CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Monday, October 31st

THEY CHOSE A PARK NEAR her aunt's house. That way, it would seem like Blake had been out for a late night walk.

Lance turned the SUV's lights off and drove backwards down the neighborhood street. When he reached the curb, he parked the SUV, but left it running.

"You don't have to do this," he told Kandice, as he pulled on rubber gloves.

"Yes, I do," she grabbed a pair for herself.

Kandice followed Lance out of the SUV. When he opened the back hatch, she went stiff. The body of her brother laid there as proof it was all real, but her mind was still having trouble coming to terms with his death. Still, her feelings were empty, there were no tears, or any emotions left inside of her. Life was suffering, and from that moment any Aether Walker that crossed her path would discover it. Vengeance would be hers.

Lance pulled Blake's body out of the back floorboard and heaved him onto his shoulder.

"It's okay," he said. "I can take it from here."

Kandice just shook her head and followed Lance into the park. He stopped at the first dip they found. The ground was still wet from where the water of sprinklers ran through.

Lance laid Blake's body on the ground. When he went through Blake's pockets, Kandice pulled his hands away.

"I'll do it," she said.

"Be sure and take everything," Lance said.

Tears were trickling down her face, but Kandice stayed focused. She emptied his pockets one by one, making a pile next to his body.

"The seal," Lance said.

Kandice lifted his shirt and saw the bullet wounds. She ran her hands over the one next to his heart before pulling the metal seal off his body. As she did, blood trickled from his wounds. She kissed Blake's forehead, grabbed his belongings, and backed away.

"Give me his wallet," Lance said.

Kandice offered it up without taking her eyes off Blake. Lance ran off deeper into the park.

"I'm so sorry," she said, staring at Blake's wound—as if looking at it harder would make it go away.

Kandice didn't notice Lance return until he lifted her to her feet.

"We have to go," he said.

"I can't."

"Getting caught won't bring him back." He shook her, "Kandice, move!"

She looked at Lance, and then back to Blake's body one last time, before following Lance to the SUV as he pulled her arm.

Lance drove off and didn't turn his headlights on until they had turned onto a new street.

He picked up his cell phone from the center console and called Slava. "We're on our way. Meet us there."

Kandice couldn't make out what Slava said.

"She's out of it," Lance said. "Just be there in five."

He drove the SUV onto a construction site near the park where a company was building high-end condos for the never-ending flood of people moving to Austin. Slava was already there with a new car, waiting for them.

Lance walked Kandice to the front passenger seat of the car and helped her in.

"Just stay here," he said. "We'll be done in a few minutes."

"Okay," Kandice said, not paying attention to what he said.

She remembered the time that Blake had stolen money from their mom's purse, she refused to rat him out when her mom accused her of it. If only there was a way for her to switch places with him.

Lance and Slava took two large cans of gas out of the car's trunk and poured it throughout the SUV. The fumes wafted to where Kandice was sitting. She breathed the scent in and it stung her nose.

Slava sat in the driver's seat, "We will go in a moment."

Kandice looked back at Lance holding something in his hand with a flame on top. As he came running to the car, there was a small growing glow from inside the SUV.

Lance jumped into the back seat, "Close the door."

Kandice closed her door, and Slava drove forward to turn around. As they pulled out of the construction site, and back onto the street, a large glow of a fire brightened the back window.

Watching the fire as they pulled down the road somehow brought closure. She wasn't better, but just numb all over, and it would be her new normal. She wanted the numbness to take over.

* * *

LANCE TRIED TO GET KANDICE TO SLEEP, or at least take a nap, but she refused. She sat on the sectional, waiting for the morning to come.

Lance was returning to the park to call in Blake's body, if no one else had. Kandice insisted on returning and knew if she fell asleep they wouldn't wake her. Lance and Slava disagreed with her desire to go back because if police showed up, it would be a disaster.

Kandice looked at her phone. It was 4:30 AM. Lance was right, but she couldn't bring herself to abandon Blake's fate to someone else.
"You need to go home," Lance repeated for what seemed like the millionth time.

"I want to go," she said.

"I'll follow you home. When I'm done at the park, I'll come to your place."

They argued for almost thirty more minutes until she agreed that it was too much of a risk for her to go back.

She followed Lance out of the house.

"Call me the moment it's done," she said.

"Okay. Go home and rest. I'll come by after."