Lost to a blurry haze of fright—the three Moonvalers dashed through the trees and the bushes, swatting branches aside and narrowly avoiding tripping over countless roots and vines.
Aravali felt as if he was lost to a frantic bleary nightmare, and he hadn’t the faintest clue of how long they all ran—before they finally stumbled onto an empty back road.
The three of them staggered to a stop on the side of the vacant street, facing each other and gasping to catch their breaths. Aravali had lost his hat somewhere in the woods, but Crowe still wore his, straightening it slightly before clearing his throat to speak.
“H’okay… okay,” he breathed. “Okay, we need a ride home…”
Aravali gaped at him incredibly. “Oh, we do? Why in the hell did we leave our car then?!”
“Ari— they know the bloody car ,” Crowe told him flatly. “Look—I know you’re a skeptic, and I think that’s adorable—but I don’t have time to pretend to give a damn if you believe me or not!”
Aravali felt his emotions spiking, and he opened his mouth to respond—but he suddenly fell still, spotting a pair of headlights from the corner of his eye.
All three of them turned, watching as a car slowly approached from far down the road.
Aravali, Crowe, and Raven all tensed up as they watched it steadily roll nearer, but as it drew closer, they released a breath of relief in unison, seeing that it was a sleek blue convertible, filled with people who were simply enjoying a night out.
Then, as the car got close—Aravali broke into a stride and marched into the middle of the road with no forethought; he held up a hand and motioned for them to stop.
The convertible eased to a stop in front of him, the headlights washing over him. The young man in the driver’s seat gave him an odd look, glancing over to his passengers—two more young men alongside two twenty-something-year-old women—and all five of them stared outside at Aravali in confusion.
Crowe and Raven gave their doctor a similarly baffled stare from the side of the road, swapping glimpses with each other.
Aravali sighed and lowered his hand, marching around the car and leaning on the driver door.
“Listen… I know you don’t know us, and I know this is insane, but we really need a ride,” Aravali told the driver, reaching into his pocket. “We ended up stranded out here tonight, so… I’ll give you a five if you just take us out to Moonvale Mental Hospital.”
The driver traded eyes with the four other people in his car, then looked up to Aravali again, Crowe and Raven slowly walking over to them.
“Uhm… I don’t mind, man, but I don’t think I can fit more than one or two of you in here right now,” the driver told the doctor.
Aravali held his hand on the top of the door, a ten dollar bill pinned between his fingers, and he hesitated for a second. Then, he glanced over at Crowe and Raven, who now stood just behind him, and he let out a deep cloud of breath.
“Fine… take these two,” Aravali decided, handing the driver the money and gesturing to both of his patients. “They need to go straight to Moonvale right now.”
“What? No,” Crowe protested, scrunching up his face. “We’re not gonna leave you—”
Aravali’s hand shot out—smacking him hard across the side of the head and almost sending the white fedora toppling off of him.
“Dammit— now don’t argue with me! ” Aravali snapped, jabbing a finger at the convertible. “ Get in the damn car! ”
Crowe reeled back, ogling him in surprise. Raven frowned sadly at them—and the doctor swiftly snatched Elaine’s keys from Crowe’s hand.
“Go! Now!” Aravali shouted—grasping Crowe’s shoulder and practically throwing him at the car. “ Go! ”
One of the women popped the back door open, and Aravali shoved Crowe into the car, then pushed Raven toward it.
Crowe and Raven just barely managed to squeeze into the car alongside the two women, and Aravali slammed the door shut tightly beside Raven’s arm, both of his patients staring out at him incredulously.
“Go,” Aravali said to the driver, waving him off.
The driver nodded and gave him a two-fingered salute, then he began to pull away, the car rolling down the road with Crowe and Raven staring out of it, gazing back at their doctor the whole way.
Moments later, the convertible was out of sight—and Aravali watched it go, still staring down the darkened road even after the car was gone, releasing a heavy, stressed, yet relieved breath as he did.
He couldn’t wrap his mind around anything right now; he couldn’t think straight at all, lost to a bleary daze of shock and intoxication, but honestly, none of it mattered.
All that mattered, right this moment, was that he had managed to send Crowe and Raven away. The two of them would return to Moonvale unscathed—and that was good enough.
Aravali let out another massive breath, running a hand down his face as the adrenaline finally began to fade, a thick, rampant dizziness swiftly taking its place. He drearily raised his brows, tossing the keys up and catching them—just before turning toward the direction of the club and marching directly back into the woods from where he came.
Even in his hazy state, he knew returning to the club and trying to drive Elaine’s car home was a very risky endeavor for many reasons, but now, he had no choice, and he didn’t have the energy, care, or brainpower to spare it any further thought. He absentmindedly wandered through the shrubbery, swatting branches and leaves aside—until he emerged at the edge of the parking lot again, staggering slightly as he wandered across the concrete, heading towards the dark green car parked along the curb.
Aravali meandered to the side of the car, searching the key ring for the car key and nearly dropping them. Then, he glanced up, blinking several times and spotting something peculiar in front of the building—two sleek black cars, the ones that belonged to the men of Canterbury, still parked in front of the club even after all the customers had fled the scene.
There weren’t any police on the scene yet—but he was able to see people standing by the road.
Aravali blinked thrice more, trying to straighten out his vision as he stared over the roof of the car. He saw a man in a black suit and a matching hat, facing away from him and accompanied by a few armed men with assault rifles at either side—and there was a stranger in a white, flowy shirt with big, baggy sleeves, as well as a pair of silky black bellbottom pants, long black hair and a grave expression etched across his pale visage, facing the leader of the Canterbury men with apprehension.
Amory glared at Vincent with a sour look, slowly shaking his head.
“I can’t believe you,” he breathed, his voice wispy and shaking.
Vincent squinted curiously at him.
“I can’t believe you,” Amory reiterated, jutting a hand out and motioning toward the shattered remains of the club’s glass doors, as well as the bodies strewn across the pavement in front of them. “Look at this! Look at what you did , Vincent!”
Vincent raised his head slightly, trading glimpses between the two armed men to his left, then the two on his right, giving Amory a snide smirk and an interested sort of stare.
“I… didn’t do that,” he stated, raising a finger. “ Crowe did.”
“Crowe was just defending himself and his friends,” Amory told him. “None of this would’ve happened if you didn’t just show up here and open fire! What the hell’s a’matter with you?!”
“That… is the kind of thing… that we can’t have him running around doing to people,” Vincent said firmly, raising his brows and pointing over to his dead men near the broken doorway. “And that’s precisely the reason why people like you and him need to be secured away from society. That is exactly why my father sent us out here—”
“Oh—don’t do that,” Amory growled. “Don’t do that, Vincent. Don’t lie to me. You didn’t come here trying to secure him. You just tried to kill him.”
“Really…?” Vincent took a few smooth steps forward, narrowing his eyes astutely at Amory. “And… if not for you… wouldn’t he have killed me already? Because I seem to recall him coming pretty damn close. He is a danger , and this is exactly why he can’t just be allowed to roam free.”
Amory inhaled, biting his lip and saying nothing.
Aravali remained beside the driver door of Elaine’s car, somewhat out of sight and listening intently as he watched from a moderate distance.
“There’s a reason that I haven’t tried to gun you down right here. You know that?” Vincent said, holding his finger upright and giving Amory a serious look. “Your abilities might be exceptionally remarkable, even compared to everyone else from the lab… but Crowe is a lot more dangerous by far, just because of who he is. You see that?”
He jabbed a finger over at the bodies again.
“That—is something he’s capable of,” Vincent informed, slowly moving his finger back over to Amory. “Not you .”
Amory took in a deep, trembling breath, feeling a million things welling up inside and still remaining silent, shivering slightly in the cold December air.
“You can think of me as the villain all you want… but I’ve been looking out for you a lot more than you know,” Vincent told him. “You’re not an insane damned rogue element the same way Crowe is… despite what you did to the goddamn lab.”
Amory’s mouth drifted open, then he hesitated, only just spotting the crooked, jagged scar across the left side of Vincent’s cheek, crawling down his face from just beneath his eye.
“What happened…?” he uttered, pointing at the scar.
“You happened,” Vincent stated. “You collapsed a goddamn building over me. Did you think about that at all when you were fighting with my father? No, I suppose you didn’t.”
Amory made a regretful shake of the head. “I’m sorry…”
Vincent scoffed.
“I am sorry,” Amory insisted. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I jus—I just—I just didn’t want anybody hurting any one! Why is that so damn wrong?!”
“Oh my God, Amory…” Vincent sighed, his breath visible on the icy air, shaking his head and running a hand down his face. “You are too damn old to keep talking like a child. There are just certain things that have to be done—and we have to eliminate the things that are fighting us. That is just the way the world works.”
“Really…?” Amory choked, tossing up a hand at him. “So Valek told you to come out and kill Crowe and my sister? Okay… did he tell you to kill me too?”
Vincent went quiet, meeting his eyes for a second before looking away.
Amory stared, his expression beginning to fracture, emotions rising up inside.
Aravali stood deathly still by Elaine’s car, listening intently as he stared at the roadside, his eyes flickering between the two of them.
“Zyon was right,” Amory muttered breathlessly, his eyes beginning to water. “You really are just gonna go out and try to kill everyone from Canterbury. Including me.”
“Do you see me shooting you?” Vincent snapped, visibly frustrated. “Listen to me—my father has his reasons, and he’s thinking logically and pragmatically, but he’s also not exactly human , if you haven’t noticed by now. The bastard lacks empathy—and I— do not .”
“ Really …?” Amory laughed in disbelief, a tear rolling down his cheek. “Why do you think that? Because you and I are friends? You just tried to kill my two best friends in the world , Vincent. You can’t feel empathy that damn much.”
Vincent gave him a long, grave stare.
“I believe,” he said in a deep, slow voice. “That… if you just calm down, and work with me… then, we can arrange something… and my father will let you off the hook.”
Amory shot him a double-take, narrowing his eyes bizarrely at him. “Are you kidding…? I wouldn’t go back there in a million years, even if you guys didn’t just try to kill my sister and my best friend. Do you not understand the problem…?”
He took a step closer, gazing into Vincent with sadness and chagrin.
“Your father… and everything he’s trying to do… is evil ,” Amory said definitively. “And I am never gonna be on his side. Ever .”
“Now… you better think very damn carefully before you go picking a side, here,” Vincent warned. “Because… as of right now… you are not picking the winning one.”
“Oh, who the hell are you to say that?!” Amory griped.
“I… am probably the only person alive who gives the slightest bit of a damn about you,” Vincent snarled, striding closer and gritting his teeth. “Where are your little friends right now? Hm? Didn’t seem to care that you were here, did they? Did they even know you were here? Looked to me like they couldn’t care less. They turned tail and ran off, and God knows my father is severely angry with you… but out of everyone, everyone , I think I am the only damned person who’s willing to extend an olive branch to you. And you’d be a damn fool not to take it.”
Amory took slightly back, his fists clenched, his expression grave, and also wounded, feeling an ache inside and not knowing why.
Aravali continued to watch, absentmindedly wandering around Elaine’s car, stepping past the rear bumper and observing from slightly closer.
“Where are you gonna go? Huh?” Vincent challenged, cocking his head and perking his brow. “Where else can you go? Who else can you go to? Your little angel friend? Oh, I suppose not , right? Turned out to be pretty useless , didn’t he?”
Amory gnawed hard on his lower lip, glaring at him with pained disdain.
“You keep trying to help and save everybody else… but nobody gives a good goddamn about helping you,” Vincent stated. “Not your little friend. Not your sister. And not your lame little angel. I am the only one. Whether you like it or not, I am all you’ve got in this world, boy.”
“Vincent,” someone else said.
Amory, Vincent, and all four mercenaries turned—seeing Aravali standing right on the curbside now, his hands pocketed, and his eyes pensive, eyeing Vincent with a sense of apprehension.
For a moment, nobody spoke, and everyone merely stared at the doctor.
Then, Aravali tilted his head and surveyed the man astutely, taking a step forward. He didn’t know what possessed him to get involved—be it the alcohol, the agitation, or simply feeling utterly fed up with it all—but he felt strongly convicted to intervene now.
“I suppose I’ve got you to thank for nearly running my friends and I off the road today,” he said in a low, flat tone. “I’ve heard my patients mention your name more than once… and far be it from me to attribute all of their claims about you to their paranoia. Especially after tonight.”
There was another pause. Amory’s eyes shifted between the two of them, looking tense and surprised that anyone had approached them at all, and Vincent sighed, inhaling from his cigar and turning to face the doctor properly.
“Y’know… it’s been quite a big pain in the ass to keep tabs on yet another Moonvale employee,” Vincent said, exhaling a smoke cloud and squinting intently at the doctor. “Lemme ask you something. When you first went there, and you saw nobody left except for one lone orderly… did that not raise any red flags for you at all?”
“Certainly,” Aravali replied tonelessly.
Vincent stared. “Then why stay there?”
“Because they need someone there,” Aravali told him firmly.
Vincent made a slow, simple nod, cracking a smirk and chuckling breathlessly. He glanced over at Amory, then back, shaking his head.
“Oh… Crowe really likes to surround himself with the holier-than-thou types, doesn’t he?” Vincent remarked. “I suppose that makes him feel better about himself…”
He took another drag and released the smoke cloud into the cold winter air.
“All right… I will level with you, right now,” Vincent said, motioning to Aravali. “I am under strict orders to apprehend the people who most recently left Canterbury Lab… and I have the full authority of the U.S. government on my side. There will come a time, fairly soon, when everyone in Moonvale will have to be apprehended… and if anyone is standing in our way, then… well, they will just have to be dealt with. This would be the time for you to get out while the gettin’ is still good, bud.”
“Oh… I’m afraid I don’t recognize your authority,” Aravali replied curtly. “In fact, I’m rather certain you’re pulling that authority straight out of your own backside… because the U.S. government is not authorized to do things like this .”
He jabbed a finger over to the destroyed glass doors of the club and the bodies nearby it.
“If you are a government organization, then you’re a very illegal one, because you’re behaving quite a bit more like a mafia,” Aravali said flatly. “Kidnapping, detaining, executing, all without due process—not to mention treating random civilians as collateral damage—I mean, honestly, do you really think no one can see through your little façade? You’re not authorized to do this—you’re just doing it. And no. I will not comply.”
Vincent gave him a deep, severe glare.
“Well… whether you think I’m justified or not, it really doesn’t matter , Dr. Chavan,” he glowered, moving steadily nearer. “There’s only one big thing you need to reflect upon now. Are you really willing… to stand in my way… and die? Just for some useless, broken, scatterbrained wastes of space inside of a Godforsaken insane asylum?”
Aravali stared, his heart pounding, only just noticing that the four mercenaries were all turning around to face him as well. Yet still—without any hesitance or forethought—he simply met Vincent’s eyes again, took a breath, and replied with resolve.
“In a heartbeat,” he said definitively.
Everything fell still and silent, the two of them glaring fixedly at each other, Amory glimpsing anxiously over to Vincent.
Then, Vincent’s mouth curled into a prideful half-smile, and he nodded, raising his hand and motioning to his armed followers.
“Well… then I suppose we can just get that part out of the way, can’t we?”
The four mercenaries raised their rifles and took aim at the doctor—
“ No! ” Amory rushed forward—leaping in front of Aravali and shielding him, shooting Vincent a look. “No—do not kill anyone!”
The gunmen all hesitated, and Vincent huffed out a frustrated sigh.
Amory reached behind him, grasping hold of the doctor’s arms and giving the man before him a stern, warning glare.
“Vincent… I swear to God,” he breathed, his voice trembling with both anger and dismay. “If you come anywhere near… anybody at that hospital again… I swear to God… I am gonna do to you what I did to the entirety of Canterbury .”
Vincent gave him a surveying stare.
“You have five seconds, boy,” he growled. “To step aside… or you’re gonna get severely hurt or killed right now.”
Amory did not move, gripping the doctor viselike and grimacing heavily.
“Five,” Vincent said, raising his hand, the gunmen all taking aim again. “Four. Three.”
Amory took a step back, his breaths shaking, heart racing.
“Two,” Vincent said, slowly lowering his hand and extending it outward, aiming it directly at them. “ One .”
Amory took in a sharp breath and whipped around—snapping his eyes shut and clasping onto the doctor as he braced for the worst—
And suddenly—a blast of blue light illuminated the curbside—and the two of them were nowhere to be seen.
Vincent stared, eyeing the spot where Amory and Aravali were seconds ago, making a slight shake of the head and looking perplexed. Then, he turned, glancing down the road—just able to hear the faint, distant sounds of police sirens on the night air.
Sighing and rolling his eyes, Vincent wheeled around and marched back to his car, waving for his men to follow suit.
At the very edge of the gravel road that led through the woods towards Moonvale—Amory and Aravali suddenly found themselves staggering to catch their balance on the side of the road, just at the threshold of the mental hospital’s driveway.
The two of them had somehow transported there—and they froze in their stances, Amory still holding onto the doctor’s shoulders tightly, Aravali now panting, glimpsing around and feeling utterly shocked to his core.
“What j…” Aravali choked, blinking several times and looking to Amory in befuddlement. “What just happened…?!”
Amory straightened up and glanced from side to side, realizing where they were, and slowly understanding what he must have done.
“Oh… I’m sorry,” he breathed, flashing a smile at the doctor. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you… I didn’t even mean to do that…”
Aravali straightened out, staring down the dark back road, then down the path toward Moonvale, his mouth slightly agape, still vexed and disoriented, his head feeling incredibly light. Seconds later, his vision seemed to escape him, head going even lighter…
“Oh—hey, hey, stay with me,” Amory urged, grabbing him by the arms again, as he seemed to be swaying. “Are you okay?”
Aravali blinked twice more, releasing a long, shaking breath in the icy air, looking down, glaring at the ground, trying to focus only on his shoes and the pavement, clinging onto the solid reality of the road, the shoes, the place they stood…
“Gone into shock,” he uttered hoarsely, clearing his throat and trying very hard to maintain some composure.
Amory stared at him, frowning and sighing. He’d never really thought about it before—not since he was a kid—but he imagined it was quite terrifying for a person to witness the abilities of the Canterbury patients when they’d never seen or experienced such things before. Amory himself had gotten fairly used to it all many years ago—but he couldn’t expect that of anyone outside the lab, of course.
Still—he did know what it felt like to be rattled and frightened by something traumatizing, and the last time he truly felt such a thing was just before he was taken in by Canterbury. He remembered precisely what had eased his mind and given him peace back then, too.
Thoughts of Zyon flashed through his mind, and he began to feel it all again, the deep, unexplainable peace he felt in the angel’s presence, or in his dreamed embrace—and then, Amory thoughtlessly raised a hand, placing it on Aravali’s forehead as a gentle, shiny light began to swim though either of his eyes.
Aravali choked out a breath, but he didn’t fight or push him away. He stood still—and his eyes drifted shut, a strange, warming sensation spreading all throughout him from head to toe, suddenly feeling calmer and more peaceful than ever.
Moments later, Amory lowered his hand, raising his brows and watching him expectantly.
Aravali’s eyes eased back open, and he merely stared again, narrowing his eyes at Amory with a deep, thoughtful expression.
“He’s just like you,” the doctor breathed. “You and him both are just… impossible…”
Amory cracked a smile, folding his arms and releasing a faint little laugh. “My sister is, too. You know Raven Evervale, right? Heh… I think all your patients have some surprises for you.”
Aravali ogled him bizarrely.
“And would you believe that you’ve barely even seen anything yet…?” Amory asked, his childlike smile making a full return now. “I just found out I can time-travel, and I’m friends with an angel. Oh… speaking of time-travel… thank you for looking after everyone. I would’ve come back sooner, but I… I’m still pretty new to this. It’s only been one night for me. I don’t know how to explain it… oh, and, um… you shouldn’t try to use that closet in the back hall anymore. That door is kinda… something else now…”
“Okay… I am… really overwhelmed,” Aravali muttered, pressing his fingers to his temples. “ Please slow down with all this…”
“Sorry,” Amory snickered.
Aravali was silent for a second, then lowered his hands and met his eyes again.
“You’re Amory,” the doctor said. “Crowe mentioned you earlier…”
“Yeah?” Amory asked.
“Yes, he mentioned… something about you blowing up that laboratory,” Aravali replied. “And… judging by everything else I overheard, I suppose that’s true… but… they must be operating out of somewhere. I happened to take a drive past Maple Branch while we were out earlier today, but the entire road was sectioned off, and there were construction signs. If that’s where the lab was, then… I suppose they’re… rebuilding.”
Amory fell expressionless, suddenly remembering everything Zyon had said; according to the angel, Valek and his forces might be creating a new Canterbury, a place that made time-travel possible for them, similarly to how Amory himself had fashioned a doorway from 2025 to 1988.
“I could destroy it again,” Amory murmured down at his feet.
Aravali stared, crossing his arms and making a doubtful face. “Ah… I don’t think now is the time to go off trying something like that. Those people are clearly willing to execute anyone and everyone who’s in their way, indiscriminately. It’s too dangerous.”
“Well… I need to do some thing,” Amory sighed, swatting at the back road. “Although, I don’t… actually, I don’t think I remember how to get to Maple Branch from here…”
Aravali paused, his eyes traveling up and down Amory, from the flowy white sleeves to the sleek black bellbottoms.
“Exactly how long were you in Canterbury?” he thought to ask.
“Ahm… fifteen years,” Amory answered.
Aravali blinked and shot him a double-take. “Beg pardon…?”
“Yeah… we were in there since, um… 1973,” Amory told him. “Well, I was. Raven left to do some sight-seeing a few years back, and Crowe always broke out and came back whenever he wanted. I was the only one who… actually stayed in there…”
“And how old are you?”
“I’m twenty-eight.”
“Y…” Aravali paused again, staring at him incredulously. “You’ve been inside that lab since you were thirteen years old …?”
“Yeah,” Amory replied with an odd nonchalance. “Why…?”
Aravali fell momentarily speechless, simply unable to believe the things he was seeing and hearing. “You do know that was highly illegal , don’t you?”
“What… them taking us to the lab when we were kids?” Amory muttered. “They said they’d contact our parents and arrange everything so we could live at the lab.”
“No… no, that’s still illegal,” Aravali stated. “Canterbury isn’t a foster care system, and it has nothing to do with state’s custody. It’s officially a medical trials facility, and it’s not legal for a parent to sign custody of their own child away to live in a medical trials facility. Especially not for fifteen years, and well into their adulthood.”
Amory stared for a second, then glanced away. “Oh…”
“It sounds a lot more like kidnap,” Aravali said grimly. “You might try speaking to your parents now, and asking them if any attempt at contacting them ever actually happened. I mean… have you had any contact with them at all since you were taken into the lab? Or… have you just… not seen them or heard from them since you were thirteen?”
Amory was quiet, gazing down at the ground, only just realizing that seeing his parents was even an option. It certainly wasn’t something he ever considered before, and—ever since his visit to 2025, wherein he learned of the precise times of their deaths—he felt a deep, core detachment from the idea, as if seeing his parents again was never going to happen, even if he did want to.
But—here he stood, back in 1988, where his parents were still alive and well, and he was no longer trapped in the confines of Canterbury.
Yes, the option was most assuredly there now.
“No,” Amory mumbled, shaking his head at the ground. “No, I haven’t seen them since I went to the lab… and I don’t… want to.”
Aravali made a slow, thoughtful nod, giving him another look of intrigue.
“Most people would be frightened… or furious… if they’d been snatched up and taken from their home in that way,” he determined. “But you act as if that was… not even a big deal.”
Amory remained silent, the doctor reading him intently.
“Did you… choose to go with them?” Aravali tried to guess.
Amory nodded at the ground.
Aravali sighed, stopping and simply surveying him, many things occurring to him at once. He hadn’t heard many details about Crowe’s past, but he knew that Crowe once had an unhappy home life before he’d landed in Canterbury. He’d heard even less details from Raven—but now, as he stared into Amory’s distant expression, he knew for certain that the Evervales must have come from a rather broken home as well, especially if the two of them had willingly chosen to go into illegal government captivity rather than being at home.
A slow, gentle sprinkle of rainfall began, and Aravali let out another chilly breath, glancing around and placing a hand on Amory’s arm.
“Come on… we need to get inside,” the doctor said, starting down the driveway and guiding him along. “We’re liable to catch something if we stay in the freezing rain…”
“I… uhm,” Amory mumbled, stopping and stepping back from him. “I don’t think I really need to go in there right now.”
Aravali turned back and squinted at him. “Why do you say that?”
Amory opened his mouth to reply, hesitating, glancing down the driveway past him and releasing a stressed cloud of breath. He wasn’t sure how to explain it, but he felt strangely unwelcome around Raven, Crowe, and the other ex-Canterbury patients.
“Well… I just… I should probably go and see what’s going on with the lab, at least take a look,” Amory said. “And they don’t really need me around, anyway…”
Aravali shot him a look, turning fully and stepping toward him, giving him a very intense stare.
“Now… I really hope you’re not taking the word of that textbook example of a controlling narcissist seriously,” he said firmly. “I’m sure your sister and your friend have missed you a lot, and they’d be very happy to see you, especially after the day they’ve both just had.”
Amory stared at him, not entirely convinced. The memory of seeing Crowe, Raven, and the doctor all laughing and enjoying themselves in the club invaded his mind, and he looked down and shifted in his stance.
“I don’t think they need me when they’ve got you,” Amory admitted. “I’m not really doing anything useful for anyone, honestly…”
Aravali perked his brow, choking out an astonished little noise. “Ahm, excuse me…? Despite the initial heart attack and shellshock it gave me, I’m fairly certain you just saved my life.”
Amory breathed out a laugh.
“Why are you so down on yourself?” Aravali asked him.
“I’m not, really,” Amory murmured.
“Oh… yes you are, far more than you should be,” Aravali figured. “Let me ask… do you actually have somewhere to stay tonight? Or at all?”
Amory hesitated again, sighing and thinking of the manor in the 21st century, but he didn’t want to try to explain that now, and besides, it wasn’t as if the manor was in great shape for habitation. There was no food, no power, and likely no running water in that place, as it hadn’t been used in at least a year—and Amory certainly didn’t have anywhere to go here in 1988. Now that he thought about it, he really didn’t have many options right now.
“Well, I… I don’t, um… I don’t have anywhere here, no,” Amory conceded. “I won’t have an awesome Halloween mansion until like… thirty-seven years from now…”
Aravali stared, then flashed a welcoming sort of smile, patted him on the back, and guided him down the driveway yet again. “Well… then I see no reason at all why you can’t simply be admitted to Moonvale Mental Hospital.”
Amory smiled gratefully, sighing and simply following along with him. “You… what was your name, again…?”
“Aravali Chavan,” Aravali replied, sliding his hands into his pockets and shivering. “Whew. Damn, it’s getting cold…”
“Arival… Araval… ahh, man, I’m gonna butcher your name,” Amory laughed, shaking his head as they walked. “I’m so sorry…”
“You can just call me Ari,” Aravali chuckled. “That seems to have caught on.”
The two of them marched down the gravel path, both silently thankful that the sprinkle of rainfall hadn’t yet evolved into a downpour in this cold winter weather.
“Now… you do know that being properly admitted to Moonvale means undergoing the weekly sessions, right?” Aravali asked.
Amory glanced over at him. “That… that’s not like code for a weird procedure, is it?”
“What? No… therapy sessions,” Aravali laughed. “Good Lord.”
“Oh.” Amory nodded and looked forward. “Yeah, I guess I can do that…”
“They can be weekly or twice a week, depending on your preferences and needs,” Aravali informed. “Since you’ll be a self-admitted patient, you can decide a bit more for yourself.”
“Well, that’s new…” Amory muttered.
Both of them stopped, seeing a pair of headlights appearing in front of them. They stepped aside, allowing the approaching car to pass by—and the convertible cruised past them and rolled down the driveway, reaching the back road and driving away.
“Who was that…?” Amory wondered, staring after the car.
“Those were the people I found to give Raven and Crowe a ride home,” Aravali replied, facing forward again and resuming his pace. “I suppose that means they just got here…”
They continued on, heading towards Moonvale.
Crowe and Raven had both just reached the front double-doors, Crowe still wearing the full Smooth Criminal outfit from the club. Both of them marched up the stairs, stopping and exchanging grave looks before they moved to knock.
But before they could, the doors suddenly flew open—and an angry, pensive Elaine stood there, her eyes slightly bloodshot, her expression severe, and her mouth pursed, looking unmistakably furious at both of them.
Crowe and Raven hung their heads.
“Sorry,” Crowe murmured. “We came and got Raven, and I wanted to take Ari out of his house for the night… just to have a night off…”
Elaine’s eyes flickered past them, seeing that her car was missing from its usual spot, and the doctor was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is he?” Elaine hissed.
Crowe gulped, he and Raven exchanging grim looks again.
Elaine stepped fully out of the building, eyeing both of them sharply.
Raven took a deep breath and decided to tell the story for Crowe. She informed Elaine about everything that had transpired tonight—and the orderly’s face became more intense by the second. When the tale was over, she took in a deep sigh, pinching her temples and huffing out an irritated breath.
“So you left him there…?” Elaine snarled, lowering her hands and glaring at Crowe with apprehension. “Crowe, what is the matter with you?!”
“I didn’t want to—I tried not to—but he wasn’t having it,” Crowe argued. “He jus—he wasn’t—he wasn’t in his right mind, entirely.”
A tense silence fell, and Elaine’s eyes narrowed intently at him.
“What does that mean?” she growled.
“Well… he got… kind of drunk,” Crowe murmured at his feet.
Elaine glared at him skeptically. “He wouldn’t have done that.”
“No…” Crowe shrugged weakly. “Not… not knowingly , no…”
Elaine’s mouth flattened—and she reached out and popped him on the side of the head.
“Christ!” Crowe griped, stumbling back and clasping his head. “Why’s everyone hitting me?!”
“I cannot believe you would be that irresponsible right now,” Elaine glowered. “He is the only doctor that’s stuck by all of you through the worst of all this garbage—and you’ve just offered him up to the wolves!”
“No—I just killed a couple of the bloody wolves,” Crowe said darkly, raising his head and meeting her eyes.
The two shared another tense stare.
Then, Elaine let out another sigh. “Where is he now?”
“We came out on the road behind the King’s Place,” Crowe said.
“That’s Claxton Avenue,” Elaine mumbled, looking down and nodding. “Okay—Raven, get inside and go to bed. Crowe—get inside and keep an eye on everything until I get back.”
She move to march outside—then stopped, spotting something in the small gravel parking lot.
In the center of the gravel patch, just in front of the stoop—Aravali stood there, looking much more tired and disheveled than usual, and he had a long-haired stranger right beside him. It looked like the two of them had just appeared from the edge of the long driveway on foot.
Elaine stared, slowly stepping out of the hospital with Crowe and Raven close behind, her eyes trained on Aravali, and her expression now both thoughtful and concerned.
Amory offered the woman a smile and a wave, and Aravali did the same.
Elaine moved down the stairs of the stoop and approached them—and Crowe and Raven leaned out of the front doors, watching with rapt attentiveness.
“God blind me,” Crowe breathed.
“Is that…?” Raven gasped.
Elaine stopped in front of them, pinching the shoulder of the sparkly black Billie Jean jacket Aravali wore, the one he’d accidentally stolen from the club. She made a caustic face and raised her eyebrows at him.
“Interesting fashion choice,” she remarked.
Aravali let out a laugh. “Oh, that was… that was all Crowe…”
“No kidding,” Elaine replied, sighing heavily and turning to Amory. “And you are?”
Amory’s mouth drifted open, wanting to answer, but his eyes wandered past her—gazing up the stoop, landing on the two people who were watching from the open front doors.
“His name is Amory,” Aravali answered for him. “And he’s going to be admitted here too, Elaine… alongside his friend, Crowe… and… his sister, Raven.”
Elaine blinked and gave him a look, then turned around—seeing that Amory was slowly approaching the stoop, staring up at the doorway.
Crowe and Raven were both returning his gaze, Crowe vexed and rather expressionless, and Raven was gnawing her lip, inhaling a trembling breath and looking as if she was losing an inner war with her every emotion.
Everything fell silent, no sound aside from the patter of the light rain.
Elaine and Aravali stood by and watched as Amory took another step toward the stoop, and Raven began to step down it, both of them easing closer to one another.
Amory couldn’t have known what to expect during this moment, but he was certainly unprepared for the tidal wave of emotions washing over him now. He hadn’t seen her in so long—and now, here she stood, hair slicked back, makeup as dark and fitting as Crowe’s, and face harboring a forming smile, the same soft and genuine one he remembered of her. Despite how she’d grown, and how much of an adult she now was—that smile hadn’t changed at all.
She came to the bottom of the stairs, stopping and facing him properly.
“H’oh my God… look at you,” Amory choked out, pressing a fist to his mouth and trying to force the feelings back inside.
Raven sputtered out a laugh, a tear rolling down her cheek, and she stepped forward—snapping her arms around him and resting her head on his collar, just like she always used to.
Amory released a sated cloud of breath, returning the hug and holding her close, his eyes shut, and his hand gingerly resting on her head, squeezing her so tight, he felt as if he never wanted to let her go.
“I’m sorry,” Raven murmured into his shirt. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was leaving… I was jus… I was scared you’d tell Vincent…”
“No, no… I understand, it’s okay,” Amory assured, stepping back and clasping her shoulders, meeting her eyes again and smiling brilliantly. “Zyon told me everything you were doing whenever he possibly could. It was like I was still watching over you the whole time. You finally got to see a beach, didn’t you…?”
“Yeah,” Raven grinned. “It was awesome… but it got crazy, too. That’s a long story…”
“Did you ever get to go hiking?”
“No… by the time I got back here to the Smoky Mountains, I ran out of money, and I really needed to take a break from stuff…”
“Oh… well, maybe we can do that later, then. I mean, unless you’d rather travel alone again…”
“No—we should all go,” Raven beamed, glancing up at Crowe, then back at her brother. “We should all go do something like that together! That’d be amazing!”
“Tch. Don’t get your fuckin’ hopes up,” Crowe barked from the top of the stairs, his hands in the pockets of his stolen white jacket, and his eyes locked onto Amory, glaring out from beneath the brim of the big white hat. “What the bloody hell does he need us for, Raven? He’s got Feathers to go and run to. That’s his little playmate.”
There was another long silence, this one deeper and tenser than before.
Amory and Raven both gazed up at him, their smiles fading, and Aravali and Elaine watched from nearby, saying nothing.
“Y’know… I had a dream about what you were gonna do that night, right before it happened,” Crowe said, stepping down the stairs and wagging a finger at Amory. “And d’you know what the weirdest part is? It happened… fucking… forever ago .”
Amory’s expression fell stony.
“All this time—no sign of you anywhere,” Crowe griped, steadily drawing near. “And we really could’ve used some damn help, especially since your little boyfriend chased us across every fucking corner of Mapleview today! D’you know why? Oh, because he wants to kill us! ”
He reached the bottom of the stairs—perfectly level with Amory and glaring heatedly into him.
“But no,” Crowe grumbled. “No—y’see, that’s not important enough, is it? Your little angel friend is important enough to stay in Canterbury for—and blow up Canterbury for—but us? Well, I guess the rest of us can all just piss off , right? You wouldn’t go after your sister—so I guess it makes sense that you wouldn’t go after any of us. Only your precious little Feathers .”
“He needed me,” Amory breathed.
“ We needed you!” Crowe yelled, spreading his arms open. “Why the hell is that dreamed-up freak so much more important to you?!”
“He’s not , he’s just—he just—you don’t understand,” Amory struggled. “You don’t know what they were doing to him in there—”
“Oh—yes I do, I saw it in my dream,” Crowe argued. “They had him sleeping in a pod. Ooo, poor thing, big bloody deal—”
“They had him in a coma , and they were poisoning him and sucking out all his energy like a vampire ,” Amory corrected, suddenly finding power in his voice. “Just because you saw flashes of it in one of your weirdo dreams doesn’t mean you know what hell was actually happening—”
“You didn’t know that either!” Crowe exclaimed. “You just found that out when you went down there, didn’t you?! But you still stayed! You still chose him over us! You stayed there for years, just because he told you to! And he never even told you why! ”
“He’s the only reason any of us are even okay right now,” Amory snapped. “Do you not know that?! Do you not know what would’ve happened to us if he wasn’t protecting us?!”
“Oh, Christ, gimme a break—where the hell have you been this whole time?!” Crowe demanded. “You ran straight down into their demon basement the second he told you to—but you left us high and dry for weeks! Why?!”
“ Because I went through fucking time, Crowe! ” Amory shouted, bashing a fist to his chest. “I didn’t mean to—I didn’t do it on purpose —and I tried to come right back here! I just got the time wrong! So freaking sue me—but I’ve never actually done this before! I don’t think anyone has! Sorry I didn’t get it perfect on the first damn try!”
“Yeah, no shit—I dreamed about that little doorway of yours, too,” Crowe uttered. “I suppose it finally made its way here, then?”
Amory scoffed, staring at him incredulously. “You are unbelievable.”
“ I am? ” Crowe snapped. “No, I’ll tell you what’s unbelievable—the fact that you would stop me from killing that fucking tool. If you would’ve just butted the hell out— then he wouldn’t be chasing us all over kingdom come right now! ”
“You know what? You just go ahead and throw a fit all you want,” Amory chided, nodding and tossing up his hands, just before backing away and preparing to leave. “I get it. Go ahead and blame me for everything! Fine! I guess I have to go take down Vincent before I’m good enough to come back around, right? I have to deal with that for you, huh?! All right! Fine! Seeya!”
He spun around and stormed down the driveway.
“Amory…!” Raven called out.
“Oh yeah—yeah, run away, big man!” Crowe hollered angrily after him. “You see that? You see what he does? That’s always been his damn problem—being a fucking coward! Shy away from saving your sister—shy away from helping your best friend—shy away from standing up to the fuckin’ kidnapper who wouldn’t let us leave —shy away from us talking right now —yeah, just shy away from everything! That’s your entire legacy, my friend! Just being spineless!”
He stomped down the driveway and screamed louder the farther Amory got.
“Stop—walking—away— from me! ” Crowe snarled—raising his hand and cocking it back.
Suddenly—Amory felt a hard tug on the back of his shirt—yanked to a standstill, as if an invisible hand had grabbed a hold of the back of his collar.
Amory grimaced—and he whipped around and smacked across the air—his eyes sparkling a brief blue as he shoved Crowe back with his mind.
Crowe lost his psychic grasp on him—staggering back and shooting a look of angry astonishment at him.
Amory then resumed his pace down the driveway, walking away from everyone.
Crowe glared after him, his teeth clenching, huffing several heated breaths as his anger hit its boiling point.
“WHY DO YOU KEEP LEAVING, YOU FUCKING COWARD?!” he bellowed furiously. “WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO SHY AWAY?! OH—FINE! GO ON THEN! GO BE SPINELESS AND JUST STAY THAT WAY FOREVER, YA’ FUCKIN’ FAIRY! ”
Amory stopped, his shoe skidding on gravel, and he stood eerily still in the cold, hairs slightly drooping down along either side of his face—feeling a familiar spark of anger ignite inside, one he was certain he hadn’t felt in a very long time, as if a hateful, indignant part of him had been sleeping just under his skin for the past fifteen years, having suddenly been jolted awake.
Instantly, he felt as if he might as well been back home again, trying to dodge or avoid Joseph Evervale, and being screamed at and berated as he tried to leave, called a faggot, called a queer, called a weakling, called everything in the world…
Aravali and Elaine watched uncomfortably from the side of the driveway, Raven frowning and clasping the front of her jacket as she observed from the bottom of the stoop—and Crowe was in the middle of the driveway, his chest rising and falling, every breath visible in the blistering air.
Amory rolled his neck, then made a slow, quiet turn, peering back at him with a deadpan visage.
“ What did you say to me…?” he hissed.
Crowe inhaled several more times, shaking his head once and looking as if he’d only just realized something.
“Oh—fuckin’ hell—I didn’t mean it like that ,” he griped, swatting the air. “But for fuck’s sake— you run away from everything! ”
Amory turned back around to face him fully, a strange, stoic energy having taken over his expression. He took a steady stride forward—directly toward Crowe—and he jutted his head upright—eyes flashing blue just when Crowe went flying—ripped off his feet and slammed back into one of Moonvale’s concrete pillars.
Raven screamed and covered her mouth as Crowe fell hard to the ground.
“Good Lord…!” Aravali gasped, he and Elaine trading alarmed looks.
“I’m not running now , am I?!” Amory snapped—his face scrunching up—eyes shining blue again just as he raised his arm.
Crowe gently lifted off the ground, hovering in sync with Amory’s movement.
Then—teeth gritted and face twisted in fury—Crowe thrusted both hands forward—and Amory was launched off the ground—soaring through the air and skidding far down the driveway, rolling across the rocks before he came to a stop.
Crowe landed with a hand planted on the ground, straightening up and striding toward Amory with a single crimson tear cascading down his face.
“STOP!” Raven wailed—sprinting out to them.
Amory reached his feet and wheeled around with a dark expression, eyes aglow with a rapid spiraling light.
Crowe thundered toward him—
“I—SAID—”
Raven slid across the gravel and came to a stop directly in between them, glancing at her friend, then her brother, then—
“STOP!”
She jutted both arms out in either direction—
Crowe shoved back—
Amory pushed away—
And both of them fell to the ground opposite one another.
Everything fell still; Aravali and Elaine ogled at her in absolute shock, Raven heaving several adrenalized breaths as she glanced between her two felled comrades, an angry tear rolling down her cheek.
Crowe lumbered back to his feet, wiping his face and still looking perturbed, but he made no move to advance this time, merely staring at her and sighing gravely.
Amory slowly stood upright, gazing down the driveway with a stoic, unfeeling stare, almost reminiscent of the face he wore the very last time he saw his mother. He simply looked on, expressionless, releasing a cloud of breath and truly giving up on the situation.
“I get it,” he croaked, throwing a hand up and nodding at Crowe. “I have to deal with him… I have to solve every problem that any of us ever have… I have to take the whole entire load on… and God forbid I ever have anything I care about outside of that. God forbid I ever care about anyone outside of us three… and God fucking forbid I ever make a damn mistake. No… I get it. I’m not allowed to make mistakes, and I’m not allowed to care about anything else. That’s fine. That’s just perfectly fine, Crowe.”
Amory waved loosely over at Aravali, then swatted at Moonvale.
“You have your new best friend—you have your new home—you have all my old friends, and my sister—you just take everything, and I’ll just get the hell out of your life, since I’m such a damn disappointment to you,” Amory growled hoarsely, forcing down tears and giving him an angry, wounded look. “I get it. I’m not good enough, and everyone else is. You all looked a lot happier before you ever saw me again. I’ll just let you get back to that.”
Crowe cocked his head, his jaw twitching.
Amory stared, inhaling and letting a tear fall.
“Bye,” he said, eyes spiraling brightly once again—and instantly, Amory vanished from the driveway in a second flat.
The longest silence of the evening came to be after his departure.
Raven choked out a sob, clasping her mouth and staring at the spot where her brother was moments ago. Crowe continued glaring at it, and Aravali and Elaine traded grave faces with one another, nobody speaking for nearly a full minute.
“Fuckin’ prat,” Crowe growled.
Raven whipped around—her eyes locking onto him with a predatory shine.
“What the hell did you pick a fight with him for?!” she shrieked, storming over to him and slapping him hard across the face. “You stupid asshole! He finally came back! He finally came back—and you just chased him right back out of our lives!”
“Oh— grow the hell up! ” Crowe snapped at her. “Did you ever think maybe he’s the problem? Did you ever think that maybe it shouldn’t be that easy to chase him outta our lives?! First sign of conflict, and what does he do? He runs away! Can’t even handle a tough conversation—”
“Do you know what a ‘tough conversation’ was like at our house?!” Raven screamed.
“Oh—cry me a river,” Crowe snarled. “Like my house was a fuckin’ picnic —”
“It’s not the same, you stupid fuck!”
“Oh, why? Because he’s a sensitive little teddy bear and I’m not? No shit, I’d worked that out ages ago.”
“You are such a fucking jackass! I can’t believe you just ran him off—”
“Oh—come off it—I didn’t run him off ,” Crowe stated. “I’m pretty sure I know where he went—he went to whatever that place is on the other side of his little magic doorway. He can either come back to us when he gets the hell over himself, or you can go chase him down and talk to him yourself if you really want to.”
“You’re the one who should chase him down! Go tell him you’re sorry!”
“Piss off.”
“ Hey ,” Aravali hollered, taking a brisk stride forward and glaring hotly at the two of them. “Now, that is really enough. No more fighting—no more shouting—and no more of whatever these Godforsaken ‘abilities’ are. Both of you—go inside—and go to bed.”
Crowe and Raven fell silent, merely glaring at him.
“Here—Elaine,” Aravali said, turning and tossing her keys to her. “Sorry, your car’s still in town. Left in a hurry. There was a bit of a shootout, if you hadn’t heard.”
“Oh, I heard,” Elaine sighed, pocketing her keys.
Then—Aravali spun on his heel and began marching down the driveway, not toward Moonvale, but the opposite direction.
“Araval…” Elaine nearly yelled, shaking her head once and clearing her throat. “Dr. Chavan… where are you going?”
Crowe and Raven—who’d just started marching back to the building—stopped and wheeled around at hearing this.
“Going home,” Aravali called back without stopping. “I live there, my car’s there, and I still haven’t gone through the newspapers like I wanted to. Goodnight.”
Elaine opened her mouth, wearing a conflicted expression. She turned around, meeting eyes with Crowe and giving him an intense look.
“Ah… oy, mate,” Crowe called out, striding across the driveway and yelling for the doctor. “Let us come with you.”
“Yeah!” Raven agreed, rushing to follow him.
Aravali slowed to a stop, pinching the bridge of his nose before turning around to face them.
“No offense, but I really don’t need the company right now,” the doctor said vacantly.
Crowe and Raven traded glanced, then gave the doctor a peculiar stare.
“What the hell d’you mean, you don’t need the company?!” Crowe griped. “There’re people after you right now—”
“Oh—you don’t have to tell me,” Aravali replied grimly. “If you were worried about me not believing you, then you can put those worries to rest now—but the person who very genuinely saved my life just got chased out of here for no good reason, and I am in no mood to talk about it. So—Crowe—stay here, look after everyone, and I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight.”
“What—are y— are you seriously cross with me over that? !” Crowe exclaimed, swatting loosely toward the spot where Amory last was. “Mate—that has nothing to do with you! There’s a lot of history there that you don’t know a damn thing about—”
“Well—then maybe you should tell me those things when I ask about them,” Aravali chided in response. “Instead of turning every session into a string of jokes and prophetic dreams. You working out your issues with me is meant to prevent these kinds of outbursts from happening .”
Crowe opened his mouth, then fell silent, sighing and glaring at the ground.
“It seems to me like all of you have long list of unresolved issues that need to be worked out—that deserve to be worked out—and that includes him ,” Aravali scolded. “I really don’t think your friend deserves to be treated that way, Crowe. Regardless of whatever issues you have—that was wildly uncalled for.”
“I’m just sick of him being a bloody doormat and running away from everything,” Crowe grumbled. “Why are we talking about this? You don’t even know the tip of the iceberg.”
“I know he showed up at the club looking for all of us—I assume because he found out our pursuers were going there to enact their little ambush,” Aravali ranted, his temper slowly getting the better of him. “In fact—when I went back to the parking lot—he was standing there, talking to them, and stalling them. He was the reason they didn’t chase us. He also stepped in front of me—someone who was a perfect stranger to him—to shield me from gunfire . Do you understand the kind of person you’re talking about, Crowe? Do you even know this best friend of yours? Because it seems to me that you don’t even care to.”
Crowe stared, grimacing and saying nothing.
Aravali returned his glare for a moment, then turned and resumed his pace down the driveway.
Raven glanced between them for a second before breaking into a stride after the doctor, hurrying to catch up to him.
Aravali sighed and looked over at her. “I really think you should stay here…”
“Mmm… okay… no,” Raven replied, marching past him and whirling around, walking backwards as she talked. “You can be my doctor, but I’m not gonna be your prisoner.”
She turned back around and sauntered away, Aravali sighing again and nodding sideways before accepting defeat and walking off with her.
Crowe glared after them both, huffing out a breath and cocking his head. “Nor me.”
He stormed off after them—and then, walking slightly distantly with one another, shivering in the December sprinkle of rainfall, and ignoring the cold of the night best they could—the three of them made a long, silent journey out to the back road and into the town, their usual banter absent, no hint of levity or delight in the air at all.
All three of them were exhausted, deeply ready for this long, terrible day to end, and they felt a touch of animosity towards one another that they hadn’t felt before. They marched on with stoic faces and no words, simply walking until they reached what they hoped was their final destination for the evening, the last place they’d have to go before they could finally rest.
When they found themselves approaching the apartment complex, Crowe finally quickened his pace, slowing to a stop beside Aravali.
“Oy… I don’t have to tell you the obvious, right?” he asked the doctor. “As in… you probably shouldn’t stay here tonight…?”
“Wasn’t planning on it… not with you two following me,” Aravali replied, still marching forward. “I’m gonna get my car and bring it around to the curb, and then I’m gonna carry the newspapers down here and load them in the back. I’ll just take them with me, and we’ll all head back to Moonvale.”
Crowe nodded quietly.
The two patients followed the doctor down the sidewalk and around the left corner, strolling across the parking lot towards the Oldsmobile Cutlass. Aravali unlocked it, and he climbed inside, Crowe sinking into the passenger seat and Raven crawling into the back. Aravali then started the engine, backed out of his spot, and cruised out of the parking lot, making a right turn by the building and slowing to a stop next to the sidewalk, just beside the metal stairway that led up to his apartment. He removed his house key from his key ring, then popped the door open.
“Just stay here. I’ll leave it running so it stays warm,” Aravali told them. “I’ll be right back.”
He left the car and swung the door shut, marching off toward the stairway. Crowe and Raven stared out the side windows, watching as he went up the stairs, the engine gently humming, the warm air breezing out of the vents, and the radio softly playing.
“Tch. ‘I’ll be right back,’ he says,” Crowe snarked, turning back towards Raven. “Doesn’t he watch horror movies? He oughta know better than to say something like that.”
Raven didn’t reply, barely sparing him a glance before facing the window again.
Crowe sighed. “Are you gonna stay mad at me forever…?”
Raven didn’t speak.
“Was I really that out of line?” Crowe asked honestly.
Raven bit her lip, turning and eyeing him again.
“You don’t understand,” she said softly.
Crowe shot her a look. “What don’t I understand?”
“It wasn’t just Dad drinking and hitting him every new and then,” Raven told him gravely. “He worked him to death… he always told him he was never doing good enough… he made him mow the lawn when his ankle was fractured… and they got in really bad fights, Crowe.”
Crowe stared at her vacantly.
“It was a lot worse than he ever told you,” Raven conceded, her eyes watering. “And he always got in the way… he always got in the way… so Dad would focus on him, and not me. And then, when we saw you… we always had to sneak you food when you ran away from home, or bring you water, or try to fix you whenever you hurt yourself, or whenever your mom hurt you… so, we just… never… told you everything. You had your own problems… but, you just…”
She sighed and scooted to the edge of her seat, giving him a downtrodden look.
“You have to try to look at it from his point of view,” Raven insisted. “He’s always had to protect me… and he was doing a lot to look after you, too. He feels like he always has to take the punches for everybody else so everyone around him doesn’t get hurt. He feels like that’s just his job in life… and you pretty much just told him he’s not doing that job good enough.”
Crowe didn’t speak for several seconds, allowing all of this to sink in.
“What all didn’t you tell me?” Crowe asked, his tone darkening. “Whaddid your father do?”
Raven shook her head and looked away, frowning deeply. “He choked him. He choked him out, and slammed him down, and threw him down the stairs. He did that more than once… and the day we left, Amory alm… Amory almost… shot him.”
Crowe’s brow hardened, narrowing his eyes at her quizzically. “ What …?”
“We didn’t just steal Dad’s gun,” Raven told him straightly. “We had it because Amory almost used it. He almost shot Dad right in the heart. He was like a single step away from doing that, right before he changed his mind… and that… that’s when… we left.”
Crowe took slightly back, feeling truly surprised to hear such a thing. He’d never heard the deeper details of the Evervale home—certainly not so explicitly and graphically—and he had no idea that Amory had nearly shot his own father the day they’d gone to Canterbury.
“Dad hurt both of us that time… and Amory’s first instinct wasn’t to run away,” Raven told him severely. “It was to go straight for Dad’s gun drawer. He doesn’t just ‘run away’ from everything, Crowe… he just doesn’t like people getting hurt. And there’s a reason .”
Crowe stared fixedly at her for a moment longer, his expression stony and disturbed, and painted conflict. Then, he let out a breath and faced forward in the passenger seat, closing his eyes and pressing his fist to his forehead, feeling a sick, regretful knot forming in the pit of his stomach, no sound stirring aside from Ozzy Osbourne’s Shot in the Dark beginning to play on the radio.
He stewed in frustrated silence for what felt like an eternity, keeping his eyes shut and suddenly kicking himself for being such a bad friend…
Sighing again, he reached over and turned the radio volume up, hoping one of his favorite musicians would ease his mind.
“Out on the streets, I’m stalking the night… I can hear, my heavy breath-ing. Paid for the kill, but it doesn’t seem right… something there, I can bel-ieve in. Voices are calling, from inside my head… I can hear them, I can hear them. Vanishing memories, of things that were said… they can’t try to hurt me, no-ow! Shot in the da-a-a-ark… one, step, away from you! Shot in the da-a-a-ark… no-thing-that you can do…!”
Aravali emerged from his apartment with a large stack of old newspapers and magazines in his arms, thumping down the metal stairs and carrying them over to the car. He opened the rear side door, placed the stack in the back seat beside Raven, and shut the door again, venturing back up the stairs for more.
Crowe was leaned back in the seat with a knee perched up against the glove box, still holding his knuckles to his forehead, his head slightly turned now, eyes thoughtlessly following Aravali as he trekked back up the metal stairway outside.
“I’m just a rubbish friend to everyone,” he mumbled softly. “Honestly… I don’t like that I let Ari talk me into leaving him behind tonight. I don’t like that Amory wouldn’t just come with me whenever I’d leave the lab. I don’t like how either one of them put me in those positions… but I really don’t like how I handled them… and I know they only did any of that because of their fuckin’ Bleeding Heart Syndrome. I dunno, I guess I jus… I just hate that they care so much. People who care that damn much always set themselves up for some hurt that they don’t deserve… and I wish they’d just fuckin’ stop it already…”
“You don’t hate that they care. You hate that them caring is gonna hurt them,” Raven corrected.
“Well, yeah, is that not what I just said?” Crowe quipped in response.
Raven choked out a laugh.
“Caring is a scary game, man,” Crowe sighed. “If you care about someone a lot, then… it’s just gonna hurt like hell the moment they betray you… or the moment they abandon you… or the moment… God forbid… something bad happens to ‘em…”
Raven fell silent, her smile fading.
“But just like the wounded, and when it's too late… they'll remember, they'll surrender. Never a care, for the people who hate—under—es—ti—mate—me no-ow! Shot in the da-a-a-ark… one, step, away from you! Shot in the da-a-a-ark… no-thing-that you can do…!”
Aravali stepped out of his apartment a second time, carrying another load of newspapers. He headed for the top of the stairs, preparing to step down—then he paused, something strange catching his eye, two dark figures, marching briskly down the sidewalk towards him.
“I dunno,” Crowe mumbled, mostly to himself, staring down in thought. “I’m too afraid to care about people as much as they do. Maybe I’m the coward…”
“Crowe,” Raven uttered nervously, now turned around and gazing out the back windshield. “Who the hell is that…?”
Crowe raised his head and twisted around, following her trail of vision outside—seeing two men in black suits and hats walking down the sidewalk behind the car, marching with a steadfast pace and heading directly toward the metal stairway.
His heart jolting—Crowe whipped around and peered out his passenger window, seeing a dark black car sitting on the edge of the church parking lot.
“Oh Christ,” he gasped, reaching for the door handle—
The two men reached the stairway—pulling out their handguns and taking aim—
BANG—BANG BANG BANG BANG.
Deafening shots rang throughout the night—and Aravali’s breath cut thin, feeling several things all at once, piercing pain in his chest and abdomen, violent stabbing sensations inside, and a sudden, rapid drain of energy, like every ounce of life was flooding out of him all at once.
He stared down at the two gunmen… vision blurring… everything going black…
Newspapers slipping from his grasp… hitting the stairs and scattering across the scene…
And he collapsed over the stairway… everything going… unable to see Crowe or Raven springing out of the car, unable to hear their shouts of terror… the final sound on his mind a distant echo of the shots in the dark, just before the world faded entirely away from him…