What are We Going to Do? Who: Skylar and Zania Where: Zania’s House When: Afternoon
Skylar was a frantic mess. He’d gone to Zania’s house, but she wasn’t there and after looking in the window it didn’t look good. So he’d gone out looking himself. He had no idea what he was going to do if he found someone, or anyone, but he was determined to find Clementine. Exhausted after hours of looking and with nothing to show for it, he headed back to Zania’s house to see if he could find her and get some more help. Or some answers. Or maybe she was just home and it was all bad dream.
Zania was home, attempting to scrub the blood off the sofa. It wasn’t a priority at the moment, but she wasn’t going to go out hunting alone. She and Lance could go later tonight, once they’d both had a few hours to rest. She hated resting, but she also knew that if she came up against something while running on empty, she’d only get herself killed. Maybe she’d be lucky like the last time, but Lance was human. They’d go out again once the sun set and she could be sure she was safe from burning. When she heard a knock at the door, she set the brush back in the bucket and rose to her feet to open the door. “Hey, Skylar. Come on in.”
Skylar’s face fell when Zania answered. “Not a dream?” he asked, barely stepping into the house, like going inside might make it real. He didn’t want it to be real.
“No, unfortunately not,” Zania said. The body was gone, but it was still clear there’d been a battle in their living room. The claw marks weren’t leaving the floor, plus there was the blood stain she was still washing out. “Lance and I looked all night. We’re going to start again at sundown.”
Skylar got as far as the entryway to the living room before his stomach turned over and he found himself making a face. It wasn’t as bad as the glimpse he’d gotten earlier, but the claw marks and the blood on the couch, that was enough. More than enough. “So nothing? Nothing at all?”
“Nothing,” she said, plopping down in one of the unscathed chairs. “I’m comforted by the fact that the guy who attacked us seemed to want her alive, but we couldn’t find anything. And now Lance thinks Kenzie is missing, too.” She knew that would make things worse for Skylar, but he deserved to know.
Skylar’s stomach was turned over again, though he didn’t know where to sit down since the couch was a giant stained eyesore. He’d cuddled with Clementine on that couch. He was going to be sick. “So...we just hope he’s not...doing awful things to her?”
Zania gave a nod as she ran her hands over her dreads, pulling on them when she got to the end. It was becoming a habit when she was stressed. “I hope not. So many people were hurt, killed, or taken last night. Mickey’s missing, too. I don’t know what they’d want with the people they took, but… it’s better than being killed, I hope.”
“The mouse? Your mouse?” Skylar asked, not sure what to do with himself, but looking at Zania was easier than looking at the bloodstain on the couch. “You hope. There’s a lot of bad things that could happen. Didn’t it happen? Out there?” Skylar was good at ignoring things, but everything wasn’t completely avoidable.
“I don’t think I can call him mine, but yeah,” Zania nodded. She was worried about Mickey, but also knew he could hold his own. Clementine seemed more fragile, like she’d managed to get through the world’s collapse without it breaking her at all. “All I can do is hope,” she said, shoulders falling. “I know bad things can happen. I know there are awful people out there. And I know that good people don’t kidnap people in the middle of the night.”
Skylar sighed, not sure he was good at hoping. Not when it came to Clementine. “I want to do something, but I don’t know what to do. I’m not good at this sort of thing.” He wasn’t a hunter. He’d run from trouble. “Never was of much use beyond being pretty,” he said, before glaring. “Shut it, Jay.”
“I’m sure you’re more than a pretty face,” Zania said, though she understood his pain. She was a fighter, but she felt useless. She couldn’t figure out what to do to track down people. There had to be a plan other than going door to door. “Talk to Nic. He’s better at planning than I am. Actually, if he has a map of the dome, then maybe you two can strategize. I know December’s been gathering information…” It was a start, and it didn’t require him to fight. “Who’s Jay?”
“Nic. I can talk to Nic.” Skylar was pacing a little, thinking of where to find his friend. The question about Jay had him stopping, looking up confused. “Who said anything about Jay? Jay’s not here.”
“He’s probably at home. I think he was up all night fighting the fires.” She’d been worrying about him, but comforted herself in the fact that it was something he was trained for. “You told Jay to shut it,” she said, raising a brow.
“Or with Doctor Sexy,” Skylar said, shaking his head. That might put Nic at the hospital. When she mentioned Jay again he looked around. “Did I? I wouldn’t. He’s dead.”
“Or with Doctor Sexy,” she agreed with a little smirk. She was happy for her cousin, but it amused her as well. He’d been so careful to conceal that part of himself before. She was glad to see him loosening up a little. “You did. I wouldn’t know his name otherwise. And I’m sorry. I know how much that sucks.”
“Yeah, he’s really dead. It’s okay. It was a long time ago,” Skylar said waving it off. He didn’t like thinking about Jay, even if the man seemed to lurk at the edge of his consciousness.
“He was a close friend?” Zania asked, not quite catching that Skylar didn’t want to talk about him, even if he’d said he wouldn’t bring him up. He had, which had to mean something.
“I uhh...guess? My boss. And then you know, got me out of being eaten alive. It was his truck, the one I rode around in. His pot, too. He taught me what I know. Or what I didn’t have a natural gift for, green thumb and all.” Skylar was pacing again, anxious in the way he talked. It was common when it came to having to explain his relationship with Jay. It was complicated.
She knew what it was like to lose the people you escaped with. In her case, it’d been her boyfriend, but even if they hadn’t been together it would have been hard. It was someone from home, someone she trusted, and someone she would never see again. She knew Jay was probably different for Skylar, but she still thought she understood. “Is he still with you?” she asked. “In your head sometimes?”
“What? No.” Skylar answered too quickly, pausing in his pacing for a moment, then starting again. “Sometimes. Yeah. It’s like...he’s still telling me what to do or whatever.”
She didn’t have time to respond before he changed his answer, the new one being more believable. “Is he a good voice to listen to?”
Skylar made a little face like he wasn’t sure. He really wasn’t. “He wasn’t a bad guy. He just…I wasn’t what he wanted in the end.” Skylar let out a sigh and wound up sitting on the couch without thinking about it.
Zania gave a little nod. If Jay had been a good person for Skylar to listen to, she would’ve said it didn’t matter, that having him in his head wasn’t hurting anything. But from his answer, she wasn’t sure that was the case. “That’s hard… when someone means something to you, but you can’t be what they want.” She’d put Mickey in that position and felt bad for it. It was getting better, though, as she got closer to Lance.
“Yeah. I thought we were friends. He thought we were more,” Skylar said with a shrug. “Not my thing. Or I’d be sleeping with Nic, not Doctor Sexy.” It didn’t bother him, that Nic found him attractive. He’d been in LA long enough to get use to that sort of thing.
She laughed softly, glad that Skylar was comfortable enough with it all to remain friends with Nic. “I’m glad he has you,” she said. “Even if it’s not your thing. Those sometimes last longer anyways.”
“He’s a good dude,” Skylar said with a smirk. “Just you know...not into dudes. Though the boyfriend, he’s...intimidating.”
“Is he?” she asked with amusement. “I don’t know that I’ve met him. Though, if he sees you as competition, he may be doing that on purpose. Even if you’re not interested. Plus, he’s a werewolf. They might be possessive.”
“I think that’s part of it, too. I just hope Nic is happy. I think he’s still sorting himself out, how he feels about it.” Skylar was shrugging again, unsure of everything.
“Yeah, I don’t know there. I mean, I thought he was happy with Cade, but he was seeing Dixen on the side, so… who knows.” She thought Nic just didn’t want to settle for one person, which might be a problem if that’s what Micah wanted.
“I think...he doesn’t know what he wants enough to be perfectly happy. He got something different from Dixen, until the guy was a douche.” Skylar hadn’t gotten that deep into his friend’s mind, but that was what he’d pulled so far.
“Oh, Dixen was always a douche,” Zania said, rolling her eyes. “I think what he got with Cade was stability, someone to cuddle with and be happy with. I think what he got with Dixen was hot and heavy and addictive, and Nic has an addictive personality.”
“So what does he get from Micah?” Skylar asked. He couldn’t tell honestly, but then again he wasn’t making an effort to pay attention to the dirty details of his relationship with Micah. They were friends, but not that kind of friends.
“I don’t know,” she said. “We’re not as close as we used to be, but then we were living together on the road, so that’s probably a good thing. I haven’t really talked to him about his relationship with Micah. He seems happy, though.” And she really wanted Nic to be happy. She just didn’t know if Nic knew what he wanted well enough to pursue it.
“Yeah, he doesn’t seem so sure about everything. I think he totally digs Micah, just things about Micah are too much.” Skylar shrugged, looking at his fingers before picking at the dirt that was permanently under them. “What do we do next? About finding Clem and the mouse?”
She hoped that wasn’t the case. Zania didn’t want to see Nic screw things up. But maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he’d be happy enough with Micah to settle down a little. “Well, I’d meet with Nic. See if he can get his hands on a map of the dome. They might have something like that in the fire station. Then we’ll divide the dome up and send people out to search. That way we can track what’s been covered.”
Skylar nodded, taking that all in. It sounded slow, which was frustrating. He didn’t want things to go slowly. He just wanted to find her, hold her and not let her go. “Do you think...that sometimes the people worth being with are harder to be with?” he asked, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Oh, I’m a horrible person to ask that,” she said with a little laugh. “I tend to chase after people that don’t want me, or don’t want a relationship, or end up cheating on me. But I’ve always thought that the ones worth being with are also worth fighting for. Maybe stupidly. I don’t think anything’s easy.”
Skylar considered that then nodded. “We need to find her. Like now.” He got up, taking a deep breath. “I’m going to go look again.”
“Okay,” Zania said, rising with him. “Just be careful out there. Carry a weapon. Call me if you find anything. Because if you find her, you’ll probably find the person who took her, and he almost killed me.” She bit her lip, then continued. “I’d feel better if you weren’t out there alone.”
Skylar looked back and smiled a little. “I get lucky. Things always work out,” he said because it was true. “Promise. You’ll see.”
“Keep in touch anyways, just for my own peace of mind,” she said, returning his smile. The last thing they needed was to lose more people while they were searching for them. “I’ll see you later.” Probably tonight, since that’s when she was going to start searching again.
“Totally. I’ll be around. We’re gonna find her. We have to.” Skylar was resolute even if he didn’t know how to do it. He was going to figure it out though, he had to.