In Saving the Imperfect

36. In saving the imperfect

Layne stood there staring at the village for what might have been forever. He was waiting for a signal – but there was no signal. They didn't even plan for one. He could only have guessed whether everyone else was still waiting, or if they were in the village already – or maybe they could have been dead.

He thought through the plan – but there was no plan, either. Coden said he'd try to find the newest Rejects – and that's about it. They did not have it in them to come up with anything better.

Cat let out a long whine. Layne wanted to, as well. If only he'd been a dog, life would have been so much less complicated... But he didn't have the time for that. He tightened his grip on the sharpened stick and stepped out of hiding.

The way he imagined it, as soon as he'd walk into the village, he'd be surrounded by enemies. The Land would catch on fire and there'd be explosions in the distance. The sky would dye itself bring red like the blood of his friends and foes... Of course, that didn't happen. It was stupid of him to hope so much.

He looked back, searching for Cat, but the dog didn't come with him.

"Ok, whatever, be a coward," he whispered more to himself than the animal.

He walked through the village, faking the confidence he didn't have. In his head, he looked big and scary, just like Victor himself. He expected anyone he met to get out of his way – he didn't have a better way to defend himself, after all. There was no point in sneaking around. There weren't even enough places to hide.

The sky was slowly turning darker and a pale moon already showed its face from behind the tallest of trees. It was as good as time as any. Most of the people were probably already in their cabins, fearing the made-up beasts. In fact, Layne didn't see a single person around – Coden would have a hell of a task finding those people. Yet it was still light enough to see the surroundings.

As it turned out, Layne didn't have enough luck to find Victor without meeting anyone else. It was just a woman carrying an empty, rusty saucepan. They froze and stared at each other for a few moments, then she dropped the item and swiftly disappeared into the nearest cabin. Layne hunched his shoulders and looked around, but no one else was there. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting. He didn't have any other choice but to keep moving forward.

It wasn't long until he reached the cabin Victor lived in – the same one he had kept him prisoner. He was disgusted standing in front of it again and hesitated to push the handle. He had no doubts the old man wouldn't even be there – it was only the first stop to look for him. That bastard liked walking around the forests at nights, and it was only early evening. No way he'd be sleeping yet, but there was a chance he'd be eating dinner.

He took a few deep breaths, calmed himself down just a little – and opened the door with more force than needed.

It was empty.

"Fuck," he muttered to himself and closed the door.

He should have been quieter. At least he should have put in the effort. Maybe then he would have heard the steps behind him.

"You're looking for me?" Victor's voice has the same spice of confidence in it as always. Layne didn't even have to turn around to see the man's smile.

"Yeah, obviously." Layne squeezed his lousy, handmade weapon even tighter and felt the veins protrude from under his skin. He finally turned on his heels to meet eye to eye with the man he wanted to murder.

For some reason, Victor looked to be even taller and more fit than he'd remembered him. Layne chased away the stray thoughts of him downplaying his enemy out of fear and just decided that the man must have, in fact, grown a few centimetres since last time.