It was that time of evening when the city hummed with the activity of day people finishing up their errands to hurry home, and night people were beginning to start their nighttime revelries. Cars clogged the streets and bodies swarmed the sidewalks. I readjusted the strap of the backpack across my shoulder and marched through the din, keeping my eyes cast down on the cracked concrete in front of me.
I didn’t notice Parker’s car until I had nearly run into it. I opened the passenger door and sat, settling the backpack on my lap and slamming the door closed again. When we didn’t move, I looked at Parker. He was giving me one of those fuddy-duddy looks, with his silvery eyebrows scrunched up above an unwavering stare.
“What?” I asked. My voice came out high-pitched, more frantic than I meant it to sound. He knew as well as I did that now wasn’t the time to be stalling.
“Buckle up.”
I rolled my eyes but complied. As soon as I was secure, Parker put the car in drive and we took off down the street.
Neither of us spoke as we made our way out of the city. The silence was suffocating. Parker had every reason to be disappointed in me, but I needed him to say something—anything—to let me know things would work out. He had always gone on about how careful Others had to be, but apparently I didn’t take his lessons to heart. One moment of carelessness on my part was all it took, and now we were on the road again, uprooted from a home we dared to hope was permanent. I didn’t even have time to pack properly. The Hunters would be at our apartments by now, ransacking them for any hint of where we’d fled to.
I kept glancing at him, hoping to ferret out his thoughts from the expression he wore. It was useless; aside from a slight frown, his face was just as neutral as it would be if this was any other drive.
Parker must have noticed me staring, because he reached over and gave me a reassuring pat on the knee.
“Don’t worry ‘bout it, kiddo,” he said. “We’ve done this dance before. We’ll be alright.”
They were simple words, but they were all I needed.
I twisted around in the seat and stared out the back window, drinking in the sight of the retreating city. The dusky sky was draped in a blanket of grey-violet clouds, and a mosaic of lights adorned the towers of the skyline. I knew it would be the last time I’d ever see this city, and I wanted to remember every precious detail.
This flash fic first appeared on Things a Yeti Wouldn't Eat.
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