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“Just somewhere,” is all I get for a reply. He leads me back down to the garage where his dad and I were not too long ago, trying to save his life. He pauses on the platform, just short of where the stairs are to lead us down to the cars. He looks at me with a grin plastered on his face. “Pick your player,” he says.
“You can’t be serious,” I say, my mouth falling open in surprise. “Are you even old enough to drive?”
He laughs softly, “don’t worry. I wouldn’t be taking you for a spin if I wasn’t certain that I wouldn’t kill you. You’re in safe hands, okay?” he winks, and I feel my cheeks flush, embarrassed by his display of affection but glad that no one was around to witness it.
I look around at all the cars, and my eyes settle on a simple navy-blue one that looks professional and safe, like it’s not out to kill me. “Good choice,” Jasper mutters. He gets the keys, strides over to the car, unlocks it and hops in, all in one smooth, effortless looking motion. “Come on, Waffles. I’m not going to let you get hurt. I’ll drive extra safe.”
Hesitantly, I walk over to the car, get in the passenger seat and Jasper starts driving. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?”
“If I do that, I know you’re not going to like it, so I’d rather keep the element of surprise.”
“Really? How bad can it be? It’s not like we’re going back to Black Opps and-” the very second the words come out of my mouth, I know I’ve made a mistake. One look at Jasper’s face tells me that is exactly where we are headed. “Oh,” is all I manage to reply with.
“I told you you wouldn’t like it.” He says, his hard eyes looking directly at the road, “if you want, we don’t have to.”
“Why?” I ask. He steals a glance at me, his eyes telling a story of curiosity and regret. “I want to know why you want to go back.”
“Just before we left, Annabelle whispered something in my ear. I talked to my parents about it today, but they closed up and didn’t want to hear a word of it.”
“And the best way to get answers is to go straight to the source. I like your thinking.”
“I thought it was pretty smart too.” He says and I can almost see him jokingly puffing out his chest before I playfully punch him in the arm to bring his rising ego back down to Earth.
“But why do you want me there? Wouldn’t your dad be mad if he found out?”
“I just wanted some company, and you definitely seem to never have a boring moment, Waffles.”
“You can say that again,” I say dryly.
“As for my dad, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. I know he wouldn’t approve of this, but so long as he doesn’t find out, which he won’t, then everything is fine.”
“And don’t you think I might just run away?”
Jasper laughs, “you’re a bit nosy today, aren’t you?” When he notices the glare out of the corner of his eye, he laughs again and continues, “I guess I just want to show you that I trust you. This is me putting my trust in you, showing you that I believe that you won’t run away.”
With all my questions answered to some degree, we continue the car ride in silence. Jasper’s eyes are focused intently on the road, and mine are admiring the desolate, eerie landscape. We pull up to another large fence, with a gate and a soldier that is rapidly approaching us. I stress out for a moment, wondering if he is going to ask to see my mark. But Jasper looks over at me, places a comforting hand on my shoulder and winds down his window.
“What is your business coming into the city?” The tall man asks in a voice that is too high pitched for his brooding demeanour. Before Jasper even starts talking, the man recognises who it is and a mixture of embarrassment and shock appears on his face. “Oh, master Cunningham, I am so sorry. Please, I shall not hold you up any longer. Have a good day.”
“You too, Derek.” At the mention of his name, Derek’s face lights up with undeniable pleasure. He walks over to the control desk and opens the gate.
“Welcome to Genesis City, the home of the new world.” Jasper says in his most mocking presenter voice and holding out his arm very dramatically as if showing off the beauty of the city. When I scrunch my eyes in confusion, he looks over to a massive light up sign, written with exactly what he just said in bold lettering. “I’ve been here just a couple of times,” he laughs as we drive deeper into the city.
The buildings are as tall as they are numerous. It makes me seem so insignificant, driving under buildings that could so clearly crush me if they fell. The architecture is stunning. There are buildings with arched roofs, domed roofs, corridors that just seemingly float on top of nothing.
I didn’t realise how much of this part of the world I have missed, living in Beast Eye for my entire life. There are billboards with lights and signs, and shops with clothes in them that line the streets. People are sitting down in cafe’s enjoying food and walking down the street just enjoying each other’s company.
I love Beast Eye, but there is something about this place that is so perfect, so tranquil. Everyone is going about their business, doing whatever they have to do to make the time pass, and they seem to actually be enjoying themselves.
It almost makes me long for a life like this. A life where you don’t need to stress about what you are going to eat, or if you are going to be raided that night or wonder how long the light will last before the electricity is cut off again. This place is like a completely different world. A world that a part of me envies, and another part wants to destroy.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” I turn my eyes from the city to look at him. His dark eyes that I so often compare to his fathers, seem to dance with a shine of their own. A bright smile almost as bright as his eyes is plastered on his face. I try to peel my eyes away from his intense stare, but there is something in his eyes that is so magnetic, I can’t help but be drawn in by him. His words finally hit me; I realise that he wasn’t talking about the city. I don’t know what gave it away, but his grin grows even wider, and I know that I am blushing all the way down to the core of my being.
“JASPER, WATCH OUT!” I cry, catching in my peripheral vision a car that has turned right in front of us. He brakes hard and holds an arm out to stop me from slamming forward. Our car stops just before hitting the car that has just swerved in front of us. We both stop, breathing hard, completely taken back by us almost dying.
The car that almost murdered us continues to turn the corner as if nothing is wrong and they didn’t almost kill someone. “And this is why I don’t go in cars with people who can’t drive,” I joke, my pulse steadying. I wait for Jasper to say some sarcastic remark about how he didn’t kill us, so he can’t be that bad of a driver, but when I look over to him, his face is as pale and hard as a stone.
“Jasper?” I say cautiously. When he doesn’t respond I call his name again, louder this time, giving his shoulder a small squeeze. He looks at me, his face serious and unreadable.
