Chapter twenty

Chapter twenty


Ethan

Leonard didn't try to argue. He must have realized he couldn't convince me. I wasn't going to believe him. I had believed him once, had moved half away across the world because I wanted a relationship with him, but I wasn't that same person anymore. I knew it. He knew it. The entire fucking universe knew it.

“Let's go.” I said and walked out, not waiting for a response. The floor creaking behind me was evidence that he was following.

When I got outside, Kane was leaning by the door, a bored expression on his face that was visible despite his mask. Billy was no where to be found. I could only assume he'd left to give us space to talk.

“I think you should listen to him, maybe consider the fact that we're wasting our time with him.” Kane said.

“Didn't take you for the type to eavesdrop.” I drawled.

“I wasn't. The walls are thin and you were pretty loud.” he shrugged. “Leonard seems like a waste of time, and time isn't exactly what we have right now.” he said pointedly.

I hated that he knew about this. I didn't want anyone to find out and thought I could keep Kane in the dark bit longer, but apparently not. Not only had Kane guessed it, he was starting to give me opinions on it.

“I don't recall asking for your opinions.” I scoffed, tightening my defenses.

I really wished he could go back to being his usual uncaring self. At least, it wouldn't make me feel the need to shut down his advice so fast.

“Well, you don't have to ask for it before you listen to it.” he shrugged.

“When did you get so opinionated?” I glared at him.

“I'm not, I'm just really pissed and you clearly need some advice, but you're too stubborn to admit.” he groaned.

It was true. Kane had been on edge since we set foot in this place. If I wasn't sure before, I was a hundred percent certain he had history in this place. Maybe I should actually do some real digging on my mysterious employee aside from the surface knowledge.

The second thing he said, well, I wasn't entirely sure it was true. I didn't need advice. What I needed was more time to fix myself. Six months wasn't enough to fix me even if I did unlock those memories. But sadly, that was the one thing life wouldn't give me. Time.

“I could fire you, you know.” I scoffed.

Kane smirked, his eyes flickered with amusement. It was only there for a split second but I saw it clear enough to arch an eyebrow.

“You could,” he mused. “but you wouldn't, because you know it's the truth.”

I turned away from him. He was right. I didn't want to fire him, but not for the reasons he thought. I didn't want anyone knowing about my condition until it got better, or worse.

And while I don't need advice, I do need help with some basic stuff, like tracking down my father for example. I couldn't do that on my own.

“Keep up with the attitude and we'll see how true that is.” I scoffed.

I turned towards the door, expecting to see my father waltzing out of the place like this was the most normal scenario in the world. But that was not what happened. I realized the house had gone really quiet.

A quick glance at Kane and I realized he was thinking about the same thing. I stormed back in, hurrying towards the curtains. But just as I feared, he wasn't in there anymore.

“Fuck!”

“He went through the roof.” Kane said beside me, pointing upwards.

I lifted my head to see a giant hole on the roof. I hadn't noticed it when I came in. Probably because I was really mad, or because they did well to hide it so we wouldn't suspect anything.

The creaky sounds I heard earlier had been from him trying to climb out through the roof. I had been so stupid to think he would come with me, to think he would suddenly grow a brain cell and actually save his only son.

Of course, it didn't matter that I was dying. He had left. Again.

“We're going after him.” I groaned.

I was not going to let him get away again. Thankfully, Kane kept his advice to himself this time and just nodded. Not that I needed his approval, but I didn't want to argue about this just like we've been arguing about everything since we got here.

I climbed out of the hole in the roof and scanned the entire place. It's impossible to decide where he went. Especially, since there was no digital trail on him. And I didn't know anywhere in the place.

“There are two ways he could have gone,” Kane started. “He ran out of town because he knows we will look for him. Or he went to seek refuge further into town, probably with some really bad people. But since he's clearly on the run from something, the first idea seems more possible.”

“Then let's go after him.”

I didn't let Kane's theory about Leonard running from something sink in. What could he possibly be running from?

Although, judging by the kind of lifestyle he led in Moscow, it wasn't that surprising that he'd gotten into trouble again.

I jumped off the roof and decided to search on foot. There were barely any houses here anyway. The ones that were still standing had thatched roofs that would definitely collapse if I jumped on them. There is no way we would find him. How had he gotten away?

“I don't think we can find him like this.” Kane pointed out exactly what I was thinking. “We should go back and come up with something else. It's getting dark. Darkwood is dangerous after dark.”

“I don't care how dangerous it is. We're not leaving until we find him.” I said firmly.

Kane nodded slowly. He clearly wasn't happy with my decision but he didn't argue.

I squatted down and stared at the path ahead. Sure enough, there was a set of footprints on the door. Faint, but not entirely invisible. It was left by someone who wanted to get away quietly but fast. He didn't have time to cover his tracks.

Without a second thought, I began following the trail. Kane was right. He did head out of Darkwood. But what I didn't expect was for it to lead to where our car was parked, right on the borders. And that's where they ended.

“He can't be serious.” I groaned.

Leonard had played me for a fool, twice now, by leading me further away from him with fake footprints. I dug my hand in my hair and pulled in frustration.

My eyes went to the car, specifically the tiny paper stuck in the windshield. I took it and began to read.

“Don't look for me anymore. You're better without me, Ethan.”

That was everything the note said. Nothing to acknowledge the fact that I was literally dying, just not to look for him. Maybe he was right, I was better off. I swallowed back the anger, half aware of Kane's presence beside me.

Something suddenly clicked and I whirled towards Kane.
“Where's your friend?” I asked.

Kane's nostrils flared, and he was clearly coming to the same conclusion as me. We'd been played.

“I told you, you can't trust anyone in Darkwood.” he said calmly, but his eyes told a different story.

If only, I had listened.
.
.
.
It was late in the night when we arrived back in the city. Kane had went right back to the Base after dropping me off. Neither of us had acknowledged how hard this failure hit us. Two years worth of work had gone down the drain just like that.

We'd searched the whole of Darkwood, the places Kane deemed safe to search at night, but we hadn't found either Leonard of Billy. It's like they just…vanished.

The elevator doors slid open when I reached my floor. I sighed heavily. The walk to my door suddenly seem very long. The headache hadn't started, thank God. I didn't have any medications left. And after everything I've been through today, the last thing I needed was my own brain reminding me of my failure.

I strode towards my door, each step more exhausting than the other. I punched in my key code and was about to go in when Millie's doors opened.

“Hey,” she said.

I simply nodded, barely mustering a polite smile. She seem to notice my mood as she moved closer to me, her face pinched in worry.

“Are you okay? You don't look so good.” she said.

“I'm fine. Just…tired.” I muttered. I could feel another headache sprouting. Two times in one day. I couldn't afford that. But the pain slowly increased as she moved closer.

“Can you please just…leave me alone?” I blurted before I could stop myself.

Millie blinked in surprise at my outburst.

Makes two of us.

I sighed and put some distance between us until I could breath properly again.

“I'm fine, I promise. Just…leave me alone for a while. It's for the best.” Her eyes flickered with hurt but she nodded anyways.

I hated myself for hurting her when I wanted nothing more than to pull her close. But right now, I just couldn't do that. I just hoped I could tell someone about this soon. Maybe when I find my asshole father again.

“But I…”

“Good night, Millie.” I turned and walked into my apartment, leaving her in the hallways.

The headache slowly reduced the farther from her I got, but it only left a gaping wound in my heart. I wondered how we'd went from sharing lasgna on campus, to barely been able to stay in one place together.