This Was A Bad Idea

Chapter 16 - Xen

I'm jolted from the haze of sleep.

My eyes loom around the empty shadows of my room, tracing the slivers of darkness imprinted against the gray walls.

There's a low ringing noise emanating from the edge of my dresser. My phone, vibrating dimly against the wood.

It's Xen, trying to call me.
I press accept with unsteady hands.

"Xen?" I murmur, trying to keep my voice quiet

"Orion- okay this is really weird but I have to show you something."

I check the time. it's just after 5am.

"Does it have to be this early?" I groan

"Do you trust me?"

"What?" The question catches me off guard. Do you trust me?

Did I trust the friends at my old school who turned on me once they realized I was trans? Did I trust the teachers who did nothing as notes slipped into my locker- death threats, slurs, my deadname scrawled upon neon post-it notes?

Did I trust my parents when they told me it wasn't my fault, it's okay, everything's going to be okay? They trusted me and here I am. It's 5 in the morning.

I should just hang up the phone. Just slump back against the limp pillows, burrow underneath the cold sheets, try and fall back asleep. I grip the phone harder.

"Does it require me sneaking out?" I murmur.

"Yeah.....uh-" Xem falters

"Is it something illegal?" I ask.

"No. And it's nothing to do with the tunnel or the bodies or.....anything like that."

"Alright. Fine."

This is probally a bad idea.
No. This in fact is a very bad idea.

I'm outside. Walking through empty streets as the amber glow of streetlights casts orange shadows on the scratched sidewalks. I left my phone at home- I was scared someone could trace it.

I stepped through the front foot easily enough, my dad hadn't yet installed one of those doorbell cameras. I slipped out into the night, letting it coil around me.

Xen sent me an address.
Her house?
I scribbled it on a piece of paper and tucked it into my pocket. I've seen the street before- it's the one that branches off the hellish curve of sidewalk that leads to the tunnel. My stomach lurches at the thought of it.

Xen promised to me before she hung up that this had nothing to do with the burnt bodies and the missing girl. She promised. She asked me to trust her.

I see her silhouette standing on the sidewalk up ahead. She's wearing a thin black jacket an an oversized MCR shirt. I jog to catch up to her and I see her face break out in a grin.

"I'm so glad you came." She says quietly, voice flushed with excitement.

"What even is this?" I murmur aloud. Her hand tugs on the hem of my sweatshirt and her face brightens with get another smile.

"I come here when I need to think. When I need to be alone. I....wanted to share it with you." She looks up at my confused face. "Oh- no, not this street. It's something else."

"Alright," I say, shoving my cold hands in my pockets. The early-morning air seems to bulge around us like a physical presence. I can make out thin slivers of sunlight curving up from the horizon.

Xen starts walking. I follow. We venture up the small street and come to a thin passage sandwiched between two houses.

"This looks very much like private property." I point out.

"I come here all the time, it's public land! I promise! Usually I like going to that creek but now, I'm not sure if I can ever go there again. But a while ago I found this place." She sweeps her arm out into the dim twilight of the passageway.