Fade

Chapter Seven

When I woke up that morning, I had a feeling everything would go to Hell. I wish I had trusted my gut, but I didn't.

I tapped my foot impatiently.

Where are they? Come on, these two could be late for their own funeral.

Like he was reading my thoughts, Gareth appeared in the doorway. "Sorry I'm late. I kept slipping on ice."

I frowned, staring at him. Something was slightly off. I couldn't tell what it was right off the bat. "Now we have to wait for Christina."

"I ran into her on the way here," Gareth said. "She wants us to meet her under that bridge we found you at in December."

Something's wrong.

I picked up Christina's bag, then thought better and set it down. I didn't need anybody to see me take it and question me. "You got the money from you aunt, right? Let's go now. I'll teleport."

Gareth glanced over me with cold eyes. He held out his hand.

I frowned again before taking it, then teleported is under the bridge.

I tried to pull my hand away but Gareth tightened his grip. I tugged harder before turning to see what he was doing and watched as he pulled power dampening cuffs out of his jeans.

Wait. You aren't even wearing the same clothes you were when you left...

You're not Gareth.

Dawn?

Dawn had the cuffs on me in less than a second. "Just in case you find a way to get out of these, you should know your friends will get their brains blown out. Trying to run away was the worst thing you could have tried to do. You should've just told Joe the truth."

Never in my entire life had I felt so angry, not even on the day I killed my parents.

"What did you do to them?" I asked, trying my best to keep levelheaded. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Dawn shifted back to himself. He even had the audacity to look slightly guilty. "We all do what we have to to get by. You should know that by now, Fade."

I closed my eyes and exhaled. He wasn't even using my real name. "You don't have to do this." I opened my eyes. "Dawn? Dawn, look at me. If you take me to Joe, he'll kill me. He'll kill Gareth and Christina too? Can you live with that?"

"I'd rather you three die than me," Dawn responded. "I told Joe about what happened at the bank. Gareth's cousin already called and told him that you were trying to run away. He went to get Gareth and sent me to get you."

My chest hurts. This can't be real. Please, not today. Today was suppose to be a good day.

"What about Christina?"

"He texted me and said he found her walking back to the house after he got Gareth."

I closed my eyes again, willing the tears back. "You didn't have to tell Joe. You didn't have to rat us out."

"You should know that you can't trust anybody. Not me, not Katrina or Christina, not Gareth. You can only trust yourself."

I clenched my fists. "Hey, Dawn, do you want to know a secret?"

I was stalling, trying to come up with a plan. Dawn knew it but decided to humor me. "What's that?"

I leaned in closer to whisper the next part in his ear. "I killed my parents."

Dawn pulled back and stared at me with wide eyes. "You killed your own parents?"

I nodded.

"Why?"