Afterlight ✔️

chapter five

— Chloe Romano

The last thing on this earth that I wanted to get stolen from me was my driver's license, it was obvious to me that one of the Venom members had taken away from me and there was a vast possibility that they could show Justin the card and he'd recognize me. I didn't want this to be the way my life ends, I wanted it to be peaceful where I would die of old age. My parents had always taught me that life was beautiful and that I should cherish it forever, that I should surround myself with the right crowd, try the best of my ability to keep myself in great health and keep staying positive.

After my parents have died, Brad and I had to figure out ways to stay together and not get into a Foster home, knowing that we would get separated or end up in a unhealthy system. But with only 16 years, there weren't many jobs for Brad to apply for. After numerous of bad paid jobs, he started to get involved with selling drugs. It seemed almost normal to him because we had no other way for money to come into our standard of living– That was the start of our new life.

I imagined this trip to be a bliss, I had imagined myself shopping for designer clothing in Soho, or going to Starbucks in northern Manhattan and perhaps find love. I thought after visiting Stratford, I would enjoy Canada some until I made my way to my favorite place, New York. But that wasn't how life goes– There I was, in ratty Stratford, just because I wanted to rebel against my brother's orders. I had always been curious as to why he had put restrictions on everything I'd done, but I finally understood why.

He didn't want me killed.

Walking out of the motel, the sun beamed down on my head. I was relieved knowing I had fresh clothes to change into, but the same time, I was just stressed for my life. What if my identity got exposed to Justin? What would he actually do? Would I get killed, or would I be let off the hook? I stepped into the car and shut the door back and Justin did the same. There was complete silence running through the air as he put his key in the ignition, the sound of the vintage engine roared through my ears. He took off, with no care as to what the speed limit was. I wasn't used to the sound of old cars. I mean, 1968? What was a young man like him doing, driving this giant chunk of history?

"I actually have some errands to run." He stated, keeping his eyes on the road. He drove strategically through the streets of Stratford.

"Okay." I mumbled, eyeing my duffle bag between my two feet. My heart beat rapidly at the thought of my driver's license, no matter what I tried, I knew I couldn't get it back from Venom without exposing myself.

"I'm going to drop you off at my house, tuts. Don't miss me too much." He grinned, licking his lips shortly after. His hair glistened in the sunlight and his eyes appeared much lighter.

"Yeah, I'll miss you, oh so much." I sighed, sarcastically. "I don't even know what I'll do while you're gone." I rolled my eyes which caused Justin to let out a chuckle.

We pulled up to Justin's small house and I stepped out of the car, turning around to find him still sitting in his seat with his hands on the steering wheel. What kind of errands could he possibly be running around there? Did it involve picking random girls off the street and keeping them around his house? I shut the passenger door and walked up the sidewalk as Justin drove off, feeling a little faint. My knees started to buckle, my eyes started to wander in different directions. I felt as if I was about to collapse, fall over, and pass out for a few minutes– I was starving, I hadn't eaten a thing since I was kidnapped. I was fed a slice of Canadian bacon and toast twice a day, and that was basically it.

I opened the door to his house with ease with the spare key he gave me. I stumbled inside, trying to avoid the heat of the sun, knowing that it was going to spark me to faint. I closed the door after me, hurrying to the refrigerator.