The Runaway

The way that Darren had spoken about Vanessa leaving hadn't been right with Ethan. It had felt wrong? What had happened? He had left the club, trying to type out something like asking her where she was, but he didn't really know if he could type while looking around frantically to find her on the streets. He turned a corner, and he felt like his heart sank. She looked so small sitting there, and he strangely recognized her in a second.
He went over, sitting down on the pavement next to her, being silent as he heard her crying. "Vane ... What happened?" he asked in a calm voice, not wanting to startle her, but he was also very confused. Darren had just gotten up and left, and Gareth was nowhere to be found, the same with Ayalla. "Hey, hey, why are you crying?" he asked, carefully cupping her face with one hand as he looked at her with concern - of course only if she let him.

Seeing her cry was bad enough as it was, but her flinching away from him as if he was going to hurt her ... That stung. He placed his hands on his knees, trying not to stare at her and giving her the peace she needed right now. He just didn't want her to be alone. Then she spoke of her heart being broken, how it was getting stabbed and he wanted to shield her from that hurt. He wanted to hold her hand, soothe her and tell her that her heart was far too strong to be broken.
Then she said something that made him frown, looking out on the street with an empty gaze. Gareth and Ayalla? He blinked a few times, shaking his head a little. "What? Are you sure?" he asked, rather much in disbelief himself. He was blind to that kind of stuff unless people told him directly. "But ... I thought she was with Darren already?" he said. He might've been born a brunette, but he was often dumber than a stereotypical blonde.

Ethan took a deep breath, feeling like this was so surreal. Vanessa vented a bit of frustration, but it didn't really bother him, he was more thinking of how it had went right past them all. However Darren must've known. But why had neither of them said anything? "But ... Is it really that bad?" he asked, frowning at his own words. He knew Ayalla deserved better, but if Gareth was treating her right wasn't that a good thing? He felt like he was getting a headache just trying to wrap his head around it.
"Don't say stuff like that," he said, carefully moving a hand over to place against her back. He rubbed it gently, stroking her up and down along her spine. "I wouldn't know what to do without you," he confessed in a small chuckle. Despite this revelation, Ethan didn't take the news as something too bad. Sure, it wasn't nice to be lied to, but he could understand wanting to keep something a secret. Neither Gareth nor Ayalla wanted to hurt Vanessa, and though they went about it wrong, he felt a little jealous somehow.

He'd be fine after a while? What did that mean? Ethan shook his head looking at he in disbelief before she got up. He barely heard her mumble before she was off and it startled him. Quickly he moved to his feet, feeling a sinking feeling in his chest as he started bolting after her. "Vane! Please! Don't go!" he pleaded in bits of yelling. His heart couldn't bear it. This was worse than any nightmare. This was tearing at him, breaking him from the inside and he felt utterly lost.
It didn't take long for him to lose sight of her, feeling a pit in his stomach as he stopped, bending forwards and placing his palms against his knees to catch his breath. That was when he felt the tears run down his sweaty face. He couldn't even stop her in reality. He was useless, he was weak. He sniffled, straightening out his back and lungs as he wiped his face. He had lost. There was no recovering from this, at least not in his mind.

Ethan felt lost. Had he lost her? Had he not been able to make her want to stay? It stung, closing his eyes as he took in a trembling breath. He took out his phone, the screen still not in a good shape, but he did manage to find Gareth's number.

[Messages between Gareth and Ethan]
[Ethan:] I'm not someone to judge others for their feelings
[Ethan:] But Vane just ran off
[Ethan:] I'll look for her ... But I might need help

He didn't even know if Gareth even cared right now, but if there was one soft spot in his cold heart, it was the spot for Vanessa. On that front, Ethan knew he could trust the daemon, but he was considering something else. Maybe getting to Samuel first was a better option? He knew he didn't have the strength to run anymore, his legs shaking a bit from exhaustion.

[Messages between Vanessa and Ethan]
[Ethan:] It's okay to be angry
[Ethan:] But I just wanna help

[Messages between Gareth and Ethan]
[Ethan:] I'm out in Western ... Here
[Ethan shared his location]

He breathed out, frowning as he saw that Vanessa had indeed seen his messages, but she didn't reply. She always replied. The car came roaring around the corner and the human just got in before they drove off. "She headed south," he said, feeling his heart race, shaking his head a little as he felt like he should've done more. He didn't even care what Gareth and Ayalla had been doing, but it meant a lot to Vanessa, and so it meant a lot to him. "Do ya actually care 'bout Aya or are ya just trying to escape boredom?" he asked as they drove. He had never seen Gareth keep his attention on a girl for more than a couple of months. They turned another corner, heading in to south and his eyes were busy looking at the people they passed. She had to be here somewhere, right?

Ethan swallowed at his friend's reply. He had never been a big fan of Ayalla, but he didn't want to see her hurt either. However now was not the time to worry. The phone was tossed in his lap, picking it up with shaky hands as he dialed. At first he thought this was some weird dream, or rather nightmare, but as he looked out the window. The phone was picked up, but there was no greeting. He knew that Gareth's brother was cold, but not even a proper greeting? "Hey, uhm, this is Ethan ... Gareth and Vanessa's friend?" he said, straining himself to sound more normal, but he was deadly worried. With a bit of a shaky breath he started to explain what had happened, or at least loosely as he didn't want to let Samuel know about Ayalla and Gareth. He just told that Vanessa wasn't responding, that she had ran off and now they were looking for her.

Ethan frowned, listening to the stranger on the other end. It was weird. Samuel was like some sort of mythical creature, one that everyone knew about, but never had seen. Swallowing he just listened before the phone got hung up, shaking a little from the nervousness. "He said to turn around; To go to his place," he mumbled, frowning as he shook his head. How could he just leave Vanessa out like this? He felt his heart aching, but he didn't know how much of that hurt he could actually show in front of Gareth.
The daemon asked him a question, shrugging as he didn't quite know. "He just sounded ... Cold," he said, looking at his friend who seemed to speak in a similar manner. They really were brothers, huh. It felt weird. Gareth always seemed stoic, but he was easy to squeeze a laugh out of once you knew him. However Samuel was clearly another breed on his own.

Gareth stopped the car, making Ethan grunt a bit as he already knew what it meant, and as the daemon said it, something just clicked in him. He looked at his friend, the one he considered his own brother, not bound by blood but by something deeper. "You want me to wait around? Want me to do nothing?" he asked in pretty much disbelief. Shaking his head no he looked out the window. "She wouldn't let me hear the end of it," he mumbled, grasping his hand in to a fist. He felt so angry. Angry at himself because he hadn't been able to keep her there, sad because he knew that Gareth was right.
"I'll go to her place ..." he said, knowing he was far from strong enough to face Samuel at a time like this. He grabbed the key, opening the door even if he deep down wanted to stay seated and go with his friend. He leaned down, looking in to the car, looking Gareth deep in the eyes. "We just need her back safe ... Don't go making deals," he then said, but he had a feeling like something was already brewing.
Ethan closed the car door, stepping away before he watched the car drive off, and as soon as it was out of sight he looked down at the key. Ayalla would probably be there and he didn't really know if he was ready to face her either. Looking around he took a deep breath, realizing that this wasn't far from the playground that Vanessa had shown him a couple of weeks ago, so he decided to go there for now.

Ethan had just been sitting on one of the swings, dried tears on his cheek as he tried not to worry. He cared for Vanessa, more than he should've in his position, but how could he not have let her crawl in to his heart? It felt like an eternity had passed before he finally received a message. He dried his cheeks, taking a few deep breaths before looking at the screen. The message alone was enough to set his heart pounding. Exactly what did Samuel think he and Vanessa had been doing? Ethan had never even tried kissing her, he had only held her when it was appropriate and ... His eyes widened. What did Gareth think about all of this.

[Messages between Gareth and Ethan]
[Ethan:] What does he mean by "have been doing"?
[Ethan:] I ain't never disrespected her, G, I swear
[Ethan:] Where do I go?

He felt his heart racing as a car stopped at his location. He got up, narrowing his eyes as a guy stepped out, walking directly towards him. Ethan wanted to run, but the guy was faster, grabbing him and shoving him in the back of the car. Before long the scenery around him changed and he was being dragged up some huge marble stairs and in to a mansion even bigger than the one Gareth had. "What is going on!?" he yelled in frustration, but the guy gave him a good push in to a room.

Ethan gulped as he stumbled in to the room, but seeing those grey almond shaped eyes, he just knew who the man was. No questions asked, and as the gesture came he walked as calmly as he could, sitting down. It felt nerve-wracking, his heart beating out of his chest from the nervous feeling he was having right now. The question of a drink came out of no-where, but he politely shook his head no. He didn't even know if he could swallow anything while sitting in front of this intimidating man. Was this really Vanessa's father? He sure did look the part, and it felt very scary just to sit here. Trying to remember how to breathe, he folded his hands in his lap, scratching a bit at his worn-out jeans.
The daemon returned to his seat, and Ethan's eyes just looked a bit into the air before focusing on him. Yet he didn't really dare look him in the eyes. He was by no means on any sort of home field with this one. He gulped silently at the mention of just getting killed off, as if it was the easiest and most logical thing that Samuel had thought about. However he couldn't quite believe what he was saying regarding Vanessa. Samuel fell silent, and the human stuttered a bit, trying to find his words. "Listen, I ain't trynna ruin nuffin'," he said, trying to explain himself as he sighed, hanging his head down for a bit. "Fair ... Yeah I do care 'bout her, but I ain't some fooking creep," he said, gritting his teeth slightly. "I wanna keep her safe, yeah, wanna make her happy and I might look stupid but I ain't an idiot," he said. He knew he would never have a chance to be with Vanessa, at least not the way his heart was telling him to.

"How should I know how she feels? She haven't told me," he retaliated, feeling a bit protective. He couldn't wrap his mind around Vanessa actually feeling that way about him. He understood were Samuel was getting at, but he still didn't believe it. "Listen, I'm not trynna mess shite up for ya," he said, picking at his jeans for a bit while he considered what they were actually talking about right now. Something in him made him angry, that Samuel thought that he was even worth worrying over, but also the fact that Vanessa seemed to have no true autonomy over her own life. It was rather spooky, to say the least. "But why? Why are we even talkin' 'bout this?" he asked rather frustrated at this point. "I mean, isn't it more important to find her? Bring her home safe?"