Knights of the Grey City

Chapter 16 - HOLIDAYS

"So, Camilo, how's work going?"

I snapped out of my blank staring out of the car window. We were taking the 401 out of Toronto and I had been watching the city slowly shrink into the distance.

"Ah, it's alright," I answered my uncle, trying to think back to what I'd been doing at work lately. Absolutely nothing of interest had happened; I'd practically started blanking out my shifts. "I'm glad I was able to get Christmas off."

"That should be a given!" he grumbled, gesturing with a hand on the wheel. "I can't believe the way these companies take advantage of you young people. No benefits, no time off."

"Well, I'm happy to have anything," I pointed out. "Besides, I'm eligible for benefits starting next year."

"Hah! They won't even give students benefits where I work," Eli said, wedged into the backseat beside me. Between the two of us and all our bags, it was shaping up to be a cramped four-hour drive. "I could work there for four years and they still wouldn't give me anything."

"See, I'm still doing way better than Eli," I said. Eli kicked my shin.

Soon after, my uncle turned on the radio and we all settled in for the long drive. I found my gaze pulled back to the city disappearing behind us. It was happening: I was leaving. And I was starting to get nervous.

Was it really so simple? We had basically left the city already and were heading into Scarborough. Was there an outer limit to the Grey City's power? As soon as I got too far away from it, would it be able to vanish me from the inside of a moving car and bring me right back?

And if I was able to get out, for good...

I hadn't even let myself think about that until just then. The possibility had always been there, floating just out of reach. If I really could just get up and leave Toronto whenever I wanted... there was nothing stopping me from peacing out.

I wouldn't have to worry about dealing with the Leviathan, or constant brushes with death, or being chased by giant spiders and hellish lion-monsters. I could just scrape the bottom of my bank account, move somewhere else, and escape. Huang had said himself that he found it easier to handle things without me around.

We were moving further from the city, but maybe this still counted as a part of Toronto. And I doubted the Grey City adhered strictly to the municipal boundaries of the city, anyway. I tapped my foot and waited for something weird to happen.

An hour into our journey, the city was far behind us and I hadn't felt a single trace of anything strange. I pushed out my spatial sense to try and identify anything that hadn't been immediately obvious: only to find that the sense had weakened significantly.

I normally only had it running in the background and hadn't noticed it fading in strength, but as I turned and projected it out the window, I barely received any feedback at all. Even my powers were fading the further I went. If we could really just leave whenever we wanted, why the hell were we still hanging around Toronto!?

Things may have been awkward between me and Huang, but hell, all our problems could be over. I pulled out my phone. Hey, all is well so far. Spatial sense starting to stop working. I think we can just leave whenever we want!

He didn't respond for a few more minutes, but eventually my phone buzzed. I don't believe that.

Uhh, hello, I'm past Scarborough already. I don't think it can reach me this far out. You have to get out of the city as soon as you can.

We can't jump to conclusions, Huang texted back. Besides, I told you before... I can't help but feel it might be important that I stay. Have fun.