Host of Sheets (shyan)

Chp 4. Lights

Ryan wouldn't have been interested in sharing a Lyft to the party, anyway. He'd gone back to his desk after Shane left, scrubbing through the video over and over again, listening to Shane talk to dead air. Shane hadn't been lying when he said he'd thought it was Ryan speaking to him- he could tell by the tone of his voice. What 'they' had been talking about was a different matter entirely, as Ryan only really had one side of that conversation on tape.

//
"I still have two minutes left."

"I wouldn't."

"You know the answer to that. I'd like to see them try. If they really can, why not, y'know?"
//

Ryan frowned. What wouldn't he do? Who was 'they'? But then he was back to the part of the tape where Shane was shouting, stumbling back to slam into the door hard enough to make it give a little under him, the ancient mildewed wood splintering. It explained why it took so long for Ryan to get the door open, shoving at it over and over again while Shane screamed just on the other side.

Ryan shuddered and rewound it back again. He didn't want to see that, see the pain and fear written so plainly on Shane's face. It wasn't...natural, or right, or something. Shane didn't get scared of all this. It was almost weirdly clinical just how much Shane didn't get scared.

What had he seen? What did he hear? Why didn't he want to talk about it?

The video ran through again and then Ryan caught something he hadn't before, a naked rasp of a sound he barely caught between Shane's shouts of his name.

It was the same disembodied voice that'd spoken Shane's name. He was sure of it.

Ryan isolated the clip so he wouldn't have to hear the rest, gritting his teeth. It looped in his head.

"Took someth-"

"Took someth-"

"Took someth-"

He made a frustrated noise and shut it all off, leaning back in his chair. He would have to get it out of Shane eventually- Shane would have to want to talk, wouldn't he?

...And in the meantime, he was sitting alone in a dark office, well after everyone else had gone to the party. This week had been genuinely awful. He should try and have some fun, breathe for a minute. If anything, he should try and make sure Shane was actually having fun.

Maybe then they'd both stop fraying.

....

When Ryan finally stepped through the doors, he was a couple hours late, and the party was in full swing. Flashing lights lit up the bar area, the other areas dim with cozy lamplight and filled to the brim with people. Ned and his wife were to the left- he'd managed to sneak her into the private party somehow despite the no plus one rule. Ryan would never be able to guess how he managed to get away with things like that, but he was very good at it. Ned gave him a friendly wave, as did a whole round of coworkers (with varying degrees of sobriety) as Ryan gently pushed past them to the bar.

He ordered a beer and waited for the early party jitters to settle down, until he could feel like he belonged. Him and Shane both were never very good at parties, especially big, loud ones like this. They usually made their appearances, and then slipped out back to hang with the smokers for the quiet, and better conversations.

He attempted a small joke with Zack while waiting for his drink but the guy was gone, swaying to the music and singing to himself. Ryan gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, "Lemme know if you need me to order you a ride later, my friend. Hey, you seen Shane around?"