O’Toole House Chapter 1
Gabriella hadn’t expected to be sprayed with so much blood, nor had she expected that blood to be teal. The creature it came out of hadn’t looked like anything too out of the ordinary, just an almost deer-like thing on the Fitchburg State University campus. In the van on their way to the site, Graham had taken the lead and the two of them planned to get it locked down so that Ruby’s newest boy, a twenty-four-year-old biomechanics major at UMass Amherst named Tommy – with muscles larger than any of Ruby’s boys yet – could come down and get it tagged and safely released.
But when they found it behind one of the dorm buildings, the creature was already dying. Neither Graham nor Tommy could get a handle on what had actually injured it until Tommy gently moved the animal to reveal a large shard of glass from a Bud Light bottle lodged in the soft bottom of its front paw. None of them knew if it was lingering alcohol, germs on the glass, or some other chemical reaction that was causing the blood blister around the shard to grow larger and larger like a fucked up water balloon. But by the time they were able to get Ruby on the phone, it burst, teal blood spraying all over Gabriella’s shirt as the creature fell over, dead.
She had sympathy, an unexpected amount, especially when Tommy blinked back tears as he hefted the cryptid over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. But she also had a family dinner tonight for her cousin’s college graduation and she couldn’t go to it smelling like forest and old beef. So she and Graham went straight back to headquarters once Tommy left, and Gabriella did her best to keep from getting blood on the seats of their hideous team van. She wasn’t entirely successful and knew she’d hear about it from Bradley, but whatever. Teal on mustard yellow was an improvement.
After a shower at headquarters, Gabriella walked out into their living room work space in her spare clothes, toweling off her long blonde hair as she sat down at the computer bank. “I’m off now, but I can start the report first,” she said to Amelia, who was sitting at the computer across from her, scowling at something on her screen.
“No, you can go,” Amelia said. “I’ll wrap it up after…”
She trailed off as she stared at her computer, clearly remembering the forty-seven other things she had on her plate tonight. Amelia had been acting captain for about a week now, including the days James had been on site, dealing first with the antidote sequence from that love potion, then…
Then a completely understandable breakdown after learning he’d been ordered to kill several members of the team and had almost succeeded in doing so.
“I’ll stay and finish it,” Gabriella said, hoping that the “leave no room for argument” tone she was using hit that balance of respectful and firm. Or, at least as firm as she dared. “Kevin’s party isn’t until five and it’s just in Lancaster anyway.”
Amelia looked like she wanted to argue, but then her expression collapsed into relief. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m-”
Gabriella shook her head before Amelia could finish apologizing, then turned on the computer in front of her and waited for it to boot up. She tried not to look at the empty computer station, but her eyes ended up there anyway.
“So this is a cousin’s graduation?” Amelia asked.
“Yeah, our youngest cousin, Kevin. He graduated in December, but he was on an internship until now, so my family held off on the party.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah.”
They were quiet for a moment, and Gabriella could hear Amelia not asking the question she wanted to ask. And that was fine, because Gabriella knew both the actual answer and the answer she was hoping for.
“I don’t think James is going,” she said.
Amelia’s eyes darted toward the front door. “No, probably not.”
Gabriella had been by to see him once since he’d left headquarters, not that he’d actually let her in. He’d either been feigning sleep or actually asleep when she knocked on his half-open bedroom door, so she’d just kind of made sure he was breathing, then slipped out of the apartment. That had been two days ago.
She finally got the computer to work enough to start typing her report a few minutes later, just as the front door opened and Bradley walked in to take the evening shift.
“Hey,” Gabriella called over.
He nodded at her as he came upstairs. “I picked up bleach,” he said to Amelia.
“Thank you so much. I wanted to go get it, but those meetings were this afternoon and I couldn’t get away.”
“It’s fine.”
“Did you stop by?” Amelia asked.
“Yeah.”
“How was he?”
“High as fuck.”
Bradley shrugged off his coat and took the computer beside Amelia, the last remaining computer now. “Okay, though,” he added, almost as an afterthought.
Gabriella didn’t ask, though it was pretty unlikely he would have given her more details anyway. If there were any to give. Instead, she wrote her report while wondering if she still smelled vaguely of creature blood.
***
Gran’s house was packed with people when Gabriella got there. Her mom wasn’t sure if she’d be able to make it tonight and Gabriella didn’t see her car. But she immediately spotted the younger kids playing in the front yard and around back, then her cousin Celia’s daughter Penny sitting on the porch swing. Penny was engrossed in a book with what looked like the ghost of a nun on the cover. She barely looked up as two of the other kids jumped up on the porch, shrieked, then disappeared around the corner.
Penny’s friend’s dad had pulled a gun on James in the front yard last fall, probably right about where Gabriella was now walking with her bottle of wine and gift bag.
After calling hi to the kids, bringing Kevin his graduation gift, and making the rounds among the aunts and uncles, Gabriella took a seat in the living room between a few of her cousins. She had her little bowl of pasta and listened quietly to the conversation around her, grateful no one seemed to need anything from her for now.
“Gabriella, how’s James?” her Auntie Jules eventually asked just as Gabriella was taking a too-large bite of pasta.
“He’s good,” Gabriella lied after a painful swallow.
“Oh no, is James hurt?” Aunt Lydia asked from across the room. “The poor thing. What happened?”
“I think he hurt his back,” Gabriella said. “I don’t really know any details.”
“Is he sure he doesn’t want us to bring him anything?” Auntie Jules asked. “If he’s injured, he shouldn’t be pushing himself to clean or cook. Especially with Jim and Dana so far away now.”
Gabriella loved their aunts dearly, but she was pretty sure the last thing James needed was a group of well-meaning relatives loudly helping around his apartment.
“He’s got a roommate,” Gabriella said.
She’d been about to add that they were all pitching in, but managed to stop herself before making that mistake. It was true, but that could also be seen as an invitation. Or possibly as an affront. Regardless, there was a dance to this and Gabriella was old enough to know it.
“He’s good,” she repeated. “He’s taking a little time to recover, but I think he mentioned maybe taking some vacation time after. I don’t really know.”
She knew. She knew the exact date his medical leave ended, exactly what was wrong, and how horrifically bad it actually was. But if James was embarrassed to have the team looking out for him, he’d be mortified for the family to be involved.
“Just let him know we’re here,” Auntie Jules said. “And to answer his texts once in a while.”
Gabriella gave a laugh that sounded as sick as she felt.
That was the only time it came up for a while. She actually had a nice time catching up with some cousins in the couple remaining hours she was there. Then, as she was heading outside to leave she heard someone call her name.
“Gabriella, wait up.”
It was her cousin Angie. Angie was about Gabriella’s age, and Gabriella had always been extremely intimidated by her and the way she was both effortlessly cool and constantly in trouble. Angie let the screen door slam shut behind them, then motioned for Gabriella to join her around the corner of the porch.
“Is James okay?” Angie asked.
Gabriella was about to launch into the same pre-planned speech about vague injuries when Angie stopped her, shaking her head. “No,” she said. “For real.”
Apparently Gabriella could spend however many years she wanted fighting the forces of evil, but she’d always look like a wide-eyed fawn to some people. Angie sighed and lit a cigarette. “Listen, if I tell you something, are you required to tell the cops?”
“What?” Gabriella asked. “I’m not a cop, Angie.”
“I know that,” Angie said impatiently. “But are you, like, whatever Celia is? Where you have to tell the cops if someone tells you something illegal?”
Gabriella was pretty sure there was more to being a mandatory reporter than that, but she technically wasn’t one and she didn’t feel like arguing about it. “No.”
Angie nodded. “Alright,” she said. “My friend Della has a growing facility. Nothing official yet but she’s working on it. But she grows a lot. James called me yesterday to buy some weed from her.”
“Weed is legal,” Gabriella said, still confused.
“Not the amount he just bought,” Angie retorted. “I know it isn’t my business, but he’s James. He sounded like shit on the phone, but just told me he was fine. And that he trusted what my friend was growing more than anything at the dispensary.”
Based on his reactions to food recently, Gabriella could see that.
“And you two work together and I know that whole ‘oh, he hurt his back, gee, I don’t know’ thing back there with Auntie Jules was horseshit. I don’t need details, just tell me if he’s okay.”
“No, he’s not okay.”
Angie looked taken aback by her answer, like she hadn’t expected Gabriella to be honest with her. “Alright,” she said. “Della sells in bulk to some of our friends at a discount. I’ll get that for him.”
“Thanks,” Gabriella said. What was she going to do? Say, no, don’t buy our traumatized older cousin drugs? It was probably the most useful thing anyone could do for him right now.
She texted James as she got in her car, saying hi and mentioning both that everyone hoped he was good and that she was going to stop by on her way home. Even though she knew he probably wouldn’t eat it, she’d brought a plate of food for him. Auntie Jules hadn’t so much handed her a paper plate as she had crammed three plates worth of food together and wrapped it in foil for him. Then did the same thing for James’s roommate. Then asked if Gabriella was going back to work later, because she’d send food for her friends there too.
If Gabriella went back to headquarters, she’d end up staying to work and Amelia would kill her and then dig her up again because they couldn’t afford to lose another person. So she just said no, but she promised to swing by James’s house.
***
Graham was home when Gabriella arrived. “Hey,” she said, extremely conscious of the way they were all invading Graham’s privacy as well. “Auntie Jules sent food but I can just leave it.”
“Nah, come on in,” Graham said, moving aside so she could come into the apartment. “I just got home a little while ago.”
“Are you on tomorrow?” Gabriella asked.
“Yeah,” Graham said, suddenly lowering his voice. “I told Amelia I’d take the day, since Bradley’s doing overnights tonight and tomorrow.”
Right, James could hear anything they were saying from his room and the last thing they needed was for him to feel guilty about what had happened. Or, even guiltier. Which she wouldn’t have thought possible, but if anyone could, it was James.
Graham eyed the multiple plates of food Gabriella was holding. “Auntie Jules, right?” he asked as she handed him his.
“The only reason that there isn’t soup for Madelyn and pie for Bradley is because I told her I wasn’t working tonight. But when she heard I was stopping by, you got a plate too.”
“I was going to order takeout, so please tell your aunt thank you for me.”
Gabriella eyed James’s closed bedroom door. “I’m going to see if he’s up.”
Graham nodded, but didn’t say anything. She knocked on the door as Graham went into the kitchen. “Hey, James?” she called. “It’s Gabriella. Auntie Jules sent you some supper.”
She hadn’t actually seen him since he’d left work the other day. Awake, that was. And she expected that to continue. But then she heard the lock on the other side of the door slide out of place. The door creaked open and the first thing she thought was how awful James looked as he squinted out at her.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey,” he replied, his voice rough.
“Are you hungry? Auntie Jules sent dinner.”
She held up the plate awkwardly. It smelled good, but James eyed it almost fearfully. “What is it?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” Gabriella admitted. “There’s steak tips from Balboa’s Deli, some mac and cheese I think Auntie Jules made, and I’m not sure what else.”
That fear hadn’t gone out of his eyes and it broke her heart. “I’m all set,” he said. “You take it.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, aware she might be pushing too far.
“Yeah,” he said, not looking her in the eye. “Good night, Gabs.”
He closed the door and she heard the lock go back in place. As she stepped back, Graham motioned for her to come into the kitchen.
“He won’t eat much,” he said. “Madelyn and I tried to get him to have some pizza with us last night and he wouldn’t even talk to us.”
The fact that Madelyn was there probably hadn’t helped either. Not that it was Madelyn’s fault by any means. But James had attacked her. And even though he hadn’t been in his right mind, no one could convince him it wasn’t his fault.
Not that Madelyn hadn’t held her own. Apparently she’d hit him so hard with her cane that she’d bruised his kidney. Gabriella felt guilty knowing that information, but she’d overheard Amelia talking down Madelyn, who had felt guilty and wanted to apologize to James.
So basically, they were all a mess.
“Do you want this?” she asked Graham.
“You take it,” he said. “He’s not going to eat it, so bring it home.”
Gabriella hesitated. “I mean it,” Graham said. “I’m home and I know you did the overnight last night and the day today. Go get some sleep.”
Gabriella reluctantly left, carrying the plate of cooling food with her.
