Arc 5: Tread Carefully

Death was in the air that hung heavy over the cobbled streets. It was a presence, weighing on people’s shoulders, preying on their minds. Coughing sounded from behind curtained windows. People with bandaged limbs struggled to carry an invalid up a set of stairs. I saw a man clawing at the locked door of a […]

Nothing is more torture than feeling like, despite everything that had happened between then and now, I was back at the beginning. Isolated in an empty room. There weren’t even windows this time. Nick was gone, I noticed the absence of him from the moment I had woken from a drug-induced slumber. It had all

I braced myself against the bathroom sink and shut my eyes. Nope. The feeling of nausea just got worse. I blindly pawed at the faucet to get it running and leaned over, trying to fight the rising need to vomit. The dirty restroom of the bar spun like a carnival ride. I shook my head

The smell of cigarettes dragged me out from a morass of fitful dreams and back into reality. I blinked groggily and squinted at Richard who had just come back inside the car and shut the door.  “Sleep good?” he asked gruffly. “Mm,” was my noncommittal response. After taking a few more moments to fully wake

I slowly let the bones recede back underneath my skin, feeling like my innards were wrapped around a drill, slowly twisting tighter and tighter. Mom whimpered, shielding her face with her hands. My dad’s expression was a block of stone. I waited a long time for them to calm down. Then I spoke softly, tasting

Richard and I stopped at an abandoned gas station at the edge of town to hash out a plan. I squinted against the sun that was peaking through the trees, low in the sky but not yet touching the horizon. He parked close to the tree line and got out to survey the damage on

Richard staggered back a step as he caught me. “Hey!” he bellowed loudly in my ear. “What happened in there? The door was locked, I couldn’t get in when I heard the gunshots.” “No time,” I panted. “We need to move.” I pushed off of Richard and managed to take two steps before the pain

“Kill Nick.” Spike’s grip on me stiffened as he heard those words. Sullivan laid his hands on his lap. He frowned as his eyes flicked over to me. “The Wolf? Why? What do you stand to gain?” Helen flashed her perfectly white teeth at him. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, Sully. There

My upper arm throbbed where I’d been hit. The bone spike, half-buried, was the size of a finger. Blood trickled from the wound, the spike stemming most of the flow. I remained kneeling, trying to come up with a plan. Everyone looked hostile. Sullivan eyed me distastefully. The three old men that were playing cards

The subway train screeched to a stop behind me. A fresh crowd of people exited it and hurried towards their destinations, jostling me where I stood. A few turned to stare at my bloodied arms, before turning and hurrying away, not wanting to be pulled from their own worries and schedule by a stranger with