Beyond The Fence

Chapter 6:

Clary and Nelson immediately rolled under Austin's bed, as he moved to open the door.

"Hello, Father." Clary could hear Austin saying, his voice thick with anxiety.

"May I know why you are still awake, son?"

"I was just working on...this project from school."

"Do that in the morning. It's way past your bedtime."

"Yes, Father." Austin said, nodding his head obediently and closing the door shut behind him.

"You call your dad "father"?" Nelson said, laughing.

Austin's face contorted in annoyance. He seemed to hate Nelson the same way Clary disliked him.

"Yes, we have a very....formal relationship."

"Ah, I see."

Nelson then moved to sit beside Clary, who had been awfully quiet ever since Austin had told her about Albama. To be honest, Nelson was quite happy knowing that the people he had grown up with weren't his family. In fact, he never felt like he belonged with them. His mom was too old for him to be his mother, with her wrinkled skin and weak eyesight, which kept falling at a faster pace than his GPA.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, poking Clary in the arm.

"I'm just really..." Depressed? Shattered? Broken beyond repair? How does a person feel after knowing that their whole life has been nothing but a lie?

"Exhausted." She finally said. Turning to face Austin, Clary asked, "Can we stay here for like just this one night?"

"Where are you gonna go after that?"

"That shouldn't concern you."

"You guys won't be able to survive a day here without me." Austin said, folding his arms across his chest, smirking.

"And what makes you say that?"

"Do you know what the internet is?"

"The intra-what?"

"See! You people have to stay with me.", he replied, stressing on the word "have".

"You're talking like you want us to stay."

"Maybe I do."

"So you can what? Turn us in?"

"No, I'm just curious."

"About?"

"You people, your life."

"And what will happen to us once this curiosity finishes?"

"That, time will decide."

Clary wanted to argue with Austin, about how there isn't any humanity left in him to allow such cold-blooded practices to take place in his world, but she wasn't left with much energy to. She simply shrugged.

"So where do we sleep?" Nelson asked.

"Clary can sleep on the couch."

"What about me?"

"Unfortunately, you and I are going to share a bed."

"That sounds fun."

Austin rolled his eyes at Nelson and toppled on his bed, pulling his comforter to his face.

"Don't worry your little mind, alright?" Nelson said to Clary, tapping her forehead with his index finger. Clary smiled at that. Just being near Nelson would elevate her soul, light her up from the inside and give her hope, keeping the fire burning in her eyes.

She tilted her head to the left, concentrating on Nelson's features as if memorizing them.

He exists.

He's real.

He's mine, she thought.

"What?" Nelson asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Nothing. I'm just glad to have you."

Before Nelson could reply to that, Austin yelled from under his duvet:

"Mind closing the light? My dad might come any second."

Saying goodnight to Clary, Nelson switched off the lights and felt his focus diminish, as soon as he lay on Austin's bed.

However, despite all the exhaustion, Clary was still awake. Her mind was a torrent of thoughts, about what she had left behind and what she was going to face in the future, about Austin and what he was going to do with them once his curiosity finished. She lay wide awake, looking up at the ceiling till her consciousness ebbed and her mind dragged into the oblivion of sleep.