The Delinquents

Chapter Fourteen

            Everyone was completely silent as we drove through Kilo Valley. Gabe drove within the speed limit, taking each turn carefully and stopping a full foot before the white line at intersections. Lily didn't complain about the music. Derek didn't harp on anyone. Keegan never lost his cool. Simon never worried over the direction we were heading. And I couldn't find it in me to do anything but breathe. I didn't even do that well.

            I drew in a long, shaking breath and then let it go. This did nothing to untangle the inside of my stomach as Gabe left the main part of the small town and approached the outskirts of the urban centre, rounding on the subdivision that was immediately before the old motel.

            Keegan was still beside me, eyes reflective of the streetlights that passed over head. Silently, he reached over and took my hand, squeezing it once in support and then leaving me to my thoughts. I wished he hadn't.

            I looked out the window, catching Lily wringing her hands together in my peripheral vision. I tried not to think about my own nerves as Gabe slowed down, anxious not to miss our destination.

            Surprisingly, Gabe was the one  who spoke up. "What if he's not there?"   

            "Don't say that," Lily replied harshly.

            "No, he's right," Derek said. "It's something we should talk about."

            Simon looked around at all of us before speaking. "Do we just go back? Abandon him?" I cringed. When he put it like that it was hard to imagine doing. But he was right, if Travis wasn't at the motel than we'd have no choice but to return to the campground. If we didn't, we risked something worse, our own expulsion and Evan's downfall.

            Derek was the most realistic. "We're already risking too much for him. We can't spend any more time searching, especially when it's aimless. If he's not at this motel, we have to leave."

            Gabe's posture was rigid. "He'll be there."

            Keegan grumbled a response. "Little shit better be."

            We slowed to a stop, just about a block from the motel. I squinted through the darkness, trying to make sense of the looming shape in the distance. I couldn't make out any of the sharp lines I was familiar with associating with buildings. It was ragged and hollow looking, formidable even. Just looking at the structure made my skin crawl.

            Gabe turned off the engine and leaned back in the seat, keys in hand. "This is it." No one moved for a long moment.

            "Alright," Keegan sighed, "let's get going." We all exited the car slowly, no one seemed inclined to approach the motel half out of fear of the building itself and half out of the fear that Travis wouldn't be there. I couldn’t decide what was more terrifying, finding the building empty or finding him in it.

            Lily hissed something incoherent and grabbed my wrist, dragging me to a stop. Simon seemed to understand completely, freezing in place and turning around, sending sharp looks to everyone who wasn't following his lead.

            My heart was covered in ice and barely beating. "What's happening?" I whispered urgently, staring into Lily's anxious eyes. It wasn't her who answered me, it was Simon.

            "Bad business that we don't want to be a part of."

            I snuck a quick look over my shoulder, guessing the source of our aversion was a group of three people, hovering a few yards from the motel. The group was made up of one spindly female―clad in knee high boots, a ridiculously short skirt, ripped pantyhose and a large puffy jacket―and two males, one nondescript and the other tall and dressed in a suit. As I watched, the tall man passed something small to the other man while he leaned in and kissed the girl's neck.

            I shivered. Lily looked at me, eyes telling me everything I needed to know. A business deal was transpiring, and not the kind that involved contracts. There was something else though, something heavy in her expression that made me pause. Was it possible that Lily recognized the activity so quickly because she had been involved in it? I scanned through my memories, trying to recall why Lily had been brought to Ash Falls. I couldn't remember.

            "Later," she promised, voice low and mature. I nodded.

            Simon stuck his hands in his pockets and nudged his chin towards the motel. When I turned around, the group had scattered and the path was clear. Immediately, my knees began knocking together. Keegan seemed to notice my anxiety and wrapped a careful hand around my own, absorbing some of my terror.    

            "Keep your head low," Simon instructed, "We're a target to the people who work this area." I blinked, surprised by his knowledge and confidence. I guessed this was his setting, shady half lit streets in the late hours. It was then I realised that I didn’t know Simon at all.

            Derek hesitated at the door, looking back at Keegan. "Are you sure this was where the guy said he saw him?"

            Keegan nodded, "Yes."           

            Gabe rolled his eyes at Derek. "Stop being such a p―"

            "Leave him alone," Lily snapped, "we have to focus."

            I looked up at the building, finding it more mangled than I had previously imagined it to be. The fire had eaten away most of the outside, exposing the skeleton of the building. The fire had burned hot enough to melt the metal furniture outside, the porch swing had molded into something far more sinister under the pressure of heat.

            The outside of the building was completely black, charred that way by raging flames. It was hard to imagine how this place was still able to stand and even harder to imagine Travis living in such a place.

            "This is messed up," Gabe mumbled, eyes following the same path mine were, mind reaching for the same conclusions.

            Lily's dark eyes were brandished with tears. "Poor Travis."

            Keegan cleared his throat. "Let's not get mushy yet, we don't even know if he's in there." A feeling of urgency overcame me. I stepped over the threshold of the front door, turning to the other five delinquents present.

            "Time to find out." I turned and began walking through the structure, pulling out Evan's phone and using the screen for light. After a moment, I heard footsteps behind me and a few flashlights were clicked on, their straight beams reaching far out in front of me.

            The inside was just as gruesome as the outside. The wallpaper was peeling, the floor was covered in ash, soot, and splintered wood. The skeleton walls allowed for a draft to enter the building, the wind whistled eerily between small cracks.

            Navigating the hallways wasn't easy. A lot of the motel was sectioned off due to debris and pieces of the roof that had collapsed. In a way, this made our search easier because the pathways were limited. If Travis were here, we'd find him.

            Lily stopped walking and knelt beside a suitcase, flung open, the belongings were covered in ash. She set her flashlight down, it's beam pointing up at the ceiling, and picked up a blouse. She shook out the fabric, ash falling to the ground, and held it up.

            "Not the time to add to your already abundant wardrobe," Gabe teased half heartedly.

            Lily didn’t react, she just started the shirt. "How do you think it happened? The fire, I mean. Do you think the guests were here? Do you think they all got out?" Simon and Gabe looked at each other, unsure and uncomfortable. I rested my hand on her shoulder, hesitantly but with sincerity.

            "We have to find Travis." Lily nodded, knocked out of her stupor. She stood, collected her flashlight, set the blouse back in the suitcase and discretely wiped her cheeks before rejoining us.

            We walked for a few more minutes through the motel, looking for signs of Travis. The longer we walked, the more my feet dragged with dread and the tighter my stomach became wound. The motel was filled with ill feeling and it was starting to get to me.

            "This is it!" Simon whisper yelled. He swung the beam of his flashlight to shine through the doorway just ahead. I saw clearly what he was trying to point out. A can of Coke had been knocked over and a puddle had collected beside it. It was still glistening. Still wet. Fresh.

            We all moved towards the doorway, a package of chips was found next to the Coke. It was empty. We all paused in front of the room, looking at one another ominously. This food was all we had found and was likely our only chance.

            Gabe swallowed thickly, hand shaking slightly. "Who's going in?"

            Lily shrunk back, nervous and scared. Derek looked away, rubbing the back of his head. Simon casted his eyes downwards. I looked up at Keegan who said, "I'd scare him off."

            Gabe looked at me. "You're up, Klepto."

            I took a deep breath and stowed Evan's phone into my pocket. Turning to face the doorway head on before I stepped through it. As soon as I was in the room I was aware that I wasn't alone. My intuition flared and I knew that there was another person with me.

            There was no use trying to calm myself down, my entire body was shaking as I rounded the corner of the bed, swore when I found the small nook empty. I was almost about to tell the gang that there was no one there when I noticed that the door to the en suite was open.

            I crossed the room, my breath hitching as I leaned forward and pushed the door open. It creaked loudly, making me flinch. I spotted him right away, curled up in the bathtub, a ratty jacket pulled over his body, feet sticking out at the bottom.

            Travis's hair was a mess and his face was streaked with grime. Chip bags scattered the floor accompanied by a few empty bottles of water a half eaten Mars Bar. The air smelled stale and the room was completely dark. I almost gagged thinking about Travis living here, all holed up by himself.

            Perhaps he sensed me or maybe he sensed the presence of another person after being alone but I only stood there for about half a minute before his eyes opened and his body slammed upright.

            "Wha―" It was only another second before he jumped up and launched himself at me, knocking me flat onto my back and catching the back of my skull on the corner of the nightstand.

            "Piper!" I heard Keegan yell as he ran into the room. Travis was on me for a millisecond before he was ripped off and tossed onto the bed. Keegan's face hovered over mine, mouth moving without his words reaching my ears.

           The screaming broke my disorientation and jerked my body upwards, into a sitting position that my busted head wasn’t ready for. I felt blood rush in and out of my ears and slapped my palm to my forehead, trying to steady my thoughts.

            When I was able to focus I realised that Travis was screaming, thrashing around like a lunatic on the bed. Lily was sobbing, bordering on hyperventilation.  Derek and Gabe were trying to talk Travis down while Simon just stared.

            Keegan's hand reached out and his fingers snapped twice in front of my face, trying to draw my attention. This time when he spoke, I understood him fine. "Are you okay?"

            I nodded, my cheeks felt heavy as did my mouth. Keegan helped me up, steadying me when I swayed. I reached up and placed my fingers at the base of my skull, unsurprised by slightly perturbed when they came away covered in blood.

            "Stop! Stop! Stop! Go! Stop! Leave me! Stop! No! Go!" Travis was screaming, cussing a string of profanities, sobbing hysterically. The sound pierced my ears and made my stomach roll. He sounded so raw, so unnaturally animalistic that I had a strong urge to flee the room.

            Spit was flying from his mouth, snot and tears ran together uncontrollably down his face and to his neckline. Travis thrashed around wildly, kicking out in jerky movements and beating his fists against the mattress.

            Lily let out a long sob and then fled the room, clutching her hands to her chest in complete horror. Simon took a few steps backwards, eyes wide and staring. Keegan was still beside me, tense like he was ready to throw himself in front of me at any moment. Derek and Gabe had taken a step back too, unsure how to proceed.

            I had to do something.

            I walked over to Simon, throwing my hand into the pocket of his hoodie and picking out his lighter before he even had the chance to be shocked. I walked over to the nightstand beside the bed, picked up the motel's memo pad and lit it on fire.

            The response was instant.

            "Piper!" Keegan yelled.

            "What are you doing?" Gabe screamed.

            Travis stared, eyes hollow and dead, but focused. A moth attracted to a flame.

            Keegan grabbed the memo pad from me, swearing as he chucked it into the sink for it to fizzle out. He grabbed my shoulders, shook me once. "Are you crazy? This place is a fucking matchbox! You could've killed us all!"

            I didn't even look at him. My eyes were set on Travis's.

            "Piper?"                      

            We all stilled at the sound of his voice―his real voice, not the god awful scream. I moved around Keegan, sitting down tentatively on the bed. I reached out my arms for him, keeping my palms up in submission.

            Travis stared at me, so much more of a child than he had been when he left. He was smaller now, tiny and weak from scavenging. His eyes were hollow and lined with red, shadowed by black, blue and purple. His skin was nearly translucent.

            "You're here."

            "Yes," I answered.

            "You came for me."

            "Yes."

            Travis frowned. "I was awful to you."

            "No."

            "Yes," he said, "I was awful. I am awful. I was awful. I am awful." Travis reached up and intertwined his fingers into his hair, pulling at the strands. Almost hard enough to yank them off of his scalp.

            "What the fuck," Gabe whispered, "What's wrong with this kid?"

            I reached out for Travis, trying not to be stung when he flinched. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" I bit my lip to keep myself from asking all the other things I wanted to know. He didn't answer. "Has anyone hurt you?"

            "I hurt you," he said. Under her breath he muttered the word awful over and over.

            "Did someone hurt you, Travis?" I asked again, persistent. Looking at this kid was like looking at a completely different person, one I had never met before. This wasn't the kid who joked around with everyone, blushed when I teased him, rested his bare feet on my lap. This was a kid who had been burned.

            Travis crawled forward slowly, until he was close enough for me to smell the sharp sweat that clung to him. It was obvious that he hadn't been able to shower for a long while. "Once," he told me, reaching for the bottom of his pant leg. He started rolling the fabric. My stomach clenched as he brought it up above his knee. The skin of his left thigh was puckered and pink, wrinkled and stretched. His eyes met mine. "Just once."

            Gabe jerked backwards, swearing. "Who the hell did that to you?"

            Derek's jaw was firm. "It isn't hard to imagine."

            "His father?" Simon guessed, looking green.

            "How long have you been here?" I asked Travis, struggling to keep the tears out of my voice. I would never be able to look at him again and see only a sweet confused boy with a sunny disposition, freckles and a killer smile. He wasn't a delinquent anymore, he was damaged.

            He shrugged. "You scared me."

            "Is that why you jumped on me?" I asked, "because I scared you?"

            He nodded, eyes childlike. "People come in here a lot. They try to take my stuff. Try to give me things. I had to fight to keep my tub."

            "Why have you been hiding from the police?"

            Travis looked down. "They want to take me home." I could imagine it. Police officers calling out to him while searching, promising to make him safe, promising to take him home, not knowing that home was the last place he wanted to be.

            "You don't have to go home," I told him, "You can came to Ash Falls."

            Travis's eyes welled up with tears. "I hurt you. It was awful."

            "Piper," Keegan said softly, "I don't think―"

            "Come with us, Travis," I cooed, "We'll make sure you're safe. Evan wants to see you, he's waiting." I was careful when I chose my words. "If you want, you can get some help."

            Simon was nervous. "Maybe we should call the cops, this is beyond us guys, we need an adult here. Maybe we can call, Evan."

            Travis shied away. "No."

            Gabe cut a look towards Simon, glaring. "We can't call Evan, Piper stole his phone, genius."       

            Derek seemed deep in thought. "Simon's right. We don't have the resources to deal with him like this, I think he's in shock. We should call the cops."

            Keegan glared. "And what? Explain to them that we need them to help our crazy delinquent friend? Convince him that even though we're good delinquents who violated our court agreements about forty times in one night, we were planning on going back to our guardian?" Keegan snorted. "Please."

            Gabe nodded. "Keegan's right. That would land us all in Juvie."

            Travis was rocking back and forth now, chin tucked between his knees. I watched him, exasperated and growing light headed. I think I hit my head harder than I had previously thought.

            "What do we do?" I asked to no one in particular.

            Lily re-entered the room, still visibly shaken. "Trav?" she called, looking from me to Travis. "What's wrong with him?"

            I shrugged. "What isn’t?"

            Lily wrapped her arms around her torso and then pulled herself across the room, step by step. Her eyes were cautious as the landed on Travis, unsure and uncomfortable. After a long moment of debate, she crawled onto the bed, not stopping until she was right beside him. Travis stopped rocking at her presence, becoming completely still. Lily placed her long, dark arms around him, placing her head on his shoulder and squeezing him lightly. Travis tensed and then relaxed, moulding to her shape and giving in completely.

            "It's gunna be okay, Trav," she cooed, "nothing's going to hurt anymore."

            "I hurt people," he said, eyes finding mine. "I hurt Piper."   

            Before denial could tumble from my lips, Lily nodded. "You did." We all tensed, Travis included. "But it's okay, you're forgiven." Lily looked to me and I nodded, swallowing tears.

            "I forgive you."

            Keegan stepped up, hovering closely behind me. "I forgive you, Travis."

            "Me too," Gabe grumbled, smiling weakly, eyes growing damp. Simon said it next, then Derek and then there was a long period of silence while Travis drew himself together. After a moment, he hugged Lily back fiercely and then they both stood up.

            Travis leaned heavily on Derek, relying on him for strength and navigation as we left the motel behind. Keegan propped me up with one hand, righting me as my vision started to cross from fatigue and injury. My skull was throbbing, my body was shaking, and my heart was heavy.

            Finding Travis was nothing like how we thought it would be. It wasn't a joyous reunion or a challenging debate. It was nothing but heartbreaking.

            Travis sat in the backseat, sandwiched between Lily and Derek. We stopped at a fast food drive thru and picked him up a warm meal. He only ate half but we all felt immensely better that he ate at all.

            Gabe drove at the top of the speed limit, taking care to be fast and careful. I felt the drag of sleep but resisted at Keegan's request, he was afraid I had hurt my head badly and didn't want me to drift off before Evan could take a proper look.

            We drove through the night, reaching the campsite just as the sun broke free from the horizon, lighting up the sky and slanting through the trees. Gabe pulled into the campsite, parking the car and turning off the engine.

            Evan was already dressed and waiting, looking as though he hadn't gotten any sleep. The police cruiser was exactly where it was when we left, the officer still reclined and asleep in the driver's seat.

            We all filed out of the car, Lily and Derek each taking one of Travis's elbows as they pulled him out of the vehicle. Evan stumbled forward when he saw Travis, a strange sound coming from his throat as he reached for him.

            Travis began to cry and curled in on himself as Evan wrapped his arms around him, placing his cheek to Travis's head and shaking with relief. I grabbed Keegan's hand, smiling despite my exhaustion. He smiled back and I felt something bloom in my chest.

            Hope.

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*not edited