Chapter 1 || Quoth the Raven “Nevermind” (5)

TW: More blood than usual

At first Zeke thought he had merely woken up on the wrong side of bed. Then he wondered if he was hung over, before remembering that he didn’t drink. He staggered out of the room and the hallway spun before his eyes. Almost blindly, he descended the stairs, feeling ridiculously hungry.

Downstairs was a bar. “There’s our sleeping beauty,” said a girl from behind it. What was her name? Alyssa.

“What on earth?” muttered Zeke. This scene was familiar to him, and not in a good way.

“Sorry for knocking you out.”

“What time is it?”

“Oh, right. It’s Friday, almost noon. Wakey wakey.”

“What?”

“Uh huh, you were out for a whole day. Should be fine though, since you don’t work anymore, right?”

“But I have classes!”

“Oh… condolences.”

Zeke groaned. Everything was slowly coming back to him, and that included the fact that he was, after one-and-a-half days of missing classes, still in a den of sins and crime and vice. He ran to the door only to find it firmly locked, and worse, there was no way to open the old door except with a key.

“Sorry dude,” said Alyssa, shrugging. “I can’t let you out, I don’t have a key either.”

Zeke glanced at her warily, not sure whether to believe him or not. Her relaxed demeanor suggested she was telling the truth, but the fact that she was locked inside with him didn’t add up. It occurred to him that perhaps she wasn’t as closely affiliated with the criminals as he thought.

“You weren’t on the news,” he said. “You weren’t a part of the break in?”

“Oh, I was there too. I was the lookout.”

Zeke stared at her in despair. 

“I know what you’re thinking,” said Alyssa. “Ooh, they’re a bunch of criminals. But you saw her too, didn’t you? Lexi Lilly. She asked us to. Here, come sit down, have a cup of coffee.”

Zeke obliged, reluctantly. “I’m sorry, do you expect me to believe that?”

“I thought seeing is believing. You recognised her immediately, yeah?”

“I don’t know what elaborate scheme this all is, but it’s messed up. Lexi Lilly is in a coma. And you’re breaking into her house and hiring, what, an actress that looks just like her? To do what?”

“Maybe this will help,” said Alyssa, and phased straight through the bar.

The very real, solid bar Zeke was resting his hands on.

With a yell, Zeke jumped up. He vaguely registered the sound of his chair hitting the ground.

“If you believe me now,” said Alyssa, “Our motto is ‘legality does not dictate morality’. We did not steal, as we had the permission of the homeowner. We merely provide a service for the many of us whose lives are put on hold. Do you have any idea how many of us emerge, when the lights go out?”

Zeke was speechless.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m actually working too. You can help me, if you’d like.” Alyssa pulled out a bunch of letters and dumped them on the bar.

“What is this?” said Zeke.

“Letters to Lexi Lilly from her manager,” said Alyssa. “Love letters.”

“Whaaaaat?” yelled Zeke. “Why are you reading them?”

“She said we could,” said Alyssa with a shrug. “Also, this is backup in case it doesn’t go well with the others. I gotta get as much info out of these as I can. Lastly, aren’t you the slight bit curious?”

“This is wrong,” said Zeke.

“Like I said, we have permission.” She picked up a letter. “You can read too.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Suit yourself. By the way, are you a fan of hers in any way?”

The casual question caught Zeke off guard, given the bizarre situation. “No. I liked some of her early music, but it went downhill after she got super popular.”

“Hmm.” Something dropped from the folds of the letter she lifted. A photo. She held it out to him. “Wow. What do you reckon? Sister? Niece? Secret love child?” 

Zeke took the photo, before realising that he had decided, only a minute ago, not to look. So much for not snooping. He sighed. “Doesn’t look much like her. Probably his relative.”

“Yup.”

“Wait.” Zeke’s thoughts were returning to him and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t asked this before. “Where are the others?”

“They’ve gone to ask Lexi Lilly’s manager a question, namely, why did he break into her house? Because unlike us, he didn’t have her permission. And before you ask, yes Lexi Lilly has requested we do that.”

Another break-in, and the manager this time, thought Zeke. I’m out for not even two days and I missed so much. “Why would he tell you, unless-” he looked at the letters. “Are you planning to blackmail him?”

“That’s not how we see it. We see two old friends, now turned sour, hashing it out over a bunch of letters attesting to their previous relationship. We’re merely there as translators. As for the law, it should be fine. We have a lawyer- well, law student- to advise us. You might remember her. Elowen.”

Zeke groaned. There could only be one ‘her’. And whatever ‘she’ had said, the whole operation didn’t sound pretty.

—

‘She’ bounced in the backseat of the horrible car Cap drove terribly. 

Next to her, Lexi Lilly looked out the window. Truth be told, Lexi Lilly was still quite bitter over her breakup with Caden. Knowing she would see him soon made her stomach twist. 

“Why that clown though?” Rowan asked from the passenger seat.

“He was nice,” said Lexi Lilly. “At first anyway. He understood me as a person. Then he changed.”

“Yeah,” said Rowan. “People change.”

“‘Cept you, you’re always a dumbass,” said Cap.

“True,” said Rowan.

“Anyway, when we’re talking to him,” said Cap, “Remember to try not to interact with him.”

“Why?”

“Just a precaution. Is that the house over there?”

They got out of the car and knocked on the front door. A moment later, they heard yelling. “Go away!”

“We’re not the press,” said Cap. “But we do have the letters, so it might be in your best interests to talk to us.”

There was a second of silence, then the door opened. “Then come in quickly,” said the manager.

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