Estranged [Completed]

Death

The vigilante was in shock at first. Then, when Kalei moved away from Shenaia, he seemed to return to his senses with renewed energy; pointing, waving his gun, shouting – the whole bit. Kalei told him to call SWORDE and ducked down a side alley to dry heave into the gutter. The image of Jenna's blood and gore on the pavement was burned into her mind's eye. When she heard the sirens coming, she wiped the spittle from her mouth, steeled herself against the image, and headed in the opposite direction. She knew that what she had done was right. Her sister had killed a man, probably not the first, but definitely the last. Kalei had made sure of that. Her action was justified. She refused to believe it any other way.

Kalei didn't know where she was heading; there was nowhere for her to go now. And she didn't care. She let her feet carry her where they wanted. When she met another person on the street, she just pulled her hood lower and changed her route. None of it mattered. Jenna didn't matter, her family didn't matter. None of it mattered. There was nothing she could do for any of them. She saw what had happened with Josh and his mom. She didn't want to lose it like he did, to endanger her husband like that. Better to just let SWORDE handle it. She was done with this game.

She didn't know how long she walked. The rain eventually slowed to a stop, and the streetlights came on, their light reaching all the way up to the heavy clouds, casting them with a faint, orange glow. But while the added light made the wet streets shine and glow, their brightness made the shadows all the darker. And Kalei's feet preferred the shadows.

Eventually, she found herself at a ladder, hanging within arm's reach and built into the side of a cement wall, extending all the way up to the roof of the relatively short building. The rungs were worn and familiar to her, and, without putting another thought to it, she began to climb.

At the top, she found that the roof was already occupied. A man sat on the far side of the small, square roof, leaning against the wall of a taller, adjacent building. It was Marley. He looked completely relaxed, legs crossed beneath him, brown jacket over his shoulders. Now that he was a Detective, he seemed to have taken the liberty of growing some scruff along his soft jaw.

Kalei stopped at the top of the ladder. "What're you doing here?"

He shrugged. "What does it look like? I'm sitting here, waiting for you."

She stepped onto the roof, confused by his appearance. "How'd you know I'd end up here?"

Marley replied, "Don't you recognize this place? You and Fenn always hung out here. Mostly you, when you were upset, but Fenn would always find you and talk you down."

He was right. As she pushed away the haze of the day's events and finally took a clear look at her surroundings, she realized this was indeed a hangout from her childhood. It was just a few blocks from her old school, and she had spent many a summer on top of this roof. It was true what Marley had said; she had often retreated here when she was upset, but their little group had also played games here, watched the clouds from here, dared each other to stand at the edge and look down, Fenn and Kalei giggling when Marley got nauseous at the sight.

Kalei sat down beside Marley, settling her back against the bricks as he had. "Wow. You have a good memory. And good instincts too. I didn't even know I would end up here."

Marley replied humbly, "Eh, maybe that's why they gave me the job." He returned his gaze to the city stretched out beyond the roof. They couldn't see much from their short outpost; it was only about four stories up, nothing compared to the daunting heights of the adjoining buildings. But in the few gaps between the skyscrapers, she could see for miles. Kalei remembered how, on a clear day, she could see all the way to the ocean, just a speck of grayish-blue beyond the city streets.