Dove Sport

Chapter Fourteen: In Loving Memory

Blair forced herself to get out of bed on Tuesday morning, get dressed, and bike to school. She avoided her friends' greetings in the halls. She didn't feel like speaking to any of them. Not Kenny, not Meredith, not even Dara could fill up the hole in her heart from her sister. She'd fallen asleep last night in Grace's old bedroom, curled up beneath the duvet on her bed. She'd gone to bed the night before unsure of how to feel but after a full night of rest Blair was beginning to form a plan. She was going to find her sister on her own and she was going to get to the bottom of all of this. She headed for the news and media room and began looking up hospitals, group homes, anywhere nearby that Grace could possibly be.

Arsen found her there at lunch, hunched over her laptop having skipped her morning classes in favor of research. She hadn't encountered him that morning in the halls but he'd heard from Dara and the others that they'd been ignored and had come looking.

"Jesus, Blair. That's horrible." Arsen said after Blair explained what she'd learned from her father the night before. "I'm so sorry."

"I asked my dad if I could call Grace last night, just to talk. He told me she was doing better but that when she heard about Seth's death it... It really set her back." Blair told him in a quiet voice, shaking her head. "He doesn't want me to talk to her and risk her getting set back more."

Arsen leaned his weight on the desk. It was just the two of them in the room together but the rest of the school was busy with their lunch period. "Why does a rich kid start selling drugs?" He wondered aloud.

"I think he was running away from his family." Blair said, voicing the theory that had been developing in her head ever since her talk with Brent the day before. "I mean, I can't think of any other reasons as to why Seth would do that."

"Why would Seth have to run away from mommy and daddy Lark?"

"Because they're monsters." In her time being friends with Meredith, they'd always avoided hanging around the house when her parents were home. Blair had never seen anything happen per se, but she'd always wondered, what with the way Meredith sometimes spoke of her family.

"Yeah," Arsen said, waving his hands for her to go on, "But I mean specifically."

Blair blinked. "Well," she said, "It's not as if we can just ask them."

"You're right." Arsen told her. She tried not to be too disheartened, though they were practically back at square one. He crossed his slender arms over his chest, deep in thought. Finally, Arsen said, "We have to ask Seth himself."

Blair balked at that, unsure if she was meant to laugh. It wasn't a very funny joke. "Are you proposing a seancé, or...?"

"What? No, Blair. Haven't you ever heard that 'dead men tell no tales?'" Now Blair really wasn't sure if he was joking because he was smiling a little. She hadn't seen this smile in a while. It was sharp and devious on Arsen's face, and it meant he was cooking up some sort of scheme. Arsen went on, "But their bedrooms? Their homes? That's where we'll find our answers." Arsen stood from where he leaned against the desk and got up to close the door into the room, shutting out the sounds of people chatting in the hall. He came back towards Blair and leaned in, dark eyes glittering, and explained his plan.

***

The Lark family manor was a sprawling, intimidating building. It was built on the Northern side of town and shared a neighborhood with the mayor and his own daughter. As children, Grace used to tell Blair that the manor was haunted by the ghosts of old family members who were buried in the family cemetery attached to the side of the house. Grace had also claimed that the Larks were all vampires too though, so Blair didn't exactly give her stories much credit.