Permafrost [COMPLETED]

Levi

I hold my phone up but it still says no service.

I shove it back into my pocket and glance at Lena.

We were currently locked in an old building waiting for the Reepers to go home.

It would be bad if they patrolled all night.

"Why did your dad keep you from coming? It's not like you'd go to the other side anyway. Bradley Res is your dad for god's sake."

"Yeah, well, I've already snuck out twice and he still hating on me for it."

"Bummer."

Why is that the only thing that came to my head?

I shake out of my thoughts when Lena stands up.

"Let's go. They're gone."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on." I stop her from opening the large garage door and motion for her to follow me out the small side door.

I open it slowly and peer my head around the corner.

"Follow me." I whisper, my heart hammering in my ears as I creep around the rest of the building.

Lena and I walked a few long yards to a small gas station and hopped into the back of a shipment truck.

"Running from the Reepers, I take it?" I jump at the sudden voice, looking past the boxes at a blurry shadow.

"Who are you?" I ask on impulse and he chuckles deeply.

"I know for a fact that information is going to be no use to you and I'm pretty sure it's not going to come in handy, so for now I'm just that guy on the shipment truck." I see him smash a cigarette butt on the wooden floor boards and toss it out into the night air.

"Are you hiding from the Reepers as well?" Lena asks and he raises an eyebrow at her.

"I've been running from those guys since I was 14."

"Why?" I don't look him in the eye but I can tell he's staring at me and a chill runs down my spine.

"Let's just say if I was a normal kid, I wouldn't be here." His voice is low but also sharp and clear. Equivalent to being stabbed with a knife. The blood rushing down you're body and you feel like you can't breathe for a second. Can't speak. Can't think.

I watch the street lights pass like fast blurs of dreams that have yet to be discovered. Except we're going to fast to catch them.

"Don't you have anyone you can stay with?" Lena keeps provoking him and digging farther into his mind, any second he's going to jump up and kill us both out of pure rage. With a small flick of his wrist, he could slice both our heads off our bodies.

"Both my parents are over there on the other side so I've been "couch surfing" my way through town, to say the least." He grabs his bag and pulls it closer to him, feeling around for something that he can't seem to find. The knife maybe.

He pulls out a small silver lighter instead and flicks it on, staring into the little dangerous flame.

He blows it out just as fast and puts it away, proving my theory further.

"How old are you?" She asks a minute later and I watch as he glances up at her.

"Again, that information will be no use to you so there is no reason for you to retain it."

"Just curious," She responds and one side of his face twitches, raising the corner of his lips a half an inch. "You could be older but you could also be a very matured teenager."

"What do you mean by that?" He responds immediately and she noticeably holds her breath.

His face softens and he shakes his head.

"Sorry, people say I'm a bit intimidating." He lights another cigarette and lets out a large puff of white smoke.

"You're very interesting, though." She says and he kind of smiles at her.

I feel obligated to scoot backward and disappear into the boxes, letting them forget all about me.

I also feel obligated to give her a small push if she's ready to just up and make out with him.

Either could happen at this point.

The awkwardness settles in a thick blanket around us and I cough as the smoke catches up with me.

"Sorry about that. I got kicked out of one of my houses for smoking too much." He goes to put it out but takes one last drag, breathing in all the way and letting the fumes rest in his lungs.

"You could come with us if you wanted. We have a safe place." I give Lena a look but she ignores it.

Do we really want this guy staying with us?

The truck pulls off the road and stops at an old house, a few chickens on the other side of the fence.

"You guys should get off while you can. If he catches you, you'll never again see the light of day."

I take that as our cue to leave, standing to throw my leg over the side. I help Lena down and then give the guy one last look.

He gives me a wave of his hand and I wave back as the truck pulls away.

Did he stop it so we could get off?

Did he actually know the driver?

Maybe he lied to us.

We could have rode the truck all the way to RES Corp. but seeing as though the creepy guy was gonna know where we were headed, I was glad that we got off when we did.

Once there, we walked the three and half blocks to my brother's house.

We walked up to the side and tapped on the low window that led into the basement.

It was a small rectangle window that paralleled the ground by an inch.

Griffin opened the window outward and we both very skillfully climbed in.

"Finally. We were getting worried." Riley starts and I smile at her.

"Did you think we got caught?" I ask and I see a couple of nodded heads.

"How'd you get her down without the ladder??" Cade asks and I glance at Lena.

"She tied her bed sheets together."

"Aw, well aren't you two the stars of what sounds like a terrible romantic movie." Griffin retorts.