Scattered Souls

Chapter 36 - Ball of Sunshine

"You're awfully quiet today." he pointed out, as the tune of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun graced us from the radio. 

"Yeah, I just have a lot on my mind." I admitted. Surely that much should be obvious after yesterday.  He didn't expect me to be a ball of sunshine after all of that now, did he?

"Is it because of what happened yesterday?" he asked, with a concerned tone.

"No shit Sherlock." I couldn't hide the sarcasm from my voice, and neither did I try.

"Would you like to talk about it?" I was beyond surprised by this offer of his. I thought guys preferred not to talk.

"Why do you look so surprised?" he asked, probably noticing my shocked expression.

"I didn't expect that you'd actually want to talk about yesterday." I admitted.

"I don't mind." he said with a smile. "I'm an open book." he added on.

"Says the guy that likes to keep the mystery alive." I retorted, with a scoff to emphasize how strongly I disagreed with that statement.

Open book? My foot. He's had so many secrets from the very beginning. His connections. His ability to do things. His ability to use someone else's body as his host. His life before. Everything was so complex and he most certainly wasn't the most forthcoming about information concerning his past.

"The secrets I keep are to protect you, love." he looked so genuine while he made that statement that I really wanted to believe him. However, a tiny part of me still held on to my initial suspicion. I still felt like there was something important he wasn't telling me. 

"What are you protecting me from exactly?" I asked him, genuinely curious.

"It's on a need to know basis." he said with a look of uncertainty.

So much for being an open book. He couldn't even answer my very first question.

"Why are you in such a hurry to get your remains?" maybe I'd get lucky with this question.

"Time is of the essence." he said, as if it were the most obvious thing.

It's like I literally wanted to pull my hair out after those words came out of his mouth. Could he be any more vague? What was he? A selectively open book?

"Why though?" I had no idea why I was even entertaining this, he clearly had no intention of telling me anything relevant.

He simply stared at me in silence.

That was it. I've had enough of him beating around the bush. Quite frankly, it was driving me up the wall. I wanted answers.

"You know, for someone that dragged me out of bed this morning to accompany you on this silly road trip, the least you could do is tell me why you're in such a hurry to get to this place." I made sure I used up every bit of annoyance as I said those words. So he'd know I meant business.

"What makes you think I'm in a hurry?" his cool composure was getting on my nerves. How in the world is he so calm about everything?

I lashed out in hope of getting answers from him... And now even that backfired miserably.

"Well, the fact that you wanted to go the very next day after finding the locket." I pointed out.

"And the fact that you've been driving like a maniac since we left home." I added on. He was driving quite fast. Almost as if the place we were going to was going to burn down any minute now.

"Maybe I'm just out of practice." he said with a wink.

"Is there some sort of deadline?" I wondered, ignoring his previous remark.

"I guess you could say that." he looked thoughtful.

"What does that even mean, Xypher?" I asked with an exasperated tone. 

"I just want to know so that I can understand better. So I can tie up all the loose ends I've got in my mind." I admitted. How was I supposed to help and support him if I had no idea what he was up against?

His face softened a little. I saw this as a sign that maybe he would open up.

"I made a deal with the dark souls a long time ago. A bad one. It was driven by revenge at the time." his hands were gripping onto the steering wheel so tightly, it's like he was trying to control an outburst.

"You aren't driven by revenge now?" I couldn't hold back those words, for some reason what he said surprised me. I'd expected him to still be holding onto the anger and revenge. In all honesty, I wouldn't blame him.  He had been through a lot. 

"Well I was. But with time, that desire of mine seems to have dwindled." he admitted, looking deep in thought.

"That's a good thing though." I pointed out.

"I suppose it is." he said nodding his head in agreement. "However,  the deal I made back when I was lusting after revenge can't be undone."

I was starting to wonder what and how big this deal that he made was? I mean for it to have him all shaken up and frantic, it has to be something big. He wouldn't be racing to collect his remains for no good reason.

"It seems major." I decided not to poke the bear any further. I could feel how tense he was in the seat next to me. Perhaps, I'd rehash the subject later on and maybe he'd be more willing to tell me.

"I've made some really bad decisions, Robyn. But you must know that I made them before I met you. After Julia, I felt like there was no hope for me. And I lived my life and made decisions accordingly. Meeting you has given me hope again."

His words alone took my breath away. As far as romantic lines were concerned, that was by far the best one I've heard thus far. My heart melted a little bit more and the familiar heat rose to my cheeks. I turned towards him and gave him a little peck on his cheek. Our eyes met when he took his eyes off the road for a few seconds and I could feel the fireworks ignite once again.