Caleb's Cellphone

Who: Dee and anybody replying to Caleb's cellphone.
When: Late afternoon.
Where: Dee's house; the Lockwood House; via phone.

Dee hadn't slept for a good twenty-four hours, and at this point, she was pretty certain that she'd never lay her head down again. Not to rest, anyways.

This morning had shaken her badly. Nobody just stumbled over a nearly-dead body and walked away without batting an eyelash... or if they did, they were far out of Dierdra's league and she never, ever wanted to meet them. She had waited over his body until she saw paramedics arriving on the scene. Melting under the barrage of questions and the flurry of activity that took place around Caleb as he was hoisted up and away, Dee could only retreat to the water when all was said and done. She was a jittery mass of nerves, shaken right out of place.

She didn't return from the waves until well into the afternoon, brought out only because she knew her mother would be frantic over her. She would know that Dee hadn't been home when she woke up, (which, damnit, she hadn't intended!) and she'd probably think that Dee was the one that was lying torn up on the ground.

The girl shuddered, standing ankledeep in the lake. Even still, the responsibilities weren't over... she'd left Caleb's phone in the sand, dropping it like some poisonous snake... but the more she regarded it, the more she realized that she couldn't walk (or swim, for that matter) away from this one.

Dee was painfully aware that the fate that had befallen Caleb (or that he'd put himself into) was the one that she had considered -- even fantasized about -- in the past... it was seeing things from the other side of the equation that had thrown her off. She had to know what had happened. She had to know if he'd been attacked or if all of those cuts were, somehow, self-inflicted. The elemental wasn't going to rule the latter out, not with what she knew about the boy, even if it was very little. She had a hunch, and when she had a hunch about people, she was usually on to something.

Thank god Dierdra's clothes were wet and clean of any bloodstains that she'd received this morning! Angela, the girl's mother, had stayed home to ensure her daughter was safe, and had swooped on Dee the moment the porch door was opened. After a brief struggle to assert that she was okay and that, no, she wasn't hurt or dying, and after a few half-hearted attempts to mollify her mother further, Dee was released on the card that she was exhausted.

She retreated to her room (wondering if retreating was about the only thing left to her in her entire life, at this point) and then simply stopped. The door was closed, Dee was standing a foot or so into her room, but now everything was silent. She needed to recompose her thoughts. She needed to find out what had happened, and furthermore, she was bound (in a way) to ensure that Caleb was still around to return his phone to.

Dee swung slowly into motion again, immediately making her way to her fan and turning the thing up to full blast. It was hot and muggy and she was having trouble thinking straight, and the cooling breeze was only a little helpful.

Seating herself carefully, almost fragiley on the side of her bed (even in her damp shorts) Dee slipped that brown and red-marked phone out of her pocket and returned to staring at it blankly.

'Okay... alright... I can do this,' she told herself, flipping the gadget open and beginning to poke through the settings. Voicemail? She widened her eyes at the number of messages left. Either the boy didn't answer his phone much, or he was avoiding doing so in the first place. She tried to get into the messages, unabashedly prying into the boy's life now, but was rebuffed. Dee didn't know much about cell phones. She'd never had reason to carry one before.

Once she realized she was thwarted, the girl tried a different route.

'Dorian - Home'
'Dorian - Cell'
'Mathias'
'Leija'
'Jamie'
'Journey'
'Nevermore'

Aha.

Dee wondered at the names listed in his records for a moment. They were odd, after all!

Whatever the case, she needed information... and the only way she could think to obtain it was to access it from this list. The girl was in no way ready for or willing to go into a conversation that had (potentially, possibly, probably not but maybe) caused Caleb to go over the edge... but that didn't mean that they could reveal more than they meant to in their initial responses.

That thought in mind, and a long, deep breath to settle her jackhammering heart, Dee dialled in the first number by hand. 'Okay, Dorian-at-home, give me what you've got.'

And this, she hoped, would continue until either she reached the end of the list, or she had enough information to get into the hospital without questioning, to visit a boy she'd only just met...

There weren't a great many people that called the Lockwood residence and Dorian had been waiting for a call... or something. Any sign that his brother was alive. He answered the phone before it could even ring a second time, immediately recognizing the number on the caller ID.

"Caleb?" Dorian asked, "Are you there?" When he was met with silence, Dorian kept speaking, his voice growing desperate to receive a response of any sort. "Caleb, please let me know you're okay. We're worried about you. Math and I have looked everywhere. Just tell me you're okay. Leija even came by. She's looking for you too. Caleb, are you there? Talk to me, please."

Interesting... were Dorian, Math (Mathias, presumably) and Leija family? Dee considered the voice on the other end. It wasn't old enough to be the boy's father. Brother, then? Cousin?

She felt a pang for his desperation but managed to keep a lid on it. Whatever he had to say might be important... so she stayed on the line a little longer. She wondered, briefly, why there was no mention of 'mom' or 'dad' or both. Perhaps this was a step-family? Whatever the case, she had a name.

'Caleb'.

The lack of response was making him frantic and suddenly he was wondering why he didn't splurge on one of those cell phones with GPS tracking embedded inside. Oh, that's right. He'd thought it would be an invasion of privacy. Little had he known that his brother would put himself in deadly situations, get himself beat to shit, then not answer his phone.

"Let me know you're okay," Dorian pleaded. "Or tell me where I can find you. Just... anything. Just talk to me. We'll figure something out. Caleb? Are you there?" Dorian strained to hear breathing, any sign of life on the other end. "Please, Caleb, we're worried about you. Come home, or talk to me."

And at that point, the thin, dull drone of a severed connection answered his pleas.

Dierdra stared at the phone, her throat closed and her brows furrowed. This was... much harder than she wanted it to be. She felt terrible. Dorian had sounded real worried... not the fake worried, not the 'come home or else' that she was finally learning to live without.

Was this going to be enough to get into the hospital? Dee hoped so... but she would phone the other two near the top of Caleb's list. Dorian had mentioned them, not 'Jamie' or 'Journey' or 'Nevermore'. By the time she'd reached Leija, the elemental was certain she would have anything that she was going to be able to get out of frantic family.

~*~*~*~

Leija had come home from the Lockwoods even more distraught and worried than she'd been when she started searching. She'd confirmed with her dad that no one had called and gone to her room. To pace, which was so useful. The phone literally scared a little scream out of her when it did ring, and she lunged for it. She registered the last four numbers as belonging to Caleb's cell phone and her heart leapt right up into her mouth.

"Caleb?!" she asked frantically as a greeting. She couldn't help herself. "Caleb, ohmygod where have you been we've been worried sick about you. ... hello?"

A girl's voice -- as Dee'd assumed. Caleb's sister? Either way, she nearly gave herself away: 'You've got good reason for it,' she wanted to say, but the words were frozen under the lump in her throat.

She couldn't stand the agonized wait, and hung up the phone immediately. Maybe it was the fact that Dee could identify a little easier with Leija, being a girl and all, but she wasn't sure that she could remain as silent and stoic as she needed herself to be.

Once again, the drone of a severed connection answered another frantic plea.

~*~*~*~

Mathias was still at Dorian's when his cell phone rnag and, after he'd watched Dorian's hang up call, he was ready for his, just in case - even if it took hours, he'd sit there staring at his phone waiting.

He picked it up on the first ring. "Where are you?" he asked, cutting straight to the point.

Of course, that got no answer, but Dee curled back from the curtness in the man's voice. A moment later, the line went dead as she juggled to cut the connection.

Mathias' tone of voice had been just a little too familiar for the girl to bear!

"Oh, fuck that," Mathias said as the phone went dead. He hung up, then punched the speed dial for Caleb's phone, holding it to his ear as it started to ring.

Dee jumped as the phone rang immediately, still in her hand.

Giving a startled yelp, the girl dropped from her bed and shoved the blood-crusted thing under her mattress, hoping not only to hide the noise from her mother, but to try to avoid hearing it, herself!

It made sense that if Caleb's family was so intent on finding him, they'd phone back, but there was no way on earth that Dierdra was going to answer that phone. The boy had wanted everyone to go away. He'd spent the last of his strength trying to shove Dierdra out of the picture, and she was about the least imposing person that existed. If Caleb wanted to be found, Dee felt he'd be able to put the call out himself... providing he made it to the hospital in time. Provided he hadn't died somewhere along the way.

The elemental backed away from the ringtone and took her pause next to the stationary fan. She knew the boy's name, she knew that he was being desperately looked after... and maybe not necessarily by the nicest of people. Should she check in on him? Should she do something to warn him? Dee and Angela had once escaped her father's ridiculously long-reached clutches through a quiet warning. Perhaps it was time to pass the favor on.

Still, with all of those thoughts in mind, the girl wasn't sure that she could actually march into a place like a hospital and inquire about a person she didn't really know, just to visit and speak with them. The very thought sent a shudder of fear through her. It was too much to worry about all at once!

In the end, Dee would sit on these thoughts for the rest of the day... and on into the evening, not once touching the phone that was hidden away. She wasn't able to sleep. Maybe she should take a swim...

Mathias let the phone ring until voicemail finally kicked in. At which point he promptly threw the phone over the other side of the room with a shout, where it hit the wall, hard, leaving a dent and fell to the floor in two pieces and a battery.

Hopefully it wasn't permanently broken...