The rain drips from Avery's head to his shoulders, from his face to his chest. He hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella, hadn't cared enough to check if he needed to.
In loving memory of Derek Hutchins
10. 24. 2000 - 1. 1. 2021
Beloved son and brother
May you always find your path forward.
The words, carved into cold stone, taunt him.
It hadn't taken him long to find the obituary online. A search of a name, a look through some Facebook pages.
Three months now he's been coming here. In the morning before classes. During lunch, when he can't stand to be around people. After school when he should be heading home. On weekends, he spends even more time here, surrounded by cold stone and deadly silence. Sometimes he talks, sometimes he doesn't.
Avery is the same age as Derek, yet Derek is four years older. Avery was four years too late to save him, Derek was dead long before Avery even knew his name.
Ths rain stops, the sound of water on plastic loud in his ears suddenly. Avery doesn't look up, the water on his face still drips.
"The D.M.S has taken his letter." The body next to him speaks.
"The D.M.S?" Avery's voice is hoarse, scratching for hours of unuse.
The body steps closer, covering both of them with the umbrella. "The Department of Metaphysical Sciences."
Finally, Avery looks at the person talking. They're unassuming, brown hair and brown eyes, gray tshirt and black jeans. The most out of place thing about them is the yin yang bracelet on their wrist, and the gleam of intelligence in their eyes that would look more at home on a detectives face, not a twenty something year old.
"Nice to finally meet you, Avery. I'm Wifies." And oh, he knows that name. Knows that he owes this man for everything that happened.
"Why?" Is all he can choke out. Why what? Why did you find my video? Why are you here? Why did they take a four year and three month old letter? Why did you care? Why did you make me care? Avery doesn't know, Derek would.
Wifies must assume he's asking about the D.M.S. "They must have found something interesting in it, but I can't say what."
Avery takes a minute, listens to the noises around them, birds and rain, and a car running a handful of feet behind. "Why are you interested in this? Department? Doesn’t that mean they're an official government body?"
"I'm looking for someone they have," Wifies voice is calm, steady in a way that sends shivers down Avery's spine. "I was hired to find a kid named Alex. I found out about them through him, and what they did to the kid."
That doesn't answer his question, not really, not in the way he wanted at least. But before Avery can ask more, Wifies continues.
"Yes they're part of the government, but that's not going to stop me or my friends. They need to be stopped."
"Friends? It's not just you?"
Wifies laughs, and it's such an out of place sound for their conversation that Avery can't help but jump.
"No, it's not just me. There's a pretty big group of us," Wifies looks over his shoulder, towards the car behind them. Avery doesn't follow his line of sight. "Two of them, Ace and Orion, are actually waiting in the car."
Avery stares down at gray stone. Is this what you saw from me? Were you able to predict that these people would find me? He shouldn't expect a dead man to speak, the silence stings all the same.
Whatever you do, keep moving forward.
Is this the way forward? To get revenge? Is it forward to take down part of the government in memory of a loved one he never met?
It's forward if you're moving. Avery hears a voice speak, he'll pretend it's Derek watching him, and not his own subconscious.
"What do you know about them so far?" Avery turns towards Wifies, can barely see the car and the two people inside of it from the corner of his eyes.
Wifies smiles at him, and it feels like a step forward.
