As soon as I walked in, I was face to face with none other than Nessa. I glanced around briefly for any sign of Vic, but I didn't see him. I looked back to Nessa and she actually had the nerve to smile. Her attire completely threw me off, seeing as she was wearing all black, plus she had leather gloves on. She looked like she was preparing to go rob a bank. But I didn't come here to scrutinize her clothing.
"Where's Vic? I asked, getting straight to my point. I didn't want to play any of her little games. Her smile faded and her face contorted into an expression of straight annoyance. She rolled her eyes before walking in the opposite direction.
"This way." I followed her without question down a pair of old, unsterdy stairs into what I assumed to be her basement. What kind of horror movie act was she putting on?
The setting wasn't nearly as disturbing as what I saw when we finally reached the bottom of the stairs. Vic was tied to a chair, completely helpless. I felt as if I'd literally just walked onto the set of some twistedly cliché movie where the main character's partner is kidnapped. But in the movies, the villian usually wants something to trade for, but not in Nessa's case. That's what made this so much more confusing. I didn't know her reasoning behind it.
The basement was poorly lit, that's why Nessa was leading me to what I assumed she had made my assigned seat, right in front of Vic. I sat down and looked into Vic's big, scared eyes. I needed to play it calm though, for both me and Vic's sake. Nessa made herself comfortable in a chair to the side of both of us.
"What is this about, Nessa? Is it the fact that I stole your car? Because I meant to—"
"Shut up. This isn't about my car. Just keep your mouth closed and listen, because I have a very deserving reason for this little gathering. Where should I start?" She looked between us, as if actually pondering something, but in the end she stood up and started walking circles around us.
"I'll start with how I know Vic. You see, he and I go back years. I was friends with his brother, Mike. You know, the one you killed?" She looked me straight in the eyes, and I felt the cut of the words pretty deep. I kept looking at Vic, and he was always staring back with desperate, pleading eyes.
"Anyway, Mike was a druggie. But he didn't settle for light drugs—oh, no. He took the saying 'go big or go home' all too literally. He took only heavy drugs, and one night, he killed his parents, leaving Vic and I to the chaotic aftermath." The entire time she was telling this story, she just sounded bored. Like her keeping us here was a burden, even though she's the one that brought said burden upon herself, and she still hadn't said why.
"I took care of it, and Mike didn't remember a thing the next morning. So needless to say, Vic here owed me a favor." She paused and Vic stared at the ground. That worried me far too much.
"That night at Tim's, you remember that night, don't you Kellin? The night you ruthlessly murdered Vic's little brother?" I can't believe I thought Nessa was a decent human being. She just put the itch in bitch; she was like a destructive rash that broke out, getting under your skin. You scratch as much as you possibly can, yet the itching never subsides. It's there to annoy and pester you at all times, and that's exactly what Nessa was. She was a pest you couldn't shake once you got it.
"Well, I was there at Tim's. I watched you scurry off to that bathroom like a rat scurrying away from a farm cat. I knew something was up, but I couldn't just walk into the restroom. So I paid the bartender to give me the security tapes from the camera in the bathroom. I printed the photos and gave them to Aria— you know Aria. Yeah, she, like many others, owed me a favor. So I had her watch you." I felt my jaw drop in a sense of surprise and betrayal. I thought that Aria had genuinely been my friend, but she was just one of Nessa's minions.