The Taint of Wolves

The Wandering Soul

Chapter Five: The Wandering Soul. 

Erin Luy had given me a map, a bag of perishables, a tin of peaches and whatever else she could scrounge up. She had given me too much. Too much to not expect something back. Too much from a woman who lived in a tiny apartment with a tiny baby.

She had given it to me to do the right thing. The good thing.

I wouldn't have done it for nothing.

But I wasn't good. Not anymore.

Tucked in the very bottom, rolled in a post-it notes, was a bundle of cash. Enough to keep me going for a while. Enough to get me somewhere. And she had left me a note on that post-it.

Good luck, Supernova. With that, there was a small photo. A cut out that was wrinkled and old. Two grinning girls with their arms thrown around each other. Nova and Erin: Erin's 16th birthday.

I had held that tight on first night under the stars on my way to Aplacina. Even in the night, I stared at those happy faces and tried to imagine my face making such an expression again.

Every day, I rose at dawn and began to walk. Along great stretches of empty road with my bag bouncing off my back. The sun rose high and I greeted her every morning as if she was a friend. I thought, maybe, if I greeted her every morning, that if I was ever locked in a white cell again, she would miss me and come to rescue me.

A silly thought, but I said good-day to her all the same.

Great trucks appeared sometimes to break the monotony of my walk like great beasts thundering on the horizon. When I raised a hand to wave, the great horns seemed to shake my skull and I laughed, left in the trial of dust and smoke.

I slept where I could, always just on the verge of sleep. Every noise woke me and set my nerves on edge, but I didn't really mind spending my night hours staring at the night sky. The worst nights were when the skies were heavy with clouds and I was stuck with no cover against the biting rain.

Five days into my journey, I strolled into a small town. I liked to think that I was on a great adventure – a wandering soul with no tethers, but I didn't think anyone else considered it that way. I smelled. I know I did and the cold water streams could only do so much to wash out my body.

Still, I kept my head down and headed towards the smell I caught right on the edge of the town. Coffee. The small café was tucked on the corner of an intersection and when I pushed my way in, my senses were assaulted with the scent of people, coffee and butter. I had never drank coffee before, but it smelled too good to my enhanced senses.

A young girl looked at me blandly as I approached the counter, staring at the menu board. Coffee. Coffee.

Latte? Mocha?

Lordie.

"Can I help you?" She asked sharply.

"I want a coffee. Please." I had a small bundle of notes in my hand. The rest were safely tucked away.

"What type of coffee do ya want? And what size?"

I didn't like the way she looked at me. The bland staring, the sharp tone. If this was the mad-maze, I would have her throat in my hands already.

But this wasn't the maze and I couldn't order a damn coffee like a normal person.

"Just a plain coffee. The largest I can get." I stared at her as she let out a small sigh, pushing away from the counter to make it. I waited awkwardly at the counter, sliding across the credits when she returned.