The Fade

25

The first thing I notice is the rope binding him to the chair.

Then I see his face.

"Maeve, what the hell?" I turn and stare at her.

She shrugs. "Where's my thank you?"

"I'm not going to thank you for tying him up!" I say indignantly.

"Well, I figured you'd at least appreciate the fact that he won't move when you punch him in the face," she says with another shrug. "You know, since he clearly left you guys and there's no way you aren't even a little mad at him for that."

She's not wrong.

"I'm not going to punch him in the face."

"Good to know," Jamison finally says. He sighs. "You gonna untie me now?"

"That depends. Halle, you wanna untie him?"

I turn my gaze back on him. Maybe I wouldn't punch him in the face, but I am still pretty mad at him.

"Okay, before you release your wrath on me, would it make you feel any better to know that I went back to Pigeon Drive and moved his body?"

I go rigid, unable to answer when Maeve demands, "What? What body? Whose body?"

She tugs on my jacket sleeve. "Halle, whose body?"

Jamison sighs. "Untie me and we'll talk."

She quickly sets him free, and we retrace our steps to the living room.

Ori is curled up in the armchair, Sander and Lis sitting side by side on the sofa.

"Maeve, have a seat."

Her eyes widen as she looks around the room and realizes who's missing.

Jamison recounts the past several days, briefly pausing for Lis to burst into gasping sobs and Maeve to ball into my side.

"I moved his body," he finishes. "Not very far, but there was a park a block over and I thought it would be nice to leave him there in the flower garden. I mean, nicer than leaving him in the street."

Tears find me again, as overwhelming as if it had just happened.

Maeve whimpers into my shirt, and I awkwardly stroke her hair, trying to comfort her as best I can while also trying to keep myself from totally falling apart.

Eventually we all lapse into silence. The light slowly fades from the room until we're left in darkness and it's impossible to tell who's asleep and who's still awake.

***

"So what now?" Maeve asks. She scoots over to make room on the couch for Lis, whose hands are cupped around a mug of instant coffee.

Sander shifts uncomfortably in the window, clearly dreading that question.

Jamison, sitting on the floor and leaning against my legs, tenses.

"I don't want to be the jerk," Ori says carefully, "but Cass died. I know we agreed to get your dad out of there, but it's just not safe. I don't want to take the risk that another one of us gets killed."

Jamison's head drops to his knees.

I don't know what else to do besides squeeze his shoulder.

"How else are we supposed to stop this?" Maeve asks. "His dad might know what to do. Without his help, it could take years to figure out what to do. If we ever figure out what to do."

"I... agree," I say. The others' heads snap in my direction, obviously surprised that I'd be willing to go back to Pigeon Drive after what happened. "His dad is probably our best bet. And... it's the decent thing to do." I hesitate. "I would've done anything to save my mom, but it's too late to help her. It might not be too late to save his dad. This time... this time we know better. We'll be more careful."