Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Aries and Mia roll up to Brett’s house, an impressive piece of real estate with timber cladding and stone.

The gateless, sprawling front yard is occupied by idle cars and swarms of loud-mouthed teenagers, most of them holding red plastic cups.

“You ready?”

Aries releases a tortured grumble. “I think I’d rather trade places with Keila.”

They both exit the car. Aries casts a look down the road, the G-Wagon almost invisible from that distance but he knows they’re there. He shakes his head and they stroll across the yard strewn with the festive throng.

Mia steps in first, her eyes gliding up at the palatial interior that exudes a museum-like presence.

They go to the left, descending the glass steps to the ostentatious foyer that free flows into the massive living room that can afford to accommodate the fist-thumping populace.

“There you guys are.”

Akin approaches, refreshed in an oversized white top with brown cargo pants that have straps.

“Is there alcohol?”

An amused breath blows through his nostrils. “You need it?”

“If I’m going to spend even a second here, ye, I need it. And it better not be some kind of champagne or white wine.”

“I gotchu,” Akin says, waving him over. “Come with me.”

Aries follows but looks back at Mia who encourages him to go on, spotting Opal nearby.

“You and Opal beefing or something?” Aries asks, guiding him through the crowd.

“Why do you ask?”

“The ice queen gave you the cold shoulder. You didn’t think I recognize that tactic?”

Aries breaks into a begrudging smile, hiding it by looking at the floor. “Shut up.”

“Seriously, though what happened?”

In a kitchen that deserves to be on a cooking show, Akin goes for one of the open cooler bags stacked with ice, plunging his hand into it to take out a bottle of beer and handing it to Aries.

“I’m sure there’s a bottle opener somewhere,” he says, looking around.

“I got it.”

Aries comes up to the island and uses the sharp edge of the granite to crack open the bottle. After, he nearly gulps all of it down in one long draft, only leaving a few swallows left.

Akin watches him with an unhinged jaw. “You okay, man?”

Aries frowns at the question and nods nonchalantly.

“Okay enough to tell me what’s going on with you and Opal?”

“Nothing,” he says flatly. “If there was something to say, I’d say it.”

Akin swivels and leans his rear against the counter. “So…”

Aries looks back at him wordlessly.

“Am I going to have to spur the conversation every time?”

Aries nods again. “Ye, you were good at that. Could never keep your mouth shut.”

Akin gapes at him. “Better than throwing fists at every person who just looked at me funny.”

Aries lets out a deep-throated chuckle.

“It’s really good to see you, man.” A question flashes in Akin’s mind. “How long you in town for?”

“As long as I want.”

“Great.” Akin lifts himself straight. “I intend to abuse that. Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Outside. The Taylors have an insane outdoor area.”

He raises a thick black brow. “Trying to get me alone, Ballo?”

Akin glances at him askance and he walks out with Aries in tow. He drains the last of the beer and abandons it on the counter on his way out.

Akin heads for the open sliding door that is merged with the other floor-to-ceiling windows. And Aries catches a glimpse of Opal before he walks out.

***

“Do you want something to drink?”

Mia shakes her head in a vigorous no. “What I need is the bathroom.”

Opal snorts. “That’s at least a five-minute trip. It’s on the other side of the house, straight through that corridor, just follow the fancy LED lights and you’ll get there. Do you want me to come with you?”

Mia considers it for a second. “No, I’m just feeling the Red Sea parting, if you know what I mean. I’m gonna be awhile. Perhaps take this time to stop starving Aries of your attention.”

Opal pulls a face. “Just go.”

Mia sticks out her tongue and hurries to the corridor.

Opal twirls around and ambles to the one enormous glass panel, looking out to the lavish outdoor area. She can see Aries and Akin by the pool with their backs facing the house.

The music escalates into something electric, the beat pounding through the walls, connecting every soul with its vibrations.

“Where’d Akin go?”

Opal turns her head to watch Brett walk up to stand beside her.

She pokes the window to point at them.

He makes a thoughtful sound. “It’s not like Akin to leave someone alone.”

“He didn’t,” she defends quickly, shouting over the music. “Plus, I can handle myself. Thank you.”

Brett gives her a toothy grin. “I’m sure you can. I never got to say this on the ride here but I watched your performance at the Talent-Fest last year. You were remarkable.”

Opal steals a glance. “Thanks,” she says with a hint of gratitude.

“A classic piece, Beethoven’s ‘Les Adieux.’”

Opal flips to the side to stare at him wide-eyed.

“Why the shock?” he asks with a laugh. “Do people honestly think athletes are just uncultured meatheads? I bet you thought I listen to artists like Travis Scott and Drake.”

A smile blossoms on her face and her head tilts from side to side. “Well…”

“Okay I do,” he admits guiltily. Something resembling admiration emerges in his eyes. “But I also have an appreciation for the finer things in life, including music.

“Speaking of music…” he trails off to look at the party people flailing about in his living room. “Wanna dance?”

Alarm bells in her head deafen her, screaming for her to refuse him. And she listens.

“I’m not in the mood.”

He skulks forward, towering over her menacingly. “I bet I can get you in the mood.”

Disgust distorts her features. “Bye, Brett.”

“Come on, Opal—” he grabs her roughly by the hips, forcing her back around and yanking her to him. “Just one dance?”

“Is this music too loud?” She squirms in his relentless hold. “I said ~no~!”

A formidable force rips him from her, sending him staggering back. Aries steps between them, white-hot rage spreading through every limb.

Brett finds his footing and frees a provocative laugh, lengthening his spine and coming back at him slowly. The music ebbs out, eyes drawing to the outburst, whispers murmuring among the multitude.

“Is she your girlfriend or something?”

“She’s mine,” he says in a way that lays a greater claim.

“~Yours~?” Brett repeats venomously. His eyes find Akin who’s pushing his way through the thickening crowd.

“Akin, this one of your new pity projects? Where’d you pick up this stray anyway, because he’s clearly not from here? Braidwood doesn’t enroll street trash.”

Akin backs up Aries. “Brett, you better watch your mouth.”

Aries’s eyes somehow become darker than black, seething silently.

“You’re the one who brought this freak in my house when he clearly belongs behind bars.”

Aries laughs, somehow how a threatening sound that pervades the surrounding silence.

Brett squints at him.

“You know what? Get out, but here—” he slides out a wad of cash out of his pocket and throws it at Aries, splashing his face with paper notes. “Buy yourself a bus fare home.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Akin yells.

Aries looks down at the money scattered at his feet, rage building up to its zenith. He charges forward.

Thompson calls out to warn him, but it’s too late. Aries has him in his grip, hefting him up into the air to slam-dunk him onto the glazed floor.

Brett’s back arches at the impact, pain bursting through his entire rear, his breathing coming out as rasps.

“You’re—an animal,” he gasps with an effort.

Aries has a fistful of his shirt, keeping him pinned down.

“~I wish I was that tame~.”

Akin tries to loosen his hold but Aries is a lot stronger. Ethan and Thompson dash forward to help restrain him. Someone else comes in to help a hunched-over Brett up to his feet.

“Akin, you better get your dog on a lease before he gets put down!”

Held back by three others, Aries’s eyes flit up to the balcony by the entrance. Jax stands right in front of the railing with his one arm hidden behind his back.

Aries’s eyes level, forcing himself to defuse the situation by caging his anger. He darts back, shoving the three away from him, apathetic to the fish-eyed stares locked on him as if he’s a zoo animal that had broken out of its cell.

Aries rotates around and walks away—the crowd splits in half in an instant, giving him a wide berth.

“Aries.”

Opal follows after him, and Akin pursues her. Mia finally finds her way back after being lost for a solid five minutes, only to find her companions departing abruptly with all the party-goers staring after them.

Aries bolts upstairs and exits the house, seeing Jax nowhere in sight.

“Aries!”

He ignores her and marches on, blazing the trail as he crosses the yard.

“Aries, stop, please,” Opal urges, struggling to keep up with him.

“~Oh~,” he draws out dryly. “So now you want to walk?”

“Aries, ~please~.”

His legs stop like his body cannot deny her. He forces himself back around to face her.

Opal doesn’t know what to say, so she says the only thing she can.

“I’m sorry.”

“Aries.” Akin hurries over to them, hemorrhaging remorse. “Bro, I’m so sorry for that—Brett was out of control.”

“Which time?” His anger reignites. “When he was disrespecting me or when he was trying to force himself on Opal?”

“What?” Mia shrieks, catching up to all of them.

“Is that the kind of crew you roll with?” Aries says, shaking his head. His rage is rattling the cage, demanding to be free. “That says a lot about you, ~Ballo~.”

“~Whoa~,” Opal says, lifting a warning finger at Aries. “Do not put this on him.”

“You better watch it, too,” Akin says, his sympathy sucked out of him.

Aries rushes up to him. “Or what?”

Akin’s face warps into an unrecognizable scowl, pushing him back aggressively. “What, you gonna hit me?”

Aries stumbles back and reroutes, ready for round two.

Mia impedes his path, placing her hands on his chest to stop him. “I would like to see you ~try ~to get past me.”

A frigid moment ensues, Aries and Akin meeting each other glare for glare. Opal explodes into a fit of hysterics, laughing uncontrollably, waving an apologetic hand in the air.

Mia steps out from between the boys. “Why are you laughing right now?”

“Erin,” Opal says through a laugh.

Suddenly, Mia joins her chorus of giggles. “She…she would be playing peacemaker right now.”

Akin yields a brilliant smile. “Aries,” he impersonates in a high-pitched girly voice. “Look at me. Stop, Aries. You have to calm down.”

Aries wipes his smile from his mouth with his hand.

“Opal, are you good?” Akin asks.

“He didn’t do anything.”

Mia scoffs. “Because you weren’t alone with him.”

“This was a flop, and it’s my fault. I should’ve never brought you guys here. What I should’ve done is invite you to my ma’s restaurant instead.”

He beats his chest with a flattened hand. “On me. What do you say we ditch this place and grab a bite? Like how it should’ve been.”

Mia stretches her arms up above her head. “I could eat.”

Everyone looks at Aries as if seeking direction.

Aries makes fleeting eye contact with each of them and submits a terse nod.

“Well, we drove with Brett to get here,” Akin points out.

Aries gets the hint and resumes his march to his car, gesturing for them to follow from over his shoulder.

***

Later, a block away from the restaurant, they all climb out of Aries’s vehicle, parked on the curbside.

“You guys head inside, we’ll be out in a sec,” Aries informs them.

Mia and Akin head inside, speaking to each other like not a day has passed between them.

Opal folds her arms with a heavy sigh. “You wanted to ta—”

He goes up to her and his large hands cup her jaw, tilting her face from side to side, checking for any bruising. Opal’s nose scrunches up, placing her hands on his wrists to try pry them off.

“I’m fine, Aries.”

“Are you?”

He drops his hands and backs away. Suddenly feeling cold, she folds her arms again, her thumb stroking her skin, avoiding eye contact.

“I wasn’t mad that you left.”

“Then what?”

“I was mad at~ you.~” She drops her voice to a covert whisper, flinging furtive looks around them, worry manifesting as anger.

“I was mad at your life, realizing that it won’t ever be just one time. I mean, what you do is ~dangerous~.”

Aries breaks into a grin, his eyes gleaming like black waters at midnight, twinkling with mirth.

He nears again. Opal inches rearwards until her back hits the hood of his car.

“You were worried about me?”

Opal lifts a halting hand to stop him. He comes closer until her hand rests against his chest.

“You don’t have to worry about me, princess.”

She snaps her hand back to her side. “I’m not your princess.”

“No,” he agrees truthfully. “No, you’re not.”

He swivels around and strolls toward the entrance of the restaurant. Opal blinks many times and follows after him.

He holds the door open for her as they enter, spotting Mia and Aries by the cherry-red booths with three gold-edged menus on the table. Aries lets Opal slide in first and then he goes in after her.

Aries’s hand swoops over her head to lay his arm behind her on the head of the booth.

Akin stares at them both with an arced brow. “You two sure you’re not dating?”

Aries casually takes up a menu. “If you’re jealous, Ballo, just say that.”

Akin relaxes into his seat and looks over at Mia. “What you’re going to eat?”

“I think I’ll have the same thing as last time.”

“Same.”

Aries peruses the menu and consults with Opal about what she wants to eat.

“I don’t know, maybe this salad here,” she says, her finger tapping one of the options under the long list of choices.

Aries slants closer to inspect her choice. “No, there’s not an ounce of protein in that. Nah.” He takes up his own menu and flicks through to the selections of combos. “The ocean platter for two, we can share that?”

“So I can’t choose for myself now? What’s next, you’re going to start spoon-feeding me?”

Aries frees a rolling sigh. “Why you have to turn everything into an argument? I’m asking you to share with me. You like seafood, ye?”

Opal thinks it over, then gives her approval in the form of a bored bop of her brows.

Akin flags over a server and allows them to make their orders first. The waiter takes their drink orders before he notes the litany.

Bothered by a discomfort nagging at him, Akin’s eyes flit to Aries who observes him with a critical look, melding with curiosity and scrutiny.

“You have something to say?” he says blatantly.

He gives an exaggerated headshake. “Just tryna figure out why you hang with those you hang with.”

“This again,” Opal mutters.

“Listen,” Akin begins seriously, leaning forward to drop his forearms on the edge of the table.

“Alister, Ethan, and Brett gave me the benefit of the doubt when I first joined the team. The others wouldn’t even share the same bench as me. They treated me like I was a walking disease or something.

“But when they found out who my father was and saw my skills on the field…they treated me differently.”

Aries keeps his expression hollow, yielding nothing.

“Brett has been good to me in a way that you’ll never understand.” Fiery emotions burn behind his eyes.

“He’s the realest friend I’ve ever had since you guys. And I’ve never known him to press up on a girl like that. He doesn’t need to. Girls practically throw themselves at his feet when he gives them the bare minimum.”

“Why are you blaming Akin?” Mia interjects. “He just wanted to see the band back together.”

Aries’s gaze arrows to her.

“Back together…” he trails off to make eye contact with each of them. “Is this what this is? Last time I checked, we split for a reason.”

“And that same reason brought us back together,” Mia advocates. “Something things…some people are just kismet.”

Opal nods like she’s listening to a TED Talk.

“And I,” she adds, “am tired of running and avoiding things, including each other. We’ve done that for years and all it did was bring us back together again.

“I think fate is trying to tell us something, and it’s about damn time we listen.”

The waiter comes over to their table to deposit their round of drinks, then departs again.

“Yeah.” Akin slides his gin and tonic closer, stirring it idly with the straw. “As long as we’re in Braidwood, there is no running. Detectives be popping out like whack a mole asking about Erin and K—”

Aries perks up, retracting his arm from behind Opal. “A detective was asking you about Erin?”

Akin nods tentatively.

“Was his name Russo?”

Mia’s eyes fly up to him. “You know Russo?”

He looks back at her. “~You~ know Russo?”

Aries chuckles without humor. “That bastard been down your throat about Erin, too?”

Mia nods quickly. “Harassing me is more like it and let me tell you, he’s not like the others. I can see it. The questions he asks, his approach, I know for a fact that he’s not walking away until he knows what’s what.”

Aries and Opal share a knowing look.

“I told her the same thing,” he says, nodding absently, then he returns his attention to Mia. “But I’m not worried. We all know he won’t get even near the truth—in fact, I hope he does. He’ll just end up like Erin.”

“C’mon man,” Akin says with a hint of reproach.

Aries’s hand flips open in genuine confusion. “What? The closer he tries to get to this, the closer he gets to meeting her, if that’s really what he wants.”

“Bro, you can’t blame them for their ignorance,” Akin says diplomatically. “What happened to Erin and now Keila is harrowing for everyone.”

“Ye, what about us?” Aries snaps back, his finger prodding Akin’s chest. “We’re the ones who had to carry the weight of the truth for years. I ain’t never been the same since that night.”

Akin shoots forward in his seat, bringing his fist to the table, rattling everything on top. “And you think I have?” His eyes do a superstitious sweep over those in range.

“What happened to her~…~” He closes his eyes for a moment, a current of emotions washing over him. “That is a weight I will carry to my grave.

“But we don’t have to carry it alone,” he says, sharing a pointed look with Mia who smiles back at him warmly.

Akin extends a hand to him.

Aries’s eyes drop to it with a revolted curl hanging on the edge of his lips. “No.”

“C’mon.”

“No.”

“Group swear, Aries,” Akin urges.

“Swear to what?”

Aries tilts forward, his volume dropping to a whisper.

“Before we swore to never break our oath. Now we swear that no matter what happens because of that night—” he glances at Opal and Mia, “—we’ll have each other’s backs no matter what.”

Aries clasps his hands with his. “Always.”

Mia extends her hand over theirs to Opal. And she takes it, their hands bound together, and simultaneously, they withdraw.

Something in the atmosphere changes between them, a new awareness of each other that is only perceptible to them.

Aries picks up his fresh beer bottle and takes a swig.

Mia’s phone buzzes and she slides it out to check. Her face sours into an annoyed look.

“You good?” Akin asks.

“My mother.

“~Oo~, take cover, everyone.”

She elbows him lightly.

“You have to go or something?” Opal questions.

“I’ll go, ~after, ~I eat.”

***

“Mia!”

She comes out of the bathroom, changed into her pajamas, her hair drenched, taking a towel to her head and wrapping it around to hold it in place. Mia trots down the staircase.

“Yeah.”

“Am I the only one that finds it quite strange that after all these years, you guys reconcile out of the blue?”

“Not out of the blue,” she says with a fierceness in her correction. “Before, it was only Erin who was gone. But now it’s Keila as well. That kind of coincidence is difficult to ignore.”

“You’re not the only one that feels that way.”

Mia pauses at the bad news borne on her tone.

She approaches the living room with sudden caution, intrigued by the thick red⁠—the breaking news banner at the bottom of the flat screen.

An interview is airing on CNN, news about a gifted athlete who has gone missing mysteriously. Mia’s eyes fill her sockets, and Irene offers her a rueful look before she increases the volume.

“This is a horrible thing that has happened to you, Mr. and Mrs. Venus. What were your first thoughts when she was officially declared a missing person?”

Angie Venus and her husband stand together, in front of their home as their backdrop with a sophisticatedly dressed news anchor interviewing them live with an entire professional crew.

“There are no words,” Angie answers, her arm coupled with Robert. “The terror and dismay I felt. I was shocked but not surprised.”

“Not surprised? Why is that?”

“This has happened before.”

“The Erin Lockwood case?”

“Yes.”

“Tell us more about that. Is there a correlation between the two disappearances?”

“Most definitely,” she says in a way like the question was meant as an insult.

“Erin disappeared in the woods, at midnight. My daughter vanished into the night just the same. And because of that I am certain her friends share my pain.”

“How so?”

“Though they were young,” she discloses, her eyes drifting to look directly into the camera, “her friends were there that night.

“My daughter, Aries Black, Opal Chiang, Akin Ballo, and Mia Trinket. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that two people from the same friend group go missing, do you?”

Irene switches off the TV and chucks the remote on the couch. “I should wring her neck.”

“~Mom~.”

“She said your name!” she yells, rage crushing any sense of reason. “She put a target on your back. The last thing you need is your face and name out there like that.”

“What’s done is done,” Mia says, astoundingly level-headed. “It was inevitable. Mrs. Venus just sped up the process. Say nothing to her, ~please~.

“If we act reactive, it might give the wrong impression, like we’re trying to hide something.”

Mia makes a start for the staircase.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to call Akin and see if he knows.”

She jogs ups the steps and takes out her phone, only to see a mounting list of notifications.

Opal

Did you guys see the news??

Akin

That Keila’s mom threw us under the bus! It’s only trending on every news platform! This ish just went international!

Akin

This is bad!

Opal

Bad? Try a catastrophe! I can’t have this notoriety looming over my head like a cloud. This kind of bad publicity can jeopardize my scholarship.

Akin

Opal, we look like suspects in our friends’ disappearance and you’re freaked about a scholarship??? You forreal?

Akin

She made it sound like we know something? ‘We were there that night’ she might as well said we were the ones that killed her.

Opal

Aries? Mia? Where are you guys?

Mia

Sorry, I’m here. I know this is bad. We don’t change the narrative. We have given sworn testimonies, police statements and everything. In the eyes of the law, we are innocent.

Akin

What about in our own eyes?

Mia

It’s like you said. We take that truth to the grave.

^INTERLUDE: What’s Wrong with Erin?^

^NINE YEARS AGO^

“So you also see that she’s been acting weird?”

“She hasn’t hung out with us in months, not after school and not even on the weekends,” Keila affirmed. “Ya, I’d say that’s pretty weird.”

“Exactly,” Mia squeaked. “Months, she’s been on her own and giving the same excuse that she’s ‘busy’ on the weekend and even during the holidays. No one is that busy.”

“You clearly haven’t met my dad,” Akin muttered.

“Erin has been acting weird, and very sneaky,” Opal agreed. “It’s like she’s hiding something. Do you think it has to do with her stepdad? Maybe he’s the one keeping her inside.”

Akin nodded. “It’s possible.”

Aries was finally released from the classroom. He made his way outside where the other children were enjoying their recess.

He crossed the playground with his hood on and his hands in his pocket, walking to the end of the field where turtle-slow lawnmowers manicured the grass to a clean cut, making his way to the Great Oak.

“Aries,” Akin announced on his approach. “Where have you been?”

“Been held back.” He took off his hood to expose his bruised eye, blotches of dark purple and a veiny red. “Teachers called the principal on me. They thought I was being abused at home.”

Mia gawked at him. “Were you?”

“No, I’m not Erin.”

“C’mon, dude,” Akin chided.

“My grandpop’s friend, he’s teaching me how to fight and check this out”—he yanked on his jacket sleeve to showcase his bandaged forearm—“got cut by his katana sword.”

“Katana like the Japanese sword?” Opal asks.

“Yeah, he’s Japanese just like grandpop.”

Akin scanned him theatrically. “You don’t look Japanese.”

“My mom is mixed and my dad is white.”

Akin snickered. “So you’re a mix breed?”

Aries’s gaze turned into a violent glare.

Akin’s hands shot up above his head. “I mean that in a good way. I never knew that about you because you never talk about your family.”

Aries huffed. “I don’t see you making speeches about your dad.”

“Guys,” Opal snapped, “can we focus?”

“On what?” Aries asked.

“Erin,” she answered. “She’s at the bathroom but she’ll be back any sec.”

“I say we ambush her,” Mia suggested. “I’ll have my mom call her mom to set up a sleepover or something, so Erin can’t lie about it to anyone even if it’s to cover for her stepdad. That’s if he’s the reason why she’s been absent.”

“It has to be the reason,” Keila stated. “Erin would never avoid us like that for so long. He must be controlling her.”

“Okay, then it’s set,” Opal said. “Mia’s mom will do it, and hopefully she doesn’t ask Erin first, and she just agrees to it because other than us. It’s not like she has other friends.”