Beyond Darkness

East Egg

Vincent~

Vincent had had enough for a morning. It was chaotic but one of the best ones as he had completely let himself go. He had never laughed so much and had never before been on a hiatus from a pillow fight. Jack had been smiling all morning. He had observed that Michael was helping around at lunch. Maybe he liked cooking. He made a mental note to ask him about that later in the evening. He wanted some pointers about cooking as he could not always have Jack helping him and because he also wanted to cook for Dylan.

He ventured into his office and then he remembered that he had some files that were left in the library. His mother was a bibliophile. He smiled at the memory of where she would stack books on top of each other on a single shelf and how he got to hear new stories every night before bed. He had made that shelf into a library, adding his own collections over the years and dedicating his Mother's favourite room to a library to remember her the right way. He got up and made his way down to the library. He had no idea but when he reached there he heard a high pitched scream which terrified him and he burst into the room and witnessed Orion with his mouth hung open hyperventilating over something.

Vincent walked over to Orion and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay buddy?" He turned and grabbed Vincent by the shoulders and shook him. "Please tell me, it's what I think it is". Vincent then understood what Orion was referring to. His eyes were trained on Vincent's copy of The Great Gatsby. Vincent smiled and picked up the book and offered it to Orion.

Orion was looking at Vincent like he had gone crazy. It made Vincent giddy from inside. He had always loved reactions to this particular copy of The Great Gatsby. Why? Because it was an antique. It was actually the first photocopy of the original manuscript of the book. It had Fitzgerald's signature copied too. It was a collection and his mother's favourite piece of paper. He had never understood the hype around Gatsby until he had grown older and read the book himself. In a matter of hours, he was enslaved by Fitzgerald and Gatsby's imaginative and extraordinary world.

It was one of the things that Vincent could never achieve. A dream to read his and his mom's favourite book together, or maybe read it to her. He had missed a lot of things and he didn't know what he could or could not do about it anymore. However, he was not surprised when he heard Orion gushing about how Gatsby was also his favourite book. He handed the copy to Orion, who only took it after he had wiped his hands on both his and Vincent's clothes. Vincent kind of admired this side of Orion. It was sweet.

"This belonged to my mum. She actually stole it from a flea market. Though she never told me which place or country it was, it was her most prized possession." Orion looked like he would start crying. Vincent suspected some kind of loss behind his expressions when he had mentioned his mom. "You know? My mother's prized possession is a CD and poster signed by the members of her favorite band." Orion said, his voice holding a little regret and sadness. Vincent smiled and gave him a one-shoulder hug. He then went inside the library with Orion on his tail until he reached a cabinet.

The cabinet was made of teal and sandalwood, varnished and handcrafted in a vintage style that Vincebt himself designed to keep the memories of his mother. He reached on the shelf and took out a red spied book that held the key. He unlocked the cabinet. The glass was tinted black so no one from the outside could see the contents on the inside. The inside of the cabinet was as beautiful as the outside, the panes of the partitions had been carved out with a sweet smell wafting out as soon as the doors opened. Vincent let Orion take a look. There were several journals and, but the most important thing that was kept was shielded away by a poster was a small photo frame of him and his mother. It was a special photograph taken few days before Vincent had lost her. Orion reached out and took out the frame. His face held a sweet smile. He looked up at him. "She's beautiful." Vincent smiled and nodded. "She was. She was strong, independent and the sweetest human being you could ever come across." Orion placed the frame back and Vincent locked the cabinet.

"Vin?" Orion called out to Vincent, "Have you read the newspaper?" Vincent thought about what exactly Orion was asking. "Yes?"

"Did you read about the missing doctors?" Vincent nodded and he told Orion how he thought that the pattern was similar but the dates confused him, and that he didn't know any of them. Orion nodded. "Are you worried about Michael?" Vincent asked. Orion looked at him, his ears turning red and just nodded. "A little bit, I am also just worried in general." Vincent smiled at him. The guy had it bad and it was so obvious to everyone except for them both.

"You were here to make a call, right?" Orion nodded. Vincent then gave him the cordless phone that was stashed away in the desk drawer. He also asked him to go and use it by the window as there was better reception there and he would have no interruptions. Orion nodded and took the phone and went near the window, wanting to give him the needed privacy. Vincent told him that he was going downstairs to check up on Jack and Michael. "Thanks Vin." Vincent waved and left the library. He wandered downstairs to find Jack and Michael cooking and laughing away.