The Trail

Chapter 16 | Reunion

We ran through the run down house, that smelt of mold and old cigarette smoke, with broken glass shattered across the floorboards. The large, broad nosed man lied, strangled with a wire, in the corner of the living room. Somehow, it seemed that he had shrunk in size now that he was no longer alive. The air had, literally, gone out of him. His dark skin had grown pale, almost grey, and his eyes stared blankly in front of him. As we passed, I looked away.

We reached the hallway, and as Owen was about to open the door, I stopped him.

"Wait", I said in a lowered voice.

The thought hadn't reached me until now, but I had lost my backpack. My pack, which contained the black box and the map from my father. If it was here, I could not leave without it.

He turned around to look at me.

"What? We have to go before they realize that something's wrong ", he said and struck out with his arm that held the gun.

"I need to find something first", I whispered.

"No, you don't. Let's go", he said and put his hand on the door handle.

"You don't understand, it's really important. I can't leave without it", I said in an attempt to convince him.

He hesitated, and gave up a sigh.

"What?"

"My pack, there's something in it that I really need. I think they took it when they picked me up", I said and moved closer to the door.

"Shit", he said and shook his head, while he kept watch through the busted window. "They store all belongings in that other building over there."

He nodded towards the house with the lights turned on.

"So? I have a hard time believing that it would be a problem for you", I said, crossing my arms.

"It isn't shitfaced Dean guarding it, it's a bunch of ex-military and for all I know, probably a demon or two", he said and looked at me.

"I really need it", I said and gave him a begging glance.

He sighed and shook his head.

"I can't believe I'm doing this... Fine", he said and opened the door.

I followed him down the steps and through the overgrown front yard. As we were about to move past the truck, I hurried to look inside of it. There were no sign of my belongings there, nor on the truck bed.

"There's an entrance in the back that's mostly unguarded. We might be able to get in through there", he said as I reached his side. "You really need this thing?"

"I do."

With a disapproving look on his face, he started to jog across the street. I followed, and as I did, I saw the dark clouds from before moving in over the small neighbourhood. A storm was rolling in, putting another problem on the horizon of daily struggles.

"You can't trust him, Charlie", I heard through my head.

We reached an old, wooden plank fence at the side of the house.

"He's the one who killed, Juniper. Don't you see that?", it was the hissing woman, trying to reason with me.

"I'll give you a boost", he said.

"He's just trying to make himself look innocent. First chance you get, kill him before he kills you", they whispered.

Carefully, I put my foot in his palms, as if not to break him. He launched me upwards so that I could grab the wooden boards at the the top of the fence. While I pulled myself up, I swung my right leg over so that I half-sat, half-lied on my side.