“So? What can I do for you tonight?” Wrench's counsellor asked. “It's not often I get called for emergency meetings in the dead of night, even less frequently am I available for it. You're in Lady Luck's good graces, it seems.”
Wrench smiled, thinking about their encounter with Janice. “Heh. Yeah, I suppose so. A-and, sorry for calling you out like this. I know this is inconvenient for you.”
“Oh, nonsense! I promise, if I was busy or had other things to attend to, we wouldn't be here tonight. But I don't have too much time, so we should make the most of it while we can.”
“Okay... well.” Wrench adjusted their posture and cleared their throat. “I'm worried sick. One of my friends... I think something's seriously wrong with him. He's one of my only friends in Miyatama, and he's one of my best buds. Normally he's kind of skittish, kinda like me, I suppose,” they chuckled, pausing to take a breath. “But he's been acting really weird lately. Y-you know the Maroon breakout?”
Their therapist hummed and nodded.
“Yeah... with the volons and everything. My friend is being stalked by one at his workplace. He got it on video and I watched it. And I'm scared for his life.”
Wrench took a long, deep breath, looking down into their lap.
“I try to act normal around him because I don't want to make him more anxious or anything. I want to try to be a positive influence, you know? But we haven't seen each other in weeks – we've only communicated via text. And, well, I guess this is kind of ironic, but in the waiting room, I was messaging him... long story short, we might be getting together tomorrow. Which is perfect! Because... my main reason for coming here was to ask if you knew of any, like... resources I could give him. Or something like that. Maybe something that could help protect him?”
The lady nodded, waiting to make sure Wrench had finished. “May I ask your friend's name?”
“His name is Skye.”
“Do you know if Skye has contacted the police about this person stalking him?”
“I–“ Wrench cut themself off. “Just... just to make sure. What we say here is confidential, right?”
“Unless you pose an immediate danger to yourself or somebody else, everything here is between you and me.” She gave Wrench a warm grin.
Wrench returned her smile. “I think I'm good then. I ask because Skye doesn't trust the police, or authorities, at all. And I don't know if it really matters, but he and I are close mutual friends with a wanted criminal. I don't think he would want to bring any sort of law enforcement around... just in case.” They gave their therapist another grin – a more forced and concerned one, this time. “I know, probably bad company and all, but... that's for another time.”
“Not a problem – we can talk about that in another session, if you'd like. But with regards to Skye, I don't think there's much in the way of protection I can offer here in Miyatama, aside from confiding with the police. There are some other programs you could share with him, mostly in the mental health category, if you think that would help.”
“Yeah, for sure! I mean... maybe it won't solve his current problem, but maybe it could help clear his head a bit and figure out how to get through it.”
Wrench wondered what Skye was doing, praying their friend was hanging in there. They waited patiently as their therapist shuffled around their curved desk, looking for a card with numbers to call – mainly, police, various mental health groups, and a crisis hotline. Wrench knew it was a long-shot coming to her for help, but they couldn't help but feel a touch disappointed.
The two briefly talked about how Wrench had been doing lately, giving them an opportunity to boast about their latest social victory with Janice, but other than that, they weren't particularly invested in talking about much else, giving rather short answers to benign questions like, “what have you been up to?” and, “have you been taking your medications?” Eventually, Wrench decided not to overstay their welcome, and the two concluded their session together.
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Although the impromptu counselling wasn't exactly as productive as Wrench hoped, it did help calm their nerves just slightly, even with that unexpected meeting with Janice. For the first time in many years, they were happy they had a one-on-one encounter with a stranger.
But concerns for their friend were still on the forefront of their mind. Before making that call to arrange a meetup with Janice, they'd make sure to drop a line to Skye just to double check on him.
Wrench's walk home was quiet and peaceful. They approached a sullen, rusty garage – a familiar place called home. Walking beside the building past the big garage door, a smaller person-sized door led them inside to an equally depressing living area. The cramped room was fairly dirty, containing only a table, TV, gaming console, and bed, and another door in the corner led to an even smaller washroom.
They kicked off their shoes and flopped down on their bed, dialing Skye's number.
Ring-ring. To their surprise, Skye actually picked up.
“'Sup,” Skye mumbled.
“Hey dude... how're you doing?”
“Pretty shit. But I'm alive, I guess.”
“Damn, well... I'm at least glad to hear that you're surviving. But I wanted to ask you what time would be best for meeting up with Janice and me? I'm about to go to bed so maybe we can do it tomorrow?”
Skye sighed. “All right. Tomorrow morning at my place? I plan on going to Ray's pretty early, so let's say 9am. I'll be home by then.”
“Cool. I'll call Janice and see if that works for her. Can you be online for a bit so I can just text you to confirm the time works? I'd rather not make 50 calls tonight.”
“Yeah, sure. Thanks so much for setting this up.”
“No prob. I'll give Jan a call now. Hang in there, okay? We'll get you through this.”
“Yeah. See you on text.”
“See ya.”
Wrench hung up and speed-dialed their new friend's phone number. It rang once, twice, three times before they heard someone pick up on the other end.
“...Hello? This is Janice,” she said.
“Hey Janice, it's Wrench.”
“...Wrench?”
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The air became extremely awkward the moment Wrench realized they'd never given Janice their name. A terrible, creeping embarrassment crawled its way through their body, their face wincing in total humiliation.
“Um, the... the person you met at that place? The therapy place,” Wrench stammered, “I... I just realized I never gave you my name. Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Uh... c-call me Wrench?”
Another short delay before Janice replied. “Oh! That's right! I never did get your name, silly me! Wrench – got it.”
Glad she's at least nice enough to not tease me for it. “So, hey, uh,” they stuttered once again, trying to focus on why they were even calling in the first place. “I talked with my friend Skye, and he told me the bakery is on 69-41 street. He wants to know if you would like to meet up at his home so we can all get together; he got really eager when he heard you knew about Zev.”
“Yeah, I'm interested! When would you like to meet up?”
Wrench told Janice the 9am time – which worked for her – as well as Skye's address. With the plan set up, Wrench used their fatigue as an excuse to end the call without any more small talk, and they both said their goodbyes.
They then tossed the phone on their bed, rolled over, and shouted into the pillow.
I was doing so fucking well, oh my god... how could I forget to give her my name?!
They took a couple minutes to moan into the pillow, trying to reassure themself that it wasn't a big deal, but their anxiety was running rampant through their head over it.
God... come on, dude, relax. She wasn't even bothered by it. You'll feel better after some sleep. But before sleep, Wrench messaged Skye and told him 9am was a go, to which he responded with a thumbs up emoticon.
With everything sorted out, Wrench set an alarm for 7:30am, disrobed, and curled up under the covers.
----------------------------------------
Wrench would've preferred a bit more sleep, but the apprehension for the day's events woke them up just as well. After getting dressed, sipping down a cup of coffee, and grabbing their taser, they made haste to Skye's home, finding themself at the tail end of the half-hour walk before long. They dearly hoped both Janice and Skye would be waiting there on time.
Turning the corner to Skye's street, Wrench spotted a lady in a black tank-top sitting on a bench opposite of Skye's place. A few paces later and they identified her as Janice.
“Hey!” Wrench called out.
Janice looked over and waved. “Hi, Wrench!”
Wrench mirrored the gesture as they approached the side of the bench.
“I wasn't sure if this was the right place or not, so I thought I'd wait until one of you showed up,” she continued.
“Ah, fair enough. So Skye hasn't arrived yet?”
“I don't think so. A few people passed by, but nobody entered or left the buildings here.”
“I see, I see.” Wrench paused, gulping down a pang of anxiety. “Uh, I'll go knock and see if he's here.”
“Mind if I come?” Janice asked, standing up.
“Sure, let's go.”
Wrench guided her over to Skye's front door and gave it a few knocks, shuffling around in place as the seconds passed by without a response. They knocked again a couple moments later, which garnered a reply.
“Who is it?” a child replied from inside.
“Ah, hey Cass, it's Wrench. Skye's friend. We were supposed to meet up this morning when he got home. I have a friend here with me too.”
The door clicked and slowly opened as Cassandra peeked out. “Hi Wrench! Do you want to come in?”
“Yeah! This is Janice, by the way. We met recently and she wants to meet Skye too.”
“Hi Janice.”
“Hello!” Janice beamed.
The two walked inside and Cassandra locked the door behind them.
“Is Skye home?” Wrench asked.
“No, he said he'd be back soon though.”
“Right.”
Come on, man, this isn't the day to be late...
Wrench turned to Janice. “He's out visiting a friend this morning, and he said he'd be back by 9am.” They checked their phone – 9:10am.
Janice nodded. “Okay.”
Cassandra left to go back to her room. The lingering silence officially became awkward at the 9:15 mark. Still no sign of Skye, and given his latest circumstances, Wrench became uneasy – both out of concern for their friend, and a touch of anxiety about sitting in a one-on-one situation with someone they didn't know particularly well.
Come on, get a grip, you've talked to her multiple times before. You're practically friends now.
“Um... I'm sorry for making you wait like this,” Wrench spoke. “Skye should have been here by now.”
Janice hummed in acknowledgment. “Do you think he's okay?” she asked, looking as worried as Wrench felt.
“I don't know... i-is it okay if I message Ray? He was the person Skye was visiting.”
“Of course, go for it.”
Wrench pulled out their phone, opening up the messaging program, frantically typing to the three-way group chat between Skye and Ray. Skye was offline, Ray was online.
“@all Hey, where's Skye?”
A few seconds later, Ray started typing. “he left like 20 mins ago, is he not home”
“No, he's not,” Wrench replied.
“fuck. well hes armed so ud think hed be ok”
“Ray, can you come over? Can you try to find Skye along the way?”
Ray's answer took a few moments to come through. “only cause i know hes in deep shit rn but if i find him and hes fine im smashing ur ass”
“Whatever, fine, just please hurry.” At the very least, Wrench was relieved they didn't have to fight him over the issue. They turned their phone screen off and tucked it back in their pocket.
A pair of gentle footsteps approached from the hallway. “Skye not home yet?” Cassandra asked.
“Uhh,” Wrench hesitated, glancing between Janice and Cass. “Not yet, sorry. He should be here soon, I think.”
Cassandra was visibly disappointed. “Let me know when he gets here, okay?”
“For sure.”
The atmosphere in the room sunk with each passing minute. Janice remained in her seat, mostly staring at her lap, while Wrench started pacing by the front door, occasionally letting out some deep exhales. It would've been terribly awkward if it wasn't for stress replacing every other emotion in the room. Even Wrench's anxiety had taken a back seat.
A mere three minutes passed before they took out their phone again. “Ray, do you have any idea where he'd be?” they typed.
Ray took his sweet time to say absolutely nothing, leaving Wrench to ponder and worry.
“Um... yeah. This should've just been a straightforward thing,” they said to Janice. “I'm asking Ray if he knows where Skye could be.”
“Good idea, hopefully he does.”
Ray finally came through with a response. “while back i scouted skyes bakery and theres a junkyard behind it i thought zev could of used to hide out when going after skye, if something did happen to skye and it was zev id check there. idk about the loan sharks tho”
If Zev got to Skye, I don't think he'd be around to find anymore. Wrench's lips quivered into a frown at the thought. Damnit, I wish I'd have asked Skye more about those sharks and where they operate...
“Something isn't right. Skye should have been here by now. I need to go and look for him,” Wrench declared. “Uh, Janice... would you like to come– No, wait–” they stopped themself, realizing Cassandra would be home alone.
But surely Cass would be fine on her own for a few hours, right? My friend could be in serious trouble, and Skye goes to work with her at home all the time, so...
“Sorry, I just– my head is just screwed right now.” Wrench continued. “I, uh... Ray told me he thinks Zev's 'home' could be a junkyard near the bakery Skye works at, and– and it's the only place I know to look. Do you want to come with me?”
Janice seemed a little taken aback by how flustered Wrench was, but she replied with a confident, “yes, of course.”
“Thank you so much, Janice.” Wrench took a long, deep breath.
Janice nodded. “It's okay. If we can find Zev and save your friend, well... that's feeding two birds with one scone.”
“Yeah...” Save. Wrench didn't like that word. They turned to the hallway, facing Cassandra's room before calling her back out to the living area.
“Coming!” She ran out of her room and approached Wrench. “Yeah?”
“We're going to look for Skye, since he should've been back by now. We're just going to make sure he's okay. So, um, make sure to lock the door behind us, okay? And don't open it unless it's me, Skye, or Janice,” they explained, pointing to Janice with their thumb.
“Okay. Is everything all right...?” She could obviously read the mood in the room.
“I... don't really know.” Wrench scratched the back of their head. “But we'll find out and let you know when we come back.”
“Okay... be careful.”
“We will.”
Janice and Wrench walked out the front door together; Wrench patted down the side of their coat, ensuring they knew exactly where their taser was, just in case. One more time, they pulled out their phone and messaged Ray.
“Can you meet us at the subway? I have a friend with me, she's chill.”
“ur totally gettin it on with that girl from before arent u,” Ray teased. “nice. also k if i dont find him on the way ill be there”
“Good. Thanks.”