Agony

6

Sensing my distraction, Kyle had ended our session early.

That night I wasn't able to sleep properly. Nightmares that had been hidden for weeks had risen to the surface once again.

I needed to figure out what happened. I needed to know what Venom was, whether the men in black were a part of it. But I didn't know who to ask.

"Cher?" Stacy called, pulling me away from my thoughts.

"Hm?" I was organizing the cash in the register.

"Did you hear the news? That robbery is apparently part of some big scheme by this mafia or something."

My attention perked up. "No, I didn't watch the news yet, but how do they know?"

She slid behind the counter beside me. "The robberies have been occurring every other week and it's always the same masked and dressed head-to-toe in black, five men."

I shook my head. "How haven't they been caught yet?"

"They're that good, I suppose." She shrugged, "But here's the weirder and most convincing part. These robberies have been occurring in a strange pattern across the entire country. They began in Washington, before moving to Idaho, then Utah, then New Mexico, and now, Texas." 

I tried picturing the map we had to colour and label back in the fifth grade. If my memory served me correctly, the robberies had been occurring in a diagonal line across the country.

"But why? Why in that order?" I thought aloud.

"The police think they're trying to spell something."

My lips parted in the realization. "A 'V'. They're drawing a letter 'V' across the country in robberies. The mafia is called Venom, so they're leaving a mark." If I was right, then the vertex of the 'V' was Texas.

Stacy's eyes widened. "Does that mean Arkansas is next?"

I shook my head, "I don't know, but it seems likely if they really are trying to spell out something."

She sighed, "Well, as long as they aren't killing anyone, I guess it's okay."

I snorted. "Yeah, I guess, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars every other week is no biggie. We couldn't do anything with that amount of money."

Stacy playfully shoved me. "See you back at home." She called over her shoulder, leaving the restaurant as her shift came to an end.

* * *

Yawning as I stepped into our apartment I noticed Hayley's figure tucked under a blanket on the pull-out couch.

I sighed. She'd decreased the spread of her mess and I hadn't caught her with any other guys, thankfully. But she had gone to Ace's match. Considering she wasn't buried six feet under, I was sure Ace hadn't seen her. That didn't mean he wouldn't. Hayley had told me that Ace was staying in Texas for a whole week because he had a tournament. Knowing her, I was sure she'd bought tickets for each of the matches.

Stupid sister.

The tap in the washroom across the hall was running. Stacy was up surprisingly early. It was probably the birds by her window. They loved chirping at five in the morning, which was what the time was right now.

Despite spending four hours working at the restaurant, I hadn't had a bite of anything to eat since breakfast and I was starved.

Pulling open the fridge, I pulled out five eggs, took some sugar out of the cabinet, and grabbed an entire loaf of bread. I was going to make Stacy and myself some French toast.