September in Salus

September 20th

 "What are they going to do with, uh... ?" Victoria asked, taking a bite of pancake.

Caelum picked up a bottle of syrup. "They're having a trial this morning. Just as a formality, really. I don't think there's any way they won't convict him." After his father had been thrown in the lead holding cell in the basement of the Osbourn building, Caelum had helped clean up some of the damage from the fight. Then he'd gone to his room, put on his pajamas, and curled up in bed, crying for what felt like hours. He hadn't been able to erase the feeling of an enormous hole in his chest, and as much as he tried not to think about Eli and Will's reunion, he couldn't help but dwell on it. He knew that he would be happy for Eli. He was happy for him, but that didn't change how much he was hurting. His parents were never coming back.

Caelum pulled his attention back to Victoria in time to hear her next question. "And when they convict him?"

"Your mom will go in and do a memory wipe on him. Then she'll put fake memories in their place." Caelum had been incredulous when he'd heard that that was the council's plan. Doing a memory wipe as big as the one that was required would take days, or weeks, and instilling false memories would take twice as much time and skill. If there was anyone that could do it, though, it was Mrs. Sharp.

Something caught suddenly in Caelum's mind. "Yesterday," he started, "during the fight. Did it look like Dom had a gun to you?"
Victoria's brow furrowed. "I don't think I even saw him. Where would he get a gun?"

At that moment, everything clicked into place and Caelum gasped. "When I got back to Denver, Dr. Nichols said that my gun was gone. I totally forgot about that. I didn't take it- who did?"

Victoria's mouth dropped open. "Do you think it was Dom?"

"I- I don't know. I don't think he'd do such a thing."

There was a long, tense pause as Victoria and Caelum stared at each other across the table. Finally, Victoria asked, "Have you seen him since the fight?"

"He was in our room last night, but he wasn't there when I woke up this morning. Where do you think-"

"Let's check the library." Victoria looked as confused as Caelum felt, but her guess was as good as his. With a sudden urgency, they cleared their trays and left the cafeteria.

Victoria and Caelum hurried past rows and rows of bookshelves, toward the stained-glass window in the back wall. Dominic wasn't anywhere in the library.

Eli was.

"Eli?" Victoria took a step closer to Eli. He was sitting in front of the window, his knees pulled to his chest, and clutching a picture. His head rested on his knees. "Eli, are you okay? Do you know where Dom is?"

"Why do you care where Dom is? Screw him."

"Whoa, what happened?" Victoria knelt down next to Eli. He shoved the photograph at her. She recognized it immediately as a picture of his family. It had somehow gotten singed around the edges. She flipped it over. Scrawled on the back in red pen were the words Thanks for all your help. -Dom

"What?" Caelum read the note over Victoria's shoulder. "What does that mean?"

There was a sudden crackle, and Dr. Nichols' 's voice croaked over the PA system. "Everyone please return to your places of dwelling immediately. Council members, convene in my office. Immediately."

Caelum startled at the voice as people started moving. "What happened?"

"Go and find out," Victoria said, trying to spot her parents in the swiftly moving crowd. "Text me, okay?"

"Yeah." Caelum wove through the crowd, mumbling apologies as he pushed past people. It took him a few minutes to get to the office.

The entire council was already there. As soon as Caelum stepped into the room, Dr. Nichols spoke. "Mrs. Sharp went to Gray's cell to perform the memory wipe. He's gone, and we don't know where Dominic is, either."