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Day Three: As if the shadows weren't creepy enough, now they seem to be moving, stretching beyond where the light shouldn't let it reach. In the afternoon sun, the shadows still seem to be climbing; darkness is spreading across the city unnaturally. More than that, now sometimes it feels like you are being forcibly grabbed, like someone is trying to drag you into the darkness.
Myles was not the most observant person in the world; he hadn't ever been, really, but as he got older it should have been a habit of his brother's he adopted too. He knew that Destiny City was dangerous. He knew that there were powered menaces out there. He knew that he should watch where he was going, that he should watch for suspicious people, that he should keep his eyes open for all the things in the world that could hurt him.
But, he didn't.
Unlike his brother, Myles was dead set on only seeing the good in the world. He was scatterbrained and absentminded, but it didn't mean he wasn't trying his hardest. Sometimes his mind just needed a break from trying to pretend like everything was okay. Not that he'd admit it.
Myles wanted to live in a fantasy world where everyone was smiling and happy, where bad things didn't happen and no one ever got hurt. It wasn't real, but it didn't mean he wasn't going to try his hardest to see the world through his rose colored lenses.
He and Jeremy had gotten into a fight. It probably wasn't anything important, and Myles couldn't even remember when Jeremy had gone from nagging to snapping at him. He'd blocked out half of the conversation already, all he remembered was Jeremy's angry face, his loud voice, the angry gestures. He couldn't remember the words, just that they had made him feel very small and very foolish.
He felt like crying. Maybe he had, his face was hot when the air was cold, and he blinked away wetness that could have either been allergies or emotion.
He hadn't had anywhere to go, not really. A part of him wanted to go to Derryl and see if he couldn't find some comfort in his arms, but he also knew that Derryl didn't really like Jeremy and the last thing he wanted was for two of the most important people in his life to be yelling at him.
It wasn't like him to sulk; he had just hurried out of the house after Jeremy slammed the door shut to go do who-knows-what. He probably should have stayed, but he was so antsy, so worried. He didn't want to be alone.
At least in Destiny City he could find some distraction.
The shadows, for example, weren't even all that distracting until he realized that it must have been ten, twenty degrees cooler as he passed through some of the longer ones. He hadn't dressed warmly enough for that so wound up with his arms wrapped around himself, teeth chattering intermittently.
It was a nuisance but not one that Myles really even minded--until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He squeaked and stumbled forwards, spinning to confront the person--half hoping and half dreading it was Jeremy.
It was no one. So, probably an overactive imagination.
Except, he turned to walk and a few steps later it happened again--this time a firm hand on his wrist. He tried to yank away but the grip was stubborn. He yanked so hard he nearly toppled over but he was afraid that if he sent himself splaying onto the ground he'd be defenseless.
For a few seconds he lingered, and then what felt like a few more hands groped for him--tugging at his shirt, his ankles, his wrists. Myles was tall and lanky, underweight, and only strong in extreme bursts of adrenaline. The dark shadows seemed to creep over him, threatening to swallow him whole. He could feel his vision swimming--stress, anxiety, adrenaline. He struggled harder, until his sweater had nearly been torn from him, before he finally managed to break free of the shadows.
At that point, he couldn't think clearly. He didn't know what to do, so he stood there in the brightly illuminated patch between shadows.
There was no making sense of this, no comprehending it. No answers waiting in the darkness--not that he was going to go looking there for them, anyway.
Instead, he sucked in a breath--and bolted, with as much speed as he could muster, to the police station.
Jeremy, Derryl--anyone. He didn't want to be alone out here anymore..
