Short chapter. Not gonna lie, I've been so busy and so unmotivated (work and mental health- U.S. unpaid internships- always take a paid internship kids!)...and then I saw a guest post this morning with a sad face in it and I just...felt so sh**ty. Like...awful. I realized that I'd just given up and I hadn't even told you guys. What if something had happened to me and yall didn't know? Or vice versa? It all just hit me like a rock. So I woke up early this morning and wrote a really quick chapter. And I'm taking the book with me to work- I catch four buses a day so I've got plenty of time to read XD so...yeah. I'm sorry, guys.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Scott POV
"Rise and shine," I called as I shut the window behind me.
Nora groaned. I tried to block that part of my mind suggesting what other type of situation we could be in right now. "Scott, you have to stop this. I have school first thing tomorrow. Plus I was in the middle of a really good dream."
Me too! You'll never guess!
"About me?" I responded, giving her a grade-Scott smile.
"This better be good."
"Better than good. I got a gig playing bass for a band called Serpentine. We're opening at the Devil's Handbag next weekend. Band members get two free tickets, and you're one of the lucky recipients."
Ta-da! I had to admit, I was overly excited when I laid those tickets down in front of her. But instead of being as excited as I was, Nora was only worried.
"Are you crazy? You can't be in a band! You're supposed to be hiding from Hank. Going to the dance with me is one thing, but this is taking things too far."
I was kind of pissed. I'd been living under a literal rock for months, hiding, growing depressed….becoming a part of this band today was the best thing that had happened to me in a long time, and she was being a stick in the mud about it.
"I thought you'd be happy for me, Grey. I've spent the past couple months hiding. Now I'm living in a cave and scavenging for food, which is getting harder and harder to find with winter coming. I have to force myself into the ocean three times a week for a bath, and I spend the rest of the day shivering by the fire. I have no TV, no cell. I'm completely cut off."
She had no idea what it was like- well no, I couldn't even say that. If she'd had her memory, she'd know exactly what it was like to be cut off. So I didn't know why she was being such a prude. It was terrible out there. I couldn't live like that anymore, not when there was music, warmth, food and shelter waiting for me.
"You want the truth? I'm sick of hiding. Living on the run isn't living. I might as well be dead." She didn't know how many times I had considered it. I stroked the ring around my finger, feeling its power. "I'm glad you talked me into wearing this again. I haven't felt this alive in months. If Hank tries anything, he's going to be in for a big surprise. My powers have intensified."
Nora awkwardly kicked away from her bed to stand up in front of me. "Scott, Hank knows you're in town. He's got his men searching for you. You have to stay hidden until- Cheshvan at least."
Cheshvan, Cheshvan, Cheshvan. Fuck it. Fuck them. "I keep telling myself that, but what if he's not? What if he's forgotten about me and all this is for nothing?" It was a bland excuse, I know, but I wanted to believe it so badly. I wanted more than anything to be done with all of this, to have some type of life again.
"I know he's looking for you." Nora countered.
"Did you hear him say it?" I rebuffed.
"Something like that." She murmured. Full of shit. "A reliable source told me."
Sure. I shook my head. I was heavily disappointed. "You're trying to scare me. I appreciate the gesture but I've made up my mind. I've thought this over, and whatever happens, I can face it. A few months of freedom is better than a lifetime in prison."
I wanted to be brave. I'd always been a coward, skulking around the edges. It was time for me to do something bigger. I never knew what my motivation would be, but I realized that boredom and imprisonment do more to rouse a man than anything I'd ever tried.
Nora kept pushing. "You can't let Hank find you. If he does, he'll put you in one of his reinforced prisons. He'll torture you. You have to ride this out a little longer. Please? Just a few more weeks?"
Just a few more wee- man! "Screw it. I'm out of here. I'm playing at the Devil's Handbag whether you come or not." Part of me still wanted her to come, to come see me sing, to come see me be free. So I was leaving the tickets with her.
"Scott," she tried. "You said the Black Hand's ring connects you to him. Is there any way it's drawing you closer to him? Maybe the ring does more than give you heightened powers. Maybe it's some kind of- beacon."
A honing beacon as a ring? Now you're being dumb, Grey. "The Black Hand isn't going to catch me." Buddha always said that "what you think, you become". I wasn't going to let her negativity ruin this. Ruin me.
"You're wrong. And if you keep up that attitude, he's going to catch you sooner than you think."
She tried to reach for me, but I pulled away. I practically jumped through the window and slammed it behind me.
So much for moral support. I didn't want to be disappointed as I was, but I was. I didn't want to let the suspicion creep inside, ruining this for me. I didn't want to be careful. I wanted to be free.
I found myself back down at the cave, and looking at my little set up. For months it had been home, representative of me learning how to stick it out in the wild, caring for myself, maturing, becoming stronger. Staying one step ahead of my enemies.
Now it just represented suffering, loneliness, anger and cold. I hated it.
I kicked my pan into the far side of the cave, shattering it into the wall and watching it crack in half.
Yeah, I was done here.
I made my way to the Devil's Handbag. Maybe- no, I would and could- convince one of the band members to let me sleep over their place.
But first, I needed a new phone. New shoes. I needed new everything. With new conviction, I began running.
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