The family that preys together…- 48

Crispin sat in his car staring at the front door to the apartment. He’d seen Rick leave about fifteen minutes earlier but there had been no sign of Kent, no indication if he was still inside or not. Finally gathering up the tatters of his resolve he got out of the car and went up the path to ring the doorbell. And ring it again when, after waiting a bit, there was no answer. When five minutes passed and he was still standing there he turned away, going back to his car.

I should have called, he thought disconsolately, resting his head on the steering wheel. Better to be shut down that way than coming here only to discover he’s probably out somewhere with someone else. He glanced at his watch, noting what he already knew, that is was close to seven-thirty in the evening; too late for Kent to still be working.

Alright, fool, enough of this. You’ve gotten through life for this long on your own. You don’t need that to change now he scolded himself as he turned the car on. Throwing one more look at the apartment he shook his head and pulled away from the curb.

He’d just gotten onto the highway when his cell rang. With no place to pull off safely he ignored it. Whoever it was would call again if it was important, or leave a voicemail.

By the time he got back home he was in a total blue funk. He threw himself down on his bed after putting his favorite dark-ambient CD in the player. He stared up at the ceiling for long moments before remembering that he’d gotten a call. When he checked the Caller ID intending to call whoever back, it came up as blocked and there was no voicemail.

Just as he closed the phone it rang. He answered, hoping against hope that it was Kent but if it was he’d blocked his number and there was only silence from the other end. “Damn it, whoever you are talk to me,” he almost shouted. The silence persisted for a long moment then the caller hung up.

Angry now Crispin punched in the number he had for Kent. It rang the requisite four times before sending him to voicemail. Reining in his anger he left a short message saying that he’d called and would try again later.