Your Light is a Seed and Darkness the Dirt
When the voices started to sound eerily like the man she spoke with while being ‘detained’ she knew something was wrong. No one was so willing to let others know you had a extra voice telling you things in your mind. She kept that from her therapist. She didn’t need him to think she was crazier than she already was. Besides, she knew. Those memories were the foggiest she’s ever had, but the pain was real and the feelings she had after she left were not. Their attempt to get her to admit to things she never would have if she hadn’t been coerced had backfired. Her therapist helped her realize what she truly wanted and in clearing her mind, it opened her to the reality of her situation.
It was why she found herself driving this car, even though she hadn’t driven a car in years. Her hands gripped the steering wheel. Her hands weren’t as strong as they once were, she believed. When it really came down to delivering a punch, she hesitated. If Christopher hadn’t given her those Rogues practically giftwrapped, she didn’t think she would be able to do it. Riley hadn’t realized it at first. She just thought the trainees she managed to get were improving, but Riley’s anger had slowly dissipated and what remained was fragility.
However, that did not mean she herself was weak. No, Riley learned a new strength that went beyond the physical. When she saw Rae at the mall, it proved just how strong she was. Of course, she couldn’t help but be bitter at Rae’s abrupt departure that night two years ago. But, she understood. Nexus was the worst thing she ever could have become a part of and Rae had tried to make her see that, but it was too late and Riley was only able to realize it after the worst had come.
Christopher had become an angel of sorts to her. It was not necessarily in the religious sense; her faith her dwindled along with her loyalty to Nexus, but she would not have been able to do anything without his help. She wouldn’t have been able to climb the ladder in such a short amount of time. She wouldn’t have been able to finally be free. Forever in his debt, she told him if he ever needed someone with her skills to not hesitate to call her.
Some Nexus executives fought her departure, but by the time they got notified, it was too late. The private security company had already accepted Riley and she had long sent in her resignation. Her new supervisor, thanks to Christopher, couldn’t have been more supportive of her leave. Still, the executives wrote untraceable emails to her new employer, attempting to get them to rethink their decision. However, Christopher managed to help her out once more. He knew the head of the security firm and they didn’t take those emails seriously. But who knows how long they would attempt to get their hands back on Riley.
As the days counted down to her final one in New York City, it was almost as if she was in another universe. She couldn’t quite believe she was leaving. She was finally leaving. Goodbyes almost made her want to stay. She had created a nice group of friends in this life. Friendships she would have liked to continue. Especially with the ones in Nexus. Those were the hardest to leave because she knew, she knew they were in the dark just as she once was. She knew they wanted to make the world a better place but were ruining it instead. As much as she wanted to keep in touch, all she gave them was her new email for work. She couldn’t disclose anything else out of fear that they’d find her. That once she had settled and created a family and nice life for herself, that they would find her and take it all away.
How could her happiness be at the cost of the pain of so many others who remained trapped in New York?
Riley didn’t know the answer to that, but she wasn’t going to let her guilt get in the way of her chance at peace. Nexus may have permanently blemished her with their mark for her whole life, but she wasn’t going to let that hold her back. She still had a future. She may be running away from a potential war, but she’d be damned to allow that war to steal from the scraps she has left.
Night had already fallen along the horizon of the road, but sleep wasn’t tugging on Riley’s eyes. She was energized. Letting go of New York may have been difficult, but it was necessary and a huge amount of weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
Not everything in New York deserved to be let go of, however.
“Just like old times, isn’t it?”
Turning to the passenger side, she smiled at Rae as she leaned against the window, stopping momentarily to look at Riley as well.
No, they hadn’t officially decided they wanted to get back together, but Riley was willing to start over with Rae. And she was willing to do the same. They were best friends once, coworkers, enemies, what difference did this new journey make except for the fact that once again, they were doing it together? They had gone through a lot and their chapter in each other’s life wasn’t quite finished yet.
Dropping her hand from the steering wheel, Riley went to take Rae’s hand into her own, giving it a light squeeze. With that, they both set off to end their time in New York with the way they started it.
On the road.
