Retaliation: the beginning

Chapter2: "A night at Cat's"

Elias pulled his legs up on the couch, and rested his chin on his knees chewing on his thumbnail, staring at the window the rain falling from the grey sky, the sound of the drops hitting the roof echoing through the empty house until it got interrupted by the ringing door bell.
It must be uncle, thought Elias, so he jumped to his feet and ran into the door.
It was quite a surprise.
"Hey birthday boy!"
"Aaron?!"
It was Aaron, the boy was never letting him out of his sight. Sure Elias thought it was very nice of him at first but now it started to scare him a bit, "What are you doing it's raining like hell!" Elias groaned in frustration, looking at his wet clothes and shivering body.
Aaron just frowned and shook his head. "Well I don't want you to spend your birthday by yourself, plus I don't think it actually rains in hell" The last comment brought a smile in to Elias pale face and so he laughed and nodded towards the living room. "Fine, you can come in and stop creeping outside my house weirdo." Aaron chuckled while swinging the door open, instantly tracing his way to the couch.
To be completely technical about the matter, Elias doesn't remember the actual time he started to feel paranoid around Aaron, but somehow his actions were strange, ever since they met he seemed quite familiar with him like they've met before.
But the truth says otherwise.
"Dude you're staring." Aaron said, but so quietly that Elias didn't seem to hear him. He was lost in his thoughts, "Do you usually pin like that or is this a special occasion?"He added.
Elias didn't want to be doubtful of Aaron's behavior. He wanted to be the best friend who was entranced by discussions of movies and games and go on about the girls in their class. Instead he was paranoid "No, it's nothing like that." He said "Am just happy you're here" and then shot him a comforting smile.
"Alright! Let's get this party started! First we are going to Cat's and drink our brains out, well metaphorically."
"What? ...where?! Are you nuts it's raining!"
"So? jeez it's just drops of water it's not gonna kill you come on!"
"ok fine but if I fall sick you're so dead!"
After that it was only a matter of time until Elias got dragged unwillingly to a small café named Cat's. It wasn't much of a café more like a teenagers' hideout from their social awkwardness, a place where liquor was served easily no questions asked.
"Seriously what is this place?"
"It's Cat's where everything can happen, but mainly a place where you get to meet a celebrity" he said pointing at a crowd of girls surrounding a boy, not just any boy Elias was certain his face looked familiar. "I think I saw that guy before..."
"You think? that GUY is all over the TV! that's Brian Reilly the town's show off." He said rolling his eyes.
"Well you seem to like him?" teased Elias.
"Not really I just thought you might, damn I guess you don't" Elias rolled his eyes and didn't answer; his attention was caught somewhere else, on the girl in the red dress sitting in the corner head turned the opposite direction, her figure looked so familiar to him.
There was a quiet moment Elias took advantage of to at least try and remember that strawberry red dress, curly dark hair pined with a jeweled clip and those pink-roses colored cheeks, he remembered the girl the other day, walking bare foot on school grounds. But then, his eyes landed on hers and got a good look at her face.
Emily.
At first it sounded ridiculous but his eyes couldn't lie to him. Besides she didn't look very social sitting by herself and that was so like her he finally started to believe his own eyes.
"So about those drinks?"Aaron He gave the boy his best smile, one that was all teeth and bright eyes and yet Elias was still preoccupied by the principal's daughter, but his focus was immediately interrupted by a strident buzzing noise, his phone was ringing.
"Go ahead and answer that I'll wait up here" Aaron said generously. "ok sorry I'll be right back" Elias responded as he half-turned away from him walking toward the door and began digging in his pocket but as soon as he reached it the phone stopped ringing. The call was from the sheriff, he's probably wondering where he is, and so he texted him his location assuring him that he's with a friend.
Slouched against the wall there was that boy, Brian the super star boy along with two older men, a fat one in a black jean and faded green jacket and the other wearing a suit and glasses.
"I don't think we're going to find any goodies here, these girls don't look that innocent" the man in the green jacket spoke.
"Don't worry, I already found one, she fits the profile of a virgin" The suited man smirked.
Brian didn't seem to give any attention to their conversation; he was too busy talking on the phone.
"Alright you wait at Eden's cemetery in the woods, I'll show the kid where the girl is." The suited man ordered while throwing a bag in a van parked in front of them.
"There's your full payment now get to work." He handed the fat man a package.
As the conversation stopped Elias heart almost jumped out of his chest, somehow hearing 'virgin' gave him a lot of bad thoughts, specifically 'They're perverted!'. Elias squared his shoulders, he had to do something to prevent whatever was going to happen but as Brian moved Elias mind shot down and went after him following his steps inside the café, the suited man pointed at a table as the boy marched straight into it like a soldier given strict instructions, he brought a chair forward with such force that the front legs slammed against the table's making a clingy sound.
Emily's gaze went from her drink to Brian's smirking face as he simply greeted her.
"Hi."
She sighed "Can I help you?". The boy's expression tightened he didn't expect such an answer, he wasn't used to such an attitude Emily just stared at him, it was more than a stare, like she could see right threw him.
"What's your name?"
Emily turned her face away, she was being awful abrupt and the boy assumed it was because she might be a little shy but it was far from that, Emily was a smart girl not the kind that talks to a really attractive boy once and suddenly she finds herself writing his initials in her notebook with different shades of colors. And so she replied "What are you doing?"
"I just thought you could use some company. So, maybe when fully introduced you can let me take you out-"
"Not even in your dreams, nice try though." Emily smiled, giving Brian the worst grin that she could muster before she grabbed her purse and walked away from the table.
And Elias couldn't help the bark of laughter that he emitted from the display in front of him, snorting a little bit too, he might have over reacted, Emily seemed to know how to take care of herself, and so he turned back from the wall he was glued to playing spy, trying not to burst into giggles every time he thinks of it so he wouldn't expose his cover but it was too late his eyes caught Brian's.
Brian didn't find the situation quite funny, the one thing that hurt the kid the most was his ego, he had always been good at flirting. Regardless if it was the cute little seventh grader crush with the long blond hair and perfect eyes, or the track star from his class who was so far in the closet that it was laughable, Brian could have just about anyone wrapped around his finger in a matter of minutes. And at the moment the absolute need to be in control of a situation was obsessing him.
Elias didn't seem to notice Aaron at all, possibly because he was too busy nosing on somebody else's business, but of course when didn't he. After a moment's pause, he could hear approaching footsteps "Do I have to chain you next to me? because seriously you're like a four years old in a giant mall, get lost much?" Aaron mocked "Come on I got us a table over there" he pointed dragging Elias by the elbow.
"Wait Aaron-" he wanted to tell him about what he saw earlier but by the time Elias turned his eyes to catch Brian's the boy disappeared, he probably left the table when Aaron got there, but where he went is what preoccupied Elias' mind. "Okay now I'm getting the feeling that you don't like this place...or me" Aaron said stiffly crossing his arms on his chest.
"No! no I just heard the weirdest conversation ever" Elias shook his head "or I think I did" he swallowed hard he could tell Aaron but he wasn't sure he would believe him.
"What is it? are you gonna tell me or just leave me hanging?"
Elias was being rude leaving him standing in confusion every once in a while, "I think that Brian guy came stalking girls here" he whispered.
"Really? Elias guys who come to this Café don't just come to drink coffee" He raised an eyebrow at his friend's naivety.
"No! that's not what, I just-" There was a moment where he was going to argue but he realized it's probably not worth it, Emily rejected the super star, he witnessed that awkward situation with his own eyes, he decided not to worry about it and just enjoy the evening Aaron set up for him, at least show him that he appreciate the effort.
"Let's just get to the table" He surrendered, gritted his teeth, trying to make himself focus on having fun with his friend, his only friend as Aaron slid a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Come on, I'll buy you the best piece of cake there is."
The morning came by faster than it used to, Elias' eyelids felt so heavy, staying up all night was not such a good idea especially with Aaron, he was so full of energy and such a lively person. He rolled over to read 6:00 a.m. on his phone's display. He wedged a pillow over his head, recalling the weird events at the party the night before; how those men were talking about virgins and cemeteries, it wasn't quite a usual conversation between two grown men and a teenager boy. And then he thought of Emily, how that boy tried to approach her, Elias wasn't reassured with the whole story, he threw off his blankets and decided to check on her.
That being said, the creepy men in the van, Emily and the boy who tried to 'nail her' were essentially why Elias ended up playing spy. And he was an awesome spy. Actually, he had successfully infiltrated a well-guarded establishment in less than twenty-four hours with his friends when he was in middle school. Although he admitted it wasn't as glamorous as the mission impossible films, they were only stealing test answers from the teachers' room instead of hanging with a high tech rope from the roof of a firmly secured room.
"Hi, got time for me kiddo?" His uncle startled his thoughts swinging the door open, Elias couldn't help but to note the stress lines in the corner of his uncle's eyes while his shoulder bunch harshly together, It looked like he was pouring over impossibly hard case files late last night.
"Sure." Elias nodded and followed the old man into the living room. The Sheriff made a pained huff but stayed still waiting for Elias to sit down the couch and pay attention to what he had to say.
"We got a report this morning about a missing person" Elias eyes have gone open wide, he got up cautiously from the couch he knew immediately what was happening as the sheriff continued "Last night a teenage girl never came back home after spending the night at Cat's café, that's where you've been yest-"
"Emily?"
For a moment he stared uncertainly into the walls of the spinning room trying to process the situation.
"You know her?" the sheriff hauled him to his feet, his hand on his shoulder "We're trying to investigate for every possible involvement, if you know something anything even if it might seem negligible you can tell me kid, have you seen her last night?"
"Yeah but I didn't talk to her, she was sitting on her own and then she left-" before he could spell the rest of his words the door bell was buzzing, not a single buzz as when you push the button once this was a constant sound, someone really wanted to come in.
"Are you expecting someone?" The sheriff asked heading toward the door carefully, Elias just shook his head and followed his slow and cautious footsteps but as he swung the door open it was no surprise, It was Aaron standing by the porch.
"Aaron!"Elias Exclaimed.
Aaron somehow always found a way to show up in the middle of inappropriate moments, he waved at him from the doorway. "Hey you!" The sheriff blinked exchanging stares with Elias.
"Is something wrong? Should I come back later?" Aaron started to smell the stressed atmosphere and Elias shocked face revealed enough about the situation.
"Don't bother," The sheriff said. "We'll talk later kiddo" He said pointing at Elias as he pushed past Aaron tapping his shoulder "Make yourself at home". "Thanks, have a nice day!" Aaron smiled as the door closed behind him.
"What are you doing?!" Elias snapped "We were in the middle of something!"
Aaron was about to reply but his gaze just switched as he paused for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
"Remember yesterday when you told me that Brian was stalking girls at the Café?" Elias sucked in cool air as Aaron continued "Emily More just turned up missing."
Elias blinked "So it's not just me." He turned his back, staring at the floor. "I saw her last night, she was sitting, alone, I should've talked to her or-" he said as his voice crumbled he set down the couch.
"Hey you can't blame yourself, blame the person who took her" He said as he set himself down next to his friend. "Have you told your uncle?"he asked.
"No I didn't get the chance to, even if I did you think they're just gonna take the town's super star down to the station? The guy probably owns it" He pointed.
"Yeah good point, but why would he take her I mean you've met her, the girl is not the charming type" Aaron mumbled under his breath, he turned looking at his friend's face, couldn't take his eyes off him. he was pale, worried about a person he barely knew the boy was kindhearted, but it is not enough in this world to be kindhearted, particularly if you are living on your own with no adult supervision. And Aaron couldn't stand the funeral mood.
"You know what? Let's go out and look for her ourselves!" Aaron shouted firmly rising from the couch suddenly with open arms "I mean like who can figure out how a teenage-criminal mind works better than two teenagers ,right?."
"I'm not sure, I mean where to begin? The police already wiped the Café for evidence."Elias pointed the obvious.
"Yeah well they don't have a suspect but we do, all we have to do is follow the guy I mean he's gonna get rid of the body sooner or later-"
"Dude!" the boy stood up alarmed.
"Well if ah, he already killed her, I- I mean if not he's gonna check on her, right?" he blurted. Elias couldn't blame Aaron for his honesty. In fact, he appreciated it, that way he won't be clinging to a false hope.
"Let's start with the scene of the crime, and get our facts on track okay?"Elias stated.
"Sounds like a plan" Agreed his blond friend.
The boy was fairly certain that the plan was going well but that wasn't good enough, as soon as the boys got there the place was surrounded by police officers. Aaron gazed at Elias sadly "Great, here goes our plan!"
"Jesus!" hissed Elias.
"What? where?"said Aaron, his blue eyes ran in every direction as he was looking for something.
"My uncle is here!" Pointed Elias at the glass window, by the corner near the kitchen's swinging doors the sheriff stood holding a note book in a hand and a pen in the other, talking to a woman wearing an apron.
"Damn! He got here before we even thought about coming, what do we do now?"Aaron asked.
"We stick to the plan, it's a Café Aaron everybody goes there. Come on." Elias mocked grabbing his friend by the elbow as they headed toward the Café. They were able to grab two seats, people's chatter rushing all around them but Elias haven't noticed he was too busy capturing every movement of his uncle's mouth even thaw Elias didn't know how to read lips. Moments later a pretty waitress with butterfly hair clip stood in front of them blocking the way "Good morning can I get you boys something to drink?"
"Eh, no thank you but hey can I ask you? who is that lady?" said Elias gesturing at the women talking with the sheriff.
"Oh that's Cate, you know the owner of Cat's, funny right?" the waitress giggled.
"So were you working here last night?"asked Aaron but the girl shot him a strange look.
"Last night?"
"Yeah did a certain somebody try to hit on you?"Aaron added but it didn't appreciably improve the situation the waitress snapped "No offence," said the girl, rapidly "But I already have a father I don't need another one ok?"her voice was loud enough to get the sheriff's attention along with the owner, their eyes turned immediately to their table, Elias dodged his eyes and sank into his seat avoiding attention as Aaron hid his face with his hand but it wasn't enough, the sheriff flipped his note book shot and walked straight to the boys' table.
"What are you kids doing here?" He furrowed his brows.
"Nothing we-ah, we are chilling" startled Aaron, his arms thrown on top of the sofa.
"Yeah it's a public Café right? We're just customers."Elias finished.
"And of all places you decided to come to the one with the kidnapping situation?" the sheriff raised an eyebrow as the boys started to panic.
"Have you found anything yet?"Elias took the opportunity to ask.
"No nothing, It seems that she came here to meet someone but the person never showed up so she left and no one saw her ever since." The sheriff sighed.
"Maybe she left with someone."Aaron threw a hint as he looked around; the sheriff was looking a little wild-eyed "Did you see her leave with somebody?" he asked immediately.
"No, but I saw someone talking to her, that Brian Reilly guy" Elias finally confessed.
"The super star kid?" the sheriff scratched the back of his head "Well that's a tough one" he admitted.
"He wasn't alone there was an older one who looked like a body guard and a man with a black suit" the boy added.
"A guy like that is not that easy to interrogate he's gonna get a pretty damn good lawyer by the time we call him in." said the sheriff.
"But you will, right?"
"Why am I getting the feeling that you want this boy behind bars?" the sheriff asked, he eyed them quite suspiciously.
"Because he's hanging around a pervert and he kidnapped Emily!" Elias reviewed the facts again.
"Okay you two go home now!" the sheriff's mind was determined, Elias was pointing serious accusations without the slightest glitter of proof and for the sheriff it's all about proof. His nephew had no place to argue he couldn't add anything to his words, the only thing he could do is follow orders and go home, and sadly he did.
"Damn! well that went smooth" Aaron spoke, still keeping pace with him.
"Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome."
"What are you Shakespeare now?"
"It's Arthur Ashe genius." Elias gave him a tight smile as he turned to see the man in the black suit, the same man who was talking to Brian the other night, he was jogging toward a van, Elias couldn't help but to stand and stare.
"What's wrong?"
"It's him!"
"Who? Brian?"
"No the pervy guy with him and hi-s creepy v-an, he's an accomplice I'm telling you!"
"Why? Because he has a creepy van, seriously?" Aaron groaned.
The black suit man slid the door of his van open exposing the inside of the vehicle, rusted metal and ripped leather seats, there was something painted on the wall facing the door, the strangest thing Elias had lied his eyes on, a red star shape circled with different signs, Aaron stepped back. His throat was dry.
"Get in the car." he ordered his face absolutely expressionless.
"What? What is it?"
"Get in the car!" Aaron repeated frostily, Elias didn't find words to speak, he never saw Aaron that serious or even serious at all, instead he turned heading toward Aaron's car. He opened the door of the vehicle and got in as Aaron followed and firmly shot the door behind him.
"I don't want you near Brian or that man at any cost ok?" said Aaron with a glint in his eye.
"What?! You have got to be kidding me!" Elias snapped "First you offer help and now you're asking me to back off?"
"He's not human Elias he is-" he paused "dangerous." his voice raising as he got more and more upset.
The other boy thought this over for a minute, he's not human?.
"W-wha? did you just say not human?" Elias frowned and glanced at him weirdly while Aaron finished quietly. "That sign earlier, it's dark magic, if he's using it than he's dangerous"
There was an awkward pause.
They didn't look at each other and it didn't help that Elias had the words 'dark' and 'magic' swirling around his head. "Wait what?!"Elias asked confused.
"There's a lot of things you may not know about this town, for example 'demons' like that guy,". Something in Elias look gave him the feeling that what he just said was beyond reason and logic.
"Look I know It's weird but I'm telling you that sign is a summoning ritual people used to offer demons a virgin sacrifice in exchange of something they want." The suited man's voice popped into Elias head he remembered the men's conversation that night. "Wait what?!" the boy asked again.
"I'm serious!" Aaron groaned.
"No, I mean that's it! yesterday they were talking about finding a virgin? I thought they were perverts but now it makes sense!"
"So you believe me?" Aaron slumped a bit and turned to look at his friend.
"Oh my god!"
"what? you don't?" Aaron startled with wide eyes as the boy continued "Emily! do you think they killed her?"
"No the ritual has to be done under full moon light," Aaron stated.
Elias paused for moment "Wait, how do you know that?"
"I googled it." Aaron turned his cell phone for Elias who squeaked his eyes "it's tomorrow, we have to find her, we have to find that Brian guy too."
"Looks like we got ourselves a suspect" Aaron smirked, apparently he was enjoying playing detective.
"So where do we find this guy? I mean you don't just walk across a celebrity in a supermarket!" Elias sighed bumping his head into the seat.
There was another awkward pause.
Elias just had to throw that statement of fact into the table. Aaron looked at him with a thoughtful expression, the question was clear, Brian is not quite a regular resident of Mayville, nobody knows where he lives and even if they did no doubt he would be surrounded by bodyguards.
"I think I know someone who could help us find him." Elias eyed him incredulously. "who? No, that's not the right question, how?"
"Well, what this person do the best is digging through people's personal lives and gathering gossip in a very suspicious and questioned way" he stammered.
"What now? is he a magician?" Elias rolled his eyes in sarcasm.
"No, she's my sister and a reporter, but it's illegal...well, sort of" the boy admitted.
"Don't look at me I'm not the sheriff, my uncle is, besides we have no choice" Elias said "I'm not telling, if you're not telling."
"Oh! Look at you" Aaron made a face at him. "Justice is so running in your family blood."
"Oh shut up!" Elias giggled as he shoved his elbow into his friend's stomach