"Hey, what's the meeting for?" I greeted Alex and Rich as I entered the parlor.
It had been two days since Richard had sent a message through his pal down the road to Antrim. We hadn't heard anything back yet, but the atmosphere of the room told me that that most likely wasn't the case anymore.
Alex was sitting with his legs crossed on the large armchair near the fireplace, a serious layer over his features. Richard was very much the same but he was standing near the bookcase in the corner opposite Alex and me. Rich glanced up at my question and gestured towards the sofa. I took the seat nearest me while he took the other side. The air felt thick as we waited for Rich to speak up.
"Gentlemen, my boy in Antrim got the message. He sent one back right away and I just received it this morning." Alex nodded and my eyes widened. "Eamon isn't in the… best of shape. He's apparently taken a hard liking to ale in recent months and hasn't been active in the crime community. My buddy did have a load to tell about Eamon's new apprentice though."
"Oh, my god, we were right." Alex mumbled, stretching his hands to rub his forehead. "A freaking murder apprentice."
Rich gravely nodded. "He's a young boy, not even in his twenties yet, that goes by the name Seamus. Gangly lad and he lives right here in Coleraine according to my mate in Antrim. Said he travels on occasion to visit his mentor but aside from those random trips, he doesn't see much of Seamus around Antrim. He let me know one of his favorite hangouts, though, and hold onto your knickers."
I furrowed my brows as he paused for a breather.
"He fancies the pub we just staked out; Crowley's."
"Jesus Christ. We saw quite a few gangly teenager-looking folks that night…" Alex locked his eyes on the rug his feet rested on, a storm of thoughts clouding his eyes.
"Yeah, we did." I shook my head. "But, we have no clue what this Seamus guy even looks like, so we'll have to stake out Crowley's again once we get a hint on his looks."
"He's a lanky, 6'2 boy with flaming ginger hair and a big arse scar running down his left forearm from a supposed fishing incident. How hard could he be to spot?" Richard laughed.
Alex didn't comment. His eyes had shot up and landed on Richard, causing Rich to cease his laughter.
"What is it, Alexander?" He tilted his head in confusion.
"I remember a boy who looked just like that. That night we staked out the bar, I remember him." He uttered. "The height, the hair, the scar…"
"Holy shit, so we're actually close to figuring out at least one mystery?" I blinked a few times, having trouble comprehending the fact that we're getting closer to learning why and how the barrel of, ugh, skin got to Hugh's cellar.
"I think so." Alex looked at me with a glimmer of hope in his eyes that I haven't seen since this whole mess began. I smiled back at him.
"Alrighty, boys. You know what this means." Rich gave a heavy sigh and rubbed his temples.
"Another stakeout in the cold-ass alley?" Alex pouted.
"Unfortunately, another stakeout in the cold-ass alley."
"Let's get our shit ready and we'll head out tonight, how about that?" I suggested, and the guys each gave a nod.
So it's decided; We're going to find this kid and get some fucking answers.
"This sucks so bad."
I chuckled at Alex's small voice. "Hey, you could've stayed at the house if you hate cold alleys so much."
"Right, let me just bake some muffins while you both get the answers to our friend's murder." He glared at me before Rich cut in.
"Boys, behave."
We'd been in the alleyway for nearly two hours now. No lanky, pale, scarred gingers had rolled around just yet but we were holding out hope. It's the middle of the night at this point, how late do these kids stay out?
I swear, I would've been in bed with Alex hours ago if we hadn't come out here.
"Hey, uh... what's the plan if we do see him?" Alex hesitantly brought up. Oh, shit, we really didn't plan this out too well.
"Well, shit. I didn't plan that far ahead." Rich admitted.
Our attention shifted from our idiocy when we heard a rambunctious crowding of voices approach the pub. We all stilled and watched as a group of young men moved into view; yelling goodnaturedly at each other and beelining for the pub's entrance.
Wait, not all of them are going in. A few stragglers hung outside the building chatting away. Among those were two real lanky gingers. The problem is that they're both standing with their backs to the alley. Damn it, turn around so we can see your faces!
"Ugh, just turn around already!" Alex angrily whispered in an echo of my thoughts.
"Shhh, just give it a minute, they're bound to look around at some point. Young men are curious creatures and they're always on the lookout for a pretty bird."
Alex and I gave him questioning looks.
"A pretty girl." Richard translated, rolling his eyes at us. "They're not bloody bird watchers like you're thinking."
"Oh…" Alex let out a breath. "Right. I knew that."
Rich lightly scoffed and I chuckled at Alex before turning my attention back to the lingering group ahead of us.
One of the men had broken away from the group to chat with another young man who just showed up. They stood several feet away from the main group and didn't make any moves to follow when the rest of the men headed inside Crowley's. We all strained to hear what they were saying but it was fruitless; the men were speaking too low. The man who'd just arrived had his back turned to us but the other man had faced our direction to speak with him.
Damn, that can't be Seamus. Seamus is apparently a full-blown ginger, this guy is a brunet.
A few minutes passed and the men were still positioned the same. I turned around to huddle with Rich and Alexander.
"Did one of you get a glance at the new guy? I couldn't see."
Rich shook his head.
"No, and they're a bit too far out of the pub's light for me to see his hair color." Alex grumpily added.
"Yeah, I know. They're really not making it easy on us, huh? So rude." I gave Alex a pointed look and he stuck his tongue out at me.
We heard scuffing on the cobblestone and quickly focused our attention back to the men. Richard pointed his finger at the guy who had been there a while.
"He's heading inside."
"Yeah, but his pal is staying out." I added, keeping my eyes trained on the figure. He wasn't making any moves to go inside but he also wasn't acting as though he was leaving.
His head moved like he was surveying the area around him. His body slowly followed his head's movements and within a minute or two he'd finally faced the alley that hid us. He stepped back a few steps until his entire figure was bathed in the light emanating from Crowley's. This is definitely the guy we're looking for. Scar, hair, height, scrawniness… It's all matching up to Seamus. I could see his eyes scanning the bins we were, hopefully, well-hidden behind. It almost looked like he was looking right right at u-Oh, shit.
"Oi! What the bloody hell are you lads doing over there?"
A/N: Whoops.
I swear, I didn't mean for this much time to pass between updates. That's my bad. Lot of shit has been going on-the pandemic, the election, school, my mental health decline, etc. I'm extremely excited to be posting this chapter! I feel like I haven't really been thinking about this story at all lately and I'm glad I could churn out an update, albeit a tiny update. I appreciate all the reviews/favorites/follows this story has received in the time I've been gone. You guys are the absolute best readers a writer could ask for. 3
Speaking of incredible readers, there's one reviewer I'd like to specifically mention. This goes out to a guest reviewer by the name of Marlee! I love getting any kind of reviews and appreciate them all incredibly, but the reviews that this person posts are especially detailed and kind. They are one of the main reasons I was able to complete this update. Thank you, Marlee, for the continued support! I totally understand guest reviewers, but damn dude I wish you had an account so I could PM you and let you know how much your reviews motivate me. 3 (And it is absolutely not annoying to get a review for each chapter, I loved reading them all!)
Anyways, thank you again to all of my readers and reviewers! I can't make any promises on when the next chapter will come out but I will try my absolute best to get it out before 2021. Happy holidays, y'all!
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