The Brightest Star

51. King

King's POV

Uncle Ben jumped into the truck with his laptop in hand. "Head to the city. I got the last tower the phone pinged from and checked the area around it. It looks like a few abandoned places in the area, so we'll have to look around."

I started for the city, trying to watch my speed as he gave me the route. My new truck had no problems with the fresh snow piling on the roads. My uncle bought it for me since I was nearly done with school and on track for graduation as we agreed on when I moved here.

Uncle Ben told me to slow down as we turned down one of the streets. Looking at every place, I couldn't tell which one he would be in. Every one of the buildings was falling apart and abandoned. I felt so close to him, yet farther away than I had this hold time he was gone.

"I didn't tell you everything," Uncle Ben started with a long sign. "I didn't want to because I knew you would freak out, but Leo wasn't alone when Tom saw him. The girl he was with bought some pills from Tom and shared them with Leo."

"What? Why are you just now telling me this?" I was fuming at the thought. I didn't want to believe him, but the way Leo sounded over the phone..., I couldn't deny it.

"I listened to the voicemail he left on your phone and... I don't think we're gonna walk in to see a good side of Leo. Pull over," he told me as he started looking around. "I just want you to be prepared because he sounded messed up."

I couldn't focus, and if not for him putting the truck in park, I may have forgotten. My head filled with more worry.

"Come on. Someone told me about this abandoned warehouse. Let's check here first."

He took the lead in walking around the building to find the opening. There was a horrid stench inside. I couldn't even begin to describe what it was. Bad BO, dirty socks, mold, burned pot residue. You name it, it all smacked my face hard as soon as we got inside. The place was dark, just enough light to make out some bodies of homeless people lying around under Newspapers and matted-up blankets, but not one of them was Leo. I wasn't sure if I felt relieved or disappointed.

One lady we talked to seemed less afraid of us, pointing to the stairs as we asked around about Leo. "I saw a few kids walk up there. It's where they do their thing, whatever it is. Nice enough to leave us in peace down here to sleep. I didn't get names, dear. This isn't really a place for that. Even so, I'm sure it would have been fake. You'll have to go look for yourself."

Uncle Ben handed her some money and thanked her before we walked up the stairs. The smell wasn't as bad, but the smell of weed was overpowering. I could deal with Leo smoking a little pot. I did now and then. I just hoped that was all he did, but she was trying to get him to take something before the call ended. Pills, maybe?

The second floor looked like an office, with small cubes scattered around. I could see a few had candles lit, and others moved together to make the spaces bigger. Broken computers lay smacked against the walls, and office decks flipped on their side and broken. The place looked like a damn maze, but I've never been happier to be tall because I saw over them without a problem.

We found a few groups and the source of the pot smoke, but not one of them was Leo. The place was starting to feel like a lost cause, but one guy was nice enough to tell us about the third floor and how to get there. Three people walked up there. An older man with dark skin and a buzzed cut, another dark-skinned woman with dreads, and a skinny white kid with yellow-looking hair were all he remembered about the trio.

It wasn't much detail to go off of, but my heart skipped when he mentioned the younger one with yellow hair was pretty damn cute for a guy. He even joked he would have let him suck him off if he had a chance. That really pissed me off. My uncle had to push me to the small stairway before I started bashing his face in.