Chapter 111 The Breakable

"Cold are heart and hand and bone. Cold are the travelers far from home."

-Gollum

Burns

We drive in silence. Emma's face is pale and she cradles the cryotank as if it holds a child. Was it really only hours ago that we made love?

I still feel her body underneath my own, tender kisses on my skin, the soft look in her eyes.

And now we're driving away from a burning house with two lost souls at our feet.

Why?

Why couldn't I bring them back?

"Do you want me to drive?" Emma's soft voice breaks through the fog in my mind. Her eyes are sad and hold concern.

I shake my head. "I'm fine. We're almost there." The Shipping Center is already within view. I want to have this over with before the dark has set in completely.

She nods. "Alright."

Her voice is timid and I wonder if she regrets it, regrets being intimate with me. But I can't think about that now. We have two Souls to place on a shuttle.

I park the van at the back of the Shipping Center and look at Emma. "Do you want me to go alone?"

"No," she says, "I'm coming with you. They were Sky's friends. I owe them a proper farewell."

"I'm going with you two," Blake leans over the front seats, "you need someone to watch your backs."

Emma looks at him. "Someone needs to stay with Finn."

The boy crosses his arms and pouts. "I'm coming too. No one needs to watch over me. I want to see the spaceships."

Blake sighs and Emma bites her lip. I know they want to protect Finn, but I actually believe he will be safer coming with us. "We should all go," I say quietly. After these past few days I don't want any of them to get out of sight. I just want to go home. I feel old and tired.

Blake nods. "Alright. We will go together. We just need to put them on a ship, right?"

Emma nods. "Yeah. The ship that goes to the Mist Planet."

Blake takes a deep breath and looks at Finn. "You can come with us, but it's still dangerous so stay close and do as we say, got it?"

Finn bites his lip and nods, but I can see he is afraid. We need to get going though. If we stay here any longer, people will come to see it we need help.

We climb out of the van. Emma and I each carry one of the cryotanks. When I'm sure none of the staff is around, lead the others onto the premises. Just like last time the right section is easily found.

Every time we see a Soul, we hide behind a container or a cart. In a matter of minutes we have delivered the cryotanks.

Emma keeps her hand on the tank she was carrying for a moment. I don't know what is going through her mind now. In her own way she cares about Rain and Storm. Not for the first time I wonder how much human and Soul influence each other.

Blake places a hand on her arm. "We need to go," he says urgently. His eyes move around nervously.

Emma looks at him and nods. "Yeah. I know," she mutters. She glances at the cryotanks again as if to say goodbye.

"Come Emma," I say tiredly, "let's go home."

She looks at me now. "Yeah," she agrees, "let's go home."

***

Blake switched seats with Emma. He sits in the passenger seat now and Emma is in the back with Finn, who is studying her carefully. She hasn't said much since we shipped Rain and Storm off planet.

"Where are we going?" Finn asks.

"Home," Emma answers him. She's staring into space. "We're going home."

Blake looks over his shoulder at the boy. "There's an entire group of us in our hide-out. We're twenty-one in total, all human, well except for Burns. They're gonna be surprised when they see you."

"Twenty-one?" Finn says stunned. He lowers his head and stares at his hands. "Do you... do you think they'll like me? Will they let me stay?" His voice quivers.

"Of course you can stay," Blake assures him, "the more the merrier. I mean, we let them stay." He motions at me and Emma.

"Nice Blake," Emma comments dryly.

He smiles at her. "Why don't you get some sleep, squirky. You didn't get much of it last night."

In the rearview mirror I can see Emma's face turn bright red. She glares at Blake. "Sh-shut up Blake."

Perhaps he only realizes now what he has said, because he flinches and starts to stutter. "I... I d-didn't mean it like that!"

It must be the first time I've ever seen Blake flustered and perhaps under different circumstances it might have been funny. Tonight I'm too on edge to feel anything else but stress.

Finn looks from one to the other with a frown. "Why are you two acting weird all of a sudden?"

"We're not!" Emma denies.

"You're too young for that," Blake answers the boy at the same time.

Finn rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Are we there yet? Where do you live anyway? How come the monsters haven't found you?"

"Because we have a good hiding place," Blake answers, "I told you didn't I? It's like a batcave."

"What's a batcave?" Finn scrunches his nose, "are there bats where you live? I'm not sure I want to live in a house with bats."

Blake's eyes go wide. "You mean you don't know who Batman is?! What rock did you live under?! Such a lack of education! How did you survive?"

Emma rolls her eyes. "Ignore the dramaqueen over there. He was dropped on the head too many times as a child. It affected his brain." She looks at Finn. "We don't live in a house. It's not a cave either. We do live underground. They used to be mineshafts and tunnels, but it's actually quite cozy now. I haven't seen any bats so far, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few of them lived in one of the unoccupied tunnels."

Next to me, Blake crosses his arms. "I'm not a dramaqueen."

No one dignifies that with an answer.

"Maybe we should park and get some sleep," I suggest, "we won't make it home tonight anyway and if a patrol car stops us to make sure we're not too tired to drive, we'll be in trouble. They might be the same Seekers as before. They'll recognize us."

Blake and Emma both nod in agreement. I think we're all wary after these past few days. First running into Patt and finding Finn, then the disaster with Rain and Storm. None of us wants another situation like that.

"Can we... can we just sleep in the van tonight?" Emma asks, "I mean... I don't think I'm ready to face other Souls just yet."

"Sure," I nod. I look at Bake. "Why don't you climb in the back with them? I'll sleep up front, in case a patrol drives by."

Blake looks at me with an unreadable expression. "You sure you'd not rather sleep in the back yourself?"

I know what he's hinting at, but I'm not sure Emma would be comfortable with that. I'm not sure if her withdrawn expression is because she regrets last night or because she's upset about Rain and Storm. And this doesn't seem like the best moment to delve into that.

I nod. "I'm sure. We're not in the clear yet. I'd rather not take any risks."

"O...kay," Blake says slowly. He looks at Emma and Finn. "Think you can clear some space for me?"

"Sure," Emma mutters.

I park the van on the nearest parking lot and wait until Blake has made himself comfortable in the back of the van before I stretch out on the front seats. It's a bit cramped, but it's only for one night.

My mind drifts towards my own friends, Core and Ocean and Scales. I still miss them, but after what happened with Rain and Storm, I fear their reaction when we ever meet again. Will I ever see them again? Can I trust them when it comes to Emma or will they react with far and mistrust too?

I tried bringing up the subject before with Ocean. I asked her then if she ever thought we were wrong in coming here. That conversation had not been a success. I'd like to think she would be understanding and that she would accept Emma, but it's more likely that she'd warn the Seekers. Perhaps she would even think my host was resurfacing.

Strange, how wary I am of my own kind now. I've never had a reason to fear my family. It's a sobering thought, but also a lonely one. Am I the only Soul on the planet that has learned to sympathize with humans?

My eyes move to Emma. There isn't a lot of room between all our supplies. Finn is curled up in a corner and appears to be in a deep sleep.

Emma and Blake are curled up together with Blake's arm around her waist. Somehow the sight of that annoys me. I know the feeling is jealousy. I know it shouldn't bother me. Blake has made his intentions clear when he found out I had feelings for Emma. I know he's a good guy. I know it means nothing.

A sigh leaves my mouth. Feelings are so complicated.

I should try to get some sleep. Home is still a long way off. The others are awaiting our return. They will be so surprised when they see Finn.

I close my eyes and try to relax.

Slowly sleep starts to consume me.