Metanoia

Goldenleaf: Chapter 1

   'Two missing, one dead. No traces or evidence could confirm any of the cases to be true and no one at the moment is suspected to by at fault. Any anonymous tips are appreciated to be addressed to the police.'
    Renjun shivered, staring at the newspaper in shock. This headline was being spread around all throughout the streets and salons as the citizens mumbled on about what happened. It was only popular due to lack of action that usually occurred within the area so whenever something interesting came up, everyone would want to hear what was going on. There was no denying that this was the exact same scenario. Except this time the situation worth talking about was a bit more dire than usual.
'Well yeah obviously,' The blond scoffed. 'No one usually goes missing or gets murdered. In fact nobody ever moves out either...'
His hometown, Goldenleaf, was a rather old town. In which hardly anyone comes in from far off cities and nobody really leaves for those cities. The only exception were the students who got those high achieving scholarships to those universities across the large outstretch of forest that's rumoured to be out there.
    In all honesty only those university students know since they make the commute back and forth during holidays. But most of them say that there's no gas stations until the next city which was way too far for any ground transportation to date. Which only made people more curious on how they even make the journey in the first place. And the only answer was a ton of gasoline- however they were way too expensive for anyone to just buy casually.
    However, that was going to change. Renjun wasn't planning on staying here any longer. He wanted to leave for good.
    Most people would have thought it was just hormones acting up. Causing him to become reckless and want to leave for a 'better life'. That was half the case.
The other half was the insistent voice playing out in the back of his head that said nothing here was right. It was the same voice that had repeated all throughout this past year. A single sentence that was on loop as he would go about it day. 'This town is not normal.' And it went on for hours on end. Keeping him awake at night. Distracting him from his homework. Making him more paranoid than he could remember. So one day he had stepped out of the regular schedule to deal with it all.
   Then everything suddenly crashed down. Everything that appeared to be way too perfect got a big heavy dose of reality, along with to missing people and a dead body. This caused a huge ruckus within Goldenleaf as police officers were searching everywhere for clues on what could have happened. Rumours spread like wildfire as the residents were starting to become uneasy about the event. Especially since there was no trace of a culprit at all.
    And who could blame them for being so terrified? All the officers were completely inexperienced when it came to these sort of crimes. Because the usual issues, seen as extreme problems, were just merely romcom plots written evidentially much worse than what scriptwriters produce.
    It wasn't natural. It didn't feel natural. The place felt like it was anticipating for the exact second when things would shift. The people seemed to live on the faulty pillars of selfishness and safety. There was so much blandness within the town that anything bad was immediately a juicy topic to talk about. Was the town just all filled with monsters waiting for the right moment to eat at your insecurities and fears? Or was it much worse? Either way Goldenleaf was nothing but unsettling. Of course, he knew all along that this place was already sketchy since the beginning. But this small action only confirmed his suspicions more.
    He tore off the page of the newspaper and threw it on the bench he was walking by. Even before this article came out had he tried to take action. He wasn't selfish like the other citizens, he had the audacity to try and help his friends. But convincing them was no use. They were just like the others, filled with their own personal greed. Despite this he was disappointed in where they stood regarding it all.
The blond had finally approached the scrap yard. The place where he took refuge after running away from his home. After he left without a trace, after he abandoned his mother. There was a trace of guilt that reoccured in his heart, but it was a sliver too small to convince him to turn back. Cause even if he did, his mom would simple fuss over him for mere minutes than get a call for work and leave a disciplinary program on the TV before leaving- and that's the one thing Renjun hated.
    No way in hell was he going to be controlled by a program of any sort.
    And so he turned all his attention to the fixed pick up truck. When he first came with his large bag of essentials it was a meshed up mess of parts that was still somewhat in tact for patching up. The roof had still been in good condition and the cushions were rather decent so he decided to make it his makeshift home. Everyday after that, Renjun worked as much as he could to bring the truck back to its original state; from replacing parts completely to tweaking older parts to repainting the whole car. Although it did take more time to find supplies around the junk yard to use and also go to soup kitchens to have a meal without getting caught- everything had ended up finishing in a somewhat short time period.
    It was still very unstable but it would have to due. With the minimal tests and tweaking there was sure to be some sort of improvement and he would test that fully today.
    Renjun hopped into the front seat after throwing his bag in the back. The contents of the smuggled food and drink from his old house was heard clanking against each other. Which, all honesty, he paid no mind to. As long as he had the sustenance he would be fine.
    The blond reached his hand into the much larger bag beside him. One similar to Santa's bag that was given to Renjun for Christmas by his mom to convince him that Santa left the bag there to prove to Renjun that he was real. Honestly the boy never paid mind to the fact and only chose the bag because it was big enough to fit his clothes, hygienic supplies, a first aid kit and one small switchblade in.
    Whilst feeling around these things, Renjun finally came across the keys. 'Thank you previous driver for leaving your keys in the compartment. Really doing me a solid.'
    He hung the torn piece of the article on the rear view mirror and stared at it for another moment. The teen let out a sigh and rested his head on the steering wheel. Despite the fact that leaving his mother behind should've been more harrowing, Renjun was feeling more guilty about his two friends- who he didn't even say bye to. 'I could have at least left a letter.' But in the back of his mind the blond knew he wouldn't do that either. There was no telling anyone where he was or where he was going much less the evidence that he was alive at all.
    The reason still fresh in his head, Renjun composed himself and took a deep breath before starting the car.
    It came alive with a hum of the engine, albeit it sounded close to death with how much a sputtered at the rev. The wheels started to turn as he shifted gears and spun the wheel around to leave the dump he had called home momentarily. Renjun had swore for a good minute or two as he almost bumped into multiple piles of garbage before exiting the gates. His brown eyes glanced both ways on the road and deemed it safe to turn, continuing onto the road and driving on at a slow pace.
    'I need to get used to the controls before I can step up the speed.' Renjun thanked his past self for learning how to drive in the first place even though he never wanted to own a car in the first place due to how high tech it was. Sometimes he didn't appreciate how paranoid he had become. But it was better to be safe than sorry.
    It didn't take long until he angered some drivers with his sluggish driving and by the time he reached his second stop light there was already some tailgating him. 'Ok maybe if I drove more often I would be more proficient.'
    Renjun glanced at his self made map programmed on the GPS he set up and turned right. The car behind him, still eager to pick up speed, kept extremely close to his bumper. Sulking, the blond tried to think of a way as to not anger this driver too much before they would try and confront him. Which wasn't the best thing to endure considering he was probably reported as a run away on the news or something. He decided to make his way down the road and switch lanes to let the other person pass. However the car just followed along with him.
    'Don't tell me I've already been found out by the police or whatever.' Renjun clicked his tongue. 'I could probably create a quick disguise and act like I'm someone else, though it would take a lot of stupidity on their part to make it work...'
Before he leaned over to reach into his bag another car pulled up beside him, keeping an eerily similar pace to his own. The window was slightly tinted when Renjun peered in to see if it was police officer or a citizen that just wanted to bring him into the police station. In fact it didn't really seem like either.
The driver was an young man, probably in his early twenties. His hair was strawberry blond and combed back to expose the sharp features that adorned his face. From his distinct cheek bones to his extremely piercing gaze, he radiated the aura of danger. It was only heightened by how smooth his skin appeared from afar, with the only flaw being a long scar running along the side of his neck. The man was dressed in what looked to be a skin tight suit, but Renjun couldn't really tell if it was a two piece or not. The reason was because of the harnesses decorating the drivers body, which had sheaths for knives and holsters for guns.
Renjun's eyes widened and he caught the man's gaze. There was a shine coming off his dark irises and his lips quirked up in a smirk. The blond looked away and glanced at the rear view mirror.
The driver behind him turned out to be another man of similar age who was dressed in similar attire. Except some of his dark brown hair lightly brushed against his forehead and he wasn't smiling one bit. Instead his thick eyebrows were furrowed against his brown eyes, making them almost glow from the shadow cast over.
'Oh shit.'