28

 

SUDDENLY, LANA WAS RIPPED away from him. Something was pulling him out of the carnival, out of the past. Sirens. Thick drops of rain spilled onto his face.

“Adam! Wake up. Adam!”

“I promised…I…promised,” he said weakly. He breathed in the night, the smell of Emery’s skin. Her touch was smooth on his chest. His lips split, chapped. His throat was dry, and his eyes wouldn’t stop spinning.

“Wake up! Adam!” It wasn’t Lana. Emery’s voice called him out from the dream, brought him back here, where he had to stay. He had to get up. There wasn’t much time. The sirens came closer. Closer.

His face felt torn open, cut, bruised, but he didn’t have a scratch on him. “I swear your face smacked against the windshield,” Emery said, doubling over. “You had cuts. Where did they go?”

“They don’t all stay. C’mon, Emery,” he replied slowly. “I have to get you outta here.” He stood up then fell back over.

“Easy, Adam. Your body’s still in shock.”

He groaned. “There’s no time for it to be in shock. We can’t linger here too long.” He took her hand, and pulled himself up.

The sirens in the distance vibrated the air. Emery shook slightly, but there was a hairy knuckle digging into her bellybutton. The hair from Bruce’s hand tickled her in a way so vile she couldn’t put words to it. 

“Adam,” she breathed out slowly. “Adam. What happened?”

“I made them stop.”

“What?” she said, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Huh?” He returned, the faces of Emery and Lana fading in and out. “Whoa. I hit him. I hit him, Emery. He’s not waking up.” Adam’s voice sounded calm, but when he caught a glimpse of her in considerable pain, he seemed regretful. “No.”

She quickly shot a glance over at Bruce’s throat. Unnatural stains like tar and black blood created a gruesome scar.

Adam kept dabbing Bruce’s throat, searching for a pulse, but his efforts were more for her than him. Bruce had already gone cold, and he didn’t want to fix it. It was better this way. It was good to keep this villain silent. Better off dead. His forehead had an open gash crusted red, and one of his teeth was jammed into the steering wheel.

“He’s gone. How long was I…?” Adam said.

“I don’t know…three minutes, maybe,” she quickly replied.

“It felt like so much longer. Emery, we need to disappear, and fast. Someone’s gonna call the wrong people, and they’re gonna want to take us back. I’m not going back.”

Adam shoved Bruce’s grizzly wrist off Emery’s abdomen and reached inside the man’s pant pockets. In a few moments, he emerged with a wallet and some cash.

“We’re thieves now?” Emery asked weakly.

Adam held up his hands with wide, determined eyes. “We’re fugitives. They won’t see it any differently.” His face was already soaked, the color of his skin scrubbed almost clean by the drips seeping in from the cracked windshield. Chips of rock scattered the hood of the Mack truck, one of the side lights gone completely and the other flickering like a summer lamp.

He shoved the money in his pocket, and went back to digging for anything else. He found a pack of smokes, a couple lottery tickets, a condom, and…

“A stiletto,” Adam said. “Baby doesn’t play well with others.”

“A knife? What kind of trucker was this creep?”

Adam raised his brow and Emery didn’t reply. She kicked Bruce once in the chest, propelling herself off the seat as soon as Adam had pried open the passenger door and slipped out. One last glance at the incisor sticking out of the steering wheel made her rethink how brutal his beating seemed moments earlier. But the pity for such a low-life pig was gone almost completely.

“Gross,” she said under her breath as Adam dragged her by the armpits off the seat and into the mud. “I need a shower.”

“Yeah.” Adam shrugged.

“Ahh, my leg fell asleep.” She winced, limping while the circulation and blood flow bloomed inside her calf muscle, her feet still aiming for balance.

“Well, they better wake up quick. It’s a few miles left to Bethpage.”

“Adam, why are we going there? What’s in Bethpage?”

Adam was quiet. “The past. My home.”

“Your home? What makes you think it’s still intact? Not to mention, what if we get there and those maniacs are waiting for us?”

“They won’t be. The one who found me and discovered my powers removed my address from the files. No one knew where I was from.”

“What is this, Adam? I’m not in this for the thrills and the mystery and intrigue and all that crap, okay? I want to go back—”

“Where, Emery! Back home? Think again. Life as you once knew it is gone! They took you. You’re a pariah, just like me.”

“Yet you want to run back to your past?”

“We’ll stay together,” he said, ignoring her. “We’re safer that way.”

“Safe, sure we are.”

“Stop it. Don’t you see? They’ll come find you. They’ll always find you. Nowhere is safe.”

“And Bethpage is?”

They started walking in silence.

“I have to try, Emery. I have to see it again, just once.”

“You’re not making any sense, Adam.” The mud creeping up her ankles didn’t sit well with her, but it was only a few hours ago that they were climbing through sewage.

“Save your breath and jog.”

“Whatever, fearless leader.”

“Emery. I’ll protect you no matter what.”

“Yeah, stellar job so far. Can you trust me too?”

He was frozen.

“Didn’t think so. None of this is clearing right now. What you did in there, where we’re going, that messed-up place we took off from. One big shipwreck, and I’m just drowning out in the middle of the sea. Alone.”

“You’re not alone, Emery.”

“Says the boy with a million secrets.”

“Sorry I let this happen to you,” Adam tried.

She just nodded and began running with him. They quickly vanished into the night, the call of sirens and bright lights like violent raiders in pursuit.

“Bethpage,” Adam panted. “We’ll be there before dawn.”