Saved By My Step-Brother

Chapter 7 - "Take a drink. You seem a bit tense."

Mike was surprised to open the door to James, who seemed a bit troubled and stressed. As he entered, he swiftly flew himself in Mike's condo, without really greeting the owner of the home, and rapidly slammed the door behind him. He seemed a bit afraid, but it was the stress running through his veins that caused his to be agitated. Mike raised an eyebrow in his direction; him and James had never been close, simply in the same friend group. He never assumed James would reach out to him first if something fell wrong, therefore he instantly knew it must be surrounding the topic of August.

As they sat within his living room, Mike brought a few glasses of filled with a mixture of alcohol and soda, to which he settled in front of James who nodded his head politely, but it was evident that he did not come to drink. As he cleared his throat, Mike shook his head immediately with the rolling paper of a blunt at the edge of his mouth, his m*******a in a pile on the table. His head was down, but he muffled, "Take a drink. You seem a bit tense."

"Mike, this is important--"

"I won't ask again," he hissed.

After a sigh of hesitation, James reached for the glass and tilted his head down, drinking much more than he thought he would. The more he tasted the mixture, the more he wanted, and soon enough, he grabbed the alcohol bottle and poured a few more shots without mixing it with a pop. Mike, finally having rolled his drug, lit the end and chuckled, taking his first hit. When the smoke escaped his lungs, he reached for his own glass and took a few sips; it was evident James was already beginning to feel a buzz from his glass. His eyes were beginning to fall, and he seemed a bit more alert than seconds earlier. However, the agitation had relaxed, and even his body position was a bit more open.

Finally, Mike nodded his head, "What brings you here?"

"I think I have information that may be helpful to us."

"My guess is that it is about August." He nodded his head vigorously, and Mike smirked, "Alright, let's hear it."

James was merely scared of the way Mike was to react from hearing this news, however it needed to be said. He scratched the side of his head, and clenched his palms together for confidence. The fierce amethyst gaze glancing upwards to him frequently was causing his skin to fill with goosebumps; Mike did scare him a bit since he was unpredictable. However, he finally cleared his throat and lowered his head, "I think I know someone who could help us."

Mike raised his eyebrows excitingly, "That's good news--"

"Someone that could help us because he betrayed us."

A silence fell onto the room for a few minutes, before Mike finally frowned and asked, "What does that mean?"

"I remember something that happened when I went over to Hanzo's, six years ago. It was around the time of the upperclass ball dance. I only realized this since Eric mentioned that that was where Dante and August began talking. Anyways, I was over at his apartment, just to chill with him, and he got a phone call and seemed a bit agitated from that caller ID. He left the room, and went into the bathroom, but when he closed the door, I had to walk past the bathroom to reach his bedroom to grab my coat since I was leaving. I heard him reassuring someone in the phone, saying that she was going to be there. By she, I'm assuming he meant August, but I cannot be sure."

Mike nodded his head, but did not seem exactly certain about this, "He could have been referring to anyone, we don't know the life he has outside of us."

"I knew you would say that, but remember the day before the ball dance? It was William's sixth birthday. We all know Hanzo doesn't really talk to girls, just rather chills by himself and the guys. But that night, he made a move on August."

Mike's blood ran cold, as he remembered that night. He was descending from his bedroom when August had been walking up the stairs with Hanzo. That was the night he had used the handcuff on August. He had thought it strange that Hanzo was talking to August, but never glanced a second time in that direction. Additionally, August never really spoke to him afterwards, as if he had one purpose to speak to her and when that was done, he had no reason to.

As he leaned forward in his seat, Mike reached for his glass and took a few longer sips. When he settled it down, he took another hit of his blunt, and blew it slowly from his lung. This was information that he had never assumed would come up. He was surprised since they had been a big group of friends, and Hanzo was considered part of the family. He could never believe someone from his own group of friends would betray him to this extent.

James noticed the darkness overcome Mike's features and breathed, "But we can't be sure."

"f**k that," Mike spat, "we can be sure. Let me go get my coat; I'm confronting him right the f**k now."

"That's exactly why I didn't want to tell you at first," James sighed, "we need a plan if we're going to go in there."

"A plan for what?" The anger in Mike was beginning to grow, that he was unsure if him himself could hold his composure any longer. "And even so, I can't wait any longer, he might know where August is."

"But we're not even sure about this Mike. What if he was talking about someone else?"

"I'm sure of it, alright James?" He was beginning to direct his anger to James, which James had wanted to prevent.

However, he could not let Mike made a blatant mistake; he gulped, "I know you're angry, but we need to think this one through."

"I have," Mike growled, "I'll just beat it out of him—"

"That won't work, he may not tell us anything and then we're all screwed."

"Then I'll have to kill him."

"Which would have accomplished nothing, look," James heaved a long sigh, wondering if Mike would come around or not but needing to at least try, "I am completely with you, on beating him to a pulp. But we need to think of a plan, because you and I both know that killing him without any information would just be detrimental for the both of us."

"I can't wait to have a plan, August may be dead—"

"And we may never even find August. This lead will help us, but we can't go there guns blazing. We need to get it out of him with trust." He noticed Mike hesitate, biting his bottom lip and James gripped the front of his shirt, "Just trust me on this one. If I f**k up, I'll let you beat me to a pulp."

After a long pause, Mike finally nodded his head in agreement. However, he felt a sharp pain in his heart. Although small, it was sharp, and he had felt that when August left as well, and when Nina had used him. It was the pain of betrayal that he had tried long and hard to avoid, but always arrived at his doorstep. As much as he wanted to head to Hanzo's apartment right this instant, they had been friends. He had welcomed him into his home, spent weekends only with one another where they talked about everything and nothing. Every party, Hanzo was there, and he remembered the mornings after where they would have a huge breakfast; Hanzo would be present as well.

They had been friends, and there had been trust, but he could have never imagined his own friend would be an accomplice to August's kidnapping. As he sighed with his muscles becoming stiff from the anger he attempted to settle, he took a few long hits from his blunts and felt himself relax.

His eyes were red, his sockets were drooping, and he was beginning to feel a bit tired; that was exactly what he needed at this moment.