Degete (Sequel To Lights Off) [For nevaehMP On AO3]

04, Can't Look Back

It was cold outside. Pasha wanted to get a jacket, but he couldn't leave Theodor here. He had to fight out the cold.

"Oh, Theodor." Pasha trembled. He looked down at the unconscious Romanian. He began to quiver.

"Come on, man! Get up!" He started to cry. "Come on, Theodor! Please!"

Pasha looked at his watch, it was 12:45. Theodor had been out for over three hours. Pasha looked down at Theodor again. He seemed to be shivering in his sleep. He decided to bring him inside. Hopefully, they both could be warm there.

When he got inside the hotel, he laid Theodor down on the couch. Now, he just had to wait and hope he would wake up soon.

"Please, Theo! Tell me you're okay!" Pasha begged. It was at that moment when he looked down at Theodor and he began to make slight movements. He was getting up!

"Theodor! It's me. Pavel!" Pasha quivered, waiting for Theodor to open his eyes. Slowly but surely, he opened his eyes.

"Pavel?...." He quivered. "What happened?"

“You’ve been unconscious for three hours!” Pasha trembled.

“Wait, what?” Theodor gasped.

“Are you okay? Do you remember anything that happened at all? Who put you unconscious?” Pasha asked. Theodor was thinking for a moment. He knew something had happened… But he couldn’t remember…

“I… I know something’s there… I just can’t seem to figure out what…” Theodor quivered.

“Do you remember Demchuk? Do you remember if you’ve made any contact with him?” Pasha asked,

“I… I don’t know. It rings a bell, but I don’t know what kind…” Theodor trembled.

“Okay. Shoot…” Pasha began to panic. “Uhm okay. Let’s go to the others. They’re waiting for us.”

“O-okay.” Theodor responded. As they left the lobby to get to everyone else, they noticed Gustaph, Belgium’s representative for Eurovision 2023, running down the hall. Theodor didn’t think anything of it until he noticed a brown trench coat laying on the floor about a hundred feet from where they saw Gustaph run…

....

"Wait, what???" Käärijä gasped

"It's Blanka Stajkow! She was the next victim!" Andrew gasped for air.

"Quickly check the time so that we know when the next three hours happens." Remo demanded.

"12:38 a.m." Andrew responded.

"Okay, so who could be behind this?" Blanca asked. “We have time to think now.”

"Actually, I got something on video. It was of the man leaving after he had taken Blanka.” Andrew told them.

“Wait, what?” Bojan gasped.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Show it to us!” Alika cried, Andrew did just that.

“Oh my God!” Alika gasped.

“Can anyone try slowing the footage down? Maybe we can figure out who’s behind the operation if we can get a better look.” Reiley asked.

“That’s a good idea.” Monika replied. Andrew then began to slow the footage down. The man was seen to be wearing a brown trench coat.

“Okay, so typical sketchy guy?” Luke sighed.

“Does anyone here know anyone who owns a brown trench coat?” Käärijä asked. That was when the door opened. Pasha and Theodor walked in.

“Theodor, you’re okay!” Alika cried. Soon, everyone was crowding around the Romanian. Theodor was very confused.

“Did you see anything?” Alessandra asked.

“He… He doesn’t remember.” Pasha admitted, Everyone gasped.

“Well, that’s kind of suspicious.” Reiley spoke up.

“What do you mean suspicious? I was with him the whole time!” Pasha protested.

“Was he still asleep at 12:35 a.m.?” Monika asked.

“Yes. Why?” Pasha asked.

“Well, long story short, Let 3 and Blanka Stajkow have been kidnapped by this person. Andrew saw a man wearing a brown trench coat leave Blanka’s hotel room.” Blanca responded.

“Wait… a brown trench coat?” Theodor quivered.

“Yes, we just said that.” Marco sighed.

“I saw Gustaph run down the hall, dropping a brown trench coat.” Theodor gasped. Everyone gasped.

"Wait. So he can't remember what happened to himself, but he remembers seeing a brown trench coat somewhere? And he thinks Gustaph has something to do with it?" Luke raised his voice.

"That's cause I just saw the coat like two seconds ago." Theodor replied.

"Still seems suspicious." Luke mumbled.

"He was literally unconscious for three hours! I was right beside him the whole time!" Pasha reminded Luke.

"Well, you could both be lying to us." Luke responded.

"I can literally go talk to several people out in the lobby of the hotel and ask them if they saw me carry Theodor in here as he was unconscious!" Pasha facepalmed.

"I think Pasha's telling the truth. The note did say that one of us is working alongside the man. It could be Gustaph." Alika responded.

"So what are we going to do? Interrogate Gustaph until he talks?" Käärijä asked.

"He's not going to talk!" Luke sighed.

"He will if we force him to." Bojan responded. Everyone turned to look at him.

"What? I'm just being honest!" Bojan spoke, squeaking a little while speaking.

"Okay so are we going to see Gustaph or not?" Alessandra asked.

"We should be in the clear for another three hours, however I'm exhausted." Marco yawned.

"We can't go to bed yet. We can't risk having the man take us in our sleep!" Monika said.

"How about five of us go to Gustaph's hotel room." Pasha responded. "The rest can stay here and do whatever."

"I'll go." Käärijä volunteered.

"I'll go as well." Remo offered as well.

"I should go too. I know about the trench coat." Theodor spoke.

"Anyone else?" Pasha asked.

"I'll go. I have video evidence." Andrew responded.

"Okay then, I think that's five of us." Pasha replied. "Let's go."

The five of them left for Gustaph's room. When they arrived, they heard him singing in the shower. He seemed to be singing I Will Always Love Your by Whitney Houston. It wasn't bad, but it was loud.

"Well I guess we're waiting out here for a little while." Remo sighed

"What should we do while we wait?" Theodor asked.

"We could discuss what we know, I guess." Andrew suggested.

"That would be productive." Pasha replied.

"What do you guys think this guy would want from Eurovision contestants?" Käärijä asked. Everyone looked to the ground.

"I really don't know... Maybe he's trying to get revenge on Mahmood from last year?" Andrew responded.

"That can't be true. Matteo Salvini died in the fire last year! There's no way he'd be able to come back and harm us. Even if he is still alive, the police would be hunting him down like dogs trying to put him in prison." Remo explained.

"Well, I mean, you never know." Theodor replied. Everyone stood in silence for a while until Irina Khechanovi, Georgia's entry for the contest this year, burst out of the hotel room next door. With panic in her voice, she spat out...

"Guys! It's Loreen!"