All Cadence could think of was to distract Zaine from whatever pained him.
“So who is he?” she said.
Zaine glanced back at the old man, and Cadence said “Yeah. Who else?”
“No idea” Zaine said.
“You guys didn’t just meet a few minutes ago. I can tell. You have to know something.” she pushed.
“Actually I know nothing about him. I had never seen him before today that I can remember.”
“What’s his name?” she said.
“I . . .I don’t even know that.” Zaine realized.
“Can we trust him? I mean there’s just something about him that makes me want to follow him or tell him everything, but we don’t know anything about him. Where did he come from? Where’s he going?” she was whispering now.
She was convinced he could hear her.
“I can’t answer any of that.” Zaine whispered back, before stealing a glance at the old man, who was still staring intently out the window.
“Do you think he wants us to follow . . .er . . .go with him?” she asked, her eyes begging for an answer.
Again, Zaine had none to give, but he said “I have a strange feeling he does, and we should.” anyway. They both looked back at the old man with curiosity. He wasn’t just some intriguing specimen though. He was someone they found themselves caring about and wanting to be near.
“it’s almost like he thinks something is coming after him.” she suggested thoughtfully.
“Maybe we should just ask him.” Zaine said and looked in her eyes for a response. He couldn’t find a clear one, so he just continued “God knows he hasn’t hesitated to ask us questions.” “This feels different. I don’t know how but it is. . . I think he’ll come back when it’s right. Anyway somehow I know we were supposed to meet him. No matter what happens. I can just feel it.” Zaine consented with a nod, and tried to push the old man out of his head. He didn’t want to deal with the impatience of waiting for him to return. They both suddenly realized that something was different. The distraction of the old man and their conversation had let something sneak into their presence, and they weren’t even sure what that it was. They only knew it was definitely there. It suddenly exploded in their heads, flashing a light that exposed the new stranger. There was a car behind them. Zaine’s mind began fighting to compile information and he realized he hadn’t seen a car since he entered the bad section of town with the old man. The car was right behind them too. It’s headlights looked like one big searchlight. Cadence and Zaine tried to look back, but it was like staring into the sun. They had no idea what the driver or even the car looked like. They started noticing the swooping noises all around them. They were on a giant busy street. They weren’t traveling to the other side of town. They were on a highway headed far away from everything they knew.Lights like swollen fireflies were all around them. They had to assume the highway was endless, and unconstrained by toll booths or exits. They turned back towards the back of the bus. The old man was moving up the isle, using the seats as banisters. They hadn’t heard him coming. Looking back at him, they could have been staring directly into an eclipse since the headlights were right behind him. “What’s going on?” Zaine asked, worried. “What do you mean?” the old man asked.
Cadence broke in, and said “Are they chasing us?” “Well . . .no.” the old man said in a honest way, that comforted Zaine and Cadence. “They’re chasing me.” he said shattering the safety blanket he had a few seconds before made for them. Cadence didn’t waste any time. “Why?” she demanded. “It goes pretty far back. It’s a long story as they say.” he calmly said. “We have a right to know” she pressed. “Why?” the old man fired back. Cadence opened her mouth, but she had nothing to say back to him. “There are some things I have to tell you.” the old man said, still standing in the isle, “I don’t believe in doing anything blindly and I hate hypocrisy, so I don’t have any choice other than to tell you these things, if we are going to stay together.” Their eyes widened, and their ears hurt they were listening so hard. He continued “I know you have had dreams of fatherly comforters, arms that promise everything is fine, and guides that will leave you perfect for ever and ever. I am telling you now I am none of those. You will watch me muster all the heart I have to hurt someone. You will help me save people and they will call you heartless, or worse they will forget you completely. I save people from themselves. That is my cross, but I am no saint. You will see that I have a past, but there is no time to speak of that now. I have humiliated, killed, and sacrificed myself. I show others that they can do the same. I won’t show them pity, just as I wouldn’t coddle them to weakness and leave them to a predator. You will have to do the same, and it will hurt you. At those times, you will have to force yourself to understand that it is not about you at all. What I’m saying is mostly inconceivable to you now, no matter how clever or worldly you believe yourself to be. You don’t need to understand all of this now, but you will later. All you need to do now is trust me.”Cadence and Zaine knew that everything they knew parents, school, and a protected world were dead to them. Life felt sharper and realer than it had ever been for them before. Cadence accepted her new life and said “We are in great danger aren’t we?” “Yes” the old man said quietly. “But you can save us?” she asked, making herself vulnerable. “That is why I took you in.” he said. The words ‘took you in’ echoed in their heads, but thy couldn’t decipher what he meant. Somehow having the old man’s support and company comforted them more than their warm bed’s at home could have.Then their world crashed. They weren’t even sure if they heard the bang. It was everywhere. They felt it in their bones. The buses lights died. The old man was thrown forward. Everything was noise, and they couldn’t even hear him hit the ground face first. Cadence hit her head on the window, and blood was running down the side of her face. Zaine had been able to grab the seat in front of him, although he never consciously thought to do it. He turned around and saw he face. Her eyes were scared and drained, and the blood was dripping down her neck. She looked like a corpse. Zaine let go of the chair, and let himself fall to the floor. He laid there with his head on the dirty bus floor. Everything was black. Everything wasn’t black before he realized. He turned his head back, so he could see the back of the bus upside down. There were no headlights in the back window. He suddenly realized that the car had crashed into the back of the bus. He innately knew they had done it purposefully. Instead of being relieved that the car was no where to be seen he was frightened. He would rather see his enemy. He wanted to know where his killer was. All three of them were positive that the car had not left.Another crash this one from the left side. The bus was swerving off the road. Zaine was thrown into the metal legs of the bus seats. It was like being slammed against prison bars. He could not feel the pain yet, only the shock, so he knew it would be unbearable later. Cadence was thrown on top of him. He stopped concentrating on his own pain. Her body was slumped. “She’s dead!” was screamed in his head. “No she can’t be. I won’t let her be.” he convinced himself.”He hardly knew this girl, but he needed her to be ok. He pulled himself up to a sitting position, and he began to feel the pain, shooting through his body warning him to stay still and febrile. He didn’t even consider listening to it. He gently laid her in his lap. He was deathly afraid to find out if she was alive. He didn’t want to know the truth if it wasn’t the truth he wanted. She was warm. His brain lapsed. He didn’t know what to do. “Breath!” he thought. He had to find out if she was breathing. He put his head against her chest. He could hear gentle breathing and a soft heartbeat. He rejoiced in secret. “Not dead, just unconscious.” he assured himself. He looked down at her endearingly. Her hair was draped across his leg, and her face was so tender, with the eyelash fully concealing her eyes. He impulsively felt foolish for forgetting about the car and the danger. He braced his arms around her to protect her. After that scare, he would not let anything take her. He tried to scan for the next attack, but there were no clues anywhere. That was when he saw the old man.He was sitting cross legged watching Zaine and Cadence. He almost looked like he was studding them, and he was clearly pleased with what he saw. Zaine was shocked at the old man. Zaine was young, and fairly fit, and had assumed that under the old man’s gritty layers of clothing lied the frail body of a grandfather. Yet, here he was without any apparent pain or injuries. “They’re gone . . . For the time being.” The old man said as if he and Zaine had stayed up talking deep into the night. “Wha . . .Why?” Zaine stammered. He finally allowed himself to notice that he was shaking, and hardly had control over himself. The old man had complete direction over himself, and the incident didn’t appear to have shaken him at all. “It is better for them if I don’t die. Do you understand?” the old man continued in his soft conversational tone. “I don’t think so.” Zaine said, baffled and overwhelmed. “If I they kill me, I am a martyr. People worship me. People follow me. I am instantly immortal. There are people who will know I am dead, and they will know why. The how isn’t particularly important. It could be in a dark alley, or by poison. They could even dispose of my body. That doesn’t matter. Anyway they do it is an execution and will be recognized as one. Do you see now? If people will follow me now, when they can’t see that I risk anything for them. Imagine what they will do, if they think I risked everything for them.”