HUMAN SPIRIT

HUMAN SPIRIT; Ch. 21

Leonard was honestly very anxious to see Julius. Accepting someone’s supposed death and discovering you were wrong… that put weight on a person. It was no question why Leonard stalled in returning to the original Wolfgang residence, and a good thing he did so. Had he immediately swallowed his fears and visited them, where would he be? Stuck in Claudius’ mysterious basement, no doubt. Upon the thought of it, Finn traveled wearily, yet quickly. Recalling the vision, there had been a groan echoing from the basement stairs. What was Claudius hiding? And moreover, where was the father? Mariana once told Finn in passing that the boys lived together, so were they in cahoots?

Whatever the case, Finn knew he needed to save Leonard. And the reason behind that, he was still trying to figure out. For one, Leonard was the only other person that Finn knew who was aware of the Abstract world. And despite the fact that tons of Commuters walked by him, they were all foreigners. Strangers, not meant to be talked to or bothered. And it wasn’t like Finn wanted to stop them on the street and ask them for guidance, anyway. Finn was a verbal coward to anyone who he didn't know. A total social butterfly with his friends, but awkward and speechless in front of strangers. Seeing as Leonard wasn't the latter, Finn had to follow the trail given to him. And save Leonard along the way, of course. 

God, how could Tina even consider the fact that Finn would follow her orders? She always held a sense of suspicion when it came to Finn’s loyalty. But what she didn’t know, in truth, was that Finn was loyal through fear. A girl like her, after all, had many ways to get back at you. If one bad breakup with Leonard meant she wanted him dead, what would her response be to a traitorous friend? While Huck and Finn were great buddies, the loyalty Huck had for Finn wasn’t as strong as it was for Tina.

That only rang true in the vision where Huck punched Leonard. While under Tina’s overbearing influence, Huck was most likely indirectly ruled by Claudius. And the presence that that man carried-- it was unlike anything Finn had ever experienced. And even though they stayed in Julius’ house together at one point in time, Finn never noticed it. Either that, or Claudius was holding it back. The latter seemed more likely.

Sometimes, the billiard balls were stubborn. In the later occasions when Finn was alone, he’d hope to find out where Leonard was hiding. But after the balls would stop rolling, no visions would occur. Apparently, nothing else was of importance.

Across the country, Veronica and Smoke were taking advantage of Mrs. Rembrandt’s overnight stay. The rain was still rough, and the never-ending sound of pitter patter could be heard all along the hallways. Mr. Rembrandt never seemed to show up, and amidst their studies of “Finn Melua,” they’d look at each other and pass quiet judgments. Smoke retrieved a banana from the kitchen, and quietly returned to the door of the guest bedroom.

“Find anything out?” he asked her, unpeeling the yellow fruit. She was biting her lip a little bit as she scrolled down the webpage. 

“Barely,” she said. “But… I found this one website. It says Finn Melua’s part of some comedy troupe, ‘The Black Sheep.’” Smoke, who was leaning leisurely against the small white doorframe, withdrew from reality. His eyes turned gray, his face went cold, and Veronica could almost feel the change in the air. She looked up, saw the gray in his eyes, and hoped that Smoke’s infinite index of knowledge could surpass that of the useless laptop’s, the trail having run cold.

“The Black Sheep: established in Seattle, Washington, the founders are Caraway Shaw, Tina Pierson, and Mariana Wolfgang,” he said. Veronica looked down at the laptop.

“Nothing I haven’t figured out already,” she said, scrolling on the page. Smoke seemed to respond with a halfway-grip on reality, his eyes a gray-green color. His brow furrowed in concentration; Veronica looked up. “What’s up?” she asked.