The misfits

chapter 12

Alisan

After two days of nonstop driving, if it could even be called that, we stopped for a semi break in the border of Nevada. Brian was clearly exhausted, yet he seemed calmer than ever. I couldn't remove the image of the man that punched me with so much exasperation in the beginning of this journey to the one of the man I had in the front of my eyes. Brian searched through the letters with fixated eyes, scheming his next step. Our knowledge was limited to a name and an address, with no meaning and correlation to anything else. I soon realized that passing the border was near impossible, and panic dazed my mind, stopping the car.

-You 'kay Alisan? I can take the car back if you want. - Brian said.

-That's not the problem! How are we passing the border if the police is searching for us? Plus, we don't even have ids or ..or..

Fidgeting with the sides of the map with a smile in her face, Evelyn answered in amusement: - If you are thinking there is any sort of security or border crossing stations at the California and Nevada border, then you are mistaken. You have never went out of the state, have you, Cali boy?

My face became hot with embarrassment, and absorbing her playful tone took longer than needed. She watched me through the front mirror flashing a toothy smile on my way. I choose to not open my mouth again, yet silence abided to not exist. Indeed, crossing the border ended up being easier than expected. The car trip was accompanied by a calm banter that seemed to have no end, with the soft cracking of the wind coming from the opened windows as background. Brian put on a small old cassette that he found in the backside of the car, relishing in the old memories. It felt like an endless summer day, were nothing finished and nothing ended. Evelyn was telling random stories from college, so much different from the stereotypical narratives you hear from depressed seniors and dream struck juniors. She had a kind of brutal honesty that tested most friendships, but I appreciated it. Without awareness of the road, the car moved over the highway, lights on full beam. Once upon a time I would have been in the backset of the car, no longer worrying if the police would find my lost or dead. This was my time to let my never stopping brain roam free, even as the city became ever so close.

The closest city for us to go to was Las Vegas, and I had quite high hopes, even more than Brian. It seemed stupid to say so, but going to Las Vegas was one of the only things in my bucket list. As we entered the city, The broadway lights came to me as a sort of modern rainbow, all excited and chaotic. Checking the two of them from the front side mirror, Brian was fast asleep, while Evelyn glanced through the glass with stars in her eyes, the kind that got bigger with the more wonders they saw. In this state, you could easily forget the reason behind all of these. I wished sometimes that the world could be a field of flowers were I could lie my head and rest, but life itself prohibited that. It always did.

Brian woke up in a frenzy, eyes darting out of the window as to get used to the new surroundings.

-We are in Las Vegas! I never thought I would be alive to see this! - this was the first time I've ever seen get sincerely exited. Brian removed the seatbelt, unable to sit in one place as his body shook with laughter. The dark humor of his lit us up, making the trip more bearable. After all, my driving skills needed much improvement, and the city was new to us. - We should enjoy ourselves before we go on to find my sister. The hunt can wait.

- And what is your definition of fun, again? Oh right, getting ourselves wasted.

Evelyn chuckled, looking back to the map that was now quite useless. We parked the car and walked through the busy streets, laughing at how the "universe" got us together in such a state. We found a fairly new yellow book, its numbers ranging in different orders. It was useless, yet it was glistening under the bright Broadway lights. Brian called a number or two for fun, got some shady addresses and just as he came to call them he left them to no return. Walking leisurely, our pockets full of money for the first time in weeks, we felt invincible. Well, they did, as I flattered as soon as the bar appeared. They didn't care much for my age, but I had this bad feeling as I was being watched. When I get drunk, I sort of feel like a psychic. I knew what would happen. I just didn't knew exactly how and why.

Clubbing makes my synapses jump like beans in a tin. I couldn't be more alive if I was shouting from a mountain top. The music is a drug that brings me higher, higher until my mind buzzes with pure joy. I feel as if my soul will shine so bright my skin will start to glow, like my aura would become visible. But the night is so young, my limbs have so much energy I could dance for millennia and then some more. Evelyn sat down close to the pub, in the company of no one in particular, while Brian was no were to be found. When the euphoria of the moment dies down and the shimmering lights blur with each other, you can notice that many things go on with the world at the same time. A sense of paranoia rushed over me, feeling a hundreds eyes watching every move. My body pushed towards the wall like an ivy, a lonely wallflower that I always was destined to become. Is this was Brian calls fun? I can hear countless of words but I could never make them towards, instead slurring their way up to my brain. "Find Brian" "Who?" "The young man in tghsxj" "Imogene, I mean, our boss will be livid" Who is Imogene? And why is she trying to get to Brian? He has to know about this, right? Imogene, Imogene, Imogene...

-Brian! Brian, your s..sister is... - without a sound, I fell to the ground. And everything went black.