I laid upside down as I finished off the apple, chewing it down to the core. The bear part of me wanted to swallow the thing whole, seeds and all, but I ignored it. As I chewed, my head hanging off the edge of the couch, I gazed around the room. What was I going to do now that Victor was gone all day? Maybe he had DVDs or something I could watch.
Nibbling on the core, I sat up and went to the small black shelf above his TV. They were both covered in a fine layer of dust. Standing on my toes, I stretched to see the labels of the spines lined up neatly along the shelf. I picked something out, but my fingers slipped. I cursed. The case fell, hit something, and fell on the floor.
I threw out the apple core and rinsed my hands, then returned to the scene of my accidental crime. The DVD was unharmed inside the case, thankfully. Looking around for what damage it had caused, I found a face-down picture frame laying sprawled across the laminate. I picked it up and put it back next to the TV.
Then I looked at the photo.
One of the men was clearly Victor, although he looked different somehow. In the photo his eyes sparkled. His face was bright and cheerful, with a huge grin that showed off all his teeth. The Victor I knew suddenly seemed very old and tired. He had his arm slung comfortably over someone else. I furrowed my brows.
There was another man next to him, one I didn’t recognize, who also had his arm around Victor. He had sharp eyes and a matching grin, although his wasn’t as nice as Victor’s. He was the same height as Victor with a slightly less muscular build. They were so close together that their chests were touching.
Something about the other man was off-putting. I swallowed and put the picture frame back upright. But it felt like the man’s ice-sharp eyes were staring at me.
I stared back.
Curiosity gnawed at me. How old was this picture? Victor looked so much younger in it. Maybe it was a photo from college, or high school, like the clothes he’d given me. Suddenly I had to know.
I took the frame and carefully undid the back, setting it aside. I peeled the photo out and flipped it over to where the timestamp had previously been covered up by the frame.
The photo was taken six months ago, yesterday.
I stared down at it for a while, then mechanically put the frame back together and placed it back where it belonged.
I couldn’t tear my eyes off the man in the photo.
Just who was he?
6
Victor
The morning lighthadn’t even broken yet. The sky was black, overcast and moonless, and a cold wind tore at my face. The storm that was building yesterday was hanging on. Building power.
When I got to the station, the bay was already full of bleary-eyed volunteers.
“Damnit, we haven’t had a call this early in a while,” Nick grumbled as he hastily dressed himself. “I’m going straight back to bed after this.”
“Shut up and put your gear on.”
We hustled into the truck with everyone else on duty. The sirens blared and a few stray cars on the road pulled over. At least no one was on the streets at this hour. Hopefully we’d have this fire dealt with before the crack of dawn.
“Where is it?” I grunted, lifting my helmet and pushing back my hair.
“Oh?” Nick said with a smirk. “So sometimes not even the great Victor checks his entire page before showing up to the station.”
“Shut up,” I muttered. “I was tired and I forgot. Where is it?”
“Queen street again.”
I frowned at him. “Again?”
“Yeah,” Nick said. “Looks like the same building, too.”
“What?” I snapped.
He shrugged. “Do you think something’s up?”
Nick was naïve. I had my suspicions the first time but this definitely confirmed it. Still, I wanted to keep it to myself until I had proof. “Too early to tell,” I grunted. “Let’s just focus on putting it out for now.”
