Absent, was the detective… Was it Maine? Possibly? While Preston rarely bothered learning the names of people he found insignificant…he did on occasion. But when it came to human names…why bother? Most died quickly anyway.
Name aside, the man wasn’t there. Honestly, the fact that he wasn’t truly showed how lenient Preston was. He never asked for much. Competency wasn’t asking for much, in his opinion. And as this hadn’t been the man’s idea…he’d decided to let him off with a broken hand as a warning.
These five though… A smile slipped back onto his face as he increased the pressure on their necks. Chuckling as one man’s eyes widened, tears formed in them right before Preston twisted. His smile grew at the sound of snapping bone. All five dead now, he relaxed back and disconnected his tendrils from their shadows. Waving his hand lazily, Preston ordered, “Clean them up.”
The guards moved at once, each grabbing hold of a body and dragging them away. He followed the body of the Sheriff, the man's green eyes staring lifelessly out. Preston grimaced, eyeing the lines the bodies had left behind on the plush carpet.
New guards entered after the five left. He stared at them with disinterest. “Ask a maid to vacuum in here when I leave,” he drawled, before adding, “Oh, and one of you go and tell Don that I want to see him immediately. You can let him know when you do, that he’s been promoted to the Head of my Acquisitions sector.”
It took almost two hours,but they eventually made it to town. Walking into the town limits, Severo led the way as Seri pushed Skya in her baby seat, which the Nymph finally admitted could turn into a stroller. Seri was limping a little, no doubt from him landing hard on the pavement before the crash. Severo was feeling a few bruises himself.
His gaze flicked to the Draye floating nearby. The bright sunshine yellow creature was only about a foot tall, with fiery mane like hair, a small oval face, and big, perfectly solid indigo eyes. Its body was small and thin compared to its large head. It twisted and twirled in the air, smiling down at Skya as she reached out trying to touch it.. The action caused Seri to frown, him not seeing what he and the little girl were. But then…only Dwellers could see the creatures living in the Shadow Realms… Severo hadn’t been sure before, but he was now… Skya must be Preston’s.
Looking away from the Draye and Skya, he eyed the town. He had to say, he was happy that they hadn’t been more than five miles away.
Portsville was a mix of old-fashion housing and new. The business buildings they passed looked boxy and old, yet on floating foundations, while the houses were sharp geometric shapes combined with circular ones.
Part of him wanted to celebrate reaching civilization, but he knew it was too soon to relax… The hard part hadn’t even begun yet. And they were way too close to where they had crashed for him to think it was safe.
Which was why Severo wasn’t surprised when Seri let out a gasp and stopped walking, motioning towards a shadowy figure to their left. “That… I think… I think I know him. I think I’ve seen him with Preston before.”
He eyed the guy sitting on a bench near the bus stop, who looked to be reading a tablet. “I figured they’d make it here before us.”
“What are we going to do now?” Seri asked, his voice cracking.
Severo glanced around until the sign of the bus stop caught his attention. It readPick up for the Public Statewide Transit Bus of Kansas.
“We are in the perfect spot, it seems. The bus goes all over the state. So, we’ll wait right next to that ass—” Seri let out an angry hiss that had him cutting off the word. He squeaked, “Butthole,” instead.
He met the Nymph’s hard glare with a hesitant smile, before continuing. “And when the bus comes, we will walk right on, and go as far as we can.”
Ahh, why did a single angry look from Seri make his heart race?! Oh, this definitely had to be a new kink or something. Hell of an inappropriate time for it to develop…
“In the Shadow Realm? Can we do that? Didn’t the shadow of the SUV go right through us? Not to mention, as did our own car. Though I suppose we went through it…maybe…” Seri frowned.
“It’s complicated. Moving things and objects will and can go through us without any effort on our part. Simply because, we are physically here, and they are on the other side. While Shadow Realms are connected to the real world, everything here is, well…a shadow. Just a mirror of what is over there.
“I won’t say you can’t be hurt by a shadow, as…I know you know that isn’t true. But an uncontrolled shadow can’t hurt us. We slipped through the car because I wanted us to. It took our shadows with it, but not us.
“As for how we can use the bus. It’s about intent. We want to board it, so when it comes time to step on, we will be able to. Now you can't board the bus if it's moving and going through you, no matter what you are thinking, or your intent is. But if you interact with objects as you would in the real world, they will work as they should.”
As Seri’s brow became increasingly more pinched, Severo chuckled and added, “Things will still work even if you overthink it, which I can see you are already doing.”
The Nymph huffed, his expression slowly smoothing out. “There isn’t any risk of us…falling through?”
Severo shook his head. “No. As long as the shadow remains connected to the real-world object, it’s perfectly stable.”
Seri took in a breath through his mouth, gills fluttering slightly, before he said, “Okay, but what do we do after that?”
“We will buy a used car wherever we end up, and then head to a buddy of mine before attempting to leave the country and/or planet.”
Seri crossed his arms. “That is all good and well, Severo. But we are going to need supplies. I can go without eating, but Skya can’t, and she shouldn’t have to. Not to mention the various other things she needs, you know…like diapers!”
He glanced down at Skya, who was still playing with the Draye. Ahh, she was adorable. Look at her little button nose, pink lips, large golden eyes. No, she definitely couldn’t go without food and that other stuff for sure.
But how to get it all… Well…there were really only two safe options, in his opinion. One would be tiring and a pain in the ass, while the other one was easy, but…very illegal. Since they were already headed down an illegal path with the whole bus thing, what was one more questionable deed?
“I guess we better shop before getting on the bus,” he hummed.
