by Jesse Grey
Alex got out of Willa’s car and instantly was hit with memories as he took in the beautiful scene around him. Abram had texted him and told him to meet at the park toward the edge of town, at the place where they had gone to after their first date. Alex walked over to their spot, which was tucked away from the rest of the busyness of the park. There was a wooden bridge that overlooked a small creek shore that turned into the river on one side and on the other side there were three drainage holes that the river sifted into, all while the bridge was secluded and surrounded by trees, giving them the privacy they so desperately needed for their much sought after conversation.
The setting brought a smile to Alex’s face, especially when he saw Abram leaning against the bridge, looking down toward the make-shift shore below them, staring at his rough hands, turning them over and over.
“Hey,” Alex bellowed as he approached, watching Abram look up from his hands and laying his crisp blue eyes on him.
Abram held up a cup from the froyo place they had stopped at just before heading to the park for an evening stroll after their first date, furthering Alex’s grin. “I got you a mango pineapple smoothie with a splash of chocolate.”
“My favorite,” he laughed. “You remembered.”
“Of course I did.”
Grabbing the smoothie and taking a huge gulp, Alex leaned against the bridge next to Abram, staring over at him.
“So why’d you want to meet here?”
Abram shrugged. “This place means a lot to both of us. I figured it’d be the most comfortable place for us to talk.”
Sighing, Alex decided to just jump right into their inevitable back and forth. “Listen, I’m sorry about last night. I was just overwhelmed with Straton’s questioning and I let my emotions get the best of me.”
Alex heard Abram let out a deep breath. “Are you apologizing for the kiss or for telling me that you’re still in love with me?”
“Abe,” Alex exhaled. “I’m sorry for letting myself get caught up in my feelings.” He stared into Abram’s eyes as he continued. “I apolo-gize for kissing you without warning but I’m not going to say I’m sorry for letting you know how I feel, how I still feel.”
He reached for Abram’s hand, but Abram shot away from the railing of the bridge and stomped to the other side of it, nostrils flaring as Alex turned to face him, leaning against the structure for support.
“Abe?”
“You have no idea how hard this is for me.” He began pacing, walking in front of Alex hurriedly. “Ever since you kissed me, there’s been this storm of memories and waves of nostalgia crashing down inside my head that don’t mean anything because we aren’t a we an-ymore.”
“I may be Alex now but—”
“But you’re not Lissa!”
Alex looked away from Abram unexpectedly, unable to look at him. After a minute of silence, Alex saw that tears dared to spill from the brim of Abram’s eyes. He kept pacing before him, trying to keep his thoughts in check.
“Just like you said, you’re Alex now.” Abram nodded, going off his earlier outburst. “I just...I don’t know how to feel anything for Alex when I’m still in love with Lissa.”
“Then why have you waited?” Alex felt his own tears threatening to explode from behind his eyelids. “Why have you been acting like things have been fine between us?”
“Because it was easier for me to deal with your transition and have you back in my life if I separated who you are with who you used to be.” Abram sighed. “Your kiss makes it impossible for me to do that again.”
Alex stopped leaning against the bridge, pushing himself for-ward. “I am still the exact same person I’ve always been. Some things have changed, I’m not denying that. But my personality, my memo-ries…” Alex moved closer to Abram, whom stopped pacing and stood in front of him, but Alex still kept his distance. “Abram, that person that you fell in love with, that person who kissed you for the first time at this very spot, is right in front of you.”
He thought that Abram looked as though he was softening, al-most calm about the words that he had just spoken. But when he went for his hand again, his skin barely skimming his tanned flesh, Abram stepped back, leaving Alex with a somber longing.
“I’m sorry.” he shook his head vigorously. “I’m not...I’m straight, Alex.”
“Is that what this is about?”
“It’s not just that,” he sighed. “My point is, is that I’m still in love with a girl that no longer exists.”
“Abram.”
“I loved you, Alex. A part of me always will, but I’m not...I’m in love with a fading memory.” he sniffed to keep his tears from leaving his eyes. “It’s like I’m in love with a shadow.”
“But—”
“No.” Abram said sternly, shaking his head even harder than he had earlier. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
Silence slithered around them once again, like a quiet snake hiss-ing at their ankles as Alex felt tears finally bubbling over and staining his cheeks. Abram sniffed again and coughed to clear his throat.
“I’ll, uh, call Ben and tell him to come and pick me up.”
“What about tonight?” Alex’s voice trembled with vulnerability. “What about after tonight? What’s going to happen to us?”
“Tonight will go as planned,” he stated. “After that, I don’t know.”
“We’ve always been friends first, Abe.” Alex’s crying was flowing strong now, unable to be restricted. “I don’t want to lose my best friend.”
“Well I didn’t want to lose my girlfriend.”
“That’s not fair!”
“Wake up, Alex!” Abram screamed. “Life isn’t fair. It wasn’t fair when we were almost killed by our friend, it wasn’t fair when I couldn’t cope and was carted off to not just one but two mental insti-tutions while the rest of you were able keep it together. None of this is fair, but it’s how it is.” Abram couldn’t hold back anymore, sobs swallowing him up, tears consuming him entirely. “The fact that I went to an asylum and six months later I’m back to my normal self is nothing less of a miracle. And I come back to this.” he gestured around them, halting his tears. “That, this, isn’t fair. But this is our lives now. Do yourself a favor and find a way to deal with it.”
Abram was already walking away as his words loitered amongst the breeze, leaving Alex alone at their special spot to contemplate how life was going to be different after what he felt was the loss of his best friend.
Across town at Westbrooke Central Park, Mercer and Bridge were lazily shooting hoops, just enjoying their Saturday before curfew went into effect, glad that their parents and guardians were being a little lax on the rules this weekend.
“Wait, so Alex kissed Abe last night?”
Mercer sank a perfect hook shot with a satisfying swish, nodding with a sigh.
“Apparently. Abe was pretty confused by it.”
“Can’t say I blame him. I mean, he went from kissing his girl-friend to getting a kiss from his ex-boyfriend. It’s sort of different.”
“But Alex hasn’t changed. He’s still the same person we’ve been friends with for years.”
“Still, for someone as straight laced as Abe, it’s got to be hard to wrap his head around.”
“Abe’s not close-minded though,” Mercer passed the ball to Bridge, who quickly did a lay-up. “It’s not like he’d not give it a chance if he felt the same. He’s just confused. All I’m saying is so much has happened to all of our lives and maybe he just needs time.”
Bridge passed Mercer the ball. “This is nice though, right? Deal-ing with drama involving our best friends’ love lives instead of con-fessions involving criminals?”
Dribbling the basketball, Mercer laughed. “True, I guess.” Taking another shot and missing, Mercer scoffed, causing Bridge to run and retrieve the ball. “I just hope they work something out.”
“I hope you’re going to make time to improve your shot.” Bridge laughed. “You’re rusty.”
Laughing lightly, he ran over and stole the ball and went to shoot a lay-up, but once again he missed the shot.
“Okay, maybe a little rusty.” Mercer said.
“Lotta rusty.”
“Give me a break. I’m not going to be on a team like you, B.”
“But he’s right, you’re rusty.”
Kirby appeared then, leaning against the fence as she smiled at the pair, walking up to them. “I got your text.”
Mercer rolled his eyes sarcastically. “How would you know if I was rusty?”
She opened up her hands, silently asking for the ball as Mercer passed it to her. Kirby dribbled her way over to the three-point line and took the shot, slamming the ball through the net easily.
“Are you kidding me?” Mercer said, shocked.
“Nice shot, Wheaton.” Bridge laughed.
“How long have you played?”
“I have a lot of secrets I haven’t told you yet,” she smiled as Bridge went to get the ball. “You’ll just have to wait to find out what they are.” Kirby closed the space between her and the pair. “In other news, here.”
Kirby reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her mother’s badge from Arclan, putting it into Mercer’s hand roughly. Bridge came closer, watching as Mercer slid it into his own pocket.
“Thank you for this, Kirby.” Bridge told her. “Hopefully we can end this tonight.”
She smiled feebly. “Just...be careful. I really hate the idea of you guys doing this alone.”
“We’ve got each other’s backs.” Mercer reassured her. “Tonight will be fine.” Then, he smirked. “When am I gonna find out all these secrets you’re withholding, by the way?”
Kirby scrunched up her face in thought. “Maybe when you ask me out on that second date.”
Sauntering off and leaving them both laughing, Kirby smiled as both Mercer and Bridge’s cell phones began to blare loudly while Kirby disappeared, both of them looking confused at the dual calls.
“That’s weird.”
Bridge agreed as he checked his caller ID, glancing back at Mer-cer. “It’s Alex.”
He gestured toward his own phone. “Abe.”
They both answered, only to be assaulted by Abram and Alex’s heated rambling, both friends’ ears already hurting as their confusion spread as quickly as butter on toast.
“Abe, calm down.”
“What happened?”
Trying to listen, they waited for the full explanation, one that was overcome by Alex and Abram’s rushed stories that lacked the proper details.
“Where are you?”
“Tell me where you’re at, Alex.”
“Be right there.” They said in unison, ending their calls abruptly and facing each other, Bridge’s eyes bulging with concern.
“What the hell just happened?”
Mercer brought his Jeep to a stop, not worrying about if his dads found out that he was hoping to finally bring Sumner behind bars by sneaking out. Abram was in the vehicle with him, riding silently in the passenger’s seat, looking out the window wordlessly.
“Abe.”
He didn’t respond, instead deciding to keep looking out the win-dow at the dark night circling them like the sleuthing shadows they had crafted themselves into.
With more gusto, he said, “Abe.”
Moving slightly, he glanced at the clock on Mercer’s dash. “It’s ten thirty. Where are they?”
Sighing to himself, Mercer flashed his high beams once. “They’re probably already here. The lights are the signal.” He looked over at Abram, worry collecting in the bowls of his pores. “Are you sure you can still do this? Earlier you were pretty shaken up and—”
“Thanks, but I’m fine, Mercer.” Abram sighed. “Alex and I just have a lot to work through after this.”
Bridge and Alex appeared from behind some trees, surveying the street as they headed over to Mercer’s jeep parked just outside of Westbrooke Central Park. They hustled into the Jeep as quickly as they could, and Mercer wasted no time in flooring the gas so they could make it to Arclan Asylum.
“Everyone ready?” Mercer prompted, trying to turn the silence around them into actual conversation.
“Not that we have a choice, but yeah.” Bridge stated. “Let’s bust Sumner’s ass.”
“What’s the plan? Where are we even trying to find this under-ground area?” Alex asked.
“It’s an old building. Maybe we should Google the blueprints.” Mercer mentioned.
“I already did.” Bridge said, sighing at his phone as he scrolled through the blueprints he had saved from his previous image search. “Nothing that would help us.”
“We don’t need the blueprints.” Abram scoffed. “The kitchen was the last thing built. We should start there.” When he felt the linger-ing glares from his friends, he rolled his eyes. “Just trust me.”
Taking his word for it since he was the only one of them that had actually lived behind the walls, Mercer kept driving until they were quietly approaching the parking lot of Arclan Asylum. Mercer parked his Jeep as rapidly as he could and turned around to see the apprehensive looks on their faces.
“Here goes nothing, right?”
As fast as they could muster, they all got out of the car after agreeing with Mercer, piling out of the Jeep and silently staying near the tree line surrounding the familiar white building, trying to stay out of sight to remain as undetected as possible.
“No one’s outside,” Alex whispered. “That’s good.”
“What’s good is we’re going through the kitchen to start.” Abram added. “Kitchen staff obviously isn’t here to catch us.”
All too suddenly, they were quickly coming up on the back door that led to the kitchen that they remembered a little too well.
“Mercer.”
He stepped up at Abram’s request, standing next to the keypad and retrieving the badge from his pocket and quickly swiped it against the keypad’s readable crevice. The keypad flashed green and the door clicked like a mechanical metronome. Abram pulled on the door as it opened with newfound ease.
“We’re in.”
Stealth intact, the friends entered the building as they found themselves back inside of the asylum and inside the kitchen.
“What first?” Bridge pondered out loud.
“Check on loose tiles, the closet, anything.” Abram said, finding a doorway that led to a pantry. “It’s got to be here somewhere.”
He explored the pantry while the rest of them started to venture towards the other parts of the huge steel studded and sleek kitchen, including the closet, but they all met back in the hull of the room with no leads as to where Arclan’s underground passage resided.
“You’re sure it would be here?” Mercer said, looking to Abram.
“Maybe it’s in a different part of the asylum.” Alex commented.
“If it would be anywhere, this would make the most sense. I’m positive.” he shook his head.
Abram went back over to the closet, just curious to see for him-self. When he opened up the door to the closet, all he saw was a ge-neric box of a room. Jackets were hung up alongside apron’s and a box of gloves sat on a shelf above the clothes rod.
“We already checked. Nothing under the rug either.” Alex told him as Abram’s eyes fell on an ugly zebra shaded tribal rug on the floor of the closet.
Still not convinced, he traced his hands along the wall, hunting for anything when his hands caught on the wall and it slid a little out of the way. On the edge of uncovering something, Abram kept slid-ing his hands over until he felt a latch, flipping it fiercely as the entire left side of the wall disappeared on its hidden slideable track against the wall to reveal a concrete set of steps that went down into the darkness, allowing them to wonder where it led.
“Seriously?” Bridge expelled a large breath.
“Remember what Sumner said?” Abram scoffed.
Alex answered with a breezy smirk. “Arclan Shadows wasn’t into subtlety.”
Suddenly, there was a shuffling coming from somewhere outside the kitchen.
“Someone’s coming.” Mercer whispered hurriedly as everyone gathered into the closet.
The opaque noises turned into voices rather rapidly. “I’m telling you, I’ve looked everywhere for my badge. I can’t find wherever lost it.”
“It must be somewhere, Athena.” A second voice countered. “We’ll check the kitchen again.”
Abram cursed under his breath. “Toss the badge and close the closet door.”
“What? But—”
“Mercer, now!”
He threw the badge, letting it skid across the kitchen floor to re-side just under an oven, barely visible but still able to be seen. In a swift blur of movement, Mercer shut the closet door and they all stood in the closet and waited.
Athena and her co-worker entered the kitchen, keeping their voices just loud enough to where they could make out the nurses’ dialogue.
“I just…wait! Lavender, I found it!” Their shoes squeaked loudly against the linoleum as Athena found her badge. “I can’t believe it was here the whole time.”
“It must have fallen off when you came to get Mr. Marin’s din-ner.” Lavender said. “Come on, we should go get ready to leave.”
Laughing, Athena agreed as they left the kitchen, their voices fad-ing into the distance until the only thing they could hear was the sound of their own breathing inside of the closet.
“Too close.” Bridge breathed out roughly.
“We should hurry.” Mercer gestured toward the gaping opening in the wall and the stairs that descended into the unknown. “Let’s finish this.”
With Abram leading them and Mercer bringing up the back of the line, they started down the stairs with slow and steady steps.
“This is insane,” Alex blurted out. “Which I realize is redundant seeing as we’re in an insane asylum but—”
“Alex, enough. We’re doing this so either get in line or get out.”
“Abe—”
“I think,” Bridge intervened, trying to swirl the tension, his tone a fork in the former flames’ romantic spaghetti. “He means maybe it's time to call Dagger. Which may not be a bad idea.”