Bonedust

and stood under the spitting spray, staring up at the crack in the ceiling tiles.
    Goddess. He should’ve kissed him. He should’ve given him something to remember him by. Not a quick peck on the lips, but a full fledged, tongue-in-mouth kiss. He groaned and let the water pour over him as he scrubbed until his arms were raw.
    If he ever got the chance again, damn the sky, he would.

    ***

    The water in the little pond was murky and shallow, but it was water. It would work. Gabriel sunk into the icy depths, shivering, goose bumps lining every inch of his skin. His gut tightened at the cold, but he dunked himself under the surface. He didn’t have soap, but he had to get the blood off of him. Get the memory of Reese’s brain exploding out of his mind. His eyes pressed shut and he rubbed the pads of his thumbs into them, making light flash behind his eyes. As he scrubbed at his hair, his nails scraped his face as he washed, the water turning an even darker of brown. He began to rub his hands together, praying most of the blood would come off, when his heart leapt into his throat.
    He thrust his hand above water, squinting at it in the dark. Urban’s number! He couldn’t wash it off. Please, let it still be there. It was stupid—the snake had been a complete stranger, but Gabriel felt a kinship with the man. If only because Urban set him free. The zaels didn’t hurt things.
    His heartbeat slowed as he caught sight of the loopy handwriting. Still there. He finished washing without letting his hand get wet. He ambled out of the pond, his clothes weighing him down, and he started ringing fabric out best he could. Water splattered the dirt into mud. He ran a hand through his hair, slicking it away from his face.
    Well now he was free. And alone. And surrounded by darkness and forest sounds, chirping and howling all around him. Shaking from the cold, he forced himself to move, to walk towards the only light in the forest, the light that would lead him back to civilization. He soon found it, a town no bigger than Dublith, certainly not as big as any of the Districts. Still, sitting at the corner of Firth Street, there was a little area with a bench. An Aerbus station. His heart leapt into his throat. Where would he even go? How long could he run?
    Someplace big. Someplace he could stay, his scent mingling with everyone else’s, keeping him obscured from the terror that was the Bonemaster. He would find Dante. He stuffed trembling hands into his soggy pockets and stood at the corner, shoulders hunched and looking like a homeless man stuck out in the rain, besides the fact that it hadn’t rained in awhile. He hoped people would overlook that.
    The bus sidled up to the curb in a rush of steamy air, the heat hitting Gabriel like a wave. He breathed in exhaust and warmth and hurried up the stairs as the doors opened. The driver was a man with a ridge of blue hair. He didn’t even give Gabriel a second glance as he said, “Keep your stuff in your space. Don’t piss anyone off, or I kick you off. Got it?”
    “Yes, sir,” he mumbled, darting down the aisle. The bus was mostly empty, a few stragglers at the back and a nervous-looking single mom with two kids on her lap in the front. He sat down somewhere in the middle, tucked into himself. He was still damp, but it was warm on the bus. He placed his chin on his knees and watched the scenery float by him as if he were dreaming.
    His heartbeat pulsed in his head the entire ride, his gaze drilling over the number on his hand, repeating it through his mind until it was engraved there. He would never lose this number, even if he never called it. He’d still have it. Just in case.
    They finally came into a large city overlit with a cascade of bright lights. He surged to his feet and pulled a cable and the driver found a stop. He dropped several zaels into the coin machine, until it jingled to tell him when to stop, and then he hopped off the steps onto the sidewalk. A group of people jostled around him, heading up into the bus, until it was just Gabriel and the empty Aerbus stop and the smells of Battery City burning their paths down his sinuses.
    The chill to the air had his teeth chattering. He hurried down the sidewalk, head down but ever watchful. He bought a room at the first motel he came across. The sign flickered on and off, reading out ‘Hardy’s’ in a bright blue and white font. The squat man behind the desk took his money, counted it three times to make sure