6 weeks before forgetting
"Hey, so how do you exactly know when the car is going to follow you?"
"You develop feelings for it."
It was the day after Raiden's first driving lesson and he was still very enthusiastic about learning. At that moment, we were sitting in the old, dark red Subaru that we previously stole. The day prior, we cleaned it out and now the chairs weren't dusty anymore but were back to their original black. Blaze had claimed the back seat and was now taking a nap. Raiden was still investigating every motion I made in the car.
Initially, I had been hesitant to drive the car, but I started to appreciate its dryness and shelter. It was a very ugly and small car, but still. It was at least warmer than outside and we didn't have to walk endlessly. Besides, we hadn't been caught yet and there hadn't been any trace of SPFs or skip tracers.
"So what happens when you develop feelings?"
I briefly looked sideways at Raiden before turning my eyes to the road again, unsure if this was still about the car. "You just naturally find the way and get used to it."
"That's not very useful."
"Sorry, I can't really say anything else. I've only driven once before, remember? I'm just telling you what my grandma taught me and adding the little bit of knowledge that I have gained so far."
I shrugged my shoulders. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how well the driving had been going so far. The fact that I didn't hit another car yet and didn't end up next to the road was making me very pleased.
"Ah, that grandma of yours. Did she also have advice on staying alive?"
"She did, actually. She knew that there was gonna be a time for us when we needed the advice and she wouldn't be there, so she gave us lessons on all kinds of stuff."
"Really? Why not go to your parents?"
"Why don't you go to yours?"
My hand moved towards the clutch while I was determined to not look at Raiden.
"Well, I told you what happened to my parents. You didn't tell me about yours."
"Am I obligated to do that or something?"
"Of course not, but I haven't heard you or Blaze mention them except for last night, I just..."
The car made a sudden movement to the right because I moved the steering wheel too hard. I quickly corrected my deliberate mistake before anything could happen. "Oops. You see? I'm also not good yet at steering the car. Luckily we are going to practice with that if we can find a big parking place."
From the corner of my eye, I could see Raiden narrow his eyes and rub his hands, but he didn't say anything. I just hoped it kept him from the topic.
"So where exactly are you planning on going?"
"Maybe there will be a closed Target somewhere or something. They probably have a big parking space."
"No, I mean after all this. What are your future plans?" he asked expectantly.
"I will try to go as far away from you as possible," I sarcastically said.
"Try it. I will follow you like a stalker." A faint smile started to form around my lips.
A glance in the rearview mirror made that smile disappear. A blue Toyota with two persons in the front, seeming to be a man and a woman, was driving behind us. It only took one second for me to figure out who they were.
"Shit."
"What? What is wrong?"
Raiden followed my gaze in the mirror and then turned around to see better.
"Shit," I muttered again, pushing the gas pedal further down. The car shot forwards, but so did the one following us.
"What's going on? Who are those people?'
I was struggling to hold back my emotions when I answered: "Those are our parents."
He tilted his head, but then his eyes widened when that sunk in. He turned back to the car behind us again and then looked back at me with furrowed eyebrows. "Wha-"
"I really don't feel like talking about that now," I interrupted him and I forced the car to go a little faster again.
Behind me, I heard Blaze waking up. By looking in the rearview mirror, I saw the realization dawn on her when she recognized the car that was following us.
"Those bit-"
"Hey! Watch your words, young lady."
Raiden's face only turned more confused when he heard how mad Blaze sounded when talking about our parents. He narrowed his eyes and looked from me to Blaze, to the car behind us, but he didn't ask any further questions.
"So what do we do?" Blaze calmly asked.
My mind was working overtime as I was struggling to drive a car at that speed. I had my eyes stuck on the road, afraid that I could hit something any moment. My uncertainty seemed to echo in the silence of the car, making everyone a little worried.
"I can use my talent," Blaze proposed.
Raiden snorted. "What do you wanna do? Blow them up?" he sarcastically responded.
"That's... actually not a bad idea."
Raiden may have intended it to be a joke, but I had enough of them. They had made our life more miserable than necessary. If they were gonna bother us, then they had to live with the consequences.
Raiden didn't really think the same, because he immediately tilted his head to stare at me with wide eyes.
"I was only joking Morgan!"
"Yes, but I wasn't."
"And that's what I'm worried about!"
With an estranged face, he looked at me and then at Blaze, trying to find her support. She, however, completely seemed to agree with me.
"Sorry Raiden, but Morgan is right."
"But they are your pa-"
"Parents?" she almost spit out the word. "They aren't. We lost the only parent we had a long time ago."
"I don't care what they are to us, Raiden. They have been hunting us from the moment our grandma died. That's never gonna stop until we do something about it."
I was done with my parents, but most importantly, I was tired of having to look over my shoulder every time to see if they were there to catch us. We had had many occasions that they found us and we had to run again, but they never stopped. They had serious problems and found joy in hunting their own children as if beating them when they were younger wasn't enough.
I was sick of them and wanted them to pay for what they did. What they did to me, and what they did to Blaze. They deserved to get that back.
"Here's the plan. Raiden, we are gonna have to switch seats," I calmly said.
"What? You're joking, right?"
But one look at my face said enough.
"Morgan, I don't know how to do this. You've seen my horrible attempts so far, and that was without the pressure and this speed."
"Well, you're gonna have to remember all you've learned. Try to make us go a little faster and give us a headstart. I can use my talent to make them not catch up to us. When we are enough ahead of them, we quickly pull over and let Blaze do her thing."
Raiden swallowed and shut his mouth for a minute. He finally seemed to come to a decision and unbuckled his seatbelt to squirm in between the driver's and passenger's seats. I made room by slowing a little down, but I didn't stop. His leg moved towards the gas pedal, and the moment I lifted my foot, he pulled his down.
Only a small shock went through the car when we found a way to swap seats. I managed to climb on the back seat and even made my way to the trunk.
"When I give a signal, open the trunk."
He nodded, to show that he had heard me.
In the trunk was the junk that we had found in the car the day before. The useful things we had already sorted out, so now the trunk was filled with things such as a sports bag, magazines, a helmet, CD's, a can of paint and some building tools. A plan started to form, even though it wasn't the best plan. I pulled out a hammer and got the lid from the paint can. It was a metallic-looking black. I breathed in and out for a moment to calm myself and then straightened my shoulders.
"Open it."
A click sounded when the trunk popped open a little. Pushing it completely open, I started focussing on the force in my mind. The invisible bundle of power moved towards the paint can. When the trunk was completely open, I grabbed the black seat behind me to make sure I didn't lose my balance and used my talent to precisely throw the paint can at the front window. Our parents tried to duck – as if that would matter – but the paint covered most of the glass, making them unable to see the road in front of them.
"Go faster!"
The car accelerated again, and I moved my attention to the building tools. The hammer seemed best to use, so I roughly threw it to the car. The glass of the window started to shatter when it came in contact with the hammer, but my parents were mostly focused on the smaller objects that I was sending their way. Their car finally slowed down and we gained a big distance between the two cars.
When I was satisfied with the distance, I made Raiden stop. We pulled over alongside the road and I jumped out. Raiden wiped with his hand the sweat on his forehead away, but Blaze seemed very calm in the situation. She confidently walked towards the road, where our parents' car approached. While biting her lips, she steadily stood on her legs and clearly focused on the fire that was burning inside her.
Finally, when the car of our parents was getting too close for my comfort, a fireball started to form in her right hand that she raised at eye level. Without hesitation, she made it grow even larger and threw it towards the blue car.
It was a horrifying image, seeing the car become a wreckage because of the hungry flames that were devouring it with our parents still inside. Did I feel guilty? Yes, of course I did. But in the end, I knew that it had to be done in order to make sure of our safety.
Quietly, I turned around to not see the whole scenario and walked to the car. The ride after was very quiet. Raiden seemed a little petrified, but Blaze I could not see. She was unusually quiet and kept making her hand form a fist, only to release it again. Her eyes seemed to be staring into nothingness and her whole body was tense.
Maybe I made the wrong decision. Maybe it wasn't necessary to kill them. Maybe there could have been a more peaceful way. They may not have shown their mercy on us, but we could have shown ours to them. I never gave them a chance to explain. Never gave them another chance.
But looking at Blaze made that thought disappear from my mind. How many times had she given our parents a chance? More than they deserved, and they always disappointed her.
And maybe I could have let them live. I made the decision. I could have simply said to Blaze that we didn't need to let her use her power because that was what I felt the most guilty for. The fact that she had to be the one to kill them. But they never offered us a chance to really live, and they would have never given it to us. They were psycho's who thought that it would be funny to sell their own kids and make their remaining lives hell. If that wasn't a reason to kill them... I wasn't sure what would be.
And maybe I justified this action like this, but I knew that Blaze was still having a hard time. She had to live with the idea that she killed her parents, and that would leave a mark behind. I just hoped that at one point in her life she would find acceptance.
As for Raiden, he definitely did not justify it. I saw it in his eyes. I saw his disgust and his horror. He might have been quiet at that moment, but I knew that he would start about it sooner or later, and I did not know how to make him realize that this had been necessary.
But it would have to be explained at some point. And that would be a tough conversation.