Field Trip

DELLA

Stepping through the shimmering mirror, I find myself swallowed by the familiar darkness of the asylum. I glance around the padded cell; it feels different yet eerily the same.

“This was the coziest spot in the entire place. It’s where I used to sleep,” I tell them as I slowly make my way toward the door. “There are bathtubs down the hall. The city never turned off the water, but there’s no hot water. I think my burner is still around, so you can boil some if you need to,” I explain, glad of the darkness helping me avoid eye contact. It’s hard enough for them to see this place, let alone for Kade to spend any time here. He’s too good for this. They all are.

“The door doesn’t lock. I broke it when I first arrived,” I say, opening the door. I walk a few feet down the hall and see the bodies I left behind.

Taking a deep breath, I feel myself slipping away, surrendering to the comforting oblivion where I don’t have to think about what I need to do. I just do it. Autopilot.

I grab Bone Boy’s arm and drag him down the hall to the laundry chute. His frail body is lighter than I expected, but I push the thought away. I hear footsteps approaching and look up to see Sorin dragging the other body toward me.

In a heavy silence, we manage to drop the bodies down the laundry chute. The quiet is almost suffocating as we make our way back to the others.

“You lived here?” Micha asks cautiously.

“Yep. For almost a year,” I admit, still unable to meet their eyes. “Um… Follow me, I’ll show you around.”

I lead them down the corridor, hushed whispers trailing behind me. I show them the baths, the kitchen, and the recreation room. It’s more like a small gymnasium, with high ceilings and filled with equipment I made myself.

“I’m not sure if it’s suitable for flying, but it’s here if you want to use it. I did most of my workouts here,” I say, shrugging.

Suddenly, I feel large arms wrap around my waist, and I look up into Kade’s sad, dark eyes. “Thank you, Della,” he whispers as he pulls me into a hug.

“I just want you to be safe. I’m sorry it has to be here,” I mumble.

He pulls back to look at me and gently tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m not. This was your home. Don’t be ashamed of where you come from; it shapes who you are,” he says, his eyes warm and kind as he leans down to kiss me. It feels like he’s pouring all his emotions into this one kiss, so I pour mine right back, making him moan. When we break apart, he turns me to face Micha.

“You know, I was homeless for a while as a kid,” Micha says, his copper eyes intense. He reaches out and cradles my cheek in his warm hand. “I understand it, but I don’t like seeing you shut down like that.”

“Yeah, I don’t like that either,” Sorin agrees, wrapping his arms around me from behind and pressing my back to his chest. “Let’s not do that again. Okay?”

I nod silently, trying to hold back the tears threatening to spill.

“What was your favorite part?” Tenn asks in a surprisingly gentle voice. I appreciate his effort, especially after our previous arguments.

I smile and lead them up to the top floor and down the hall to the tower. “I came here whenever I had a bad day,” I explain, pushing open the double doors. I climb the rickety wooden stairs up to the clock face.

The clock tower is my favorite spot. It overlooks the treetops of the woods behind the asylum. Right now is the best time of year for it. I open the glass door that sits between the five and the six on the clock face and step out onto the metal balcony.

I take a deep breath of the crisp evening air as the others join me. The leaves are a beautiful array of autumn colors in the glow of the setting sun. I hear the guys beside me gasp.

“I can see why you like it here.” Micha grins.

“Yeah, I just wish I had brought pants.” I chuckle, sitting down with my legs through the bars of the railing.

“I can help with that,” Sorin says, sitting behind me with a leg on either side of mine. He reaches down to my bare thighs, and his hands start to glow a golden orange that grows to cover me. It feels like I’m suddenly in front of a warm fire with a giant mug of hot chocolate—warmth, comfort, and safety.

I look at Sorin in awe. “You’re incredible!” I exclaim.

He smiles softly down at me, his cheeks flushed as he gets up and sits beside Kade.

I notice Tenn is sitting next to me—rather closely. “Thank you for your help,” I tell him quietly.

“I’m happy you came to me,” Tenn says.

“Really? I wasn’t sure you would be. All we ever do is argue,” I confess.

“We really do.” He nods. “I’m sorry. You just scare the crap out of me.”

“Huh?”

“Well, when Oz and I came to get your stuff, I was so sad and angry that this is how you had been living. I couldn’t believe that you’d been in such a dangerous place alone, and I kept imagining all the awful things that you had to go through,” he explains. “When I got back to the school, I needed to see you and reassure myself that you were okay. But I couldn’t think properly, and it all just came out…badly. It came out badly.”

“It did. But it makes sense now that I know what you were thinking.” I nod. “I get pretty defensive, too, so I probably didn’t help.”

“You had every right to say what you did. Especially since we came here without your permission,” he says with a guilty smile. “It also didn’t help that the next time I saw you, I had planned to apologize, but then that little asshole Caleb came in with that bogus complaint.” I swear his eye is twitching.

“Oh.”

“I got upset again because you were still going through such bullshit, and you didn’t feel like you could come to me—to anyone about it.” He wanted me to come to him? My heart almost skips a beat at that realization.

“I thought you didn’t like me at all,” I tell him.

He reaches out and tentatively touches the back of my hand. “I’ve liked you since the moment we met. I’ve just been so mad at myself for not finding you sooner. For not being there for you when you were in trouble. And I want to be there for you…” He pulls his hand away and murmurs, “If you’ll let me.”

Just how much have we been misunderstanding each other? I don’t know what to say to that.

Thankfully, Kade chooses this moment to lean over and stage whisper for us all to hear. “I told you so.”

“Told her what?” Tenn frowns as I roll my eyes.

“Ignore him—” I start to say.

“That you were interested in her too,” Kade, the asshole, says, speaking over me.

I don’t think my face could get any redder.

“Oh, yeah. I called that too.” Sorin nods. What? “I thought that the first time we met,” he adds. What is wrong with these boys?

“Where are we?” Micha asks suddenly. I throw him a grateful look.

“Ontario.”

“Shit, really?” Kade asks, incredulous.

“Yeah, that’s where we picked her up… that first time,” Sorin teases.

“That was quite a night,” Tenn admits with a mischievous smile. “Did she tell you she dragged me into a girl’s washroom just to get me alone?”

“Will you guys stop saying it like that!?” I whine, causing them all to laugh at my expense. It’s like I’ve walked into the Twilight Zone.

“I mean, it’s not wrong,” Sorin counters.

“But you guys keep making it sound dirty, and it wasn’t!” I argue. I turn to Micha and Kade. “You guys believe me, right?”

“Well…considering the number of times you’ve dragged me into empty rooms and dark corners for…specific reasons…” Kade shrugs, making everyone laugh, including me.

“You have a point there,” I admit, smiling.

We sit on the balcony until the sun completely sets, then head inside.

We make our way to the padded cell, and Kade kisses me goodnight. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he whispers against my lips.

“Sounds good. There’s a space heater in the kitchen if you get cold. It has fresh batteries and should last you the night,” I tell him before Tenn pulls me back through the mirror again, giving me a soft, apologetic look once I’m on the other side.

“He’ll be fine,” he says.

I nod but can’t muster a smile.

“Micha, make sure she gets to her room, okay?” Tenn requests.

“You didn’t even have to ask,” he says, wrapping his arm around my waist and leading me into the hall.