Chapter Text
Will ran.
Away from the orphanage. Away from his yearmates. Away from Horace.
Every time, he thought. Every goddamn time. Horace would just insult his face, then Will would insult him back and just run before the other boy caught him.
The others didn't even do much. Sure, they said they cared, but actions? Not so much. Probably because they didn't have the advantage of being fast like Will.
He finally stopped in his favorite spot. Just a block away from the park, on a quiet, small road with little to no cars and submerged by giant buildings. The darkness was always calming, in some way. He glanced up to the sky. Because of the time, it was just a sea of near black, though starless because of the light from the city.
Will didn't even care to step off the road and onto the slim sidewalk. It wasn't like there were gonna be cars, anyway. And if there would be one, it was certainly not going fast. He'd easily see it coming.
He sighed. Only a few more years and he would be able to go to college. He would live on his own, without annoying kids or not-very-caring nurses. Just him.
He sat down, still in the middle of the road, and listened to the sounds the citystate of Araluen was giving him.
He heard the hum of traffic on the highway. The chatter of the cafe close by. A mouse close by searching for food. The sirens of police. They seemed to be approaching him. Probably those, what're they called again? Whatever. The government had been dealing with them for decades now. Every time someone innocent dies. Kinda sad.
The sirens of police were only a few blocks away, Will realised. He should probably stay still for a bit, until the coast was clear again. But the sounds only got louder.
That's when the jeep appeared. Two bright lights blinded Will as they were moving towards him with terrifying speed.
Will didn't even realize he had already stood up. Then quickly jumped away, but he knew one thing. He wasn't gonna be on time.
But whoever was driving the car had spotted him. The car was steered firmly to the left, and it immediately collided with the building on the side. It was promptly flipped on the side by the immense forse and slid on for ten more metres.
Will had pushed himself against the wall, even though the jeep had already passed. He was still in shock, especially because the sirens were now passing the street.
But they weren't entering. They passed. The jeep had gotten away, and crashed in the process.
Only then did Will realise someone had been in the back. The person had jumped out the second the jeep had turned and was now pacing towards Will, seemingly unharmed. But Will wasn't scared. Not because the shadow didn't seem terrifying. But his green eyes were glowing.
Will knew what that meant. His eyes were likely glowing as well, though it was less visible with his brown color.
The figure seemed to look at him for a few seconds, then turned away and ran towards the wreck of the jeep. The door had already opened, while someone was cursing quietly. Not in the common language, though, which was weird.
Two people emerged from the jeep. Once again, Will couldn't see who. But their eyes were glowing. One had blue eyes, the other brown like him.
'We have to get out of here before anyone notices,' the one from the back said.
'How? This idiot here can't even stand on his own two feet,' the cursing one responded.
'It's not THAT bad...' the random third person said.
'Well, it's not like you know that.'
'I can feel it.'
'Not really. Something called 'adrenaline' exists.'
Back-of-jeep guy sighed at the bickering of the other two. 'Let's just get out of here. If my instincts are correct, we should be close to the park. We'll hide there and go back when it's safe.'
'Last time we followed your instincts, we ended up in avenue 63,' swears-dude said.
The first one shrugged. Then turned to Will.
'Do you, coincidentally, know how to find the park?'
Will, though still terrified, nodded. Then realised they coudn't see that and croaked 'Yes.'