Chain Reaction 3.1.43: Twenty-four Hours

Darrin

     Mike had told me he planned to use the back exit so that we could have a little more privacy. The little voice in my head that I refer to as the ogre, the one who loves to tell me everything I've ever done wrong over and over again, is going crazy. I know it's really just another side of me, but it's a really annoying side.

     'This is crazy! What are you doing, Darrin! Michael? Again? Really?'

     Shut up. I love him. I once wished that dream I had could've been real--but with a better ending. And now, I'm getting my wish.

     'You'll regret this.' 

     I shake my head and mentally push that ogre aside. It's cold outside, and spin into my outerwear. Mike was only wearing a short sleeved shirt. I don't know if he brought a jacket.

     Where is he?

     I look around, wondering if he'd gone back in to find a jacket. Looking inside, I don't see him. At any rate, he's bound to come back out.

     I'm so happy that I doubt this smile leaves my face for a solid twenty-four hours.

     Well, SOMEONE'S been here, I think absently, looking at the footprints.

     I walk out to the water and watch the boats as they go by.

     Where is he?

     'He left you, you crazy f--k.' 

     I roll my eyes, and my vision falls upon a drag mark on the snow at the little wall. It goes to the water's edge. And I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

    "Michael?" I call out, praying.

    Oh f--k. No. No. NO!

    The snow keeps falling around me as my breathing sounds too loud in my ears. Snow falling. Covering the tracks.

    No. No no no. No. No. NO. I'm wrong. I'm wrong! Oh F--K! The tracks are getting fainter by the minute.

    I pull out my phone, go to the camera, and turn on the flash. Pictures. The drag mark to the water. The drag mark near the little tree. The footsteps far enough apart to be running... until he fell...

    I go into autopilot as I take the pictures. This is crazy. He's inside. He'll be out in a minute and wondering what I'm doing. I'm going to look ridiculous.

    'Take the plumdamn pictures you dumb f--k!'

    "Michael?!" I yell. I look out at the water. Too many boats! Oh f--k!

    I run back inside, hyperventilating. I can't find him! I ask around and ask if anyone's seen him. A few people even know who he is, but they haven't seen him recently.

    No.

    I walk back outside in a daze. I have to be wrong. I'm jumping to conclusions.

    I have to call someone! I call the station, and they say they'll send someone to investigate. I tell them what I've gathered. This is going to look suspicious on me, but I've had this fear for ages now. And I saw the tracks starting to vanish. I'm a detective, dammit! I know what to do!

    When I'm not drunk!

    I go to the spot on the snow that has the biggest indent... like a body had laid there. I reach a few fingers down into the snow.

    Warm. Not very much, but warmer than the snow and ground.

    I must've walked out only moments after they took him.

    "What's going on, F--kface?"

    I stand up and spin around. "Marco! He's gone! Michael! Look! Can you still see the tracks? Oh f--k, Marco! They got him!"

    He watches me, and I yell at him to look. "Please! They only had a tiny window of time! I told him I'd meet him out here after visiting the men's room! He's not inside!"

    Marco holds my shoulders. "Darrin. Breathe." I hear the hurt yet resignation in his voice. He's always known I love Michael. "Have you messed with the tracks?" Thank the maker. He went from occasional lover mode to detective mode in mere seconds.

    I move my hands and walk back over to where I was. "Only to touch right here and find it somewhat warmer than it would be if it were just snow. I took pictures."

    "You did?" He looks shocked, and I see the fleeting thought that I had something to do with this cross his mind. I could punch him.

    "Yes, dammit. I told myself I was crazy, but it looked suspicious. And he wasn't around. I couldn't find him. The tracks were disappearing from the snowfall. I had to get them. Where did they take him? Where is he? Did they drug him? How? Am I crazy? Did he just leave?" I get out my phone and call him. It rings and rings and then goes to voicemail. I leave a message for him to call me because I'm freaking out that something happened to him:

    "If you decided to not see me anymore, just let me know so I don't fear the worst. Because I'm fearing the worst." I hang up. And I burst into tears. Why did I have to go to the bathroom? Why did I have to drink so much that I drove my bladder crazy? It's all my fault! I should've known better! I should've asked him to wait!

    Marco holds my shoulders again. "Darrin! Get a hold of yourself! We're going to search the building." We do, and we don't find him. Again.
    Marco drives me to Michael's house.

    He isn't home.

    "Could he be somewhere else? With someone else? Did he go to his folks? Siblings?" Marco asks.

    I get out my phone again and call Detective Taylor. A sleepy voice answers, but he wakes up fast when I tell him what I'm fearing. He starts going into a rant that he TOLD Mikey to get a bodyguard EVERY TIME he went out. He says to meet him at his brother-in-law's, and he hangs up.

    It's all my fault. I lost his son.

    'Pull yourself together and stop acting like a p--sy.'

    I turn to Marco again. "I HATE the twenty-four hour thing! Do you know what can HAPPEN in twenty-four hours?!" They won't launch an official missing person's report until this time tomorrow. And Michael could be dead by then.

    "Yes. And it's why I'm here. F--k the twenty-four hour rule. I trust your gut."

    I blink. That's probably the nicest thing he's ever said to me that had nothing to do with f--king. "Thank you."

    The as-hole returns. "Don't start crying on me, Darrin. I'll punch you in the face if that's what it takes to get you to focus." He watches me. "Where to next?"

    "Detective Taylor said go to Alexander Goth's place."

    His eyebrows raise. "His majesty, Lord Goth's place, eh? I've always wanted to meet the sonofab*tch. Get in the car."

    I'm ...glad... Marco is here. That's a first.

    I'm coming, Michael. I swear I'll find you before it's too late.