Sapphire Bones

Addicts

Updated: April 29, 2019

L

Rogue camps didn't smell like the rest of the forest. Rotting corpses, an occasional spout of burnt flesh, and tainted rabid dog were the three odors that swirled through the breeze. My escape proved futile and ended with a boot to the side of my head. After the blackout, the rogue leader carried me off somewhere far from where Cole, Roddy, and I started. So far that even the smells of the forest changed. We were miles away from the ocean. No more salt-filled air, or sand between the hairs in my nose. We were far off the grid, behind a barrier between the human and Lycan worlds. The pleasant Atlantic sensations were replaced with the kind of smell that came from an exhumed body hidden six feet underground for months. And it was that smell that shook me from the sleep I found myself in. My eyes fluttered open. Two red figures sat in front of me, several feet away. They weren't facing me. I dragged my arm back toward my body. It snagged over dry dirt and pebbles. The sound of moving earth signaled the two people in front of me; they whipped around, their heads spinning faster than the rest of their bodies. One solid breath of relief came from both of them as they realized I had woken.

"L," Roddy's voice broke through the ringing in my ears. His arms wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest before I had a chance to react. I huffed at the movements, arms frozen at my sides while Roddy swept me up into a tight embrace. I gulped, eyes wide. If there was ever a moment where I feared for my life it was this. Not during any of Peter's sessions with me, or while I was locked underneath the council. It was in someone's arms while they held me; their heat emanated into my skin and through my bones while I just leaned into them. A limp body surrounded by intense muscle. I was used to both of those things but not in such an intimate manner.

"We thought you got away," Cole said. "After you ran they dragged us off and we didn't see the leader come back with you."

I let out a groan after Roddy finally let go. And to be honest, I wasn't sure if it was a response to Cole or Roddy. I slumped back into the sand. My body held out and I sat up, wavering, but I sat. "I didn't get far," I shrugged. "I mean what did we expect?" This was the first time I addressed the three of us as a group; it was time to admit that Cole and Roddy meant well, or at least they put on innocent faces for me to believe. Either way, I intended to stick with them until the end. As Cole said, we're family and no matter what we stick together.

"We hoped you'd get far enough away to lose them," Roddy started. "You tried, and that's all that matters."

"Where are we?" I changed the subject on them before they could dive too far into my failed escape. A third chance to free myself from the tormentors who took half my life away, and I blew it. I blew my last chance to start over. Go to Corvo? No, I would've kept running until my legs gave out and I crossed state lines. Start over. New name. Shave my head and turn into a transient. Invisible and a shadow in society. Leave evidence of a second death behind. Cover my tracks. Send an anonymous letter to Corvo about Cole and Roddy's general whereabouts. Make sure they're safe.

"A rogue camp about twenty miles away from the beach," Cole answered, breaking me from the fantasy swirling in my head. "East, I think," he added at the end.

As much as I wanted to leave the thought of my foiled escape behind me, I couldn't help but bring it back up, ignoring Cole's answer to my previous question. "He let me get further than I would've gotten without him."

"What?" Roddy asked.

My head wrenched his way so that I faced him, so he saw the milky film over my eyes. That alone clued him in on my meaning but I vocalized it anyway. "He and a couple of his friends chased me down for a while but they gave me a head start while they caught up."