Page 56 of Soul So Dark

“But yours is the only one I can do that in,” Aiden justifies. “Just watch, he’ll miss yelling at me for this kind of shit after you’re gone.”

Maybe he’s right, maybe Adrian will just call up Aiden when he feels like a good nag or to remind him of all the bad decisions he’s making. In the meantime, I’ll make myself scarce and disappear into the muggy night with my friends to get in as much trouble as I can. It’s not the same as it was even just a month ago, but it doesn’t matter. We have important business.

Huntingis a relative term. We aren’t looking for wild animals, per sé, and we don’t need weapons for this kind of prey. The act of searching for Bowen Garrison is entertaining enough, and what we do after we find him is still up for debate. But each day that goes by and he still walks free only compounds the pressure to do something, legal or not.

Mason, Josh, and Rory are already there, standing at Colson’s car parked in front of the house while he sits on the hood splitting a cigarette with Josh.

“You finally decided to show up,” Mason calls to us.

“Are we late?” I ask as the gravel crunches under my boots.

I didn’t even notice, I was too busy packing this old-ass game system into my backpack and thinking about how to get it to Dallas. I know she’s not home right now, I’m sure she’s well on her way to find that band she was telling me about.

“Sorry,” Aiden snickers. “You know how pets are, they can be unpredictable.”

“I thought Arlo died,” Josh scrunches up his face in confusion.

Aiden doesn’t respond, only stares across the gravel with the most deranged smile playing behind his eyes.

Josh finally gets the joke. “Jesus Christ…” he chuckles, “if that girl lasts ‘til graduation, then she might be more fucked in the head than you.”

“There may be hope for me yet,” Aiden sighs. “So, where to first?”

“Still deciding,” Rory replies.

Aiden tilts his head back, gazing up at the sky, “If I were a sociopathic murderer, where would I go?”

“We were hoping you’d tellus,” Mason grins.

“Oh, yeah,that’s right…” He smiles, his eyes wandering aimlessly in thought before he finally snaps his fingers. “Palomino.”

“Why Palomino?” Colson asks, taking one last drag on the cigarette before scraping it across the ground to put it out.

“He’ll stay away from here, obviously. But, more importantly, he feels at home there. You know,after what he did,” Aiden says with disdain. A heaviness descends over the circle, until Aiden gives shrug. “And Brantley and Wesley said he’s there.”

Everyone gives a collective eyeroll at Aiden’s theatrics before heading for the vehicles.

“Hey, is your house unlocked?” I call to Colson as he opens the door to his Civic.

“No, why?”

“I can’t find my roof rack key,” I lie. “I want to check your room.”

Colson comes to an abrupt halt and, in an instant, his eyes darken. “You lost yourkeys?” he asks dubiously.

“No,” I look him dead in the eye with equal severity, “just my roof rack key ring. They’re separate. It usually stays in my car.”

Colson pauses, and after a few moments his face relaxes and he nods.

He tosses the key to me. “Just give them back when we get there.”

I give a quick nod before jogging up to the house. I take the stairs two at a time and head straight for Dallas’s room. As soon as I step through the door, I’m hit with a wave of familiarity and peace. As pumped as I am for what the night holds, I kind of just want to collapse onto her bed and lay here in the dark until she comes back.

But, instead, I drop my backpack on her fluffy white comforter and tear it open. I start looking around while I unload the contents, searching for a good place to leave everything that won’t draw any attention. I glance down at my feet and kick my boot out, feeling nothing beneath the bed. Immediately, I sink down to the floor and slide the console underneath along with the controllers and stacks of games.

As I’m placing the last stack of cases underneath the bed, I feel a thud and then the sound of footsteps downstairs. I jump up and grab my backpack, heading for the door before they can reach the stairs. I’m in the hall and pulling Dallas’s door shut silently as the footfalls hit the stairs and a shadow appears on the wall.

I take a few steps back toward Colson’s door just in time to see Aiden’s tall silhouette appear at the top of the stairs.