Arman pulled himself back up into the seat, locking eyes with Hannah in the rearview mirror.
Confusion mixed with rage. None of this made any sense.
He opened his mouth before his brain could stop him.
"What the hell is your problem, Hannah? You hate me that much? Enough to let me die like I'm nothing?" His voice cracked slightly. "You don't even know why I'm here. I'm just trying to help my family. Who are you to say I can't do that?"
Her voice shifted, almost joyful, like unloading this truth was a relief. But the fury underneath was impossible to miss.
"Truthfully?" she started. "There's something inside me that just hates slow idiots. People who can't get with the program. Why even be here if you're too scared of your own shadow? This isn't for people like you."
Her eyes now locked onto his through the mirror.
"I don't think people like you should be in this line of work. And what pisses me off the most? You have the nerve to try and be someone like me. When you could've been something useful! But now? You've sunk any chance of being normal. That family you care so much about? They're in danger now. Forever. And it's your fault. Hope you're proud, dumbass."
Arman didn't look away. He held her gaze.
"I don't want you around anymore," she said, her voice suddenly flat. "You could've been anywhere. You chose to rot with the rest of us. Just another moth throwing itself into the flames."
She paused.
"And those flames will burn away everything that's left of you. Until there's nothing left but ash."
The silence clawed at his skin. He shifted, wishing he could disappear into the seat.
Her words still clung to the air, hot and sour. The pain in her voice was buried deep.
He looked down, then back up at the mirror. Her face was unreadable. But her knuckles were bone-white on the wheel.
He didn't know what to say.
He'd never wanted any of this.
He was forced into it.
Wasn't everyone?
Arman didn't know what to do. His heart was still pounding, still scared of setting her off again.
So, he laid down. Letting the engine's low hum drown everything else out.
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hannah still felt hot from the anger, but she kept it to herself. They had places to be. She glanced at the mirror and noticed that Arman was already drifting off.
She released a heavy sigh. Of course he is, she thought.
He probably didn't care what she said. He'd still stick his nose where it didn't belong.
Her hand moved to shift the truck out of park.
That's when she saw a flicker of something in the corner of her eye.
Shadows moving in the alley next to them. Small. Fast.
Probably just a wild animal, she told herself. Those are the only residents of the Outskirts anymore.
Hell, maybe it was one of those urban legends people whispered about. Beasts made of flesh and bone that couldn't die. Monsters that could chew through steel.
She would laugh at the thought if it weren't so absurd.
Nobody stuck around the Outskirts after dark.
Anyone who did ended up dead. This place was completely trashed for a reason, only the truly desperate lived out here.
Someone like her.
That was no longer a worry anymore, thanks to her job and the boss's kindness. She now had a place to stay, barricaded from the Outskirts and away from the city. Something her fuckup of a father could never give her.
No point in thinking of that now.
She moved the car out of park and pressed on the gas.
Nothing.
It didn't move at all.
Hannah pressed again, worried that she just missed and hit the brakes instead. No. Nothing again.
Dread crept in as she frantically checked to make sure everything was in order. Nothing was out of place.
Shit.
She had just gotten this truck fixed up, too. The boss was gonna kill her if she left the essence machine all the way out here. She made a frustrated noise and slammed her hand on the dash.
"Dammit! Why does nothing in this fucking place ever work!?" Her frustration was rising again, even stronger than before.
She could see Arman through the mirror, glancing up nervously from where he lay. His green eyes reflected the lights from outside.
Hannah kept at it, trying to get the car to move, but it didn't work.
"Ah screw it! This shit isn't going to work. We need to just find a place to lay low for the rest of the night," she huffed, trying to convince herself it was no big deal.
She turned back toward Arman.
"Grab whatever you need and help me push the truck to a better spot until the morning."
His eyes went wide with fear at her words.
"Y-you don't mean we're going to stay in the Outskirts?" His voice filled with terror.
"Wait–there's really no other way? The truck's actually dead? Haha…?"
Hannah just rolled her eyes at him.
"What's the big deal? Yeah, this place is a shithole, but it's not like it's unlivable."
"Not the worst thing ever!? Hannah, do you have any clue what happens in the Outskirts?" His voice cracked, clearly about to crumble from the pressure.
"Out here, at least it's quiet. No people. No one to make your life worse…most of the time," she muttered that last part to herself. "Now get your ass out and help me!"
She got out of the truck and started to move around the back, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye again. In that same alleyway.
Banging on the truck door, hoping Arman would get out, she heard a muffled yelp from inside. Then the door opened a crack.
"Hannah, do you not realize there are man-eating monsters out here?" he squeaked in a hushed tone.
"Dumbass. No monsters. Just an animal." Despite her words, she felt her whole body tense.
What if the rumors are true? What if there really are monsters in the Outskirts?
"Check under the seat. There's the gun the bodyguard guy used on you. Hand it to me before I tear you to shreds myself." Her voice was hushed, trying not to attract attention.
She could hear his movements as he fumbled around, even though he was trying to deliberately be slow and quiet.
"Here yo-"
A dragging sound scraped from the alleyway. Shambling, slow, wet.
Hannah quickly snatched the gun from his hand out of instinct and trained it toward the direction of the sound.
"Whoever you are, you better get out here before I shoot!" Her voice didn't waver as she used everything in herself to be intimidating.
Even so the alleyway remained silent.
"I really mean it! Get the hell out here NOW!"
Despite her shouting, nothing seemed to happen.
Maybe she is panicking for nothing…
Just then, another shift. A scratching sound. BAM.
Metal clanged in the alleyway, and several feral cats jumped out of the dark, all of them hissing and running off.
"Haha?" Hannah laughed uncertainly.
Was that really it? Just some wild cats rummaging through garbage cans?
Arman's jumpiness is rubbing off on me.
She turned the gun's safety on and slipped it into her pocket, then turned to face Arman.
"Well, it seems there are no monsters in this place. Like I thought," she said pointedly. "Now let's move on, cause this place is still not safe at night, and I'd rather sleep a little before trying to fix whatever's up with my truck."
She spoke with confidence, keeping the fact she'd felt a hint of fear to herself.
But Arman still didn't move.
Something had gained his attention in the alley. It was like he could see something that wasn't there.
"Hey Armaaaan." She waved her hand in front of him. "What's your deal? I gave you an order. You gonna sit there like a rock or move your damn legs?"
His green eyes glinted with something. There was something more than fear in them. Absolute terror and dread.
His breathing deepened, like he was in shock.
Hannah turned to see what he was staring at.
Inside the alley, shadows twisted and turned unnaturally.
And sitting there in the middle was a single, lone cat sniffing at some of the garbage.
As it lowered its head to take a bite, the shadows themselves formed into spikes and stabbed upward through the cat, blood spraying.
It didn't even have time to scream.
The only thing they heard was a sick squelch and the tearing of bone away from flesh as the spikes pulled in opposite directions, ripping the cat to pieces.
The shadows pulled human teeth—from nowhere—and chewed.
Wet crunches. Strings of meat. Blood splattered across the alley floor in wet, violent bursts.
She felt like she was going to hurl.
She had seen gore. She had killed people—plenty of them.
But this was unnatural.
This was not normal.
This was something far more sinister.
The shadows returned to what they had been. Unmoving.
"Shit. We need to go. Now."
Her voice cracked. The panic finally hit her.
This wasn't a rumor.
This was real.