Dominic returned to his motel room with more vigor and energy than when he left. His pack wasn’t happy about his absence but he just continued to smile throughout their demands for an answer. Though his respect for them was enormous, he didn’t feel they were entitled to know everything about him. Maintaining a sense of mystery and keeping parts of his life quiet had always been his way and he didn’t plan to change it so close to the end. He knew they would benefit from his experience in a positive way and simply remained mum about where he had been and what he had done. Raina gave him the hardest time of all but he refused to break, even in the face of her threatened punishment of coldness and silence.
“Come on!” he simply called out to them as they abandoned their rooms and pulled their luggage behind them. “Let’s hit the road!”
Raina crawled into the car and threw dirty looks his way whenever he made eye contact. Christoph gave him a knowing smile, seeming to somehow understand that his leader’s absence had provided him with the necessary fuel to continue. Jarek eyed him suspiciously but didn’t ask for details that he knew he wouldn’t get and Leo rushed to catch up with all of them, extra bags in hand and a shirt that protruded with the loot he had stolen from the mini bar in his room.
“What ya got there, Leo?” Dominic asked, even though he knew the answer.
“Nothin,” he answered guiltily.
“Why do you ask?”
“Oh, no reason,” he answered. ‘It’s just that you seem to be leaving with more than you came with.”
“Neh,” Leo replied, sarcasm edging his tone. “You’re just tired from your long night out.”
Jarek advanced on Leo and pulled his shirt up high causing tiny bottles of Bacardi, cheap wine, and candy bars to tumble onto the cement. After leaning over to pick up the stolen items, Jarek stood back up and glared at him with an expression of warning.
“I’ll just hold these for you,” he said in a voice that implied his statement required no answer.
“Asshole,” Leo muttered under his breath, heeding the warning not to debate their shared thievery.
Dominic turned away, in no mood for an argument that would strip him of the high he was still feeling. He threw the keys to Christoph and told him to just head west until further notice. The rest of the pack took their seats and drove in silence away from the motel that had saved them from the daylight. Although no one but their leader knew where they were headed next, they refrained from questioning him any further. Once he had made a decision, they relied on their belief in his integrity and their innate faith in him to quiet all concerns. Though forced to follow him on his whims, the pit stops didn’t impact them individually aside from causing a twentyfour hour delay in reaching their destination.
The inside of the car was quiet as they stared out the windows at the passing trees and unfamiliar territory. Exhausted from travel and physical strain from last night’s show, Dominic fluttered in and out of a dream state that teased his subconscious mercilessly. As the memories of human-like pain set into his back and his knees, Dominic could not distinguish between what was real and what was just a detailed mortal memory of the backlash that had always followed energetic performances.
With Christoph at the wheel, Dominic was grateful for the time he had to reflect on the previous night’s experience and of similar shows of years past. He looked back on his days