coldblood || Michael Afton X Reader

chapter 45 ~ orange road

It had been about 3 months since Masaki had up and left us. Nobody knew where he moved and I honestly didn't think we'd ever find out. We tried to just move on but Jeremy once again proved to be like me. He just couldn't. As this hell closed for one of us it opened itself back up for another. How cruel. Life was cruel but we had no choice but to keep living. After all, that's life. However we wouldn't give up just yet.

Jeremy got the idea that maybe, by some chance, Masaki's mother knew where he went. We all got in Jeremy's new car and made our way over. I held Michael's hand tightly in mine. Masaki abandoning Jeremy the way he did made me cling onto Michael for dear life. I knew in my heart Michael would never do that to me, but my mind loved playing tricks on me. Michael being the amazing boyfriend he is was extremely understanding of this. Giving me constant looks and kisses of reassurance.

As we arrived we noticed a piece of paper on the door. It was a folded up as if it was meant to be a letter. Upon further investigation that's exactly what it was. On the front it wrote; "Don't read unless you're Jeremy Fitzgerald." Interesting.... A letter from Masaki or his mother? Jeremy took the letter off of the door and unfolded it. He began to read it out loud.

Dear, Jeremy

I write you this letter to apologize for everything. The way I treated you was unforgivable. There's some very personal things going on in my life right now that have caused me to move back to the U.S. I cannot tell you what these things are unless I want a bullet put between my eyes. Don't bother going inside the house either. My mom is no longer with us. I hope one day you can forgive me.

                              ~Signed, Masaki.

That was....a lot to take in. Another loss and new threat of danger. What if Masaki told whoever these people are that we were here? Would he really put us all in that danger? Most importantly was how Jeremy reacted. It was almost like his heart had been ripped out of his chest from how betrayed he felt. In retrospect we all felt betrayed. Even if he wasn't putting us at risk of anything we were still hurt by his abandonment. Although, his apology at the end makes me wonder what he'd done to be sorry for. He didn't do anything to his mom....did he? That was a thought that made me feel insane for even thinking of it...but was it possible? Anything was really.

Thoughts of what could be happening back at home made me shutter. Was everyone okay? Masaki did know too much for Michael and I to feel like things would be fine. No. There was no way. It really was too good to be true after all. We hadn't gotten away from anything at all. In fact, we did more damage. Indirectly, our friends and family were in more danger than ever before because of our absence. This peace. This bliss. Nothing lasts forever...

Thoughts of everyone back at home...who would be targeted first? William and Sakura were my first thoughts. I mean they were technically the rival. The creators of the original business that my mother was leeching ideas from. If they ended up dead then there would be nobody left to compete with which would give Circus Baby the spotlight. Would Masaki sell their home address out to that devilish company?

Henry and Miya would be high on the hit-list if there was one as well. Masaki knew all about Miya. If he told them about her stealth and other strengths and skills she would certainly be someone they'd want dead. I would imagine they'd use Henry as some sort of lure to trap her. She'd definitely react emotionally to Henry ending up in some sort of trouble but in reality they shouldn't underestimate the man either. I'll never forget what Miya told me in reference to him. "I would never go with a man who couldn't protect himself just as well as I protect myself." Henry was the secret weapon in reality. Not Miya.

Dave and Marvin...I really shouldn't have told anyone about their spying for us. That was extremely stupid on my part and because of my own shitty judgement they could die. Dave quite literally put his own well being on the line for Michael and I, and here we were putting him in the hands of death again for absolutely no reason this time. Marvin would be too scared to do much except for come up with an escape route...maybe? Dave swore there was a side of Marvin he'd only seen once but he refused to expand on it.

Maybe...just maybe everything would be fine. They could fend for themselves. However, could Michael and I be in danger? Along with Jeremy and Jennie? Something, my gut, told my we needed to get the hell out of here. As soon as possible. We needed to go somewhere nobody expected us to be, and I knew exactly where to go. This safe haven in Japan was over. Nothing lasts forever....

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A/N ~ That's the end of this book! It was such a joy to write and part of me is so sad it's over. However, the next book in the series will come soon!

I really hope all of you enjoyed coldblood, and I hope you'll all look forward to the next one. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for reading! :)