IncuBUST

My Pounding Heart

"Oh my god, Sis, I'm so sorry. I didn't have any signal on the island last night and by this morning my phone was dead. I just got your messages. I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed as she opened the door for me. I had left my bag and thus my keys at Barapha's place.

"The island?" Sissy repeated stepping back as I plowed through the front door. "Where the hell were you?"

"Not important. Tell me exactly what happened," I said, and she sighed closing the door.

"Did you listen to my messages?" she asked, and I shook my head replying, "Not all of them. I wanted to get back here as soon as possible." She nodded and said, "Okay, well we were just here having a great time. Kenz, Tammy and Taylor came over. We had pizza and played video games, blasted some tunes, the usual. It was around two in the morning when they came. I thought maybe it was a neighbor coming to yell at us for being too loud, but no. They said they got a call from Octavia's aunt and that the authorities agreed it would be safer for Octavia to remain in their custody until the case was settled."

"Authorities? What authorities? Did you talk to Officer Madigan? What about Octavia's guidance counselor?" I asked and she looked down at the floor mumbling, "I didn't really think of that."

"Clearly," I snapped, and she gave me an icy look hissing, "And where exactly were you, Chase? You said I would be able to get ahold of you."

"Well, I didn't think there would be an emergency after one day," I exclaimed. She glared at me and said, "We needed you, Chase, and you weren't there." Her words felt like a knife in my side. Tears began burning in my throat. I bit down on the side of my tongue until I tasted blood.

"The first time I go away with someone in a hundred years, and you couldn't handle it for one fucking day," I muttered before shaking my head and tapping on my phone asking, "What is Officer Madigan's number?"

"I'll call her. You try and get ahold of Sýko. His number might be on the school website," Sissy mumbled turning away from me and flouncing down the hallway to her room where she slammed the door a little harder than necessary. I sighed and threw myself down on the couch grumbling angrily. The day had started out so wonderfully.

I first went to Octavia's text messages. There was nothing to suggest she was unsafe, but neither was there a single message or photo after 2am. I quickly texted her asking if she was okay. Then I went onto the school website and found Sýko's number. No one answered. I closed my eyes and rested my head back against the cushion behind me. Of course no one answered. It was Saturday.

I growled and pitched my phone across the room. It hit the wall so hard the drywall pitted. My phone thumped to the floor, and I sprung up shouting, "Damn it!" I stomped down the hallway and banged on Sissy's door yelling, "Do you have Sýko's cell number?" She yanked the door open and held up her phone saying, "Sorry, Tessa, my little brother is being an ass." She looked pointedly at me, and my eyes narrowed.

"The school isn't open. Do you have his cell number?" I asked and she replied, "Yes. Unless he's changed it in the last two years. We haven't spoken for a while."

"Text it to me," I said before turning away and returning to the living room. Sissy rolled her eyes, put Tessa on speaker phone, and sent Sýko's number. I retrieved my phone from the floor, glanced briefly at the hole it had put in the drywall and sat back down on the couch. With a silent prayer, I typed the number in.

"Hello?" a voice answered, and I asked, "Hi, is this Sýko Voithós?"

"Yes, who is this?" he replied, and I punched the air saying, "Chase McManus."

"Oh, Octavia's friend," he said, and I was pleased for once to be identified as something other than Sissy's little brother.

"Yes, I'm sorry to bother you on the weekend, but I had a couple of questions about Octavia," I said, and he replied, "Of course. Is she settling in with you okay?" I blinked in confusion and said, "She--she was. Apparently, child services stopped by around 2am this morning and took her away. I was just wondering why and what I can do to get her back. I mean I finished the foster parents' course. I thought she had permission to stay here until the home interview."

"She did," Sýko immediately replied, "I mean she does. I wasn't notified about any of this, and I specifically requested to be kept up to date on her case." He was silent for a moment before adding, "It is very unusual for child services to visit unless they are called."

"The people who picked her up said they got a call from Octavia's aunt," I said feeling anger tighten in my jaws.

"Even so, they wouldn't remove her so abruptly without good reason. What was going on when she was picked up?" Sýko asked and I grimaced replying, "I wasn't actually here. But my sister was, and I explicitly informed child services that we cohabitate, and it was likely that they would often be alone together since I work, and Sissy doesn't."

"What was Sissy doing with her?" he inquired, and I frowned.

"I don't like the way you asked that," I mumbled and Sýko said, "Apologies, but from what I remember about your sister, she's not particularly child friendly."

"She knows how to conduct herself around minors. Yeah, they were up kind of late and Sissy had some friends over, but they were all people Octavia has hung out with before and all they did was play video games and eat pizza," I said feeling my anger at Sissy rapidly disappearing.

"Were they adults?" Sýko asked and I bit the inside of my cheek replying, "Yes, and I can understand how that might seem shady, but I'm sure there was nothing going on that would warrant her immediate removal."

"Alright, Chase, I believe you. I'll call Octavia's case worker and get back to you, okay," he said, and I nodded saying, "Okay. I appreciate it. Bye."

"Bye," he said before hanging up. I sighed and looked at my text messages. Octavia hadn't replied. I closed my eyes and set my phone aside trying to calm my pounding heart.