Joel’s heart was pounding in awful excitement. The idea of doing something so taboo pumped adrenaline in his veins. It almost felt as if he were viewing the entire conversation in third person, and was just spectating a decision that was no longer in his control. However, Joel also knew this was no dream or fantasy. The scrawny boy fully understood that there were dire consequences to this presented ultimatum, and that he was hurting a friend in doing so. And yet…Joel felt excited regardless.
The thrill Joel felt made him feel sick. The nausea only grew further upon seeing Victoria’s warm smile crumble to pieces. Victoria opened her mouth. She coughed and blinked twice. The silence was thick and suffocating in the dingy room. Victoria slowly propped herself up against the bedroom wall.
Victoria flashed a trembling smile. “I’m sorry, I think I misheard something. What’d you say?”
Victoria was kind. She was offering a way out. However, there was no turning back if Joel were to execute everything flawlessly. Joel clenched his fists and deeply inhaled.
“No, you heard correctly. Do as I say or I tell Ally.”
Victoria’s face contorted into an unknown expression. Her eyes look hurt. Her mouth was slightly open in disbelief. Her nails dug into her bed in rage. Victoria closed her mouth and eyes, slowly inhaling. After she quietly exhaled, she locked eyes with Joel, any joy vanished from her expression. Her face, void of all emotion, spoke quietly.
“You do know how severe that threat is, yes?”
Joel’s heart stung, but he maintained a monotone expression. “Yeah. I know.”
A long shadow loomed over the room. “Are you willing to accept the consequences of threatening me?”
Joel hunched up his shoulders. His lungs felt as if a hand were squeezing them. Despite the suffocation, Joel choked down his anxieties and exhaled shakily.
“I-I guess. I mean, yeah. I am.”
Victoria peered into Joel’s eyes as if she were trying to dissect the boy. Joel held his gaze, refusing to break eye contact. The clock hanging on the wall echoed as seconds counted down, yet despite the ticking of the second hand, time stood still. After either ten seconds or three minutes, Joel cleared his throat, reaching into his backpack. He pulled out a plastic baggie containing two wigs and two sets of clothes. As he placed the bag next to Victoria, her brow scrunched in mild confusion and disbelief.
“Cosplay? Really? You broke my trust for that?”
Joel shook his head. “No, no. In that bag are two sets of outfits. One for you and one for Ally. I w-”
Victoria threw the bag at Joel, an outraged look in her eyes. Joel flinched, blocking the wild throw with his arms.
“You have balls, kid. If you even think that you can drag my sister into this without an-”
Joel widened his eyes and waved both arms frantically. “No! Nonono, I think you’re misunderstanding. I wouldn’t da-”
Victoria scooted out of bed at a frightening pace and dove at Joel. Joel slammed his head into a drawer, blurring his vision. As Joel struggled to orient his surroundings, Victoria reeled back her right arm and slammed her elbow into his head with full force. A nasty *crack* rang from his face, and a splatter of red suddenly flung into the air. Joel felt the sensation of a runny nose, and dabbed at his face to wipe up the mucus, only to reveal a nasty flow of blood. Joel stared at his palm in confusion, then looked up in time to see Victoria throw a vicious punch. Right as her right fist connected to Joel’s eye, he blacked out.
...
Joel spent the rest of his time at the spa in utter anxiety and dread. Now that Bob knew where Joel worked and lived, every corner brimmed with disgusting possibilities. It started off fairly mildly, with Bob intentionally spilling food on tatami mats to force Joel over and clean up the mess. However, as time passed, Bob escalated his harassment. Soon, Bob was actively matching Joel’s cleaning schedule and would enter the baths completely nude while Joel tried to avoid eye contact as he mopped. Joel knew he couldn’t make any formal complaints against Bob, as Mr. Giddles would ignore any negative comments about Bob. So, all Joel could do was grit his teeth and deal with it. However, just when Joel had grown numb to Bob’s advances, Bob upped the ante.
Bob had reported a mess that had been made in the men’s bathing section. Though it was 3 AM, Joel decided it would be best to clean up the mess. After all, it would be awful if Joel overslept and couldn’t clean up the bathing area before leaving to school, causing a customer to complain about Joel’s lack of work ethic. Upon entering the empty bathing area, Joel frowned in confusion. The area was spotless, just as Joel had left it two hours ago. Joel groaned in exhaustion, and turned to leave, only to see Bob blocking his path. Bob only wore a towel, and as usual, dropped it upon making eye contact with Joel. There was one major difference, however.
This time, Bob was not flaccid.
Blood rose to Joel’s eyes, his lungs squeezing in raw fear and anxiety. Bob gingerly stepped forward, his usual grin replaced with a quiet stare. Bob would take one step forward. Joel would take a step back. After a few steps, Joel’s mop handle hit the wall tiles. Bob took a slow breath in before speaking.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment. Nowhere to run now, Joe.”
Then, Bob lunged. Joel screamed, slipping on the moist tiles at his feet. The two teenage boys scrambled around on the floor in utter darkness. Bob kept trying to “advance” the situation, while Joel kept looking for openings to flee.
While pinned, Joel let out a frantic kick, squarely kicking Bob in the family jewels. Bob crumpled, and Joel used the opportunity to push the bully away with sheer desperation. Bob was pushed off, but due to the nature of the wet tiled floor, Bob continued to slide a few feet as he was unable to maintain balance.
The momentum of the slide pulled Bob’s head backwards, and it slammed into the corner of some tile stairs with a sickening *thock*. Bob simply lay there, quietly moaning in agony. Joel scrambled to his feet, adrenaline pumping through his veins, and ran to Bob’s location. However, instead of helping the aggressor to his feet, Joel screamed in a wild frenzy as he grabbed Bob’s hair and repeatedly slammed it into the corner of the stairs. Each slam produced a more full and meaty sounds, gradually turning the *thock*s to *splack*s. Joel continued to slam the skull of the bully into the stairs over and over until Joel’s arms grew heavy with soreness.
Then, Joel blinked.
He stared down at the dark bathhouse floor, dark liquid splattered everywhere. The once circular head was now slightly caved in. Joel let go of the head with trembling fingers and immediately vomited, purging his dinner from his system. Joel wanted to scream, but his throat was so dry that all he could do was cough. Joel pressed his hands to his face, wet liquid plastering to his face. Joel wasn’t sure if it was water, vomit, or blood. Joel didn’t turn on the lights to find out.
Joel felt his heart squeeze. What…what should he do? Joel looked around the dimly lit bathhouse. It was early morning, and very few patreons had decided to stay overnight today. There were no cameras in the bathhouse due to privacy purposes.
You could get away with it.
Joel held up trembling hands. Well, he should at least wash the bl-the liquid off his hands and face. His legs wobbled over to the showers and began to scrub away the splatters on his body. He wasn’t too sure if his body was clean, but Joel wasn’t turning the lights on to find out.
Disinfect any surfaces you touched.
Joel removed some bleach from the supply closet and filled a sponge with the chemical. He then proceeded to wipe away at any door or handle he touched. After a rough scrubbing, he then quickly put on some gloves to ensure he wouldn’t accidentally scatter more fingerprints about.
Delete the camera footage.
Mr. Giddles was sleeping in his house, and Joel was left in charge of the spahouse overnight. So, Joel quietly tiptoed to the main office and accessed the computer. Mr. Giddles had given him the passcode one time to look up some previous Excel files he had forgotten to extract, and that same passcode worked to bypass the security camera’s administration settings. Joel quietly decided it would be best to delete all the camera footage for this entire week. That way, it could potentially throw off anyone trying to pinpoint the exact time that…that the “incident” occured. Once the footage was deleted, Joel let out a shaky breath: now there would be no evidence that Joel entered the bathhouse with Bob tonight. After ensuring that the keyboard was clear of any splatters, Joel quietly exited the office.
Say the male bath house is going under renovations.
Joel grabbed some stanchions and traffic cones that were stored away in the supply closet, placing them in front of all entrances of the men’s bathing area. He scribbled out some notes stating how there was a sewage leak in the baths, temporarily closing down the men’s baths for a while as plumbers fixed the issue. Joel also scribbed out a fake phone number to forward any questions about the situation. Hopefully, this fake number would cause some confusion among patreons and delay anyone from reaching out to the owner via his actual phone number.
Cover Bob up.
Joel dragged Bob over to a pool and threw him in. Joel then grabbed a tarp used to cover up the baths and threw the canvas over the pool. After that was done, Joel then proceeded to spray down the bathhouse with a hose, and then squeegeed the floor with some bleach to ensure no stains remained. Joel then threw some other miscellaneous tools on top of “Bob’s bathtub” to make it seem as though the bathtub were unused for a long while.
Change clothes and grab what you might need.
Joel changed to some comfortable clothes. He unplugged his phone, stuffing both his phone and phone charger into his left pocket, and his wallet into his right pocket. He quickly checked his bag to ensure there was nothing else of value to bring. Joel took a shaky breath, scanning everything to ensure everything was set.
Run.
Joel exited the spahouse and sprinted. The light rain stung against his face as his feet slapped against the concrete road. He wasn’t sure where he was running to, but Joel just followed the road. White mist filled the corners of his eyes, leaving Joel wondering if he could have done anything different, or if he had even committed a wrongdoing. He wasn’t sure, but it was too late now: there was no going back. All Joel could do was flee at full sprint, and pray that he had done enough.
...
Joel woke up, his head pounding. As he tried to rub his head, his arms tugged against something. He looked down, and saw he was restrained in a chair, his wrists contained with some leather binds. Upon hearing Joel rustling, a figure from the corner of the room stood up.
“Morning, cupcake.”
The dark man wearing a bathrobe appeared from the shadows, his eyes quiet and jaw relaxed. Behind him were six other men of bulky stature. They all wore loose shirts and shorts, the shadows of the room hiding their expression. All of the men looked as though they could easily overpower the dark man, yet they held a respectable distance away as the dark man walked out of the shadows. Joel blinked, trying to process the situation around him.
Before Joel could open his mouth to ask a question, the man flexed a shoulder, revealing a baseball bat in his clutches. Joel could only widen his eyes sudden fear for a split second before the bat smashed into his already damaged nose. The chair was bolted to the floor, so it stayed in place. So naturally, the bat slid upwards from his nose and slammed into Joel’s eyelids. Thankfully, Joel’s nose had taken the brunt of the hit, causing little damage to the boy’s eyes. Still, the strike stung tremendously, causing Joel to cry out in pain. As he writhed around in the chair, the bathrobed man shook his wrist as he muttered in annoyance.
One of the men stepped out of the shadows to take the bat from the dark man and handed him some pliers before stepping back once more. Though he stood in the light for a brief moment, the henchman’s face held no anger or malice, but was monotone. The dark man took the pliers with a small nod, then stepped up to Joel. He knelt down, smiling with unpredictable intent.
The dark man poked at Joel’s nose with the pliers, causing a massive ripple of pain to surge. “First hit, naturally, is a warning. Do you want me to continue?”
Tears dribbled out from Joel’s reddened eyes as blood spewed from his nose. “-oo.”
The man nodded, and prodded at Joel’s face with the pliers, each poke sending shockwaves of pain. “So, care to explain why you threatened Victoria?”
Joel could feel panic building in his gut. He wanted to scream, but Joel was afraid that the slightest noise or movement would cause the man to ‘continue’. What could Joel do? Someone, ple-
Deep breath.
Joel’s nose was badly damaged, so he took a shaky breath through his mouth, trying to force the tears to stop.
Appeal to the man logically.
Joel coughed up some saliva onto his jeans, closing his eyes to collect his thoughts. Knowing time wasn’t on his side, the teenage boy knew he had to quickly assemble a phrase that would quell the man’s wrath.
Joel looked up through swollen eyes and dripping nose, he forced his stinging eyes to lock eye contact with the calm man. “I can fix your bounty hunter problem.”
The man raised an eyebrow. He then got up and handed the pliers to the henchman who gave the tool, whispering something into the henchman’s ear. The henchman nodded, gestured to the stairs with his head, causing all the henchmen to walk out. The only ones left in the room were Joel and the man, who was now walking towards Joel. The man lightly slapped Joel a few times, ripples of pain exploding in his brain.
“Explain.”
There was no point in hiding anything. Joel explained his grand idea and plan, only hiding the identities of certain people. The man stayed silent, his face void of emotion or reaction. After Joel finished, he exhaled a shaky breath and awaited the man’s response. The stood up and closed his eyes, rubbing his face as he did so. After an agonizing minute, the man looked down at Joel.
“How do I know you’re being honest, brat?”
Joel nodded to the table where his belongings had been laid. “The passcode to my phone is 8008. Check the voicemail. Same passcode to access voicemail. You’ll find voice messages confirming part of my story.”
The man proceeded to unlock Joel’s phone and listen to the voicemails quietly. Afterwards, he examined the various other parts of Joel’s phone, including the phone’s camera gallery and contact list. The man nodded, and put the phone back down.
“Alright. You have my permission to go ahead with your plan.”
The man turned on his heel to walk up the staircase, before pausing briefly. “By the way, my name is Dante. If you’re caught lying, I’ll simply repeat what I did today fifty more times.”
The man climbed up and out of sight, opening the basement’s door. Dante talked to someone outside the basement, and shortly afterwords, footsteps descended into the basement. As the owner of the footsteps turned the corner, Victoria froze in place upon seeing Joel’s bloodied face. Joel looked away in shame. Victoria slowly approached and quietly undid his shackles. Joel remained in his chair, utterly exhausted. Victoria left the basement, hastily walking up the stairs with an notable limp. She returned shortly holding some pills and a cup of water. She handed Joel both.
“Swallow these. They’re painkillers.”
Joel lifted his arms heavily, and swallowed the pills with great effort. Victoria limped over to the corner of the basement and grabbed a roll of paper towels. She returned and began to dab away at Joel’s face gently. He winced slightly at each prod, but Victoria’s face remained stern as she wiped away at snot and blood. After doing what she could, she wadded up some tissue and stuffed the wads up Joel’s nose to block further bloodflow. She then sat down, stretching her wounded leg out to alleviate pressure.
“Now, shall we talk?”
Joel got out of his chair and sunk to the floor, tiny tears appearing at the corners of his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t me-”
Victoria tightened her lips and nodded. “It…it was my bad. I’m sorry.”
Joel looked to the floor, small tears dropping onto the dirty concrete. He wasn’t sure of what to say. Joel didn’t want to make excuses, but he also wanted to express utter repentance for his actions and sins. Victoria took a small inhale before speaking.
“Dante mentioned you had a plan. Could you tell me?”
Joel patted his bruised eyes with his fingers. “I found out the cause of the bounty hunters. I can get rid of them.”
Victoria hesitated, tilting her head slightly. “...How’d you find out?”
“I…can’t say. Sorry.”
Joel wasn’t sure if he was allowed to tell Victoria about Bera and Zephia’s situation since he wasn’t sure how much the blond woman knew. Victoria opened her mouth in protest, but closed her lips as she nodded slowly. She understood that Joel had his reasons.
“Did you need to blackmail me for this plan?”
“No.”
“Then…why?”
“It would’ve been easier if you hated me.”
Victoria frowned. Joel quietly explained his experience with Bob, including Joel’s murder and evergrowing guilt. After a quiet explanation, Victoria simply stared at the boy with a slightly ajar mouth.
“You…”
Joel lowered his head and nodded. “Yeah. I’m a murderer. I know. I’m sorry. I-”
“No, not that. I mean, yeah you killed the guy, but that was in self-defence. It wasn’t m-”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiL278WhfB
“It was.”
Victoria stopped talking as Joel clutched his chest in agony. “I could have stopped after I got him off of me. I could have ran away. I didn’t need to cave his head in. I didn’t need to hide the crime. I didn-”
Victoria silenced Joel with an embrace. The broken child sniffled and quietly wrapped his arms around the blond sister, his broken heart threatening to collapse at any second. Victoria quietly stroked his head, hushing Joel as she did.
“I’m sorry, kiddo. You were really dealt an unfortunate hand, huh?”
Joel said nothing, simply leaning deeper into Victoria’s shoulder.
Victoria pulled Joel back, and gave him a small kiss on the forehead. “You act so much like Huck, it’s insane. Both of you are idiots.”
Victoria looked into Joel’s eyes, a sorrow filling her pupils. “Are you sure about this plan? You don’t have to do it. Seriously, this isn’t your responsibility.”
Joel stared into the void as his eyelids began to swell. “I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t.”
...
Victoria walked over to Huck’s apartment while Joel lay in Victoria’s bed, trying to not touch his face. Half an hour passed, and Joel heard a familiar rumble grow louder. Joel stumbled to the porch to discover Victoria behind Carlos’s wheel, with Ally in the backseat. Both sisters wore the disguise that Joel had handed to them. He climbed into the brown Lincoln and nodded to Victoria.
“You get there safely?”
Victoria nodded. “Yeah. Had to take a few back alley shortcuts here and there, but managed just fine.”
Joel chewed his lip, mildly nervous about the next few steps. Joel had to make precise and accurate predictions. If a single prediction failed, then Joel would accomplish nothing. The boy gave Victoria a piece of paper with a scribbled phone number.
“Are you ready to make the call?”
Victoria nodded, pulling out her flip phone. She punched in a few digits, then waited as the number rang. On the fifth ring, a unintelligent voice picked up the other end with a grunt.
“Hello?”
Victoria took a small breath. “Mr. Giddles, was it? I have information about Joel.”
“Who is this?”
“Meet me in front of Blackerd’s education compound in fifteen minutes.”
“Wh-”
Victoria hung up and blocked Mr. Giddle’s phone number. She nervously looked towards Joel. “You sure about this, kiddo?”
Joel nodded stiffly. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
“What was the address again?”
“127XX xxxxx Ave, Jackson, XX, 192XX.”
The three of them drove off in Carlos. Joel felt exhausted and sick, but he forced himself to stay awake. As they got closer and closer to their destination, Joel couldn’t help but feel the anxiety building in his shoulders. Joel embraced this tenseness, as it helped pump his body with adrenaline. Ally, unaware of the situation, giggled in the backseat as she wore an oversized grey hoodie. After twenty minutes of driving, the trio pulled up to their destination. They were in the next town over, and Joel found himself staring down the building where everything came crumbling down. Joel pulled out a stepladder from Carlos’s trunk, mentally preparing himself.
Victoria hesitated. “...and you’re sure he isn’t inside?”
Joel felt a bead of sweat sting as it rolled across his nose. “He…he shouldn’t be. He should be at Blackerd’s schooling district.”
Victoria sighed. “Well, let’s hope you’re right.”
Joel put his facemask on, and the three of them began walking towards the spahouse.
Victoria was giving Ally a piggy back ride to hide the younger sister’s height. Ally squrimed while being carried, but kept quiet as she was instructed. Joel slowed his breath, and forced out a cough here and there to sell off the impresion that he was mildly sick. Joel waited right outside the front entrance, texting on his phone to no one in particular as Victoria entered the building. Victoria was gritting her teeth, small drops of sweat rolling down her neck, as she hobbled to the front desk with Ally in tow. Joel knew that it wasn’t that Ally was heavy, but that Victoria was feeling pressure on her knife wound. Still, he trusted her to be able to make it to the bathing house. First, Victoria and Ally entered. They wrote ‘their’ names down on the registry, and then headed in to the woman’s baths. After half an hour, the Victoria quickly ran out while giving Ally a piggyback ride, scanning her surroundings frantically. Victoria had done her part flawlessly. It was now Joel’s turn.
Joel waited a few minutes, then took a deep breath in as he put his phone away and strode past the front desk holding the stepladder. As the receptionist looked at him in curiosity, he nodded to the direction of the main office as he jiggled the stepladder. The receptionist nodded, and looked away.
As Joel climbed the staircase to the office, he let out a shaky breath of relief. It was stupid how much you could get away with by simply having confidence. Joel entered the office, trying out the passcodes. Oddly enough, they were exactly the same. Joel frowned, mildly surprised. He was fully prepared to copy the entire hard drive of the spa’s computer, but this made things much easier. Joel downloaded the spa’s camera footage onto a USB, then quietly headed out. He nodded to the receptionist with the stepladder under his armpit, and exited the building. He tried to not powerwalk to Carlos until he was certain he was out of view of the receptionist, then bolted to the car. He quickly climbed into the shotgun with the stepladder, and Victoria tore out of the parking lot. Both Victoria and Joel were caked in pain, but Ally was quivering in excitement, simply stoked to have been part of this adventure. After leaving the city, Victoria nodded to the stepladder.
“You never explained why you needed the stepladder.”
Joel shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to make room for the footstool. “It’s one of those things that's so stupid that it works. You’d be surprised how many places you could enter just by having a sense of purpose as you carry a ladder.”
“How did you know it would even work?”
Joel shrugged. “I saw something like it in a video, and it always worked.”
“...And if it didn’t work?”
Joel pondered the possibility. “I had a few backup plans, but… well, thank goodness this worked.”
Victoria sighed. “Well, in that aspect, you differ from Huck.”
...
Joel was dropped off in a part of Blackerd’s Ghetto. He left the facemask on, but left the stepladder in the car. Victoria rolled down the window to Carlos, and gave him a worried look.
“Hey, this is genuinely dangerous. Are you sure you want to do this? I could always ask Dante to-”
Joel shook his head, mildly wincing at the bruises that flared up in pain. “I’m fine. I got this.”
Victoria hesitated, but nodded. “Fine. Just…be careful, alright? Call me if you need help.”
“Got it. Thanks, Vic’.”
Victoria drove off to return Carlos to Huck, and Joel patted his pocket once more to ensure that the USB containing the spa house’s security footage was still there. Joel would’ve loved to have more time to set things up, but he was a bit short on time. He walked around until he found what he was looking for: a group of people hanging out in an alley way, wearing button up shirts with baggy pants. Joel took a deep breath, and strode over with confidence. The men saw him approaching, and turned to face him with intense curiosity.
Joel nodded. “Zephia? Bera?”
The men’s eyes widened, confirming Joel’s assumptions. They were indeed looking for the sisters. Joel handed over the USB to the men, who received it in confusion. There was no guarantee that the men would buy this bait. The spa’s twenty-four hour surveillance had fairly low definition to compensate for it’s constant surveillance. So, a 360p video of two random women with roughly matching physical descriptions would become valuable evidence. Plus, the Wilford sisters signed in under Bera and Zephia, so there was now ‘proof’ that they were in the spahouse. Ally was nowhere near the size of Zephia, so Joel hoped that the oversized hoodie and a piggyback ride would help conceal that difference.
Joel nodded to the stick of information. “They’re in the next town. Video proof. Spa house. 127XX xxxxx Ave, Jackson, XX, 192XX.”
Joel handed them a scrap of paper with the written address. The bounty hunters took the paper with eagerness and confusion. Before they could fully comprehend the situation, Joel nodded at the men before turning and slowly walking to the end of the alleyway. Upon turning the corner, he began bolting at full speed. His face and eyes stung from rattling around so much, but Joel dared not stop. He spent the next hour quietly ducking in alleyways and hiding behind trashcans whenever he heard a car driving around. After an hour of pure anxiety, he crept his way out of the Ghetto and began walking to Bera and Zephia’s house.
As he was approaching their house, the sun was already setting. Bera was exiting the house to leave to the Bottlecap for her singing gig. Seeing Joel, she nodded, then froze in surprised doubletake.
“Holy crap, are you ok? What happened to your face?”
Joel internally cursed. He forgot that his face looked so gruesome. Guess that explained why he wasn’t stopped by the bounty hunters earlier. Joel shrugged.
“I tripped.”
Bera squinted. “Like hell. What happened?”
Joel shrugged again. “Ah, you got me. I got tied up and beat with a baseball bat.”
Bera stepped in closer to examine Joel’s face. “Honestly, thats so much more plausible. Did you even put ice on this?”
“Uh…no, bu-”
Bera grabbed Joel’s arm, tugging him towards her house. “I’m putting ointment on you.”
Joel shook off Bera. “I’m fine, really. I’ll do it later. More importantly, I accidentally forgot something here during one of my homework sessions. Can I go get that?”
Bera scowled. “You can pick it up after I patch you up.”
Joel hesitated. “Do you even have the proper medicine to fix me up?”
Bera bit her lip, and Joel internally cursed. She stayed silent, but continued to drag Joel over to her house. This time, Joel didn’t resist. She forced him to sit on her mattress, and then went over to the bathroom to grab some basic ointments to dab up Joel’s face. Each prod stung, but the boy endured it. After a few minutes, Bera nodded in satisfaction.
“Not the best, but better than nothing.”
Joel quietly nodded, and kept his head down. “Thanks, and, uh… sorry.”
Bera pursed her lips, but nodded with folded arms. “It’s…it’s fine. I know you meant nothing bad.”
Bera held out a hand to Joel and helped him to his feet. “You said you forgot something?”
Joel nodded. “Yeah, it won’t be long.”
Joel walked over to Zephia’s room, and quietly knocked. “You there?”
After the sound of some rustling, the mildly grimy and pudgy girl opened the door with confusion. “Joel? You’re here late. Why? Wait, what happened to your face?”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmRNUeWkeN
Joel gave a light bow in apology. “Sorry it’s nothing. Just forgot something in one of your books. I used it as a bookmark.”
Zephia blinked. “Uh…do you remember which book?”
Joel peeked past Zephia. “It was a black book with nothing on the cover. It had the drawing of the woman in the chair?”
Zephia frowned and let Joel into her room. Joel scanned the piles, and found the sketch book. He quickly pulled out the receipt he had stuck in between the pages. “Got it, thanks.”
“What did you forget?”
“Just a little receipt. Don’t worry about it.”
...
That day, Joel returned to Huck’s apartment late at night. Ally murmured in her sleep under a pile of blankets on the couch. Huck stayed in the same spot at the dining room table. He wearily looked up, the bags under his eyes much deeper than usual. A few bottles of Cola surrounded the man, with even more numerous papers scattered on the table.
“...Hey, kiddo. Where were you? You’ve been out for a while.”
Joel nonchalantly shrugged. “Group project, stayed over at a person’s house to finish up some posterboard.”
Huck nodded. “...ah. Gotcha. Did you eat?”
“Yeah. Did you?”
Huck waved a hand limply. “I’m...fine. I’ll grab a bite to eat later.”
Joel nodded, glancing at the wall mounted clock. “Well, I’m gonna turn in for the night today. Night.”
Huck nodded solemnly, and Joel washed up before knocking out. His time at Blackerd was coming to an end, but strangly enough? Joel felt at ease. Nervous, sure. However, for the first time in a long while, he felt confident that he had done the correct thing.
For the first time in a long while, Joel slept without any nightmares or memories. When he woke up, Joel felt refreshed, calm, and determined. He scooped up his backpack of belongings and stepped out to the living room. Ally had now sprawled out halfway off the couch, but still slept soundly with soft breathing. Huck was still sitting in the same position, head in one hand with a paper in another. He seemed to be more ragged than normal. Joel hesitated, but he stepped over to where Huck sat. Joel cleared his throat, causing Huck to slowly lower the paper with weary eyes.
“...Oh. Kid. You’re awake?”
Joel nodded. “Yeah.”
Huck glanced at the clock. “Bit early for school, no?”
“Yeah.”
Joel opened his arms and quietly hugged Huck. Huck stiffened up, but after a moment he wrapped his left arm around Joel. While holding him, Joel took a deep breath.
“Just wanted to thank you for everything.”
Joel pulled away, eyes mildly moist. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the bruises or whatnot, but Joel smiled confidently. Huck tilted his head slightly, confusion spread across his face.
Joel nodded as he opened the front door. “Heading out now, bye.”
“Huh? Oh. Uh… later, kiddo.”
Joel quietly closed the door and looked up at the still-dark sky. The wind whistled, crickets sang, the moon smiled, and the leaves danced. Joel considered calling Victoria and Gustavo to say his goodbyes, but he opted not to.
After all, Joel was never in Blackerd.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6w7rT0aiI
