Reversal (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 44: The Butterfly Effect

XLIV.

"Somewhere far." I rolled the sleeves of my shirt up to my elbows. "I have some steam that needs to be blown off."

I needed to get away. I needed to forget that I slapped her, forget the tears and the rain, and just forget everything Lauren had so kindly shown me. We weren't in Miami anymore, and I couldn't run off to get a glass of R rated orange juice and curly fries. This was the best way I knew how to escape in a forest where there was none.

Normani and I moved through the woods for some time, shoulder to shoulder as the cool air blew at us from behind. I had a feeling a few minutes into the travel that she knew exactly why I had pulled her away for a talk. Her body language was similar to Lauren's in that it wasn't hard to read.

We stopped twice to intercept a group of roaming security, taking them down before continuing on our way. Beneath the armour was a sickly beige anti-human with black eyes and a sealed jawline, and one glance shared with Normani told me that we were thinking the same thing. Wherever she might be, Lucy was definitely still breathing.

"So where are we going?" I asked as the two of us emerged from the line of trees and stepped out onto the pavement of the nearest road. Even in the middle of the day there were no cars, and definitely no people. When I didn't receive a reply, I turned to see that she had ripped her mask off and was pressing it into her pants pocket.

"You don't need it out here, we've moved past the range of the gasses that come out of the ground. You'll be able to breathe easy. At least for a little while."

I nodded, trusting her and removing the mask against my face. It felt good to breathe in air that wasn't cold, stale and circulating underground.

"We're going over there." Normani turned me around so I was facing a large cliff like formation that overlooked the trees. "We can talk, it'll be good for you to clear your head."

"I figure you know why I came looking for you." I murmured, looking down at my toes and shuffling with uncharacteristic nerves.

"Of course I do." Normani started off down the road as I followed in tow. "Lauren's been talking to me about this ridiculous plan of hers for ages now. It all started back when you got hit, and hasn't stopped since."

"So you agree she's being ridiculous?" I asked, pressing my own hands down into the adjoining pocket of my sweater. The meagre setting sun was doing very little to help with the crisp spring temperatures. "There's no way she can go through with this, it's insane."

"It is." Normani agreed. "I assume your reaction wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, correct?"

"Of course." I sighed, tilting my head back and stretching the knots in my neck. "She showed me everything that happened that night, and I got to watch it all unfold like the world's worst horror movie."

"She showed you everything?"

I nodded.

"Well she shouldn't have." Normani looked away as we traversed the side of the cliff, myself a few paces behind. It took me a number of pathetic breaths in to catch my own, but when I did the view was astounding. "Showing you something that you had no control over, by doing that she transferred her own burden over to you."

"I don't think that's how she sees it." I breathed, looking down in awe.

"You can see the entire valley from here." Normani stepped forward so we were shoulder to shoulder once more. "Not many people come all the way out here, so it's not exactly a hotspot for tourists. Centralia is buried not only in the trees, but also surrounding by a series of rock formations. It's hard to spot from a plane, and even harder to access by foot. The fog also doesn't help with wandering navigators."