Interlude [h.s]

one hundred

"Don't mention it, I'm still annoyed."

The boy takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. "And now... tonight. Is it me, or does it feel like the world is falling apart lately?"

A flicker of enjoyment in the man's eyes. "It's not falling apart, it's only getting angrier, hungrier. There are so many instances at play. We're still in time, though. Still safe."

"For now."

"Everything is relative, if you think about it just a little too hard."

The boy's eyebrows rise. "A nice sentence, but then I'm the one risking it."

The man laughs. "Oh, don't worry. If what we heard a month ago is true, things are about to get very interesting."

The boy thinks back to the Palace's cars speeding down the street a few days ago, straight to Dacran and Greenside. To the ones haunting the streets of Northfair now. "Oh, you have no idea."

"Well." The man looks around the living room. "Cute little place. Is it yours?"

"Yes." He hears the question the man hasn't asked as if he spoke it aloud. "My brother doesn't know about it."

"Still, it's risky. I'll find someplace else. I'll let you know?"

The boy nods. "We can use the old method."

"That we will." He gives another cursory glance around. It doesn't escape the boy that he hasn't touched anywhere since he came inside, and that he's holding gloves. Safety often comes with a price of caution. "I'll leave first. We shouldn't get caught together by the cameras."

"Of course." The boy sits back at the table, feigning a calm he doesn't have. If he's right, he has less than an hour left. Maybe thirty minutes. The odds don't look promising. "See you in two weeks."

The man smiles and puts on his gloves again. "See you then, if you don't get killed first."

The boy pauses in the act of putting away his laptop and lets out a fake laugh. "You always know how to make me feel better."

"You know I don't mean anything by it." The man opens the door. The staircase on the other side is dark and unwelcoming—quite like what awaits the boy if he doesn't get home in time tonight.

The man pauses and turns to look at him. When he speaks, he does so quietly, in case the cameras record sound as well. The boy should've probably told him he looped them hours ago.

"See you, Brooks."

———————

I can't believe we've reached the end of Interlude, at last.

Well, end is a bit of a relative term, in this case. I realise I must've left you with more unanswered questions than when you started, so this doesn't feel very conclusive. It was a choice to split things here—it seemed a good moment to move on to a different, roomier setting.

Interlude will have a continuation.

The title of the sequel is Insurgence—you can already find it on my account.

The first chapter will come out in a few days—it's from Harry's perspective, it'll be a fun one.

I want to thank every single one of you for reading this story. When I started it a few years ago, I never would've thought it would take this long to write, so thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sticking around to the end. Whether you found Interlude when it started or only a little while ago, I thank you for your support—I can't put into words how much it means to me.

Lastly, I know it may be a little scary to get into another story of mine considering my updating schedule over the past year (we all know it got a little messy, there's no point in pretending otherwise). So I want to reassure you—I won't make you wait a month for updates ever again. If you know me from a few years ago, you know that I used to update often. I've been trying to get back to that with these past few chapters of Interlude, you may have noticed, and it'll keep doing it for Insurgence, too.

So, if you choose to join me on this new journey, I promise the chapters of Insurgence will come faster.

That being said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter—I hope you enjoyed this story. Thank you for every read, vote, and comment—you've made my day, time and time again.

I'll see you in Insurgence in a few days x

Miki