Salt Pillars

Chapter 20

Adriana awoke slowly from what was probably the first time that she had really slept in almost three weeks. It was truly deep sleep and she felt the difference in her minds clarity almost instantly. There was so much pent-up emotional strife that she hadn't processed, because it could only be effectively processed by the subconscious mind.

She sat up on the edge of the bed and stretched her arms before rubbing the residual sleep from her eyes, still puffy in rest, but as she did, she was startled by a figure across the room. At first she thought it was a hallucination, like something left over from her dreams still clinging to her mind's eye, but after a few moments went by and a sufficient amount of adrenaline had fully separated her from any sleep state, she realized that it was in fact real.

Across the room, slumped down against the wall, was Chris, sitting in a puddle of his own blood. In one hand, he still gripped the sharp object that he had used to cut his own throat, only having completed half the job on the right side of his neck. His head slumped to the left, away from the wound, pulling back the skin to expose the eviscerated artery and muscle beneath its flap. It was a horrific vision for the sheer amount of blood that drenched his shirt and pooled on the carpet around him.

"Oh Chris..." Adriana said aloud. In her heart she felt for the boy whom she had known since childhood — the skinny kid with the big curly hair. Even after everything that had happened, she felt his loss and wanted to cry but nothing came. This dark world was just too much for his sensitive soul, or maybe she held some of the blame — if she only had let him down easier, she could've still been a friend to him, but deep down she knew that this was always the way that it was going to end for him, and that knowledge absolved her somewhat of that nagging culpability.

Adriana suddenly began to feel tired again; the constant barrage of tragedy was just too exhausting. So much so that it wasn't even really sadness that she felt anymore, more so just fatigue. But there was something else beneath it all; a sense of unfinished business that lingered in the air. So much of it could be traced back to that night at Tony's party — her pregnancy, and now Chris's death. It wasn't about revenge for her though; it was really more about making a clean slate before she brought a child into this world. It was enough that she knew the circumstances that led to its conception, but she couldn't stomach the idea that the child might ever meet its father in this world. That was just too much for her.

2.

A crowd of people gathered along Main street to witness Travis and his guys return from their pursuit of Cole. They eagerly awaited the tales of battle as the gang walked down the middle of the road like soldiers on parade returning from war. Tony marched, prodding a ragged looking Goofy with his hands tied in front of him, and the others escorted Ryan who willingly abided them for the time being. Although there was some confusion as to why Ryan was arrested but not Cole, people still gathered to gawk and yell obscenities at the wayward prisoners. Goofy stumbled with each push, looking around frantically with his bizarre fish eyes.

They were taken to the local jail, which was so old that the cells still used a lock and key. They placed Travis and Goofy into separate cells. Tony flung Goofy into his cell with enough force to send him reeling across the room and smack into the rusted metallic bench.

The others released Ryan into his, but not without a warning from Preston and Brett, "We'll be seeing you," said Preston whose complexion was a milky tone now.

"How's the head?" Ryan smirked as they shut the bars, locking them into the dark cells.

Ryan felt strangely at ease in the cell. There was familiarity to it that comforted him in a way. It was the Zen that he had to learn in order stay sane when spending 18 hours a day confined to a single room. Ryan had come close to the edges of madness a few times during his stretch of incarceration though. One of those times was after Alex's death and the subsequent deaths of his killers.