Obsession Starts with a V

Chapter 4

Veronica ended up staying until the sun went down. Sam and her spent the day going back and forth from reading comics in the tree house to learning how to play poker in the kitchen. They used gummy bears as poker chips until Laddie came upstairs and stole their stash. After dinner, she decided to stick around and help Lucy.

"Veronica sweetie, when does your Mom want you home?" Lucy asked as Veronica helped her put away the dishes.

"Oh whenever..." She jumped down from the counter and headed over to the living room where Michael and Sam sat watching TV. Ever since Michael woke up he had been pacing around the room waiting for Star to come home. It wasn't until Sam turned on the TV that he finally sat down. He still wasn't completely calm, though, releasing his pent up anxiety by bouncing one leg in an uneven pattern.

"It's just not like her," he mumbled under his breath as he kept looking at the clock. His brow was in a constant furrowed expression that only deepened as the night went on.

"Did she tell you where she was going?" Veronica asked, sitting down in between the two brothers.

"No, she didn't even show up this morning. She's been gone all day."

"Did you call her work?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, they said she left work early yesterday and never came back. She didn't come in tonight, either." He let out a rush of air and glanced at the TV. "If she doesn't show up in a half hour I'm heading out to go find her."

They sat in silence for about ten minutes when they heard a rumbling in the distance. Michael closed his eyes and let a curse slip through his lips. When the bikes pulled up and came to a halt, the door opened to reveal four heavily haired men with Star.

"Where's the little Lad?" A dark haired one boomed while marching in with a smile on his face.

"Dwayne!" Laddie's small footsteps thudded up the basement stairs. Dwayne met him halfway there and Laddie's mouth started moving a mile a minute as he began to tell him all about his day at school and what he made in his art class. Dwayne just nodded and smiled, not understanding a word of what this overly-excited boy was saying. A guy with long blonde hair came up next to Dwayne and helped him translate what Laddie was saying.

The one with curly hair walked in with Star and stayed in the corner of the room as she ran up to Michael and hugged him.

"They didn't do anything to you, did they?" Michael asked when he stood and hugged her back tightly, almost in a possessive way. She hid her face in his neck and just shook her head.

Lastly, David strode in like he owned the place. When Veronica looked at him she couldn't help but smile. She tried to hide it by biting her lip, but it didn't seem to work. David locked eyes with her and gave her a small mocking smile. She turned away and blushed at the TV.

"Where the hell have you been?" Michael finally demanded when they broke the hug.

"She was with me, Michael." David answered for Star and leaned up against the wall near the curly haired one. "I kept her safe. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself an awful lot." He gave her a smile that didn't match his icy cold glare.

"Michael," Star mumbled, "I just got stuck out at the cave with them, that's all."

"Why were you out there with them?"

"David wanted to talk to me."

"Oh yes, we did a lot of talking. Didn't we Marko?" David looked toward the curly haired one, who bit his thumb nail to hide a small smile and nodded in reply.