METANOIA

SHIT

Barry was surprised at how dry talking with Seth was. He, in return, disdained everything about Barry and felt no need to hide it. They were attempting small talk as Seth tried to distract Barry from doing something stupid. He felt Barry had long outlived his usefulness. He wished those in charge never stopped that bullet.

Silas had to be removed swiftly; Barry was going to get himself killed one way or another.

Silas still had his phone on him, and one mistake would have devastating consequences. In close range, even with a gun, he was a deadly fighter. Seth knew this first hand. He had trained him well. Silas' actions were now docile for the most part. While he did liven up his friends' lives, it was tolerable. Barry, on the other hand, was a loose cannon on his own. Whoever chose him had chosen poorly. Now he was Seth's mess to clean up.

Lucy was clearly avoidant of Seth. Buddy, on the other hand, was indifferent. Barry had been playing with his ears trying to cut out the ringing.

Short of talking about the weather, Seth placed himself between Silas and Barry to block his view of the restaurant. Barry occasionally checked over his shoulder to see what was going on, but thankfully, he was too drugged out to focus.

After a while, Seth gave him a phone and said he would call it when the time came. The phone is a total piece of crap. An ancient Ericsson T28. It was pink as well.

Even the heavens had financial concerns, it seemed.

"Wait for my signal," Seth was stern.

Barry was surprised an angel had handed him such an ancient piece of hardware, one that could barely make calls. Inside his huge paw, the phone looked minute. He was lost in his thoughts as he stared at it in utter disbelief.

He must have looked at his hand for only a few seconds. But when he raised his head, he realized Seth had vanished in broad daylight.

"Motherfucker!" he muttered. He realized he was being stalled.

Furious, he looked over to the restaurant. Silas was nowhere to be seen, nor his larger friend, or Sarah. Taylor seemed to be the only one left behind. This made him relax more than anything else. Barry wasn't so sure if he was ready to take on a fight. Something about Silas scared him. He waited patiently for Taylor to leave.

It wasn't long before Taylor stepped outside.

Barry was yet again staring at the white phoenix. Now that Silas was not in the vicinity, he was a little more careless about the distance he kept from his target.

He walked after her as she reached home. He waited for her to disappear into the house.

He lit another American Spirits. He hated smoking, but right now, it was better than taking chances with anything else in his pocket. Swallowing pills had become a nervous habit for him, but the soreness of his chest kept him from resorting to them.

After a few more minutes, he approached the back door. He was about to walk in through the back door when he heard some loud music.

Without knocking, he opened the door to the kitchen.

Taylor had her arms covered in flour as she worked with dough. She was listening to loud dance music, shaking her hips to the beat of the music.

Barry hated whatever was playing. It intensified the ringing in his ears.

He nonchalantly walked up to Taylor and touched her shoulder.

Taylor screamed in horror as she spun around. She was pale in shock. She quickly turned off the sound.