Arcade's Dungeon

Hunter Hero 17: Rip Off the Band Aid

I cut off the end of the recording with my finger dragging across the yellow bar before saving it and tapping it against the computer, before exporting it to the flash drive. The miracles of Bluetooth let it transfer instantly, blinking green to show it transferred, before slipping the thing into my inventory.

     The buzzer appeared untouched. Everything in my bag appeared the same as it was. I just wasn't sure and didn't want to use it to contact Chandra, just in case. None of those pictures had been ones of her, and none of them had been of me in action or on the rooftop. So I wanted to preserve them as they were, to not give any links back in case they did link with my buzzer. I'd get in contact with my old boss some other way to tell him what happened, but I definitely wasn't giving my buzzer back anymore.

     I needed it.

     My desk was empty. I sat there staring at it for a while, trying to think of what else to put together. I didn't want to write the letter, one I'd imagined writing for years but never thought I'd actually have to do, yet. Not yet. Not yet. But at the same time, even after securing Selinker's word that we had a set date and time, I was paranoid that he'd pick me up the next day.

     So I broke out pen and paper and I started to write. My room was dark and no one knew I was home yet, sitting in my chair in Nita's little sister's clothes. Mom was back, Dad was there, Reed I didn't know. But I'd lost myself in the blur of tears and emotion trying to choke me up at the thought of leaving what was familiar to me, what I loved, what I knew, for someplace else. I couldn't really think about anything besides my own misery and not anyone else, though I'd made such a point about protecting them earlier.

     The letter flew into my inventory as soon as I was done with it. Or at least, finished myself, though it was really only a few lines on a page. I couldn't bring myself to complete the thing, having had enough for the day.

     I just want to sleep.

     But my folks were probably worried. I didn't really know what Nita told Mom, having passed out in the middle of their call.

     My hands uncurled to look at the damage. They'd healed by the time I got back to my room, just like they'd healed by the time I got to the bathroom at school. There weren't even little red rings anymore to tell of what'd happened.

     Nothing about me looked askew. If I went out there, to where Dad was on the couch probably waiting up for me to come home, I'd just have been a little quieter than usual. If I went out there, Mom was probably with him. Reed was probably going to come back soon because it was so late.

     So I blipped outside, turning a corner and coming up to the front door. Looking at the camera doorbell and not really caring if the garage one couldn't explain where I came from. Looking at my clothes, feeling a lack of a bag on my back, and realizing my story wasn't going to fit, I pressed the thing and it rang anyway.

     Mom probably pulled the app up on her phone to see who was at the door so late at night. It was kind of obvious that they were there, being able to step back just a few steps to look through the window and the semi-thick curtains that blocked anyone outside from seeing the general insides of the house, but not the light of the TV.

     "Cade!"

     Mom exclaimed while probably popping up from the couch and circling around the door. The lock beeped as she disarmed it and it swung open. She didn't waste a second, hands rushing past my face, feet stumbling over the doorway, arms collapsing around my back. My eyes closed to brace for the impact, so there was barely a shadow to warn me when Dad hugged onto her from behind and his hands circled my back lower than her. My mind flashed back to Nita, to her reaction when she felt my skin, and I wondered if he could feel it then. I wondered if Mom could.