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“Miss me?” Eric said with a grin as he swung his lanky frame back into the car.
“Desperately.” She cleared her throat and then smiled lightly at him. “Can I drive the next stretch?”
“Sure. I’ll show you how she drives best,” Eric said. They switched spots and Lexi turned the key. I leaned back. Already, the noise of the car was drowning out their words, but I could see Eric explaining to her how to grasp the gearshift and demonstrating the precise technique needed to pop the clutch. They were laughing. Her brow was furrowed, but she looked relaxed, happy. This was how things should be for her. Not with Eric, of course, but with somebody. She deserved to be happy.
I fought the new motion sickness as she worked to figure out how the gearshift worked, but she eventually got the hang of it. We drove for what felt like an eternity before we turned down a stretch of gravel road and drove a few miles off the main highway. “We’ve been on the road for twelve hours. Just under halfway there. I’m thinking you need to stretch your legs,” Lexi called back to me, “or your wings or something.”
“Lexi...” Eric said, touching her hand.
“That would be great,” I interrupted him. She was right. I was aching to get out of the car. The fact that Eric didn’t want us to stop only intensified the need. Finally, she pulled to a stop and I practically fell out of the car. Solid ground had never felt so beautiful.
I sensed my wings anxious to be in the air. I barely managed to glance around to ensure there were no onlookers before I let them carry me up. The pressure of the wind and the open sky seemed to bring me back to life. Twelve hours in a tiny space like that was too much. “Joshua!” Eric called faintly from below. I knew I would be little more than a spec by now. I was pretty sure he wished I were tethered to his wrist. I was tempted to just keep flying –over the fields, away from Eric with his scheme and Lexi with her inexplicable hold on me.
The sky was so different out here, not only because it was daylight, but because there were no buildings or artificially bright lights. Only sky above and earth below. “Joshua!” Eric’s barely discernible voice beckoned again. I could keep going, but then I’d never know what he wanted with me. And I’d never know that Lexi was safe.
I forced myself back down and, wordlessly, I got into the car. Lexi looked hurt, and I suspected she’d wanted me to offer to take her up. I hadn’t even thought of it. Eric would have been watching us. I wasn’t sure why, but it seemed like it should be something private, something between Lexi and me. Eric took the wheel. As we started our drive, I closed my eyes. It was still morning, but that made it my nighttime, and I was tired of feeling, anyway.
I drifted in and out of consciousness for the next leg of our journey. At one point, they stopped for food but, through my fog of sleep, I declined their offer to bring me some. The road didn’t agree with me. When I finally woke, it was pitch black, aside from our headlights shining down the highway before us. I could hear a quiet, steady breathing and, through the rear-view mirror, I could see Lexi at the wheel and Eric, his head on the passenger side window, sleeping beside her. My movement in the back must have caught her eye because she subtly shifted her gaze and looked at me in the mirror. “Good morning, so to speak.”
“Good morning.” I leaned forward, raising my voice over the sound of the highway.
“Sleep well?”
“Not particularly.”
“Could have fooled me. You were snoring pretty hard back there.”
“Boredom,” I insisted.
“How’s your injury?”
“Good. Can barely feel it now.”
“Mm.” She looked in her rear view mirror again at me. “That’s good. Here, eat something.” She handed back a wrapped sandwich. This time, I ate it. “It’s a good sign,” she said. “It means you’re feeling better.” She was right. I was getting used to the motion of the car and the sound of the highway, although I was still a long way from liking it.
“So, how long until we’re there?” I looked at the dark road in front of her. “We must be getting pretty close.”
“A few hours. It’s just after ten. Eric and I are taking turns now.” I saw her stifle a yawn.
“So, how’d you get stuck on the night shift?”
“Volunteered, of course.”
“Why’s that?”
She looked at me through the mirror again. “Why do you think?”
I shifted and changed the subject abruptly. “Do you think Eric would mind if we pulled over for a few minutes again?”
“He’s not the one driving, is he? Where should I get off?”
I scanned the darkness. My eyes, of course, functioned much better than hers in the dark, and I could see a great deal farther. “You could turn down one of these side roads, if you want. Or you could just pull over along here. There’s hardly any traffic.”
After a moment of indecision, she pulled the car over. I hesitated. Then, I heard myself saying, “Listen. I don’t have a harness with me. But if you trust me, and you’re up for it, I can take you for a quick flight. You know... if you want.” Apparently, I hadn’t regained my sanity. In the middle of nowhere, on a main highway, with no safety precautions. At least it wasn’t daylight. I was instantly rewarded with one of her childlike grins.
“Of course.” No doubt. We quietly got out of the vehicle. I could imagine Eric’s face if he woke up while we were gone and the scenarios that would run through his head. I hoped that he would wake up and that he’d think we’d flown off together.
Instead, our flight was short. I tried to commit the moment to memory, to take a mental snapshot of the way her arms felt snugged around my waist, clutching the back of my shirt in her fists as if her life depended on it, my arms supporting her weight entirely, and the night sky enveloping us as if we were the only two people in existence. If nothing good ever happened again, I hoped I could remember the way this moment felt, with her body, tight against mine in the cool night air. I knew it would be enough to carry me through.
Too soon, we were back in the car, back on the road, making our way west. Eric was still asleep, and Lexi’s light chatter made the ride bearable. After a few hours, he woke up, and they switched spots. As Eric got back into the driver’s side, he shot a quick glance my way. “Good to see you’re still here. I dreamed you’d up and flown away.”
I forced civility into my voice. “Wouldn’t dream of leaving.” Eric and I both knew that Eric was planning something and lying about his intentions. But he was, at the same time, being entirely himself. He was also obviously enamored with Lexi. I couldn’t blame him for that.
Soon, Lexi’s breathing deepened, a rhythmic hum filling the car. I smiled into the darkness. Finally, she slept.
“She’s kinda something, hey?” Eric asked. I wasn’t sure if he were actually talking to me or simply thinking aloud, so I didn’t answer. “Do you see yourselves together?”
I realized he was addressing me. “What do you mean, together?” I asked, although I was pretty sure I knew.
“You know, happily ever after.”
“No. I see her going back home to her family.”
“Without you?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Without me.”
There was another beat of silence. “Mind if I take a shot?”
“You can try. But I don’t think you’ll have any luck.”
He snorted. “No? Why not?” When I didn’t reply, he laughed. “You like her.”
“Of course.”
“But you don’t want to be with her?”
“I’m not right for her. You aren’t either.” Whether he wanted to face it or not, it was true. “You’re not stable. You don’t have a good job, with a high-rise somewhere. You can’t take care of her. Think about it. I don’t know what your game is here, but I know it’s not one that can give Lexi the lifestyle she’s used to.”
“And you think that would make her happy?” he asked. I pushed the image of the man who’d stabbed me with the broken vase from my mind. “I don’t know her that well but, from what I can see, she doesn’t seem to care about money and definitely not about stability”.
“Maybe not now. But that kind of thing will matter to her later on. When she’s trying to make a life for herself.”
“And what makes you an expert on all things Lexi?”
“I’ve seen enough of rich people to know that they tend to value their money. And whether she sees it now or not, she’s one of them. It’s the kind of life she deserves.”
He shrugged. “It’s the kind of life we all deserve. Or nobody does.” I didn’t reply. I thought of the stack of cash I had in the bottom of my bag. It would last me a long time, but not forever. It certainly wasn’t enough to provide anyone with any kind of stable life. Besides, even if I’d had all the money in the world, stability wasn’t in my cards.
“Listen, Eric. A girl like Lexi is inherently better than you or I,” I said. His fingers tightened on the wheel. He didn’t want to hear it, but I could tell he knew it was true. “She just is. There’s something special about her. Besides the contacts and the amazing hair.”
“Her hair is amazing.”
“Uh-huh. But beyond that. She has something special.”
“From the guy who has wings! Man, if I could fly...”
“If you could fly, you’d be stuck hiding. Stuck alone.”
“You have Lexi,” he said quietly.
“Not really. And not forever. Everything is temporary.”
“Everything is temporary for everyone. At least you can fly.”
Lexi shifted slightly, and we both fell silent. As we flew down the highway, I tried not to think about Eric’s intentions. It would be convenient for him if I were gone. But he didn’t seem evil- intentioned, despite the covert plans he was enacting. I wondered if he had family somewhere—people who loved him and cared whether or not he were okay. I thought again of Nik. Everything about my education had been serious and thorough: read, work, study. Most of it, of course, had been focused on how to steal from the regular rich but the other stuff—the math, the science, the literature—had been there too. Beyond education, though, Nik and I never had a relationship. There were no stories read to me by my bedside, no asking me about my day, no indication that he cared about me beyond how well I was learning whatever it was he was trying to teach me. I wondered if it would have made a difference, had he spent time showing me any sort of affection. Instead, I’d always gotten the vague impression that he disliked me. I had spent my time, early on at least, trying to earn his approval. I had failed.
I looked at Eric, hands still white-knuckled on the wheel, and wondered if he’d ever worried about his parents’ approval. The three of us were so different; we were all together and yet all completely alone.
I knew we were nearing our destination when Eric started slowing down as we passed highway markers, reading carefully as he went. It was pitch black aside from the headlights. “We’re getting close now?” I stated the obvious as a question.
“Yeah, the property is right around here somewhere.” We turned off the main highway and drove in silence for a long while. I could tell he knew exactly where we were going now because he sped up a little, merely scanning for the correct place to turn off. I glanced at Lexi, worried. If he had some sinister purpose, I would have to protect her.
Why had I allowed her to come in the first place? Was I really so selfish that I would endanger Lexi, simply for the fleeting pleasure of her company? I had known Eric was up to something and I had brought her anyway. He slowed. As he turned down an unmarked gravel road, I looked for a clue as to where we were going. Far ahead of us was a structure, shrouded partially by trees. I suspected that was our destination.
“Is that the place?” I asked. He started slightly.
“You can see it from here?”
“Good eyesight.”
“Yeah, that’s the place.” He slowed again as we approached and pulled into the rough-hewn driveway.
“This place is—abandoned?” Lexi asked. It seemed to be dawning on her that there were details he must have taken care of in advance, before we’d even talked about setting out together. “When—how did you find it? How did you know it would be abandoned?”
“I have contacts,” he said. He was looking closely at me now, in the mirror. I could guess he was trying to decide whether or not I would see this thing through. As we coasted to a stop, I could see there was a light on in the living room of the small farmhouse. The curtains were drawn but a sliver of white alerted me to the fact that there was likely someone inside. I never should have allowed Lexi to come. I had no idea what we would be walking into.
Eric swung his lanky frame out of his seat and, as Lexi and I followed him to the rear of the car, I grabbed her arm, slowing her. He pulled his bag out and started towards the house but, as we reached the trunk, I leaned in close to Lexi.
“When I head towards Eric, lock yourself in the car.” She didn’t need to hear anything else. She nodded quickly, and I grabbed my bag and caught up with Eric, who was lingering between the house and the vehicle, watching me uncertainly. I swung my arm around him in an unexpected gesture of false camaraderie. “Well, Partner, let’s go.” The car door slammed, and Eric glanced behind us. “She’s going to wait in the car,” I said. He’d left the keys in the ignition and I was glad to know she could at least attempt an escape, should something happen. I wondered how long she would wait out there for me. “After you.”
Eric glanced sharply at me. “You think I would let anything happen to her?”
“I don’t know anything about you, other than you haven’t asked me anything about who I am or where I’m from, and I would bet my life on the fact that you didn’t need a GPS to tell you where we were going.”
“If you knew so much,” Eric said, flinging open the front door, “why did you bring her? I’m not the bad guy. I don’t have some evil plot up my sleeve. I’m just doing what I was told.” He gestured to the interior of the room now, and I followed his gaze.
“Hello, Joshua,” Nik greeted me casually, leaning against the brick of the unlit fireplace. “Glad you could make it.”