Crux is a tale that takes place in Covertine, a small town in Misty Bay. A reasonably scenic town, Covertine has an overall friendly atmosphere. A lot of the inhabitants have lived there all their lives, or moved away only to return, causing the town's once small population to greatly expand.
But the town has been harboring a dark secret for just over a decade. Will the truth about one night that connects so many people in the town finally come to light, or will it be buried forever?
At the Richards’ house
It
was just another usual day at the Richards' house. Pearla and Oscar
both had friends over and were about to go out. Lewis, the youngest
Richard sibling, was waiting quietly out of the way for his brother and
sister to leave very much like someone waits quietly in a hurricane
shelter for the storm to pass. Oscar and Pearla getting ready to leave
wasn't a storm anyone would want to find themselves caught in the middle
of.
Oscar cleared his throat loudly, obviously
impatient, but as usual he wasn't getting the attention he thought he
deserved. His friends Sebastien and Asher simply carried on their own
conversation, oblivious that Oscar was in an even worse mood than usual.
"And so I was like, ‘well hello
there!’, but she, like, insulted my trainers so she was a totes no-go."
Asher pointed to the very trainers he was wearing, ready for a
response, most likely a compliment on his new and very bright footwear.
Sebastien didn't try hard at all to feign interest. "Yep, Asher. Sure." The only thing that could conjure up interest in Sebastien was himself.
Meanwhile, Pearla was still contemplating what to wear for the morning. She scrutinized her image in the mirror.
"I don’t know. I’m not sure about the top."
"You look gorgeous Pearla-" Her friend Kristin started to say, but was interrupted.
"I know that."
Pearla snapped and rolled her eyes. "I look gorgeous in anything. I'm
just not completely sure that it's the right thing to wear for lunch."
Kristin didn't seem affected by Pearla's tone of voice at all. "Oh, yeah. Totally!"
The two broke off as someone stamped their foot in impatience.
"HELLO?"
Everyone turned at the sound.
"Lunch. We're meant to be going. Now. I'm sick of waiting." Oscar spoke through gritted teeth.
"Like, calm down Os, we're like, almost ready, yeah?" He went to nudge Sebastien, who leaned out of the way. "Aren't we, Seb?"
Sebastien simply shrugged noncommittally in response. "Mmhm."
"Oh, sorry!" Kristin interjected, "we’re nearly done here-"
Oscar
snorted in derision, sending a glare around the room. "Well, I’m sick
of hanging round here with these losers. I’m leaving."
He turned his back and strode out. Only Asher seemed fazed.
"We really wound him up!" Kristin sounded a little shocked and very pleased.
"Uh,
no. He's just being a total brat this morning." Pearla dramatically
drew in a deep breath, "'Been acting like one all day. I don't know what is wrong with him. I mean, it's not like I can go out if I’m not ready! Hello, what would
people think?"
"Yeah, well, like, we'd better follow. I
mean, Oscar looked pretty angry and he's never this angry!" Asher seemed
uncomfortable and rushed after Oscar.
Sebastien followed, muttering "if we have to" under his breath.
Out in the hallway, Oscar flung open the door and stamped his foot again.
"I MEAN IT." He warned. "I''m leaving, now."
Sebastien rolled his eyes when Asher rushed faster.
"Come on Sebastien!" the blonde squeaked, "He totes means it!"
Pearla sighed. "I really don't know what is wrong with that boy. I am ashamed to be related to him."
"Maybe he’s man-struating?" Kristin suggested with a malicious glint in her eye.
Pearla's
sneer turned into a smirk, obviously appreciating the joke. "Heh. And I
don't know what that colour-blind stoner was going on about. Oscar is always angry."
"Yeah!" Kristin eagerly joined in. "He's like... an evil penguin."
Pearla looked at her dubiously. "Uh, Kristin, you're being freaky again."
"Soz Pearla."
"Anyway, as those morons are gone, I know this like, adorable little shop that
just opened up in Misty Bay! Its seriously gorge. We need to visit it,
ASAP." Pearla took one last appreciative glance in the mirror, blowing herself a kiss, before walking out.
Kristin followed her like a shadow. "Oh em gee, yes. Let’s go! Like, now!"
Blake's eyes narrowed as he watched the two leaving. He was folding his newspaper up when he heard a loud sniff.
Lewis bit his lip, eyes on the floor. "You don't think he was talking about us, do you?" He looked up to Blake, his eyes wide.
"Who...?"
Lewis
let out a sad sigh. "Oscar. When he said he didn't want to be around
'these losers' anymore. Do you think he was talking about me?"
There was a long pause as the question hung in the air. Lewis picked at his denim shorts.
".....probably not." Blake tried to assure, but his pause only really affirmed Lewis' thoughts.
But at Blake's words, Lewis seemed to shrug his concerns off.
"Oh,
good! I was kind of hoping he wasn’t. He’s just in a bad mood
recently." Lewis' new smile faltered already as he thought about the
last few days.
Blake waited patiently for an
explanation, knowing that he was going to get one. If Lewis was good at
anything, it was filling silences.
"Well, its... " Lewis frowned, thinking, "it’s hard to explain. But basically, he’s in this bad mood..." Lewis took a deep breath, "because
in high school his girlfriend left him at prom and it was this time of
year." He said the sentence so quickly that it took Blake a few seconds to put the meaning together.
"But wouldn't that have been ten years ago now?" He asked, his curiosity piqued.
Lewis
grimaced slightly. "Well, yeah. And I know he should have gotten over
it by now, that's what people say... But... it’s complicated." He
brushed the subject aside all of a sudden and stood up. "Anyway, can
we... go somewhere else? I don't like the feeling here anymore."
Blake nodded slowly, his eyes clouded. "Coffee?"
Bic Coffee house
Lewis and Blake usually found some reason to go to Bic Coffee house most days. It was Lewis that was such a fan of the place - he enjoyed the sweetness of the coffee, something he didn't seem to be able to accomplish in his own kitchen. Blake couldn't complain though - the coffee was good, and so were the prices.
"I always love the coffee here. I'm sure Samud is some sort of coffee master!" Lewis chattered as they approached.
"It's quite good." Blake agreed.
"I wonder if he's won any prizes for it? Or awards? Are there even such things as coffee prizes, Blake? The Coffetarian award, maybe?"
Blake didn't dignify the question with an answer, and as usual Lewis continued rambling anyway.
As they climbed the steps, the two could hear a commotion inside the building. Lewis stilled for a second.
"Can you hear that?" He looked back at Blake is surprise, "It sounds like shouting."
Blake nodded and peered round the doorway as the two cautiously entered, Lewis almost creeping along in a pantomime fashion.
Inside was Samud, the owner of the Coffee House, and what seemed like an unwanted customer. Neither of them appeared to notice Lewis and Blake.
"What do you mean, you haven't any got any money to pay?!" Samud roared. He looked ready to leap over the counter to attack the man.
"I’m, sorry, I must have left it at home." The man seemed honestly apologetic. "I’m such an idiot-"
"Well, what are we going to do now? I’ve already made the coffee!"
"Look, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. One of the kids must have taken my wallet out of my jacket. Please, I can go and get the money, I’ll be back in five minutes!" The man pleaded.
Samud rolled his eyes, not even bothering to hide it from the customer.
"Come on, Samud, please! It's only a cup of coffee. And you know me. You can trust me!" There was an edge to the man's voice that sounded annoyed as well as embarrassed.
Snorting, Samud looked the man up and down. "Yes, I do know you, Rhys. So I know exactly what sort of person you are and that’s exactly why I don’t trust you."
"What do you mean?" Rhys looked confused.
Samud folded his arms, raised an eyebrow. "You know. What happened to my brother."
"..what? I don’t understand… you know I was friends with Kai before the accident. We used to hang out in high school. Remember? Sometimes we’d hang out at your house after school." Rhys smiled slightly at the memories, but the smile dropped when he saw the look on Samud's face.
"HAH. You weren’t friends!" Samud's eyes were cold and steely - accusing.
"What? What is your problem?! Me and Kai were friends. You know that, Sam. Don't you remember?"
Everything Rhys said only seemed to rile Samud up more. "Yeah, I remember! I remember that it’s your fault that he’s wheelchair bound! You and that Jack Cook." He spat the name out as if it left a bitter taste in his mouth, "Kai’ would be perfectly fine if you hadn’t entered his life!"
Rhys paused, Samud's words apparently taking a while to sink in. There was shock in his eyes as he glanced over to Kai.
"But... it was an accident… wasn’t it?" Rhys looked back to Samud, "And I had nothing to do with it! You know that!"
The two were so engrossed in their argument that they hadn't noticed the new customers.
"Should we say something? I mean.. should I say something?" Lewis whispered to Blake, fortunately not using his token stage whisper. "I mean, it would feel strange leaving now as well. If they saw us."
Blake had been surveying the scene, cool as a cucumber.
"Don’t worry about it." He assured Lewis, and stepped forward.
Samud jolted a little when Blake walked towards him, only just noticing him.
"I’m sorry to interrupt… it seems apparent there is some sort of trouble with this man’s bill." Blake glanced at Rhys, "I’ll pay for it."
Both Samud and Rhys seemed equally shocked.
"You’ll… pay for it?" Samud's voice was questioning, as if he wondered if he'd heard the words wrong.
"Yes, if you don’t mind. That way at least me and my friend can be served." Blake motioned to Lewis. Samud looked over and tried to compose himself, a little embarrassed as he wondered how long the two had been there. He ran the money through the till as quickly as possible, offering a smile of apology for the wait to Blake
Rhys' mind was still on other things - he kept looking over to Kai with a worried look on his face.
"I had nothing to do with it…" He mumbled to himself.
"I'm so sorry about the disturbance." Samud spoke to Blake, but his eyes kept sliding over to Rhys.
"You know it wasn’t my fault, Samud." Rhys caught his eyes and stared back, "Or Jack’s. You must know that."
Samud did his best to control his temper now he knew there were other customers in the shop.
"Look." His teeth were gritted, the restraint obvious in his voice, "this man is kindly paying your bill. I’ve had enough of you, Rhys Borders. So this is your final warning. Get out of my shop. You’re no longer welcome here so you’d better not set foot in here ever again."
"What? Come on, man!" Rhys raised his hands in disbelief.
"
Get. Out. Now." The words left Samud's mouth like bullets, and Rhys certainly did have a wounded look to his face.
"Geez. Okay, okay, I'm leaving." Rhys looked down glumly and turned around.
He looked up at Blake and stopped as he was walking to the entrance.
"Thanks for paying. You didn’t have to." Rhys smiled slightly, but he still seemed on edge. Samud was still watching him from the counter.
"Don’t mention it." Blake bobbed his head.
"No, seriously! Thanks, so much!" The smile widened, and the tension faded from Rhys' eyes.
"It’s not often someone is actually kind in this town. It means a lot…"
Lewis looked looked over at Samud, who was cleaning a cup, but still watching Rhys.
"Uh, sorry, Rhys." Lewis motioned to what had just happened, but he obviously felt nervous at being watched.
Rhys snorted, following Lewis' gaze to where Samud was standing.
"Yeah, well. Guess I’d better go before he comes over here and shoves me out. Thanks dude!"
"Bye Rhys!" Lewis called out the door after him.
Blake and Lewis went up to the counter.
Samud smiled at them in greeting, but it seemed forced. "I really am so sorry about what happened. I apologise, it won’t happen again."
Blake clasped his hands together."Yes, not to worry. So clear the man’s-"
"Rhys’" Lewis interjected.
"Clear Rhys’ bill." There was a humorous twinkle in Blake's eye as he nodded at Lewis. "And I’d like to order a black coffee and a latte."
"With three sugars and extra whipped cream please!" Lewis beamed.
The two sat down, and Samud bought them their order even faster than usual. Lewis immediately ate the cream on top before even tasting the coffee.
"That was crazy, huh?" Lewis has bits of cream decorating his mouth. "Who knew we’d go from one strange situation to another?"
Blake tried not to let the comical flecks of cream distract him. "Hm… So you know that man, Rhys?"
"Yeah, yeah." Lewis waved his hand dismissively. "We went to high school together. He’s alright really."
"And the man over there…?"
Lewis turned to look at Kai.
"That's Samud's older brother, Kai. He was in my year at school too."
"You’re okay aren’t you bro?" Samud sat down next to Kai, worried that the commotion with Rhys might have upset him.
But Kai didn't utter a word. He simply stared rather blankly at Samud.
Lewis fidgeted in his chair. "I don’t know if what Samud said was true.. I mean, I thought Rhys and Kai were friends back in school. Well, before what happened to Kai, anyway."
Blake watched Kai carefully, deep in thought.
"He was in a coma for months and months. No-one even thought he'd wake up. He did... but he hasn't said a word since." The tone in Lewis' voice changed almost to a whisper and Blake turned to see what was wrong.
"He looks through you..." Lewis whispered, "like you aren't even there."
All of a sudden Lewis' demeanor changed back again.
"Well, I hope we don’t get kicked out! Samud seems pretty angry today."
Blake watched Lewis wave his cup around.
"Just don’t spill your coffee."
"Haha, yeah. Not again." Lewis set it down on the table, grinning goofily. "Shall we go to the library later? I already read the books I took out. And I heard Blair Harp’s doing a book signing too."
Near Covertine Library
"Samud didn’t seem so mad after Rhys left. Guess they just don’t get on." Lewis' voice interrupted Blake's small moment of peace as they walked to the library.
"Hm."
"And this time I didn’t even spill my coffee, heh?"
"There's always next time." Blake replied dryly.
"So, who is this Blair Harp, anyway? The name does sound slightly familiar." Blake asked.
"Oh, he's famous, that's probably why. He used to play basketball professionally-"
The two were interrupted as someone ran past, knocking into both of them. Blake let out a noise as the air was knocked out of his lungs.
"Hey!" Lewis exclaimed, more in surprise than protest.
He turned around to watch the person run on.
"I have to wonder if there’s something wrong with the people in this town." Blake muttered.
Lewis still seemed shocked. "I can’t believe Malachi did that! It’s like he didn’t even see you."
Blake sighed. "Another one of your high school friends?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" They continued walking up to the library.
"Lucky guess."
"Though he wasn’t really my friend. I mean, Malachi’s always been a bit strange. I don’t know how he managed to get married. You know the paper you were reading this morning?"
Squinting in thought, Blake nodded after a second. "What about it?"
"Well, one of the writers, Julianna Heart -that’s his wife. Well, ex-wife. Like I said, he’s a bit strange."
The two came to the doors of the large town library and continued into the large entrance.
"Looks like something’s going on." Blake commented.
Lewis smiled and nudged Blake in the ribs. "The book signing, remember?"
"Could you sign a book for my son, Blair?" The lady with the pale hair was asking.
Beside who Blake assumed to be Blair Harp was a very bored looking woman. She made no attempt to hide it, sighing loudly and checking her nails.
Blair smiled at the group before the table.
"Sure thing, Annette. George, isn't it?" He grinned at the young boy.
The boy took a step back and threw his arm out in front of him, his hand in the shape of a gun. "Bang, bang, bang! You’re dead, loser! I don’t want a book from you!"
His mother looked down at him crossly.
"Honey, don’t be rude." She scolded, "And basketball is a lovely sport. Maybe you would enjoy it if you gave it a chance, instead of fighting at school all the time."
Pouting, the boy eyed Blair suspiciously. "Yeah, right."
"You know, George, if you’re good at hitting people, you could be really good at basketball. You could be the star on your school team if you have a good arm!" Blair put in. "Imagine all those shots you could make!"
George stuck his tongue out. "Basketball’s boring. I’d have more fun hitting people."
Upon hearing what George had to say, Blair seemed a little spooked.
"You know, someone else said the exact same thing to me a long time ago..." Blair eyed George carefully.
George made a big show of yawning. "And I bet that guy’s having a lot more fun than you right now." He earned a prod in the back from Annette.
Blair grimaced. "Uh… actually, I haven’t seen him since for a while, so I wouldn’t know."
Annette jumped in before George could say anything else. "George, please honey, you’re being rude. Say sorry to Blair now."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes." Annette spoke firmly, fixing George with her best motherly glare.
"Sorry, Blair." George said, very sarcastically.
Annette grabbed George by the shoulder crossly. "I am so sorry Blair! Come on George, you’re going home right now. This type of behavior just isn't acceptable!"
George grumbled as Annette firmly steered him out of the library.
"How can you like kids?" The lady next to Blair pulled a disgusted face, "they’re awful."
"He’s not that bad really, Tristina." Blair smiled unsurely.
Lewis bounded up to the table. "Hey Blair! And Tristina!"
"Lewis? Hey dude! Who’s this?" Blair gestured to Blake.
"Oh, this is my friend Blake. He's lodging with us."
Blake nodded to Blair and Tristina.
"Cool! I’m sure you’ll love it in Covertine, Blake. Never a dull moment. That’s why we moved back, hey, Tristina?" Blair turned to Tristina for some sort of response.
She pouted and replied as if if it took a lot of effort to do so. "Sure. I’m sure you’ll love it, Drake."
"It's Blake, honey." Blair smiled awkwardly at the town's newest inhabitant.
"Whatever." Tristina went back to checking her nails.
Lewis, still beaming, moved to go."Anyway, great to see you guys, but we need to find a few books and get going. I've already got signed copies of all of your books, Blair. And we have to get back because Blake’s cooking dinner!"
The corner of Blake's mouth twitched. "That’s the first I’ve heard of this…"
Lewis grinned sheepishly. "Heh... you know I always burn it…"
Richards' House, Kitchen
Lewis waved his arm around and sniffed loudly. "It smells good already!"
"These are only the ingredients. I haven't cooked anything yet." Blake didn't bother to look up, concentrating on his task in hand.
Lewis pouted. "Well, anyway. They still smell good."
"So, what did you think of Blair? He’s pretty cool, right? He was a pro basketball player."
Blake made a sound to show he was listening, but kept his eyes on the knife.
Lewis leaned on the kitchen counter, watching Blake. "And don’t mind Tristina, she’s changed a lot since high school." He pulled a face. "But Blair was always nice! To me, anyway. I mean there were a lot of nice people in high school, but Blair was super super nice. Plus he was always round here because of him and Pearla." Lewis rambled on.
[A while later]
"Is it done yet?" Lewis asked for perhaps the fifth time.
"Nearly." Blake moved the pan on the hob slightly.
Lewis sighed. "Sorry I didn’t help."
"Last time you helped you cut your finger." Blake glanced to Lewis, smirking.
"Yeah, and Oscar was mad because I got blood on his favorite hoody." Lewis recounted. "I don’t know how it made much difference, I mean the hoody was black and it didn’t show up."
Lewis paused for a second, his eyes lowered to the kitchen counter. He traced shapes on it with his fingers, biting his lip.
"I hope he isn’t angry when he gets back." He mumbled.
"The foods ready." Blake announced loudly, casting a watchful eye over Lewis. "And maybe he’ll have settled down. It’s only an ex-girlfriend he's upset about, afterall."
The two sat down to eat at the dining table, Blake grabbing the cutlery.
"Look," Something was bothering Lewis - he was chewing on his lower lip, "before we eat… when I said that it was complicated earlier... I mean, the reason Oscar’s still upset about it… there is a reason he hasn’t gotten over this girlfriend."
Blake sat up straight, curious about what Lewis had been holding back. "That reason being…?"
"Well, I told you that his girlfriend never turned up at prom. The truth is… she never turned up at all." Lewis looked down at the table, "She completely disappeared. Not just from Oscar’s life… but the whole town. No-one’s heard from her since." He turned back to Blake, his eyes round and shiny, "That’s why Oscar’s so upset, even if it has been ten years. She just vanished. It's so sad..."
Blake waited a moment for Lewis to collect himself. "So no-one knows what happened to have made her disappear?" He asked gently, but there was a determination in his eyes.
"No…" Lewis replied softly, "no-one."
1 comments:
OOOOhhhhhh! Awesome!
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