Adventures With The SMG4 Crew

Leaving... Burning my Bridges... The Long Lonely Road Home

Well, it's official; Beepie hates me and left early this morning, left me nothing but a note. "You left me alone, so now I'm leaving YOU alone;" every word was right on the money. She left... she left me shattered and lonely, it's why I'm sitting in the bar, slugging my third bottle of Yuengling Lager. I took my glances around, praying I'd see her, but in the heartbroken crowd of a Tuesday night, there was no pretty red hair in sight, just a bunch of natural color.

Tossing my few bills that covered my tab onto the counter, I hopped off of my barstool and went straight for the exit, right out onto the sidewalk with a fresh coating of soft white powder. The first snow in a long while it seems, but I didn't plan on enjoying it like a child would; I had enjoyed it plenty of times before, but with it always being so warm, I hadn't seen a flake in a year or so. And with the colder weather comes bulkier clothing, case in point my gray fleece hoodie and blue jeans without any holes in them, along with the thick leather boots rather than thin sneakers.

Flipping my keys out of my pocket and climbing into the truck, I cranked the engine and rested my head against the steering wheel, sighing incredibly heavily as tears slowly trickled down my cheeks. It hurt... it really, really, truly hurt; all the time I spent with her, the time I spent withOUT her, the nights we were together... memories never go away that quick. It plagued my mind, telling me to go back after her, but I knew it wasn't the right thing to do; best thing I COULD was to just... leave it all behind, ALL of it.

Nodding my head and pulling away from the bar, taking the long lonely highway all the way back to the castle, I left the engine running as I headed inside and right up to the third floor next to Tick Tock Clock. I dug underneath the bed and slid my two gun cases from the shadows and swung them over my real shoulder, then stepped over to the nightstand on my side and pulled the drawer open. Lots of photos of Beepie and I... lots of memories... lots of heartache and pain; the one picture I picked up was from the day her and I first met, the lunchroom at Mushroom High, sharing empanadas.

I dropped the picture back in the drawer and grabbed a bottle of literally-titled "Generic Brand Moonshine" and emptied the whole container within the drawer, filling the air with an aroma of strong alcohol. Snagging a Zippo lighter off the top of the stand, I clicked it on and sighed heavily as I tossed the burning flame into the wood shelving; lighter plus flammable liquid equals fire. It immediately erupted into a glorious flame of red and orange, and the only thing I did was turn away from it and head back down the stairs to the main room where Glitch was set at the table with a plate of steak.

Glitch: Jake, care to join? Jake...? Hello, Taylor, you there buddy?

I didn't say anything; I pulled my hood over my head and slid my golden revolver out of my holster and dropped it to the floor, then went right outside to the truck and climbed in. I tossed my two gun cases into the back seat and clutched my head and smashed my real fist against the steering wheel; hurt like a bitch, but didn't break anything, not yet. Reaching into the glovebox and pulling out the shining silver dog whistle, I rolled my window down and blew a long wind through the instrument, and the opening to Zero's reality-warping portals ripped open in front of me.

Zero: What is it now, Jake? Can't you see it's 11:00?

Me: Get me a portal home.

Zero: What was that again?

Me: A portal home, back to the farm, back to the small town. I don't care how far I need to drive, I have near a full tank.

All the jackal did was roll his eyes and rip open a second portal in the middle of a midnight highway, pitch black with no traffic, perfect to run away with. I nodded and tipped my head to him as he could only nod back, and I was through the portal and onto the lonely stretch of highway. Only the light of the Silverado headlights guided me as I kept my eyes on the straight and narrow road that led from wherever I was presently to where I wanted to go. The only sounds of even remote ambience were those of the spinning tires and rather quiet engine running; seriously, whoever thought a TRUCK was better off being SILENT needs to get their brain checked.