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Each step echoes with the weight of old memories. The flickering streetlights cast shadows and Dr. Thornton rises in my mind. I clench my fists. Deep wounds lay beneath the surface, wounds I thought I fixed but this outsider’s arrival had ripped the bandage off.
The rhythm of my feet against the cracked pavement is melodic as I pass rusty old cars, boarded-up shops, and an overflowing scrapyard. This place isn’t what it once was. It was never a suburban paradise but once upon a time, it was a much better place to grow up.
But that changed after the center closed. I close my eyes briefly, remembering the days the three of us spent at the Haven Center, running around on the playground out back, going on field trips to fun and interesting places like museums and water parks, and learning from some of the most amazing teachers and staff.
Why can’t we go back to those times? I wish we could turn back the clock to when the three of us were kids and we didn’t have to worry about things like neighborhood gang brawls, keeping up with bills, running businesses, or watching old dreams get further and further from sight.
My run takes me down a dark alley and I stop by a dumpster to catch my breath, leaning against the brick wall for support. A light suddenly spills out from a nearby building and I look up to see the silhouette of two figures facing each other in the dark.
“Yeah, I heard from the Syndicate,” one says to the other. “I mean, they made some good arguments.”
I duck behind the dumpster, trying to stay out of sight at the mention of the Serpents.
“Did they offer you money?” the other voice asks.
“Yeah, they promised good money if I joined up. But I’m more afraid of the Ravenwood brothers than I am of the Serpents. They went so wild after that girl died.”
“Yeah. I heard she was …”
Not wanting to hear anymore, I take off running again, in the opposite direction.
Once I return home, I collapse on my bed just as Dominic and Caleb get back.
“We’re home!” Dom calls up the steps.
I sit up and poke my head through my door. “Is it done?”
“The little princess won’t have anyone to talk to tomorrow,” Dominic promises. Caleb nods, a grin on his face.
“She won’t be a problem anymore.”
I head down and the three of us grab beers, toasting to running her out of the community. Little does she know that this is simply the calm before the storm for her.
4
SIENNA
“Can I just take my order to go?” I ask the waitress when the boys leave. I’m a little shaken up about going toe-to-toe with a local gang, so I just want to go back to my motel room and eat in peace.
As soon as it’s all boxed up, I take my stuff to the register and pay before walking briskly through the dark parking lot to my car.
My heart is still racing after my confrontation with the Ravenwood brothers. Did I do the right thing by confronting them or am I just making things more complicated for myself?
Maybe I should have figured out a less confrontational approach to the situation. I can’t shake the feeling that I had crossed a line.
I hesitate, hand on my car door as my mind wrestles with what I’ve done. I can’t change it now though, I can only move forward.
Back at the motel, I eat quickly and once I’m done eating, I strip down and take a shower in the water-stained tub before climbing into bed.
The motel room is enveloped in silence, broken only by the hum of distant traffic. I lie under scratchy covers, staring up at the ceiling. Despite how tiring the day was, sleep seems to be eluding me. I try to shake off the unease, reminding myself that this place is a small town like any other, but the weight of uncertainty still claws at me.
My supervisor—a grad student named Owen Hardy—is supposed to go with me on these community visits but he texted this morning that he was sick, and to go on without him.
Maybe I should have waited for Owen to be over his cold before starting the interviews again.
I’d considered canceling earlier before I realized that this was my chance to impress Dr. Thornton. If I could get the interviews without my supervisor, Dr. Thornton might be impressed, giving me an “in” for a meeting with him, and possibly securing a TA position.
But for now, I need to get some sleep so I can get up and do more interviews tomorrow. Deciding to try again, I shut my laptop and slid under the covers once more.
