Page 76 of Drift

“Dollhouse” by Melanie Martinez.

He tilted his head a little. “Oh, now just what goes down here when the door to the dollhouse is closed, Janet? What’s got you thinking you need to hide behind place settings and picture-perfect poses?”

He tapped on Jack’s list, the most recently played just a few hours ago.

“Popular Monster” by Falling into Reverse.

Drift stilled. He knew the song, had lost himself to the anger of it many a night, but with Jack wrecking a car just to burn out inner demons… Jesus, was everyone on suicide watch around here?

But Darker, more depressive. Emo son.

Drift cocked a small smile. Jack had to be.

Next: Light.

This was more like it. Some 2021 ambient: good if you played piano and fiddled around with mixing the eighties with the now, also Some nu disco that mixed the 70s with a refined contemp’ style too. Certainly enough to get the body and soul dancing. Along with that was the likes of Alan Walker, the Cello Brothers, and violinist Damien Escabar, but no Vivaldi or Nigel Kennedy…. There wasn’t just youth here, but creative youth who mixed styles and tastes. And recently played?

Drift thumbed through, and Nothing but Thieves ran under his touch, their “Sorry.”

He cocked a brow. “Now who do you need to apologise to, mate? What have you done?”

Drift gave a sniff and flicked back to the list of names. So a depressed, modern romantic Mom, an absent, we-all-return-to-dust Dad, two brothers, one who wants to bulldozer his way through life, the other the apologist… maybe?

He clicked on the last name.

Not Jack Here.

One song listed, one song played roughly over two years ago.

Drift let out a soft snort, a smile. “Now what’s going on with you, eh?”

“Hotel California” by the Eagles ran under his touch.

Drift glanced around the hall and the hidden levels of security, yet how he’d been able to get in… maybe a little too easily. “Maybe you’re not wrong there, mate.” He kissed the tips of his fingers, winked, then touched hand to heart. “I’ll watch out for the daggers when it comes to people trying to slay the wee beasty.” He started thumbing into the search bar for what he needed. “But you really need a bigger playlist and life there, mate.”

Drift glanced around the hall again, more the heavy hand of CCTV. “Well being as I’m fucked either way, shall we get them in here, huh? See if they’re fast on their feet to actually keep me here? See who really crawls out of the cracks?”

The song he wanted came up, but as he stood, his focus rested on the large windows, and…

Nothing. Nothing but darkness looked back at him outside through huge dead glass eyes.

For a moment even the dust particles dancing in the moonlight seemed to… stop.

Family. This was his. A black mass of nothing where playlists and music never had existed…. In this weightless void of nothing….

“Fuck….” Shivering it off, hurt hitting his head a little, he dug fingertips into his head, hating the effect of spliffs, glue-sniffing and anything else weighing his system down. This music-less blackness he really didn’t need…

“Okay. Please,” he mumbled after digging into his compression pants pocket for an Anadin. “Please don’t let there be guard dogs.” Guard dogs could be fucking fast on their feet. Sneezing at the soft layer of night dust, maybe more the taste of the tablet, he turned the system to full blast having found the information he needed—then pressed play….

Chapter 23

FREAKS

“Why kids?” As Light checked around a guest room in the west wing that had some of Jack’s work boots in the inbuilt shoe unit, suggesting he’d stayed here sometimes over the years, Simon kept watch back by the door, his look down the hallway. A Land Rover magazine also slept in one of the drawers, but it was dated over two years ago. Light slipped it shut, not exactly sure why he checked the drawers beyond curiosity over why Jack would take to a different bedroom. Maybe they both weren’t such opposite poles of the spectrum after all? They both needed space at times. “What’s got Gray allowing kids in close?” he added eventually.

Simon flicked a look Light’s way but stayed quiet back over by the door.

Oh… he knew that look. Light rested back against the wardrobe and crossed his arms. “You know.” A frown. “Or you bloody suspect something. Talk to me.”

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