Vigilante 2.08 (Completed )

Prologue

Tick

Tick

Tick

I watch the hand of the clock tick away, a cruel reminder of just how limited our time is, waiting in anticipation for my sister to get back from work. Today is her 23rd birthday and I've planned a surprise party, but it's been over an hour. She usually gets back at five p.m. and it's already quarter past six in the evening.

An anxious feeling begins to stir within me, up until the point where I start to feel queasy and ill at ease. My instincts are trying to tell me something. Wendy's never late. She's never late, ever.

"What's the holdup?" 

I turn to see Lee, my sister's childhood best friend, standing before me. She and all the other guests in the apartment are beginning to question the delay as well.

I shrug, glancing around, "I don't know." 

I stand up from my seat, moving past the guests and taking Lee with me, "Wait with me. I'm just going to try her cell again."

"Already tried. She's not picking up," Byron, my sister's boyfriend, comments as he joins us. "It just goes straight to voicemail."

For Wendy to be late it has to be something serious. She's never been the late type. It's out of character for her.

I scowl at Byron, having never been a fan of him. He's big, bulky and covered in tattoos, but it's not just his scruffy appearance that bugs me, it's also his awful personality. He's rough, daft and cocky. He's a contrast compared to Wendy. She is a gentle, easygoing soul. It makes me wonder what she sees in Byron.

I, for one, have seen the way Byron treats my sister. He always thinks he's right, he doesn't listen to reason and seems to blame everything on my sister. I've even seen him go as far as dragging my sister by her wrist against her will. 

I've noticed the bruises on her body on more than just one occasion. When I looked into it, Wendy wasn't willing to open up. She would tell me to leave Byron out of it. 

I believe that she's too scared to break up with him. There have been a few times where I had to step in because Wendy had no backbone. She lets him walk all over her, yet claims to still love the 'meat head'.

To say Byron and I don't get along would be the understatement of the century. To be fair, I don't like most people, especially Wendy's friends. They're all shady characters with sketchy backgrounds.

I ignore Byron's words and call my sister anyway: 

'Hi, it's Wendy. I'm not available at the moment, please leave a message after the beep.'

I hang up and try her a few more times only to end up with the same result.

"Told you," Byron says quietly, annoyed.

One of these days, I'm going to kill him.

"Do you think she's okay?" Lee asks me softly, her blue eyes lit with vulnerability. 

She's transparent. She's starting to get antsy, as am I. She's slowly but surely going into panic mode.

I'm really not one to comfort people. As an ex-cop, I've been a little desensitized after the things I've seen. Nonetheless, out of the goodness of my heart, I muster up a smile for Lee's sake, "I'm sure she's fine," I reply, unconvinced myself.

Come to think of it, Wendy's been acting strangely for some time now. In fact, she's been out of character for so long that it seems almost normal.