The Stampede ~Vash x OC AU~

Chapter 45: Waste of Mercy

Leilani

A hot and dry breeze blows through the air, filling my lungs with a fire as it rustles my hair. Sand rolls in wispy loops along the ground, skipping and dancing along cobblestone. And the suns all hang high, already blazing.

I am seated on a whicker rocking bench situated on the hotel's vast porch, sheltered by the porch's roof, though I still feel the heat as it blows against my cheeks. It's so hot, but I sit, and I rock, watching out over the dusty road. The town is quiet, and the streets are empty.

Stoneburry is so different from Penton. It's much quieter and much sleepier. The people are kind and friendly, but no one ever seems to be in a rush. Penton was busier and at times the people could be rude. A typical city, really. But here...

There's also that familiarity that comes with Stoneburry, but I know I've never been here before. The landmarks are foreign and new to me, but the way I feel when I breathe this Stoneburry air is like the air of somewhere old to me.

"You didn't go far."

I don't need to turn to see who it is – I know her voice, but I turn anyway. Meryl stands, her dark eyes trained on me as her lips remain pressed in a flat line. Her expression is conflicted and worried, her fingers rubbing bits of stone from the building.

"You've been out here a while now. It's almost lunchtime," she says. "You must be hungry. I can make you something. Maybe a sandwich or –"

"No, thank you," I interrupt, turning back to the road. "I'm not hungry."

And I'm not. Even after I threw up what little of my breakfast I ate, I have lost my appetite. After hearing everything Vash had to say, food became the last thing on my mind.

But shock has since faded, giving way for a new emotion. One that boils and steams, seething deep in my veins like some fire, but it is not the fire I have come to know with Vash. This blaze does not rage for the sake of skin touching skin, but roars with a fury I have not felt since...

Well, since Millions Knives.

I squeeze my eyes closed, wanting to push it all away. The anger, the astonishment, his confession. All of it. I just want it all to go away. But it won't. It just keeps lingering there, foul in my mouth like black licorice.

"Are you sure?" Meryl presses. I can hear her soles scuff the stone as she takes a step closer. "Maybe you should eat –"

"Did you know?" I interrupt, looking at her. My heart beats fast, burning in my chest. "About Vash. Did you know?"

For a moment, she is taken aback, pulling her arms back to herself as she blinks, but then she shrinks, nodding, "We knew."

Anger zaps through me, but I swallow it. "You knew that he's a plant?"

She nods.

"And you knew that he's over a century old?"

She nods again, cuffing her hands together.

More anger. I swallow, "And you knew his brother is Millions Knives?"

This time, she does not shrink, but brings her gaze to mine, furrowing her brows. "We knew, but never once did we think that would matter. What about you? You hid your true intentions in July. How mad can you be? Kill Knives? That's a suicide mission, and you know it is!"

A wave of anger washes through me, filling my veins. I ball my hands into fists, digging my nails into my palms, pushing up to my feet.

"He told you?" I snap. My heart is beating faster and faster.