No More Anything

Chapter Eight: The Bang

"Oh fuck, oh fuck..." Lucille said under her breath. Her heart racing, she desperately looked around the room, not seeing her dad's axe anywhere in plain sight. She quickly ran to the bathroom, flipping the light on. She checked every corner, the shower, even ducked down to look under the bed, but it was nowhere to be found. Was there a thief? Could the cleaning lady have stolen it? Her mind raced with all the different possibilities. Officially freaking out, she flung her door open, gaining a strange look from a couple making their way to the stores down the hall. Lucille looked around for a second before stepping out, unsure of quite where to go, or who to talk to. Could Brian have taken it? Surely he wouldn't... She had only just gotten to Tranquility a few days ago, so she wasn't very sure if they had any kind of rule about weapons. It'd make sense for people to not be allowed to have weapons in a supposed safe place, but to just take it without asking seems a little weird.

Lucille started speed-walking to the food court, seeing only a handful of people, some of which she recognized, but had never spoken to. She turned to the elderly lady behind the counter and said "excuse me, ma'am?"

The old woman was wrapping up more cheeseburgers in aluminum foil, but she stopped and turned around, greeting Lucille with the same generic smile and distant gaze. "Hello, young lady. How can I help you?"

"Hey, I'm trying to find Brian, but I don't know where he is. Have you seen him?"

The woman must've heard some desperation in Lucille's voice, because her smile faded, though her eyes remain emotionless. "I saw him about an hour or so ago with that new boy, but there's no telling what they're up to now. Is everything alright, sweetheart?"

Lucille tried, and probably failed, to fake a smile and lie. "Yeah, everything's fine. I just had a question for him, is all."

The old woman pointed behind herself with her thumb. "Well, his office is just a straight shot down this wing. It's the metal door at the end of the hall, you can't miss it."

Lucille wore a bit of a more natural smile now. "Thank you so much, ma'am! Have a good day!"

"You too, honey," the woman said.

Speed-walking once again, she could see the door at the end of the hall in the distance, in the same direction she almost went when she got lost coming out of the shopping area. She walked past her and Blake's room so quickly that she didn't even realize his door was open; she was on a mission. After reaching the metal door, she knocked a few times, and waited. A few seconds later, the door opened and Brian stepped out, closing it behind him with a wide smile.

"Hey there, Lucille! How's it going?" He put his hands in his pockets and looked down at her. 

She motioned back towards her room as she spoke quickly. "Hi, so you know that axe I brought when I came here, right?" Brian opened his mouth and nodded, but before he could say anything, Lucille continued, talking over him for once. "I went to the shops you showed me and got some more clothes, but when I came back, my axe was gone. I didn't know who to talk to about it, so here I am." She gave a small, awkward laugh at the end of her sentence.

Brian's eyebrows furrowed as he sighed and looked down the hallway in thought. He put his hands on his hips and said "you aren't the only one who's mentioned something goin' missin'. Give me a minute to plug my microphone in, and let me make an announcement. I'll be right back."

He quickly went back into the office and shut the door in Lucille's face, making sure she wouldn't follow him in there. She wasn't really sure what to do, but jumped a little when the intercom system in the mall gave a gentle tone, followed by Brian's amplified voice. "Attention, residents of Tranquility. There will be a mandatory community meeting in the theater in ten minutes. We expect EVERYONE to attend. Thank you." The metal door opened again and Brian stepped out, his face much more serious this time around. He looked down at Lucille once more. "We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise. This is unacceptable. I'll see you in ten."