Percy - POV (Orla's death)

As requested. :)

1992

Percy hated walking up earlier than 12 PM. He just graduated high school last month and he wanted to spend the rest of the summer sleeping in, not only because he deserved it but also because he wanted to avoid his father. He couldn’t stand the incessant questions hurled at him every morning.

What are your plans?

Percy, do you expect to be a freeloading bum all your life?

It’s either college or lumber, what’s it going to be?

Percy always answered these questions with sarcasm, even though he knew how much it set his father off. He touches the bum on his head, courtesy of a plate being thrown on his head when he told his father that selling his sweet young ass sounded like a good career path. 

That’s all to say that to have a good day he needed to start it away from his family. Sally with his poor imitation of their father, Orla who lately looked like a ghost roaming the house, and Crazypants who’s brain should be dissected after they die to see what the fuck is up with all of that. 

He liked seeing his mother’s face bright and early but even he couldn't stomach her morning breath tinged with liquor. 

And so this day has turned out to be the worst of the summer. For one, his father is here and yelling at the officer in the main foyer, secondly, his mother’s face is anguished, thirdly, Sally looks shaken and fourthly, Crazypants is staring blankly at nothing with their hair wet and a blanket around their shoulders.

He tried to talk to them for his own enjoyment but they had the audacity to not notice him at all. He waved in their face, yelled in their ear and pulled their hair and nothing. Still, his sibling was always weird and that was normal enough for him to sit beside them, occasionally hitting their leg with his to see if they’d react. 

“Well then search again goddamnit!” his father yells. 

“Mr. Crown, we’ve searched the boyfriend’s house, her friends’ houses, the school, and we’ve sent patrol cars up and down the street. Are you sure there is no other place your daughter could be?”

“What’s the big fucking deal?” Percy complains under his breath. So what if Orla didn’t sleep here last night? She did whatever she wanted. Fuck, he did too. His parents never called the cops when he stayed over at someone’s house without telling them. 

Maybe Orla finally got herself a better boyfriend than that creepy little shit who hangs around her. Percy, like everyone else, didn't understand what she saw in him. They were as mismatched as a pink fuzzy sock and a black dirty sock with holes. 

He onced asked her why she liked him and she had just laughed.

He’s more useful than you think, Pernickel. 

If something has happened to her, they should probably check that freak’s basement. Probably has her tied up in a hole like that cannibal movie he saw last year. 

Percy takes a sip of his orange juice and then waves it under his sibling’s nose. “C’mon, loser, don’t you want some?”

Once again, they didn’t react. If they didn’t blink every once and a while he would think they were turned to stone. 

“Hey, idiot, you should drink something. Orla’s giving a headache already, you don’t have to take the spotlight from her,” he says and nudges them. 

They give him nothing. Percy growls and has half a mind to forcefully make them drink.

“Go fuck yourself then,” he spits. 

Sally steals a glance at the youngest sibling but makes no move to come over. The Sally Percy knows would be all over Crazypants, practically hyperventilating because they’re unresponsive. 

What is going on with this family?

“I don’t give a damn how long it takes! You search every nook in this town if you need to. Don’t forget who you’re talking to, I could have you out of a job by the end of the day,” his father threatens, poking the officer on the chest. 

The officer doesn’t look at all intimidated as he replies, “I understand this is a very difficult moment, Mr. Crown. Rest assured we’re doing all we can to find your daughter.”

His mother goes up to the men and grips onto her husband’s arm. “Victor, tell him to search the horrid boy’s house again! He probably has her.”

“Pru, he’s already at the station. If he has her they’ll get it out of him,” his father responds. Although he doesn’t sound too sure that Lorcan has much to do with this. 

“If you’d excuse me, I need to check the radio. We’ll see if there’s any progress,” the officer says and walks out. His father watches the officer walk to his car and then immediately turns around, pulling his arm away from his wife.

“Sally, she needs to be found soon, son,” he says, holding the boy’s shoulders. 

Sally swallows thickly, “I know, father. She will be found soon–”

Sally breaks off and starts crying. Victor looks at his tears and cups his face, pulling him up to look him in the eyes. “Son, don’t break on me now. You’re my right-hand. You’re strong, you’re the future of this family. You know what it takes to be a Crown. To be a man.”

Percy takes a big gulp of his juice, his eyes glowering as he looks at the tender scene. 

“Dad I can’t–” Sally says in between sobs. 

Victor lets go and looks away in disgust. Sally covers his face with his hands. 

Prudence wrangles her hands together and starts speaking in a low voice to her husband. Victor doesn’t respond, his eyes focused on the patrol car. 

The officer rushes back, a grave expression on his face. Percy stands up.

In a huffed voice, the officer says, “Mr. Crown, could you please come with us?”

✦

The family waited in the foyer. Percy held now-empty glass in his hands, his knuckles white from the force of his grip. 

Prudence had begged to go, but Victor threw her off of him. Percy didn’t even have time to tell him off. Now his mother was chain-smoking on a chair he had dragged from the dining room. Her eyes were as lost as her youngest child’s. 

Sally kept crying, but now his tears were silent as they escaped his eyes. He leans against the wall, his eyes glued to the phone. 

A thorny coil of worry has sprouted in Percy’s stomach. He didn’t want to believe anything awful had happened to his older sister. Orla was badass, shitty things had happened to her and she came out better. Meaner, even, which he could respect. 

When she was stabbed, instead of laying down to cry over never being able to dance ballet again she had gotten full into physiotherapy. What would take other people longer, she recovered in a few weeks. She never cried when her nerves would start hurting and the painkillers weren’t enough. 

If anyone was gonna be ok, it was his sister. 

He’s thinking he needs a drink. Badly. His mother is too fucked to care if he steals from her room anyway. 

Just as he’s thinking this his sibling finally reacts.

A noise bursts from their throat, a weird strangled thing. Percy looks at their face and their eyes look crazed, their pupils blown up where he can barely see their irises. 

“Are–” he begins but they start laughing. A laugh that stretches their mouth to the point of pain. A horrible cackle that makes Sally look at them again. 

The phone rings and Sally looks between it and his sibling before going to the phone. 

He picks it up and says, “Crown resi–”

He stops talking as the voice on the other end speaks loudly and quickly. 

All the colour drains from Sally’s face as he listens. Percy hisses and looks down at his hand, the cup has broken and pierced his palm. 

Prudence gets up and rushes towards Sally, she tries to take the phone from him but Sally hangs up and grabs his mother’s arms. 

“What is it?! Did they find Orla?! Sally! Tell me! Where’s my girl?!” she screams as he grips his shirt. 

Sally’s eyes form new tears and he just shakes his head at her. “Mother…”

Prudence lets out a scream that Percy has never heard before. She collapses to the ground and Sally goes with her, holding her tightly in his arms as he squeezes his eyes closed.

Percy feels so cold. He can’t comprehend what he’s seeing. Because it can’t be real. Sally didn’t say anything and so it can't be real. Orla is fine, maybe hurt and in the hospital but she’s fine. 

Yeah, that’s what it is. “I’m going to get a drink,” he informs his sibling who’s still laughing although quieter. 

Yes, he’s going to go get a drink, to celebrate the fact that Orla’s fine. She’s fine. Just a bit banged up. But ok. As always.