Freefall (Jaspar)

Chapter Fifteen

And with one click, Caspar's life was back in order. Two videos, with Dan and Phil individually, scheduled to go live within the next two Mondays, with accompanying tweets lined up to match. Now, no matter what happens, Caspar won't be caught neglecting his online personality, not for a little while at least.

As expected, Caspar had woken up that morning alone, and yet although he knew it was coming, it managed to hurt him nonetheless. He'd spent the most part of the morning moping around, glad no one was home to comment on it. It wasn't until he received a particularly aggressive text from his manager that he actually tried his hand at productivity, editing the videos filmed much earlier.

He wasn't actually home alone, although it sure felt like it. Cam and Sean hadn't been seen all day, although Dan had informed Caspar over breakfast that they'd be staying in the office today, working on a 'new plan'. Dan and Phil themselves had departed early for the BBC headquarters; the monthly radio show would still go ahead regardless.

Caspar sighed, leaning back against the couch and rubbing his hands over his face in weary defeat. There really was only one thing left to do before he could quit worrying about his career entirely: call Sarah, his manager in the talent agency.

"Caspar Lee," she hissed, before the phone had even rung three times.

"I can explain-"

"No. No, you don't get to explain, because right now, you're this close to being dropped by Gleam themselves!" she shouted, and Caspar could only imagine the wild gestures she'd be throwing everywhere. He gulped heavily, wincing.

"Speaking of being fired, where the hell is Joe?" she continued. Caspar flinched away from the phone completely this time, reluctant to answer. Thankfully, she didn't give him any time before her mind moved on. "How dare you both leave like this? What were you thinking? Did you suddenly decide sitting at home and making videos was too difficult? Where are you both now, Hawaii? Why are you not ever home?"

"Sar-" Caspar began, but stopped himself before she even could. He had absolutely no excuse, but then again, did he really need one? Judging by the circumstances, Caspar had every right to ditch his YouTube channel in favour of reclaiming Joe.

Sarah sighed into the phone, long and breathy. "Caspar," she started softly, in stark contrast to her harsh tone of previous, "if there's something going on, you can just tell me. I can work it out with the head office, I just need to know the details."

"I can't do that, Sarah," Caspar answered bluntly, trying desperately to disguise the uncertainty that seemed to instantaneously flood his mind.

"Oh?"

"I just can't, okay?"

"Caspar..."

"I don't know!" he snapped, surprising himself more than anything, yet hardly wanting to stop. "There are bigger problems right now than an absent YouTuber, and honestly, Sarah, you're not helping."

"Caspar! I can't help you if-"

"I'm not in the mood, leave me alone." He hung up immediately, unwilling to hear whatever Sarah had to say next, before slamming him phone down. Keeling forward, he tucked his legs behind him and collapsed onto his stomach with a groan. Yelling at his manager, the one person who could possibly keep him from losing his job, was not an intelligent move.

His phone began to buzz by his foot again, but Caspar ignored it, burying his head into the bed covers and placing his hands on the back of his head until it stopped. Lifting his head, he briefly debated turning his phone off, but was cut short as it began to vibrate again.

This time, oddly enough, the ceiling light in the room seemed to flicker in time with each vibration. A message from the other side, perhaps.

Caspar pushed himself upright, rolling his eyes, unfazed by the whole ordeal. "Fine, fine, I'm going!" he called out in exasperation, throwing his hands in the air and reaching for the phone. Immediately, the lights steadied once more, and Caspar could've sworn they were giving off a smug "I win" attitude. Light fixtures, of course, didn't have emotions, so this was entirely preposterous.

Answering the phone, Caspar held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Good afternoon," answered a deep voice, nothing like what Caspar expected from the speaker. It didn't sound happy, more like it belonged to a wealthy businessman who had no time for lesser beings. From experience, Caspar found that demons weren't the CEO type, although he wasn't judging. Any day spent not plotting murder was a win in his eyes.

"Who's this?" he asked, lightly yawning.

"You don't need to know that. I'm here to deliver a message," the other end stated blankly, his tone unwavering.

"I expected as much. Fine, shoot," Caspar replied, waving his hand as if to motion the man onwards, despite being nowhere within likely vision of the caller.

"Tomorrow, three am. The approximate centre of the small woods at the junction of the two rivers just north of London."

"Cool," Caspar noted.

"The hunters plan on launching their final move at that precise time."

Caspar leant forward, suddenly much more interested in the conversation at hand. "On Joe?"'

"Yes."

"Who are you?"

"Neither friend nor foe."

Caspar sighed, rubbing his face and trying to figure out what was going on. "Why are you telling me this?"

"It would be unfortunate to see such a prime body go to waste on an immature being like that of which is currently occupying the body. Thank-you for your time, Mr Lee. Good-bye."

"Joe's not just a bod-"

Beep beep beep.

"Oh come on," Caspar growled slamming the phone down for the second time that day. "Now what am I meant to do?"

Fumbling lightly, his fingers stiff with rising tension, he punched in the number for Liam's mobile, knowing he really only had one option.

A/N oh boy, a short one. and a long author's note. yippee. also ONE THOUSAND READS HOLY YAS

This book will be finishing in a few chapters, as I've already previously stated. However, I'm obviously not just disappearing at its close. I've been working on a few other books in preparation, one of which will be going up simultaneously with this chapter.

Firstly, a medieval-set Troyler fic, where Tyler is prince, and Troye is....other. Little to no scare factor in there at all, its more to counter the lack of fluff in this book. Trust me, there'll be a hella lot of fluff.

Of course, I can't leave behind the spooky stuff, so I'll be starting another Jaspar soon. Its not finalised yet, but in essence: Joe and Caspar are asked to housesit a house (duh) in secluded place, yet the house is already host to something else. Obviously, that something else doesn't want two guys hanging out there for a week...

Cool, that's it for my shameless plugging, I'll see y'all for another chapter next week (ahahahaha I'm so excited to write it, its gonna be hell for both you and I together)