Chapter 24: Chapter 24: I'll Run to You

Erin tries to call Victor. He snatches his phone out of his pocket as he walks out of his room only to pause in the middle of the stairs. He can distantly hear his parent’s voices calling after him, the sound like bees buzzing in his ears as he laughs in disbelief. After all this time, he still doesn’t have Victor’s number.

‘We really made it so much harder for ourselves, huh’ Erin thinks while jumping down the rest of the steps. He places his phone on the table by the front door and runs out of the house. His mind keeps repeating the same word over and over like a broken record as he runs down the street. It’s only when he’s out of the suburbs does he allow himself to listen to it.

‘Shift.’

Blood is pumping through his veins so fast he thinks they’re going to burst.

His breathing is quick, in and out like a hummingbird’s wings.

The wind is whooshing past him, cooling his sweaty skin and sweeping his hair back.