Elliot: A Lucid Dream

15: Second Encounter

"Where did you see him?" Sonnet demanded. Her gaze was pointed, riveted at Camille, her gray-blue eyes searching Camille's every move. Camille, at this point, had also stiffened. She was looking at Sonnet strangely. 

"W-Well, we saw him back in Fa-Shizu-" I spoke up quietly, trying to divert the sudden tension in the room. Her gaze snapped sharply from Camille to me. I felt her gaze bore into me and I shrunk back down, picking at a stray thread from the table cloth. 

"We need to go there, right now." She hurried past us, grabbing her coat off the coat hook and putting it on swiftly. She opened the door of the café. The bell rung sharply, cutting into the quiet of the night. 

"Wait, why, Sonnet?" Ashley walked quickly over to her, almost running. His eyes were wide as he awaited her answer. Was he curious? 

"I need to find Locke," She said simply, buttoning her coat up. "It's a personal matter. Very important to me. Are any trains leaving for Kaiton right now?"

"Um... I dunno? We can try it. I bet there will be: the train station never closes." Ashley put on his own jacket. I recognized it as the orange jacket/hoodie thing he'd worn on the day that we'd met. He must've really loved that one. Camille followed him and I after her. 

"Is there something wrong with Locke?" Camille asked, her brow furrowed. "Dammit, we were right, Azure! There's somethin' off 'bout him and I knew it! W, I knew something was off." 

"Yes, very. I just need to find him. He needs to be dealt with." Sonnet opened the door. "Come on. The train station isn't far. We can get there in a few minutes." 

"We can't!" Camille protested. "If we go back to Fa-Shizu, someone might recognize Azure! They're still talking! It's only been two days!" 

Sonnet grabbed a large, wide-brimmed hat from the rack and tossed it to me, along with a pair of sunglasses that had thick frames. "Wear them," She commanded. "That should be enough. No one will try reporting the same thing as the guard did, especially since he's been incarnated for that reason." 

She started running, leaving us all no choice but to follow. I quickly plopped the hat on my head, stuffing as much hair as I could into the back, put on the sunglasses, then started running. I had to keep a hand on my head to prevent the hat from flying off. It didn't seem like enough. No, it had to be. After all, I'd been okay at the Firan Train Station, even though I'd only been keeping my head down. But thanks to the guard, people were probably looking out for me more now... I shook my head to dispel the thoughts, then continued to run.

We made it to the train station rather easily, but had to wait for the next train to arrive. I sat on a bench near the tracks, my head down. To my relief, no one noticed me. They were too absorbed in their own lives to bother looking up. Still, I remained tense the entire time. My heart was racing. My head pounded. I felt sick to my stomach. There was too much going on at once to focus on. We were suddenly being dragged on this crazy chase to a city where I was basically wanted, all for a woman I'd met only a few hours ago. 

Speaking of Sonnet, she was on edge the whole time. She sat on the very edge of the bench and constantly moving around. She'd either be shaking her leg, looking around the station constantly, or be picking at her own hands. I watched her, unsure what to make of it. 

The train arrived and we boarded it, all four of us sitting in the same compartment. Sonnet continued her restless behavior. It was Ashley who spoke up first.

"Hey, Sonnet... what's up? Is there something you wanna tell us?" There was a certain level of caution in his voice. 

She shook her head. "I can't say." Her answers were clipped, just like usual.