Abigail sat calmly in the seat that used to be Charles', watching from behind the desk that was once his, as she looked over paperwork which included a letter in question that Tobias had eventually shown her, apparently too upset to care about reading through the whole thing, and didn't even know if it was true or a scam.
She had no clue herself but it wasn't like she didn't have the technology to figure it out. Mordhaus had even more advanced technology than what was possible in almost all other countries and all she needed to do was look into the database for information.
Abigail checked the computer for any records of a Yvonne Briar (the same last name as Tobias, apparently nobody had ever changed that during his time in the adoption agency) because that was the name that was given on the front of the folded letter, rather than the envelope itself, which was just labeled Jane Doe. The woman seemed pretty guarded in her letter, not giving out much personal information about herself and seemingly setting herself up for rejection before even sending out the card. Then again if there were other cards that Nathalia had kept, it would make sense she expected to be ignored, but in the letter it seemed almost like this was her first and only planned letter, so it perplexed the manager.
She herself hadn't read through the whole letter because she had just been focused on who this Yvonne was and if there were any significant news reports about it that might cause her to contact her arguably richest son, out of potentially several other siblings. Now as Abigail skimmed through the paper, her eyes focused on the last piece that made her fall back in shock.
Tobias most definitely had missed right over this piece of information as well, and he needed to know right away.
The envelope fell out of her hands accidentally and inside of it, several small polaroid pictures came fluttering out, scattering across the floor. A set of green eyes stared back up at her.
~~~
Visions swam through Tobias's unconscious mind, his past reeling in the crevices of his memories that could only be remembered in melancholy dreams. Fat, pudgy hands reaching for pretty pictures of bright colored eyes. A scream that shocked him into pausing in his movements. Tears staining his cheek as someone that smelled of strawberry spray rubbed their face against his lovingly, sadly. A basket of clothes to play in, similar to someone else's but much too small to fit her.
And hands to grab and lift him away, away from the familiar soft arms, away from the pretty pictures on the walls, away from the weathered fence and strangely empty tire swing tied to the drooping tree that he had grown to enjoy staring at from his blue curtained window.
It wasn't just those that plagued him but also dreams of soft red hair, and those same shiny eyes on a much more mature face. And Tobias's own reflection, shadowed by possibly a dozen different others, people he didn't recognize, yet seemed eerily familiar.
These images began to get stronger as the days went on until it felt like a nagging pull, like someone was desperate to show his subconscious something, that maybe he would finally wake up and remember the things being shown to him. The confusing dreams of darkness and blood-red moons were being quickly replaced by laughter and distant voices and somber, dreamy expressions. Mixed with the visions during his seizures, which were happening more constantly but in small, short, insistent ways, it felt like something was constantly pulling his brain in opposite directions.
He was ever revolving between his potential past and the nagging future, and not being able to remember either unless he was in the middle of actually witnessing them, and never able to remember them both clearly at the same time. Only when he was in his dream realm among the stars, and witnessing his dreams that way, did he even know that he was having dreams of his past, but still never remembering exactly what they were.
Tobias was always told by Nathalia that he lived with his head in the stars, obsessed with things like astronomy and astrology; but now it seemed like the stars were guiding him to a deeper truth. He just felt so impossibly torn with one foot in each of these worlds, and never having time to worry about the actual present. However, with these desperate visions constantly plaguing his mind, he wondered what would happen if he managed to bring the two together like missing puzzle pieces.
Did that mean the bloody moon dream was no longer important? Tobias didn't think so. In fact, his need to find a way to connect the dots seemed to hang over his head like such a virus, that it convinced him it was a strange link into figuring out what his other dreams meant.
If only he could observe and remember any of this in the real world, as much as he could in his dream realm. However, Tobias felt that would all soon come to a head, that even in his waking state everything would soon become clearer.
~~~
Tobias nervously sat in his room with his feet bouncing against the floor, preoccupying his mind with video games and a bowl of popcorn so he didn't have to think. He didn't have to think about the fact that his best friends were fighting, or that Pickles had tried to kill himself and his health still wasn't any better. He was tired of thinking and seemingly being the only thinker of this place anymore. He had no idea what even Abigail was thinking, to assume a party was such a good idea at a time like this.
The families had no right to just walk in and demand to be entertained. It had been a privilege, allowing them inside, a privilege that should have never been granted, especially not in this time-frame.
No, there had to be a reason for this. There had to be some secret motive for Abigail to allow this stupid party to happen and to also be absent for most of it. Maybe it was meant as a distraction gone wrong? Or did it go perfectly correct for her..?
Tobias mentally shook his head. He should never be suspicious of someone like Abigail. She was a protector to all of them, and she cared deeply for her band. No, even if she set something like that up for a reason, it couldn't have been with any malicious intent. He sighed. He said he wanted to stop thinking and he was going to, damnit.
A knock on his door jerked him out of his thoughts and he managed out a small, "Yeah?" The door opened quietly and surprise surprise, the woman herself walked in with a gentle smile, though it didn't necessarily reach her eyes. In fact, she seemed a bit nervous to be there, which caused Tobias to tense since normally she had a calm, cool exterior. Maybe all the stress was finally getting to her...
"What's up?" Tobias asked, pausing the game and turning to her fully so he could silently study her features. She looked a little tired but not necessarily upset or anything, just... really, really nervous. Tobias raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on his findings.
Abigail cupped her hands in front of her and stared at Tobias, unsure of exactly how to start the conversation, before finally clearing her throat and saying, "In all my years, I've never had to make this kind of announcement... So I apologize if I don't word this right."
Tobias tilted his head in confusion. "Go on?"
Abigail paused to rummage through her brain for a moment longer, then settled on: "Tobias, you believed all your life that you were an only child, correct?"
Tobias's heart leaped into his throat at this and he nodded slowly, eyes wide. Why bring that up, unless..?
Abigail's face softened and she allowed herself to smile more kindly. "Well it would seem that you are not the only child of your birth mother and father. In fact, you have- sorry, had- many siblings at one point, before they were taken away, just like you."
Tobias could only stare. "Wh- what?" He didn't even know anything about his home life or why he was taken away to begin with. Then again, it wasn't completely shocking to him, because Nathalia had technically spoiled that for him with the accusation that he and Toki were siblings. Still, it was a blow to the face in general to have that actually be confirmed by someone he could trust.
Seeming to read his mind, Abigail walked toward his bed and planted a warm hand on his shoulder. "They were all older than you, so by the time that you were born, they had already gone in and back out of the adoption system. You never had a chance to meet them." So he was the youngest child. How odd.
Tobias bit his lip. He had to admit, it really stung to have not known for years that he had siblings out there, with his blood and similar DNA, who probably also had no idea that he existed. Or if they knew he did, they would be fans of his music, never knowing that there was any blood relation between them. "I'm not like, mad or anything," Tobias assured the woman, "but I'm just..."
"In shock," Abigail finished for him and he nodded with a light, pained smile. "I'm so, so sorry."
Tobias was struggling to keep himself under control, though his voice came out eerily calm. "Where are they? Surely you of all people would know? How many are there?"
Abigail's face softened even more. "You had three other siblings."
"Had?" Tobias echoed, his stomach clenching tightly and his heart pounding heavily. "Why had?"
When her face fell into sadness, Tobias stood on shaky feet and grabbed her by the arms. "Please... Tell me... What happened to them?"
Abigail's face fell into a more stern look once touched, but nonetheless gently pried his fingers off of her shoulders and rather held his hands in comfort instead, which he felt was an even more intimate gesture, and it surprised him, but he squeezed her hands for support as he tried to regulate his breathing. Tobias had forgotten that she wasn't much of a 'being touched' person unless she initiated it, but otherwise was fine with it.
"Your second oldest sibling was killed by a, a family member, to protect the younger one, which is why your other siblings were taken away. Yvonne afterward put you up for adoption when you were born, in case..." She cleared her throat. "Then your other sibling that had been protected..." Abigail closed her eyes. "After they were taken away into foster care, they began to degrade at a young age and started suffering from trauma, began to act out... developed a drug problem in their adolescence, and ended up overdosing just last year."
Tobias's breath caught in his throat. They were alive until just last year... if he had known just a year sooner, maybe he could've found them and...
"What about the other one? The oldest one?" Tobias whispered as a desperate last-attempt at salvaging what was left of his broken family. This made Abigail smile just a little more, yet also look even sadder, if that was in any way possible. This unnerved Tobias.
"The last one is alive." Tobias's heart jumped again. "However..."
Just before she could finish her thought, a Klokateer barged through the door. "Ma'am! Emergency!"
Abigail snapped her head to their attention, and said in her stonily calm voice like she wasn't even surprised by the interruption, "Take me to it."
Then without another word, she briskly walked out of the room, leaving Tobias sitting there, numb, but also with a tiny glint of hope in his chest. And that made him afraid more than anything.
The living-room was in disarray with intensity so thick that it could be cut with a knife, having Nathalia, Tobias, Toki, Skwisgaar, and Nathan all be in the same room.
Tobias himself was in no particular conflict with the rest of the group, however whenever Nathan looked over at the stewing man, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He had never seen the calm and collected man so borderline hostile, even if he was fuming by himself on the couch while texting furiously, bouncing his leg up and down. He just wanted to talk to Abigail but had been ignored for seemingly hours, and he didn't like being left to sit in confusion with unanswered questions.
However, Nathan seemed like he had a bone to pick with someone as well, specifically Toki, who was sitting next to Nathalia while the two talked quietly. He had been coloring, but with an aggressive kick from Nathan, the book had been flung out of his grip.
"Heys!" Toki protested as he looked up angrily at the bigger man. "The fucks?"
Nathalia stood up in protest but Nathan shrugged off her and her attempts at confrontation, glaring down at the younger band mate.
"Why the fuck have you been ignoring me?"
Toki blinked, his face scrunching with confusion for a second. "I... I haves done nothings of the sorts!" Toki answered finally, standing to glare at the brute. "Dids you haves to kicks my books for thats?!"
"Yes," Nathan snapped. "You're always hanging out with Skwisgaar or Nathalia now, what about me? You haven't hung off my arm in like, weeks, like a fuckin' flea."
"Probablics because yous compares him tos a fleas," Skwisgaar drawled without much interest, causing Nathan to turn on him with his teeth bared.
"That's the first time calling him a flea, you fuckin' dipstick." He turned back to Toki. "Well, what the fuck?"
"You am just mads thats Toki amenst crushings on you anymores?" Skwisgaar scoffed. "Even thoughs he ams a nusience?"
"Crush?" Nathan echoed. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Wait, what is Skwisgaar talking about?" Nathalia demanded, who had been merely watching the argument after originally being ignored (she didn't seem much interested anyway to begin with).
"You am such dildoes," Skwisgaar grumbled, but before he could say anymore, Toki threw one of his pencils at the Swede while shaking his head vigorously.
"Don'ts, Skwisgaars."
"Then you can tell me," Nathan growled, whirling back around to the other man. "Someone has to tell me something or I'm going to get real mad."
Toki's face flushed heavily and he dropped his eyes to the ground, not speaking even as the brute singer towered over him.
"Toki, just tells him," Skwisgaar sighed deeply. "Or I wills."
"You wills nots, you stays out ofs this!" Toki spoke, his voice lightly shaking. "You ams just mads becauses you likes mes and I don'ts likes you backs!"
"Whoaaaaa," Nathalia said, catching the side of the statue near her. "I'm gettin' lost here, guys. It's like being dropped in the middle of a season for a soap opera."
Skwisgaar snorted and rolled his eyes. "I tolds you, you ams just anothers body fors my beds, that ams its."
"Skwisgaar, you're gay?" Nathan asked with surprise. "Toki, too? Fuck."
"Am bisects," Toki informed Nathan, though this meant almost nothing to the singer, who threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.
"Jesus fuck, is everyone gay?! Tobias?!" He turned fully to face the man, who paled a little when being cornered and singled out.
"Uhh... technically, bisexual," Tobias said timidly, and Nathan shook his head.
"I'll take that as a yes. You?!" He turned to glare at the other singer.
"I do like the boobies," Nathalia said dreamly, squeezing her own in the process. Nathan also seemed to take this as a yes, as he groaned, almost roared in annoyance.
"Why the fuck have I been hiding it this whole time?!"
"Talkinks abouts being gays is, well, gays," Skwisgaar pointed out with a shrug. This seemed to make sense to both Toki and Nathan, because Toki nodded vigorously and Nathan grunted in slight acknowledgment.
"Fucking hell. I need a drink, but they literally fucking took everything. This is stupid." Nathan kicked at one of the pencils on the ground, causing Toki to slap at his foot in irritation. "What the fuck about the crush? What crush?" He glared down at Toki, who shrank back a little again, though jutted his chin out in defiance at the same time.
"You am reallys that obvilious?" Skwisgaar scoffed again.
"You know, your fucking comments are getting on my nerves."
"Wells, don'ts bes a fuckinks morons." Skwisgaar had walked over to where the rest were, pointing down at Toki with a long, accusatory finger. "He am beens up your asses fors years. Hes touch yous, wills hangs off yous, laughs ats your dumbs jokes that amenst funnys. Hows can'ts you gets it?"
Nathan raised an eyebrow as things seemed to finally dawn on him. The boy's shyness, clinginess, poutiness to pretty much anything when he didn't get his way, or more specifically, when he didn't get Nathan's attention. Something even Tobias had picked up on when he wasn't in his own head. But he shook his head as if to brush off the realization. "Nah, it can't be that."
"You am an idiots," Skwisgaar hissed, frustration in his eyes. "I kisseds hims and hes moaneds your names! So I bits him ackidentals!"
"You kissed him?!" Nathalia looked appalled.
"Skwis!" Toki was horrified. He bent down to start cleaning up his pencils feverishly, like he was about to dash away with them.
Tobias was starting to realize his drama meant little to nothing compared to whatever catastrophic drama-fest this was.
"He moaned my- what the fuck?" Nathan stared between Skwisgaar and the blushing Toki. "Toki?!"
"Whys you ams thinks he likes Nats? She am looks just likes you with the tits!" Skwisgaar huffed, motioning to the black haired, angry and red-faced Nathalia with the permanent scowl, and a need to protect or play with Toki almost exactly the way Nathan used to before the last year happened to stress him out.
Nathan blinked, Toki's face grew even more hot, and Nathalia... looked pissed.
"Wait, you like me because I'm some sort of fuckin' rebound for this dumb-ass?!" Nathalia yelled, causing Toki to reel back in both shock and fear.
"N- nos, I- I-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Nathalia shot her foot out, much like Nathan had done. Nobody could tell if she was just trying to kick at the pencils he was trying to gather but it suspiciously looked to be aimed too high, and her foot slammed into his jaw, knocking his head back. They could hear the crack of his bones.
Tobias jumped off of the couch. "Nat, what the fuck?!" Tobias shouted, panic rising in his throat when he saw the blood start dribbling from Toki's mouth. The poor kid literally couldn't catch a break without getting hurt.
"It was an accident!" Nathalia screamed back, tears in her eyes starting to form. "I'm sorry Toki, are you o-" She had reached for him but he silenced her by raising a hand toward her.
He stood slowly, holding his mouth with his other hand but the blood was seeping between his fingers and trailing down his chin and neck. Nathan himself was too stunned to do or say anything except watch the blood fall, and Skwisgaar had his own hand to his mouth, eyes wide in shock.
Toki kept his head down as he slipped past everyone, up until Abigail had entered the room and actually bumped into him. "Oh sorry Tok- what happened to you?" She was given no reply as he kept moving past her, until she reached to grab his elbow. "Hold on, I have good news for everyone! Where's Salem?"
"Probably shooting up in their room," Nathalia muttered, and Skwisgaar gave her a nasty look.
"I cans see whys, with a friends like yous."
"Well aren't you full of fucking lip today."
"You goinks tos kicks me in the faces toos for its?"
"Kick..." Abigail seemed to connect the dots between the bleeding Toki and the challenging phrase, and she raised an eyebrow. It wasn't the first time Nathalia resorted to violence, but it was the first time she actually did this level of damage to someone she hadn't been directly trying to square up with. Tobias' head was reeling too fast to really process it, and he didn't particularly know how to feel.
"I'll deal with that later," Abigail continued. "Salem needs to know this, so can somebody grab them?"
"I will," both Nathan and Skwisgaar offered simultaneously, then glared at each other. Tobias could tell they both just wanted any excuse they could find to escape from everyone else.
"Go Skwisgaar, Nathan you can tell me what happened here," Abigail ordered.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Nathan replied, as Skwisgaar scampered off with a light snicker. "Everyone's gay, and Nathalia's a bitch?"
Abigail sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Nothing, never mind, forget it. We'll talk about it another time. Can you just get a cloth or something for Toki? He's bleeding everywhere."
Nathan grunted, not really feeling like going to get anything so he ripped a piece of his own shirt sleeve, one of his 'lesser' favorite gray shirts, walking toward Toki with it in his hand. He went to pull Toki's hand away but Toki shied away from contact, holding his hand out instead, for the cloth. He silently handed him the cloth and as Toki traded hands for his face, he noticed a chunk of tooth had fallen out of his mouth and onto the floor.
The sight twisted Nathan's stomach and he turned to glare at Nathalia, who was avoiding all eyes that happened to look her way. He knew that she was sobering up slowly from the lack of alcohol in the place, so she had no excuse for this. Protector, his ass.
Abigail seemed highly agitated about something, or possibly nervous, tapping her foot impatiently while she waited for Skwisgaar to come back.
He did, speeding through the halls so loud that they had all turned toward his direction before he had even reached the living-room. His face was beat-red, like he had been running the whole way there.
"Don't tell me," Abigail spoke in an eerily calm tone, suddenly less tense now that she had seen Skwisgaar, despite the condition he was in and the panic in his face.
"T-they.. Amenst breathings," Skwisgaar managed to pant out. "Lots of... pukes."
"Go back and perform CPR, get any Klokateers to join on your way there. I'll be there as soon as possible." Abigail's facial expression didn't change as she barked the orders, staring deeply into Skwisgaar's eyes with hidden meaning that only she knew of. It was almost like she was expecting something, which only pissed Tobias off further than before. Like she knew a lot more than she led on, like she was avoiding answering Tobias' question, and even expected all of her band members to start dropping like flies.
"I already dids with the Klokateers," Skwisgaar mentioned, but he turned right back around to go back the way he came from, Nathan, Toki, and after a moment's hesitation, Nathalia, following close behind. Tobias started to also go after them, but Abigail called for him.
"Actually Tobias, could you-"
"No," Tobias said firmly, surprising Abigail into stopping her words. Their eyes met, with Tobias' burning with a special kind of defiance that she had never seen before from this generally awkward, soft spoken, and malleable person.
"Someone else got hurt earlier too, because it wasn't about Pickles. Or else, they would have clarified. Plus they don't need you in the medical bay specifically." Tobias started stepping forward, not with malicious intent, but definitely with a direct confrontation that made even Abigail take a step back. "You're expecting people to get hurt. I'm assuming some specific people as well. You weren't around for the entirety of Pickle's breakdown, you didn't flinch to Salem not breathing. What game are you pulling? Are you trying to kill them, or are you plotting something else? And don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about."
They stared at each other for the longest time, before Abigail gave a soft sigh. "One day you'll understand... for now, this is between three specific people who need a quiet place to make amends."
"Ma'am," A klokateer from behind them spoke, spooking the both of them into turning. The nervous worker was holding the lanky body of an unknown person with brown, spiky hair and tanned skin, with strange markings all over their face. They seemed unconscious, thick eyebrows furrowed together and mouth hung open slightly to breathe in small, shallow bursts. Tobias could swear he could see extremely sharp, inhuman canines but couldn't be sure.
"We randomly found this person in one of the... hallways... What do we do?" They asked, and for once, Abigail seemed speechless. She was staring hard with suspicion at the person as though she were trying to recognize them, or maybe was trying to decide if they were trustworthy or not. Tobias was simply baffled that some stranger managed to get in at all, past all the security and guards, just to end up like this. They didn't look like they had a mark on them at all to have a reason to be this unconscious.
Just as Tobias thought that, the stranger's face seemed to flicker strangely, almost like some sort of odd hologram, and then ghostly eyes opened to stare back at all of them.