Chapter 14.
755 Words
Kane shifted gears, his green eyes flicking to Harper for a fraction of a second. He saw the tremor in her hands, the way she was gripping the armrest until her knuckles turned the color of bone. He knew that look. It was the look of someone who needed to outrun their own thoughts.
"You want the fog," Kane said, his voice a low, grounding rumble.
"I want the good stuff," Harper confirmed. "I want to flip the switch. I want to be so far gone that I can't hear the clock ticking in my chest."
Kane didn't offer a lecture. He didn't tell her it was dangerous or that her immune system couldn't handle it. He simply nodded and leaned into the steering wheel, banking the GTO onto a sharp exit ramp that led away from the neon glow of the suburbs and toward the jagged, lightless teeth of the North Side.
"Max," Harper called out, her voice regaining its edge. "Tell me you’ve still got that emergency fund."
Maxine reached into her bag, her fingers fumbling until she produced a crumpled wad of bills. "A hundred bucks. My grandma gave it to me for graduation. I guess... I guess this is a different kind of commencement."
"Perfect, I'll pay you back when we get back" Harper said.
The scenery shifted. The manicured lawns and streetlamps were replaced by boarded-up storefronts, cracked asphalt, and the skeletal remains of a city that had been forgotten by the world. This was the territory of the unknown, a place where the air tasted like damp concrete and woodsmoke. Kane slowed the GTO as they entered a labyrinth of narrow alleys, the black paint of the car making them nearly invisible in the shadows.
He pulled into a dead-end street bordered by a collapsed textile mill. "Stay in the car," Kane commanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, clipped register. "Both of you. This isn't a social call."
"No way," Harper said, her hand already on the door latch. "I’m the one on the deadline, Kane. I’m not watching my life happen through a window."
Kane stared at her, his jaw working. He saw the defiance in her posture, the way she held herself like she was already untouchable. "Fine. But you keep your mouth shut. Don't look anyone in the eye. You're invisible tonight, Brooks. Act like it."
They stepped out into the biting wind. The neighborhood felt twitchy, a nervous energy humming in the dark doorways. A man emerged from the shadow of a rusted loading dock, his face obscured by a dark hoodie. He looked at Kane with a flicker of recognition, then his gaze slid over to Harper, lingering on Harper’s oversized black hoodie and matching black hair.
"You’re a long way from the varsity games, Kane," the man rasped, his voice sounding like gravel grinding in a tin can.
"Just business, Slim," Kane said, his posture relaxed but his muscles taut, ready to spring. "My friend here wants to blur the lines."
Slim looked at Harper, his eyes narrowed. "She looks like she’s already blurring."
Maxine stepped forward, her hand shaking as she held out the hundred dollars. Slim snatched the bills, counting them with lightning speed before reaching into his pocket and producing a small, silver tin. He didn't hand it to Kane; he held it out to Harper.
"One-way ticket, girlie," Slim muttered. "Don't come looking for a refund if you don't like where you land."
Harper reached out, her fingers brushing the cold metal of the tin. As her hand closed around it, a sudden, sharp prickle climbed up her spine. It wasn't the illness. It was a sound- a distant, rhythmic whirr of tires on wet pavement, accompanied by the sharp, unmistakable chirp of a siren.
"Kane!" Maxine hissed, pointing toward the end of the alley.
A flash of blue and red light bounced off the brick walls, casting long, frantic shadows. A white-and-blue cruiser swung around the corner two blocks up, its searchlight cutting through the mist like a blade.
"Move!" Kane roared.
Slim vanished into the darkness of the warehouse before Harper could even blink. Kane grabbed Harper’s arm, practically throwing her toward the GTO. "Max, get in! Now!"
They scrambled into the car just as the police cruiser’s megaphone crackled to life. "This is the police! Pull over the vehicle immediately!"
- Writer
