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Chase sat longfully looking out of the attic window, deep in reverie. It wasn’t like him to be off in space, but something was bothering him. His back ached from the position he was sitting in although he was too upset to move.
I hope Buddy’s okay, the young man thought, still contemplating, looking out the window. Buddy had been gone the last two times Chase and Deacon had entered the story books.
Deacon had told Chase not to worry. “Buddy is just probably sick.” Although Chase clearly remembered the goth telling him he never gets sick. Or maybe Buddy was just trying to brag to Chase when he said that. Who knows. That wasn’t important right now. Buddy. Buddy was important.
“Oh dear…” Chase heard Silver's voice cry out. “Is he alright?, he has been there for quite some time now. Hasn’t he?”
“Yeah..” Deacon sighed. Chase didn’t hear what else his cousin had to say as his thoughts got too loud, drowning out the rest of the sounds around him. He heard their mumbles as their voices carried but he couldn’t focus on anything they were saying although he knew they were talking about him. Or maybe Buddy.
What if Ex Libris somehow found out about us and they’re punishing Buddy for not getting enough information about us. Or maybe he’s being starved and doesn’t have enough energy to go into the books. Chase felt the back of his throat swell up as his face got warm. Am i crying he thought. The salty tears that pooled from his eyes were the only confirmation he needed.
“Chase…” Deacon whispered hesitantly, putting a gentle hand over his right shoulder. Chase leapt up towards Deacon throwing his arms around him. Deacon tried to say something else but Chase couldn’t hear his cousin. Not over his own sobs.
Chase cried in his arms until the tears burned his cheeks. Until he felt something had changed. Until there was nothing left but anger. Whatever that book cult was doing to Buddy. They would regret it and Chase would make sure of it. He felt a cold small grip on his ankle. Perhaps it was one of the keys trying to help comfort him. I have to keep trying for them, I can do this.
“Can you hear me?” Deacon asked, his arms still wrapped loosely around Chase. “Yeah. I’m sorry…” he responded sniffling. “Don’t ever apologize for crying, it's a good way to release tension.”
“Okay doctor.” Chase horsley said attempting to crack a job, trying to lighten the mood. He pulled his head back to look at Deacon half expecting his cousin to roll his eyes or shoot back a smart-ass response but Deacon just stood there with a sad expression not meeting Chase's eyes. “You know you can always talk to me Chase, right?”
“Yeah man. I’m sorry. I just.. got too lost in my thoughts.”
Deacon nodded seemingly to understand what Chase had said. “It happens to the best of us. I just want you to know that you're not alone. Well… he’s not alone. Buddy has us now. Right? We don’t really know his situation or what’s going on but I’m sure Grandpa Ralph would be happy to let him stay with us for awhile if he needs to… you know get out of a bad situation.”
Chase nodded hopefully. It was the first time Deacon had spoken of helping Buddy so it kinda took him by surprise that they were both on the same page. The majority of the time Deacon would talk about how trusting Buddy was “absolutely appalling” as “what would he do if he knew where we lived!” It was refreshing to see Deacon thinking thoughtfully about his future brother in law. Wait what! Who thought that? Not me!
“If you're not up for another book that’s fine, you can sit them out for a while if you want. Take all the time you need-” Deacons voice began to trail off as if he were looking for the right words to say next.
“No!” Chase said firmly, Sitting up straighter beside Deacon. “I’m fine, and maybe Buddy will be back this time!”
“That’s the spirit!” Silver pulled herself up onto Chase’s hand and shifted into her key form.
Bronze did the same. “Chase, I'm ready whenever you are.”
For a few moments Chase was blinded by the heavy flowing light that transported him and his cousin into the story.
The sky was a soft faded gray and the air smelled salty. Chase lifted his head ever so slightly cringing at his surroundings. He and his cousin were on what appeared to be a worn-down ship surrounded by a murky sea. The water was serene yet roily. Who knew what lurked underneath the ship. Chase took in a deep breath trying to comprehend why his cousin picked such a distasteful book. Deacon was lucky that the waters were calm otherwise Chase would have thrown him overboard.
“Dorkin! Why?”
“Why what? I asked you earlier if we could do this book, you said it was fine.” Deacon explained. “Besides, we're not going to be on this ship for the whole story. Most of it takes place on an island.”
Oh wait. I do remember him asking about that. Ugh why the hell did I agree!
Chase gazed down at the floor regretting coming with Deacon, when his shiny brown boots caught his eye. Chase didn’t typically care too much about his shoes, but these shoes were different. They made him taller. He wasn’t anywhere near Deacon’s height but he was at least 5 '5 now, and that was something.
A loose cotton-like brown fabric of his new balloon pants swooped down covering the shaft of Chase's boots. A light pink shirt covered his chest while a belt bag of a similar shade was strapped across his hips.
“Fine. fine. Run me by the story. What do I have to do first?” Chase asked, running his fingers through his hair, his fingers lightly touching what seemed to be a flower crown. It was fine. Everything was okay. It was just some stupid ship…
“Chase if you don’t feel comfortable you can leave, or we can choose a different book…”
“No Dorkin! Everything is fine, let's just get this stupid book done! What should I do?”
Deacon looked taken aback. He stared back at Chase as if he was trying to read his facial expression. “Okay… you are a young girl named Mai, who ran away from home to pursue her dreams of being a pirate. You end up befriending me, a traveling lone sailor, and that's how the story starts-”
“Why would someone run away to become a pirate of all things! A supermodel maybe, but a pirate?”
“Chase let me finish. I haven't even got to the important information yet.”
Chase scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Were in a pirate book how important can anything be?”
Deacon glared at Chase but didn’t seem to have a comeback. Maybe he was tired and didn't want to deal with him although perhaps it was because of how upset he had been about Buddy earlier. Chase would never know when it came to Deacon.
“I end up joining your crew and we go off searching for more members to join. We come across an island where we meet a young woman, the villainess in this tale. Her name is Amina, Hopefully Buddy’s actually here today though. The young woman joins the crew although she ends up planning to overthrow you and steal the ship. She’s actually a thief who sells her earnings to make a living wage.”
“Overthrow me? I dont get wet do i?”
Deacon softly shook his head. “No, that's not what happens as long as we follow the story. I overhear the villiness singing about stealing your ship, inform you and together you and I leave the island with the ship before dawn and the story will end.”
Chase looked at his cousin skeptically. His cousin was dressed in a navy colored suit with shiny buttons that fell along his left side. On his head an odd shaped hat sat awkwardly. “If you say so, Dorkin. You know how to control this thing, right?” he asked, motioning towards the ship's wheel.
“Of Course!” Deacon replied eagerly, adjusting his dark tricorn hat to get a good look at the waters.
Chase had grown tired and had found himself leaning against the ship's tabernacle. Deacon and him had been chatting previously but their conversations now just felt like fuzzy dreams. Chase was unable to sleep as the ship kept moving. Whenever he found a comfortable position he ended up sliding down the deck and having to readjust himself back into his previous spot. He swore to himself that he wouldn’t go home until the story was finished but this dumb ship was making it really hard.
“Brace yourself, we are almost to the island.” Deacon called out his voice making Chase jolt up from the ground.
Even though Deacon had warned Chase to be ready for the arrival at port when the ship finally came to a stop it took him by surprise making him fall. Once again. This time Deacon was able to help pull him up though.
“Sorry about that. I'm still pretty new to the whole driving the ship thing.” he said, extending a hand to Chase lifting him up. The ship itself was still shaking but with Deacon's steady grip around his cousin's wrist, Chase was able to balance well. Deacon then guided him off of the ship.
The island was covered with many palm trees and the ground was pale and chalky. It reminded him of the island he and Buddy had stayed at during the beach book. As Chase walked forward the sand dust gathered around the heels of his shoes making him sink a little every time he took a step.
As much as I love Silver, heeled boots aren't ideal for this kind of story. Chase fell to his knees grabbing at the heel of his brown boots. That’s when the heel shrunk and the boots shifted. Wow, where did Silver learn about convertible heeled shoes? Probably from that runway show I was watching earlier.
“Chase is that…” Deacon was staring off into the distance. When Chase looked up to see what his cousin was looking at he sprang up and began running.
“Buddy!” he cried, as he blindly ran forward .The young man was far from Chase but he could recognize him from anywhere.
There he was. His thick black hair messily covered his face but even from afar Chase could see his icy blue eyes. A long sleeved matte purple shirt fully covered his chest while a black corset hugged Buddy's waist. A bandana a similar shade of purple to his shirt was uncouthly but delicately tied over his neck, while his legs were fully covered in a loose black fabric that covered the top of his black shoes. It was kind of strange to see Violet dress Buddy in something that didn't somehow expose his pale chest, but Buddy looked fine regardless.
Chase tried to slow his running down and swept his arms tightly around Buddy, embracing the goth into a hug. An odd expression shifted onto his face while he and Chase both fell to the ground.
Oof. I must not have slowed down enough. Is he alright?
“Are you okay?” Chase asked, swiftly extending a hand to Buddy.The young man just lay there sadly looking up at the grayish sky then his eyes shifted to Chase.“I was wondering when you would show up again. I was worried something had happened.” Buddy looked surprised and took Chase's hands but didn’t say anything.
A thin bracelet of tungsten was crossed over Buddy's wrist and Chase noticed the young man also had a loop of tungsten around his right ear lobe.
Chase pulled Buddy up from the ground and began to dust sand off of himself. Buddy didn’t bother and just looked a little lost. “Hey, can I ask you something?” Buddy whispered, his voice shaky.
“What is it? You can ask me anything.” I mean as long as it's not my social security number or something.
“Did you really mean it whe-” Buddy’s voice cut off as Deacon got closer. “Never mind… I'll talk to you later.” he sputtered, turning away.
“Uhh nice to see you Buddy.” Buddy just glared at Deacon not returning the greeting. Yet Deacon's eyes didn't leave Buddy as if he were waiting for some sort of reply.
“Shall we continue on with the story?” Buddy asked, turning to Chase. It wasn't entirely odd to see Buddy and Deacon not get along but usually Buddy would at least acknowledge him.
“Yep! What's next?”
Buddy shot Deacon a resentful look. “Hey don't give me that look Buddy! I already ran through a summary of the story with him.” Deacon explained. “Next in this story Chase, you and I try to convince the villainess to join us.”
Chase turned to Buddy with a goofy smile pasted onto his face. “Well you should totally join us, I can't speak for Dorkin but I would love to have you aboard my crew.” Buddy turned away a light blush spreading across his face.
“As much as I would love to join you, I have rather important matters to take care of.”
“What?” Wait. Doesn’t the villainess end up agreeing to join my crew? Why isn’t Buddy agreeing to join me? “What kind of matters? I thought the story says you do end up joining my crew!”
“Pshhh…I don't expect an idiot like you to understand, and I eventually do uh- agree to join your crew. Now isn't the right time though…You would know that if you actually read the book.” Buddy's remarks came out forced and imposed compared how he naturally would insult Chase and Deacon as if his life depended on it.
“Right. Well when is the right time?”
“Ask Freckles, I can't deal with this today.”
This? What's this? But before Chase could ask what Buddy had meant, the young man was already walking ahead. Each step he took looked staggered. Shit! Maybe when I ran into him I actually ended up hurting him. No wonder he's salty. Chase turned to look at his cousin but Deacon was too focused on Buddy to meet Chase's eyes.
After Buddy was out of sight Deacon turned to his cousin. “What were you guys talking about before I came over?” Deacon asked nervously.
Oh wait! That's right! “Buddy was trying to tell me something, I'm not sure what it was though. He said he would tell me later.”
“You should probably check on him, he looked hurt, did you see that bruise?”
Chase's eyes widened. “What bruise?”
Deacon took a deep breath while covering his mouth with his right hand. “He had a bruise on his neck. It was kind of hard to notice with the bandana but it was still slightly visible, at least from where I was standing.”
“Fuck…” Chase whispered. “Please stay here, i'll go find him”
Chase began running off in the direction Buddy went but he couldn't see him anywhere. He looked down examining the sand for fresh footprints to help aid him in the route Buddy went but there were none except for his own footprints. What kind of story book logic is this? Of Course the villainess doesn't leave any footprints. “Buddy?” he called out. If I were Buddy, where would I go? He was always leaning against something lazily or had his nose in a book. Chase tried to picture where Buddy might be but the only image he could paint in his head was a smug looking Buddy leaning overtop of him resting his chin on Chase's head. “Buddy!” he started to scream. There was no answer so onward he ran.
Chase came across a small wooden hut that appeared to have some form of light coming from inside it. He slowly approached it, staying silent to see if he could hear anything from inside. Chase crept closer to the thin walls and peered from the side frame into the small huts open window.
A pair of icy blue eyes met his and a startled Buddy flinched. The young man was huddled in the corner of the small hut with what seemed to be a curtain or sheet, his knees tucked into his stomach while he held tightly onto himself.
“Can I come in?” Chase cautiously asked with a furrowed brow. He then raised his hand slowly to the window to show Buddy that it was just him as only Chase's eyes and the top of his head were visible from the window.
The goth nodded in return.
Chase slowly entered the hut and sat down next to Buddy but left enough distance between them to give Buddy some space. “You don't have to talk right now if you don't want to, but I just wanted to check on you.” Buddy wouldn't meet Chase's eyes and kept staring at the floor. “If you need anything…anything at all just let me know and I can head home, get it, and come back. It's no problem. Really.”
“Anything…” Buddy echoed, lifting his head to meet Chase's gaze.
“Yes, anything.” Chase paused for a second expecting Buddy to ask for something but the young man went silent again, but this time he faced Chase looking confused but hopeful.
“Do you need any more food or something? How is the stash I sent a while ago treating you. I can always get you more…”
“It's…Uh-It's fine. I don't need any more food as of now. By any chance do you have any painkillers at your house…My head is killing me.”
“Sure thing.” Chase tugging at his key, suddenly Buddy grabbed his arm pulling him close, shaking.
“Please dont go! Not now.” He whispered his breath warm on Chase's face. “About what I was going to ask you earlier…” Buddy grip tightened around Chase's wrist. “Did you really mean it when you said… W-when you said…” Buddy stumbled over his words as tiny droplets formed at the bottom of his eyes.
Chase flung his arms softly around Buddy. He felt awful for not understanding what Buddy was trying to ask before. For not noticing how hurt he was. “Buddy I will always be there for you, and that is a promise.”