The Loving Silence

Chapter 33

"Wait! Where are you taking me?" Rue stumbled as Nass held onto his arm tightly and pulled him toward the car. He glanced at Mica, who was now half-lying in the backseat of the police car. He was hurt, and Rue knew that no matter where they were going, he would not leave Mica. He had saved his life more than once. The lower part of his side was aching, and though the shot had only grazed him, it was bleeding profusely. It must have opened up his other wounds, and the pain was making him see double.

"Somewhere safe." Nass pushed him into the passenger seat, walked around and got into the driver's seat. He was wobbling and had to hold on to the car as he walked. The t-shirt wrapped around his wrist had soaked through completely, leaving a trace of blood across the hood of the car.

He drove for what felt like hours, but Rue soon found out it had been only minutes. They arrived at a clearing and he could feel his heart hammering in his chest. Had he taken them there to kill them? If so, why? Why couldn't he just have shot them in the warehouse then? Did he really need a change of scenery to do this? His rampant thoughts came to a complete stop when he heard Nass clear his throat. The man was leaning heavily against a tree and he looked like he had one foot in his grave already. Good. Whatever he had to say, whatever he may have done, he was not someone Rue could think kindly of. He was one of the people who murdered his mother, and that would never change. Nothing Nass ever did could make up for the lives he took. If it was pity he was after, he would be sorely disappointed.

"You must be wondering why I did what I did, and why I took you here. I..." his knees buckled and he gasped for air. He hyperventilated as his body dealt with his internal injuries worsening by the second. He began coughing wildly and Rue did feel a twinge of concern in his chest, but he quickly buried it and looked away, tried to look unbothered. Soon after that, blood poured out of Nass's mouth as he threw up all over himself. Rue watched as he thought that there truly was no dignity in dying.

"Yes, why did you?" He said in what hoped was an emotionless tone. It took him some effort, but he kept his emotions buried deep.

Nass's coughing slowed down and he wiped his face with his sleeve, forgetting it was already soaked through and dripping with blood. If he did not look macabre before, he certainly did now. Half closed eyes, pasty white skin covered with a sheen of sweat and blood smeared all across his neck and the lower half of his face... he was a frightening sight to behold. Unexpectedly, his smile made it worse. "I feel a little bit better now."

Rue bit back his immediate reply and took a deep breath. He did not smile back at Nass. With a cold glare and a voice like ice, he spoke. "Why did we come here? What do you want with us? Tell me now or you will be sorry."

Nass stared at him with strange expression. "You're so much like your mother. Cole and I... we are not too different. While he fell for Kayla... I fell for your mother."

Rue felt his stomach turn as the bile bubbled and rose within his throat. He couldn't be his father, could he? No. He wouldn't have known her back then, he couldn't have. Right? However, his inner voice was not agreeing with his plea. His inner voice told him that it was a small town, and the truth was that Nass could be his father. He could be. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He clenched his fists and unclenched them a few times as he gathered his thoughts.

"Were the feelings ever reciprocated?" He enunciated each word carefully, like it physically hurt him to ask the question out loud.

"No. If she ever did, she never felt the need to tell me."

Rue found himself wanting to almost jump with relief. But it was not the right moment, nor possible with the state his body was in. All emotions would have to wait until they were safe and then... then he would address them one at a time, in his studio with his clay.