Chapter 5 — Evermore Unrest
At the far end, right near the edge where the deep water churned against the pylons, stood a man. Tall. Thin. Dressed entirely wrong; the clothes belonged to an era or a country far away from modern Yokohama. A long, heavy, black frock coat trimmed with dark animal pelts.
Genya moved toward him, his hand dropping instinctively to the stock of the shotgun behind his back.
The figure did not move. Did not react. Just stood staring out into the dark bay.
Genya walked faster, his pulse ticking up. Yet the figure remained exactly as far away as before. He broke into a trot, his boots thudding hard against the timbers, but the gap between them refused to close. Ten paces. Twenty. The figure remained fixed in the fog at the exact same distance, as though the pier itself were stretching like elastic.
Genya stopped dead. The wood creaked beneath his feet. The man was simply there, at the same impossible remove.
He audibly swallowed; the copper taste thickened in the back of his throat.
Then, a sound came from behind him. A soft, rustling hiss, like silk dragging over wood.
He spun on his heel, his hand ripping the shotgun free from its back-harness with a sharp metallic clack.
At the landward end of the dock stood a small, pale figure in white. Her dark curls were loose, blowing wildly around her shoulders in the freezing sea breeze.
The girl.
He approached her from behind, the wood groaning beneath his weight. Close enough now. He reached out his hand to take her by the arm, careful this time, remembering how violently she had broken out of his grip. He just wanted to bring her to safety.
His fingers passed directly through her arm.
Genya jerked back, a jolt of ice striking his chest.
She was gone.
—
Read Chapter 5 of Providence on AO3
