Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Coming Home ❯ 20 ( Chapter 20 )

20

shhh…just close your eyes and go to sleep, there's nothing to be afraid of…

Brad and I shared a wonderful two days, easy in each other's company at last. We kept our separate beds, as neither of us was really accustomed to sharing without necessity, but our waking hours resonated with warmth.

Nagi had been mending day by day, and was now able to walk unaided around the apartment, though it tired him out fairly quickly and he still spent a lot of time sleeping.

Farfarello was tolerating his new anti-seizure medication well enough. He complained it made him feel sluggish, but at least it seemed to be working. He still showed an unsettling degree of interest in Nagi, as he had ever since the tower; this didn't seem to worry Brad, so I left it alone. We had accumulated a fair number of books and magazines in English by then, and Farf would spend hours just reading out loud to the kid. I didn't pay much attention to the content, only caring that Nagi absorbed the words and became confident in his speech again.

Like a summer storm, it came quickly, too quickly for my mental barometer to pick it up until it was too late. We were all focused on our healing, which seemed to be going well. None of us noticed any warning signs until the morning that Brad Crawford snapped.

Farfarello, Nagi, and I watched as he hurried through our apartment, drawing the curtains shut and making sure that no light could leak out around them. We listened to his whispered injunctions against noise of any kind: no loud television, no loud talking, he even expected us to walk like the floor was made of glass.

And no one, not even himself, was to leave the apartment until further notice.

"Brad, what have you Seen?" I asked, voice low. He had acted on visions before, but never so dramatically. This was scaring the crap out of me.

He turned, eyes haunted. "Something. There's something coming, I don't know what it is, but it's bad. Very bad."

"Are they here?" My stomach tightened as I asked this; if they were, we were effectively trapped.

"Not here, but close. Very close."

Though his actions unnerved me, I nodded and promised to obey. I figured we'd lay low for a day or two and it would blow over. Already Farf and Nagi had withdrawn from the impromptu briefing in search of breakfast.

Four days later: it hadn't blown over. Brad had been pacing around the apartment, fretting and jumping at small sounds. He hadn't shaved. I wasn't certain he'd bathed, either. He looked like some mad prophet, striding with determination and mumbling secrets only he could know.

I was watching the man I loved fall into insanity, and there was nothing I could do for him.

Nagi wouldn't come into the room if Brad was already there. Likewise, Farfarello avoided our leader, preferring to read either to himself or, in very hushed tones, aloud to Nagi.

I felt I was losing my mind right along with Brad. It was horrible enough to watch him go through whatever this was, but I had to do it without the benefit of nicotine. He still wouldn't let me smoke indoors, and now the balcony was off-limits. My nerves were almost as frayed as his, and my temper had deteriorated to a dangerous level.

On the fifth evening of this imposed isolation, the storm broke.

Brad stood by the kitchen bar, chewing on the sides of his fingernails. His eyes were wild; I don't think he'd been sleeping. I reached out to touch his arm. He didn't even seem to notice.

"Brad. Hey, Brad," I murmured, trying to sound soothing. "Come on, let's sit down." I tried to steer him to the couch.

He resisted. "I'm fine, Schu."

"Brad, have you Seen anything new? Do you have any more information for us?" I tried to touch his mind as I asked this, in the hopes that his surface thoughts might give me a clue to his current state. But his shields were blank and impenetrable.

"No. Something is going on, but I still can't See it clearly enough."

"How long are you planning to keep us locked away in here? You haven't even taken care of yourself lately. What the hell did you See, Brad?" My fear started changing into anger as it usually does; with it, my volume started to go up.

"Keep it down, you idiot," Brad snarled, glancing around nervously. "This is just until things change again. You know that's how it works."

"How long will you keep waiting?" I tried to keep my emotions in check, but it was damn hard. Being locked in an apartment with my teammates when none of us were quite right in the head was really taking its toll. I knew Far felt it. I'd even seen it echoed in Nagi's eyes.

"Schuldig, stop arguing with me." Brad started to walk away, toward his bedroom.

"What the fuck do you mean by that?" I followed close behind him, then reached out and gripped his arm. "I'm worried about you, damn it! You're acting crazy!"

"Schuldig, keep it down!" He spun around and glared at me. Light reflected off his glasses, obscuring his eyes like lightning.

"Fuck no, I won't keep it down, Brad!" I shouted. "You've gone over the edge! This is craziness." I halted and took a deep breath. I tried to calm myself, tried to lower my voice when I spoke next. "Brad," I whispered, "maybe you need to see the doctor, get something for anxiety. Your visions aren't usually this vague, you know that, right? I think you're imagining this one. I don't think there's any immediate threat to us here except from a paranoid man with a gun and a murderous knife-wielding lunatic."

"Screw you, Schuldig. I am not crazy." Brad's voice was dangerously quiet. "I am your leader, you agreed to stay here, to stay with your team. Will you follow my orders or will you not?"

"What if one of us needed help, Brad?" I growled. "What if Farf has a seizure? What if Nagi needs a doctor? Are you ready to keep him locked in here without help?"

"Nagi has nothing to do with this. He will mend." Brad glared at me as though daring me to contradict him.

"How the hell do you know that? How do you know that Nagi won't need a god damned doctor? You've locked us into this apartment with no good explanation, other than you've Seen something that scared the hell out of you. Does that justify keeping Nagi locked up like a god damned terrier? As far as useful, Brad, you haven't Seen shit lately!" I was within punching distance, Brad was within grappling distance. We faced each other, neither of us moving.

A pale form ghosted into the space between us, facing Crawford. Farfarello braced his legs and held an open stance, then slowly turned his head and glared at me over his shoulder with that one bright eye. He was ready to fight both of us. "Leave the boy out of this."

Dimly, through my anger, I could hear Nagi shouting, "Itai! Urusai! Urusai!" I glanced toward his room. The boy stood in his doorway, hands pressed to his ears and tears gleaming on his face, his expression a rictus of migraine agony.

Brad turned without another word and strode to his room, shutting the door with quiet firmness.

Farfarello stared at me. "Whatever you're going to do," he hissed, "do it quietly."

I stepped past him and hurried into my own room. I couldn't deal with Nagi's headache, or with Farf's anger, or with Brad's madness. With shaking hands, I changed into my leather pants and silk shirt, pulled on my low boots, and collected my cash and my smokes. If I stayed in that apartment tonight, someone was going to die.

As I passed back through the living room, I heard muffled voices from Brad's room. Sounded like Farf was telling him about Nagi's headache, enlisting his help. Good. I hated the thought of leaving the kid, but I was not stable, and I would be more of a hindrance than a help at this time. I hoped he'd forgive me for running like this, but I had no other option.

My hand was on the doorknob when I heard Crawford say, "Let him go. It'll happen anyway." His words made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Rather than confront him again and demand an explanation, I opened the door and strode out of the apartment.