The Edge Of Town

Chapter 10

Seeing my parents back together made me realize that if you really love somebody, there's no stopping what you'll do to be with that person. Even if it took my father to make himself sick, to risk his own life, to see his wife then it was worth it. My mind is racing as I lay in Smith's bed, him laying next to me, his chest slowly rising and falling. I've been laying here for hours thinking about everything that has happened with Smith, the commander, and my own father. How will this all turn out in the end? Will somebody lose their life or we will be able to walk away unharmed?

I realize there's no way I'll be able to go to sleep so I move Smith's arm off my stomach and sit on the edge of the bed, rubbing my eyes. The halls outside of the room are quiet, hardly anybody has walked by in the past hour. I wonder what could possibly be going on in the world at this hour, what the people I go to school with have been doing or if they too had noticed a change in me like my father did. I hear movement so I look over my shoulder to see Smith rubbing his eyes before squinting at me.

"What are you doing?" he asks, his voice tired and raspy. The white in his eyes are a light pink from sleeping, the hair on his head a complete mess.

"Go back to sleep," I whisper to him. "I can't sleep so I think I'm going to go for a walk." I get up from the bed and Smith sits up before quickly laying back down, realizing that he's too tired to even move. He nods and slowly closes his eyes and I put the blankets over him. I watch him for a moment before turning towards the door, putting my jacket on. I can see the dim light from the hallway through the crack in the bottom of the door. It reminds me of a hotel, during the night the lights stay on, leaving room for something to happen whether big or small. I open the door and look both ways down the hall before stepping out.

I haven't seen anyone walk past, the halls are completely empty. This night is quieter than normal. Nobody has walked by the room talking obnoxiously loud or knocked on the door and running away just for the fun of it. Even the restaurant and bar don't have anyone sitting in them, getting their order taken or having a late night meal. I reach the first floor and head towards the library, maybe reading will put me to sleep. I turn the corner and see that the door to the ship is wide open, the cold air coming in in soft breezes causing me to shiver. I look outside, pulling my jacket tighter around my body. I can see a figure moving close to the trees and I squint to try and get a better look. Whoever it is, they're too far away.

"Hello? Is someone there?" I ask, squinting even more to try and get a better look. The figure moves closer and I take a step back when I see who it is. His shoulder is bloody and scratches are all over his face. His pale white skin is glowing as he gets closer and closer to the ship's entrance, his icy blue eyes staring directly into my own. It's Devlin. He survived the wolf attack but how? Something isn't right, there's no way he would have been able to survive on his own.

"So you've come," he says with an edge in his voice. "I've been waiting for you to show your pretty little face." I shiver when he says this, the coldness in his voice goes up my spine.

"What do you want?" I ask, slowly taking a step back from the ship's entrance. "How did you survive?"

He takes slow steps closer and closer, holding the same stance that he did the first time I saw him. Arms behind his back, his posture completely straight. "I came back to get my revenge. You're going to pay for what you did, letting me get dragged off into the woods by that animal. You thought that I would be that easy to get rid of? You thought wrong. I had the help of a friend, Willow." I wince as he says my name, the letters falling to the ground like glass, breaking easily. "That same friend is here to end you tonight. I have noticed that your powers are underdeveloped, you can't beat him. Only I can, only I am strong enough to beat him." I see the bushes behind Devlin begin to move, something large and deadly standing behind them. Bright yellow eyes become more visible as the leaves in the bush move back and forth. I take a step back as the robot wolf emerges, his head hanging low, eyes locked onto me. I can see his teeth, they could kill in one bite.