The expectedly unexpected

Sunday morning, I wake up around six in the morning and decide to text Brad again. I still have pills left, but I want to increase my stockpile further. I can never know when he may be suddenly unavailable, so it's better to err on the side of caution than danger. He texts me back and says to come by around nine, surprisingly early for him, so I pop another pill and do some work to kill time.

By nine, I arrive at his apartment complex. I walk through the trendy building with a newfound appreciation of the contemporary architecture and interior designs, smiling at the attractive receptionist and entering the elevator. On my way up, a strange thought occurs to me about the woman I just saw. She was beautiful, certainly, and attractive, but not in a way that I desired her. Oddly, the more I think about her the less interested I am in her beauty. My mind flickers back to an imagined image of Ashley, rising from our community swimming pool on a hot day wearing only a black bikini, and I feel my stomach turn. My desires... they've shifted. Women that would previously drive me wild seem to be like doorknobs now, whereas women so close to me incite a level of desire I've never felt.

The elevator dings and I step out, thoughts still lingering in my mind. It is no doubt the result of the nootropic, and my mind warns me something is wrong with the changes in my psyche. But, even then, my mental space reinforces my desires. Why would I want those other women, anyway? What are they to me? Nothing. They don't care about me. Support me. Love me. Not like Mom, Ashley, or Kelly have done, in their own ways. By the time I knock on Brad's door, the oddness of my thoughts has dissipated and firmed into a recognized affection for the women I love.

I knock on Brad's door and wait a moment. To my surprise, no answer. I knock again. I take my phone out to text him, but I pause. Instead, I wrap my hand in my shirt and use it to twist the knob on his door. The knob turns, and the door opens.

The scene inside is alarming. The normally well-kept and manicured interior is a mess, covered in overturned furniture and destroyed decorations. The refrigerator in the kitchen is open, fresh vegetables still sitting inside. The faint drone of his TV buzzes away in the living room.

"Fuck," I murmur, taking in the scene. It's obvious someone has broken into Brad's apartment, but it doesn't answer where the man went. My mind sets that mystery aside, though. There is a bigger issue to solve: if Brad isn't here, taken or otherwise, I have no source for pills. Shit, I think. Shit! I can't let some thug robbing Brad be the end of my journey. Not yet, not when I've already come so far and have so far still to go.

I gingerly step through Brad's apartment, through the living room, and down his hallway. I enter the room I saw him exiting the other day. No sign of him anywhere. The room is nearly empty, except for a cluster of bookshelves and a desk. Like the rest of the apartment, the room is a mess. Books cover the floor and papers are thrown across the desk. Someone was looking for something.

Although I realize they probably already found the pills, I can't help but search anyways. I have to try. I return to the kitchen and grab some paper towels, using them to cover my fingertips and search through the desk in his office. I don't see anything interesting, so I move to the bookcase. The intruder had obviously looked here, as books were thrown all over the place.

I look at them with my nootropic mind, searching for a pattern. I glance across the titles still on the shelf and analyze the thin layer of dust in front of each book from where it has sat undisturbed. With a smile, I notice an incongruity. A hardcover book titled "Gettin' Rich" is pressed between a cluster of other books, but the layer of dust in front of it has streak marks in it from where the book had been removed.

I use the paper towel to slide the book from the bookcase. It immediately flies open between my hands, revealing a cut out in the pages. In the cutout, there is a clear package containing hundreds of tiny blue pills. My heart thunders at the sight of the ****, knowing this will carry me through a long time if Brad never returns.

Careful not to disturb anything else, I slide the book into the waistband of my pants and leave his apartment behind. This isn't over, but I don't see any other option for the moment. Whoever is supporting Brad, his company, they'll certainly come looking for their pills. And even then, there is the person that obviously wanted them but couldn't find them.

I walk home, heavy thoughts weighing on my mind. It was fun and games before, but I realize now that there is a level of danger to what is happening in my life. The exposure my family has to these people could result in someone getting hurt. Not only do I need to support us, but I also need to protect them, too. Really protect them. My mind starts planning ways to do that as I walk, already branching into a dozen paths and exploring a hundred ideas.

As I pass by my Aunt's house, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I checked the caller ID but see it is an unknown number. With some anxiety, I answer. There's no doubt this call is related to what is happening, I think.

"Hello?"

"Dom." The voice is gravelly and distorted like it is being run through a synthesizer.

"Who is this?"

"A colleague of Brad's. We saw you collect the product. We also saw what happened to Brad. We are going to trust you with safeguarding it for now until we can deal with this other issue. Continue the trial as planned with Brad. We will prevent the authorities from becoming involved in this affair, as well. Thank you for your cooperation."

Click.

The fuck, I think to myself. I look at my phone screen with some confusion and try to open my call log to see what the number was, wondering if I could pull the area code and get some idea of where the company may be. To my surprise, the call is not there. No trace. The anxiety of danger leaks into my consciousness again at the realization of the powers I may now be bumping against.

"Yo, Dom! Why are you creeping?" I hear a high-pitched voice shout at me. I turn towards my aunt's house to see Colette's window is open, and she is half hanging out of it with a bemused expression on her face.

"Hey, Colette!" I shout back. "Sorry, just got a spam caller or something." I smile at my cousin, struck by her beauty. I realize that like my sisters, I feel a new and sudden attraction to her. She's a beautiful girl, with a soft, auburn mane. Even at this distance, I can see hints of a body many women would be jealous of. I was never particularly close to her, but Colette is still my cousin and I care for her. Quite like her mother, my aunt Esmeralda. "Tell Aunt Esmere I said hey!"

Behind her, I see Kelly wave at me from the gloom of Colette's bedroom. Looks like my sister is hanging out with her cousin, again. It's rather odd, to be honest, considering how popularity-focused Kelly is. Colette isn't a loser by any means, but she spends her weekends on her computer, not at football games. Many would never place them together. But then again, they are family.

My cousin jokingly rolls her eyes at me and closes the window, already returning to whatever she and Kelly are doing. I continue home, checking my phone once again. No call log, still. I have to do something about this. Again, plans grow and form in my mind but none of them are immediate. None can wholly take my family out of danger.

Shit.