[ 2:15 PM ]
dominic. if you can hear me, i'm still here for you. i'm always going to be here for you. but you need to talk to me. tell me you're okay. i'm getting really good with a gun. you should see me. you'd be proud. apple's been really helpful! i swear she's stronger than me; that kid. she misses you. i miss you. i miss you an amount i never knew i could. please tell me you're okay.
"ray!"
i pick my head up off my palm and focus on grayson and the odd color white map in front of us at his dinner table.
"we've been at this for hours!" i groan, "we're trying to find a needle in a fucking haystack. they could've taken him on a boat! a fucking submarine. a train!"
"ray! let's think rationally here. why would they take him on a boat? or a submarine? or even on a plane? why would they need to take him out the country?" grayson questions me.
i think about them.
we don't have a single clue where dom is.
where would they take him?
a boat and submarine is too slow and i'm sure he would feel the rocking of the waves right?
unless whatever they injected him with knocked him out and this is a shot in the dark.
i sigh to myself.
"what's four hours out from maryland?" i question.
"we've been ov-"
"run it over again."
"you're looking- in either direction- at washington d.c., virginia, pennsylvania, ohio, delaware," he lists. "give or take."
"well let's think rationally here," i mock grayson, "out of all of those places, which one is the most reasonable one they'd take him to?"
grayson and matt stare at the map intently.
"all these states are trash when it comes to federal level except the capital," matt says, pointing to d.c.
"i mean, i wouldn't put it past Them if they've got underground tunnels or shit where they're holding him," grayson says, "but from maryland, it's like an hour drive."
"it fits the timeline of events gray. he blacked out. he doesn't know how long he was in that transport truck," i tell him.
"you think they're holding him in the nation's capital?" grayson asks, chuckling.
"it's not the most random idea we've had," i shrug, "and it kind of makes sense."
"then keep trying dom," grayson nods.
i could keep trying him and i could keep getting no answer.
"and if he doesn't answer?"
we all look at each other.
"then we go for blood," gray states.
i sit back in my seat and let out a deep breath.
more bloodshed.
it's a forethought that never seems to leave; taking everyone down at my expense- because i say so.
that's so much power.
would i be the same after that? no matter how much i try to forget or move on?
i'd become a monster and that's not who i want to be.
my mother derived her joy from being one.
and i don't want to be like her.
a monster at every waking moment. i wondered if she consistently had nightmares since positive energy never kept her company.
but this isn't about my mother.
or me.
it's about dominic.
a home when i felt like i never had one; physically or emotionally. even when he got on my nerves, i still respected him. i still trusted him no matter how hard i tried not to.
although i wouldn't admit it before now, i'd do anything for him.
i'd destroy the world for him.
"based on that radio loop, the world ends and starts over for one percent in five days. if he doesn't respond then, on that last day we'll attack. until then we'll keep coming up with a full proof plan to actually not get ourselves killed when we get there."
this is for dom.
he's done so much for me and now it's my turn to pay him back.
"soraya." i look at grayson. "no matter the betrayal, you need him."
"this comes down to loyalty gray."
"you never trusted me to begin with," matt says.
"no one was talking to you. and you have a phone?! which we haven't broken!"
"in the large scale of things-"
"large scale?! here's large scale, dom could be dead. how large scale do we have to get?"
"can you stop saying that?!"
"i'm preparing myself!"
"do you really think he's gone?"
no.
i don't think he's gone.
even away from me, my body still feels him.
an essence. a soul.
whatever it is, it's becoming a whisper.
he's fading.
but that alone lets me know he's still here on this earth with me.
these two would never understand what i'm talking about though. they just wouldn't get it.
"i'm preparing myself," i repeat.
grayson groans.
"i just want you to think logically here."
"logically, we don't find him and they kill him."
"we'll find him ray. how comfortable are you with the guns?"
"not where i want to be."
i want to anticipate someone before they anticipate themselves. me sleeping comfortably at night isn't helpful to that cause.
"let's train," grayson states, standing.
"what happens if he's not at the capital?" i ask.
"one thing at a time. in the meantime, do your best to get in contact with him."
"okay," i nod.