Adrenaline

⌊Chapter 15⌉

"En garde, joli garçon," Atlantis said, walking through the city streets, Rich following a bit behind her. "The cops are out looking for you and if you walk closer to me, they'll think you're not who they're looking for." Rich pocketed his hands and sped up to Atlantis's left.

"I can run if I need to," he said, glancing at her for a moment. "You still haven't addressed the elephant in the room, officer."

"What, that I'm helping you? All you need to know is you have me as an ally. Likely Jayla too."

Rich pursed his lips in thought. "Oooookay, but shouldn't I be allowed to know why?"

Atlantis rolled her eyes with a lighthearted manner. "I'm not talking about it out here. Someone could hear," she replied, resting her right hand on her hip as they walked. A couple cop cars had sped by them, not even realising who Atlantis was walking with. Something came to Rich's mind, and he dipped his head to the side.

"So where then? You haven't told me where we're going," he added as they passed a bar where muffled sounds of music leaked through the walls. Atlantis didn't answer, but she didn't need to, as she stopped at the front door to an apartment complex called Mosisnoir, pressing in the code on the keypad to unlock the door.

"Here. This is where Jayla and I live, though I can only assume that was obvious," Atlantis pushed open the door and entered the building, Rich doing the same seconds behind her. "I thought for a while about our little escapade to find Joe. I guess it was enlightening, because I realised something that I had been trying to avoid for years. I wish I could be happy the way Adelmir is, but I can't. No one can. And no one is doing anything to fix it. I have a goal to rehabilitate this hellhole. If not, we evacuate. Without Blake."

They began up the first set of stairs as Atlantis spoke. Rich removed his hood from his head, watching the walls as they moved. He felt along the wall too - it was clearly a purposeful sloppy paint project with the little bumps and hills sprinkled around the wall. "Sounds fun," Rich said in a slightly sarcastic tone, though he didn't exactly mean it that way.

"It can be," Atlantis replied. "Sometimes living with your friend just brings the worst sides out of both of you. Luckily enough, Jayla and I hardly get upset with each other. This won't keep up for long, though, because she's going to move in with her girlfriend in a couple of months."

"And you're staying here?"

"For a little bit. I don't really have the money to pay rent by myself though, so I'll move across town to Luminosity."

"Isn't that by the rich neighborhood?"

"Yes, but rent there is surprisingly cheap. And I have a fallback in that neighborhood in case things don't work out. Blake just keeps cutting our pay, so there's a possibility I'll have to stay with him for a bit. Well, you know him. Just don't like him."

Rich crossed his arms as they kept moving toward the floor Atlantis and Jayla lived. "Let me guess: Winters? Of course he's affluent."

Atlantis frowned and looked back at Rich. "He's really not that bad when you get to know him. But I get why you don't like him. The guy wants you dead, so I would be mad too. Maybe, though, this whole thing could be an opportunity to see him in a different light."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'll explain later. There are other things we need to consider first. About, you know, knocking Blake down a peg or whatever," Atlantis led the way up the last staircase, where she reached the landing and turned to look at Rich. "Easier said than done."

Rich shrugged and followed her to the door of the apartment. Her keys were hooked to her belt loop, and she unhooked them to unlock the door. Rich looked at the carpeted floor, thinking to himself about this whole situation. He expected Atlantis to turn him in, but now she wanted to help him? How did she know Rich and Alex didn't kill Aaron? He didn't understand - he couldn't figure out how the cogs in his head were turning. Atlantis unlocked the door, but held it shut, returning her attention to Rich.