𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐎, the gifted [1]

chapter seventeen

The three were on a road. John was in a crouched position on the ground. One hand touched the gravel road as he concentrated. Winona pursed her lips and looked around, her arms tightly crossed over her chest. She turned back to the truck and longed to be sitting down in it.

"This road we're looking for, do you remember anything about it?" John asked, turning to look at Clarice from his crouched position. "No, I don't. You're the one that saw it. I was unconscious," Clarice answered. John released a sigh as he stood. "Okay? I was hoping that I'd able to find something about it in the news, but--" Clarice was cut off.

"Yeah, well, Sentinel Services is pretty good about covering up mutant incidents, so," John walked back toward the truck. "Really, John? Was it necessary for you to say that?" Winona asked, following after him. Her boots slapped against the ground as she stalked after him. He didn't respond.

"Well, then, I appreciate your little quest for redemption, but obviously, this is useless. So take off and chase your next scent, or do whatever it is you do," Clarice said to him, walking past the two and toward the parked vehicle. "Clarice. Come on, let me help you," John said. "No, you can't because there's nothing to track, no trail to follow," Clarice said. She pulled her backpack from the truck and pulled the straps over her shoulders.

Winona wrapped a hand around Clarice's wrist to halt her movement. Clarice stared at Winona, her eyes holding mild anger. She looked down at the hand around her wrist and then back up at Winona who shook her head. "Yeah, maybe, maybe not. You could have a trail inside you," John said. Winona groaned, tilting her head backward in annoyance.

"Yeah, I'm not in the mood for some hippie New Age talk right now. All right?" Clarice said. "Listen to me. When an animal is hurt or scared, their instinct is to take themselves to a place of safety. A nest, a burrow," John began. "I don't have a burrow, okay?" Clarice interjected.

"Yeah, but you did. You had a place where you felt loved and you felt safe. Clarice. Where was that?" He continued. Clarice looked away from him and shrugged impatiently. "I don't know," she said. Winona released Clarice's wrist and crossed her arms over her chest. She allowed her mind to wander to the different possibilities as to where that place might be.

"What about your old foster home?" She asked quietly. Clarice's eyes met Winona's and she nodded slowly. "Maybe," she muttered. "Am I missing something?" John asked. "Quiet John. The adults are speaking," Winona said. John rolled his eyes and turned away from them. Winona allowed a small smile to stretch across her lips.

····

The truck pulled to a stop and the three got out of it. They began walking along a dirt road and took in their surroundings. Clarice looked around the area, the gears in her head spinning as she tried to see if she recognized anything. "This kind of looks familiar, but all these roads look the same," Clarice said.

"Well, what did the house that you grew up in look like?" Winona asked. "I don't know. One story. Not too big," Clarice answered. She then looked to John and began speaking again. "It was a home for mutant foster kids. The ones who couldn't pass as human. I was only there for a couple years, back when I was supposed to be in high school," Clarice explained.

"Why'd you leave?" John asked. "The couple who ran it, you know, they took good care of us, but their idea of keeping us safe was to hide us away forever. Which really sucks when you're 15," she answered. The three continued walking. "Wait. That looks familiar," Clarice said before walking ahead of the two and toward a gate. John and Winona caught up to her.

"I remember this gate," Clarice said before grabbing the latch. The gate creaked as Clarice pushed it open and they entered. "That's the farmhouse," Clarice said, a smile coming to her face. She then began running forward and Winona followed after her. She zipped her jacket up as she felt a chill.