65. Complicated

Genre: Paranormal romance, drama

Type: Series
Characters: Eloise, Krisis, Krimsyn & J.D.

Prompt: 60. Complicated

Word Count:  1150 +

Warning:  coarse language

Rating:  M- (coarse language, adult situations, nudity. N.B-Applies to the whole series)

Summary: Eloise calls Krisis, and the band gives him an ultimatum

60. Complicated

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Bridgeport, present day...

The band was in studio, working on their new album, when Krisis got the call that would change his and a few other lives as well…

He yanked his cell phone from his pants’ pocket, and frowned when he saw the caller ID. It was Eloise. Call it a gut feeling, or just a lucky guess, but he knew it was about Leigh, and it was important. Eloise rarely called; he was the one always hounding her, begging her to let him know the moment Leigh made contact. And the fact that it was 3 am could only mean it was an emergency.

 “Get your shit together!” Mark, their producer, gave Krisis grief as he left the studio, halting their session.

“It might be important…Leigh,” He tried to explain. But Mark’s scowling face told him he didn’t give a rat’s ass about his love life.

Five minutes!” The producer growled at the other three, signaling through the window they could take a break.

Outside, Krisis couldn’t contain his excitement as he spoke with Eloise. She was saying all the right things…Leigh was in Barnacle Bay, staying with friends, and she would be returning to Champs Les Sims on Sunday. Krisis knew one of the friends was Jesse. He had the “who” and the “where”. There was nothing stopping him from getting to Leigh now and remodeling the punk’s face.

“Krisis, I’ve never asked you before because I felt it’s none of my business, but Leigh’s convinced you don’t love her. But did you ever tell her you don’t lover her or give her reason to think you don’t?” Eloise finished off her account of her phone conversation with Leigh.

Krisis pondered her words for a while. He had no idea what she was talking about, no idea why Leigh would think he didn’t love her…unless…

Shit!

“What exactly did she say?” Krisis asked, barely able to control his sudden agitation. If his suspicions were right, he was going to kill Jacqueline.

“She said she doesn’t remember much about the night she left. She was at Plasma 501, waiting for you to arrive, and after that her mind’s a blank slate. She came home that night, packed her bags, wrote the letters and left. She doesn’t remember buying the airline ticket to Champs Les Sims…”Eloise replied, but he missed half the stuff she was saying, already thinking back to that night…

He remembered seeing a text message from Leigh, agreeing to meet with him at the club, but he’d ignored it, thinking she’d obviously sent it to him in error. And shortly after that Jacqueline had disappeared for a while, leaving him with Lily. Obviously the conniving witch had set everything up. She’d lied about attending a work meeting, and used their daughter to keep him distracted.

“Another thing, she said she keeps hearing a voice, telling her she can never come home. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but maybe you’ll figure it out and help her. I have to go. I’ll text you her cell phone number.” before they hung up, Eloise promised to drop in and check on Lily.

Krisis was still rooted to the spot when J.D. came to find him. The five minute break was long over, and he was holding up the recording session.

“How often do you use compulsion?” He asked his friend. J.D. gave him a strange look before shaking his head.

“I don’t know. Hardly. Since we don’t hunt anymore. All thanks to your deal with the good Doctor. Why do you ask?” J.D. replied, holding the door for Krisis to go in.

“I think Jacqueline used it on Leigh. It would explain why she just upped and left without any explanations…”

“The only way to be sure is to ask Jacqueline,” J.D. offered his two cents worth.

“As if that witch would ever tell the truth! I’m going to Barnacle Bay. Leigh’s there, staying with friends!” Krisis soon lost interest in J.D.’s words of wisdom. He was already making plans in his head, getting ready to bring Leigh home.

“You can’t. We are in the middle of  recording. You can’t just up and go and as you please. It doesn’t work that way!” J.D. yelled at him, causing Krimsyn to come and check on the commotion. 

Krisis knew she would take her fiancé’s side. Krimsyn agreed with J.D. They’d done it before for Leigh, putting their careers on the line.Pulling out of the concert in Sunset Valley to rescue her from Vladimir had almost destroyed the band. They wouldn’t do it again.

 “Look, Leigh’s fine. She’s with friends. Let’s wrap this up first and you can leave Friday night, and take all the time you need,” J.D. came up with a compromise, but Krisis wouldn’t hear it. He knew where Leigh was, he was ready to turn Barnacle Bay upside down to bring her home, and there was no changing his mind.

“I have to go to her. There’s no telling what other impulsive decisions she’s made because she thinks I don’t love her. Don’t you all see, the longer I stay away I run the risk of losing her?” He pleaded with Krimsyn and J.D., but they too, were not backing down. 

For months they had delayed working on the album because he wasn’t in the right frame of mind, they’d cut back on gigs because Jacqueline insisted on equal responsibility for Lily. It felt like they were giving up too much to accommodate him and his issues, and they were having none of it this time.

“If you walk away now Krisis, you can’t come back! We’ll find another drummer!” Krimsyn threatened him as he made his way towards the exit.

He hesitated for a while at the door, his back turned to them, thinking about her outburst. She was threatening to replace him…Kick him out of his own band? His own sister?

J.D. knew K-Infinity would never survive if Krisis left. They might as well start a new band, and start from scratch. They were still recovering from losing Beau. Losing Krisis would be suicidal for the band.

“Think about what you’re doing. Leigh is fine, Eloise said so herself. You’ve been apart for two months, what’s two more days? You heard what Mark said, the album should be done by Friday.” For a long time J.D. tried to reason with him, and in the end Krisis relented.

They went back inside the studio, but after two hours of re-recordings, Mark called it a day. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife, and their earlier chemistry was gone. He hoped a few hours away from each other would do the band some good.

Krisis and Krimsyn left without uttering a word to each other. When he got home he booked his plane ticket to Barnacle Bay, and waited for Jacqueline to drop Lily off…




Continued on next prompt...95. Pride