Putz12 Plus One

FIFTEEN | HAIR

A four-mile ride didn't take that long, but Felix's stopping and bumping every few seconds set Iza's inner alarm at an all-time high. It was all too surreal to her, she started doubting if it had all been an elaborate dream or not. But what happened during the ride confirmed her intuition that this was very much a living nightmare.

"Felix, would you stop?!"

"I did stop, two seconds ago!" He replied to Derek, who was hissing at the back and rubbing his cheek.

"This is gonna take twice as long, I knew we should've learned to maneuver the thing when we had the chance!"

"You squidiots!" Putz was sinking his nails into the leather seats, shredding them to bits. "Who the fuck doesn't know how to drive squid shift?!"

"To be fair," Sera gulped down a sparkling water and set it aside. "There are lots of hills and vegetation."

"Where are we headed, anyway?" Felix asked.

"There's a church-lookin' thing. It's over there. Iza knows, tell them, Iza."

It felt like more of a command. She'd just stared out the window pretending to be anywhere but there, her boots leaned up against the wall. "I don't remember much." The previous nature of her voice dissipated. What was once vibrant was now cold, dismissive, raspy and quiet.

"What the shell do you mean you don't remember much?! You were with me, this was literally less than a week ago!"

"It's not like we have any way of measuring time accurately." Derek added. He glanced at Iza. Even from behind he found her beautiful, with her eyes reflecting in the window. "Besides, she's got a lot on her plate I'm sure. She probably misses home."

"Isn't that right?" Sera spoke, and Iza turned to face her, then smiled. There was a flicker of helplessness in her face, but it was so quick he wasn't sure if his mind was just showing him what he wanted to see. An explanation. The thing, whatever it was that she wouldn't tell him. "You miss home, oh Iza..."

"I do, but, sometimes I think about the friends I made along the way, and I don't really miss it anymore." The ardor in her face almost convinced Seraphyne she wasn't faking it. That the sheen in her eyes meant something. And then she turned back.

"Aw, there's that cute smile, Sharpy!" Derek teased, lifting himself up to plop right next to her.

Squit, she thought. Should've just stayed put.

"Please, just go away." She whispered. Yet inside a glimmer of hope untangled that he was blocking the demon's stare.

"Why are you like that?" He asked. "Aren't you happy? Or nerves, maybe we should stop for the night."

"No! No fucking stopping! We need to stay relevant!" 

And with that he regretted saying anything, leaning back into the seat giving Iza some space.

"If we stop, if we shark, if we camp, it's fucking USELESS!"

"Hey, camping doesn't sound too bad!" Felix suggested, like a dad driving with all of his bratty little kids.

"Shut the fuck up squithead, wasn't talking to you!" He yelled. "We don't camp, we go find whatever they're hiding in the building, we go to the city, we kill the fuck out of these fucks and take back what's ours!!" He was disappointed when nobody cheered him on.

"Makes sense." Derek smirked and crossed his arms. Iza couldn't help but look to admire that closed-eye charm he gave. "'Til you realize we need sleep, or we won't be apt to defeat them."

"I'm not fucking camping!! It's bad in rainmaker and it's bad here!"

"Rainmaker?" Asked Felix.