บท 22: A Side of Tiel
Tiel's sleek black sports car halted silently by the empty running path at the riverside park, leaving a husk of dust in its wake as he stepped out. The engine left on, echoed like a low seductive growl. The chilly wind of the evening blew through his hair as he walked towards the only two men under the yellow streetlight.
Timothy, as he was instructed, waited by the second column, next to a college-age boy who, despite everything, looked calm and collected. His head was heavily protected from the cold air, half hidden under a thick, furry hoodie.
"Aah, is this the boy?" Tiel asked, knowing the answer already.
"Yes. Andreas, wasn't it?" Timothy asked, his yellow hair standing at random places, adding to his unhinged look as he annoyingly chewed a toothpick.
Andreas nodded his face a mask of stone.
"You left your car on," he said with a monotone.
"Yes, I'm not staying for long. I'm just here to pick you up," Tiel said, enjoying the look on Andrea's face as his calm facade started to crack. All of a sudden, he wasn't the macho man he tried to show.
"Hey man, look, I don't know what's going on, but I'm just trying to earn some cash. My classes are getting more intense, the exams are coming up, my grades are falling, and I have to work two jobs to pay for my dorm. I need fast cash, brother. Just let me know how to fix it," Andreas said. The green in his eyes glinted with the struggles of youth, heavily weighed by a thick layer of a sleeping bag, half hidden under roughly cut brown hair.
Tiel quickly shoved the softer feeling in his chest, gazing past him to the wide river behind them.
He shrugged. "It's brave of you. I won't deny it. Desperation can push anyone to do many things," Tiel started. Celeste's face flashed at the back of his mind.
"But there's dabbling in petty crime, and then there's challenging the authority of who owns said streets," Tiel started. "So now, you're coming with me."
Andreas looked at Timothy, who immediately grabbed hold of his collar right before he tried to dash.
"Wait! Wait! I'm sorry! I'll never do it again! Please, my Mom's sick! She thinks I'm getting a discount on my dorm 'cause my grades are so good! I'm all she has!" Andreas's words trailed into a messy stutter, unsure of what could win him freedom.
Timothy gave him a look, almost asking whether he was sure he wanted to do what he intended to do. But Tiel ignored him. He knew what he was doing, and he was going to do it.
Timothy grabbed the boy by the shoulder, and then slammed him on the ground, knocking the air out of his lungs. His head hit the hard asphalt underneath with an ugly thud against the bone of his skull. He lost consciousness, and then Timothy tied him up, easily tossing him beside the driver's seat.
"He's just a boy, you know," Timothy said as he waved goodbye to Tiel.
He nodded at his right-hand man, stepped into his car, and then drove away. Timothy's reflection shrank in his rearview mirror.
Time, as it always did, seemed to stop completely, and his mind went blank. As if his body went on autopilot, entering a moment of detached haze. If he thought about it, if he imagined the person, the people around said person, Tiel could never bring himself to do what he was capable of.
But the familiar pain of seeing and knowing himself as the monster he had become was an easier feeling to stomach. He couldn't lose the person he had created; otherwise, all the people who had died in the past would have died for nothing.
"It would be unfair to all of them if you lived," Tiel whispered to the silence of his car. Only the soft hum of his engine replied as a soothing company. The memories of his past that he had tried so desperately to kill, shoved behind the back of his car, now resurfaced at the pit of his stomach.
Beside him, the sound of struggle started to become louder. Timothy's years of experience showed how well the young man was tied. His brown hair stood at all angles from the friction.
"Relax," Tiel said with a soothing tone.
"Did I mention my mom is sick?" Andreas's voice started to crack. "Please, I promised her I'm going to take care of her, man. My dad's an a******! He had a first family! And then—"
"I said RELAX!" Tiel yelled, silencing Andreas.
"Whatever it is you're thinking, it's not how it is," he said, which was replied with an "oh."
"But then where are you taking me?"
"Somewhere private, away from prying eyes. I just need to chat with you."
"About what?" Andrea asked, now sitting up straight. "I'll answer anything if you could just let me go, man. I'm easy like that," Andreas added.
Tiel nodded to this. "That's good, buddy," he said as he gained speed, driving them both to the top of the river valley, where Torra's largest water reservoir stretched over what looked like two points of a cliff.
Tiel drove his car through the empty parking space of the tourist entry point and to a more private road surrounded by trees. Next to him, Andreas looked around nervously, glancing from Tiel to the road and back again.
"If we just need to talk, why bring me somewhere so... alone?" Andreas asked. Tiel smiled sideways, glad the boy had finally started to think. He should have thought of that a long time ago. For a moment, he felt as if he was slaughtering a rabbit.
"I just wanted to do some drugs with you. Making sure you're honest with me, you know?" Tiel explained, which made Andreas chuckle nervously. He nodded, leaning back, and finally relaxed.
"Are you going to untie me?"
"Yes, of course. Can't do drugs while you're tied," Tiel said, almost matter-of-fact. He finally reached the parking space of the dam's operator, nicely tucked under a thick tree that concealed him in the shadows, his car blending in with the darkness.
"So, ask me," Andreas said, straight to the point. Tiel was busy preparing for their little party. He opened the secret compartment under his seat, then opened a foldable plastic board. Afterward, with one clean cut, he untied Andreas's hands.
"After you try this out. So, tell me about your mom. What is she like?"
"My mom, huh? Well, where do I start? She's the greatest mom ever. I love her so much. We didn't have a lot growing up, but she made sure I never felt like we didn't have, you know what I mean?" Andreas asked, rubbing the sore spot on his wrists.
No. He did not know what he meant, and he was honest. "Maybe you can tell me what that's like," Tiel asked, preparing a slither of powdered goods, along with crushed pills and many little instruments.
"Well, I guess she was just a great liar. She always made the food we ate sound special. Like... uhm..." Andreas chuckled. "Well, she told me the peanut butter and jelly I was eating was special because we were supporting underpaid fairies. Can you believe that?"
"That's actually pretty cool. Now, let's start the interrogation. Here," Tiel said.
Andrea did one line, and all of a sudden, his body relaxed completely. His eyelids grew heavy. "Wow, that's amazing."
"Oh yeah, now do it again."
"Again?" Andreas asked but did it again before Tiel could tell him. His head hung from his shoulders, his breathing started to drag.
"I never felt anything... like this... my mom would lose it if she knew what I was doing," Andreas chuckled. "Can you please drop me off at my dorm?" he then asked, then started to laugh again.
"Sure thing," Tiel said, then pushed his head lightly against the board. Andreas pushed back, his face half-white. "U-uh, I don't—I don't—I—I—I don't..." But he never finished. Tiel took his hand and rubbed it lightly.
"That feels good, doesn't it?"
"Yea...ah..." Andreas's words slurred. His eyes started to lose focus, his lips turning slightly blue. He looked over to Tiel. "You're... you're... gonna take me back to my mom, right?"
Tiel looked at the half-unconscious college boy, at the soft lines of worry on his face, his lips hanging half-open, and thought about the person who looked at him every day and had loved him.
"But first, you need to take some more," Tiel said.
"No..." Andreas answered, now trembling. The drug had taken its hold.
"Just a little bit. Don't you want to go home?" Tiel asked him, knowing well the college boy was far too gone to answer anything. Tiel put multiple doses into a small pile in front of Andreas, and then pushed his head down so that his nose and mouth were buried in the grayish powder.
Andreas started to struggle, his body moving frantically as if he had been electrocuted. His breathing became short and labored, his mouth completely blue, his eyes turning white. He choked on his own spit but was far too gone to cough.
Tiel watched in silence, a tear escaping his eye, as Andreas, in his last moment of consciousness cried for his mother.
And then it was over.
Tiel looked at Andreas, who had overdosed; his body had become limp, and whatever life had brought color to his cheeks left warmth that will soon turn cold.
It was done.
He did what he needed to do.
Now he needed to dump the body. And then find his lazy big brother.
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