Come Back Here

For the next week, Renae, Andy, Gerard, and I all spent our fair share doing research. So far, nothing was coming up. There were no Robert Coma's in the county, and no morticians in the county with the last name of Coma. That didn't stop us, though, at least not me. I was certain to find him, and I was spending all my time at the library going through public records, or on the internet searching for someone with his name.

As you can imagine, I was becoming disappointed with my results. Not only was it my soul focus, but I was becoming obsessed with it. I felt I had to find him, just meet him once. And because of it, I was straying away from everyone.

“Come on, Cel, we should get going.” Renae urged, trying to get me to leave the library. I still had my chemistry homework to complete, and I had spent three hours doing research.

“I know, Ree, but five more minutes?” I pleaded, knowing I probably wouldn’t find anything.

She nodded and left me to my plethora of papers that so far, had nothing important on it. There were plenty of people with either his first name or last name, but none were morticians, past or present. I was beginning to think I’d have to search outside of the county, because everything else is turning up dry.

He got back into town two days ago, and yesterday he was “taken into custody.” My mom and I are supposed to be going down to the police station for further questioning. I already told them all they need to know, what more could they want from me.

“Cel, times up.” Renae came back into the area I had claimed as my own for me and my research. I sighed and started collecting my useless research and put it back it its designated areas.

I grabbed my backpack and left with Renae. Outside, Gerard and Andy were waiting for us. I’ve been so focused on finding my dad, that I haven’t been paying too much attention to either of them. In fact, I’ve been spending all my free time on this quest to find my father—which in case you couldn’t tell, was stressful.

I crawled into the back seat of Gerard’s car, wondering whether or not to talk to my mom about finding him. She didn’t seem too eager to tell me anything about him last time. I could ask her where he lived last time she saw him, that might help narrow it down.

***

We stopped by my house to pick up some clothes; I was still staying with Renae. Her house had become my safe home, and I needed any sense of security that I could get at the moment with everything just about to ignite in flames here soon. Before I know it, there will actually be an investigation, and court hearings, and consequences, and I don’t know what else will come out of this. I just hope to God they find him guilty.

You know that Pierce the Veil song, Hell Above? How it says, “I can’t spend another night in this home…”? That’s exactly how I feel about this mahogany box. It’s crumbling, but the foundation is already gone.

I told Gee, Renae, and Andy to stay in the car while I run in. Walking inside felt surreal, because for once I wasn’t scared to set foot inside. It didn’t feel completely safe, but not threatening either.

“Celeste?” My mother’s voice chimed in. She was in the living room, cleaning, when I walked in.

“Yea, Mom?”

“Are you going to come back home, sweetie?”

“I don’t know.” I deadpanned in reply, before heading for the stairs, but was abruptly halted by my mother continuing to speak.

“Celeste, why don’t you stay here?” She asked. Now I was getting pissed off. Doesn’t she understand how badly I’ve wanted out of this house my whole life? He may be gone for now, but the memories are seared into the walls. I can’t walk down the halls without the memories of being slammed into them screaming at me. Even being near the stairs is like this dark hole is reaching out for me, and I don’t want to deal with it.

“Why don’t you tell me about my father?” I asked, turning around to look at her. She was tired, it was evident. In the way she appeared, and the way she spoke, exhaustion was written on her face.

She halted, as if I just asked her a life threatening question. “Sweetie, I told you, I don’t know where he is.”

“That’s all you ever said! That and his name. Do you know how many Robert Comas there are around here? None. It would help if you actually spoke about him.”

“Celeste, I don’t know where he is.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. You don’t get it, just drop it. I’m staying with Renae, that’s that.” I growled back before taking the stairs two at a time so I could cut back on the time I was leaving the guys outside waiting.

When I opened the door to my room, I took a look around. I felt alien. I may not have been gone long, but that doesn’t mean that the room wasn’t. I stopped caring for it a long time ago. It was a room to sleep in, nothing more, and nothing less.

I reached underneath my bed and dragged out my grey duffel bag. I tossed it on my bed and started grabbing clothes to shove inside of it, not caring to really place them neatly. The majority of my small clothing selection went inside, along with some other essentials, like shoes, eyeliner, that kind of stuff.

I slung it over my shoulder and headed for the stairs to quickly make my getaway.

***

We headed over to Gerard’s and claimed the basement as our habitat, as always. I started on my chemistry homework, stewing with all sorts of mixed emotions. Pissed off? Check. Relieved? Check. Safe? Check. Confused? Check.

While I was doing my chemistry, Renae, Gerard, and Andy were doing God-knows-what, but all I know is that I chose the wrong moment to listen in on the conversation. As well as the wrong moment to look up.

“What the hell guys?!”

Gerard and Andy stopped swinging Renae in their arms.

“Hey, she speaks.” Andy said.

“What the hell are you doing to Renae?” I asked, wondering what my friends had been doing while I was lost in the world of balancing equations.

“We’re going to flip her.” Gerard stated casually.

“Cel, help!” Renae was laughing, but evidently scared by the look on her face.

“You’re going to hurt her.” I stated.

“No, you’ll see.” Gerard commented and urged Andy to continue.

They started swinging her again. Before long, I realized what they meant by flipping her. They swung her around in a circle in the air. Renae was squealing and the guys were laughing. How the hell did they achieve that with these low ceilings?

“Cel, give it a try. It’s fun.” Renae was now firmly on the ground.

“But I have homework.” I protested. The thought of Andy and Gerard spinning me in the air to the point of almost touching the ceiling with my back, didn’t really appeal to me much. Sure, I trust them both, but that just seemed idiotic.

“But fun.”

“But homework.”

“Come on, Cel, don’t be like that. It’ll just take a minute.” She urged me on.

I sighed in defeat, “Okay. Just don’t drop me, or I’ll have to kill someone.”

“I’ll catch you if we do.” Andy said with a smirk.

I hesitated for a moment before setting down the homework I really did not have the desire to do. A little distraction couldn’t hurt, could it? And like I said, I trust Gerard and Andy.
Renae went to take a seat on the grey couch while I stepped up. Gerard started by taking my legs, and Andy took my arms. Okay, this looked a lot safer when Renae was doing it, now I was beginning to freak out a little. They’re going to drop me they’re going to drop me oh God help me.

Next, I didn’t pay too much attention. I was trying not to think about the fact that Andy and Gerard where starting to spin me in midair. It wasn’t until I was getting higher and higher up that I was really freaking out. I did not want to fly, humans are not meant to fly.

I shrieked as I went around. To my luck, as I was coming back down, Gerard’s grip slipped, causing Andy’s to falter as well. I thought for sure I was going to land on the hard floor, but Andy kept his word about catching me, and his reflexes kicked in. He reached around me and held onto my torso tightly before I could hit the ground face first.

I was panting and the look on Gerard’s face was pure shock and guilt. I looked back at Andy and saw his bright blue eyes were huge with fear. I could have just hit the floor, possibly broken something, and Andy and Gerard would have felt horrible. Not that I would have blamed them, I did agree to it.

It took me a moment to register that I could get up. I blushed brightly as I rose to my feet from my half-fallen position. Shyly, I stood up and on my tippy toes and brushed Andy’s cheek with a kiss.

“Thanks for saving me from peril.”

“I said I would catch you if you fell.”

“That you did.”

Notes