Bronze

Chapter 23 pt.2

Leah

I'd never been so happy to see the daylight shining as brightly as it was. The day was hotter than any other this year, with the sun high in the sky and a hurricane on the east coast making it as humid as the rainforest. 

But I was happy. 

 When the guards released me into the open, I thought for sure he was the Derrive guy Markus had spoken about, but when I saw him cowering away from me back into the dark prison, I knew he couldn't have been the suddenly infamous person. 

What I didn't expect was him.

The guy who picked me up from the diner stood towering over me when I turned around. His face was scrunched up in disgust, nose wrinkled back as he growled low in his throat. 

"You!" I cried as I stepped back, jealous of the guard who could run away so easily before. "Y-you're Derrive?"

He grunted with a shrug; a grunt, I had come to remember, as sounding a lot like Nika's when the man was annoyed. They both didn't speak much, but, honestly, they didn't have to in order to get their point across.

"Call me Der," he said impassively as he turned on his leather-clad heels.

Staring at him, I was also reminded of Nika. They looked similar in facial structure and body type; however, this guy was darker in skin tone, burnt by the sun's rays most likely, while Nika- living in dense forests for most of his life- still had a bit of amber to him.

The yellow-orange speck in the sky blinded me from seeing his full face. I squinted, raising my hand to cover my eyes, but was unsuccessful in glaring at him. 

"Call me Leah," I replied with the same monotoned voice as him. 

A part of me was delighted to see a familiar face that I didn't hate. Most of the people staring knew me as a ghost or the pack traitor, so their glares were unwelcome, but Derrive protected me without prejudice and actually treated me well despite our meeting. 

"Where to first?" he asked with an eye roll. "Mall? Spa?"

"Home," I stated, walking the familiar path back to my house. It was only a mile off, closer to the high school and city center than the packhouse. Then I stopped, suddenly realizing I needed something more if I was going to see Sofie. "Scratch that," I mumbled to myself. Derrive thudded with my back, huffing in annoyance. "I need food."

***********

With my two bags of Mcdonalds food in hand, we were finally making our way to my old house on Pine Street. 

I was in desperate need of food after going a couple of days without it, and being without fast food for as long as I was, I decided the best- and closest- place to go to would be the local Mcdonalds. I even got myself a large french fry as a treat. 

Derrive, it was still weird for me to say his name, was right beside me, arms crossed and eyes focused on the sidewalk below his feet. 

Picking up a handful of fries and stuffing them in my mouth, I asked, "Why the long face?" He turned to meet my gaze, eyes as blank as ever. He didn't say a word to me, just stared. 

I didn't care that much about him, to be honest. He was my escort and guard after all. He had the power to hurt me, torture me, and I doubted Markus would stop him. I wouldn't trust a guy with that much power in a million years. 

Soon my childhood home came into view. The street sign, which had been worn and rusted with age, hung from the metal pole like torn flesh. It blew in the wind, creaking, mewling to be fixed, but it would never be touched. Not after what happened.