Sing For Me

Chapter Twenty-Six: Red Zone

Author's Note: I'm trying to get the final chapters of SFM drafted and posted by the end of the month! Once they're up, I'll do a full editing pass. My apologies for any spelling, grammar & continuity errors in the meantime <3

The pained look on Tim's face struck me right in the heart. He took the phone from Abbey, pressing it to his ear.

"Red, I—" but he didn't even have the chance to finish saying two words before the verbal barrage started up from Red.

The colour drained from Tim's face. Red's voice was all distorted from screaming so loud, but even although I couldn't make out the words from across the room, I could detect something in her tone that made my stomach sink.

Fear.

In the (thankfully) very short time I'd known Red, I had never heard her sound like this.

Angry, yes. I knew her anger better than I knew what she was like when she was calm. But the fear in her tone made my skin start to crawl.

"Red, please. Slow down. I can't hear a word you're saying," Tim started. He'd gotten up from the sofa and had started pacing the three-step lengths of our lounge back and forth. Abbey was still standing by the door, her hand cupped in the shape of the phone Tim had taken from her.

On the other end of the phone, Red took a deep breath in.

Then, she said something in that kind of 'trying too hard to be calm' voice that made Tim stop immediately in his tracks.

Tim's eyes flicked up to me for a second. My heart started to beat faster. This wasn't just Red retribution for Tim's body double plan; this was something more—something that neither Red nor Tim knew how to deal with.

"I don't understand, how could they—" Red cut Tim off again mid-sentence.

Tim looked to Trix, putting his phone over the receiver. "Do you have a laptop? I need you to pull up the latest gossip news headlines."

Noting the seriousness in Tim's tone, Trix immediately obeyed, running to her room to grab her laptop and then perching back on the sofa.

After a few taps of the keyboard, and Trix's normally porcelain-perfect face sported a frown.

"What? No there's no way..." Trix faded out, her fingers clacking against the keys once more.

Tim peered over her shoulder at the screen and his face immediately fell. He rubbed a palm across his forehead and down his face, Red's voice still emanating from the phone held to his ear.

My stomach roiled. "What the heck, guys? Can someone please tell me what's going on?"

Tim's gaze flicked up to me for the briefest of moments, before gravitating back toward the screen.

I swallowed and breathed out, my heart racing. I'd barely noticed that I'd been holding my breath this whole time.

Some kind of audio had started playing from Trix's laptop. She turned up the volume.

"So. Humour me."

Was that? No... it couldn't be. I swallowed against the lump in my throat. The voice was oddly familiar – so much so, I felt my skin start to prickle with goosepimples.

The audio continued.

"If you could do anything right now and just, like, leave your life and Babel and all the pressures of stardom behind, what would you do?"