Crimson

Chapter Five

The door swings open with Higgs standing there. “Come in, Sean. We have been waiting.”

“Yeah, I’m not deaf. I know what I heard. And Marc said she is still alive. I know you were talking about Crimson. What's going on?”

I look to the left at my friends where the book shelves are. Marc is holding Sam’s arm tightly and glaring at her. She is turned away but just enough for me to see the sadness on her face. Trinity is hugging Toni. Both of them are crying.

To the right Mr. Lane is leaning back in his chair behind his desk with his arms crossed. There is a smug expression on his face made almost sinister because of his full mustache and beard. Mrs. Lane is standing in the far corner biting the nail on one of her thumbs. Her face, after all of these years, still retains its beauty.

“Anybody want to tell me what the hell’s going on?” I repeat.

“Higgins, get some chairs,” Mr. Lane says. He turns to his wife who seems to be trying her hardest to make her presence unknown. “Please Mary, take a seat,” he says gesturing towards the chair only a few feet away. It looks identical to the one he is sitting in.

I almost run over to his desk and slam my hand on it ignoring the pain. My hair is still dripping wet making my vision, through my glasses, blurred and foggy in the air conditioned room. I pull off my glasses with my other hand and place them on the edge of the desk.

It’s almost completely silent until I say, “Where is she? I saw her body last night. But she’s not dead. Where is she?”

A small sliver of a smile creeps up on Mr. Lane’s face. He stares at me for a few seconds and pulls open the top drawer to his desk. His hand produces a big folder with a bunch of pictures sticking out on three sides. He drops it on the desk and sits back with his arms crossed again.

A few pictures of Crimson fall out and slide quietly to the floor. I hear weeping and look at Mrs. Lane who has just begun crying.  I crouch to pick the pictures up and I place them on the desk. I don’t look at them while I do.

Two pictures on the floor grab my attention though and I don’t even touch them. In one picture, two women with dark red hair are in the picture smiling and hugging. They seem to be at a party. One of them is obviously Crimson. Without even looking at the features on her face I can tell it’s her because of the one red eye and one blue eye. I don’t know why she did the one blue eye, one red eye thing. The other girl is dark skinned with light brown eyes. Even with my love for Crimson, I can’t help but notice how attractive the other woman is. I can’t help but feel a small tinge of jealousy when I notice a big muscular arm, with a spider tattoo, hanging over both Crimson and the other girl’s shoulders. The rest of his body isn’t in the frame. I can also tell he is pretty tall.

I look about a foot to the right and see the other picture. Crimson looks like she’s running from something. She’s holding a gun. I reach for the picture and my hand is smacked away from it. I turn to see Trinity, her face covered in tears. She grabs the picture and holds it close to her face. “Not again. No Crimson, not again,” she sobs. Then she grabs the first one I saw and says, “why is she with her?

“Well, it seems that things are going according to plan,” Higgs shouts as he walks through the door holding seven chairs. Katharine and Natalia walk in behind him. He places all of the chairs in a half circle in front of Mr. Lane’s desk and stands to the left of Mrs. Lane.

Katharine and Natalia take the farthest seats on either side. “Everyone, please take your seats,” Katharine says. Trinity while still holding both of the pictures sits next to Natalia quietly. Toni sits next to her. Sam and Marc sit next to Katharine. They don’t look at each other but Marc is still holding Sam’s arm.

“That includes you, Sean,” Natalia says.

I know I’m not getting any answers until Mr. Lane want me to. Before I stand, I notice that one more picture is under my knee. Without looking at it I slip it into my pocket and turn around to see where I can sit. I get the chair in the middle, farthest from Mr. Lane but directly in front of him. I guess I can really tell if he’s lying.

“Now I will continue. For this meeting please disregard the fact that I am the chairman of the school that you attend. This is about Crimson, your friend and my daughter,” Mr. Lane replies after we are settled.

Because of where I am, I can see everyone in the room. I can see Sam cringing at Mr. Lane’s words. I’m impressed at her restraint. Any other time, she would have flipped out and said something uncalled for, but now she’s biting her tongue for once.

It could just be because of Marc or how much she knew about Crimson without telling us. I look at Trinity. She obviously knows something, and so does Toni.

“So what’s going on?” I ask.

“I’m sure Samantha would be delighted to tell you. Or maybe Toni. Trinity?” Mr. Lane says.

Trinity, Toni, and Samantha glance at me nervously then they look at each other. Toni nods as if they came to silent agreement for her to talk first. “For the last three years,” she begins, “Crimson has been getting into some pretty dangerous stuff.”

“Like what?” I ask calmly.

“Well, I’m not sure exactly. I just know that whenever…” she pauses to take one of the pictures from her sister. It’s the one with a girl, Crimson, and the guy with the tattoo. She stares at it hard as if something just became clear to her. She blinks a few times and shakes her head slightly. “Whenever this woman shows up there is always trouble,” Toni sighs. She shows the picture to everyone in the room. Mr. Lane seems almost bored, twisting the hair on his beard.

“Who is she?” Marc asks still trying to look away from Sam. It’s obviously hurting him to do so.

Sam turns her head slightly towards Marc. “She is the reason why Crimson has been getting involved in things that can get her killed,” she says.

“Who the hell is she then?” I ask sternly.

“That is all I can tell you, Sean. It’s not like I want to –”

“I don’t know if you will be able do anything about her anyway, Sean,” Toni interjects.

“What do you mean?” I demand. No one answers.

Trinity mumbles something and fidgets with the photo. She isn’t being herself at all. She is supposed to be strong at times like this. She was supposed to be the calmest person. Right now, the only comfort she seems to have is being between her sister and Natalia. She seems so… weak. “Everyone needs you, especially Trinity.”

That’s what Crimson said in my dream. She said something about me dying because of doing something stupid. Okay, I won’t do anything stupid then. Even with the unanswered questions, there is still something wrong here. I’m suddenly hit with the realization of what I did not ask yet. I look directly at Mr. Lane. “Why did we have to think she was dead in the first place?” I ask.

“Well, now we can finally get down to business,” he says with an evil smile.