The Lost

12- The City

Lucius

I lost my bearings in under five minutes. Maybe even faster than that, I wasn't focused on keeping track of the time.

The boundaries of the school grounds were marked by one long hedge that swept around the outskirts of the building and the small field beside it. The green plant had long since become more of a grizzled, acidic-looking shade from the relentless smog of the nearby road. I hurried away from the dying bush after the exchange with Avery and didn't look back until I had crossed the road. One of the passing car rightfully blared the horn at me as I almost ran straight into the traffic. Calm down, I repeated it to myself a few times as I stumbled away from the angry-sounding vehicle. What use was I to Lyn if I got myself bowled over by a car?
Once on the other side of the road, I took a left, then a right, then another right. Or maybe it was the other way around? I was too panicked to care, too afraid of pursuers, silently scared of this enormous city I was throwing myself into, without a plan or place to run to. By the time I worked up the courage to glance over my shoulder, still expecting to see Edward or the Lady chasing me, the hedge was gone. So was Avery.

Something inside of me twanged when I realised that he was out of sight. When would I next see the boy again? Could I see him again? Going back to the school was a terrible idea bound to get both me and him in serious trouble... though I wasn't sure that I knew how to retrace my steps anyway now. Nothing seemed familiar. But maybe I really would have tried to go back in spite of the stupidity if I had known the way. My heart still thrummed with the excitement of what I had just done... like a circuit shorting out in my chest... and I wasn't sure if I could force myself to forget his voice, his kindness, how much he irritated me... thinking about leaving him with that lot of savages made me cringe.
Yeah, I probably would have gone back for Avery right then had Lyn not shifted around in my hands and reminded me of what we were doing.

Avery would take care of himself. And I'd see him again, one day. Before then, I needed to look after the girl in my hands. Unlike us, Lyn couldn't protect herself. I turned, picked up the pace, and didn't stop again.

———

The air began to feel humid; maybe a storm was rumbling in, or maybe the cluster of towering buildings was finally making me dizzy. The roads were roaring and the streets bustled in response, every crossing heaving with people impatient to travel across the road. If the school had housed a hundred, a thousand more people, it wouldn't have been a fraction of this. The city was becoming louder too. Like the insufferable ruckus was in the very air I breathed. Like a wasp buzzing around within my head. There were no houses here- people didn't live here, it was probably a working area. Then again, there was no telling what was up at the top of those sky-touching towers. I ogled at everything and everyone with wonder. I had absolutely zero clue of where I had led us, but judging by the increasing number of people and the growing size of the buildings, we were headings deeper into the city. The opposite of where I had hoped to go.

The pavement clunked under my feet with every step. Even though the sound of my walking wasn't audible, I was aware of every noise, movement and disturbance I emitted. The last thing I wanted was to draw the attention of one of these people. These intimidating people marching around in dark suits and loud shoes, all of them taller than me, all with eyes that seemed to stare right through me. How weird must I have looked in my muddy trainers, my backpack and my one hand held against my chest. For that reason, I had stopped only once in the last thirty or so minutes. Even then it had been impossible to find somewhere quiet enough to open my hands. There was no scenario in which I risked Lyn being seen by anyone, especially not these adults. They all reminded me of the Lady.