𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 || gameknight999

CHAPTER NINE

YOU'RE JUST THE CHARACTER YOU'VE MADE

===

A sense of unease crept up on the back of Angel's neck as soon as she walked back into her home. It latched itself onto her, refusing to abate and growing much more prominent as she found herself being greeted by silence - there was no response from Erebus, not even when she called his name multiple times. Her newfound paranoia caused her to dash through every room in the house, searching frantically for him and finding nothing.

Unease gave way to fear, which was quickly joined by disappointment - after speeding up from the basement for the third time, she saw that the Feynman family had arrived for dinner. Gameknight was eyeing her warily, and this only grated further on her nerves.

"Are we seriously doing this?" Angel snapped, shutting the door to the basement behind her. "We're still having this lunch? I've looked around the house three times-"

"Dear, he's probably just somewhere in Crossrose," Clara said gently, placing a hand on Angel's shoulder.

"And that's what's freaking me out!" Angel jolted back, taking a step away from Clara. "He doesn't know Crossrose as well as we do- what if he gets lost? What if someone hurts him? What if he gets hit by a car? He doesn't have any money, and- and I only showed him around once! What if-"

"What if he got arrested?" Gameknight spoke up, his voice only grating on Angel's ears and driving irritation further into her. "He is a murderer after all..."

"Gameknight, if you don't shut up-"

"Easy, Angel," Tom said firmly. "We don't want a repeat of last night."

Angel wrung her hands in distress. "I'm sorry, Tom, but I really don't care," she told him. "Erebus is gone, and if he's somewhere in Crossrose, we need to find him, as soon as we can."

"Is there anything that we can do to help?" The gentle voice of Nartha spoke up.

Gameknight turned to face her incredulously, sudden fear making its way across his expression. "Mom, no!" he hissed. "You- You don't understand what he's done!"

Clara took another step toward Angel, who was barely concentrating at this point, feeling distress and panic starting to overwhelm any reason within her. "Sweetpea," she murmured. "If he is in Crossrose, the likelihood of that man you mentioned finding him is very slim."

"He's a police officer," Angel snapped. "Of course he's gonna find him!"

"There's a chance that he won't," Clara said firmly. "Listen to me, Angel. Shawn, or Shane, or whatever that man's name is-"

"It's Shein."

"-Shein, yes - he could be busy with more important things. It's Sunday, dear. He might be off duty."

"Wait, how do you know about Shein?"

Angel turned to face Gameknight, who looked just as nervous and confused as she felt. "How do you know about Shein?"

"What?" Gameknight's eyes widened. "You don't- You didn't-"

A thick pause as he stuttered into silence. Angel's eyes narrowed, and she took a step toward him, but before she could voice aloud her thoughts, Richard Feynman spoke.

"An officer, you said? Officer Shein?" he asked, turning to his son. "Is that who you wanted to use the phone for last night at the hotel?"

Gameknight was frozen in place, like a deer caught in the headlights of all of those around him. Angel stared in disbelief.

"What the fuck did you do?"

"Language," Nartha said quickly.

"No!" Angel exclaimed. "No language, I don't give a shit! What did you do, Gameknight?!"

Nartha placed her hands over Jenny's ears as Gameknight raised a hand. "Angel," he began. "You're a reasonable person. I know you can be, you were before when we were fighting together. Please, I know you can hear me out-"

"I'm not hearing out shit until you tell me what you did!" Angel shouted, taking another step away from Clara when she reached out toward her, attempting to pacify her steadily growing anger. "Tell me!"

"Okay, fine!" Gameknight took a step back, both hands now raised in defense. "I set the police on Erebus, okay? The person's name that I talked to was Officer Shein - I remember that because that's a similar name to someone else I know! I did it last night because-"

"What? Because what? Because the thought of me having a shred of happiness in my life was too much for the world to handle?" Angel's lip curled as she glared at Gameknight. "You say I'm reasonable when I don't even believe you know what the word means! You- You fucking-" She reached up, dragging her fingers through her hair. "He could be in jail because of you!"

"I know, I know!" Gameknight exclaimed. "I was scared, okay? You- You don't understand what he put me through!"

"He understands what he put you through!" Angel retorted. "His time with Malacoda- you don't know what happened to him, and I do!"

"I didn't know!" Gameknight's voice was desperate now, desperate for her to understand. "I don't know anything, and I still don't! All I know is that he tormented me for so long - he was in my nightmares!"

"And you were in his!" Stepping forward, she pointed at Gameknight, refusing to relent. "You killed him in my arms! Do you know how many times I've thought back to that moment, how many dreams I've had about that?!"

"Angel."

Tom stepped in front of her, placing both hands on her shoulders. "Look at me."

A pang of nervousness hit Angel as she turned her attention to Tom, who seemed to notice this reaction - he took a step back, lowering his hands, not wanting to come across as a threat. "I'm not mad with you," he began softly. "But I really think you need to calm down, Angel. I understand that you're stressed about Erebus, but we already put this dinner off once, and the Feynman family aren't going to be here for much longer. Richard and I are going to be very busy for the remainder of the time that he is here, and we won't have time to push back this dinner for another day."

Angel frowned as she looked down. "I know," she mumbled. "I'm sorry, I really am, but- but what am I supposed to do? Erebus could be anywhere, and that f-" She paused, exhaling sharply. "That kid set the police on him, and he doesn't know Crossrose that well..."

"If he gets caught, we'll work something out," Tom reassured her. "I'm sure he'll come back soon, though, okay? He might just come back during dinner." A hopeful smile crossed his face. "Maybe he's out getting you a gift."

Angel wanted to retort by asking where Erebus would have gotten the money necessary to do so, but gave up. "I suppose you're right..." she mumbled, taking a step back. "I'll just- I need to calm down, alone, okay? I'll be in my room."

Tom nodded, as did Clara. "Take as much time as you need," she told her gently. "Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Thank you." Casting one last glance over at Gameknight, she turned away, quickly heading to her room. Despite Tom's gentle reassurances, the sense of unease that Angel had felt upon entering her home was still gripping onto her, its icy fingers of dread refusing to release her as she opened the door to her room.

Stepping inside, she exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself down and focus on Tom's words to her. Surely Erebus would have left her a note if he had gone out, right? She glanced around her room, searching for something that would confirm this, and her heart leapt once she noticed a piece of paper folded up on her bed.

Maybe everything was okay, she thought. Picking up the piece of paper, she unfolded it to read, and all traces of relief were washed away at once. Her terror returned in full force, hitting her like a train as she beheld the words on the page.

I told you we would meet again.

Come to Crossrose Swim Club at 10pm, alone, and we will finish what we started.

See you soon, Angel.