Petals For Brains | Number Five Book II

CHAPTER 5: A Bit of A Shitshow

After witnessing Diego's unhinged behavior, Five immediately took off to find the rest of his siblings. The mission was the only reason why he found himself in the dim, aleir sketchy, impressive establishment. Women dotted around everywhere adorned in tiny and sparkly clothes, holding trays and ice cold booze to the patrons. They were definitely doing more than that though, many of them appeared to be catering to the woes of the many men sat on chairs sipping on alcohol and being thoroughly entertained by the stage performances, while a sensual song played in the background. Trusting Diego's tip, Five sat himself near the stage, fully expecting people to be keeping an eye on him and eventually catch Luther's attention.

The tip off and the plan seemed to have worked well together when Luther walked in with his boss. The burly man, very much used to the place walked straight towards the bar, a glass being placed in front of him immediately. He smiled at the woman and took a small sip, the bitter taste helping to ease his nerves just a little bit before taking his eyes back to the mobster he was meant to be guarding. He took a bigger gulp this time, when one of the women, taking the tips stood beside him. "Hey Luther."

Luther smiles at her, placing the glass back down gently on the coaster. "Hey Autumn, how's business?"

"Still waiting for the big tippers to arrive." She replies in her heavy southern drawl, her doll-like eyes rolling back as she runs her hand through all the cash she had collected so far. For a split second, almost out of instinct, Luther looks towards his boss, noticing a drunk man being awfully giggly and near him.

"Who is the half-wit bothering Mr. Ruby?"

"No idea. But he's been putting away vodka gimlets like they're gonna run out of limes." She answers her hand going up to her neck to adjust her blinged-up chocker, Luther kept his sights on the drunk man, making note of every sway of his body.

"Has he given you any trouble?" The woman only shook her head no, before she looked towards the stage.

"I'm more worried about the kid, to be honest." Luther was immediately concerned with her words, already scanning the area for a kid to stick out like a sore thumb, Autumn helping him with a nod of her head towards the said 'kid'. Number one felt his breath hitch at the sight of his brother in all his uniformed glory. Before Autumn could even finish her rant on not wanting to let him in, Luther was already muttering excuses to leave.

"This is no place a married man should be in." Luther whispered sternly into his brother's ear. His attempt to intimidate the boy failed as a Cheshire cat smirk appeared on his face.

"Nice to see you too Luther, but I will greatly appreciate it if me being here would be kept between the two of us."

"Elle's gonna kill you. What do you want anyway? And why isn't Elle with you?" The mention of his wife, made the boy gulp down the glass of whiskey, hoping that it would keep the roaring pits of guilt at bay. The alcohol heats his chest up, the feeling giving him enough courage to look into his brother's eyes.

"How long have you been here?" Luther scoffs, as he settles himself in the chair next to Five.

"A year. Thanks to you."

"I'm sorry Luther. I know that couldn't have been easy." Five's words were sincere, genuinely wanting to bring comfort to his brother who had clearly gone through a lot of things to end up where he was, but the stony look on Luther's face would suggest that he was anything but comforted.

"I thought everybody was dead." Luther spits out, the venom of his words igniting the ever-growing guilt that was lodged in Five's heart. Luther, who heard a slight kerfuffle behind them grew conscious, said a muffled declaration of his leave, standing up from his seat. But before he could go on, the boy grabbed his huge arm, causing the man to jerk his head back towards the young man.

"Luther, wait." Number One looks down at his youngest brother. "Look, I get it, okay? I know what it's like to be stuck in time... thinking this is how you're gonna live out the rest of your life. On the run, and not knowing if you're ever gonna see the people you love again. To be in an unfamiliar world. But Luther, you're not alone. We have to find the others because the world ends again in ten days. I have no idea how to stop it." Perhaps Luther took a second to contemplate. To process the daunting words that were just uttered to him. They had been preparing for such and vent their hole lives after all.  He looked down to stare at his brother's emerald eyes which were a stark contrast to the dim room. With a deep sigh, nothing could have prepares the boy for what came out of Luther's mouth.

"I don't give a shit."

~~~

Five was stunned, to say the least. He heard the words replay in his mind, the slight shake of Luther's head before he walked away. In fact, it didn't even feel like it was Luther he was talking to. Gone is the gusto to do what is right, to prove himself deserving of the role as the leader, one who should stand not only the strongest physically but mentally as well.

The boy paced back and forth in the living room of Elliot's cozy loft, racking his brain for a possible plan given that both his leads were dead ends. Diego and Luther succumbing to insanity in their own little ways definitely did not contribute to Five's stellar day. Adding in the fact that he had yet to find his Ellie, Five could only sigh into the empty and quiet space as frustration began to engulf him, thoughts consuming him, fogging his mind, preventing him from making a comprehensible plan. The coffee, gulp after gulp could not soothe the prick of sadness, threatening his composure.

Eventually, he sat by the windowsill overlooking the dark alleyway from which all of them came. The moon and the streetlights being able to illuminate the area just enough for someone to see shadows of details. He is groggy as he sits there staring, trying to form a cohesive thought, a plan that could possibly get him and his family out of their dire situation. Years of guzzling down strong coffee has rendered his body immune to the caffeine that coursed through his blood, exhaustion pulling him to the abyss of sleep.

As his eyelids were about to shut, a clatter from down below broke him from the sleepy stupor. Understandably startled by the sudden noise, Five looked through the window, two figures looking to be shushing each other as they ventured down the alleyway. The bigger one was a boy, maybe even a man with his tall frame, long limbs, and broad shoulders. His stance was rather hesitant as he followed the much smaller woman in front of him. Five squints, adjusting himself to the darkness as he tries to see, but it was the slivers of light that helped him in the end. His breath hitched, wanting it to be true, hoping that he wasn't dreaming, stuck in an illusion in his tired mind. He clutched on the window frame, leaning in closer to see, and in another sliver of light his heart skips and before he knew it, he was stomping down the stairs, not having enough energy to summon up a flurry of blue to get him there quicker.

As the door was thrown open, it made a clanging sound that scared the pair venturing the alleyway. Five smiles, the most genuine of smiles when he meets those emerald green eyes. Right then and there, as he wrapped her in his arms, nose nuzzling into her hair, despite the shitshow he had just endured courtesy of his brothers, and the knowledge of impending doom, all was well.