Collateral Damage (My original work. the sequel to In The End)

Chapter 1

It didn’t seem like a year could go by that fast. Ty and I, or should I say Kenny? That is what his name was changed to when we went into Witness Protection together. Mine, you ask? My name was changed to Chelsea. It was difficult for the both of us to make the change. Ty, I mean Kenny would slip up and occasionally call my Evelyn, Evie, or Ev causing us both to look at each other in a panic.

            We never knew if we were under watch or in danger. We never knew if someone was lurking behind a corner or if someone had bugged our apartment we were staying in just to catch parts of our conversations. We were constantly walking on eggshells this past year, even now, and we both hated it. But now we only had a few days left and we were going to be moving back to the states.

            I walked through the apartment. It was quiet and not the good kind of quiet. It was an eerie quiet. It was late. I knew it was just from how dark it was throughout the apartment. There wasn’t a single light on in it. I walked into the living room and saw the sliding glass door open that went out to the balcony. That’s where I found Ty sitting in one of the deck chairs.

            I quietly took the one beside him and propped my feet up on the stool in front of me. Aran Islands, Ireland. That’s where they had placed us under the Witness Protection Program. It was absolutely beautiful. Ty was sitting in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt while sipping what I assumed was coffee or hot chocolate out of a mug. He was making me want some.

            Before I could even get up and think about getting any, Ty silently handed me another mug. I gave him a small smile before taking a small cautious sip of what I found out to be hot chocolate. The waves were slowing sweeping in higher and higher. I could get used to a place like this. Ty sighed and I looked over at him. The look on his face said it all. He was thinking the same thing.

            “Is it bad that I actually don’t want to leave?” he asked me softly while still staring out at the water. I let out a huffed chuckle as I sat my mug down on the small table between us. “I was just thinking the same thing,” I said in return. Though we were undercover and it was basically like our lives were a huge lie, part of it was actually quite relaxing.

            We really didn’t have to worry about anything here. We got to sit back, do what we wanted, and someone would call and check in with us or they would put a random amount of money into our bank account to live off of. It seemed like we had the perfect life except we weren’t who we wanted to be. I knew secretly Ty missed working on new tattoos for everyone and though it may sound completely wrong, in a sick and twisted way I missed going on my missions and killing.

            “It’s just nice here. Peaceful,” Ty said. I gave a short nod and turned my attention to the water in front of us. “Yeah, it definitely is,” I said while picking up my mug of hot chocolate to take another small sip. “Do we really have to go back?” he asked me. I set my mug back down and looked over at him while folding my hands in my lap. It was a good question. Did we really have to go back? It was nice here. Maybe we could stay here, but then again we would still be living a lie.

            “Let me ask you this, why do you want to stay?” I asked him curiously. He turned to face me at this point. He grabbed my face in his hands gently and turned my head slightly so I was looking at the water. “Why wouldn’t you want to stay here?” he asked me in return. He was right. It was absolutely beautiful here, but it definitely didn’t feel like home.