Wish Apon A Star

Annabelle - Trouble

Leo wouldn't sit down.

It was making me twitchier than ever, and I was tempted to just go to my room so I wouldn't have to watch him, but I couldn't deny that I was nervous, too. It was three in the morning, and Nicole still wasn't back. She'd been gone three hours on something that probably only should have taken one or two.

At one, when Nicole hadn't shown, James had headed out to a nearby pub, probably to find someone to play cards with. He always played to calm himself down, but usually just ended up losing money when he was nervous. He hadn't looked at Leo on the way out, and it'd been pretty obvious he'd been trying to look anywhere but at him. I wasn't sure if Leo had even noticed. By that time, he'd started pacing.

"Okay, stop," I finally said. "You've been pacing for hours. She's probably fine–she's Nicole, after all. She can think on her feet."

He half threw himself into a chair. "She was upset, Annabelle. Last night–James and arguing–God. I wish it hadn't happened at all. She thought she had to go, and now I'm starting to wonder if she'll come back. What if something's happened? I know she was still thinking about last night...I never should have let her go."

"You couldn't have stopped her," I said. "Not when she got an idea in her head like that."

"That was my fault, too, though. If James and I hadn't started arguing..." He groaned and dropped his head in his hands. "She shouldn't have gone. She should still be here–not in some building somewhere in the middle of the night. We never even went to check it out or anything, she just went."

Which was just like her. Once she said she was going to do something, she did it, without ever thinking of the consequences. Leo was right–she had been upset, and that'd been clear when I'd walked over with her. But I'd figured she would be okay, because she was always okay. I'd figured that whatever was wrong could be resolved once she got back.

Now it was looking like she might not come back.

I didn't say any of that to Leo. "I'm sure she's okay. Maybe she's just uncovered and it's taking her a bit longer. She'll be back in just a little while."

He didn't answer, just sort of shook his head. We sat there for a moment in suffocating silence, until I started to get twitchy again. When I heard a knock at the door, I jumped up. "I'll get it."

It was almost four in the morning, but visitors at weird hours were pretty common here. Someone was almost always up, anyway, so it didn't really matter.

I cracked the door open. "Hello?"

A man stood on the front porch, gripping an envelope. I could instantly tell he wasn't from around here–for one, he looked nervous. No sensible person would be down here in the dark, but none of us were sensible people. The surest way to tell someone didn't belong was if they looked nervous.

The man gave me a nod. "Is there a Leo anywhere about? I have a message for him."

"Who's asking?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure. It was a job, you see–a man asked me to deliver this to an address, told me he'd paid me. I'd never met him before tonight, but..." He shrugged. "I could use the money. Do I have the wrong place?"

Liar.

But I didn't let him know that. "Oh!" I said, feigning surprise. "You got that job from one of those offices, then? I'd heard they were doing that, but I'd never met anyone personally who used it. I suppose whatever works, hm?" I gave him a ditzy and slightly stupid smile, one that always worked far better than I would've liked. James insisted it was because I was ditzy and slightly stupid, but I never gave his opinions much credit. "Anyway, Leo's out. He left hours ago, and I don't know when he'll be back. You know how things are."

He clearly didn't, but it was better if he thought we were on the same side. He gave me another nod, obviously lost. "That's right. Well, will you give this to him?"

"I'll see what I can do," I said, taking the envelope. "I may have to post it to him, though–he could be gone for days." I shrugged. "Still, I'll try my best to get it to him."

"Oh." This information–which was fake, but he didn't know that–seemed to startle him, even as he tried his best to mask it. "It's urgent, so if you could get it to him as soon as possible, that would be great." Then, remembering his lie, he added, "Or at least that's what I've been told. He said as soon as possible was best."

"Alright then," I said, "I'll get it to him." I stepped back. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, miss," he said, and then disappeared into the night. I pulled the door shut behind me. Another indicator he wasn't from here–nobody called anybody 'miss'.

"Leo," I called, "a creepy guy at the door brought a note for you. I told him you weren't home, though." I sat back down and slid the note across the table to him. "Apparently, it's urgent."

As he opened it, the front door opened, and James appeared. He glanced between Leo and I, then asked, "She's still not back yet?"

"No," I said. "Not yet."

Abruptly, Leo jumped out of his chair and reached for his jacket. I grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?" I demanded. I glanced back at the note, which he'd left on the table. "What'd it say?"

"What'd what say?" James asked.

"Leo got a note," I explained. "From some creepy guy. Leo–stop. Tell us what's going on."

"She's in trouble," he said. He shook me loose and finished pulling on his coat. "That's what the note said. Some kind of exchange between me and her–it didn't say a lot. But it was some sort of trap, and now she's in trouble." He gave us both a look, his eyes blazing. "I'm going."

James swore. "Leo...if it were a trap, wouldn't this be, too?"

"Yes. It probably is. But that doesn't change the fact that she's in trouble–that's not a lie, and so I'm going." He gave us another look, and I shuddered involuntarily. He looked scary; nothing at all like his usual gentle expression. "You can't stop me, so don't bother trying. My mind's made up."

"Then we'll go, too," I said. "He expects you–he wants you to come. He doesn't expect James or I. That way, we can serve as backup."

Leo hesitated for a moment. "Fine," he finally said. "If you're coming, hurry up."

I grabbed for my coat and hurried after him out the door, James's footsteps behind me. 

Word Count: 1,158