A Trail of Blood and Smoke

14 - Ripping Off The Band-Aid

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C H L O E
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Okay. Okay. There was definitely something in my drink. I mean, that's the only way to explain what the hell I just thought I saw.

Everyone's silent. My brain is whirling, thoughts like leaves caught in a gale, trying to rewrite the last few moments into something plausible. All I keep thinking about is the sight of Caleb rushing up a fucking wall. The guy chasing after him. The fall that should have killed them. Caleb struggling in a near-incomprehensible blur. That man disappearing like smoke.

In other words, I'm going insane. None of what I just saw makes any sense, but I saw it. It happened right in front of me.

A short while after Caleb dismissed himself, Markus went to find him, and when he didn't come back, Adelyn and I had gone searching. And now we've stumbled into whatever the fuck this is.

It feels as though I've wandered into a whole other reality where nothing makes sense.

Caleb pushes himself off the wall, adjusts his shirt, and runs a shaking hand through his messy hair. "Shit," he murmurs to himself. He glances over his shoulder, but the alley and the street beyond are empty. There's a tension to the way he holds himself, like he's preparing to run and disappear at any moment. Just like the other guy.

"Alright," Markus says, backing up and waving his hands about as though trying to clear away all the panic. He's unsuccessful. "Let's take things slowly, okay? Caleb, you're alright. He's gone. We'll talk later. For now, could you...?" He trails off and gestures in my vague direction.

As they both glance my way — their eyes shimmering an impossible crimson and gold in the darkness — a shiver shoots down my spine, some primal terror, and I back up into the door. I send Adelyn a desperate look, hoping she saw them too. Hoping I'm not going crazy.

"You just..." The words escape before I can stop them. My voice is small and shaking, and every moment that passes with them staring at me feels like an hour. Again, I look at the wall Caleb somehow scaled in mere moments. It looks even more impossible now, with the bricks stretching up and up. I can hardly tell where the wall ends and the star-speckled sky begins. He climbed that. He climbed it in an instant.

Caleb blows out a deep breath and steps forward. I draw back, shrinking against his focused gaze.

And then Adelyn steps between us, an insubstantial barrier. "Hold on," she says, hands raised in a placating, desperate manner. "She's bound to find out at some point. We might as well work with this."

"Lyn," Caleb begins, sounding torn. He looks at me over her shoulder, then returns his gaze to her. "She's going to go into shock if I don't do this. She's not ready."

"Caleb—"

"Exposure therapy again, is it?" His voice comes out soft, but I detect danger in the undertones. The way he watches Adelyn reminds me of the gleam in a predator's eyes before it goes in for the kill.

Without thinking, I step up beside her, meet Caleb's crimson gaze, and go to great effort to keep my voice level. "You're going to explain exactly what the fuck is going on, and you're going to do it calmly," I demand. Though my voice is somehow strong, the rest of me quivers in horror. "Please."

He blinks in surprise and glances at Markus in silent question.

Markus crosses his arms and shrugs. "I guess we can try." His eyes are still golden, as though his irises are reflecting light, and he looks towards the mouth of the alley. Searching for witnesses or the other guy, I suspect, though I can't see anyone there.