Izabella was sitting at the kitchen table chewing on her thumbnail nervously. They hadn’t been long, and she did feel much better now that Tyler was here. Though this had all gotten a little scary. She didn’t know Tyler any better than she knew Bram. She had simply followed him home, thinking it was fine because she was the one who had initiated this search. Izabella hadn’t felt like she had been walking into a stranger’s house, she’d been researching them and their story for so long, she felt invested. But realistically? She didn’t know them. She hadn’t read anything about Tyler or how they knew each other. At the moment, she was feeling very stupid and naïve. What if this wasn’t even really the man she was looking for? How did she know? The door opened, and Devon ran in, making her feel a thousand times better. He ran to her, burying his face in her hair. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please don’t leave.” He cried. She heard a crash in the hall, and a shiver ran up her spine.
“I’m not going to leave sweety. What’s going on?” She asked, pushing his hair back. Now that he was here with her, she felt a million times better.
“Tyler said we should go eat and have fun. Somethings wrong with dad, and he’s worried he’s going to try to come down here.” He pressed a black rectangle into her hand, then started pulling her toward the door. “Come on, lets go.”
“A wallet?” She stared at it. “I can’t…”
“Yes, we’ve gotta go. Come on. I’m hungry.” He had tears in his eyes, but he came in like a flurry. Grabbing her hand, he led her out of the apartment, not caring that it wasn’t locked. When she tried to go back, he gave her a look that said she couldn’t. “Please.”
Izabella nodded, looking back at the stairwell. She could hear them fighting in Bram’s apartment. A chill ran up her spine. All of this screamed at her that she should not go through with this. Yet she knew, deep down, she had to take Devon. It wasn’t safe here.
As they entered the elevator, old music played. Bram was in her view, just coming down from the last step. Devon was shaking behind her. “Stop.” She put her arm out, palm toward him, afraid. “You’re scaring Devon!” She screamed. He didn’t move. The doors closed. When they reopened they were on the ground floor, and Izabella ran with him. She was too scared not to. What had that look in his eye been? Why had it terrified her down to her very core? Would he have hurt them? Tyler’s wallet clutched in her hand, and a million questions pounding in her head.
When they stopped, a car pulled up. “Mr. Stoker.” The valet bowed.
“Drop us off at Broadway please.” Devon asked. Izabella could only stare at him. What was going on?
“Yes, sir.” Izabella ducked into the car with Devon. Feeling scared and alone.
When the car pulled over to let them out, Izabella blushed. She’d not even put her shoes on. Devon seemed to notice it too. “Is there a store nearby where you can get shoes and a purse?” He looked up at her. That a little boy seemed to be taking this all in. That he knew how to react in this type of an emergency, and that he seemed completely fine now, unnerved her. Had he been trained for this? Was there something dangerous about his dad? Maybe he had mental health issues? Had Devon had to do this before?
It was still mid-afternoon and the city was bustling with life. People pointed and staired at the girl getting out of a very expensive car with no shoes.
“This area’s so expensive, I usually avoid it.” She clutched the wallet to her chest, afraid of losing it.
“Don’t worry.” He smiled up at her. “Now that we’re outside, we’ll be okay. Dad will feel better soon, and everything will go back to normal.” His little figures curled with hers. “There’s a Disney store! Maybe you can get shoes there, and I’ll get a toy!” He pulled her along the sidewalk. He seemed to know the area, but that didn’t really surprise her. “Oh, dad has forever passes to some of the Broadway theaters, if you want to, we can go look. I really like some of them, but some are really boring too.”
Once they were in the store, Devon was like a kid in a candy shop, bouncing here and there. He picked up every purse and pair of shoes he found, and even suggested she buy them both a light jacket before it started to get cold later. Izabella bit her lip, worried that they spent too much. She tried tallying up what she paid out just for her items, and then tucked the receipt away. If they wanted reimbursement for anything, she would just have to keep the receipts so she could figure it out. She did feel much better not walking around with a wallet in her hand now though.
“You got a purse with the villains on it instead of the princesses? Why?” He looked up at her, taking her hand as he tucked a cute little lion under his arm.
“I guess I’ve just always liked the villains best. I kinda feel sorry for them, something made them the way they are.” She shrugged, giggling, “I guess I always think that, if we knew what that was, maybe there’s something we could do to help them.”
Devon reached over, kissing her knuckles. “I like that thought. I want to help the villains too.”
They actually had a really great day. Devon convinced her to take him to the zoo, and they ate out twice. Izabella couldn’t ever remember doing that before. Her dad always had such a strict budget, they rarely ate out anywhere.
When Devon said that Tyler had called while she was in the bathroom and asked them to stay out of the apartment building and to just get a hotel for the night, Izabella became suspicious again. Was she helping them do something weird with this little boy? He didn’t seem worried at all and looked excited to be going to a hotel. He’d even looked it up on google and showed her the one he wanted.
A little later that night, Izabella asked to borrow Devon’s phone. They were at the hotel, and he was walking around trying to pick out the perfect bathing suit, so he wasn’t paying attention to her as she clicked the name in his contacts. The phone rang twice before she heard his husky voice on the other end. “Devon, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” He sounded worried.
“It’s actually Izabella. Are you feeling better?” She heard him inhale deeply, then sigh.
“Starting to, I suppose. Is Devon behaving himself for you?” His voice seemed strained. She guessed he wasn’t feeling a whole lot better yet.
“He is, he’s actually doing great. I just… wanted to make sure it was okay to stay away for the night. I thought it was weird that Tyler would call and not bother speaking with me at all.”
Bram chuckled, “Yeah, it’s fine. I think I just need some quiet time, no one around. If you could keep him out of here at least until tomorrow afternoon, I’ll call again to check in.”
“The room Devon wants is over five thousand a night, I booked something else but—”
“Just get the room he wants, money isn’t an issue, and I’ve put you both through enough. He likes that one, because it comes with a VIP card that lets him do anything he wants. Comes with a personal spa too, so when he wants to curl up and watch TV, you can have someone come up and give you a facial or message or whatever you want. Get the room, you’ll like it.”
“But—”
“No buts. It’s really fine. And… Izabella?”
She half smiled at the phone as he said her name, maybe she had been wrong, and he had known it. “Yeah?” She held the phone a little closer.
“I’m really sorry about everything. Can you apologize to Devon for me too? And tell him I love him?” He sounded so very tired, and she felt sorry for him. She didn’t know what he was going through right now, but she had to imagine it was wearing on him and must have been very stressful.
“I will. Feel better soon, Bram.”
He chuckled, “I will. You both have fun.”
“Thank you.” Biting her lip, she smiled down at the phone. That was the nicest he had been to her. It left a warmth in her chest as she started looking for a bathing suit that would fit her.
***
Tyler looked up at Bram with a smile, “You know where she is?”
Bram frowned, glaring at his friend.