A Broken Prophet Without A Message

Chapter Ten - The Ghost of Ohio

Andy wandered through the almost deserted streets of the place he had once been forced to live. A couple of people looked up and nodded, acknowledging and remembering his existence. Andy kept his head down, walking until he found the house from which he had started this journey. He was about to knock on the door when he finally noticed the destruction surrounding the town. All the windows had been smashed in, the walls were bent inwards and the rooves were caving in. Andy felt an arm on his shoulder.
"FEAR. They wanted supplies and troops. I'm...I'm sorry about your family..."
Andy just shook his head and pushed through the shattered door, running up the stairs to the room he knew so well. Back then it had seemed like an escape but now...now Andy could see it for what it was.
He rumaged around the room and grabbed anything he thought he needed pencil sharpeners, some change, a few pens, some pencils and a bunch of charcoal lumps. He dumped it all on the bed before pulling the wardrobe from where it was. Behind it was a secret compartment where he had hidden anything he didn't want his parents to see. He changed of his the tattered, bloody clothes and into a pair of black skinnies and a leather jacket. He then reached into the back and grabbed out his journal and some chains which served as bracelets. He also grabbed out a metal pendant, similar to his v one but with four more joining it to make a star. He threaded it thought a chain and looped it around his belt buckles until it hung in the way he desired. He then crammed all the stuff that he had shoved onto his bed into a leather satchel before going back outside.
"Andy?!" One of the kids who had been close to being taken to the camp too called, "They let you out?!"
"No. I escaped and then...then we broke everyone else out."
Whoa!" The adoration was clear in his voice, "That's so cool!"
"Yeah, sure." Andy said, not feeling like anything he had achieved in that battle was cool, "There's a settlement about a day or twos walk away, if you follow the moon as it sinks you'll find it. It's where everyone who escaped or needed to flee FEAR went. You'd like it."
"Thanks, I will. Aren't you going back there?"
"No. I...nowhere seems to feel like home and I just need some time to figure some shit out."
The kid nodded before running off to pack and grab some like-minded friends.
Andy left the ghost town behind him, returning to his old desert walking ways.
A few months had passed since then and Andy was deeply regretting not knowing how to fix melted bones or practically severed wings. He was sitting up a scorched tree not too far from the town he had been forced to call home. A tune formed in his head and before he knew it the words were tumbling out of his mouth,
"Faces in my dreams of distant strangers,
Remind me I can never change the time.
Spirits of the streets that are abandoned,
My home town never felt that much like home.
Cause I've gone too far,
And I've lost my way.
I am the ghost of Ohio.
I am the ghost of Ohio."
Andy paused on hearing footsteps coming close to him but continued when he recognised who's they were.
"Looking back on who I used to be then,
I've run away from everything I've known."
And felt someone climb up the tree and sit down next to him, resting their head on his lap.
"Maybe we can stay here for a little while,
And find a neighborhood I haven't roamed.
Cause I've gone too far,
And I've lost my way.
I am the ghost of Ohio.
I am the ghost of Ohio."
Andy began to absentmindedly stroke Jinxx's hair,
"Nothing is the same as I remember,    Or is it that my memories have changed?
I am the ghost of Ohio.
I am the ghost of Ohio.
Cause I've gone too far,
And I've lost my way."
The silence was suffocating and the guilt that Andy felt for leaving Jinxx was sickening.
"I'm sorry I left it's just...there was something that I needed to do and -"
"Do you want to go back?" Jinxx asked, interrupting Andy's apology. Andy thought for a few minutes before realising something about the feelings he felt for Jinxx.
"I will follow you."
"Then send us back, Prophet boy." Jinxx chuckled.
Andy clicked his fingers and they were in the tent that they had secretly shared. No words were needed, they just snuggled up next to each other and pulled the blanket over themselves before falling asleep in each others arms.
Andy woke up and was staring into Jinxx's eyes until he woke up, blushing when he was discovered.
"Come on, I know that my eyes are beautiful," Jinxx murmured," but do you really think they are that good?"
"I want to make up for lost time Jinxxie."
"Fine, I'm not gonna to stop you." Jinxx winked at him, "Do you wanna grab breakfast?"
"I'm fine thanks, I'm not that hungry." Andy mumbled, ignoring how pathetic of an excuse it was.
"I don't want to think about how little you've eaten these past few weeks because if it was anything the same as mine was..." Jinxx suddenly realised how long it had been since he had last eaten, " you're coming with me." He insisted, dragging Andy into the light.
Murmurs of shock followed them as they walked through the camp, Andy looking like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. Nobody had been seen by the people on night watch entering the camp, and it was a know fact that Andy and Jinxx hadn't returned from the battle. Rumours had been circling that they had died.
When they got to the canteen, the food choices had vastly increased. Both Andy and Jinxx asked for toast, their cheeks turning a light pink when they realised that it was like the first time they had met. They felt their hands link instinctively under the table.
Andy changed his mind. There was one place that felt like home.
Jinxx's side.