Chapter 2

The weekend went by uneventfully, although she went shopping with Vicki on Saturday. Usually going out with Vicki was an adventure, because Vicki always made her do things she would never do in a million years. Like giving the sales boys in Abercrombie makeovers with makeup from Sephora, or pretending to be exchange students from France when they went clubbing. Unfortunately, Vicki was in a foul mood because Miles hadn’t called her yet, so they just went to Neiman Marcus and bought their dresses. To distract Vicki from Miles, Delia broke down and told her about the necklace. They were sitting in the food court in the bottom floor of Macys, sharing a plate of fries, when Delia filled her in on how much it had freaked her out.

“Wow.” Vicki exhaled sitting back in her chair. “I can’t believe it.”

“ I know!” Delia said crossing her arms. “I mean how weird is it--”

“I mean, this guy barely knows you,” Vicki interrupted, shaking her head in disbelief “and he goes out and buys you a real silver necklace. A really expensive present. I’ve never gotten anything so special.”

“That’s not what I meant--” Delia started to say.

“Miles never bought me anything that nice. The only shiny thing he ever got me was a cheeseburger wrapped in tinfoil!” Vicki exclaimed in exasperation.

Delia rolled her eyes and said, “That’s not the point Vicki. It really freaked me out!”

“Why did it freak you out?” Vicki laughed, “This guy has probably just seen you in the halls, and wanted to ask you out, but didn’t have the courage to do it. So he gave you that necklace as a romantic gesture. I think it’s cute.”

“But you said so yourself that he was acting weird around me on Friday.” Delia said

“Well yeah, because I thought he had just noticed you. But now its obvious he’s seen you before and just has a crush on you. You should ask him out!” Vicki shot up and started grabbing her bags. “Come on, lets go get shoes to match our dresses. Then we can figure out when and where you’re going to ask him out on Monday.” Vicki started fast walking past the different kiosks as Delia ran to catch up. She caught up to Vicki as they passed Panda Express.

“What about that guy you were going to set me up with?” Delia thought for a moment, trying to remember his name. “Bryan Chaunders! The one in the band?”

“Oh yeah,” Vicki paused for a moment, thinking. “Well, you can still go to the dance with Bryan, but at least try to ask Colin out. He’s obviously interested in you.”

“I don’t want to ask him out though!” Delia exclaimed, “He makes me nervous.”

“Nervous is good. It means you like him too, but just don’t know it yet.” Vicki winked.

“Its not that kind of nervous.” Delia tried to explain. She sighed, and decided not to argue with Vicki anymore. She simply looped her right arm through Vicki’s and they both walked up to the escalators to find the shoe department.

                                                ********************

Delia was distracted. It was late Sunday night, and Darren had taken off somewhere with Ben early that morning and hadn’t come back yet. Delia was getting increasingly worried as the hours ticked by. As she sat on her bed, she chewed on her right index fingernail, which she never did unless she was nervous. She jumped up and started pacing around her room, stopping every once in a while to check the silver antique ship’s clock on her chestnut night stand. It was 11:12 when she finally got a call from an unknown number. She leaped over and grabbed her cordless phone on the first ring.

“Hello?!” She asked.

“Um, hi. Is this Delia?” a tinny male voice asked

“Yes, who is this?”

“Your brother is here, at this club called Zephyr. I’m really sorry. He, uh, passed out and the guy he was with is gone.”

“WHAT?!” She grabbed the receiver and screamed into the phone. “Did he take something? What did he take?! Cocaine? Meth? E?”

“I’m really sorry, I don’t know. He vomited a couple of times, and his pupils are dilated. But that’s all I could figure out.”

“Okay, Okay.” She said hurriedly. “Just tell me the address and I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She switched the phone to her other ear and balanced it on her neck while she jotted down the address on a scrap of paper. Luckily the club was right nearby in North Beach. “How will I know who you are?” she asked as she pulled on her red wool coat.

“You know me already.” He said taking a breath, “I’m Colin. We met on Friday.”

“Colin?” She paused for a moment, in shock. “How? what? Uh I mean, uh what?” She was lost for words.

“Look, just come down here and I’ll explain.”

She hung up. She opened her door and sprinted downstairs into the kitchen. Her mom opened the master bedroom door and leaned her head out as Delia walked past.

“Is everything okay?” Her mom whispered, looking at her bleary-eyed.

“No, it isn’t.” Delia said. “I need to use the car. I have to go get Darren.”

“You are not going out there this late at night.” Her mom folded her arms.

“Well maybe I wouldn’t have to if you actually cared about your son!” Delia spat.

Delia’s mother looked shocked, “Don’t you dare talk to me like that!” she said angrily

“Just give me the damn car keys so I can go pick up Darren!”

Her mother scowled and just stood there. So Delia pushed past her and walked into the bedroom. She ignored her father’s sleeping form and grabbed the keys off the bookshelf next to their bed. She then rushed out and ignored her mother’s attempts to stop her.

“Delia! Get back here right now! Your brother made his choice with his lifestyle; it’s not my fault! Listen to me Delia! He is not our responsibility now!” Her mother yelled.

“I hate you mom,” Delia said, fighting back tears. “I hate you.”

She slammed the front door and jumped down the front steps. It was surprisingly warm for a San Francisco night. She got into their station wagon and turned the key into the ignition. She started driving over to North Beach. She wasn’t a very skilled driver, because she’d only practiced a few times with Vicki, so she tried to be really careful. Normally it would’ve taken two minutes, but considering that she drove at about 5 MPH it ended up being 15, she also had to avoid cops on the way. When she got to the club there was a massive line of people outside even though it was Sunday night. But she walked to doorman, who was a friend of Ben’s, gave him her name and told him she was on the list. He nodded, and she walked through the front door and immediately found she was unable to move, it was so packed. She couldn’t fight her way through the crowd, and realized that it would be impossible to find Darren and Colin in all these people. She lifted the collar of her shirt from her sweaty neck and fanned herself. The air was hot and stuffy. Everyone was dancing, and the body heat clung to her in a suffocating embrace. The club was pitch-black, with raised concrete platforms for more skilled dancers, and red lights strobed around the factory-sized room. She couldn’t hear anything over the pulsing beat of the music. She did a 360, looking in all directions, trying to find a familiar face, when she noticed a figure over by the bar get up and wave at her. At least she thought it was waving at her. But by now it was the only thing she had to go on, so she started pushing her way through the sea of people. By the time she had made it over to the bar the person who had waved to her was gone. She slumped onto a bar stool, unsure of what to do next. She decided to order a beer.

She waved to the bartender, a muscled bald man. “Can I have a beer?”

He looked her up and down suspiciously, and said, “I’ll have to see some I.D.”

She rolled her eyes and pulled her wallet out from her coat pocket and flashed the fake I.D. Vicki’s third-to-last boyfriend had gotten her. The bartender, who’s nametag said ‘Chuck’ must have decided to take pity on her because he reached under the counter and pulled out a bottle of nondescript beer. He took the cap off and set it in front of her, and she pulled out a 20-dollar bill and handed it to him. “Keep the change.” He nodded and pocketed the money and moved on down the bar to another set of customers. As she was about to take her first sip, an amused voice behind her asked, “Drinking on a school night?”

She spun around to see who it was, and breathed a sigh of relief. It was Colin, wearing a black t-shirt, a black leather jacket, and a pair of jeans. He was smiling at her, and strangely enough she found herself smiling back. Then she snapped to attention and jumped off the barstool.

“Where’s Darren?!” she asked, “Is he okay!? What happened?! Where’s Ben?”

“One question at a time.” He pleaded, holding his hands out in front of him as if warding her off. She sat back down, still looking at him, but cradled her beer in her hands while she waited for him to answer.

“To answer your first question,” he began, “He’s in the back. I put him in the Staff Lounge so he could sleep while I waited for you.” He nodded towards Chuck at the end of the bar, “Chuck’s a friend of mine, so he let me use the room.”

“As for the second question, I think he will be. From the looks of his symptoms I’m guessing he took some E, or maybe vicodin. I left him on his side so he wouldn’t choke if he vomited, and I think he’ll be fine once he sleeps it off.”

Delia instantly relaxed when she heard that.

“As to where Darren’s friend is, I’m not sure.” he said rubbing his chin. “I got here a couple hours ago, because I was meeting a few friends here, and I saw your brother and his friend. I stopped over to say hi,” Colin saw the confused look on her face, and explained, “ I know him from my physics class at school.” he paused and held up his index finger at the bartender. “So after I said hi I went back to my friends and hung out for a bit. Then about half an hour ago I noticed him stumbling around bumping into people. I caught up to him right before he collapsed and he was slurring his words. I’m not sure what he was saying but it sounded like, ‘Help him, he needs help’ or something. I couldn’t tell and he passed out shortly after.” He finished and sat down beside her.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “Darren would never do drugs. And was he talking about Ben? Does Ben need help?” she ran her hand through her hair, puzzled.

“Like I said, I don’t know.” he shrugged.

“Okay. Well, lets go get him.” She hopped off her barstool and and started walking towards the back. He followed close behind. She opened the swinging door, and inside was the kitchen. Off of that was a small room. It had a small TV, a couple of chairs and a fold-out table, a curtain hanging beside it, and a couch, on which Darren lay completely motionless.

“Oh my God!” she gasped and ran over to the couch. She kneeled down and put a hand on his forehead to see if he had a fever. She turned around to look at Colin, who hovered behind her. “Can you help me get him into the car? I can’t do it myself.”

“Sure.” He nodded and pulled Darren up. He put Darren’s right arm over his shoulder, and motioned to Delia to do the same with Darren’s left arm. She and Colin both propelled Darren out the door and through the crowd. People parted for them when they noticed Darren was unconscious. They burst through the front door and walked past the line of hopeful club-goers. Her car was parked in front of a hole-in-the-wall taco restaurant. She opened the back-seat car door, and they carefully laid Darren down across both seats. Once she made sure his feet weren’t sticking out, she shut the door. She leaned against the car and faced Colin.

“I want to thank you,” she said. “You helped him when I couldn’t.” She raked a hand through her hair, a habit she had when she was anxious.

“No problem.” he said. “Hey,” he said, touching her arm. “This isn’t your fault.”

“But it’s my job to take care of him.” she said wearily.

“But it shouldn’t be. You can’t be responsible for everything he does. That’s not how it works. Besides, you’re doing a great job with all of this. A better job than anyone else could do.”

She smiled softly. “Thanks.”

“Your welcome.” He smiled back.

“And,” she paused, “thank you for the necklace too.” She lifted the pendant out from under her shirt.

He looked surprised. “I didn’t think you’d wear it.” He said.

“I didn’t either, but it grows on you. It’s beautiful.” She laughed. “I won’t lie, at first it seemed a little weird. But I don’t know, it’s kind of interesting.” She put the pendant back underneath her shirt. “I better go. But I’ll see you tomorrow.” She didn’t know how to say goodbye, and for a moment they both stood there awkwardly. Finally she just patted him on the shoulder. He smiled and reached forward, hugging her instead. She blushed, and hoped he didn’t see it in the darkness.

“Bye.” she said and got into the drivers seat. She shut the door behind her, looked at him one last time before driving off into the night.

                                                *******************************

Colin waved goodbye as she left. As soon as her car turned the corner, he walked back to the club. Once inside he walked to the bar and waved Chuck over. “Is the other one still in the back?” Chuck nodded, and pointed through the door. Colin returned to the lounge room, and walked past the couch to the curtain in the back. He whisked it aside, and on the floor of the small closet-like space, was a whimpering form. Colin bent down and rolled the figure over, so it was facing him. He found himself staring into the frightened eyes of Darren’s boyfriend, Ben.

“What did you see tonight?” Colin demanded.

“I don’t know! Evil, evil creatures!” Ben wailed, “They were horrible, awful, things!”

“I know. I know.” Colin murmured. Colin rubbed his temples, trying to figure out what to do. He gritted his teeth, and put his hand on Ben’s forehead. He started muttering under his breath. Ben started shaking violently and roiled around on the floor. “Stop,” Ben moaned, “Please, stop it hurts! My head hurts!” Colin ignored him and kept muttering. Suddenly there a loud crack in the air, and Ben’s eyes went blank. Colin snapped his fingers in front of Ben’s eyes to see if he registered the movement. Ben didn’t even blink.

Colin’s eyes bored into Ben’s and he asked him again, “What did you see tonight?”

“I don’t remember.” Ben said in monotone.

“You saw nothing, understand?”

“O-kay.” Ben answered. Colin put his hand on Ben’s forehead again, and Ben’s eyes shut.

 Ben stopped rolling around and lay perfectly still. At first glance he appeared to be sleeping. Colin sighed in relief and checked the time on his phone. It was almost midnight. He grabbed Ben’s shoulders and shook Ben awake.

“Oh my god.” Ben sat up and rubbed his head groaning, “Dude, I have a killer headache.” He looked at Colin as if he just realized there was a person next to him. “Who are you? How’d I get in here?” He looked around and wrinkled his nose.

“You got pretty drunk and passed out, so the bouncer put you in here. He told me to come in and check on you. You feel okay?” Colin asked.

“I think so.” Ben answered working a kink out of his neck. “Holy s**t! Where’s Darren? Is he all right? I can’t believe I left him all alone! Delia is going to kill me!”

“Why is she going to kill you?” Colin asked, bemused.

“I promised her I’d take care of Darren.” Ben said as he tried to stand. Colin offered Ben a hand and pulled him to his feet.

“Don’t worry about Darren, I used your phone to call Delia shortly after you passed out and she picked him up.” Colin reassured him.

“Okay.” Ben nodded. “I’m going to head home now.” He stumbled a little and Colin caught him before he fell to the ground.

“Are you going to be okay?” Colin asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Just a little woozy.” Ben said.

“Okay. Well, you should probably call Darren and Delia so they don’t worry, then drive home.” Colin suggested. “Unless you want me to just get you a cab?”

“It’s okay, I can drive. You’re probably right, I should call them. Thanks man.” Ben nodded and patted Colin’s shoulder. Ben walked out the back door into the staff parking lot to find his car. Colin stood at the door and waved goodbye, then turned and walked away. He wished he could protect Delia from what was to come. But he couldn’t get involved. It wasn’t allowed. She was his first assignment, and he couldn’t blow it. His entire future was riding on this. All he could do is watch and wait, while protecting those close to her.