(August 25, 2009)
Rain pounded against the roof. Aiden silently cursed his already miserable luck while watching little streams run down the windowpane. Nine o'clock had come and gone. If he were to get the statue delivered and himself sufficiently gone from Summer Cove tonight, he had to leave soon. Aiden shook his head in frustration. He was as ready as he could be, and now the elements themselves were against him.
After finalizing his supplies earlier, including a couple family photos protected in a ziplock bag and writing a quick note pinned to the trophy saying it was a donation, Aiden tried to sleep through the afternoon. Tried being the key word. Worries plagued his thoughts, keeping him from falling asleep. Simple rest would have to cut it- that is if he'd be able to leave as planned.
Two backpacks and a lumpy package stared forlornly at him from the door. Aiden walked toward them and fiddled with a zipper for a moment. 'Couldn't anything be easy?' He opened the door for a better view. Dark clouds lay heavily in the sky, giving no indication that the rain would stop anytime soon. Growling under his breath, Aiden tried to think. Temptation to stay another night built up in his mind, but he knew that would make leaving even harder if he kept delaying. That and it continued to increase the risk someone's discovery of him and the steel.
Angrily slamming the door behind him, Aiden retreated to the living room praying the rain would stop soon. 'Though that reminds me to take an extra tarp since I can't carry the tent.' In that the rain may have been an unexpected blessing. 'The only good thing about it.' He thought darkly as he made his way to the basement. Another tarp, a hammer and several stakes later he returned to his vigil by the window.
Patience was a virtue, Dane repeated that often enough, but it was hard to be patient when there were so many things that could go wrong. Aiden watched the clock, the minutes ticking slowly by. Finally around 10:30 the rain began to lighten. Thirty agonizing minutes later a quiet lull descended on the property. Aiden checked his bags one more time before figuring he had everything he knew to bring.
It was time to go, but an ache burned in Aiden's chest. Though he knew he shouldn't stall any longer, there was one last thing he needed to do. Slowly, room by room, Aiden began to say his goodbye to the house. Memories of days good and bad filled every corner. The dining table were the four of them would have dinner, the couch where Elena would read to them or they would have a family movie night. His bedroom, the only room he'd ever had. Brody's room, where hours had been spent pretending to be knights, dragons or ninja.
Last of all was Dane's room. A place of solace. Many late nights had been spent with Dane, whether because Aiden wasn't feeling well, startled awake by a thunderstorm or bad dream, or just wanted to be near his dad. The place where many tears had been shed into Dane's arms after Elena's death. The room where it was realized their fractured family could heal, even if it would never be the same. 'I don't know how well I'll be able to keep on this time.'
Aiden swiped at his eyes, exhausted of all the tears. In any case there wasn't time to cry. "I'll do my best Dad. That's all I can hope for right now." Taking a deep breath, he headed downstairs.
His bags sat patiently, ready when he was. Gathering everything into his arms he set them outside on the porch. With one last glance around the living room Aiden flipped off the light and gently closed the door behind him. A soft breeze blew around Aiden. Other than the gentle dripping coming from the trees the night was quiet. He waited a minute on the porch, letting his eyes adjust, before heading to grab his bike from the barn.
Once he returned to the porch loading the bike proved to be a challenge. The food bag had to be slung over the handlebars before Aiden could attempt to climb on the bike. When Aiden tried getting up using only one hand, the other cradled the now heavier trophy, the bike tipped sending Aiden and his packages sprawling.
Groaning Aiden lay on the wet grass like an upturned turtle under the weight of his bike. 'Why can't I even leave without all this happening?!' For a minute Aiden contemplated staying there until someone, friend or foe, found him and decided his fate.
'Don't let it get in your head.' Dane's words echoed through his mind. 'Okay, okay.' Shoving the bike off Aiden slipped off the camping backpack and pushed himself off the ground.
Aiden picked up the bike and leaned it against the house. 'Three bags that need to be balanced. The weight is too much to try another one-handed attempt.' Aiden frowned in concentration. 'I need both hands so maybe...' Aiden slung Dane's backpack on and draped the food bag again on the handlebars. However instead of trying to climb on while holding the trophy in one hand, he set the trophy on top of the handlebars allowing him to use both hands. It was still an awkward grasp, but it was more manageable than his last try.
'You can do this.' Aiden swung his leg up while simultaneously pushing off the ground. His balance held. 'No turning back now.'
The back roads were dark and quiet. Though the darkness made navigation more difficult, it would better hide Aiden from any unwanted detection. A cool breeze pushed at Aiden's back, drying the water off his clothes and urging him on.
Minutes ticked by and, with no cars in sight, Aiden lost himself in the monotony of peddling. Fields and silent houses passed by one after another as Aiden found his rhythm. Added weight from his bags slowed his progress more than what Aiden had anticipated, but an hour into the trip pinpoints of light appeared along the horizon.
Summer Cove Middle School and High School were moderate buildings set on the edge of town. Framed on two sides by fields interposed with the occasional wooded area, there were no streetlights from the back way until one reached the property itself. The other sides of the schools saw the start of illuminated residential neighborhoods before the streets gave way to downtown Summer Cove. A service road left the main road to run along the edge of the woods before coming up behind the high school. This would allow Aiden to get as close as possible before being forced under the streetlights.
Turning down the road Aiden took it until the woods ended. There he dismounted keeping a tight hold on the trophy. He slid the bike into the shadows and worked his way out of the camping backpack. Clutching the trophy in both hands Aiden crept to the edge of the trees.
Even though it was past midnight Aiden carefully scoured the area for any signs of life. Only the soft chirping of crickets could be heard. As soon as the trophy was found, possibly in only a few hours, people were going to start looking for him. Whether out of curiosity or worry as to why a child was leaving packages at a closed school in the middle of the night- that wasn't the type of action to be overlooked. It would probably be assumed Aiden didn't walk all that way but he didn't want to give them the surety of his transportation. The less anyone knew the better.
Tightly gripping the wrapped trophy Aiden slipped through the shadows until the last tree gave way to open pavement. Pausing just outside the light's reach Aiden took a deep breath and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt low over his eyes before purposefully striding across the parking lot. Head low, he gently set the trophy on the ground in front of the main entrance, making sure that his note was clearly visible. With one last glance at the trophy, and the steel it contained, Aiden hurriedly returned to the shadows.
Taking the service road back the way he'd come, Aiden stopped at the first crossroads. To the right was his home -former home- and most of what he knew. The left led south, towards anonymity and uncertainty. Safe(er?) from one semi-unknown danger but tossed into a completely new one. With one final backward glance Aiden resolutely propelled himself forward. 'You can do this.'
'Really? You can do it?' A small voice in his mind taunted. 'You're nine years old. You can't survive on your own in the world.' Drat that logic. Aiden shook his head. 'Dad trained me, and I can do it- I hope.' His subconscious didn't respond.
Eyes locked ahead Aiden focused his energy on pedaling. Minute after minute, mile after mile he kept going. The surroundings began to lose its familiarity. Still he pushed on. Eventually the tremors in his legs and his gasping breath couldn't be ignored any longer.
Scanning the darkness Aiden started looking for a place to rest. Silent houses punctured the road at decreasing intervals, there were only two every half mile or so, while the pockets of trees lining the streets grew larger. 'This is probably as good of an area as any.' Another house peeked out of a clearing but as soon as it was well out of sight Aiden slowed to a stop.
Legs shaking with fatigue Aiden carefully swung off the bike, not trusting his balance to hold if he simply rode down the ditch. Giving himself a moment to adjust to being on the ground for the first time in hours, Aiden fished into his backpack for one of the flashlights. Though there was just enough light to see his way on the road, he didn't relish the thought of stumbling blindly through the trees. 'Still, I've got to be careful. I don't want anyone accidentally seeing the light.'b
Aiden pushed the bike down the ditch, holding the flashlight in his right hand against the handlebars. Light bounced against rocks, grass and the occasional stick. It didn't catch the small hole hiding in the shadows behind a larger rock that Aiden's ankle found. The combination of surprise and exhaustion tested all the training he'd ever had, but he was able to just keep his balance. Groaning Aiden wearily forced himself to take step after step.
Five agonizing minutes later he deemed he'd gone far enough from the road to avoid prying eyes. 'Just a few more minutes and you can sleep.' Aiden tried to encourage himself as he flicked the flashlight around. There had to be a suitable place to set up camp.
A soft blanket of moss and dead leaves were punctuated by the occasional sticks and twigs. Tall sycamore and walnut trees stood as silent sentinels, their high branches swaying gently in the night breeze. 'Come on there's got to be something... There!' The light caught on an uprooted tree. Branches stuck up in several directions creating a small crevice that the tarp could easily cover. 'That's probably as good as it's gonna get.'
Stumbling forward Aiden let the bike fall unceremoniously to the ground, followed quickly by Dane's backpack. 'That bike is supposed to last you long enough to actually get away.' The logical part of his brain scolded, but Aiden was too tired to focus on properly caring for the equipment. He located the two tarps, plopping one on the ground before unfolding the other one over the branches. Three silver rings were cut into each side allowing for rope or pegs to be inserted through.
Aiden groaned looking at them. Everything in him wanted to just curl up under it, but that ran a high risk of the tarp falling or blowing away. 'Just a few more minutes and you can sleep.' Mechanically he fished out a hammer and pegs. He knelt prepping to force them into the ground. His sluggish movements became more erratic and on the third peg his swing went wide.
"Ouch!" Aiden yelped in pain, falling back on his tailbone in the process. "Come on!"
Grinding his teeth Aiden returned his attention to the pegs, the shock of the hit jolted him momentarily alert enough to avoid repeating the action.
Fourth peg secured, Aiden fished out his sleeping bag and dragged it along with the second tarp into his cave. Poked on all sides by branches there was hardly room to turn around while kneeling, but it was long enough for Aiden to lay out the sleeping bag.
'One last thing. That's it, just one.' With what felt like a superhuman effort Aiden crawled out and picked up the backpacks. He shoved them into the opening before following them inside. Carefully positioning them out of his way Aiden gratefully collapsed on the sleeping bag. Sleep took him almost instantly.