𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐘 → original

fourteen

Tyler came out of the shower not long after and after dressing, did not retire to his room. They all felt suffocated by his presence, unable to talk freely while he was around. In the living room, the group was mostly quiet. Marc made no move to start dinner, and Lou was using every bit of her strength not to run in her room and begin packing. Caspar was still silent, and Nadia hadn't stopped shaking. She needed to find a way to get them all together, without Tyler.

Amory knew something was wrong, but he did not know to the same extent as the others.

"So what are we thinking for dinner?" Tyler asked after a few moments, using an opener from his keys to get the cap off of his beer. Nadia wanted to jump over Amory's lap and smash the bottle against his head.

"I'm not really in the mood to cook." Marc spoke quietly. He wasn't really in the mood to eat, either, but he didn't voice that part.

"I could run into town and get us a pizza." Tyler suggested, raising his bottle to his lips once more. It was clear that he was not against drinking while driving, though at least now he wasn't truly drunk. One beer was not enough to affect someone his size.

"That's a great idea!" Ophelia nodded, perhaps a bit too excitedly. She recognized this suggestion for what it was; their out. If he left, they'd have their opportunity to tell the others what they found.

Tyler looked at her curiously for a moment, before taking another swig and nodding his head. He grabbed the landline and took it into the kitchen, where they heard the opening of drawers then silence. Eventually, his voice rang through once more. He ordered before asking them what they wanted. No one spoke in his absence, because it still was not safe.

Tyler returned to the room a few moments later, his keys in his left hand. He finished off his second bottle, then sat it down on a side table without bothering to dispose of it.

"Said it would be ready in 30 minutes, and it's about a 20 minute drive into town, so I'm just going to head out now." Tyler spun his keys around his fingers, eyeing everyone in the room. Perhaps he was finally noticing the change in them, but he didn't speak of it. Instead, he just shook his head and headed out the door.

The second the door closed behind him, everyone was leaning in towards one another. Lou shushed them from speaking, holding a finger up to her lips until his headlights disappeared and they were certain he was truly gone.

"Okay." Lou sighed. "So, today—"

"I really think I should go first." Nadia cut her off, feeling like she might get sick again. She held a hand up to her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the nausea to pass.

Marc took the opportunity to speak, unable to hold it in any longer. "Vallie hasn't been at work in 6 days."

The room was silent, but Marc, Lou, and Ophelia's eyes were on Amory, awaiting his response. They didn't notice that Caspar and Nadia seemed unfazed, because they had no reason to believe this should not be shocking to them. After what the two of them had found, they had little hope about what the other three would find.

"That fucking bastard." Amory breathed out after a moment, rising to his feet. He needed to hit something, but he didn't know what, so instead he just bit down on his knuckle and spun back around to face the others. "Did anyone at the hospital say they had heard from her?"

"No." Ophelia shook her head solemnly. "The receptionist seemed just as nervous as us. Then I tried to call her from the gas station, and this time it rang, but she didn't answer. So, at least, her phone has turned back on, which is kind of odd."

"Wait." Amory froze. "You called her while you guys were gone?"

"Yeah?" Ophelia furrowed her brows.

"I..." Amory looked towards the master bedroom, remembering the ringing phone earlier. "There was a phone ringing here earlier, I just thought it was Tyler's that he had left inside. Could it have been..." He trailed off.