'The Irrefutable Truth'

Chapter 1: Threats

The alarm next to Adrian Weber was one that he had long planned to get rid of. Why he needed one he wasn't exactly sure, but he constantly forgot to throw it away. And when he did remember, it was always when it woke him up- a time where he would never ever be assed to get up on account of the 'Demonic Alarm from Hell', as Adrian had politely dubbed it.

His stringy blonde hair got in his eyes as he sat up to address the LCD numbers on his nightstand. It was the same number every morning, and the lack of there being four digits in sight always made the time harder to look at.

8:05

Not a mentally satisfying time to wake up at all. Wasn't much else he could do than get out of bed, however; he could never get himself back to sleep after waking. "Ah... goddammit."

He quickly fled to the bathroom and freshened up- after brushing his teeth and taking a shower, he always felt at least a tiny bit better. Sated with his cleanliness, he put on the usual clothes. Leather knee high boots, bright orange cargo pants, a fishnet top and over that a black tee shirt with text on it that read: 'Civil disobedience... is still disobedience.' He was ready.

Inside Damon Ashton's garage was the band he played guitar for. Every member was lined up, and each one clad in dark clothing. On Damon's left stood Mike the bassist, then John the drummer. Each one had their own unique look of distinct unpleasance, but the one common factor each had was that they were drawn towards the fourth band member that stood separate from them- out under the light of an unforgiving sun. Finally, one of them spoke.

"You gonna stand out there all day? Or do you plan on shitting out a couple more half-assed notes for us?" Adrian turned around slowly at Damon's question, and the face he gave his bandmate assured him that he wasn't the least bit amused.

"Just leave him alone," John ushered Damon towards the part of the garage farthest away from their singer, "he's been down in the gutter lately." Damon didn't seem ready to drop the issue.

"I'd like to know how that gives him reason to PMS on this fucking band." Adrian winced at the unoriginal comment and turned back to the outside, reaching in his pocket to pull out an small navy blue object. A cell phone.

"What?" Damon asked the ignorant man across the garage. "Calling your ex again? Still whipped? Need permission to get your fucking ass kicked?" John was barely restraining the much bigger and much stronger man in the group. He looked towards Mike to help, but Mike stayed silent and stayed back, signifying so with a mere shake of the head.

Adrian dialed the same seven numbers he always dialed on that phone for the past eight months. Every other conversation he had on it came from people who called him, except the one person he continually called himself. The phone always ring twice, and then someone would pick up. And that someone, ever since that fateful day, had never spoke a word.

And that time Adrian took to call her at that moment, it held no exception to that fact.

With a sigh, Adrian pocketed his phone and turned back to the others; that led him actually pay half-attention to the bickering before him.

"The guy has a right to be upset, he sorda bought a ring for the chick, remember?"

"What the fuck is your point, dude?"

"The point is she was obviously important him. He wouldn't fuckin' still be pining for her if she wasn't, right?"

"What does it have to do with him dragging this band down, Johnny? Really, I didn't build this band with my own heart and soul to let that piece of shit for a frontman destroy my dream." Adrian winced again, that time at the blatant lie he just told. Lie, false claim, Adrian didn't know which was the better classification at the time, but lie seemed like a simpler term to go with at that moment.

"And his brother," Damon woefully continued, "whoa, what a nutcase. Guy stumbles on over to this fucking house and knocks on my door, asking me if I seen his little sist- er, brother. And I always tell the bastard that he never comes here and I would never let the sack of shit into my house even if he did. He then proceeds to wheeze out a request for directions to his new place because Ade is such an insecure little fuck that he doesn't even give his drunken failure for a brother a clue as to where he's gone. Oh wait, I remember why that is- he can't confide in him because he isn't a real brother, little Adey is fucking adopted!"

That was the tip of the iceberg, although Adrian tried as best as he could to put a leash on his anger. He never was big on fighting. However, the look on his face said the story, and Damon took full advantage of that. "What? Did he beat you, too? Hit you? Made you cry?"

"One more step towards me and I'd prolly smell the shit coming from your mouth as well as hear it, Ashy boy." Oh, that one made Damon furious. More furious than he already was, if that was even possible.

"Come here! I'm gonna fucking kill you, you snivelling little shit!" John heaved in desperation to keep Damon back from his target, so much that Mike had no choice but to do the same. Adrian smiled at the emotions he spurred. He took extra pride, though, in the fact that he exerted little to no energy to do it.

"You don't look so good, Damon. Perhaps it's you who fits the snivelling little shit insult. You sure look the part." Damon fought and fought to get at him, but the two men that held him back were simply too much. Adrian laughed.

---

That led him to his home away from home, out in the sticks, where he would never be bothered- at least he hoped not to count on it. Alas, that night while watching baseball, he would be bothered- and bothered a great deal at that.

"Hello?" He asked softly. A woman's voice surfaced to respond. One that he hadn't heard for a long time, but one that he could never lose grasp of.

"Hi Adrian," was her warm reply. A long, exasperated sigh escaped Adrian's lips. He knew the voice on the other end of the phone all to well indeed. And as happy as he was to finally hear her voice, it left him bitter at the same time.

"Oh. Hey, Maria." He spoke with a sense of surprise, although the noted feeling of annoyance that also came out was so obviously put that one could almost take it as sarcasm.

Maria Constantine was a young woman of twenty years, although she was born eight months before nineteen year old Adrian who would have celebrated his birthday in nearly six weeks. The seventh of July. And it was the last thing Adrian cared about at that moment.

"What's wrong?" Maria asked weakly. "I can't talk to you anymore?"

Adrian laughed and replied in an agitated groan. "I dunno, can you? Afterall.. you haven't since you broke up with me, remember?"

"I know, I-"

"And you ditched me for my brother of all people."

Adrian sounded sour, there was no getting around that, but the least Maria could do was try. She didn't try too hard, but she tried none the less. "I know, I know, I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Is that all you can say now? Now, on the other side of a goddamn phone, that's all you can fuckin-"

Adrian bit his bottom lip and shook his head. There wasn't much of a point in being angry anymore. "Of course you are..."

There was an uneasy pause on the other side of the phone. A long one. Maria exhaled loudly and tried to stay on the bright side. "How's the music?"

Adrian nodded. "It's... coming along, I guess."

"Heard you had a concert a couple nights ago." Maria sounded as if she was secretly pleading for Adrian to let the subject be changed- start on a clean slate so to speak. Adrian didn't want to buy it, but he decided to play along with it. For a little while, anyway.

He had walked back over to the couch and sat down once more. He kicked his feet up onto the glass coffee table in front of him and rubbed his forehead. He was obviously looking to get out of the conversation. "Yeah... yeah."

"Good. But anyway.. I called about your brother." That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

He sat right back up and growled into the phone. If his hand could have gone through the receiver and come out on her end of the phone and slapped her, it would have happened. "Haha, great! That's great. Thank you, you don't talk to me for eight months, eight long fucking months, and when you do you go right to talking about your boyfriend. Thank you so much for-"

"Adrian.. he's been missing for days. And I'm hoping.. praying that he was over there."

Adrian sighed. He felt like a real dipshit, to put it bluntly. "Not for months."

'Not since the dumb fuck moved out and hopped in the saddle with you.'

He furrowed his brow. "Maybe he pulled one of his spur of the moment adventures off into the country?"

"He'd have brought me along." Maria noted it with such clarity that it almost made Adrian laugh, even though the situation was far from a laughing matter.

He tried to think, but could come up with no other quick explanation. "That is a bit strange of him, though. Or for anyone, I'd assume."

"Yeah. That, and someone has been sending us threats through the mail lately."

'Well then I guess that would make sense...'

Adrian tried hard not to lash out on her. His patience had dwindled greatly ever since the end of their relationship, and it got even worse with the lack of contact they kept. Adrian was so annoyed that he couldn't think of anything to say, but one thing which he stammered out in response. "...Threats?"

"Yeah," Maria said sadly. Adrian leaned back into the couch and shrugged his shoulders.

"Any particular reason?" And then, he felt himself jump as something brushed his leg. "Shit!" He looked down to see what it was, he saw his dog Howler staring innocently back up at him.

"What is it?" Maria asked as Adrian chuckled and leaned forward to pet him.

"Nothin'... sheesh, just the dog."

Maria replied with a sense of surprise in her voice. "You still have him?"

"Of course," he said. He had cared for that dog ever since Maria had given it to him last Christmas. "You think I'd abandon him?"

"No, I just.. I don't know. Just been too long I guess."

"I see."

They both paused. Adrian cracked his knuckles and waited quietly for Maria to say something, which she eventually did. "Anyway, the threats... they've been sent here for about a two weeks now. Maybe more."

Adrian nodded and scratched his blonde haired head. "What do they say exactly?"

"The same thing. That a man named Sam wants to meet him somewhere, I forget what town, I don't have the letters with me."

"Don't you still have them?"

"I threw them out. I didn't want to worry myself anymore than I already had."

Adrian grumbled. That decision definitely would not help matters a single bit. "Does Cain know this?" He spat out the question meekly- if he didn't know about it before, he probably did then if he was indeed missing.

"Of course. He's the one who tried to get me to throw them out in the first place."

"Sam..." Adrian mumbled to himself. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"Doesn't ring a bell to me."

"Did Cain ever mention knowing someone by that name?"

"Never." Adrian stood back up and began to pace around the room. He was definitely starting to grow frustrated. "Damn.. did you make a report on the return address?"

"I would have if there was one."

Adrian sighed and threw his free hand in the air, fresh out of ideas. "Well I don't know, I never made any threats to anyone through mail before."

"Yeah. This whole thing just has me weirded out."

"...You know you're messing up my life by bothering me with this. Everything is all simple for me right now. I don't need anything more complicated in my life. I've had enough of that already.." He trailed off for a moment to think about what to say next before he continued. "I'd try to shy away from that, too, but you'd see it as a lie from a mile away."

"Never were a good liar."

"I guess not.."

"..You don't have to do help if you don't want to. I know your uncle died and everything, but I called anyway. That was dumb of me."

"It was. But as much as I hate the bastard.. it's my brother. My uncle was murdered, and my cousin went missing. If I lose another family member, I'm going to have to live in Antartica the rest of my natural born life."

Maria giggled softly. "Yeah." It was then that she heard exactly what she was hoping to hear from her ex boyfriend.

"I'll be over there tomorrow maybe. It's late enough as it is right now."

Maria sighed a sigh of relief. Half relief and half happiness. "You're right..."

"You get some sleep, okay?"

"I'll try."

"You won't have to try."

"Adrian..."

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you want to help? Cain told me you were in the hospital a couple weeks ago."

Adrian paused. He almost forgot about the trip to the hospital he made, even though he still had the scar over his belly to prove it. "Yeah.."

"What happened?"

"..Nothing," he said defensively. "Maybe I'll tell you when I come over tomorrow. Okay?"

"That's fair enough."

"Bye, Maria."

"Bye."

He hung up the phone and smoothed his hair back. And to think that all he wanted was some peace and quiet.