I Needed You

9

Colby’s pov

“Aryia, how’ve you been brother?” I stood up as I saw him approaching the table I got for the two of us.

“Not too bad.  How about yourself?” Aryia looked different, some of his new features good and others not so good.

He lost weight, but at the same time his arms looked a little more filled out than when I saw him last.  His skin was pale but he had more tattoos.  

“Eh, I’ve been better.  Have a seat,” I motioned to the pulled out chair beside him, one strategically placed when I got here. 

The people around the restaurant had no idea what information the two of us would be sharing tonight.

“Sorry I was late.  Traffic,” Aryia explained shortly, helping himself to the breadsticks in the middle of the table.

I took time to notice how stiff he was.  His posture straighter than the Pope of France, his hair parted perfectly down the middle like the red sea, or black sea in this case.

“It’s fine. I needed to get my thoughts together anyways,” I could see him freeze when I said this.

We both knew why he was here.  There was no explanation needed.

“What do you know?” I asked. I would not mention what I was referring to in such a public area.  Anyone here could have information, like the five year old staring at me from her table with her family.

I leaned on the table, resting my elbows on the surface and folding my hands to make a perfect chin holder.  

“What do you want to know?” Aryia lowered his voice as he continued, “I want to tell you so much.  So much.  Everything you need to know.  But I’m not the one who wants Taylor,”

“Taylor’s gone,” I snapped quietly, and he seemed to jump back at the aggression.

Just from his mannerisms, I could tell whoever he was talking about abused him.

“I know. I know.  She needed her though, or else I’d get killed,” He whispered urgently, hardly audible over the commotion of the restuarant.

“What? Who’s ‘her’?” I squinted my eyes at him, trying to see if there was any hint of a lie or false intentions on him.

Finding none, I gave him a nod to let him speak.  He seemed to follow commands very well.

“Alex,” He let out a breath, seeming relieved to get it off his chest.

“So Alex has Taylor,” I concluded, “So where are they?”

“She won’t kill her,” He avoided my question, annoyingly enough, “She’s hurting her though, like really bad,”

“What do you mean?” I think if I leaned any more forward into the table I’d be putting too much pressure on it and it would slide.

But he’s giving me information a lot easier than I first thought he would.  I figured I’d have to slap Aryia a couple of times to get him to talk.

“She has her on a morphine drip,” Aryia explained, folding his hands in his lap, “She’s been cutting it off every couple days,”

“Withdrawal,” I guessed, imagining how her head probably felt like it’d explode or how Taylor felt like she’d need to puke constantly.

“Yeah.  And based on um, experience, she’s probably physically abusing her,” He assumed, and by the lost look in her eyes I could only guess he was refering to whatever she put him through.  I wouldn’t force him to elaborate, I didn’t want him to relive any of those events.

“But I’ve been there a couple of times while she gets the stuff ready.  She claims it’s just morphine for her leg, but I’ve seen LSD on the list from time to time.  And Alex doesn’t use drugs,” Aryia explained.

“Her leg?” I asked, pushing the rest of the information to the side.

“When we went down the fire escape I got her leg stuck in between the rungs of the stairs,” He hesitated, and he began muttering to himself, “It was an accident.  No, no. No I didn’t mean it.  We should-should’ve put her back,”

I ignored it, simply because I didn’t think he wanted me to hear it, “Okay.  So what’s the LSD so important for?”

“Fear.  It makes her loopy, unable to comprehend what’s going on.  And since the only thing around her is Alex, she focuses on the voice to try and bring her back.  It’s psychological testing she’s used, I’ve watched her do it on random people.  But whatever Alex says, Taylor seems to believe.  She’s turning her against you,”

“What do you mean, Aryia?” I asked, slamming my face down on the table.  I didn’t realize the waitress was approaching, causing me to fall silent.

“Are you ready to order?” She asked, tapping her pen against her notepad. Her eyes, a light shade of green, flicked back and forth between the two of us.

“Give us a minute,” I snapped, and waited for the waitress to scurry her way to another table before looking back at Aryia, “Well?”

“Taylor might get out fine, but hate you with everything she is.  She’ll want to hurt you, she’ll want nothing to do with you,” I sighed as Aryia told me this news.

When we get Taylor back she’d be nothing but a stranger.  I didn’t know if there was a way to reverse whatever effects LSD and morphine were having on Taylor.

No matter what, she would need some serious mental health.  Even if she hated me, I would do my best to be with her every step of the way.  I would do everything I can to get us to be normal like we almost had been.

“Where is she?” I squinted my eyes at Aryia as he stood up.

He didn’t say a word, but slid a folded piece of paper across the table to me.

I looked down at it, confused.  When I looked back up, my mouth opened to ask Aryia about it, he was gone.  Nowhere in sight.

I hesitated to unfold the paper, but once I did, I read it quietly to myself out loud.

“This place doesn’t have lights.  This place has creaky floors.  This place has no windows. This place is cold.  This place is dangerous, but safe for the small.  What is it?”