Lesson 93- Always ask a grown-up before using a phone.
TWO DAMN HOURS. That’s how long I have been sitting here and waiting for someone to get back. All the while starting at that STUPID phone and listening to it vibrate every ten to fifteen minutes. I try everything I can think of. I even contemplated asking Jane for help, but her limbs aren’t quite long enough. She seems to be able to reach about four or five metres from her door. If there were another trap door over here or something she probably could. But it’s way too far down in the bar. So unless I literally smash a hole in the floor through to the basement, I'm out of luck. If only I could teach Crash to fetch items, I could bribe him with some of the many treats that Torin got for him. But nope. I just sit here, waiting, and crying until I run out of tears. I don’t even know what emotion I’m feeling anymore. Am I angry? Sad? Worried? Scared? Tired? Realistically it’s probably some combination of all of those things. I’m overwhelmed and I just want Laura to be okay. Every time her phone vibrates it’s like a stabbing pain in my chest as I become more and more convinced that something has happened to her. Actually, that stabbing feeling might also be asthma. I’ve cried too much and I’m not breathing well. I force myself to get up and take my inhaler. The pain fades a little, but I still don’t feel like I can breathe easily. I doubt I will until I see Laura safe and sound.
Torin is the first one to return. He sees me standing at the open door and rushes towards me.
“What happened? Why is the door open?” He demands, looking me up and down, running his hands over my arms and checking me for injuries. I burst into tears again. I thought my tears had dried up but apparently I can manage a few more. Torin freezes, his expression one of shock and concern.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” He asks softly. He leans down until he’s at my eye level which has him probably killing his back. When I don’t answer because I’m crying too hard, he takes my hand and tries to lead me to his office but I tug away and don’t let him. I just point outside at Laura’s phone. I should just tell him. I’ve been waiting for hours, but now that he’s here, the words just won’t come out. Why am I so damn USELESS!? It takes Torin a moment to figure out what I’m pointing at and when he just steps outside and picks the phone up off the floor I feel a rush of anger. I could have done that myself if it weren’t for this STUPID binding spell. I could have called him hours ago, if it weren’t for his insane paranoia. Why can’t he just TRUST me? He steps back inside and I repress a sigh. Well… At least I’ve stopped crying. He checks Laura’s phones. Pretty much all the calls are from Kyle and Catcher. Okay, so mostly Kyle.
“I don’t know the code to get into her phone.” Torin says, frustrated. I hold out my hand for the phone.
“I know her password.” I say flatly. Torin raises an eyebrow.
“What?” He asks suspiciously. I roll my eyes, I can practically hear his paranoid thoughts. I bet he’s worrying that Laura has been secretly letting me use her phone or something. As if that would ever happen. If I was going to try to convince someone to secretly let me use their phone, it wouldn’t be Laura. Kyle maybe, or Eli, although finding a chance to talk to Eli without Torin being around would be difficult. Not that it matters because I’m not planning to do that. Yet. If he doesn’t loosen up and let me have my phone back soon I might have to. I can’t leave my brother hanging for much longer. With every day that passes I feel more and more guilty. I know Torin has been messaging him and trying to convince him that I’m fine, but realistically how long can Torin pretend to be me before my brother figures it out? The point is, he’s on thin ice right now. But I definitely shouldn’t be making decisions like that while I’m all stressed out like this. That kind of thing is a decision for a later time.
“I haven’t been using it. I just saw her type it in a few times and remembered it. Apparently I’m paying a little extra attention to people’s phones right now. I can’t help it. I know your passcode too… And Kyle’s… Catcher’s too. Also I think I might know Eli’s, I mean I didn’t check but the first three numbers are six nine six so I’m betting the last one is nine again.” I’m rambling. Sick of waiting for Torin to decide if he trusts me enough to hand me Laura’s phone, I snatch it out of his hand and type in her passcode.
“Should we check her messages or something?” I ask. Torin nods, apparently a little shocked at my snatching the phone. I just don’t care right now. He can deal with it.
“You should probably do it. I doubt that Laura wants me going through her phone.” He mutters like he has a choice at this point. Unless he steals the phone back from me I’m doing it. Mostly because it’s the first useful thing I’ve been able to do.
I scroll past all the messages from Kyle and Catcher, past the two messages from Torin and see what else she has. There are messages to someone named Clare. But a quick scroll shows me that it’s someone she talks to regularly. A non-work friend who basically seems to just detail a bunch of terrible dates. Useful? No. Interesting? Yeah, kind of. I’m definitely asking Laura more about this when she’s safe. I check the rest of the names but nothing seems out of place.
“I don’t see anything weird here. There’s a few messages from friends, a confirmation for a dentist appointment, a chat with her mum and-” Torin cuts me off.
“Wait, her mother? What did her mother say to her? When are those messages from?” He asks urgently. I check the dates.
“Like two days ago?” I open the chat with her mum and I’m immediately concerned. Laura’s mother is either very demanding or very worried about Laura. There are dozens of texts and they’re all demanding to know where Laura is, or telling her to answer her phone. The last one mentions this bar. I show the messages to Torin and his expression goes dark. He wordlessly pockets the phone and storms into his office where he starts rifling through papers.
“Torin? Torin what is it? Something about Laura’s mum?” I chase after him and he nods.
“Yes.” He answers distractedly. He finds a paper which must be the one he’s looking for because he shoves it in his pocket then walks straight past me and out the back door. I stop in the doorway.
“Wait! Where are you going?” I yell after him.
“To get Laura back.” He calls back, then without another word he walks away. I stare after him feeling a combination of hope and dread. I wish he had told me more, but then again if he had stopped to explain I would have been annoyed that he was delaying. Waiting is the absolute worst, but it looks like it’s my only choice. I really hope that wherever Torin is going is close and he comes back quickly and brings Laura with him.
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