The Anomaly Affliction

Twenty Six

It's pretty much dark now, and I have no idea what to do.

Usually when I feel like this, I end up sitting on the floor doing nothing. But today my feet seem to have other plans. I start walking away from Lake's house and down the street, back the way I came. But it almost feels like I'm sleepwalking; like my brain isn't choosing to walk, but my feet can't stop.

As I walk, I start to think: where can I go now? Lake is the whole reason I came back, so now what? I can't keep wandering aimlessly round the Amber District. I need to go somewhere. In my head, the options are:

Go back to the wilderness.

Turn myself in to the authorities.

Go to a safe place here.

Go to Mum and Dad.

Going back to the wilderness might be an idea. It could bring back the painful memories of my friends getting killed because of me, and it's far from being a nice, secure place...but in a strange way, I felt like I had more freedom out there. It's weird that I felt that way, considering that that was the place where I found out I was a wanted criminal and that I couldn't contact Lake, but I wasn't constantly surrounded by people. I didn't feel like I was being watched all the time. And no one was vaccinated.

Turning myself into the authorities would probably mean I end up in MisMap. Whether I'd be going there as a prisoner or as an anomaly, I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that MisMap is a horrible place. I still remember Harrison's words:

"Our days in MisMap were the worst days of our lives. It fucked us up, Violet. They did things to us that we wish we didn't remember. They made Cage burn himself. They made Nova hallucinate her little brother dying over and over again. They made X forget who he was. And he still has night terrors that started when he was there. I still have flashbacks. We have never been the same since then."

I don't want to end up in a place like that. I probably deserve it, but Harrison, Vic, Nova, Cage and X died to give me the opportunity to get back to Nacoma - not to wind up in MisMap. And I don't want to dishonour them.

And as for Mum and Dad...if I go to them, I don't know what to expect. Will they have forgotten me too? And if they haven't forgotten me, what will they do? It's not like they missed me when I was away; it's not like they'll show me any love. They never have. Still, maybe my own home is the closest I can get to a "safe place". Even if I don't feel properly at home there.

It's decided: I'll go to my parents.

I stop walking and take a moment to get my bearings. I seem to have walked back to Amber High School. Which means that home is about a twenty minute walk away. I start walking in the right direction.

After about five minutes, I reach an alleyway between two tall buildings that I used to use as a shortcut to get to my house. I turn into the alley and suddenly bump into someone.

"Sorry," I say quietly, speedily moving past him. I don't want to draw attention to myself.

"Violet?" the person calls behind me.

It's a boy's voice that I don't recognise. This is probably not good. I really don't need someone recognising me and calling the Security Line.

"Violet Thorburn," he calls again. He sounds more sure of himself now.

Slowly, I turn around to face him. I guess there's no point hiding from him now. I just need to be careful what I say.

It takes me a moment to realise who he is, but then I remember his face. It's Dylan Ocean. The squeaky and talkative yet somewhat nice guy in a lot of my classes. I know he's been vaccinated; I remember talking to him in the waiting room. Now I need to be extra careful.