Outlier {Sequel to Outlawry}

Chapter 2 ~ Ava

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The car ride was relatively silent. The country rock was playing softly on the radio, but other than that, all that I could hear was the steady sound of our breathing and the rain pattering on the car. I had my head rested against my fist and leaning on the window. Nate's eyes were fixed straight ahead on the road. He seemed very focused. A bit too focused, even for this sort of weather.

After a few minutes of this behavior, I finally spoke up. "Hey," I began. "Are you alright?"

He glanced quickly over at me and then darted his vision right back to the road. "Yeah," he answered quickly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

I shrugged and brought my eyes back to looking out of the window and the grey buildings passing us by. "I don't know. There's a lot of things."

"Hey," he said comfortingly. "I have nothing to be nervous about. You're the one who went through everything these past few months. It didn't end with the trial. There was still so much that you did."

"I just wanted to forget," I confessed. "But no one let me do that. And now, every day, every second of my life, I am still reminded of him, because the people in my life have made it a point to make sure that I don't forget. But what does it matter."

"It doesn't," Nate insisted. "They should just stop. Luther is locked up now. He's been in that facility now for 7 months without any sort of fuss, or that we know of at least. He's made no attempt to contact you, no attempt to escape. He's out of our lives forever."

We arrived in front of a small, locally owned cafe. Nate helped me out of his truck and held up an umbrella for both of us while we crossed the street and walked into the coffee shop. I removed my scarf and my gloves while he unzipped his jacket. We each ordered our own drink and sat down at a small table next to the window facing towards the street and looking out at the world. We both just sat there in quiet for a minute, taking sips of our beverages, thinking to ourselves. The two of us didn't have to be talking, or touching to enjoy each other's company any more. We could just simply be near each other, and that was all that we needed.

After a few minutes, I leaned forward and set my drink down on the table, still gripping it in my hands. His attention caught, Nate brought his attention away from the window and to me as he leaned to me as well.

"Nate," I began. "Don't think that I'm crazy for telling you this..." I began.

He raised a brow. "I probably won't; I've been around."

I released a small chuckled before proceeding. "I have this really, really bad feeling...I've had it for a long time."

I could sense him tense up a bit. "Um...about what?" he asked nervously, looking to the side and taking a drink of his laté.

"About...Luther," I admitted. "I have this feeling that he's gonna come back. That I'm going to see him any time now, just waiting for me somewhere, to ambush me."

Strangely, I could feel his tension ease a bit. "Oh," he said lightly, tilting his head a little. "Why do you think that?"

I shrugged. "I mean, this is Luther we're talking about here. He's not your average 18 year old boy. He's very...cunning. He knows how to get his way."

He lowered his eye lids at me and gave me a look that told me I was being absurd. "Come on, Ava. He's locked up in a high security mental hospital for the criminally insane. It's got literally some of the best security in the country there. There is no way that Luther is going to escape, no matter how intelligent we think that he is."