"Get in. I could use the company."
The vinyl seat burned the backs of his thighs through his jeans. As the car slowly accelerated, Lucas watched the yellow lines blur into solid streaks in the side mirror, like cutting a tether.
"What's your name, pup?"
Lucas looked at the lady, eyes filled with worry yet hiding it well for Lucas' liking. He cleared his throat, looked out of the window, and muttered, "Lucas."
"Lucas," she repeated, softer this time, as if testing the weight of it. "What a beautiful name, perfectly fitting for a beautiful boy. Well, I am Aida."
Lucas hummed as an answer.
Aida drummed her fingers on the wheel, the chipped red polish on her nails catching the sunlight.
"You got people waiting for you up north, pup?"
The question was a stone dropped into still water.
Lucas watched the ripples in his chest—memories of his pack, of Sebastian, of Becca, and of everyone else that he had left behind flashed in his mind.
His eyes closed tightly, slowly erasing them all so he could move on. "No," he finally said. "Just space."
Aida chuckled, the sound as rough as the gravel. "Isn't that always the way?"
Lucas did not answer.
The woman turned up the radio, playing an old soul song about leaving on a midnight train, a song that Lucas felt deeply connected to.
Despite the old woman's off-key and gibberish singing, she hardly seemed to care.
For the first time in many moons, Lucas felt a sense of relief.
The highway stretched before them like a scar across the land.
Lucas sat in the rusted Cadillac, his forehead pressing against the cool glass of the passenger window.
Slowly watching those telephone poles flick past in a steady rhythm.
The hum of the engine vibrated through his bones, a low, constant thing—the same feeling of his fading bond, a persistent ache in his chest.
Aida tapped her fingers against the steering wheel in time to some old country song on the radio.
Silence engulfed them as they passed through each town, leading to the cloudy south of Tanesab.
"Have you been in Tanesab before?" she quietly asked, breaking the deafening silence between them.
Lucas opened his eyes and hummed lowly.
"Once." Aida nodded slowly at the short answer Lucas gave. "Mm."
Aida took a slow drag of her cigarette before cracking the window to let the smoke curl into the cold wind.
"It's a nice place. A place that has a way of taking in strays. You'll fit right in."
Lucas grumbled under his breath as he took a slow, deep inhale. The landscape outside blurred—fields giving way to the dense forest, the road winding upward to the hills.
They passed along a green sign surrounded by wallflowers.
Tanesab—10 miles.
"Almost there, pup." Aida exhaled another puff of smoke through her nose.
The thought made his stomach twist. He's really doing this. He's already far from home.
Was he really ready to start anew in this cold, unknown place?
Aida glanced at him sidelong.
"Do you have someone to call? Letting them know you are not dead in a ditch somewhere? "
Lucas flexed his fingers against his knees. His phone was still off, buried at the bottom of his pocket like a guilty secret.
He shook his head and slowly muttered, "No one to call."
"Well, if that's your decision. I just hope you will not regret it later."
"No, it's not like I have a choice."
Aida smugly snorted yet didn't push. "Okay, pup."
They drove in silence for a while longer, the sun dipping low in the sky.
The sky grew cooler as they climbed, the scent of pine and damp earth seeping through the cracked windows.
Soon, they reached the border, a huge arch that spelled out Tanesab, weathered and peeling at the edges.
"We are here, pup."
Lucas swallowed hard. Somewhere beyond those trees was a fresh start. A place where no one knew him, where the ghost of Sebastian's touch couldn't reach.
Lucas looked at the sign as they slowly passed it. Lucas inhaled a deep breath and slowly breathed out.
"You nervous, pup?"
Lucas stayed silent as the Cadillac rumbled on, carrying them further into the village and away from everything he'd ever known.
"No. Not anymore."
Aida pulled the Cadillac to a gentle stop just beyond the arch. The engine ticked once, then twice, then fell silent.
Through the windshield, the dirt road into Tanesab curled between old trees: no streetlights, no signs of life except for the soft glow of a single window far in the distance.
"We're here," Aida said, though she made no move to leave.
She left her hands on the wheel, her chipped nails catching the last light.
Lucas didn't answer. He didn't move.
His palms pressed flat against his thighs, and he stared at the road ahead like it might bite him. The arch loomed above them, heavy with wallflowers, their sweet scent drifting through the cracked window.
Pretty. Harmless. Everything he didn't trust.
Aida waited. A full minute passed. Two.
"You know," she said quietly, "most folks jump out the second the car stops. You've been sitting there so long I'm starting to think you've turned to stone."
Lucas's jaw tightened.
His hand drifted to the door handle, then stopped. His fingers hovered there, not quite gripping, not quite letting go.
This is it, he thought. This is the moment. But his body refused to obey.
"What if I can't?" he finally muttered, more to himself than to her.
Aida didn't laugh at him. Didn't offer easy comfort.
She just reached over and very gently pried his fingers from his knee, where they'd been clenched white-knuckled.
"You can," she said simply. "The question is whether you will."
Lucas looked at her then, really looked. At the crow's feet around her eyes, the kindness that was hiding behind all that gravel and smoke. A stranger. And yet.
He let out a long, shaky breath. Pushed the door open. The cold air hit his face like a splash of water.
For a long moment, he just sat there on the edge of the seat, boots hovering an inch above the gravel. Hesitating. Always hesitating.
Then he stood.