The Old Song

XXV

Y/n woke with a start from the treacherous dream she just had. Flashes of Bertrum being fused with an amusement ride ran through her mind. It took a minute for the bright white lights and unfamiliar surroundings to sink in.
"Wow the surgery was successful! Mrs. Y/n, you an incredibly lucky woman to still be alive. God must be in your favor."
She stared at the tall figure, trying to recognize the stranger.
"I'm sure your boyfriend will be very happy to know your finally awake."
"Who.. Where.."
"You're in the hospital, and you've just survived impalement. Not very many, if hardly any, survive that."
"Now how does it feel?"
Y/n slowly sat up, and could feel a slight pain, just not very strongly.
"Now it appears the pain killers are working. We'll have to run a few tests before you return to resting."
"Where.. Sammy.." she said sitting even further up.
"Hey don't push yourself. We don't want the stitches reopened. You can see your boyfriend in about an hour after the tests."
"No I need to know he's okay."
"We can assure you he's in the other room waiting-"
*SLAM
"I'm fucking tired of waiting!"
"Sammy!"
"Y/n!"
He ran up to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She winced and jumped, causing Sammy to let her go and give her a worried glance.
"I thought you were dead.."
"Oh come on, I'll be fine."
"About that-"
"You mean she's gonna die?!"
"Mr, please calm down. She's doing fine right now, but we need to do some tests to know for sure she's going to be fine."
Sammy growled at the doctor, and y/n let out a long painful sigh.

Y/n had to stay in the hospital for a month, and Sammy came to visit her every afternoon. She noticed Sammy's mood and emotions really fading each day. His skin tone was also growing paler, and his hair was looking more and more unkept, which was really strange for Sammy. Sometimes a door slam down the hall would put him on edge, and the smallest things would make him jump.
When the doctors let her finally leave, she noticed things out of place in their house too.
The place was a mess, and Sammy insisted that y/n stay out of the closet. When she'd question him about it, he'd just say something like rats or bugs. She eventually accepted it, and was just happy to be back at work the next day.

"Hey Allison, have you seen Wally?"
"Sorry dear, but he quit a few weeks ago."
"What happened?"
"Him and Sammy had a little, well a big argument over the disappearance of Susie. For some reason he thought Sammy had something to do with it, and even though most of us doubt it, we've all been a little weary of his recent behavior."
"What do you mean?"
"Haven't you noticed? I mean for Pete's sake y/n, you live with the man!"
She shrugged and walked off. Without Wally and Susie around, y/n felt pretty lonely. Almost as anxiety filled as when she first arrived at the studio, but at least then she had Sammy. If only things could go back to how they used to be..
For old times sake, y/n walked over to Wally's closet. She was surprised to see an envelope with her name on it, sitting on the middle shelf. She walked into the tiny space, closing the door, and sitting in the corner that her dear friend hid in.
When y/n opened the envelope, there was a tape recording and a letter.

Heya toots!
If you're reading this it means your outta that bland ol' hospital. Sorry I couldn't tell you this in person, but my life was on the line.
You were right about Sammy givin' that nasty old Bertrum hell. Some of the construction workers found his mangled body inside the weird spinny carts ride we were sitting by. The wooden railing had been smashed and shattered, making it appear he had just fallen into the machine after leaning on the rail too hard. I mean what can I say? He was certainly one of the biggest men I done ever seen!
But the main point is, I don't believe that his death was a mere 'accident'.
I'm about a hundred percent sure that Sammy did this, and if he can kill Bertrum in cold blood, I could easily see him hurting Susie in warm blood.
I confronted both him and Joey about this, and the recordings are on the tape in this envelope.
I hope you can meet me at the last place we saw Susie at 7pm, and you have up ta two months before I assume you're dead.

Sincerely,
Ya old pal Wally Franks

Y/n held the tape in her hand, and stuffed it, and the now folded letter, into a small pocket on the side of her skirt.
She was pretty excited to see Wally again, and quickly checked the clock down the hall.
"Five forty two. That leaves me enough time to walk down there and back before Sammy's done, but there's something I need to do first.."
Y/n ran up to Norman and asked him where Lacie was.
"All the construction team left not long after Bertrum's death. Without anyone to pay them, there wasn't a point to stick around. Joey's been paying another team to finish up the work, but now the money's coming from his own back pocket."
"Oh okay then.. I just wanted to thank her, ya know."
He smiled and nodded, and y/n decided to finally go meet up with Wally.

It took y/n approximately thirty minutes to walk to the abandoned pub, and Wally was sitting out on the curb, smoking a cigar.
"That cigar looks awfully big for such a small little guy like you." she teased.
The boy quickly jumped up and wrapped his arms around y/n.
She winced at the sudden pressure on her stomach.
"I thought ya were dead for sure!"
"Well it definitely seems like it, considering you said you'd be waiting out here for two months."
He shrugged and smiled.
"Well it was worth it!"
"So I didn't want to play this in the studio, just in case Joey was looming around."
"True. Last time someone over heard us, one died and the other went to the hospital."
"Don't forget the last one lost his job."
Wally scratched the back of his head as his goofy smile faded.
"I brought an extra tape player just in case."
"Good thing too."
Wally pulled the player out of his bag, and y/n handed him the tape.

📼
"Heya, Sammy.. Um.. Can I talk with ya for a sec?"
"I'm very busy, can this wait?"
"I would prefer if it didn't."
There was a long sigh.
"So what happened to Susie?"
"Hell if I know.. or care." His voice was very bitter and cold, but you could still hear a faint bit of very strong remorse.
"Don't care? Sammy, you two were like best friends! You knew she had a huge crush on you, and she respected your choice to like y/n more than her. There's no way-"
"If all you came here for was to ask stupid questions and yell nonsense, then see yourself out of my office."
"No. I know you're hiding something!"
"No I'm not! I'm very busy with this shit load of work Joey threw at me. Not like you would understand, useless runt."
"Hey-"
"Some of us have real jobs that need to be done. Now out!"
"Sammy Lawrence! You know something about Susie, and don't say you don't care because I know you do!"
*silence..
"Listen, I know you're stressed, especially with y/n in the hospital but can't you please just-"
*chair squeaking against the wood floor
"Hey let go of me!"
"I said out! And don't come back into my office unless it's to clean up an ink leak!"
*SLAM
📼

"You see what I mean about him hiding something?"
"Definitely.. Let's hear the Joey part now."

📼
"Mr. Drew, a moment, please."
"Ah, young Franks. What is it that you need?"
"I was wondering about a few things."
"Yes?"
"What do you think happened to Susie?"
"Hm.. Interesting question. I wish I knew for myself, but I hope it wasn't suicide. I've heard a good bit of rumors about that. I'd feel completely awful if she killed herself just because she was fired."
"That would be rather sad. I just hope she's okay." Wally's voice cracked, making it sound as if he was about to cry.
"Oh I see. She was a very beautiful lady. Not very many come with looks and a voice like hers."
"Yeah.. I don't understand why anyone would ever want to hurt her.."
There was a sudden silence, and y/n could imagine the look of horror on Joey's face.
"W-well I certainly hope no one hurt her. Though I could easily see someone taking advantage of her drunken state."
"Wait, how did you know she was drunk?" he innocently asked.
"O-oh.. um.. Well ya see.. word travels very quickly around here! Ya know we're all like a family here in the studio, and no secrets or anything that we'd hide from one another!"
"Last time I checked, only me, y/n, and Susie knew about the drunk mess."
"That's where ya wrong, boy. How do you think Sammy knew about where y/n was? There was a radio broadcast that we had all heard, and when descriptions of you three came on, Sammy rushed out the door."
"That actually explains a lot."
"So how did this pub even go down?"
"Some bootleggers came in and told the authorities.."
"Hm.. Welp I've got work to do! This studio don't run itself now! Nice talking to you, Franks!"
📼

Y/n sat on the concrete at a loss for words. Both the men had full on stories and excuses for everything. All that mattered now was that Bertrum was out of the picture, getting the pair one step closer to finding out the truth.