Bitten

The Train

Chapter 78

I was a married woman. It was hard to wrap my mind around. But, we did. As soon as the ceremony was over we were bum rushed by my brothers who were honestly more excited than my sisters. Cheap vodka shots were passed around but we couldn't celebrate for too long because we had to get on the road. I had already talked to Jonathan. And I didn't need to get his approval as Commander. I just told him what was happening and he agreed. He was even going to drive us to Chicago.

Which meant, we could be in Therap but tonight. While Noah and I got married Jonathan got our fake ID's.

And now, it was time to hit the road. I gave Anna back the dress she let me borrow and I was back to normal in cargo pants, my boots and a long sleeve t-shirt. I hugged everyone goodbye and promised I would be back. Even though my mother and Laura were crying I didn't feel like this was a final goodbye. This was just goodbye for now.

Jonathan just finished up fill the gas tank and Noah was waiting for me to get in the truck.

"Let's get a move on. We got places to be", Kiki shouted from the truck bed.

We all came in for one final group hug and my mom whispered in my ear,"Be careful".

"I will. I always am", I didn't want to pull away from this moment but I had to. I wish Gloria was here and not trying to carefully return the dress without Anna's boss realizing we stole it.I couldn't wait for her to get back. We had a mission to accomplish and not a lot of time to complete it. I shuffled through the dirt and popped in to the truck.

"Kiki do you want to ride shotgun or are you good in the back?" Noah asked.

"I'm good", She said  as I turned around to see Jonathan had a bunch of crap back there covered with a tarp like that solved the problem.

"Then let's roll", Noah wave goodbye to my family as he got into the truck. As soon as the door was slammed shut we took off. And I couldn't help but look in the rear view mirror and see everything that was important to me staring back waving goodbye.

I will be back.

As soon as we hit the back roads Jonathan gunned it forward into the night of the morning. This truck breathes and takes energy as if it were part of the flora of the land, and so driving becomes as natural as running free.

The drive was completely silent. Jonathan didn't have anything to say and Noah just seemed happy I leaned against his arm to rest. Occasionally, Kiki would shout something when we hit a revenant.

And after a full day of driving we finally made it. The city grew as platinum petals into a dark sky.

Chicago.

Tonight the city was alive with lights that echo heaven's stars.It was a city of wide avenues and small places to sit and eat, to relax as folk went about their night. There were the sky towers in the centre, what was once thousands of homes now took up less ground space than an old shopping mall. The rest was parks and wild spaces, a chance to walk among nature or enjoy the trails on bicycles or horseback. Yet perhaps my favourite thing was the river that flowed through the centre, crossing the bridges, pausing just to look at the view I saw every day and loved all the more.

"All right last stop", Jonathan said pulling up to the sidewalk and parking. The train station wasn't much just a bunch of ticket booths that led into a dome brick building that would lead you to your train.

"Thank you", I said as we all started to get out of the truck.

"Don't thank me, you're the one taking the risk. Good luck".