Soulmate

 It never felt like someone shared my point of view. I felt rather… spurned. I always felt left out, not in the sense of being a loser, but for the person with innovative, distinguished, misunderstood, genius matter. In middle school, I created a 3-D combinational puzzle with a six-colored cube that includes nine squares and can be rotated separately, and I named it Vincent Puzzle. It turned out that I invented Rubik’s cube. Ah, this is such a torment to get along with this world!

 “Wait!” Well, that was instant. I’m still figuring out the way to get him on my side. “I know what trouble you’re in. I can help.”

 “What?” That didn’t sound good. “How do you know? Does anyone else know?”

 “No, just me. I walked past your house while visiting my aunt. She lives across the street.” I just dodged a bullet.

 Febian looked confused. On his face, you could read a few different emotions: doubt, anxiety, mistrust, unwillingness, and exhaustion. The most prominent was uncertainness. Uncertainty whether to believe me or not. It was impossible to predict the odds of him making the choice in my favor since we just fucking met. I could say he’s going to punch me in the face and run.

 “How exactly do you want to help?” I didn’t reflect on that.

 "II will offer you a place to crash for a while, until we figure out what to do next.” This was definitely the most rational step for him to take. He had nowhere to go and no one to trust. Beside me, of course. In spite of my incompetence as a detective in process, I had a vast interest in bringing bad people to justice and exposing them in the most insufferable way. An acute wave of vulnerability crossed his face.

 “No, thanks. I will find another way. Thank you for help.

 What. What just happened? He refuses the offer of having a roof above his head and unconditional help. And also, a circumspect plan? I’m shocked. This can’t be true. He ain’t got nothing to do but fall for me. Besides, leaving him alone would be a crime. The dude has severe trust issues.

 “Well, what are you going to do then?” I didn’t hesitate to ask, still stricken by his ludicrousness of assertion. Febian Hawthorne isn’t going to make it without me. I was his one and only lifesaver. I should’ve been wiser to think of the plan, though. He is stubborn and drawn to the point of thinking he can do everything himself without a side hustle. Gotta change that.

 “I will…,” He was intervened by the siren of a police car. Wait. The police car?!

CHAPTER 3

 We started to run immediately, knowing approximately no road to follow. Both of us are on the edge, intimidated by police cars chasing us, and uncertain what to do. This hits differently. I run with him after me. Knowing our chances of getting away are approximately 0.00000003, I have the only idea in my mind: lead him to my house. Not the one across the road, the one I currently live in—in Washington. We could catch a taxi down the road if we weren’t chased. Oh yeah, we are.

 A stroke of uncertainness strikes me down. They are onto both of us; they’ve seen us, probably. I don’t know where to run. Suddenly, I notice a dark, empty alley in between the street and two other buildings. Let’s go there. Febian seems most terrified—he’s trembling in fear, as if it’s a matter of his life and death. The inexorable, sweet moment of seized liberty pierced him invincibly. There’s no more joy than feeling numb and agile simultaneously, I bet.

 His dad is a monster, no doubt. I wonder if he was a hostage or a regular son of a hophead. I have so many questions to ask.

 “Follow me,” I led Febian through the alley that got us to another impasse. “Shit”.

 What a lot of trouble it is. How do criminals manage it?

 I was adamant and unwilling to give up that easy. All I had to do was get him out of here and get to the station. Easier said than done.

 “There,” he noticed a little hole in the fence; we got through it. It led us to an unknown area we had no idea about. His face reflected perplexity and fear. “How about giving up?” Funny.

 I grabbed his hand and pulled us out of an uncommon area. We ran towards the subway station. A stroke of hope pierced my body.

 “No one’s giving up. You follow me.” I got tired of the getaway. There was one bus that could take us to Washington, where we would be safe. All we needed was to wait for it to arrive and hope for the best until we were caught. Besides, the whole town is most likely aware of the occasion and already on their way to find and return little cop’s son home and get a smooth remuneration. Febian better not come back.

 “Give me your phone,” he said, taking it out of the bag and handing it over. I immediately threw it away somewhere out. “I’ll give you a disposable as soon as we get to my place.”

 “How can I be sure you’re on my side?” He asked timidly, like a little child asks his mom to buy candy in an excessively crowded store.

 “We just ran away from police. What else do you need?” He was so unwilling to trust me I couldn’t bear it. How are we going to be in the future?

 “Why are you helping me?” The train stopped by. I caught a sight of police officers going downstairs to the station. We are extremely lucky to get on the bus before they saw us.

 “No more talking.”

 I paid for both of us, and we sat on opposite seats and didn’t make eye contact all the way to Washington. It was a long and peaceful trip. I was about to fall asleep, and I would if the burden of fear didn’t bother me.

 Cops don’t know me, do they? If so, they won’t be able to find us if we’ll be miles away from Riverside. The only way to track us would be Febian’s phone, which I threw away at the station. Oh my god. His scent.

 “Come here,” I called him right away and took the perfume out of my bag. It might help for a while to lead police dogs astray. I sprayed his clothes with this perfume and told him to cover his face with a. We cannot afford to risk.

 The bus was almost empty inside. The situation was escalating every moment, as I was too afraid of being captured every damn second. Febian was calm and quiet, as he usually is. A slight breeze gave me goosebumps. I was startled by Febian’s calmness and unassumingness. It would fill me with just insane running away for myself. I couldn’t probably pluck up my courage and not be so worked up about it. Perhaps, it just me.

I couldn’t sit still and wait, so I decided to turn the TV on to distract my busy mind and discard any negative thoughts.

 “And now, word to Major Hawthorne.”

 Oh my God.

 “Tonight was the most desperate night in my life. My beloved son Febian ran away from home. I don’t know what circumstances could cause such an event, but I’m going to do everything to bring my son back. Police won’t rest until they find my son. This horrible nightmare should be put to an end once and for all. If you have any information concerning Febian Hawthorne, please report to the police. ”

 It was quite expectable that Major Hawthorne would contribute to his son’s search. The situation will become more intense from now on. We need to be more careful. Something bizarre happened while I was speculating about our next step.

 “What’s happening?” I could hear anxiety in his muffled voice.

 The train had stopped suddenly, leaving us at a crossroads. We were only passengers today. There must be some gas leak or other malfunction. We’re on our very own now. I noticed how struggling Fabian was with his fearsomeness; this is something completely new for him, but also, he’s got a whole lot of packages behind his back. There is a lot to figure out and tailor.

 “We’re out of light. There must be some accident.”

 “What do we do?”

 “Wait a little, teenage mutant ninja turtles are on their way to help us.” The joke was a little irrelevant. All my jokes were a little irrelevant most of the time.

 “You’re delirious,” ok, not a little.

 “I am. But it’s going to be fine; we just wait here.”

 I wasn’t sure what to do either. This is the first time the station was down. I don’t know how long it takes to repair it, probably till the dawn, but we can’t wait such a long time. Kyla is going to kill me.

 “Hey mate, I think we should get to be going.”

 “Where?”

 “Out of here.”

 “But how are we going to get to Washington? It’s a shitload of miles from here,” he was right. And it is dangerous up there anyway, but I’m afraid we have no other chance but to leave.

 “Just go”

 And now it’s been hours since our leaving. We were eager to finally get to surface, but to no avail. Darkness was increasing gradually, as was our possibility of getting lost for a sustained period of time. Our feet are dumped from the slob and mud of such a place, and we were cold to death. It was exactly the opposite of how I imagined the “running away together” feeling.  My goal was to survive this night.

 “So you like The Beatles?” I initiated the conversation.

 “Why would I?” he responded unwillingly.

 “You have a picture of John Lennon on your shirt.”

 “Oh, well, it’s just the shirt,” just like I guessed.

 “What music are you into then?” I was eager to hear some rock group or heavy metal out of his mouth.

 “It’s one direction mostly,” oh my god. He doesn’t look like a directioner at all. He’s all depressed and somber and never thrilled. But okay, now I don’t judge a book by its cover. I was a directioner once myself, for it was the “in” thing among teenagers back in the days; however, it’s not anymore. Paramore would be another good example of time-changing, though it is one of those rock bands from the 2000s that may keep their flexibility throughout 20+ years.

 We were walking straight for an hour, if not more, through the filthiest sewer in the entire world. We went slowly and steadily, as if we were strolling down the seaside on the verge of the sunset in the most marvelous evening in Washington; sand would clinging to our nine-our-walk feet, lingering as if we were standing still, experiencing the pressure of waves underneath them sometimes. The wind blowing carelessly, making us both rue not worshipping invaluable times like this, which happen only once in the very blue moon. A sonorous squeak would

distract us from our innermost thoughts, which are meant to be never shared. A light-headed mind of ours would be no longer loaded with unflattering solicitudes, which made our everyday life so miserable no one ever could escape. The idea of a utopian world always seemed so tempting and soothing; with such a carefree carbon-based life form, I would undoubtedly be on top of the entire world. I would make this universe knee in front of my gorgeous goddess-kind frame, the supremacy of which no one was allowed to doubt.

 This is the life of my dream.

 In reality, it was quite the opposite: it was unendurable to avoid the smell of sewer-dwelling rats, which appeared to be semi-degradable in a place like this. No offense, Master Splinter. I genuinely expected us to encounter a lost-hope light penetration, leading to the surface a long time ago. Sometimes Febian would stop for a break, staring at my eyes like there was something besides the iris and corneas. I did the exact same thing to him.

 We were still marching through the sewer, and it seemed enormous, making it impossible to escape. While we were passing it, I’ve noticed some significant features: the walls were unreal to discern as they were dark as the black hole, but a slight stroke of light penetrated from somewhere above, demonstrating the view of it’s shining. The floor we were standing on was made of stone and bleached to make it less rough; the ceiling was not possible to see, but I could say it was the same substance as the floor, however, neither bleached nor rough. Tiled structure could be felt underfoot, highlighting stripes of glue. The most significant part was the smell of it. Ugh! I’ve never felt this revolt before. The stench caused me immediate nausea on the spot, but I could endure it.

 “Vincent, look!” said Fabian, in excitement. I looked right in the direction he was pointing, and oh God! We finally found the exit. It was a door, scornfully constructed in the end of the hall; it was so old it had mold all over it, but I couldn’t care less at the moment. We tried to open it manually, and it opened, welcoming us to exit. I haven't felt a breeze in my hear like this for a sustained period of time.

CHAPTER 4

 The wind subsided, and a and a black, obscure sky piously hung above us, almost merging with the end of the horizon, making us not able to see anything, for our eyes are not used to dark yet. It became easier to be with every single breath of fresh air, with every single shine of night sky, and with every single realization of finally breaking free. My comrade’s inexperience was showing so easily I found it a bit unjust to perceive him as if he were a puppy—a tiny, frightened little puppy who is afraid to pluck up his own courage and follow his heart.

 We were getting weaker step by step, stopping from time to time to sit on the bench without any willingness to stride any further. One thing was clear: we needed some place to crash and some food to eat. I caught myself pondering about completely unnecessary things, about the environment I’m surrounded by. I forgot about the actual thing—our well-being. Fabian was walking silently, afraid to utter the wrong word, because with every endeavor to speak, it seemed like, due to the lack of rest, his words were slipping away from him. A muffled groan of some beast was heard from afar, diluting the somber atmosphere of the night with incoherent noise. The rustling of leaves was especially audible, suppressing the background of silence.

 His deep voice interrupted me from my thoughts.

 “What’s next?” he asked timidly.

 “I have no idea.”

 “What do you mean you have no idea?” his voice started to rise. I could see he was a little irritated. “You said you'd help me to run away, but we ended up in the middle of nowhere. You said you had a plan!”

 “For a start, calm down. I promised you to run away, as we successfully accomplished. And yeah, I got a plan, and right now we are following it. Yes, certain circumstances got us up guard, but…

 “I shouldn’t mess with it in the first place,” he responded quickly, not letting me finish my excuse. I instantly realized how messed up my initial idea was to take the goddamn subway and not think of any contingency plan. I fully understand his disappointment.

 “Don’t worry. We’ll come up with something. I know a hostel nearby. We can crash there for some time.” There was certainly no use of my unwarranted excuses; he is not stupid.

 “Just leave me alone.”

 “Leave you… What? No. You can’t be on your own.”

 “Why are you doing this? I don’t know you, so why should I trust you? I shouldn’t have trusted you in the first place. You said you had a plan, and now we’re in the middle of nowhere.”

 “Maybe you shouldn’t. Now it’s too late to turn back; you have only one choice.” I was getting angry by the tension between us. Too late for him to start regretting.

 “I choose to go on my own.”

 “Fine. But remember: I still have your personal information, and police are on every corner.”

 We were looking at each other in silence for a few minutes. He angrily frowns, showing how resentful he is, rubbing his icy nose. I was thinking if I had anything else to say and wondering if Fabian had anything else to say. The silence was deafening. I was startled with his fortitude on going out on his own when being forged to these kinds of circumstances. Not only that, but Febian Hawthorne was as stubborn as rock when it comes to decisions. I was sneering at his tendency to do so.

 “I see you on the other side.” I ain’t got nothing to lose or gain in this situation, so I turned around and went against his direction somewhere in the fading darkness. I was eager to try his independence.

 “You’re bluffing,” he cried.

 “Well, maybe I am.” Some conniving laugh of a villain would be a perfect match for me. “Your complacency knows no limits,” he grinned.

 I was moving away from him, and the farther I went, the more miserable Febian seemed, alone in the middle of the square, completely clueless. My disrespect to “the lonely wolf” increased so much, as he thought he would manage getting away with what he has done. Remarkably pretentious of him to show such immaturity.

 I was walking past police headquarters, making sure there’s no leaked information about location. Luckily, police had more important things to do than chase two escaped teens. Local beggars started robbing their favorite donut shops. Something was whispering to me that Febian went directly towards darker areas, where all the vagrants gathered. In this case, his chances of success are reducible to zero. Vibrant, distinct colors showed up around the corner he entered. I followed him.

 “Not a minute for seclusion,” I thought. “He must’ve bumped into a group of bad people." My level of anxiety started to grow. It was very possible he was going to get himself into trouble.” However… The sun’s coming up. No need to hide anymore. Moreover, he can come back any minute. I wouldn’t mind.

 My phone started ringing. I reluctantly picked up.

 “How’s everything going?” said the voice on the other end of the phone.

 “Meagerly,” I replied, scratching the top of my head and picking at the stone under my feet with the end of my worn-out shoe.

 “When are you going to arrive? Everything is set. You should’ve arrived a few hours ago. You can’t delay it.”

 “Relax, I got it. We will be home soon. Just one more night, he is tired.” I actually felt like I had a little brother, whom I was walking home late at night under mom’s angry voice.

 “What?! Vincent, you’ll be caught!” She screamed desperately, trying to convince me I was failing. I hang up.

I hastily turned around and went in the opposite direction to the central area. The morning wind wasn’t blowing; silence could be heard from anywhere. It was half past seven. Near the coast I was standing on, it smelled like mud. The sun, rising from far away, was covering everything in morning light. I felt enlightened too. I’m afraid to look past me because I can still see Fabian desperately trying to be on his own. A completely new, gratifying feeling pierced me from head to toe when I went to grab some snacks at the nearest convenience store; I realized the existence of other interests besides my very own. Significantly different, maybe. That’s why Fabian wanted to split up; he had his own perspective of living outside of his father’s house. I didn’t realize that, since I was solely putting my strategy forward, leaving his ideas behind. And that’s my retribution for everything.

 Life in this place was still average: same people, same streets, same grocery store shopping. With only one feature—in this city there are two guys who escaped from the police, looking for a place to spend the night and regale, and thinking that they can get away with it without any serious complications, coming out of the water dry. Nothing in this city has changed except for people's conversations, which were usually about the weather and life; now they were about these two guys.

 I walked into the store and headed to the hotdog stand. Small, local grocery store with a few features that distinguish it from Target. Suddenly, I witnessed a little chat between a stranger and a local sheriff.

 “Have you heard about news from Riverside?.” A man with black greasy hair and a striped tweed jacket stroked up a conversation with the same greasy-haired man.

 “About Major’s kid? Oh, definitely. In fact, living under such pressure of having a cop dad prevents having all the fun for a teenager; that’s why he left. Now he’s causing such problems for his poor dad.”

 “If they only knew.” I thought to myself, picking out jelly jars.

 “Yeah, a kid like this would be a pain in the ass. Maybe it’s a good thing he’s gone. If he were my son, I’d rather.”

 At this moment, I started to lose patience. My knuckles turned white and sturdy, my eyes were ready to jump out of eye sockets, and my body was drenched in sweat. I felt obligated not to let these people talk about my pal like that. I will teach them a quick lesson before they open their dirty mouth again. I turned around and looked aggressively in the man’s eyes and punched him right in the

face, feeling a sharp rush of adrenaline coming from my lower body all the way to my head. I was leaning into an agitating moment of ruining someone’s face. I felt like I needed such a charge. I would not atone it for all the treasures in the world. There’s nothing to atone, actually.

 “What the heck are you doing, kid?” he yelled in the pouring rage coming to him starting with this instant. However, I didn't have to wait long for a retaliatory strike.

 “You know, being an old fuck says it all.” A stroke of injustice poured out of me like a river.

 “I don’t know who you are, but I know you asked for it.” He starts rolling up his sleeves, staring at me angrily. I punch first.

 He knocks me down the second I punched. Now I’m lying on the floor with a bearded man over me, nearly destroying my face. We were beating each other, shouting “asshole” and “jackass” sometimes. It wasn’t the ideal way of getting revenge for putting down all the noble things I have done for Fabian, but it was worth trying. The whole store looked at the security guard separating two bleeding men in amazement. I ended up kicked out of the store. I looked at the man one last time. It wasn’t the end.

 I ran away looking for Fabian everywhere. The man just threw a fist at me, indistinctly yelling something. The moral of the story was the frightening fact that some people knew about Fabian here; we needed to head out immediately. Oh, why, indeed, did I let him go?

 I saw a desperate figure covered in baggy clothes, looking around in confusion. In a long hoodie the size of himself, with a hunched back and in the hood that covered his entire face, Fabian was moving in a direction he didn’t know. Didn’t take a second to guess. I grab his arm, making him look at me.

 “We need to go. Now.” I say, gaspingly.

 He looked at me with an obvious disgust, barely looking at me at all.

 “Look, I know you don’t trust me and think you can go on your own. But I promise I figured it out; moreover, we are in big trouble right now; many people in this place recognize you.” I tried my best to sound persuasive.

 A stunted old man looked at us in astonishment, pointing at us with his finger.

 “It’s them! Bill Hawthorn’s son and his associate!” he yelled at the crowd. It wasn’t even listening anyway.

 “Will you go now?” I asked one last time.

 “Yeah”

 It reminded me of the night we escaped police. Same rush, same nervousness, same path. Scared of the possibility of being caught. But this time, the police were not chasing us, surrounding us on each side. In fact, no police were around. But it could if we stayed for a couple of days.

 I was walking away so fast I forgot how tired I was. My eyes were closing on their own, lingering for a few seconds sometimes; my breath was taken away, so it was impossible to run any further. I’m only human, after all.

 “I can’t go any further,” cried Fabian with his fading voice. “We need a place to crush.”.

 I was more than satisfied after hearing “we” again. An instant feeling of reunion overflowed my already cloudy mind. The point stayed, however. After being scared of our own prejudices, Fabian and I calmed down and made an arrangement, laying down some rules. First, we stick together. Second, in case we split, we will have a walkie-talkie, which I will buy on the way. Finally, I persuaded my so-called comrade to trust me unconditionally, proving that I’m unrelated to his father’s police squad and I’m not luring him straight to the secret base, where he will be ruthlessly punished for not obeying his imperious daddy. It took a while for me to slow down the pace and conventionally talk to him in peace. I realized I knew nothing about a guy I was voluntarily cooperating with.

 Sun shone in the last moments of existence in this day, being already at sunset, vigorously trying to point out our way. The hostel was nearby, luckily, so we designated our stop. The designation area was the cheapest place in the state; the hostel looked so rashly and somber it seemed to be haunted. But for two desperate guys, it appeared well and even tantalizing. We were elating deep inside, obscuring it under semi-killed faces ready to zonk out any minute.