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It wasn't easy, but it never was. Lex kept going out to these stupid clubs, and even though it was obvious he was underage. . . he was less so than Lin. Lex looked about two years younger than he actually was, which put everyone's best guess at around 15.
Lin was 11 supposedly, and he looked 11. No way he was getting in through the front entrance. He had to follow, though. Had to.
That was the rule.
So he went around the side until he spotted a window. Then he jumped up and held on while he made sure the other side was someplace he wanted to be. It was quiet, and Lin figured it was most likely a storage closet of some kind. Perfect.
He broke the glass with his fist, while holding onto the ledge with his other hand. Then Lin pulled himself up and through the window, landing quietly and listening to see if anyone had noticed his entrance.
They hadn't. There were no security cameras up here, and the music from the main part of the club was too loud for the breaking glass to be heard over it. He was still good.
It was a supply closet, filled with everything from huge rolls of toilet paper, soap, and paper towels, to canned containers of peanuts, to a wide assortment of cleaning products and tools. He was on the second level of the building, and from what he could tell this storey mainly consisted of offices and the like. He'd have to sneak downstairs somehow, and yet remain unnoticed by the crowd. No one was going to respond well to seeing an 11-year-old moving around the place. Lin knew that much.
At first it was kind of like a serious game of 'Hide and Seek,' which was the only kind Lian was willing to play. Little guy was competitive, and he threw a fit anytime he thought Lin might have let him win.
So he was careful. Lin kept close to the wall and not being as tall as all the other people helped. They were too busy to ever look down, and by the time they did notice. . . he was already past.
Eventually he found Lex down one of the side hallways, in the second room off the dance floor. The door was open, so Lin moved inside real fast and ducked behind a big sofa. The music was different, quieter, which Lin appreciated. Loud noises sometimes made his head hurt, and Lex's music was the worst. There weren't a lot of people in the room, but almost all of them were strangers, people Lin hadn't seen or met before. Lex seemed to know them, though. He was hanging off one guy and talking real fast to a couple girls. They weren't wearing much clothing, and some of the people on the other side of the room. . . well, Lin turned away after looking and then never peeked again.
The song changed again, and one of the girls dragged Lex into the middle of the room. She put her hands all over him, and he kinda. . . was doing something with her skirt. Lin looked away, but he had to keep glancing back.
He was supposed to watch Lex. Couldn't do that if. . . he didn't watch him.
After awhile, he started to wonder if Lex's friend was here. Lin looked around, but a lot of people had dark hair and were tall. All the guys were dressed real nice too, so that didn't help. Suddenly there was a shriek, and when Lin turned to look. . .
Well, that must be Bruce cos Lin didn't think Lex probably kissed a lot of people. Not on the mouth, at least. The guy had dark hair, all right. He was really tall too, taller than Lex, and Lin had always thought Lex was really tall. He'd seemed so compared to everyone else anyway.
Taller than Dad. Taller than. . . well, everyone but Julian was taller than Lin now. Even Lucky, and used to be Lin towered over him, but not anymore. Now he was the short one.
Dad had told him this was like a test. He used to say if Lin did a good enough job, he'd give him something special. He didn't say that anymore.
He used to ask too, but now he just ordered. Lin hadn't wanted to do it even when he had been asked, but at least then it'd seemed like he was a part of things, like he had a say. Dad never asked for anything anymore, and it didn't matter if Lin wanted to do it or not. He did what Dad wanted, even if he hated it, even if it felt wrong. Like spying on Lex, and holding Lucky down during. . . the tests and things. Cos Dad said so.
And sometimes when he did what Dad told him to. . . sometimes 'After' wasn't so bad. Sometimes. Sometimes it was over real quick and then he could go play with Lian or draw. Sometimes he found new paints or pencils in his room, and then doing a few tests and-- and things didn't seem so bad. It didn't hurt every time.
Lin stayed behind the sofa watching for a long time after that. Lex was weird, and later on he started being mean to everyone. No one was really mad at him, though. Some girls kinda laughed, and Bruce kept trying to get Lex to leave, but Lex just pushed him away and went back to. . . doing whatever he was doing. He drank a lot and swallowed a lot of pills. Lin saw him lean over a table and do something a few times, but his back was to Lin so he couldn't tell what exactly. But it wasn't hard to guess.
Maybe this was why Dad had wanted Lin to watch Lex. Maybe he was worried about him, cos Lin sure was. Lex wasn't mean, but. . . he was here. It made Lin anxious. He kept wondering if this was how Lex really was, and how he acted at home was just pretend.
Eventually, Bruce made Lex leave. Some people stayed behind in the room, but when they'd turned away, Lin sneaked out. He went back out the way he'd come in, and saw Bruce pushing Lex inside a cab, then getting in after him. Lin followed them, but the cab took off for Excelsior Academy. When it passed through the gates, he stopped running. Lex was at school again. Lin didn't think Dad had meant that he should watch Lex everywhere, just where he went in the city.
He saw Bruce pull Lex out of the cab, and sort of guide him inside one of the buildings. So Lin turned around and ran back home, before the cab driver could see him standing there.
And when he got back home Dad didn't ask, but Lin said yes anyway.