Dracula's Secret

12

"Hello?" A voice rang out from the other end of my line. I'd gone through Sebastian's contacts and found that of a member of Escape the Fate.

"Yes, this is.....Remington Leith. You wrote a song with my brother, Sebastian Danzig?"

"Yeah, I think. Why are you calling me," there was a shuffle at the end of the line, "now?"

"Did he ever say who the song was about?"

"Which song?"

"Which song?" I echoed.

"Which song?" He repeated the question.

"Live Fast, Die Beautiful."

"Oh, that Sebastian Danzig."

"What does that mean?" I asked nervously.

"He wasn't my favorite person in the whole world." I heard a yawn from the other end. "But he wasn't the worst person that I've ever had to work with either."

"Why? What did he do?"

"Well," there was a long pause.

"Craig!" I pleaded, holding my phone as though my life depended on it.

"Relax, it's really not as bad as you think it is. We just had creative differences is all. The music that you guys write is a lot different than ours."

"I understand,"

"But I thought that everyone knew that he'd written it with me. Why didn't you ask then?"

"I never knew," I admitted.

"That's kind of weird. He's your brother. Why would he want to keep that a secret from you? You guys have a pretty close relationship, right? You'd have to."

"We're close."

"Why do you say it like it's a question?"

"Lately, I'm not so sure if I really know who he is. That's why I have to know who that song is about."

"He never told me who that song was about."

"So what I'm hearing is that you don't know anything?"

"He seemed.....passionate about it. I always thought it was about some Jezebel girlfriend that he used to have."

"Nothing seemed off about him while he was writing it with you?"

"That's an understatement. He was more than off; he was obsessive. It was as though he couldn't write it for himself. But he wouldn't stop trying to finish it."

"You can't tell anyone about this conversation," I instructed him.

"It's funny that you say that."

"Why?"

"That's exactly what Sebastian told me when we were talking about the song. But don't worry, I'm not going to tell him about this conversation either."

"So then you do know more than you're letting on?"

"Everyone knows more than they're letting on. But I was the only person who promised that I wouldn't tell anyone about it. There were other people in the room."

"Who else knows?"

"If you want the information, talk to Robert."

"Anyone else?"

"No one else that you could get a hold of."

"Thank you."

"No problem. But be wary. There might be something here that you don't want to know."

"Can't you just break the promise?"

"Then you wouldn't trust me."

"That's fair."

"I've gotta go." He hung up before I could say anything more. That conversation wasn't overly fruitful.

My phone rang before I could think about what had happened. "Who's this?"

"Don't you have caller ID?" The person replied. "Listen, this is Chris. I'm calling on behalf of Ricky, who can't speak."

"What did he tell you?"

"Just some crazy stuff that doesn't make much of any sense." I could practically see him pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Can you just come here so that he relaxes? He thinks that you did something to him."

"Okay, fine." At least no one else believes him. How can you trust anyone these days? I hung up before Chris could get another word in. The less that he knows, the better off we are.

The only thing that I have to do now is figure out how to get a hold of Robert. Maybe Craig will give me his number. I shot him a text message requesting it. I hoped that I would get a response.

And I also hope that Ricky shuts up before someone learns something that they shouldn't.

When I arrived at the hospital, it took a long time before I was allowed back. Apparently, 'Ricky Olson is some celebrity who is only allowed certain visitors blah, blah, blah.' As though anyone here actually knows who he is. When I saw him, he was writing something on a notepad. Had I really destroyed his voice. "What happened to you?" I asked him. He pointed to his neck, and then to me. "I did this?" He nodded aggressively, then wrote something on his notepad.

I don't know how, but I know that you did it. And I want to know why the fuck you're doing this to me. We haven't seen each other in forever. Why me? Why now? What's up with that book that you got?

That book. I'd completely forgotten about that book that was all messed up. If not for that book, none of this would be happening at all. Whoever gave it to me wanted to hurt Ricky. But why?