youralmostprofessionaldoctor:
Tristan followed his gaze one last time, looking at the shell of Jack. They let out a shaky sigh and shut his eyes to tear them away from the body before finding their way out. It was easy enough to head back to the main area where the party was held, follow the music and smell of alcohol. They got outside to see a stable signal finally coming in and he quickly dialed for the police. As he spoke in part French part English, he turned to Liam who waited, but could never look him in the eye. He was right, in the end. They took that cigarette box. And now Jack was dead.
The two of them waited in a heavy, awkward silence. He crossed his arms, feeling his nails digging into the skin. Tristan wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say. Everything seemed like it would just make it worse. When they saw the lights of the police come closer and pulled over, they walked over to speak to them first. Of course, before anything the police was more interested in breaking up the party that wasn’t supposed to be there before tending to their claims. When the whole place looked like the party really was for the dead, Liam and Tristan brought the skeptic police to where Jack was, only to find the sizzling cigarette on the floor on its last run of fire. “No.. He, was just here, he-” Tristan glanced at Liam, hoping in support that they weren’t going crazy.
Liam wasn’t sure how’d they gotten to the surface or called the police. He assumed Tristan had handled all of that. He felt like he had been in a daze, not feeling or processing anything until he heard the sirens and saw the flashing lights. He wanted a smoke more than anything, but he didn’t have any. The contaminated pack was still in the tunnel where it had been dropped. If he’d had it, he probably would have smoked one if only to know what Jack had gone through, to reunite with him. But he owed it him to at least get him justice before he joined Jack in death. It was least he could do.
The police had ignore them at first, more concerned with ending the raging party than their outrageous claims of a dead body. Clearly they assumed that the stupid Americans were up to their old tricks again. Though it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do, Liam used this time to call Gale, excusing himself to a quiet area so he could tell Jack’s twin that her brother was dead. After the worst phone call of his life, he rejoined Tristan just as the police were ready for them to show them where Jack’s body was.
He shared Tristan’s disbelief when they got back to the spot to find Jack’s body, and the cigarettes, gone. Liam was in shock, first his boyfriend died and then his body was gone. He wanted to believe that perhaps it had been a joke, that Jack was still alive. But there was still traces left behind of him, some blood on the floor and acid burns on some of the skulls. The police made it quite clear they believed this was just some sick prank.
They kept yelling at the two, asking them to come clean about the prank, to tell them it was all just some stupid American thing. But Liam yelled right back. In hindsight, probably not the best idea. The two were then escorted back up through the catacombs, Liam’s escort being very rough with him after the way he’d yelled at them, and into police cars to be taken back to the station for ‘questioning’ about their prank. To Liam, this seemed like someone’s idea of a sick joke. Probably the same person who’d been behind Jack’s death to begin with. Either way, it didn’t look like this horrendous night would be over anytime soon for either of them.
