➳ Jude

Camille stared at me in shock. Her mouth stayed closed and her jaw stayed tight, but her eyes betrayed her and grew wide.

"It's true. After I fell from the fifth story of Anemone's house, I had a dream. I was watching a battle take place. Bodies scattered all over the ground and the sky was red and cloudy."

Her blank stare was beginning to worry me. She didn't blink for several moments at a time and her mouth was frozen.

"Hello? Ienus to Camille!"

Camille's blue eyes lifted to meet mine. "William is also having the dreams. I just thought that it's odd that three people, all from different nations..."

"William is also having the dreams?"

"I just said that. Is it possible that you might be deaf?"

Camille was feisty. I smiled smugly.

"You're grinning like a cow would," she quipped.

I frowned. Why did she insist on being so rude to me? Was she naturally this offensive? Or was it something else... Something deeper? I wouldn't admit that she just didn't like me; there was no way.

"How long is this trip?" Camille asked.

"Two and a half days until we reach the border. Getting to my house should only take a half day," I explained.

"What if I don't want to go to your house?"

"Do you have a place to stay? If you stay on the streets someone is bound to give you an unwanted ring."

"I'm not an elf! Can you get any dumber?"

I clenched my fists. "I'm sorry! You were in their army. It was a reasonable assumption."

"I thought you knew everything about me. I knew you were wrong. I even told you I was from Cerevaux!"

"I was trying to warn you! Don't be such an a-"

"Stop." She held up her hand to my face. "Leave me in peace for a moment."

"Fine." I watched as she turned around to stare at the blacked-out windows. A slight shudder wracked her body. I could have swore I could hear soft sniffling.

"Are you okay?" I asked, knowing well and good that she could, and probably would, slap me across the face.

Camille turned to me, her eyes red. Her cheeks were wet with tears. "You're a dingle-berry and I'd rather take my chances on the streets than to live with you!" she spat. "I want to slap you."

"Do it," I mumbled. She didn't hesitate, she reared back her hand and gave me a sharp slap that I knew would sting for hours after.

In return I punched her, hard.

"You told me..." she said before slipping into unconsciousness.

I smirked. Now she could sleep in peace. I leaned my head back against the seat and tried to sleep. After an hour or two, the bumps on the road began to lull me into sleep.

I woke up to darkness. I thought I was having another dream, but then I realized there was a modest light coming through the dim overhead bulb and something else... I rubbed my eyes and looked forward to find a small peep hold had been opened between the guard and me.

"Good. Someone is finally awake. We're almost there, so you might want to wake up the murderer," the guard said with a loathing tone. I ignored him and let Camille sleep. I knew she needed it.

About fifteen minutes later, we were dumped at the border. Camille yawned happily as she stretched in the sunlight. I smiled, seeing the bags under her eyes disappear.

"Thank you for-" Camille's sentence was cut off by the loud sound of my gun shooting a bullet into the large guardsman.

"Too bad... I was starting to like him," I said sarcastically, walking away from his limp body.

Surprisingly, Camille didn't react at all besides a light eyebrow raise. Instead, she got in the front seat of my car and turned on the music. I got in beside her, but I left her alone; she needed some time.

I fought to stay awake while driving. I was so bored without anyone to talk to, but eventually I arrived at my little house. While Camille gathered her stuff from my car, I approached the house.

I walked through the door, and after seeing what's inside I immediately walked back out. As I sat in the hallway, waiting for Annabeth, my mind replayed what I saw when I first entered my house: Annabeth on the couch with one too many people. I could see two rings added to her necklace.

"Guess she just couldn't wait," I said to the shadows.

"Jude?" she drawled. "Is that you? Did you get rid of... what did I name that baby?"

I rolled my eyes. "You named it Annabeth Junior." I walked in, glad to note that the two men were gone. "And I brought a friend; you're gonna love her."

"First, I wouldn't name my child Annabeth Junior. That's dumb. Secondly, who's your friend?"

"She's getting her stuff from the car. I'm taking her to get her fake identification and then I'll bring her home."

"Replacing me?" Annabeth asked with a fake pout. "What's her real name? Don't you trust me?"

"If you think I still trust you, you got another thing coming."

"Dingle-berry," Annabeth cursed. "I'm going upstairs. Bye."

I rolled my eyes and walked back outside.

The place that sold fake IDs was within walking distance, so I decided to tell Camille to leave her bags in my car. I locked the doors and we walked down town. The dirt road led us to the dinghy store buildings that looked like it was about to fall apart.

Yet, it was a nice home compared to the others in Skog. Most houses were only thin tents and many people didn't have anywhere to call home. Now that I thought about it, I was lucky to have my home. It was two-story and one thousand square feet in total. There were perks to being a gang leader.

I never wanted to terrorize people. I never wanted to hurt anyone. When my brother died, that all changed. I did what it took to survive.

I was previously proud, but something changed. At that moment, I regretted everything.

How could my mindset change so quickly? It didn't make sense.

"Ew! This town smells like a fartknarcker!" Camille gagged out of the blue. "This is awful." She frowned sadly. "I have to leave my home because of something I didn't do..."

"It isn't fair," I agreed.

Camille punched me. "That's for earlier. And stop stating the obvious and echoing me!"

"I was helping you when I punched you! You actually got some sleep for once!"

Camille smiled.

"Jude?" someone asked. I turned around to find Rikki and Nikki. Rikki was leaning against the candy shop poll while Nikki was sorting the candy. Rikki, the one who had said my name, had blonde hair with pale blue wings and eyes. Nikki had short brown hair and peppermint green wings; she didn't have eyes.

"Dang it." I cursed under my breath, realizing I just gave my identity away. I was going to tell Camille... eventually.

"Jude?" Camille asked. Her smile had faded and her eyebrows scrunched together.

"What's wrong, boss?" Rikki asked in a snarky voice. "Need a lolli?"

"And who's the pretty lady? Did you give up on Annabeth?" Nikki asked softly, her eyeless sockets looking over at Camille. "I hope she isn't heartbroken..."

"I hope her heart is bleeding out," Rikki countered with a dark smile. Nikki frowned at her sister's statement.

"Get lost," I said. "We'll talk later."

"We want to talk now, though," Rikki said, wings fluttering slightly.

"Let them be," Nikki said. "We need to get these orders out anyway."

"Who is the girl?" Rikki hissed. "You never told us about her."

"Her name is Devanna. Now shut up and get back to your candy store." I grabbed Camille's wrist and rushed her away from the sisters. Luckily, Camille said nothing as I tugged her along.

We arrived at the building soon after. It was two stories and covered in soot. The place we needed to be was the second floor.

I creaked open the door and walked inside. People turned their heads, watching me with high suspicion. I ignored them and moved to the ladder. I climbed up silently, Camille following in suit.

"Lars?" I asked into the darkness. A light flickered on.

A desk. A chair. A stack of papers. A man. An illegal operation.