teaganmitchell (teaganmitchell) wrote in horror_story, @ 2013-04-25 09:56:00 |
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Teagan didn't stay at Charlie's very long. His parents were beside themselves with worry over their son's disappearance, and didn't have any answers for where he'd gone off to. He wasn't answering texts, and so far as she knew he didn't have any other friends. If he was hiding, he wouldn't be hiding from her, so he wasn't deliberately hiding. He couldn't be. It was something else. Dr. Frankenbrit had finally drilled one too many holes in Charlie's skull, or something. Successfully turned him into a slave.
Or Mike McBrayer had gotten him, somehow. She didn't think that Charlie would be stupid enough to put himself in McBrayer's path, but she wouldn't have thought Tatum would do that, either, and her sister had been acting seven shades of crazy all month. Maybe Charlie had teamed up with Tatum to go after Mike. He'd stopped texting right around the time Tatum had disappeared... so it was possible that he was hiding with her sister somewhere. Maybe he'd gone in with Tatum on the apartment. They might be holing up, playing house, plotting without her.
Why, though? The way Tatum had fled the house the day prior, it had been crystal clear that she hadn't approved of Teagan's method of dealing with their father. She could understand that. Hell, she was having doubts, herself. It was the smell, really, that had opened her eyes to the drawbacks of keeping him... subdued. The acrid, sour piss-and-shit smell that fought its way through anything she'd tried to cover it up with. She could definitely understand why Tatum had split. Teagan was in no hurry to go back to it. It was why she'd left the house to go looking for Charlie. Nobody could accuse her of not being open-minded. She was totally willing to admit that she might have made a mistake. Tatum could have stayed, could have helped clean up... and then they could have discussed options. Teagan would have listened. She wasn't unreasonable.
But, no. Her stupid, selfish sister had decided to go the kneejerk reactionary route. Again. Big surprise there. Teenagers. Honestly. And Charlie was about as mature as one, himself. He was also very conservative, as a whole. Left on the own, he liked to keep his thoughts solidly in the box, so he would likely side with Tatum on the issue. Once that thought occurred, it settled perfectly into the puzzle she'd been trying to work out. Way more likely than McBrayer suddenly adding deaf losers to his victim list.
Charlie's parents were sure that something terrible had to have happened to him, but Teagan wouldn't be surprised if he was just laying low, plotting with Tatum. Working against her. Some best friend.
Some sister.
Was stealing a best friend akin to stealing a boyfriend on the list of sisterly sins? Maybe she should go convince Emma to side with her. Fair trade. Except Teagan didn't really care for Emma, and wasn't really interested in fairness so much as justice. Abandonment had to be some kind of crime, and when she did see Charlie again, she'd have to have a long discussion with him about how much he'd wronged her by taking her sister's side. They'd been friends for years. She'd always had his back, even when he hadn't wanted her to. She'd stood up for him. Cared deeply for him. Always been willing to go out of her way. And he was an unappreciative dick who took her for granted, trading her in for the younger model. They were probably off getting high together, talking about her behind her back. Snickering over how badly she'd screwed up.
Well, that was just fine. Let them snicker, then. They could both join the ranks of the hiveminds for all she gave a flying fuck. It was clear that she wouldn't be able to count on anyone for help in her endeavors. There'd be no sidekicks to bounce ideas off of this time. No assistants. No support. She was entirely on her own, but maybe that was for the best. If Tatum and Charlie were off hiding together, then Teagan wouldn't have to watch out for anyone but herself. No need to worry about them. She could just focus on the task at hand.
With her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her shapeless coat, Teagan made her way to the nearby churchyard. Ever since she was little, she'd enjoyed the peaceful nature of the little cemetery. It had less character than the big graveyard down on Old Growth Road, but there was something to be said for the meticulously groomed hedges and little orderly rows of headstones. Her best plans had been formulated while sitting in that cemetery, and since she was flying solo she was going to need a good plan to catch McBrayer. All things even, he was simply a lot stronger than she was. She knew how to shoot her father's service pistol, and Michael had always been adamant about the fact that a gun was "the great equalizer" between men and women, but McBrayer might own a whole arsenal of firearms for all she knew.
She had to get him without his seeing it coming. She couldn't just go to the trailer park and knock on his door, giving him the tactical advantage.
There wasn't a gun in his glove compartment, was there? No. No, there hadn't been. She'd expected one and hadn't found anything ominous at all. Teagan sat on a bench near the Rosewood family plot, and tapped out a cigarette, wondering if she could conceivably get McBrayer to give her another ride.