ShadowChancer
Chapter 10
by MistThing, published on February 23, 2001
Grace looked at the boy, obviously shaken. Bruce's name popping up again as Spark heaved her out of her already rickety emotional balance. Gabriel noticed her unguarded reaction, a painful look briefly flickering in his eyes. He said nothing.
-"What do you mean by 'Renegades'?" - insisted Grace, staring wide-eyed at the boy.
-"Who do you think protected you both out there?" - the boy studied her, his face unreadable - "Who shielded you the last couple of months?"
-"What the hell are ya talkin' about?" - Gabriel leaned towards him over the bar, not bothering to conceal his growing impatience - "Hell, I wasn't aware I needed protection! Neither did Grace, I guess, till the last couple of days, when our brains almost got fried out! Stop this riddle game, dammit!"
The boy's dark gaze rested on Gabriel. "Here's another riddle for you" - he said, voice flat - " Three years apart, and yet ... she sends, you receive."
Gabriel just stared, unable to come up with an answer or a gesture.
Grace raised her eyes to Gabriel beside her. "What is he saying, Gabriel?" - she asked quietly.
He locked his gaze on the shiny veneer surface of the coffee bar, in a pitiful attempt to keep her from making an eye contact.
Grace looked helplessly at the boy again. "What are you saying?" - she demanded, a slight tremble in her voice. The boy just turned his comic book and renewed his reading, ignoring her almost-desperate manner.
-"Gabriel?" - Grace felt like screaming.
Gabriel responded to the urgency in her tone, glancing at her nervously. His hands clasped and loosened. "Beats the hell outta me, Grace" - he finally said, unable to dig out anything different from this large burrow inside.
She released a breath, not aware that she was holding it in ... removing her gaze from Gabriel, like turning off a beacon in the dark. "That settles it, I guess" - she uttered, more to herself then to him.
Gabriel stole another look at her ... her head was slightly leaned down, her shoulders somewhat drooped. Lowering his emotional shields for a fleeting moment in time, Gabriel achingly sensed the aura of disappointment and weariness about her, hitting every exposed nerve of his being. He reached and touched her arm. She stood rigid, not looking at him. He drew his hand back.
-"So, where do we go from here?" - Grace asked the boy.
He didn't raise his head from his magazine. "I can't tell you where to go. Once more, the odds have been reset. However ... you were not left empty-handed, Grace, were you?"
She considered that, the realization sinking down. "Oh ... Mike. I must give him a call" - her eyes lighted up again - "He's got my ShadowChancer painting and my bag contents ... the 'Pavement' tape Bruce left."
-"Mike?" - asked Gabriel.
-"Just a friend from work" - replied Grace. She was heading for the door. Her hand on the handle, she stopped and turned to face Gabriel. "Oh, don't wreck your brain about it. Mike ... he prefers boys to girls. Not every guy is the Blake Backlash type, you see..." With that, she turned again and stepped to the darkness outside.
-"Why do I have this feeling that I f*cked up again" - Gabriel cursed silently. He walked slowly to the exit.
-"Solve this while you have the chance", the boy said, voice impassive.
-"Huh?" - Gabriel paused, surprised - "Solve this ... Sh*t, what -"
-"Some things on your paths cannot be changed" - the boy was reading, not looking at Gabriel - "and I'm sorry for that, cause I like you both. Some minor things can be played differently, though." He fell to silence again.
Gabriel shook his head and hurried outside, following Grace up the street. "Hey, Grace, wait up, will ya" - he called - "This tiny espresso I drank is sittin' in the pit of my stomach, slowin' me down."
Last update: October 25, 2007
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