Chapter Six
We sat up on our landing for the rest of the day. Neither one of us got called anywhere, so we decided to sit up, watch the waves crash on the beach and watch the little motor boats speed from Free Eagle Country to Krignes and back. There was still this feeling in the pit in my stomach that we were being watched.
“Let’s run away.”
“What?” I was surprised by Landon’s voice all of a sudden.
“Let’s run away. To Krignes or Culturas. Or Bora Bora.”
I smiled at the thought of Bora Bora and Culturas. I loved the hot weather and the absolute tropical beauty there. Then again, Krignes was a good shot too. It was colder and rainier there, so I could have some coffee every morning.
“Sounds like a plan.” I smiled, his arm around my shoulders. I kissed his cheek and he kissed my forehead.
After work, we made our way to a café near the shopping district. We sat down at my usual table, and I could tell he was uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to the calming atmosphere of this café. He was fidgeting and speaking a bit too loud for the other people in the shoppe. I looked around at the other people in the shoppe, with beanies on their heads and headphones, probably listening to music and blogging. A bunch of hipsters in a coffee shoppe, and I bring this huge ass jock.
“Um, what do I order?” Landon awkwardly walked up to the counter with me.
“Just leave this to me,” I smiled, looking up at the menu for something I think he’d like.
“Hello, what would you like?”a girl with platinum blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail scoffs, waiting for her shift to be over so she can go home.
“Hm... I’ll have a... chocolate latte with whip and a bit of cookie crumble on top, and he’ll have a cafe latte with some vanilla bean sweetener.”
“Hannah--”
“Trust me, you’ll like it!” I smiled at him reassuringly. He held my hand as the girl behind the counter--Susan, it read on her name tag--went to make our coffee.
I watched as she delicately poured coffee grounds into the maker, turning it on. Pressing buttons in a flourish, steaming milk and grabbing toppings and whipped cream.
“Here, that’ll be $10.50.” She strained to smile at me as she handed us our drinks. I handed her the money, watching Landon sip his coffee. He smiled and took a bigger sip, closing his eyes.
I love the feeling I get from drinking coffee. It’s the only thing that can fill you up when you can’t eat. It rushes warmth through your body, brimming at your fingertips. It makes you curl your toes, and if it’s good, it’ll make you smile every time you take another sip.
I smiled at him, taking a sip of my coffee. It was my usual. I loved it anyways, I could never get tired of it.
We stepped out of the café, smiling and holding each others hands. Old couples smiled at us, remembering what it was like. Young love-- so crisp and delicate. He draped his arm around my shoulders, taking one last sip of his coffee. He placed it in a trash bin when we passed it, and I threw out my cup as well. We walked down to the park, where we sat for an hour and talked.
“So, what do you think we should do?” He asked, after a long period of silence. I had been staring at the Tinkering House, looming high over us and the rest of the town. As if it was watching us. Our every move. I sighed, knowing already that we were in too deep. There was no leave it alone or pretend it never happened. ‘It’s not our business, don’t get tangled up into this shit.’a voice deep in the back of my head whispered, almost muffled against the loud screams of ‘there’s something going on around here-- it isn’t safe.’
“I honestly, don’t know. I’m scared, Landon.” I didn’t take my eyes off of the Tinkering House.
“I’m scared too, babe. There’s a part of me that’s saying to leave it, but I don’t think I can do that.”
“Me either.” I whispered, remembering Kailee. “I think we should investigate.” I heard myself say, loud enough so he could hear. I felt my heart leap into my throat at just the thought of defying The Boss’ rules.
“I was just waiting for you to say it so that I didn’t look crazy,” He smiled at me. He looked down at my hands. My knuckles where white as paper, hands shaking. My hands were clenched in tight, unwavering fists. He took my hands in his, looking me straight in the eyes.
“We need to find out what’s happening. I don’t even feel safe here after we saw the cells,” He shuddered at the memory, “but we still need to find out what they’re hiding from us. We deserve to know.”
I nodded, still shaking. I was scared beyond belief.
“What if one of us gets caught or captured?” I whispered, pulling my knees up to my chest.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” He pressed his lips against mine softly.
