixed glare. Howard leveled Vince with a glare of his own, closing the door with a slam.
"Stay right here, Vince. I'll be back with help. Hopefully with fuel for the van."
"Wait, you can't just leave me here! It's dark out, you can't be walkin' in the woods alone at night!"
"Vince, just stay put, alright? I'll be back before you know it."
With that Howard walked off determinedly in the direction that the car was pointing. He heard Vince behind him mumbling to himself, but carried forward into the thickening brush. Autumn had arrived quickly in this region, and the trees were mostly bare, leaves crunching endlessly underfoot. It created quite the eerie atmosphere as Howard wandered through the dark forest, light fading rapidly.
The story of the face-stealing monkeys came unbidden to Howard's aching mind, and the man fought down fear that prickled at the surface of his skin, causing gooseflesh to break out along his arms.
'They're not real they don't exist the kid's barmy get a grip, Moon.'
This endless mantra went on as Howard moved quickly under tree limbs and over bushes, interrupted occasionally as a distant noise caused him to jump, mind blanking briefly. He eventually resorted to mumbling to himself under his breath, needing some kind of sound in the blackness. Howard could hardly see in front of his nose, and time seemed to be crawling. Howard was certain he'd been wandering for days in that forest, and didn't fully register that he'd burst from the wood edge and onto a road until he was standing in the middle of it. When he did, Howard resisted the urge to drop onto all fours and kiss the black pathway to civilization.
Instead he turned sharply left, where a dim glow could be seen far off, and jogged tiredly for another eternity. When he reached the source of the light, Howard found that it was the front sign to the bear sanctuary. There was indeed a God, Howard thought happily to himself, breathing raggedly as he walked past the sign and toward the front doors of the building.
Pounding on the doors for fifteen minutes finally earned Howard the sound of keys jangling behind it. A woman opened one of the doors, peering cautiously out into the dark. Spotting Howard, she nodded toward him.
"Who're you?"
"Uh, Howard Moon, senior zookeeper at the Zooniverse. I was, uh, scheduled to drop off a Russian bear here tonight."
"Ah yes. We expected you hours ago. Thought something had come up. Come in, come in."
Howard gratefully stepped in through the open door, letting the woman lead him down a short hallway and into an office, where he collapsed into the nearest chair. The woman gave him a polite smile, though she did seem a bit taken back. Looking down at himself, Howard realised that it was quite obvious he'd been scrounging through the forest all night. A quick look at his watch told Howard that he'd been in that forest for five hours. His throat tightened.
"So, where is the transport car? We'll need to get...Ivan, is it? We'll need to get him situated into his new habitat immediately."
"...Um, actually, that's what I wanted your help with. You see, the van is stuck in the forest. I'm not completely sure where, but the bear's secured in there, as well as my...fellow zookeeper."
Now the woman looked incredibly worried, and motioned for Howard to hold on a moment as she picked up a phone from the desk and quickly dialed in a number. Howard couldn't help but tune out her conversation as concern over Vince mounted. What if the bear had gotten out? What if some rabid forest animals caught wind that there was a kid in their territory, alone and undefended. Howard had been incredibly angry when he'd told Vince to stay behind. He'd just wanted a moment's peace from the damn boy. Now he wished he'd tied the kid to him with the scarf.
The woman hung up, walking back out of the office and toward the front doors. Howard rose and quickly followed.
"The authorities are on their way. Shouldn't be long; their station isn't too far off. They're bringing along guns, just in case. Don't worry."
She tacked on that last bit with a hand on Howard's shoulder, and the man realised how tense he must look. He tried relaxing, but worry was quickly closing it's trap over his lungs, making it difficult to breathe. He paced slightly as they stood just outside the building, and within ten minutes the driveway was filled with police cars. Howard kept immersing himself in his own worried thoughts, scenarios and what-ifs playing across his eyes. Before he realised it, he was in the passenger seat of a police vehicle, with many more behind them, and he was directing the driver to where he'd emerged from the woods.
The trees were too thick for the vehicles to get through very far, so the men and women gathered in a loose crowd, Howard at the lead, and delved into the forest. Howard tried his best to follow the exact path he'd taken before, and after several more hours, caught sight of the van. Relief chased away his exhaustion, and Howard found himself rushing toward the vehicle, light bleeding down through the tall branches as morning arrived.
The officers were close behind, moving around the van to make certain that the bear was still contained. Howard went directly for the passenger door. Flinging it open, Howard was met with an empty seat containing only a long white scarf. Howard's mind blanked. He really should've seen this coming. It wasn't as if the child had ever listened to him before, so why would he start now, when they were in the middle of fucking nowhere.
Swearing loudly, Howard slammed the door shut. The surrounding people observed him in silence, knowing that they now had a missing person on their hands. Howard kicked a fallen branch as hard as he could, yelling Vince's name in between curses. After calming down a little, Howard gave a description of Vince to the officers, who then split off in search. The woman and a few others remained with the car, and Howard didn't bother to stick around to hear how they planned on getting the van to the facility. Mutely, Howard dove into the brush himself, hearing the sounds of police officers calling Vince's name all around him. The sun was rising quickly, and Howard found himself trying to count how long he's been away from the kid.
Howard's legs suddenly began running, and his brain took a second to catch up. He was shouting Vince's name, the officers' own calls now distant as Howard covered ground. When he found the kid, Howard wasn't sure whether he was going to hit him or hug him. Probably a strange combination of both.
'The boy can't've gone far. He knew to stay near the van. He knew I'd skin him alive if he wandered off on his own. He's somewhere nearby, I know it.'
Aching lungs caused the panting man to finally halt his mad dash. He looked at his wristwatch, and saw to his disbelief that nearly an hour had passed since reaching the van. How was time suddenly traveling so fast!? Was he dreaming? It felt like he was.
Looking around him, Howard listened for the sounds of the officers. Hearing nothing, Howard felt panic begin to seep in through his skull. He screamed Vince's name as loudly as his gasping lungs would allow, no longer caring if anyone knew how terrified he was. Vince was missing. For all Howard knew, something terrible could've happened to him the second Howard was out of earshot.
The man spun around in place, searching in every direction for some sign of the boy. Hope flared in Howard's chest when he spotted movement, only to deflate just as quickly when he saw that it was only two officers, approaching him with grim faces.
'Oh god.'
Howard steeled himself for whatever horrific news these men were about to give him. That Vince was dead; that he'd been found mangled or dismembered somewhere in a shallow pond. Howard stopped breathing as they came to stand before him.
"Uh sir, we can't seem to find the boy anywhere. We're going to need to head back to the station and organise a larger search party."
Howard was caught between thanking the heavens that Vince hadn't been found dead, and refusing to waste one minute while the kid was still out there somewhere. He tugged slightly away as one of the officers clasped his arm, and both men fixed him with a look of sympathy as they grasped him by the shoulders and led him back the way they'd come.
The journey out of the forest and to the police station was a blur for Howard, vaguely aware of being sat down on a sofa as people moved about, speaking into phones, moving brusquely from room to room. Howard caught Vince's name being said a few times; no doubt the officers were getting out a description of the boy for everyone in the countryside to hear. A search party was being gathered, and Howard was told they'd be ready to comb the forest by midday.
Midday. That was so far away. Vince could be dead by then. Or was dead, already, while Howard had been trudging angrily through the dark forest, leaving the kid on his own.
Hug him, Howard decided. He wasn't going to hit the kid when he found him. He'd hug him, and then he'd hit himself. So many hours. How had so many hours passed between him ordering Vince to remain in the van and Howard returning only to find it empty? It didn't make a single bit of sense in the man's fogged brain. It was all his fault.
Howard sat and stewed in his self-deprecating thoughts, only surfacing long enough to make a quick phone call to the Zooniverse office, where he spoke with Fossil in a low monotone, uncaring of the blue-shirted man's repeated insults when hearing of how Howard had lost Vince. The man then said something about sending Naboo over to help out or pick him up, or something like that. Howard didn't really bother to listen, and when he hung up he was fairly sure he hadn't even finished his conversation.
Quietly, he sat back down in his seat and put his head in his hands.
The search party had been organised and dispersed into the forest around three hours ago, and no news of Vince had arrived. Howard felt as if small black holes were appearing just under his skin, growing and rotting as time passed, until he wanted nothing more than to take a long hot shower and lay down somewhere. Maybe if he slept he'd awake to find that this was all just a nightmare.
All of a sudden, one officer's voice rose above the others as he spoke over a phone. Everyone in the room stilled, and Howard's head snapped up from where he'd been staring down at his lap. The officer on the phone seemed relieved, and after hanging up, faced the room. Howard focused intently on what the man said, caught between hope and horror at what news he was about to receive.
"A petrol station down south just phoned. Apparently they found a boy matching Vince Noir's description. Says the kid just came wandering up the road, looking like he was in a trance. He hasn't responded to any questions, but the person's sure that it's him."
Howard rocketed to his feet, and would've ran for the door if common sense hadn't frozen him in place. He didn't even know where this building was, and the van was back at the sanctuary. He did follow very closely behind the two officers who were told to head for the station to retrieve the boy. Howard sat in the back seat of the car as the two got in and began driving. They weren't going nearly as fast as Howard wanted, and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming at them to speed up. The drive took almost thirty minutes, and a part of Howard marveled at how much ground the boy must've covered in the nineteen hours he was gone. Nineteen hours. Howard's eyes felt scratchy, and the man pushed his fingers into them hard enough to hurt as they neared the petrol station.
The car pulled up over gravel, and Howard was out the door before it fully stopped. He tripped slightly over his feet as he ran toward the station. Bursting in through the door, Howard's eyes swiveled about the room, landing as though magnetised on Vince, who sat on a stool in front of a counter, not facing Howard.
The officers entered a second after Howard, and one raised his voice to the kid, who turned to look at them. "Vince Noir?"
Vince didn't answer. His eyes met Howard's, and the older man needn't have thought about hugging the teen, as Vince toppled the stool in his haste to collide into Howard's chest. The man noticed that Vince looked worse than himself, covered in dirt and twigs and sweat, with small bloody scratches scattering down the sides of his face. The boy was saying something rapidly into Howard's shirt, and he pulled Vince back to hear him.
"You're alive! You got out you escaped-"
"Woah woah, hold on, Vince. Escaped? Escaped what?"
"The box! He had you in a box an' he said he was gonna chop you up an' feed you to his animals and I tried to get you out but couldn't and he almost got me as well but I outran 'im an-"
"Alright calm down, Vince, breathe."
Vince took in rapid, shallow breathes, and Howard worried at the frantic look in his eyes, as well as the fact that he kept looking about the room and at the people, as though he'd never really seen people before.
The officer who'd spoken up before stepped into Vince's field of vision, raising his arms in a pacifying gesture when Vince tensed visibly, his hands digging painfully into Howard's chest.
"Mr. Moon, we need to get back to the station. If you'll..."
He gestured toward Vince, and Howard nodded, moving his hands from their place on the kid's back to grip his arms and pull him gently forward. He then led the kid out the door and to the car, where he sat them both down in the backseat. He didn't protest as he normally would have when Vince kept himself plastered to Howard's side. The exhausted, but very happy man looked down at the teen beside him. He felt beyond elated to have Vince alive and well next to him; but that dizzy relief was dimmed incredibly as Howard watched Vince stare mutely at the back of the front seats, and Howard remembered the officer saying how the petrol station owner claimed Vince had looked as if he were in a trance. He looked that way now, and Howard nudged his shoulder slightly to get him to look up, asking the first question out of dozens that came to mind.
"What do you mean, I was put in a box, Vince?"
"You was in a box; he put you in a box. Said he was gonna-"
"Vince, people can't be put into boxes."
"Yes they can."
The utterly solemn and serious tone with which those three words were said had Howard more than a bit frightened. Vince seemed incredibly off, and Howard was determined to question the hell out of him, and if the boy even dared clamming up-
"Alright so who had me in a box? Who was gonna, uh, chop me up?"
Vince was still looking up at Howard, but his eyes indicated he was seeing something far off, his voice dropped to a near mumble.
"He recognised me. I thought he'd forgot about me, but he recognised me."
"Who forgot about you, Vince?"
"No. No, he didn't forget me. I thought he did."
"Who are you talking about, Vince?"
"They've grown. Didn't think they would, bein' dead an' all. He remembered me, soon as he saw me."
"Alright Vince, you're making no sense-"
"He's exactly the same. I really thought he'd forgotten me, but he didn't."
It was clear he wasn't talking to Howard anymore, and the two officers were glancing back at them and at eachother as they pulled into the police station. Howard led an alarmingly pliant Vince into the building, where he sat them both down onto the lobby sofa. Many officers were gathered around at a distance, but Howard paid them no mind as Vince began to speak quietly, looking again at Howard.
"Thought he could catch me, but I was too fast. His back gave out on 'im, stupid old git...Sorry for leavin' you in there, Howard. I tried to help, I swear! I'm a right coward..."
"It's alright, Vince. It's all over now. We're going back to the sanctuary, and we're getting into that ruddy old van, and we're driving home, got it?"
Vince stared at Howard blankly for a few seconds, before a small smile formed over his pale face.
"Got it."
Officers tried repeatedly to question Vince, but the boy barely acknowledged their presence, and jerked away quickly when one moved too close. Eventually they all just gave up and helped Howard with getting fuel for the van, which the man was grateful for.
They were both seen to by medical staff in the police station as well, which was a long and grueling process as Vince proceeded to freak the fuck out when he found himself surrounded by strangers with water and bandages. They'd quickly given up and let Howard see to getting Vince situated into clean clothes that the police had had on hand; they were a few of the female officers' so were thankfully not too large for the kid. Vince just sat staring blankly down at the foreign clothes as Howard scrubbed dirt off the kid's face and then his own, breathing a sigh of relief as the sweat and grime was washed away. The boy didn't even flinch as Howard saw to the many small cuts and scrapes across the boy's face, not bothering to answer Howard's repeated question as to what had caused them.
They rode in another police vehicle toward the sanctuary; Howard keeping an eye on the still too silent Vince. It was almost as if the boy had become feral or something. Howard resolved to just question him when they got home. The familiar surroundings would calm the boy down, surely.
Howard opened the passenger door and stood back to allow Vince to climb in. The boy seemed more aware now that they were standing outside the sanctuary, but was still staring at the ground quietly. Howard lightly pushed his shoulder to get him to move forward, when Vince's head shot up.
"Can I drive?"
Startled by the question Howard had never expected to hear from Vince of all people, Howard stood mutely for a moment before nodding slowly. Vince held his hand out, face still blank, and Howard handed him the car keys without really thinking the decision through. By the time he did, he was already in the passenger seat and Vince was pressing down on the accelerator, sending them jerking out onto the road. Howard winced, glad that the cops had left already.
Vince drove as someone high on caffeine and late to their job. His fingers twitched and drummed on the steering wheel, his unused leg swinging. The foot pressing down on the acceleration alternated between letting off completely and practically flooring the peddle. He could barely see over the front of the van, and his head leant slightly forward. Howard noticed that his eyes kept darting about either side of the road, lingering an extra second on the line of trees. They didn't run into any police cars the entire trip back to the zoo, which was a blessing since Vince was determined to speed well over the limit as though they were being chased, despite Howard's repeated demands that he slow down.
When they finally did reach the Zooniverse gates, Vince shut the engine off and hopped out of the vehicle, throwing the keys to Graham before walking toward the Lodge. It was late afternoon, and the zoo was closed down for the evening. Howard wanted to go and check up on his and Vince's animals, to make sure Fossil hadn't been lying when he said he's have the other keepers tend to them, but instead he found himself following Vince back to the hut.
Once inside, Vince immediately went for his sleeping bag, kicking his boots off and pulling the duvet up and over his entire body. Howard, feeling beyond tired himself, took his own shoes and jacket off, putting them in their respectful places. The man stood beside the beds, looking down on the tuft of blond hair peeking out.
"Vince, are you sure you're alright?"
The kid hummed wordlessly up at him, and Howard decided to just keep an ear out for him. He was afraid that if he pressed the matter, it would cause the kid to snap, which might result in an argument. Arguing was what nearly cost him the kid. Howard still felt his hands go shaky at the thought of what might've been. There really truly must be some kind of god, because Howard knew he certainly did not possess this amount of natural luck.
He silently crawled under his own duvet, adjusting his pillow and staring up at the ceiling. A few seconds of silence was halted by a heavy dragging sound, and Howard quickly looked over to find Vince a bit closer to him. Smiling in the darkness, Howard went back to mutely watching the hut ceiling and listening as the sound came again and again, the boy moving himself and his sleeping bag nearer to Howard's. He didn't say a word, even when the teen was right next to him, burrowing into the man's side and laying arm tentatively over his stomach. Howard slowly moved his own arm underneath boy's head, a sort of fleshy pillow, hand coming down to brush against his back, and Vince finally seemed to relax.
Whatever the hell had happened to Vince in those woods, be they partially real or just completely in his own head, Howard knew that they'd shaken the boy considerably. For now, he was just glad they were back home and in one piece. With that, Howard drifted off, silence thick in the air.
(Woo! I think this extra long and tense chapter deserves a review, don't you?)