Hidebound

Chapter SixtyNine

My hands sweat on the steering wheel as I cross over to the Eastside. The difference is black and white; the houses are derelict and there's people walking the streets that have obviously lived hard lives.

I hadn't been over here in years, mostly because of Hex's parole that forbid him from coming here but also because of the bad reputation Eastside holds.

The corruption in the police force runs rampant over here and the streets are run by anyone wanting to make a quick buck illegally.

I shouldn't be here.

Hex shouldn't be here.

He wouldn't even know what happened or where to look for me if I go missing.

It wouldn't surprise me if I run into an ex-inmate of Hellbound here, about seventy percent of the inmates are from the Eastside.

Being an ex-prison guard puts me at further risk if someone was to recognise me so I duck my head behind the steering wheel as I drive.

I don't know where to even start. I don't know my way around this side of town. Does Hex know his way around or has he just hoped for the best?

I don't even know if he's here for fucks sake.

I sit up straighter when I pass a man dressed in dark clothing. I strain my neck as he walks under a street light, it illuminates his face and he's not Hex.

I drive onto a street with stores on either side. Most of them are closed but the abundant amount of pubs and clubs that line either side draw my attention.

The hope I held in my heart that Hex had gone to therapy instead of a club or pub had diminished when I woke without hearing from him and now I have no doubt he's inside an establish somewhere.

I look for his car, hoping I can see it parked somewhere so that I don't have to go inside and search.

But I can't see it anywhere.

I mentally kick myself. I should've put some kind of location on both our phones, whether its for safety or reasons like tonight, it would make this situation much easier.

I turn down a dark street once again after passing through the Main Street. I intend to do a u-turn and drive back to my side of town, having had enough of the eerie feeling that had consumed me since I had crossed onto Eastside. But colourful lights catch my eye on my left and I turn down the desolate street. Its even creepier than the main road and most of the houses that sit opposite the lights are empty with their windows smashed out.

The light up sign of a dancing girl on a pole sits outside the entrance. It looks like the backdoor to what I can only assume is a gentleman's club.

I step on the brake hard when I see a familiar car parked in the shadows.

Thank god there wasn't someone behind me because they would've driven into the back of me with how hard I slammed on the brake. My body jolts and my hair swings forward over my shoulders.

Rage fills my body and I contemplate driving home and locking him out but the other half of me wants to storm in there and put him in his place.

Ultimately the second part of me wins.

I park my car next to Hex's and get out, not caring about the dangers of the shadows and the possibility of someone grabbing me.

I cup my hands around my eyes and look in the passenger window of his car. I see my lip balm I had left in there earlier today sitting in the center console.

I hadn't even seen the man standing outside the entrance but he had seen me and he had kept his eyes trained on me from the moment my car had pulled into the carpark.