Wolf Heart

Chapter 35

Tick.

Tick.

JAMES

Ava went out of sight through the trees, chasing after her happiness.

Thumb against his cheek, he wiped off the remnants of his foolishness from his skin. Downstairs, Mom and Dad argued, Janie's shadow hovered through the bottom of his door, but disappeared out of sight in the direction of her room. James scowled, then gathered his camera bag to place each detached lens into the proper sections, with the camera in the bulkiest protection. A chance moment, frozen and unchanging while Rayan apologized over and over.

I should've just walked away.

He hooked his starcross netbat on his bag, and shoved his writer's pad into the extra sleeve. He threw it onto his bed while heavy footsteps walked up the stairs, and he bit down on a sob as he zipped and folded over the traps to lock it in place. It clogged his nose while light tore through the darkness of his room.

"James," Dad said.

"Ava's gone," he said with a laugh which sliced through his chest, while Dad raised an eyebrow. "She left. Isn't that amazing? She actually chooses to listen to you most of the time." He threw his bag onto the ground. "I don't care what you have to say."

Dad gazed around his room, then tipped his head at his bag. "So, do you plan on being a runaway?"

James scoffed and hauled it over his shoulders. "Where would I run away to? You're so self-important," he bit as he pushed past Dad. "I'm not running anywhere. I'm going for a walk, because I don't want to listen to you. I don't want to listen to your excuses." He pressed his hands against his ears and crawled down the stairs, where Mom stood in the living room with a frown on his face while Dad followed him. "I am so tired of it. You might as well have not come back — you're already leaving. You always leave." James eyed Mom, then twisted back to Dad. "Unlike you, though, at least I'll come back."

"James," Mom interrupted. "I know you're upset, but—"

"But what?" James argued. "Are you going to make excuses for him now?" He waved his hand at Dad, who stood on the staircase. "He can pretend all he wants, but he isn't fooling me." He rolled his neck, then pushed out the front door and into the scattered twilight. Tears dug into his eyes when Dad yelled out his name, but he sprinted into the forest, where the bushes whispered with the breeze and night birds chirped their songs.

Where would I go?

James stopped onto the path, then checked to make sure he hadn't been followed, but hesitated on the edge of the cold road when Dad's ship launched over the trees and zoomed in the direction of the Eastpoint borders. He scoffed, but held his breath when it tangled through his sinus', and rushed for the nearby park. Alone to his thoughts, he kicked the gravel around to release the rest of his frustration, where it scattered and bounced off the playsets.

He slumped onto the slide with a groan while the orange of evening fell into a chilly blue night. Compearl in his hands, he dug his neck into his shoulders while the birds chirped and wind rustled through the trees. Lamps lit up along the perimeter of the park, bathing the stones and jungle gyms in a gentle glow. He rested his head against the slide and gazed upwards at the flickering sky of stars, where Lana, the moon, bloomed with a golden sheen.

Ava must be at Rayan's by now. He sat up to sort through his bag and took the time to organise his infopods full of captured moments. Each one, a timeline of his mistakes, the first one, of the pond, glimmering in sunlight. He switched to the next one, where Rayan interrupted the focus of his shot and became the new one, his sketchpad in his hands while he disturbed the peace.