The yellow light of the passing street lights gave the night a soft glow. The bus wasn't full, but each pair of grimy seats had at least one person sitting there and no one was in the mood to sit next to a stranger at this hour. Hannah and I had let Vesser take one of the lone seats and we just stood around him, Hanna leaning against the wall and me holding on to the railing.
It was Hanna's idea to take Vesser back with us. He was trying to hide it, but it was plain that Lee's death had hit him hard. He faced the window in hopes of us not noticing a sob that slipped out now and then but other than that he was silent. Vesser hadn't seemed to want our help at first and retaliated childishly until he eventually wore himself out. We knew he wouldn't be going home tonight now that he suspected his father and Hanna was quick to mention that there was a spare couch in the apartment, though I'd never seen one.
For someone whose job involves working with ghosts, Hanna wasn't terribly good with handling the living. He had good intentions, but it wasn't very wise to try and strike up conversation with someone who just wants to be left alone. Hanna's questions were left unanswered, or returned with an unamused mutter. Finally Hanna gave up and we drove along in silence, only broken by the occasional cough from another passenger.
Suddenly, the bus lurched and almost fell on its side as it was ripped open by something huge. My first instinct was to get in front of the two boys as bits of mangled metal were tossed this way and that. Whatever had hit the bus didn't seem too fazed by it. The crude stone mass, standing about eight or nine feet tall paused for a moment before continuing on its way down the street. Hanna popped his head out from behind me as I brushed off some shrapnel from my coat.
"A golem!" he exclaimed, his face lit up and he was about to dash off after it until I grabbed his shoulder to stop him. I motioned to Vesser, whose already unusually large eyes were wide open in shock. Hanna sighed and we both helped Vesser up out of the mangled bus as the golem turned into a side street.
The apartment was only a few blocks away and we both supported the grey-haired boy. Looking back at the wreckage it was surprise that no one had gotten seriously hurt. The bus driver was swearing as he looked over the condition of his bus and the riders were making their way out in a state of shock though most were angrier at being woken up than almost being killed.
When we arrived at the apartment I supported Vesser as Hanna searched his pockets for a key to the room. Finally he kicked off his shoe and the key tumbled out in to his waiting palm. It's times like this that I'm happy I was given my own key, even if I never use it. Entering the main room of the apartment I looked around, still not seeing the couch until Hanna pulled a pile of books and sheets onto the floor revealing a rather sad looking couch.
He then returned to Vessers' side and helped him over to the bed. By now Vesser was hardly holding on to consciousness. He was half asleep but trying not to act so and managed to pull over a blanket before nodding off completely. By this time Hanna had flung a pillow on to the couch for himself and was on his way to the door. He turned his head to look at me before he left.
"I'm going to go and see if that Golem's still there." He said, still rather excited about it.
"What?" He said after a moment. Not that I'd said anything, I'd just looked at him with a straight face. There was a moment of silence.
"I guess we can check it out tomorrow, I mean, Vesser'll need breakfast..." He finally said. As he headed back to the couch I smiled, though I'm not sure if Hanna caught it.
The yellow lights from outside shone in to the room, silent but for the sound of two people sleeping.
