A flash of that alleyway came to mind. The crimson liquid pooling around me as I clutched that frozen lifeless hand.
At some point, the sobs slowed, then stopped. With no more water left in my body to leak out, all that was left was the hollow, empty feeling.
I dragged in one breath, then another, staring at nothing as the weight settled deep in my chest.
Blaming myself didn’t change anything. Didn’t fix him.
Alto’s proud smile when I finished my first car. Tara’s face with its soft, warm smile when she stepped into the shop with something sweet in her hands for me. Then Lark, loud and bright, dragging me into things I didn’t want but somehow always made me feel needed. Wanted.
It was a small circle. So small that it was easy to pull out the common denominator. The one who didn't belong with the others.
My fingers curled against the floor as I pushed myself up, arms trembling under my weight. The edge of the desk dug into my palm as I used it to steady myself, but my breath was uneven, my vision still swimming. For a second, I just stood there, swaying, then I forced my legs to move.
The garage stretched out in front of me, familiar and suddenly… not.
I made it to my cot and dropped onto it hard, the thin mattress creaking under me. My hands hovered for half a second, voicing that small sliver of doubt before my reality crashed into me and I began to move.
The backpack came first.
I yanked it open and started shoving things inside. Shirts, jeans, whatever I could grab without thinking too hard. Shoes thumped in next, followed by the small tin of healing balm Alto kept stocked for me. A couple of snacks from the nearby crate. Cash from the stash I’d tucked away over the years.
The bag filled faster than I expected, and I paused, staring at what I’d already packed and what couldn't fit.
There was more, way more, but I couldn't take it all with me.
My throat tightened as I reached for a trash bag instead, dragging it open with a rough pull and sweeping the rest in. Papers, books, scraps, anything that felt too much like me. Too much like something that would sit here and remind him of the human he now regretted taking in.
Once it was all bagged up, I checked my phone.
Midnight.
The numbers glared up at me like I’d lost more time than I realized, and I swallowed hard, telling myself to keep moving.
I didn’t know where I was going, but it didn’t matter. It could be anywhere. Anywhere but here.
A human farm, maybe? Somewhere out in the middle of nowhere where no one cared who you were as long as you worked. Something simple. Secluded. Safe.
When the bag was finally full, I slung the backpack over my shoulders. The weight settled heavily against my back as I grabbed the trash bag in one hand.
I stopped and looked around. The garage stretched out in front of me, dim and still, and the memories hit me all at once.
The first car I fixed on my own. The way Alto had hovered just close enough to catch me if I messed up. The long days trailing behind him, grabbing tools before he asked, learning the rhythm of his craft until it felt like breathing. Tara’s laugh echoingthrough the space, the way she’d press snacks into my hands, telling me I was too thin for such a pretty girl.
Nine years. My chest tightened, and a tear slipped free before I could stop it.
“I’ll miss you,” I whispered, my voice cracking in the empty space. “Thank you, and… I’m sorry.”
The words sank into the walls and disappeared.
I scrubbed at my face with my sleeve, turned before I could second-guess it, and headed for the back door.
The alley swallowed me in darkness. Cold air wrapped around my skin, raising goosebumps along my arms as I stepped out. I paused just outside, my eyes scanning the shadows automatically, every instinct prickling awake.
I shifted the bag in my grip and made my way toward the dumpster in the corner, boots crunching lightly against gravel.
The lid creaked as I lifted it, and light flared across the brick wall beside me. Headlights.
I dropped instantly, ducking behind the dumpster, pressing myself into the shadow. An engine roared loud enough to rattle the alley as a vehicle came barreling through.
