Chapter 54 - Mick

“What do you want?” Arik mumbled into his pillow. “I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol for three days, I eat and sleep at decent times, and I shower, shave, brush my teeth, comb my hair and wash my face daily. What else do you want from me?”

“Get up, you lazy bum.” Drake hauled Arik out of bed. “You’re going to like what we’re going to do.”

“You wanna bet?” Arik muttered as he went to brush his teeth.

“We’re going to come up with a plan to save Kerri,” Carter announced.

Arik choked on his toothpaste. “We what?”

“You heard us.”

“But…why?”

“Because as much as we enjoy seeing you drunk and dancing on top of the bar and singing at the top of your voice,” Drake said, grinning and receiving a glare from Arik, “we miss her. And so do you. Duh.”

“But…” Arik spat into the sink and rinsed his mouth. “Maybe we shouldn’t.”

“What? Why?”

“Because…maybe it’s meant to be, y’know?” Arik shrugged, trying to act casual. “Maybe this is my punishment for…whatever I did.”

Drake reached over and slapped him in the face. “Snap out of it, dude. We’re saving Kerri. End of conversation.”

“Yeah,” Carter agreed. “Even Mel misses Kerri. She wants to help.”

“Besides, even if you give up on Kerri, do you think that she’s given up on you? Don’t you dare let her down,” Drake scolded him.

Mel suddenly appeared in the bathroom.

“Gah!” Arik shouted.

“Good morning,” Mel said cheerfully. “I came up with a plan.”

“Really?” All three men were intrigued.

“Yeah. You know how spirits can pass through walls and things like that? We can get spirits to go and save Kerri.”

“Even if the spirits can get in and get out through walls, Kerri can’t,” Arik said glumly.

Mel’s grin got wider. “Do you know Mick?” she asked.

“No.”

“Mick’s a spirit, and he has a gift. When he touches a person, he can make the person possess the same state as all spirits. They’ll become invisible and can pass through walls and all kinds of stuff.”

Drake brightened. “Three cheers for Mick. Will he help us?”

“Well, I haven’t talked to him about it yet, what with this thing being strictly confidential and all. But knowing Mick, he’s going to want something out of this as well.”

“Why is everybody so flipping selfish?” Arik asked. “I mean, what can he possibly want?”

“Well, here’s the thing.” Mel turned to Drake. “Mick’s gay. And he’s interested. So I—well, he—was wondering if you would…” she trailed off. “Well, you know.”

“You want me to sleep with a spirit?” Drake asked incredulously.

Carter smirked. “Better than what you’ve been sleeping with for the past few months—your pillow.”

Drake glared at him. “You know, I would hit you if it weren’t for the fact that it’s true.”

“I know.”

“So will you do it?” Mel asked him.

“But…how am I supposed to…do it?”

They all stared at him.

“How do we know?” Arik asked finally. “We don’t sleep around with men.” Then he turned to Mel. “Except for you, of course, but you—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Carter told Arik.

“—haven’t been getting any,” Arik finished, smirking. “That is, according to Carter.”

“What part of ‘don’t finish that sentence’ do you not understand?” Carter asked him, frustrated.

Arik shrugged. “At least you have your Mate. I don’t have mine.” He punched Drake’s arm. “So? Are you going to sleep with Mick?”

“I haven’t even seen him before,” Drake spluttered.

Carter rolled his eyes. “Does it really matter? You don’t remember names of half the guys you sleep with anyway.”

“But I…I’m with somebody right now,” Drake said reluctantly.

Arik snorted. “When has that ever stopped you?”

Drake shot him a look. “If this wasn’t also sadly true, I’d hit you too.”

“Come on,” Mel begged him. “Just consider it. You get fantastic sex, and we all get Kerri back.”

“How do you know it’s going to be fantastic?” Drake grumbled. “I’m probably not going to be able to even see the guy.”

“Older spirits can master the art of…making themselves visible for a period of time. And Mick’s old.”

“How old?”

“Old enough.” Mel hugged him. “Please?”

“I don’t know why you look at me like that even though you know the look won’t work because I’m gay,” Drake muttered.

“Pretty please?”

“Fine, fine. But only if I can see him when…during...the process.”

Mel waved away his comment. “Done. In fact, I’ll go get Mick now.”

“Now?” Arik asked. “Can’t I at least get changed?”

“Sure you can,” Drake said cheerfully. “But let’s just say that if you do, I won’t be the only guy staring.”

Arik looked at him balefully. “Out. All of you. Now. Whatshisface can wait outside along with you guys.”

When he got out, Carter and Mel were checking each other’s tonsils. Arik cleared his throat and they jumped apart.

“Where are Drake and Mick?” he asked as they hastily straightened their clothing.

“They…” Mel trailed off. She looked to Carter for help.

“They uh, really hit it off.”

Arik raised an eyebrow. “So they’re…”

“Jumping each other bones?” Mel asked, not very ladylike or fairylike at all. She nodded. “Yep.”

“So that’s what inspired you two to do the same in my room,” Arik remarked dryly, and they both blushed. “So what do we do now?”

Carter shrugged. “Wait?”

“Knowing Drake, we’re going to be waiting for quite some time,” Arik said wryly.

Carter turned to him, disgusted. “And how would you know?”

Arik grimaced. “I used to have to share a room when we were trainees. Let’s just say that if you didn’t have earplugs at the time, you wouldn’t be getting any sleep at all.”

“Can we please change the topic?” Mel asked. “I really don’t like where this is going.”

Arik shrugged. “He asked.”

“Yes, and he’ll regret it,” Mel said, giving Carter a look that said so. She sighed. “Does anybody have an idea of what the C.E. looks like from the inside?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.

Arik smiled sheepishly. “Uh, I might just be able to draw out a map.”

“What?” Carter yelped. “How?”

Arik ran his hands through his hair and paused when he remembered how Kerri used to love doing that, and smiled. I’m coming for you, babe. Just wait for a bit, okay? I’m coming.

“Uh, my dad…he’s the boss of the C.E. and I remembered the first day he took up the job. There was a lot of screaming in the house. My mom and dad were fighting. She threw the stuff he brought home onto the ground and the next day she filed for a divorce. I found a blueprint on the ground so I kept it in the room. Figured that this was the place that drove my parents apart, you know? So…I would take time to look at the blueprint everyday and I kind of memorised it after a while.”

Carter looked at him for a while. “You didn’t use to talk this much,” he said after a while.

Mel hit Carter’s arm. “Hey, shut up.”

“What? I was just saying—”

“I happen to like sensitive guys who talk about their feelings instead of people who cover things up, so there. That’ll give you something to talk about.”

Carter flushed. “From now on, I’m going to be doing a lot of talking,” he whispered to Arik, who laughed.

“So Arik,” Mel was saying, smiling sweetly at him. “Can you draw the thing up for us?”

“Uh, yeah, sure. I’m not sure whether I’m going to be able to remember everything cos’ I haven’t looked at the blueprint in a while, but—”

“Why don’t you just look for the blueprint?” Carter asked him.

“Because I burnt it,” Arik said flatly.

“Why are you such an idiot?” Mel turned around to ask Carter.

Carter shrugged. “Hey, you wanted me to talk more. You can’t have it both ways.”

Mel rolled her eyes and handed Arik a piece of paper. “Start drawing, buddy.”

“I have to warn you, I’m not exactly the world’s finest artist, so don’t expect anything…well, good.”

***

By lunchtime, Arik had finished a sketch of every single floor of the C.E. and its garden. It didn’t take that long considering that every single floor looked almost exactly the same.

He flung his pencil down onto the table. “Finished.” He for one was relieved that it was finished. Drawing the sketch had brought up painful memories. He rubbed his eyes. “Can we go to lunch now? I’m starving.”

Mel gathered up the blueprints. “Sure. Let’s go. Maybe Drake and Mick are going to be down there.”

Arik grinned. “Yeah. I want to meet this Mick. I’m going to go first. See you guys later.” He shifted off.

“Hey Arik,” Drake greeted him.

“Hi. How was Mick?”

Drake grinned. “I never kiss and tell.”

“Oh well. But I’m pretty sure you did some things other than kiss.”

“Drake rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean, Rick.”

“So, when can I meet the legendary Mick?”

The air next to Drake shimmered and a man—handsome in a rugged, lead-guitarist-of-rock-band kind of way—materialized and grinned. “Hi.”

“Mick, I presume?” Arik asked, reaching over to shake Mick’s hand.

“Yep.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, Arik. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“What has Drake told you?”

Mick grinned. “All kinds of things.”

Arik sat down at the table and bit into his apple. “So, uh, has Mel talked to you about the...thing we want you to do?”

Mick lowered his voice. “The confidential thing?”

“Yeah.”

“Yep. Just call me at any time and I’ll be more than happy to help you guys.”

“Thanks. Mel should be here with the sketches soon.”

“What sketches?” Drake asked.

“I drew sketches of the blueprints of the C.E. so that Mick would know where to go.”

Drake laughed. “If we trust your artistic abilities, Micky would walk into a wall, expect to get into the room K’s supposed to be in and get into the bathroom instead.”

Arik scowled at him as Mel and Carter shifted and appeared next to them.

“Hey guys,” Mel said cheerfully.

“Hey, Mel,” Drake said with the same level of optimism. “Micky, Carter. Carter, Micky.”

Carter frowned. “I thought it was Mick.”

Drake shrugged. “I like to call him Micky,” he said, blushing ever so slightly.

Mel shot Carter a look that plainly stated you really don’t know when to shut up, do you?

Mick reached over to shake Carter’s hand.

Carter was delighted. “Whoa, I thought your hand was supposed to pass through mine or something.”

Mel looked at Arik. “What am I going to do with him?” she whispered. “He acts like a brainless chicken.”

Arik shook his head. “You’re going to have to get used to it, Mel. You are, after all, his True Love. You’ll learn to love him for his…”

“Idiocy? Stupidity? Foolishness?”

“Goofiness,” Arik concluded.

Mel smiled. “Do you love Kerri for her faults?”

“To me, Kerri has no faults. I love her just the way she is. Sure, sometimes she can be a bit…violent, but she didn’t change for me like every other girl did, and that’s what I love about her.”

Mel squeezed Arik’s hand. “We’ll get Kerri back. Just see.”

Arik smiled back. “I know. And I’m really grateful to you guys for doing this.”

“You’re not the only one who misses Kerri. We’re doing this for all of us.”

“I know, but thanks all the same.”

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