Chapter 121: Missing Medication

I walked around in my room with my phone lifted high, desperately trying to get a signal. Nothing.

*It’s gotta be the storm. FUCK. What the fuck happened to the wifi??*

I really didn’t want to, but I was desperate to find out what’s going on with the internet. It was getting fairly late by now. All the maids should’ve gone home, especially before the storm started to pick up. Julian had already told me he was going to leave me alone for the rest of the night, and Grace was usually already in bed at this hour.

*It should be alright. Right? Right…??*

I changed out of my dress into a baggy t-shirt and skinny jeans, slipping my phone into one of my pockets and my pocketknife in the other. The bagginess of the shirt was big enough to hide the bulges’ shapes.

With newly summoned strength and a reminder of who I was and where I came from, I stepped out of my bedroom and looked down the hallway. Of course, it was silent at this hour. But somehow it… felt off. My instincts were giving me red flags like the flashing lights on a police car siren. It was enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Like I always do at night, I walk down the hallways with silent steps. The downpour outside the windows sounded like a roar. The chaos of the wind and rain could rival my chaotic brain. Last I checked, the router for the wifi was in Gabriel’s study. However, when I went to twist the doorknob, it was stiffly stuck in place.

*Fuck! He locked it?!*

I heaved a dramatic groan and made my way to the kitchen. Surely there’d be something there I could use to pick the lock, right? I glanced over my shoulder every now and again. It felt as if there were eyes on my back. But Grace had fucked off to her room and Julian said he’d leave me alone for the rest of the night. So why am I feeling this way? Nerves from being separated from my mom? Anxiety from being home alone with the twins? The looks on their faces when they both looked up at me at the same time still made my skin crawl.

*I wonder… did they know about Mom and Gabriel leaving on their honeymoon? …Not, like it matters now. They’re done long gone…*

I did my best to block out my miserable thoughts by telling myself I’m not a child anymore and don’t need to cling to my mother’s side. When I got downstairs to the kitchen, I went through the drawers to see what I could find to pick the lock.

*Fucking hell.* Part of me just wants to break the doorknob and tell Gabriel I accidentally ran into it or something. Or ask Julian to fix it… surely he knows stuff like this, right?

I slammed the drawers shut with a cursed, frustrated grumble and stomped my way back upstairs to Gabriel’s study. “Sorry, Gabe.” Right as I was about to kick open the door, I saw a bit of light in the cracks. Wait. *What the fuck?* I pushed on the doorknob and it slowly creaked open. My jaw dropped. *What the fuck? What the fuck?? It was just locked! How the fuck did it–* My blood ran cold. One of the twins unlocked it. But how? And why?

My palms became clammy when I subconsciously answered my dreaded questions. Somebody has a spare key to the rooms… and somebody must want me to go inside there too. *Fuuuuuck.*

Taking in a deep breath, I pushed the door open all the way. The slow creak ended with a thud against a bookshelf behind it. There was a light on in the study that I could’ve sworn wasn’t there before. When I was last here, it was pure darkness under the door. And now there’s light? I looked around and spotted the lamp on Gabriel’s desk. It had been left on. *Surely Gabriel wouldn’t be that forgetful, right? Unless it was recently turned on…*

I looked around the study warily as I made my way inside. *Now where’s the damn router?* I perked up when I spotted the black, rectangular shaped box. “Fucking finally!” I breathed out my relief and went to check it out. My relief didn’t last long, however, because no matter how many times I clicked a button, any button, the lights never came back on. “What the fuck? Now what??” Getting down on one knee, I looked around to see if it had been unplugged, but I saw that the wire was broken. In fact, it looked cut.

*You gotta be fucking kidding me. Oh, hell no!*

Red flags on overdrive. This was on purpose. Whoever did it was taking advantage of the storm.

*Fuck it. This is getting too freaky. I’ll just drive out of here.*

On my way across the study, something brought my attention to the desk. No surprise, Gabriel’s things were neatly organized and the towers of paper were stacked perfectly side by side. The one thing that stood out of place was the paper bag ripped open on his desk. It looked like the type you would get from a pharmacy. Curiosity kills the cat I am. I nosily peeked at the recent one that was stapled to the bag.

*Medication. Why does Gabriel need medication? He got allergies? Or maybe needs extra vitamins?*

When I looked in the bag no surprise, it was empty.

*Welp. Fuck me.*

My inner cat still has at least 3 lives left, right? I looked around the study to see if I could find anything that could tell me why Gabriel needed medication. Is the dude dyin’? Does he get weak bones? Exploding organs? I don’t know shit bout bodies and health other than keeping them free from sexual diseases. Whatever is going on with him, does Mom know? The thought of Gabriel keeping secrets from my mother was definitely something that would ruin my opinion of him in a heartbeat. But at the same time… I didn’t believe Gabriel was capable of such a thing. He truly loved my mom with all his heart. I knew that much.

*Still. I gotta know.*

I looked on the shelves of his bookshelves and dug around in his desk’s drawers. Nothing. I eventually noticed the small trashcan under his desk and I dragged it out to see the dirty and old goodies. Bingo. I picked up the orange bottle with a blue lid and read the label.

*Let’s see, this is… wait, what?*

I squinted at the label as if I weren’t reading the words right. My grammar was awful, but I recognized a few of the sounds. It sounded similar to a medication Amy had talked to me about before, something that’s given to her cousin and she thought it’d be good for me too–to help me through my trauma and nightmares. And her cousin was a fucking loony too. I think it was called schizophrenia?

*Why the fuck would Gabriel have these?! There’s no way in hell!* I spun the bottle over and over, trying to comprehend the things I read. Unfortunately, all I really understood was the name of the medication. I couldn’t even tell how strong the dosage was. I did see another word that eventually caught my attention. My stomach felt as if the heaviest boulder of all time had just dropped into the depths of my black soul. The word was a name.

*Julian…? What the hell… does he take these? Are these his??*

The only other thing I could read was ‘twice a day.’ Everything else on the bottle was stuff I didn’t understand. Being uneducated can be a real bitch in situations like these.

*Holy shit…! It explained everything. His bizarre switches in personality. His impulses. The fixation. How one moment he’s a picture-perfect angel and then the next he’s some demon that crawled out of hell. That must be when he needed to take another pill. Holy fuck…!!*

When I returned to the bag, I struggled to find the date. *Just how old are these? Are there more? Where are they at? Does Julian have them? Please tell me he has more fucking pills! If he’s all out then I’m–*

That familiar, hauntingly slow knock on the door made me jump. The clash of thunder that lit up the room illuminated the face of the person standing in the doorway.

“Knock knock.”