Every night Victor was pulled back in. Every bloody night he stood on the docks waiting for that man in blue to appear again, but the man never did. All he had were questions and the only response he received were the lapping waves under a quiet moonlit night. Sometimes he stared into the water and thought about jumping back in in search of any possible answers, but at the risk of being maimed by another demonic Frog and the Toad or some other strange aberration of nature Victor saw that it was best to avoid entering that world again for the foreseeable future.
Perhaps it was better to forget it ever happened. There was nothing to be gained from obsessing over it. The island was a death trap; they were lucky to have gotten out of it alive and yet, it called to a part of him.
It was eating him alive, but to the rest of the world he was just his usual charming, sociable self. It was business as usual as if nothing had ever happened. One did have to keep up appearances after all. He threw himself into his every day routine, putting all of his energy into maintaining a well connected social life and of course all preparations for the HATS auditions for their next stage play, whenever that may be.
It was better to focus his time and effort into something that was anchored in his own reality. Victor made no attempts to approach the other island castaways to even dare broach the subject. They were most likely trying to put the ordeal behind them and move on with their lives, not that he could blame them. He had no right to dredge up unwanted memories after an experience like that.
Speaking of dredging unwanted memories, there was Victor in the men's locker room changing back into his own clothes after a post-workout shower. While changing, he saw a couple of guys looking at a phone with smirks. They were just some acquaintances that frequently visited the gym that he was friendly enough with. One of them looked up at Victor with a grin and held his phone out to the Frenchman.
"Hey did you see this?" The boy asked, showing the screen to Victor. It was a video of the campus at night, specifically focused on a tree and there were the sound of girls muttering. It was familiar, strangely so as he did not know where he had seen it before, but he had. Then he felt the weight of his sins on his back when from the video came the loud moan of a valley girl calling out Daniel's name.
"Word has it that it's Daniel Burkley. Rumor has it he was making moves on a girl and then snuck out to have a go with another. The man works quick!"
The other boy said, "I didn't realize how much of a dog he is! The girl sounded kinda hot though. Got any idea who she is?"
She's standing right in front of you, thought Victor.
Outside he maintained composure, but inside he was screaming. With all that had happened, he had forgotten about the video and it was now part of the campus latest gossip. Still, the only comfort that he could find was that no one suspected him of being the valley girl in the video. This was a secret that he was going to take to his grave.
After dealing with the consequences of his own actions, Victor walked out of the locker room with his gym bag in tow. He was about to go and grab dinner from the cafeteria when two strangers approached him. One was a youthful man and another was an older, grittier man that looked like he had seen it all. Victor did not recognize either one of them as teacher's or staff around the school. The younger man's attire was too sloppy to be a teacher at this school; his tie was too loose and his shirt's top buttons were unbuttoned among other things. The older man was dressed more sensibly though not many teacher's walk around wearing trench coats and look like they were about to ask someone if they were feeling lucky.
"Hey kid, are Victor Lafayette?" Asked that younger man, earning a stern expression from his companion.
"Mind your manners, Jones." The older man chided the younger one. His gaze returned to the teenager when a look of realization crept upon his face. "Wait, Lafayette? As in the actor? Are you his son?"
Victor cautiously took a step back from the two strange men asking too many question. "That is correct. Pardon me, but who are you two?"
The older man was quick to pick up on Victor's distrust and was quick to remedy his mistake. "Right, our apologies." Both men pulled out case that when unfolded presented a badge and an ID. "I'm Inspector Diego Harris and my partner here is Inspector Nathan Jones. We would like to ask you some questions."
Victor did relax when he saw that they were just police though it did raise questions. How did they even find him? Well, it's not like he had a sporadic schedule so it would not have been hard to track his whereabouts, but still. Also, why him? He was not involved in any illicit activities and as far as he knew, he was certain that those in his friend group were not doing illegal, or at least enough to warrant the involvement of the cops. Unless it was about the other world, but there was no way that had to be the case. If there was some secret government cabal that knew about this, the last thing they would do was send cops in to question him.
So, with no choice to comply Victor was led to a makeshift interrogation room and sat down on an oddly damp chair. It was almost pitch black save for the solitary lamp at the table that lit up the room. He sat there watching the two detectives fiddle around with a file before they sat down across from him. Inspector Jones angled the lamp just so that it was hitting the student's face enough to make it uncomfortable.
Inspector Harris placed a recording device on the table and clicked it. "September 20th, interview with Victor Lafayette." His gaze focused on the boy in front of him. "So, how's school going for you? Are you enjoying it? Making friends?"
Victor arched his brow at the line of questioning. "I've been having a good time. I haven't had a hard time making friends here."
"Good, that's good. So tell me, where does Sofia Wright fit in your friend group?"
"Well, she doesn't. She was assigned as my group leader for orientation. My contact with her and the rest of them has been minimal at best. I'm sorry, but why are you asking about her?"
Inspector Jones interjected, "The girl has been reported missing."
His eyes widened in shock from this revelation. "Missing? What do you mean she's missing?"
"She had been reported missing on the 16th, but was last seen on the 15th. You and some other kids were the last to see her before her disappearance. Can you tell us what happened on the 15th?" asked Inspector Harris. His tone wasn't harsh nor kind, just direct with the intent of digging for the truth.
Sure Victor had not seen her around after the island fiasco, but it was not like he saw her around before then anyway. He had just assumed that as soon as she escaped that she ran back to her dorm to forget that any of it ever happened. Then again, he did not see what happened after he was forcibly removed. Before it was safe to assume that she escaped with the others, but no one told him what happened after he accidentally returned to their world. Perhaps they lost track of her in the chaos.
It's not like he could tell the detectives about the other world without thinking he was a loon. No sane person would accept it as any rational explanation. He could only hope that his shock did not give anything away and was just that of a concerned student.
"Of course. Sophia invited the entire group to take part of some traditional hazing to jump into the freezing ocean. Some were adamant towards the idea, but there was an accident; somehow we all fell into the water, but no one was hurt." Technically it was the truth. They did fall in and it did not hurt them. All he did was neglect to tell them what happened after they fell into the water.
"Did anything else happen afterwards?"
"I don't know. I was the first to leave." Again, it wasn't a lie technically. Victor by all accounts was the first to leave albeit forcibly via getting smacked into the spring. "I'm sorry detectives, but that is all I know"
"That's fine Victor. Thank you for your cooperation. If you think of anything, please call my number," said Diego, handing the French teen a business card.
With that ordeal finished, Victor walked to the cafeteria though his thoughts were far away from whatever half-baked cuisine the school served. There was no way that he was the only one that was interrogated. They probably grabbed the rest of the Icebreaker group. The group and him were the only ones that knew the truth of the matter. They must return to the island to find Sophia regardless if she was dead, alive, or in some other state of being altogether. However, it was going to be difficult with the cops breathing down their necks. No doubt they were going to monitor their movements. They had to find away to get together without raising suspicions.
Chrys
Noctis
wintersoldier
Xaltwind
Fetzen
Snowdrops
Choking on Mud
Festive
Kronshi
Estylwen
