Fade

Chapter Eight

I jumped up when a bag was thrown beside me and looked to the boy who threw it.

Gareth.

I stared at his clothes for a moment, still unsure if it was really him or not. His shirt had blood splattered all over it.

"It took me a few hours to find you."

I continued staring at his shirt.

"I let Dawn go," Gareth continued. "Maybe I should have killed the little fucker, but I...I just couldn't."

I nodded along numbly. "I wouldn't have been able to kill him either. I got Christina to the emergency room. Couldn't stick around and deal with people questioning me. I'll check on her tomorrow."

I can't face her after what happened. It's my fault she got shot. Why am I lying to Gareth about it? He knows I'm too much of a coward to go see her tomorrow.

Gareth was glaring at me. I shuddered, wondering why he was giving me such a harsh look. "What is it?"

"I'm leaving."

"What? Why? Where are you going?"

"Canada. It's dangerous sticking around here with the cops. Plus, if Dawn tells anybody what happened, Parisi's friends will be looking to kill us."

"Oh. Yeah. Right. I...um...We'll meet up with you when Christina recovers. Where should I-?"

Gareth looked away. "I don't want you to come with me, Maria."

My heart broke.

"I really hope life gets better for you," Gareth muttered. "People will be looking to kill you if Dawn snitched again, so my advice? Get the fuck outta Dodge, okay?"

I was ready to cry again. "Gareth, please don't leave me."

"I can't stick around you, M. You're dangerous to be around. There's a reason why Katrina left. Today proved she was right to leave. She was smart. She knew to get out when she could."

I turned away, looking up at the bridge as my chest started to ache.

Everything burns. Why would he say that to me? He knows how deep that cuts.

"I guess this is goodbye. Hope you'll make it out of here."

I listened to the snow crunch as he started to walk away. Taking in a deep breath, I called out, "Gareth?"

I didn't turn to look at him when he stopped. Watching him leave would make it worse and I didn't know how much more I could take.

"Do you think I could've ever been a hero?"

Gareth snorted. "What? That's what you wanted to say?"

I remained silent, tightening my grip on my wrist as I waited for a response.

The stars don't shine in the city. The only lights I had in the dark were a few streetlights. If I focused hard enough, I could see my breath fog up in the air each time I exhaled, so I kept my attention on that.