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53 Nothing new

Author: Zea Drew
last update Last Updated: 2025-10-02 14:45:44

Date = 22 June

Two more days snaked past

Place = San Francisco (Grimms — at Paws and Claws)

A new hangout spot

POV - Enrique

7:03 PM.

The wall clock hangs like a relic, its wooden frame darkened with age and polish, every nick and scratch a story whispered through generations. Roman numerals, faded but stubborn, cling to the weathered face. The hands move with a faint, uneven tick, as though time itself limps along.

Just beneath it, three massive displays curve into a semi-circle across a vast ebony desk, their cool glow casting sharp light over the room. Together, they look less like office equipment and more like the cockpit of some sleek, futuristic warship.

Grimms — PI / Search & rescue.

Bold words, etched on a brass plate at the desk’s edge. And for a moment, I can’t shake the sense that the room itself already knows something I don’t.

The open-plan loft itself exudes that same energy — a sharp, high-tech contrast mixed with the rustic charm of The Doghouse bistro below. It has t
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  • The Actor's Contract   59 The voice on the phone

    Date = 25 JunePlace = San Francisco (Inferno parking / On the road)POV - EnriqueI swallow back the bile. Who does this voice belong to? Can it really be Graham?“If that’s all,” my twin says like a death sentence, like he’s already dug the grave, “We have things to do.”“Wait.” The voice is quiet — too quiet — the kind of quiet that makes your skin crawl, because silence is where monsters live.“I know almost everything about you … except what I need to know,” he laughs — not with humor, but with that sick, twisted sound people make when pain’s the only thing left.Axel grits his teeth, “You don’t know shit about us!” He lost his cool.The voice answers it with a laugh so cold, so wrong, it curdles the air in the car. “Oh, I know … every person you shag … every move you make … even those dirty little secrets you’re all trying to keep to yourselves.”Alejandro twists his face into an even worse frown than Jackson’s, and hate clouds Axel’s icy eyes that are fixed on the dashboard as

  • The Actor's Contract   58 Gone

    Date = 25 JuneThree days and in a second things go badPlace = San Francisco (Inferno parking / On the road)Following the location of a phonePOV - Enrique“WHERE IS LEE?” Jackson strides into the private parking, fury radiating from him in waves, hair tousled as if he walked through a tornado. His boots slam against the concrete like he wants the whole floor to crack. His eyes are wild. Dangerous. Deadly.His expression isn’t readable. It’s etched in rage. He doesn’t seem to see anyone as he heads straight to us, phone to his ear. Axel gives me a warning look from where he’s leaning against the bonnet. A storm is coming.“You better fucking hope I don’t find you before I find Lee,” he sneers, deadly calm. It’s not a threat, it’s a statement. I wonder who the unfortunate person on the other side is. Or where Lee went this time. Or why it matters so much.But I have bigger problems than his tiny roommate.He stops. Drops his hand with the phone. His eyes cut through me like blades.“

  • The Actor's Contract   57 Cable ties and lost love

    Date = 25 JuneNever a dull moment.Place = San Francisco (A warehouse)I’d rather not hang out here for too long.POV - AriaWARNING – Graphic content !!!!! Rape - murder !!!The room is cold. Not freezer-cold, but the kind that sinks under your skin and settles into your bones like mold — damp, heavy, and wrong.We are in a storage closet or maybe a utility room. No windows. No lights. Just cracked tiles, an exposed pipe dripping like a metronome for a funeral march, and a rusted, once-blue door with a single slit at the bottom.It smells like pee, dust, and something that died. The kind of space you can’t scream in without it sounding small. The air is too tight, the light too dull, the walls too white.I sit on the floor, on top of a very dirty mattress, tied arms wrapped around my knees. I’m sure my mascara flaked, my hair is tangled in what I can only describe as criminal humidity, my toes are freezing through my socks, and my ankles are numb where the cable ties cut into them.

  • The Actor's Contract   56 Red shoes

    Date = 25 JunePlace = San Francisco (UCSF Medical Center)POV - AriaCalm as a queen waiting for her pawn, with arms crossed, gun in one hand, casually leaning against the bonnet of a black van, is the bitch.She wears a black trench coat like she’s in a mafia-themed perfume commercial. Tall, blonde, deadly … in cherry-red Prada heels. She looks like she stepped off a runway and onto a hit list.Cindy. The one who kicked me with her pointy shoes.I’m just a few feet away, hiding behind a navy blue BMW. I carefully drop my boots and kneel next to the back tire.“Took you long enough,” she snaps when Lee gets close. So this was a planned meeting.Why would he come here all by himself? I definitely wouldn’t.I’m beginning to suspect that once your loony meter redlines, logic packs its bags and leaves. Jackson … Lee … they pull stunts I wouldn’t even dream up.“And you came all by yourself,” the blonde gushes in a satirical, sharp voice. See … even she thinks it strange, and she’s more l

  • The Actor's Contract   55 The worst spy

    Date = 25 JuneMy sister got her new stem cells. Now to wait and see.Place = San Francisco (UCSF Medical Center)POV - AriaThe hospital smells like lemon disinfectant and fear. Mostly fear. At least for me.“So, how was work?” My sister asks as soon as I enter the room, not even bothering to look up from her tablet, on which I’ve downloaded every animated movie known to man. She’s curled up under three blankets and looks like a burrito.A very brave, tiny burrito with a port in her chest and a future made entirely of stem cells and stubbornness.The transplant is over. Now comes the wait — the blood counts, the watching, the nail-biting kind of terror that doesn’t look dramatic but feels like it’s eating your ribs from the inside. This could be her last chance.Her bed is moved against the glass partition separating our room from hers, so the nosy little twit doesn’t miss anything.She’s housed in a positive-pressure environment in which only highly purified air is allowed to enter.

  • The Actor's Contract   54 Emotional support group

    Date = 22 JunePlace = San Francisco (Grimms — at Paws and Claws)POV - Enrique“Ug … fuck …” My head hurts. “Can we just… order pizza, crack a few beers, and not talk about this shit for one night?” I sigh, rubbing my temples. “Please? I need that.”“Yeah, that sounds like heaven,” Noah agrees.“I can eat,” Axel nods.“I’ll get the beer,” Jackson grunts and walks off to the kitchen.“Uncanny coincidence,” Jesse pipes up cheerfully. “I already ordered downstairs an hour ago. Dingo’s on it.” Sometimes the guy can be useful.“He makes the best pizzas,” Noah says.“I thought he made the best donuts?” I mutter.“Well, he makes the best everything,” Jesse shrugs while running downstairs.I head to the bathroom, the four cups of coffee finally catching up with me. The routine comes easy — unbutton, unzip, and lay it out, relief. Automatic. Natural. Like breathing.While emptying my bladder, I wonder what Aria is doing right now. Something else that comes naturally — thinking of her.I know

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