In Hollywood: Glorybringer Fanfic.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Peril

Peril insisted that she wanted to take a walk outside. After weeks of staying in a hospital bed, she had trouble walking, but with Sunny's help, she managed.

They walked around the hospital for a few days. The doctors insisted that Peril must be accompanied, but she refused, saying that Sunny would keep her controlled.

Every day they went out, Peril searched for a place to escape. They weren't many choices. First, she would have to go far away. Second, she would have to think of a disguise and probably dye her hair.

But this was the right thing to do. She would go somewhere far away, where nobody lived. People would be safe from her. And she would be safe from them.

With hours of sitting in her bed and planning, she realized that she couldn't do it alone. She needed help. Sunny's help.

She decided that she needed to tell her, sooner or later. How could she not?

However, there were flaws to her plan. First, she was pretty sure that Peril's hospital room was bugged. They would never let her step out of the hospital. She was already fine and in need of no treatment, but the government was refusing to let her go.

Second, Sunny might not react well to her plan. It would cause her trouble, after all. It was a risk Peril had to take.

So she decided that she would tell her when they were walking around outside. It worked.

When they were far enough, Peril started to talk in soft whispers, praying that Sunny would understand.

The words came out like a flowing river. She talked fast and softly so that people wouldn't hear, although nobody was near them. "I'm running away. I can't tell you the location because I'm not sure where I'm going to go. I'm not sure if it will work, actually. But I have a plan. I know Scarlet's daughter. I know she lives close. We're not friends, but hopefully she's help me."

Sunny had looked at her with pained eyes. She knows. She knows I can't stay, and it pains her to let me go.

It made her feel warm. Sunny was her friend. Finally, she had a friend— someone she could trust. "You could stay, Peril," Sunny said, placing a hand on her arm.

Peril shook her head. "People will always want to use me. And the surgery— they don't even know how they made me like this. They will never learn it from me, because then they will use it for their selfish reasons. Somebody will. So how are they going to fix me? The answer is they won't. So I'm going to run away. Maybe to a different country."

Sunny sighed. "I think you're right. What a horrible world we live in, Peril."

Peril almost wanted to stop talking. Sunny seemed so sad, so broken. But she had to go. The quicker she left, the better it would be for everyone. "Do you have a phone? I'll contact you, alright? Give me your email."

Sunny wrote it on a piece of paper and placed it in Peril's pocket. "You can take my car. Do you know how to drive?"

Peril nodded. "They taught me. Sometimes I would need it, because when I assassinated people, sometimes they lived far aw—"

Sunny forced a smile. "No more of that. That is good." Then her discomfort turned into concern. "Are you sure about this, Peril? You can be happy here."

Peril nodded. She tried to ignore the sadness, the pain at throwing everything she had away. But her happiness wasn't what mattered— it was what she could do, what would happen if a different person controlled her. She couldn't risk it again. Sunny seemed to understand. She nodded back.

And the planning started.

A few weeks later in the afternoon, they were walking like usual. Except Peril had borrowed Tsunami's jacket and cap, which had been gifted to her so that her hospital clothes would be hidden.

It had been Sunny's idea. "Everyone would report you if you go out in the public wearing the hospital clothes," Sunny had said. Peril had reluctantly agreed.

"You'll need money. Lots of it," Tsunami also had added. Peril had to agree to that, too.

Sunny led her to the parking lot. She made sure nobody was there, and then motioned for Peril to get in the driver's seat.

Sunny looked away and talked fast. Peril almost didn't catch the last part. "In the back, there are a wallet full of money— Glory got the most she could— and Tsunami's clothes. There's a phone. There's a wig and a pair of sunglasses."

Peril felt like crying. "Sunny. You're too kind. You— you—"

Sunny grinned. "Everyone else helped. And how can I not be kind, when you saved...Clay?" She replied.

Sunny grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Stay safe."

"Thank you for everything. Please tell your friends—"

"Our friends," Sunny corrected.

Peril couldn't help but smile. "Please tell our friends that I will be forever in their debt."

Sunny nodded, smiling back. "I'm going to scream that you stole my car so that they don't think I helped you escape. Good luck, Peril."

And there, they said goodbye. And as Peril drove out of the hospital, blood ringing in her ears, she could hear Sunny's screams.

~

Clay

He was barely surviving when he saw the car. He had buried Morrowseer near the ruins. He had managed to find fruit in the forest. Mulberries were everywhere, and so were dandelions.

But he was close to starving. He knew needed a plan. Yet he didn't have anything— he didn't have money or a way to contact his friends.

His friends. He thought about them a lot. Were they okay? He had a feeling— or perhaps hoped— that they were. But there was no way of knowing for sure.

He was going near the ruins to see if anything had been left— food or a place to stay— when he saw the woman.

The police had left a few days ago. At first he planned to run away, but when he looked closer, he could see that it was someone he knew.

Dressed in a coat with messy blonde hair, she stared at the burnt building and the ruins. Like a part of her had been burnt away, too. She was reaching out with her hand, like she was grasping something she couldn't have.

He saw something in her that reminded him of himself. A feeling of being locked in a cage, knowing that you were going to be treated like a monster, that you were never, ever going to be accepted— it was like she was mirroring him.

He knew he should have ran away, but something about her kept him staring. And finally, she lifted her face.

That was when he noticed her startling, fiery blue eyes.

It was Peril.