Between Worlds

Chapter 29

They were nearing where they'd entered the trail when Luther's head suddenly jerked up, nostrils flaring. "Blood."

"Go!" Finch shouted, breaking into a run. "Don't wait for me!"

In a blink, Finch found himself alone. Luther had dashed off faster than Finch's eyes could track, and Shadow was simply gone the next time Finch glanced in his direction.

As Finch burst into the parking lot, the first sign of trouble was moonlight glinting off scattered shards of glass. Rounding the bus, he saw the door twisted and broken. He yanked it the rest of the way off, clearing his path as he leapt aboard.

Finch's eyes darted around, struggling to process the scene. Black liquid was splattered across the bus and pooled around a naked body with bony, bladed hands. It took a moment for Finch to realise all that black stuff was blood.

Adin stood further back, shirt nearly torn off, deep cuts covering his torso and arms. His eyes were wide and dangerous as Luther and Shadow tried to talk to him.

Carefully avoiding the blood pool, Finch eased past Adin to the back of the bus. Behind the curtain, he found only a large, battered white dog tucked into the corner, clearly hoping to go unnoticed.

Finch turned back to Adin, tension coiling in his gut. "Where are the boys?"

When Adin struggled to answer, Luther stepped in. "They're out by the road."

Adin snapped back to himself, words tumbling out. "Ryan, he—he knows our language. Mine and Kimber's. He's up to something. I don't know why he's here, but I don't like it. He—"

"Okay," Finch said, keeping his voice gentle. "Why don't we calm down and then we can talk to him and figure it out? That's what we do, right?"

Adin drew in a shaky breath, letting it out slowly.

"His heart's racing," Luther murmured to Finch.

Finch nodded, unsurprised. He addressed Adin again. "Are they hurt?"

"I—" Adin looked down at his trembling hand. "I don't think—" He hesitated, his gaze lifting to Finch's. "I'm not sure."

"Well, I'll go check, okay?" Finch said. "Luther, Shadow, can you two stay here? Try to help him calm down. He's just..."

Shadow nodded. "I remember from last time."

"We can do that," Luther assured Finch, his tone unusually sombre. He turned to Adin with a gentle smile. "Why don't you walk me through making some tea? I can't drink it myself, but you look like you could use a cup or two."

Finch gave him a nod and then stepped over the bloody corpse as he left the bus. Maybe he and Luther weren't so different after all. They could both handle a lot when it came to strangers, but when it was someone they cared about, the feelings were there. Maybe that's why Luther's flippancy sometimes pissed him off so much. Finch had learned to mask his own emotional differences.

He headed towards the road and found Ryan and Kimber standing alongside it, arms around each other. Ryan gave Finch an awkward nod over Kimber's shoulder and tried to step back, but Kimber clung on.

Finch approached cautiously, taking in the scene. "You two alright?" he asked, keeping his voice calm and non-threatening. He could see the tension in Ryan's posture, the way Kimber seemed to be using him as an anchor. Whatever had gone down on the bus, it had clearly rattled everyone.

"Yeah," Ryan said, glancing down at Kimber. "He's... I don't know. I think he's fine. We're not hurt." He looked back up at Finch. "Is Adin okay? I probably shouldn't have left him. He was pretty beat up. But, you know. The vibes were off."