Dents

[+] The Valley of the Pagans

"I think I owe you an apology."

I fell into the creaky office chair in Russel's room with my head in my hands.

The musty odor of dozens of mildew ridden books hung thick in the air. An innumerable quantity of dust motes floated lazily through the dim rays of light cast by the overhead bulb. The floorboards radiated a subtle heat that only served to remind me of how cold I was. A nearly inaudible broadcast of some obscure radio network droned on incessantly to an audience that was no longer listening.

"You don't owe me anythin', Saoirse. We're square."

Russel lowered himself onto the bed across from me and fiddled restlessly with his hands. 

"You wanna tell me what happened?"

"Yeah," I swallowed, "I think you might understand it better than me, anyway."

Russel's expression twisted into one of perplexity. He urged me to continue. I inhaled deeply and accidently sucked several dust motes into my throat. I coughed. I felt unclean.

"2D... Wasn't himself, earlier."

"What did he do?"

Russel's voice was tinged with an impatience that was unusual for him. It was understandable given our current circumstances.

After I'd taken off out the door and booked it into town, I stopped at the park outside the pizza place that 2D and I had gone to a few times. I crumpled onto the bench and watched the family of ducks that often hung around nearby. There was one less duckling with them than there was previously.

I stayed there for roughly an hour, processing the overload of thoughts and emotions that flooded through me. Eventually, it started to rain, so I went home.

When I returned, 2D was nowhere to be found.

Noodle frantically explained to me in a jumbled mess of English and Japanese that he had taken off sprinting into the rain like a madman without so much as a word where he was headed.

We were still trying to find him.

I immediately pulled Russel aside to fill him in on the situation. Noodle swept the neighborhood while Ace and Murdoc patrolled the area by car. I hoped that somehow, some detail I missed could potentially lead us to wherever 2D had gone.

"He made breakfast again, but it was too good. You know what I'm talking about right? After that, I said I was going to take a walk, and he started insisting on coming with me."

My eyes wandered to the collection of records plastered on the walls.

"He was being really pushy with me, and... It - It was a little scary," I admitted, avoiding Russel's concerned gaze.

"I pushed him and ran out the door. If he followed me, then he'd be travelling by back alleys toward that pizza place on Manchester."

Russel nodded and tapped away furiously on his phone, presumably sending a text to Noodle who was scouring the town on foot. He slid it into his pocket and met me with a firm stare.

"He's got to see things through with Father Merrin, Saoirse. You get that now, right?"

"I know. I get it. I'm sorry for doubting you in the first place. You've been a good friend to me. I should have trusted you."

"It's alright. Really. It's not an easy thing to believe, especially when it's someone you love."

"I... Still, I'm sorry. But thank you for saying that."

There was plenty that I couldn't wrap my mind around. I at least understood that 2D was horribly unwell. Whatever cornered me was definitely not him. I was certain of it. That brief, fleeting moment where his eyes had looked as frightened as mine told me everything.

He was not in control of what was happening.

He was scared, too.

"Okay," Russel sighed, standing up and offering me a hand, "Let's go bring him home."

With no time to waste, we snatched a couple of umbrellas and set off to join the others in the search.

The weather wasn't particularly cold, yet the wind had a chilly bite to it that sent a shiver through my bones. Raindrops pattered rhythmically on the asphalt streets. They created a hollow harmony that lacked for any further accompaniment save for the occasional splash of tires disrupting puddles along the curb.

I pointed for Russel to take the alley behind the house. He signaled for us to meet up where the main road looped around. Then, I popped open the umbrella and took off down the opposite alley that I hurtled through earlier.

I sharply turned a corner, leaping over the fragments of a shattered beer bottle that someone had tossed beside a nearby waste bin. The umbrella tilted backward with my pace. Lone droplets falling from the turmoil filled sky splattered onto my cheeks. My breaths were labored. Exhaustion was the least of my concerns.

I didn't know if the thing dwelling inside of 2D would be inclined to hurt its host.

My footsteps kicked up water and dirt as they pounded upon the ground. My legs were soaked in wetness and grime, never slowing down, relentlessly searching for light in the darkness of the dreary afternoon.

"2D! 2D! Where are you?!"

Only the harsh wail of the wind called back to me.

I closed in on Manchester road. Carefully, I skipped over the legs of a drunken man that had passed out beside the backdoor to a pub. I darted to the sidewalk and almost ran directly into oncoming traffic. Someone laid on their horn. The sound was suffocated by the rain. It had now become a downpour.

It was a stampede of bad omens that sent me spiraling into despair.

On the single, lonely park bench across the road was the faint outline of a tall lanky man. He was sort of fuzzy at the edges from the cascade of rain bouncing off of him. I darted forward, calling out his name until my voice was hoarse. In a swift motion, I leapt over the backside of the bench and flipped in front of him. I angled the umbrella so that it would better shield him from the raging downpour.

It was pointless. He was already drenched. His teeth clattered together noisily.

"2D," I said.

The cascading rain drowned my voice to a whisper. His obsidian eyes swirled vacantly. It took him several seconds to realize that I was standing there.

"Saoirse," he uttered, "Wha' are we doin' out here?"

"Come on. We need to get you inside."

I slid myself beneath his arm. I supported his weight the best that I could, leading him to the pizza place across the road.

I sat him down. He was out of sorts. The owner brought us a couple of hot drinks on the house. I had no appetite. It appeared that 2D didn't either.

I grasped the damp flip phone in my pocket and dialed up Ace, letting him know that he'd need to pick us up. Then I sent a few texts out notifying everyone that 2D had been found and to meet us back home.

2D wordlessly asked me for answers.

I didn't have any.

"I think we have a lot of things to talk about when we get home, 'D."

He gulped, nodding in reluctant agreement.