Amanita: Poison Shot

Chapter 85: Find My Own Way

Gabi's grip on me felt oddly familiar.

Since he usually took the bus to work, he gladly accepted my offer to take him home on Frankie when the cheese shop closed half an hour after Diya had left. The way he grabbed my body from behind felt as if Daniel was still alive. I had ridden with him like that more times than I could count.

I had checked on the vials in the wooden box before going. They were still fine, or so I thought. I had stored them back in Frankie's trunk.

So, on we rode from the Shell to Dawn's neighbourhood that late evening. The sun had just set.

When I parked Frankie in Amanita's parking lot right beside Sigi's red bike, Gabi said:

"I bet Sigi's just arrived and is taking a shower. Wanna give him a surprise?" His naughty tone of voice didn't go unnoticed. My cheeks turned crimson.

"I'm not that kind of girl, Gabi. You know that."

"I do, but the blush on your cheeks is priceless."

"Gabi!" I shouted as if I was enjoying chiding him. And I was. I was smiling too.

"Fair enough. Gonna go and tell him you're here." He winked and smiled at me right before he turned around and left me alone.

He made me smile just by the mere fact of being around; however, my lips soon erased that smile from my face as soon as I was left alone in the street.

I took the box out of the trunk, slowly, and caressed the wooden surface pensively.

Then, I turned and stared at Amanita's façade wondering what it meant to me while the box was in my hands and the waves of the Neon Sea crashed on the rocks down below.

Amanita, to me, was a tribute to emptiness and loneliness. It was heaven for the hardcore superficial. It reeked of death. Memories of trying hard those last few days were burdening me. Too many glares had come my way in there, even though when I thought of Sigi, Gabi, K8, and Ray I admitted that my trust had started to heal. But Agape's scolding the last time we had met there was still haunting me.

I averted my gaze from the mushroom-shaped building and started to amble down the promenade, taking the box with me. The cool breeze combed my hair. I walked down below, to the beach. There was nobody either in the streets or on the beach, luckily. I needed peace and quiet to think.

The Neon Sea was starting to glow in its trademark blueish and greenish hues due to the lack of sunlight. I walked on the sand and got closer to the waves, hypnotised by their deadly beauty.

My feet stopped. The box in my hands was urging me to make a decision.

I couldn't picture myself knocking on Amanita's door, going down to Agape's basement, either alone or with Sigi or Gabi, and handing over the viruses. The moment I would do that, I would seal the fate of many people, both innocent and guilty. I would have their blood on my hands. I couldn't accept being an accessory to mass murder like that.

I felt a cold pang in my heart and fell to my knees, on the warm sand. The box rested on my lap.

"Careful. The water's beautiful, yet deadly." A deep male voice said behind me.

I turned my face and realised it was Taro. Fear was written all over my features when I recognised him.

He was standing tall way above my head. Black waves of untameable hair undulated in the air. His well-built body reminded me of Sigi's because they had the same body type. Intricate tattoos covered both his arms and neck. They snaked all the way up until they got lost beneath the sleeves of his dark blue T-shirt. By the coldness in his eyes, I could tell that he was still mildly distrusting me, although there was a glint of wishful thinking in them.