Invictus

Chapter 12: Severed

The entire school was glum. Pretty much every class was a therapy session that day in light of Cal's death. I didn't make it to second period but it wasn't because I was losing it, I was.
It was because I got a text from Donnie. That proved to be the distraction I needed to get my head off all the depressing sobs around school.

Hey man, I'm in trouble, meet me here. - Donnie

He sent his location to me via GPS.

Dude! Where have you been?! Your parents have been freaking. - Zeek

I'll explain everything once you're here. Complicated. - Donnie

I sent Donnie a few other texts but he didn't respond.

My nervous hunch from the previous day returned. Where had he been? What had he been doing? I found it hard to believe at that point that he had been ignoring multiple calls from his family and best friend over some girl, not to mention the fact that he would be marked absent in all his classes. He was on track to graduate with honors and his football scholarship depended in part on his grades.

What if someone was holding him hostage? It sounded ridiculous but everything that was happening up to that point was ridiculous. The incident with Cal also didn't help my rational thinking.

No, that was absurd. Donnie was fine, hopefully. I just needed to get to him.

I had two options: I could call the police, tell them what had happened and wait for them to investigate or I could go myself.

Then again if Donnie was in some kind of trouble, the cops might have been the last people he would have called.

My gut reaction was to not call the cops. We were brothers and he needed me, so I took a risk. He'd never asked for a favor before and I owed him a laundry list of them.

The location was somewhere near a restaurant in downtown Chicago. I'd never been there but I knew the Metra could get me there fairly quick. It was about an hour and a half. I could make it there and be back before dinner.

But there was one problem, I only had enough pocket change for a one way trip. I had money at Donnie's house but both his parents worked during the day and no one would be home to let me inside. I could try and steal it by cracking open someone's locker but I was in enough trouble as it was. Begging was out of the question since no one wanted to talk to me.

I opted for the one way trip. I'd find a way back somehow.

I Managed to catch the last ride out after lunch. There were mechanical issues along the way so I was delayed another hour and ended up getting down to the city right before sundown. I hated the city. Too much traffic, cost too much money and the people were always rude.

The location I had been sent from Donnie's phone was on the other side of the river, off North LaSalle drive. That meant I'd be walking for awhile.

I typically didn't like walking around by myself in the city. Young black kid at night roaming the streets in a hoodie, that was a recipe for trouble. So I kept to well lit roads with lots of people on them. I took the more scenic route past Willis Tower. The lights on the building made it look like a glass Christmas tree.

I'd always had a fascination with heights since I was young. I distinctly remember a roof, a trampoline, and a long grounding by Tia.
The memory made me laugh. To be young and stupid again without all the deadly adult fallout; the things I'd give to go back.

I strolled past shops, multiple McDonald's, Starbucks, and so many panhandlers that I lost count. I wasn't one to give money to beggars but the single mom holding her child without any shoes got to me. Either she was really committed or she was legit poor.

I gave her the rest of the money in my pocket and pressed on towards the address, it wasn't enough to cash to make it back, so I didn't care.

I made good progress by keeping a steady stride. An hour later I finally arrived at the spot. When I got there I shouted Donnie's name like an idiot out loud. Two people walking their dog and a man in a white apron emptying trash into a dumpster both stared at me, but I didn't care. I tried a few more times but got no reply.

Then I got the brilliant idea to call his cell.

Excitement shot through me as I heard the faint ringing of bells in the distance, Donnie's ringtone.

It came from a long and a dimly lit alleyway. There was steam spitting out from the vents on the sides of the buildings and dumpsters lining every wall, all the way to the other end.

I stood staring at it all for a few seconds. A cold gust of wind hit me, but I was to focused to notice. I couldn't see him anywhere but I knew that I had heard his phone.

The echo of his ringtone eventually died and Donnie's voicemail cut on.

"Hey, this is Donnie, I can't come to my phone right now, I'm either asleep, out or I just don't want to talk to you. Leave a message and maybe I'll call you back."

His parents hated that message, but his scholarship was already on lock so he didn't care.

The message beeped and I hung up, dialing again.

"Donnie." I whispered.

No response. I kept following the ringing down the alley. My feet skidded against the wet pavement as I proceeded slowly towards the sound. It hadn't snowed yet, but a couple degrees lower and it would be at that point. The rain from the previous night still had yet to dry.

I saw something move out of the corner of my eyes that made me jump. A black shadowed thing with a tail sat at the base of one of the dumpsters, squeaking along as it picked up scraps.

Man, I hated rats. The ringing kept me distracted though. It was almost loud enough to make out where exactly it was coming from now. The phone went to voicemail a second time so I called again.

Then my veins filled with ice.

I rushed over to the dumpster and breathed deep before opening the lid. The rotten smell of old food made me gag. I held my breath and threw open the top of the container. The phone went to voicemail and I called one last time.

It was dark inside the container but when the phone screen lit up, it cast a soft white hue on everything.

There sitting on one of the trash bags was Donnie's phone being clutched in his hand; his severed hand.