Part Twenty-Two of the PW Timeline
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a complete series I wrote from July 2019 to July of 2022. Dr. Laurens recieves an unusual visitor at the hospital. Meanwhile, Chase and Marvin try to figure out what to do, Jackie and Jack talk to each other for the first time in over a year, and Schneep and JJ try their best to cope with the situation.]
.............................................................................................
This whole thing was a nightmare for Dr. Laurens. Schneep was gone, going through who knew what at the hands of the same man who’d kidnapped him last time. He must be so scared, reliving the same thing again. It certainly wouldn’t help ground him in reality. Not to mention the security concerns. It turned out there was a record of someone using HER keycard signature to get into the building. It wasn’t her. It could only be…him. But how did he get a keycard of hers in the first place?
It had been a week since he’d disappeared—no, been taken. It was the first of December, and Laurens found the Christmas displays on the way to work even more irritating than she usually did. She had been considering not even going to work, since she currently didn’t have any other patients to look after. But in the end, she decided better safe than sorry. Someone might need help, or Dr. Fells might decide to assign her to someone new. Who even knew?
She spent most of the day hanging out in the break room. Nobody had offices in the building except for the head doctor, so she didn’t have anywhere else to be. None of her coworkers talked to her. They hadn’t all week. They must have thought it was best to give her space.
Around noon, when it was nearing the end of her hours and thinking about what to do for lunch, Laurens’s pager beeped. Sighing, she checked it. Looked like she was needed at the front desk. Wondering what that was about, she stood up, drained the last of her hot chocolate, threw the paper cup in the trash hard enough to tilt the bin, and headed out.
Oliver was on duty at the desk. He also didn’t have much to do these days, but as an orderly he had more chores he could take up. Giving her a quick smile from where he was sitting, he said, “Sorry about the problem, doc, it’s just that someone wants to talk to you.” He gestured to the person standing at the front desk.
“There’s no problem, don’t worry.” Laurens gave the visitor a once-over. A woman, dark-haired and wearing a brown leather jacket. “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Dr. Laurens, how can I help you?”
“Ah! Yes, Dr. Laurens, I saw you on the TV,” the woman said.
Immediately, Laurens recognized the accent. Not just German, but that specific dialect of German that Schneep spoke with. A bit lighter, but still, this woman was no doubt from that same area. Perhaps she knew him? Was she here to talk about him? “What do you mean? I don’t think I’ve ever been on television,” she said.
“Oh yes you were,” the woman replied. “I saw you, you were part of that trial.”
“…oh.” Laurens nodded, recalling the hearing where she testified against Dr. Newson and her abuse of power. She hadn’t thought about that in a while. It had been…nerve-wracking. Just to have so many people watching her. “I remember now. Yes, you are right. I was there.”
“Great!” the woman smiled. “You were also calling me and sending me lots of mail, yes?”
“Um…excuse me?” Laurens asked tentatively.
“Ah, forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself.” The woman straightened, pulling down the edge of her shirt and brushing her hair over her shoulder. “I am Mina Pfeiffer, I am Henrik von Schneeplestein’s wife. Well…separated, but semantics.”
“Oh,” Laurens gasped a bit. Now she remembered. “Sorry, I wasn’t…expecting you to visit. We assumed you weren’t going to contact us after there was no response to our, um…frequent messages.”
“I’m sorry,” Mina said, looking honestly apologetic. “That was deliberate. My non-response, I mean.”
“It was?”
Mina looked faintly ashamed, but she pressed on with her explanation anyway. “Well, you see, after I heard on the news what Henrik was supposedly doing…all the killing, you know…after I heard that, I left the country. I thought it would be safer.”
Laurens tilted her head. “Did you believe he would come after you, or something?”
“Or something,” Mina said vaguely. “But I did not mean to assume!” She hurried to add. “I know now that he’s innocent, but I did not at the time, so I thought to be safe—”
“It’s fine, Ms. Pfeiffer,” Laurens assured her. “It makes sense.”
Mina looked down at her boots, still avoiding eye contact. “I…spoke to some of his friends. They told me it was unfair to assume, especially with his condition, and I did some thinking and they are right—”
“It’s fine,” Laurens repeated, a bit more firmly. “At the time, with the way things were looking for Schneep, it would have been more worrying if you weren’t concerned. Things have happened in the past to women in your position.”
“That is what I thought!” Mina seemed relieved. It was probably reassuring to know her actions were justified. “But his friends were very defensive.”
“Well. None of them knew what was happening until much later, they would have a different perspective.” Laurens paused, then cleared her throat. “Anyway, what can I do for you?”
“Right!” Mina nodded eagerly. “I very much need to speak to Henrik. I looked on your website for visiting hours, but I thought it would be rude to just drop in without you knowing who I am. Concerning, perhaps? So I thought I would introduce myself and explain.”
Laurens said nothing. She shifted awkwardly on her feet, looking away from Mina’s face (which was not that hard, considering Mina was, like most people, taller than her.) “Well…there is a problem.”
“…oh?” Mina’s face fell. “Did he…does he not want to see me?”
“I don’t know. And…unfortunately, I can’t find out.” Laurens sighed. “A week ago, there was…an incident. Henrik is no longer here. He’s been…taken.”
Mina blinked. “Ta…ken?”
“Like before. By the same person,” Laurens explained. “It…that person managed to get inside. The police are looking for him, but haven’t found Henrik yet.”
“…Oh. Oh nein,” Mina whispered. “That’s…not…good.”
Understatement of the year. “We’re doing everything we can,” Laurens said softly. She almost reached out to put a reassuring hand on Mina’s shoulder, but wasn’t sure if that was going too far, so she stopped. “In good news, the police have already found some of the criminal’s hideouts. They’re hoping that by limiting his safe spaces, he won’t have anywhere to go.”
“That is…a good idea,” Mina said quietly. She went silent for a while. Laurens could practically see the gears turning in her head. “Well…thank you for letting me know, Dr. Laurens,” she finally said. “Can you let me know when they find him?”
“Of course. Oh, I have to ask you if the phone number we’ve been using is still good—”
“It is, I have gotten calls from you,” Mina said. She glanced towards the door, but before she left, she turned back to Laurens one more time. “Oh, can I ask you something? I did not see the trial all the way through. What happened to that doctor in trouble, the blonde one?”
“You didn’t see it?” Laurens was faintly surprised.
“I’m sorry, I…I was too shocked after hearing Henrik didn’t kill those people. Shocked in a good way!” she quickly added. “But I had to talk to someone about it, so I called my family right away.”
“Understandable,” Laurens nodded. “Well. Dr. Newson was found guilty of malpractice. Her license to practice was revoked, and she no longer works here. Though…actually, I think the website still hasn’t updated. It probably still has her phone number on there.” She laughed drily. “I-I’ll get someone to fix that.”
Mina nodded as well. She looked a bit absent-minded. “Well…thank you very much, doctor. Again, please let me know about anything.”
“I will. Thank you for coming.”
“Good day. I will be seeing you.”
Mina left rather quickly, like she had something on her mind. Perhaps she did. Laurens had no way of knowing. She was a psychiatrist, not a mind reader. Sighing, she leaned against the front desk.
“You good, doc?” Oliver asked.
“Ah!” Laurens squeaked and stood straight up. “I forgot you were there.”
“Oh sorry. Should I have said something?”
“No, no, just surprised me.” Laurens smiled weakly. “I…well, my hours are almost up for the day. Not quite, though. I was going to get lunch or something, do you want anything?”
“I’m good. I had a snack beforehand.” Oliver grinned. “Thanks, though.”
“No problem. See you later.”
“See you later, doc.”
Rubbing her eyes, Laurens headed over to the cafeteria. She was tired…so tired from this last week. She hoped this mess would be over soon, but…it probably wouldn’t. That Anti character had held her hostage for a while, as well. She could still vividly remember everything, including the fact that she only got away because she dislocated her wrist. If Anti was as much of a control freak as he seemed, he’d be ready for someone to try that again. He’d have tightened his methods.
But there wasn’t much she could do, was there? No matter how much she felt like she should be doing something. All there was to do was wait. Wait and hope.
.............................................................................................
“—I mean I really appreciate it, but you really don’t have to, you know? I think I’m getting the hang of, uh, you know. It. Again.”
“Oh, yeah, no, I can tell,” Chase nodded, leaning awkwardly against the wall of Marvin’s living room. He held tight to the strap of his backpack. “You’re doing great.”
“Thanks.” Marvin shifted awkwardly on his feet. Or maybe he was just shifting. He rarely stood still when standing. “I mean, if you want to hang out or something, you can. But I mean, you should tell me beforehand instead of just vaguely texting me ‘hey I’m coming over is that okay?’ I’d want more information.”
“Sorry.” Chase winced. “I, uh…I got really wrapped up in this and almost forgot to tell you. I texted you while getting in my car.”
Marvin gave him an odd look. “Okay, see, this is what I meant. What do you mean ‘this’? What ‘this’ did you get wrapped up in? Are you actually, like, not stopping by for what I was thinking about?”
“Well I mean…if you want me to feed your cats or snake, or make food for you, or do laundry or whatever, I’d be down to,” Chase said. “But…no. This is more serious.”
After a moment, Marvin sat down on the sofa. “Okay, what’s it about then?”
Chase sat down in the chair nearby, taking off his backpack. While rummaging around inside, he said, “I wasn’t just saying that to say it, by the way, you really are doing great. It’s…hard, sometimes. You know?”
“Thanks,” Marvin said again, more softly. Things did look a lot better for him. He was fully dressed, hair pulled back. There were actual dishes in the sink instead of food delivery bags in the trash. And when Chase had peeked into his room, it looked just a bit tidier, with the bed made and laundry moved into the corner. Small steps, but Chase knew they were important ones. Just doing a little was always better than doing nothing. “Uh…anywayyyy…”
“Right.” Chase pulled out some papers he’d taken from his printer—blank, ready to be written on—and a few pens. “So…I was thinking. And…we both agree this has gone on too long, right? It…it shouldn’t have even happened in the first place. This whole thing with JJ and Schneep never should have happened.”
Marvin’s expression hardened into anger. “Yeah, that fucking freak needs to be stopped.”
“Exactly.” Chase nodded. “So, we need to find some way to stop him.”
There was a moment of silence. “Wait, you mean, like, us?” Marvin asked.
“Yeah.”
“Not the police?”
“Well I mean, we’re not gonna STOP them or anything—”
“I—Chase, last week you were telling me that going after Anti was a terrible idea,” Marvin said. “Remember, in Jackie’s hospital room? I’m confused. What changed your mind?”
Chase paused. He put the paper and pens on the coffee table and idly arranged them for a while. “I just…I’m tired of feeling like I can’t do anything,” Chase said quietly. “Do you remember what you did when that doctor was being terrible to Schneep? You went right in and took control of the situation. It was…kinda stupid to break in—”
“Well damn, no need to rub it in,” Marvin muttered. “The fine I’m still paying off is reminder enough.”
“—but really brave, and smart to take action, a-and it worked out. Nobody else was making any progress with that, and you did. I…I want to do something like that.” Chase took a deep breath. “We don’t have to get directly involved. Like I said, it would be pretty dangerous to mess with this guy directly. But we can investigate, or something. Give the police tips. Right?”
Marvin leaned back against the sofa, crossing his legs. “So, you’re saying we’re gonna do what Jackie does, become private eyes.”
“Do you…not want to?” Chase asked uncertainly.
“Oh I didn’t say that. I’m down to do anything to get JJ and Schneep back. And put that motherfucker in his place.” Marvin flashed a grin. “I’m just not sure how we’re going about it.”
Chase’s shoulders slumped in relief. He’d thought Marvin would say something like that, but still, there was always that little sliver of doubt. “Well, I thought we’d start by putting together everything we know, and everyone who could help us. That’s what this paper is for.”
“Okay, then.” Marvin leaned forward again, picking up one of the pens and clicking it a few times. “Number one thing we know, there’s this guy named Anti, and he’s a murderous asshole.”
Chase smiled a bit. “Yep. Real asshole.” He grabbed one of the sheets of paper and wrote down ‘THE BAD GUY: ANTI’ on it. “He’s an assassin—which I know ‘cause I found his website.” He shuddered. “But also, this thing about kidnapping Schneep, and like…manipulating him. That seems like it was just…for fun. Which is fucked up.”
“Also this creep is JJ’s brother,” Marvin added. “But JJ ran away from him.”
“Right, right.” Chase nodded. “And now JJ is missing.”
“Okay, let’s get a timeline or some shit out.” Marvin drew a line on his piece of paper and started writing events. “August last year, Schneep put Jack in a coma and then got kidnapped. October, we met JJ. December, Jackie went looking for Schneep and also got kidnapped. March, Anti fucking stabs me.”
Chase hissed through his teeth. “Forgot about that.”
“Well fan-fucking-tastic for you,” Marvin drawled. “Anyway. In May, the police were getting close to Anti so he let Schneep go to take the fall, and Schneep ends up in Silver Hills. A whole ass summer passes, then that doctor lady also briefly gets kidnapped before escaping. Was that August or September?”
“One of those, they kinda blurred together for me. Also, Dr. Laurens. We could probably get her to help, she wants Schneep to be safe.” Chase wrote down her name.
“Right. She escapes. Anti finds out JJ is here and kidnaps him because that’s apparently how he deals with everything. That was Halloween. Then nothing happened until a week ago, when Anti got Schneep again but we found Jackie.”
Chase wrote down Jackie’s name as well. “That’s a good timeline. Maybe Jackie will be able to remember things? D’you think?”
Marvin shrugged. “Y’know, it was weird, but Jack…you know, he helped us find Jackie. He, like, knew the location. Why is that?”
“Well…” Chase hesitated. “I’ve talked with him about this. Apparently, Anti would pretend to be one of us and go visit Jack. Talk to him about stuff. Jack…hasn’t told me what any of that was, but he remembers a lot of it. It…freaked him out.” He looked down at his growing list, then slowly added Jack to it. “I-I don’t want to make him think about it if he doesn’t have to, but…if he knows anything helpful…”
“We’ll ask,” Marvin said softly. “And Jackie, too. If they don’t want to tell us, they don’t have to. We can figure this out.”
“Right.” Chase hoped they would. It would be really helpful to have more inside information like that. As things were now, they didn’t know all that much about Anti, or where he was hiding, or where he might be keeping JJ and Schneep. But…he wasn’t going to make them talk about things if they didn’t want to. If it upset them. “We can ask them if they want to help us next time we visit the hospital. For now, let’s keep going. We can find some way to put this all together.”
.............................................................................................
Jackie used to have a problem with hospitals. He didn’t like how clean and neat they were, even though he knew that they had to be, for sanitation reasons. It just felt weird. No decorations or anything anywhere. And they usually had that chemical-like smell of cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer, which he wasn’t fond of. Not to mention he rarely liked the idea of sitting in bed with nothing to do.
But now, he found he didn’t mind the hospital as much. Probably because it was so, so much better in comparison to what he’d just gone through. Even if there was still nothing to do, at least he wasn’t constantly afraid for his life. And besides, Jackie had since figured out a way to pass the time. Daydreaming. He spent so much time in his own head now, coming up with little stories he could act out in his mind. It was great. He could be entertained or distracted whenever. He found himself wanting to drift off more and more. But so far, he hadn’t started daydreaming during anything important, like a conversation.
Or like today.
Apparently recovering from several injuries and eleven months of malnutrition was difficult, who knew? He’d spent most of the past week resting and healing, but the nice doctor lady said that they’d be starting him on physical therapy soon. Which reminded him: he wanted to see Jack. It took a while for him to convince her, but after a few minutes, she said she would talk with Jack’s doctor to see if something could be arranged. That conversation happened yesterday. Early this morning, the doctor returned and said that if he wanted to meet with Jack, this would be the only time he could do that for some time. He’d immediately agreed.
They’d be meeting in “the atrium,” which was, as Jackie understood it, a central wide-open area that looked like it belonged in a mall (staircase, balconies, fancy design with curves and glass). There would be a couple nurses nearby, just in case anything went wrong for either of them. And they could only meet for a half hour or so, as they both had different types of therapy that day. Jackie was fine with all of this. As he waited in the atrium, he pushed back against the urge to start daydreaming. Not now. He could be here any moment.
He was keeping an eye on the staircase, when suddenly he heard a voice cry out. “’Ackie!” Gasping at the familiar sound, he turned to look towards it. And there…was Jack. Unmistakably him, even as his hair was longer and his skin was paler. (Though to be fair, Jack probably thought the same thing about him.) He was being pushed in a wheelchair by a nurse, and had one of those nose thingies that Jackie didn’t know the name of. But he was beaming.
“Jack!” Jackie stood up and started to run towards him, but was stopped by his own nurse. She gave him a look of combined sympathy and scolding that he took to mean ‘I know you’re excited, but you’re not supposed to do that.’ Rolling his eyes, he waited for Jack to get closer. “Hey! It’s you!”
“‘S me! Wha’ werre you expec’ing?” Jack laughed.
“Oh, well obviously I was expecting another clone or something. Very clearly. I don’t know what you thought I meant.” Jackie grinned. “It’s so good to see you! Hey can I—can I like, get close to you or is that gonna upset your nose thing?”
“Nah, ‘s fine.” Jack spread his arms wide, already anticipating what Jackie would do next.
Sure enough, Jackie immediately bent down to give Jack a tight hug, much to the surprise of the two nurses watching.
“Miss Donovan, you’re still healing!” his nurse spluttered. “You can’t move so suddenl—”
“Hey!” Jack reached down to the side of the wheelchair, where a bag was hanging. He took out a handful of pencils and threw them at the nurse. She yelped in surprise. “Nnno! Yackie’s not a miss!”
“It’s fine, man, she was probably just going off my medical info and shit.” Jackie pulled back.
Indeed, the nurse looked very shocked and ashamed. “I’m sorry, I just assumed—”
“Hey, Jess?” the other nurse who came with Jack jumped in. “Why don’t we go sit down and let them talk?” He indicated a bench that was farther away, but still close enough to rush to aid if something went wrong. The first nurse nodded, and the two of them wandered off, still keeping an eye out for any trouble.
Jackie watched them go, then turned back to Jack. “Great, now that they’re gone we can talk about our illicit scheme to steal medicine from this hospital.”
Jack laughed again, though he had to break off at the end as a cough started to develop.
“You alright?”
“Yeh. Hey, c’n yuh move me overrr there?”
“Sure.” Jackie wheeled Jack’s chair over to a group of armchairs, and immediately sat down in one nearby. “It’s…wow. This is…it’s so good to see you.” He took a deep breath. Now that the initial excitement was starting to fade, he was a bit overwhelmed. He hadn’t really expected to see Jack awake again. At first, it was easy to hold onto hope. But then he got kidnapped, and the idea that he’d ever see anyone…just seemed so impossible. Yet, he was here now. Talking to his friend who he’d last seen unconscious and completely unresponsive.
“Sssame,” Jack said, grinning. His smile was a little different than the one Jackie remembered; Jack still had trouble with facial muscles. But it was bright as ever. “H’w’re you?”
“Well…I’m in a hospital.”
“Ah, ffair point.”
“Everything’s healing fast, though,” Jackie said. He patted his chest, pressing into it until he felt a flare of pain. Probably shouldn’t do that. “I got stitches. They’re saying the real problem is, uh…sort of recovery from all the other stuff. Like not exercising and stuff like that. I’m…” he glanced at the nurses, then leaned close to Jack and lowered his voice a bit. “I’m actually supposed to be using a cane, but I hid it, and this nurse wasn’t familiar enough with me to know I was assigned that.”
“Only cane? Luckyyy.” Jack put his head in one hand and leaned it on the armrest of the wheelchair.
“Oh shit I didn’t mean—”
“Nah, ‘m messin’ wif yuh.” Jack’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “‘S fine.”
“Ha. Well, still. Sorry.” Jackie paused, then made himself perk up. “Hey, we can be the hospital bros!”
“Hhell yeh. Hos’ital bros.” Jack held up a hand. Jackie high-fived it. “Yuh see Shase? Mahvin?”
“I saw them when I first got here, yeah. We talked for a long time.” Once again, Jackie fell silent, now recalling that day. He’d been in the hospital for a while, but still didn’t fully believe it until Chase and Marvin walked in. “It’s been, what, a week since then? Chase stopped by a couple times. Said he saw you, too.”
“Yeh.” Jack nodded.
“Right. No Marvin, really.” Jackie paused. Out of all the friends in the group, he was the least close with Marvin. Not that he’d ever say it out loud. You didn’t say stuff like that. But it was true. So he shouldn’t really be as disappointed as he felt.
“Hmmm.” Jack looked away, brows lowering. He didn’t frown, but then again, maybe he had trouble with that. “Well…Mahvin’sss been…haffin trouble.”
“Trouble?” Jackie tilted his head. “What d’you mean?”
“Uh…” Jack hesitated, not sure if he should say. But after a moment, he pressed on anyway. “Well, Mahvin ‘nd Yay-Yay—ugh. Mahvin and JJ were close. And now JJ issss…not here. So he’s been haffin a tuff time dealin wih it. But…y’know, Mahvin felt really bad ‘bout not seein’ me t’at much. Ssso he prob’ly fffeels th’ same ‘bout not seein’ you.”
“Oh.” Jackie wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Well…I hope he gets better.” He looked away. “I hope they find JJ,” he added in a quieter tone.
“D’ yuh know what’ss happen’d?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, of course I know what happened to JJ. I—I talked with him, we were together for…what was it, a month?” Jackie blinked furiously. “Y’know what’s crazy? That…that man is his brother. And he’s…he’s weirdly attached to JJ. It’s creepy.”
“Yeh. JJ tol’ Shase, ‘nd Shase told me,” Jack said. “Um…did th’ police talk t’yuh?”
“Some detective asked me a few questions a couple days ago, yeah,” Jackie nodded. “I…I don’t know if I was that much help. But I told them everything I know. Hopefully it’ll be useful.”
Jack gave him an odd look. “Did…did they tell yuh ‘bout…Sheep?”
“Schneep? …No. Why?” For some reason, Jackie’s stomach started to twist.
“Uhhhh…he’ssss…he’s there,” Jack said, sounding reluctant to explain. “Wih JJ. An tha’…Anti guy.”
Jackie felt his heart stop. “Wh-what? He’s…he’s back with that creep?”
Jack nodded slowly.
“How the hell did that happen?!”
“I dunno! Ask Shase nex time yuh see him.”
“That—that—” Jackie struggled to put his thoughts into words. There was a pit of dread, worry, and overwhelming fear that had opened up in his stomach. “He can’t be there, Jack. Schneep can’t be there. I-I-I don’t think anyone else knows what—I was there, I saw the effect it had on him. I-it was…horrible.” Jackie tried to stand up. Unfortunately, it seemed his legs had decided to stop working, and they couldn’t hold his weight.
“Yackie, what’re you doin’?” Jack asked nervously.
“I don’t know! Something! He can’t be there, Jack! I have to—I have to help, o-or get out of here, or—”
Jack put a hand on his arm. “Yuh can’t leave, Yackie. Yuh—you’rrrre still hurt.”
“But I have to do SOMETHING,” Jackie repeated desperately.
“Well, yuh can’t like t’is.” Jack sighed. He closed his eyes, and his head rolled back to look at the ceiling. “Y—Jackie. I get it. I…I wanna go, too. But I can’. You can…get better faster. Only wih time, though. So…you haf to rest. Yuh haf t’do tha’. So you can leave…a-and hhhelp. For both of us.”
Jackie looked at him. “I’m…sorry, Jack,” he said softly. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“‘M jus’ really…tired o t’is shih,” Jack mumbled. “I can’ even feckin’ walk. So you an’ Shase and Mahvin haf to do this. Okay? Do…doesss t’at make sense?”
“Yeah. It does.” Jackie grabbed Jack’s hand, giving it a tight squeeze. It was a bit unnerving how he could feel the bones in both their hands move with the motion. “I’m going to get better so fast. Or, uh, I’m going to get rest and then my natural healing is gonna make me better so fast. I’m not gonna get up and then—well, you get it, you know?” Jack chuckled a bit, and Jackie smiled. “So when I get out, we’re all going to find JJ and Schneep. And we’ll tell you everything we do, too.”
“…thanks, Jackie,” Jack said softly.
“No problem, Jack. You know we’ll be here for you, too.” Jackie smiled. He straightened, and glanced back at the nurses, who were thankfully out of earshot. “So. Why don’t we talk about something more lighthearted. Uhhhh watch any good TV shows lately?”
Jack groaned. “’ve wa’ched so, so much Tee-Fee. ‘m feckin’ sick of it.”
Jackie laughed. “Cool, so in that case, tell me everything you hate about TV.”
That got a slight laugh out of Jack.
Their meeting was short, and it felt like no time at all had passed before they both had to leave. At which point, Jackie came clean and told the nurse he actually needed a cane, but hadn’t said so earlier because he thought he’d be fine without it. If he was going to do this ‘rest to get better’ thing, he should start by actually following the doctor’s instructions.
.............................................................................................
It had been eight days since they arrived in this apartment.
Or at least, Schneep was pretty sure that was how long it was. He had a hard time keeping time straight under normal circumstances, but as he’d learned in the past few months, being stuck in a small room and not being allowed to leave just made everything harder.
The situation was terrible, but Schneep was trying to list the good things. For one, there was a window. Sure, it was kept closed, but sunlight crept through the gaps in the shutters. That helped with keeping track of time.
For another, Anti hadn’t done anything too bad yet. Sure, he still…wasn’t good. Several times each day, Anti decided he wanted to mess with Schneep. He would tell him he could read his mind, remind him that he was always watching even when he wasn’t there, and say he could make him do anything he wanted, and there was nothing he could do. Some days Anti threatened him, grabbing him and whispering “I could fucking kill you right now, and I might have if you weren’t so useful or fun to watch.” But…at least Anti hadn’t made him…do anything. Schneep was constantly on edge, waiting for the day he’d be dragged out the door to some other location and told to—to—he…didn’t like remembering that. But it hadn’t happened yet. So that was good.
Anti spent a lot of the time on his phone or computer, almost always grumbling to himself about something or other as he stomped around the apartment. From what Schneep could put together based on what he overheard, something had gone very wrong for Anti, and he was scrambling to recover from it. That was also good. If he kept being distracted like this, he’d probably leave Schneep and the other man alone.
Yes, the other man. His name was JJ. He was always nearby, hovering around Schneep silently. His presence was comforting. Things had been a bit awkward at first, since JJ couldn’t talk—or, well, form words was the better way of saying it. He could vocalize easily enough. But slowly, JJ had been giving Schneep refreshers on BSL, which he was really rusty on. By now, they could hold conversations. They talked about a lot of things. Getting to know each other, mostly. Work, friends, favorite books and movies. That sort of stuff. Schneep was glad for the shred of normalcy these conversations provided.
Though…he could tell JJ was holding back from some things. In one conversation, JJ had said he knew Schneep’s friends—Chase, Marvin, Jackie. That he’d spent a lot of time with them. Schneep had been excited, but also a bit sad. “Is—is that why you are here now?” he’d asked. “Because you knew them, and they know me?”
JJ had coughed awkwardly, shook his head no, then moved on, talking more about their respective friends. Schneep had dropped the subject, but he could tell that JJ didn’t want to talk about why Anti had taken him. And he wondered…The only other thing JJ didn’t want to talk about was family. Schneep didn’t mind, he didn’t want to talk about his, either. But still he wondered…if those two things were connected for JJ.
He also wondered why JJ was allowed to walk around the apartment freely. Schneep was pretty much stuck in the bedroom. His ankles were cuffed together, so he couldn’t walk out on his own, and when JJ had tried on Day Four to carry him out, Anti had gotten really angry—the angriest he’d been in the eight days they’d been stuck here—so clearly, it wasn’t allowed. So why was JJ different?
He didn’t want to press him. But eventually, he got his answer anyway.
It was night time, judging by the lack of sunlight coming through the closed shutters. Or maybe it was cloudy. That was a possibility, too. Either way, he and JJ had been sitting on the bed, talking about the places they’d grown up in. JJ had apparently moved around a lot when he was younger, and was in the middle of talking about how he once lived in a town surrounded by a forest…when the bedroom door opened.
“Jamie.” Anti was standing in the doorway. “I need to talk to you.”
JJ immediately stopped signing. He glanced at Schneep, who was staring at Anti with wide eyes, then slowly stood. He reluctantly walked over to Anti, who closed the door the moment JJ walked through it.
For a moment, Schneep just sat there. Waiting. That hadn’t happened before. What if…something was happening? Something bad? Could he—did he want to—? He wasn’t sure. If JJ was hurt, would he shout or scream, or would he just stay silent? After a while of thinking over these agonizing questions, Schneep made a decision.
He slid off the bed and onto the ground. Obviously, he couldn’t walk over to the door, but he refused to crawl, not wanting to give Anti that bit of control over him. So, it was an awkward hopping-shuffling over towards the door, using the walls and furniture to help. Once there, Schneep sat down, putting his head against the wood of the door to listen.
“—it’s not negotiable.” Anti’s voice. There was a slight pause. “It was, in the past. But clearly, you want to bury the past, which I still don’t understand.” A long period of silence. “Well, I’m sorry you feel that way. But I’ve already said everything I can on the matter.”
Schneep frowned. The way Anti was speaking…it wasn’t how he expected. He’d thought that maybe Anti had some sort of special grudge against JJ. But that theory was immediately disproved by this. That wasn’t how people with grudges talked to the subject of their anger. He knew; he’d experienced that for weeks while Dr. Newson was ‘supervising’ him. No, this sounded…almost familiar. No, Familial.
“Just put it on,” Anti said. “I don’t want to arrange a punishment for something this small.”
Oh. Schneep sucked in a breath at that. For a moment, he was back in the past again. Anti was staring him down, saying, “If you don’t, I’ll just do it myself. But to that friend of yours, instead. Do you want your friend to die, Henrik?” Then he forcibly pulled himself out of the moment. He breathed deeply, pressing his hands against the walls, the floor, his head. These were solid things. They were there and now and real, and that meant he was here and now and real.
“Perfect,” Anti said, sounding delighted. “Now, was that really worth all of that?” A pause. “Alright, you don’t have to say anything. That’s—” He stopped. “No. I also wanted to ask you. About Henrik. You two…are getting close.” A pause. “Well, I didn’t have to. I can put you in separate rooms, you know. Maybe I will. That depends. I just want to know. Do you have feelings?” A pause. “You know. Those kind.” A longer pause. Then, Anti laughed. “Yeah, it’s weird, right? I wonder why these people all look like us. I don’t think we’re related to any of them. Anyway, good to hear. That’s it.”
Slight footsteps.
“Actually,” Anti said. The footsteps paused. “I’d advise you not to get too close, in any way. You got really close with Jackie, right?”
In the silence that followed, Schneep panicked internally. Jackie. What had happened to Jackie?! He’d assumed that he was being held captive somewhere else, as Anti often had them separated in the past. But the way he was talking now—what happened to him?!
“NOW that’s it. Well? Go on. You can even close the door.”
After another moment, the footsteps returned. They were getting closer, so Schneep quickly moved out of the way of the door. He was clear just in time for it to open, and JJ to walk in, closing the door quickly behind him. JJ rubbed his eyes, then turned around and hit his head against the nearest wall with a gentle thunk!
“Oof. Be careful not to hurt yourself,” Schneep said.
JJ glanced over at him. He waved.
“Ah…nice jacket,” Schneep said slowly.
JJ scowled. When he left the room, he’d been wearing a white T-shirt and black pants. Now he was wearing a hoodie over his shirt. Bright blue, with a cartoon image of an open book on the front with the text ‘Sorry I can’t make it, I was completely booked’ in big bubble letters. It was…well, Schneep had never used the word ‘cringe’ before, but it certainly seemed a bit childish, and definitely didn’t fit JJ.
“Did…did he make you leave just so he could make you wear that?” Schneep asked slowly.
JJ let out a long breath. He sat down on the floor across from Schneep. 'I had a hoodie like this when I was sixteen,' he signed slowly. 'It’s not bad by itself. I’ve just outgrown the whole ‘quirky bookworm’ part of my personality.' He finger-spelled a lot of the words, so his point would be conveyed perfectly.
“Oh.” Schneep blinked. “Why would he care about that? And did he know you when you were six—” Something clicked into place, and he visibly started. “Wait a moment. Are—are you related? To him?”
A long pause. Then, JJ sighed. 'Yes. Anti is my older brother.'
Schneep stared at him. “He kidnapped his own brother?”
'Yes.'
“What the fuck?” Schneep couldn’t process this. “Did you—did you know? About everything he’s done?”
JJ slowly shook his head. 'Not…not everything. Years ago. He…made me help him. But I ran away when I was twenty-three.' He looked down at his lap. 'I didn’t…know about any of the things with you. Not until everyone else did.'
Schneep leaned back against the wall. “He’s a fucking monster,” he whispered. “His own brother…”
JJ breathed in shakily. 'It’s fine.'
“No, it is not,” Schneep snapped. Then his voice softened. “I am…sorry. This—this should not be happening. To either of us.” He swallowed. “I…do not have a good perception of what a family is. But I know this is not it.”
Slowly, JJ looked back up, his eyes meeting Schneep’s. 'You’re right. He’s not my family.'
They didn’t talk much for the rest of the night. Schneep wasn’t sure what he would have said. So, he just stayed close. And JJ appreciated it. He didn’t say anything more about Anti. Which was fine. Schneep understood.
The two of them fell asleep on the bed a few hours later, their backs pressed against each other. They weren’t awake to see Anti ease open the door and stand there, watching both of them for a long, long while.