Page 24 of Awry
I shift gears, gaining a bit more speed, briefly thinking that disabling the bikes might have been a good idea.But I don’t mention it to Presh.Theknowingpushed me to the car, not the bikes.
“I’ve … I’ve got to make a few calls, Precious,” Rath says.“But Rought is tracking you, and Reck is on his way as well.Just … coming from another direction.”
More interesting names.A little heavy on the obvious, perhaps, making the assumption that it’s ‘Rought’ and not ‘Rot,’ and that both have dropped theW’s as Rath has.Presh doesn’t respond to her brother, not that there’s much information in anything he’s said.But I glance over to see that she’s actually fallen asleep.An exhausted, involuntary sleep.
“She’s sleeping,” I murmur.An ache lodges in my chest, even though a moment before, I was feeling slightly easier.And I honestly don’t know if it’s theknowingreadying a twist or a turn, or if it was Rath’s mention of two more of his club members.More brothers?
Why would those nicknames mean anything to me?
Rath, Rought, and Reck.
I’ve never heard of any of them.
Rath still hasn’t hung up.I pick up his breathing over the line — or more like an inhalation before saying something — but then no words follow.I’m not wholly inhabiting my body yet, so there’s no way I’m taking my hands off the steering wheel to disconnect the call myself.
“Call me back if you need me,” he finally says.
I don’t bother answering, because not only don’t I know him, I rarely have occasion to actually need … anyone or anything.
Thatsomethinglodged in my chest aches.An empty ache, like a hollowed-out wound.
It’s just from dying, I tell myself.I should be sleeping, not trying to operate a fucking car.But it hurts worse after Rath ends the call and the line between us literally disconnects.
The car diesabout a mile from our destination.The engine just cuts out, but I have more than enough time to roll us to a gentle stop partway off the road.Then I turn on the hazard lights.
Just a few minutes earlier, the seaside vista opened up to the west, and the road suddenly smoothed, recently paved.I blink through my exhausted haze and spot actual streetlights ahead through the rain-splattered windshield.
Rath’s route has kept us near the ocean, but as we headed farther south, we seemingly left claimed territory behind.The houses became more sporadic and run-down, the road overgrown and marred by potholes.Those derelict residences then gave way to seemingly abandoned businesses and warehouses, with faded For Sale signs propped up in broken front windows.
Presh jerks awake, blinking and gasping for her next two ragged breaths.Then she locks her gaze on me, and she instantly settles.
“The car?”she murmurs.
We both ignore whatever nightmare was running in her head while she slept.Only time eases that sort of thing.I already know that I’m going to relive the events of the beach in my waking hours for years.In the long dark of night, they will haunt me enough to make sleep only a dream.But we have to keep moving to achieve that delightful future, anticipated nightmares or not.
I’ve never killed a person before.Berserker or otherwise.
Well …
I’ve never personally slit the throat of a sentient being before.Even though when a knowing moves me, people often die in my way or in my wake.But I didn’t typically bathe in their blood as I’d inadvertently done with Breaker.
“We’re close enough to walk,” I say, but I don’t make a move to open my door yet.Rain continues to accumulate on the windshield as I wait.I’m exhausted, yes.But I’m also giving Presh the moment she needs to ask me the questions that have to be flooding her mind now that she’s slept for a bit.
She grabs my phone, but then just rolls it over and over in her hands without dialing.“Do … do all awry have that ability?To die and then just come back?Do I?”
“No.No, Presh.I am the only awry with that ability, as dubious as it is.”
Still slightly bowed over the phone, she tilts her head just enough to look at me out of the corner of her eye.I can’t tell, now that the panic and the adrenaline have ebbed, if she finds me terrifying or if she’s just naturally reserved and thoughtful about discussing the nature of my power.
“I … missed you healing.”
I nod, looking back out the front window.I don’t fill any of the dead air between us.I’m not sure I have a conversation in me.Though I do know I can’t sit still for much longer.
“But you actually died.”
“Yes.”
“I went to the car.It wouldn’t start.I tried the bike, and it fell over on me.Then I remembered the phone.I was going to start walking.I … I … was just going to leave you.”
