(Reverence 3, 59 / 12:58AM)

  A van’s engine rumbled through the thick road.

  Its tires sent plows of dirt in all directions, incomplete smoke thrust out of its exhaust pipe. A dust cloud formed a trail. Two bright moons finally shined their light onto them, letting the driver lay his head back against his headrest while keeping his eyes on the road.

  Next to him, Luke had his back turned, looking into the hole that was in the middle of Jack and him. Perking his eyebrows up, Luke had his body close toward the hole.

  (Sean) I need to explain something to you all.

  (Luke) What is it, Sean?

  (Sean) So I just read the paper that I stole from inside the house.

  (Luke) What does it say?

  (Sean) If you want to know why they’re targeting us, it’s still unknown. But, this paper slip does have something else even better.

  Inside the back of the van, Luna, Hope, Miles, and Pacifica all slept soundly asleep, with half of their mouths fully opened enough for a tarantula to burrow in. Christian and Chris being the only ones awake, both were in front of Sean as Christian folded his arms onto his chest.

  His eyes barely kept him awake, he had his back slouched, his eyes just staring at the ceiling of the van. Tilting his head down, dark painted eyebags remained underneath his eyes, as Chris shook his head intensely to keep himself awake.

  (Sean) This paper tells us about the location of the family treasure of The Zirardges. Yes! The family treasure!

  (Luke) Uh ok?

  (Sean) Don’t you get it? They’re the richest family in the world! And we’ve just managed to find their most secretive spot!

  (Christian) Why should we care?

  Christian unfolded his arms, letting them drop down to his thighs as gravity pulled them downward.

  Letting a small breath into his nostrils, it soon flowed out from his mouth like a willow flower dancing in the small breeze. Licking his dried-up lips once, he glared at the elf with slanted eyes.

  (Christian) We just robbed the richest family on Terra, for a piece of paper? And now we’re just going to have to follow it like a treasure hunt?

  (Sean) Sort of, but not really.

  (Luke) sighs … we’ve burned their crops and now we’re robbing their family treasure. We’re definitely going to be Terra's most wanted.

  (Jack) I think we already are though…

  Showcasing the paper in front of Christian, Sean held it with his right hand as his fingers clamped down on the top of it. Leaning forward, he hunched his back while squinting through the lines of each word.

  Widening his eyes, he then crashed onto the seat, his wide eyes still lingering as he didn’t direct it to any particular object or person. Staring like he’d seen someone be murdered in cold blood, both of his hands began to clench tightly, his knuckles already clashing with one another like cogs in gear.

  (Christian) Are you fucking insane…

  (Luke) What happened Christian?

  (Christian) Tell Sean where the treasure’s at.

  His eyes and face hovering over the hole, he looked straight at Sean, who began to rub the back of his head with his other hand. Letting out a sly chuckle, Sean looked away as Luke made a deadpan face at the elf, with Luke’s eyelids slowly forming dark pigments of sleep deprivation.

  Taking a huge breath in, Sean finally extended the piece of paper to Luke. Like Christian, he widened his eyes, while slowly looking toward Sean with an opened mouth.

  His side-bang covering his right eye, his left eye soon began to simmer in the dark.

  (Luke) Are you serious…?

  (Sean) Hey! I pulled my ass off to get this single piece of paper! I’m not just going to let it go to waste!

  (Luke and Christian) We’re talking about robbing a freaking train!!

  At the moment he heard “train”, Jack instantly stomped on the brake pedal, the motion of the van causing the awakening to move along with the sudden abrupt flow.

  Luke and Christian didn’t let the van’s sudden halt let them. Keeping their eyes on Sean, they also ignored Chris who rubbed the top of his head, as a small reddish bump formed. Not only that, but the rest of the sleeping individuals began to slowly wake up, rubbing their eyes from the sudden stop.

  (Miles) What’s going on, are we here?

  (Hope) Are we at the adobe?

  (Pacifica) What What What type of man brakes like that?!

  (Luna) Who disturbed my sleep…

  Instead of pinning their eyes on Jack, everyone began to pin their sluggish eyes onto the elf, causing him to huddle himself like a turtle. Grudgingly walking toward him, Hope stood in front of him as she knelt on one knee.

  Gulping down a load of saliva, Sean let his body feel relaxed, looking away from Hope’s angelic blue eyes.

  (Hope) What’s going on Sean?

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  (Sean) Uh … short story short, we’re going to rob a train.

  Miles instantly stood up.

  Walking toward the curdled-up Sean, he towered over him as even his shadow began to cast down on Hope. Ignoring her, his eyes glared at the elf, along with his fingers twitching erratically in an arithmetic pattern.

  Not even letting out a wry smile, only a single droplet of sweat poured forth from his right temple.

  (Miles) That day that I’ll rob a train is the day that this world’s made up…

  (Sean) Hold on, let me explain—

  Thrusting his right hand, he grabbed Sean’s collar, lifting him with just one hand. Standing up, Hope hovered both of her hands onto Miles’s chest, her throat jumping up and down as she saw Miles’s eyes beginning to strain red.

  Pacifica, Luna, and Christian all watched as Sean dangled his feat, while Chris gripped onto Miles’s shoulder with his sweat-stained hand.

  Miles pulled Sean closer, his face inches away from his.

  (Miles) All I heard from your mouth for the past twenty-four hours is you explaining.

  (Sean) Look! I know you don’t like me, or my ethics, but believe me when I say that I’m not against you guys!

  (Luke) …

  (Sean) L-Luke! T-Tell him to put me down, please!

  Seeing everything through a hole cover, only a long exhale of air swept out from his lips. Tilting his head downward, he closed his eyes, his eyeballs seeing nothing but darkness with bits of blue imaginary waves crashing forth into his pupils.

  Letting his palms let loose from the metal he pressed on, the area of the metal began to dehumidify the sweat that Luke left.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I know I asked for this nagging to never stop, but not this…

  Opening his eyes, he stared right at Sean.

  (Luke) Back there, we bit off more than we can chew. We were lucky that the Pacithiests aided us. If it weren’t for them, we would’ve been dead.

  (Sean) But we can plan—

  Miles clamped down Sean onto the van’s wall, the elf clenching his eyes in pain as his shoulder blades began to grind against the metal.

  Ignoring Hope’s continued hands that hovered over his chest, he also didn’t dare to look back at Chris who dug his fingers into his shoulder evermore. Only hearing two women and one man stand up, they slowly walked toward him using the hind of their heels.

  Luke immediately got out from the passenger side door.

  (Miles) I’m not going to let you get us killed!

  (Sean) A-Ah!

  (Hope) M-Miles! Please drop him!

  (Chris) L-Let him go!

  (Christian) Ok Miles, I think that’s enough.

  (Pacifica’s thoughts) What did I I stumble onto Pacifica?...

  (Luna’s thoughts) Damn, these idiots can’t shut up.

  The back of the van’s door swaying open, Luke got himself up as he ran toward the pinned Sean and enraged Miles. Putting himself in between them, he had his head tilted downward, pushing Miles away with just his palms.

  Taking a step back, Miles’s eyes were brought back to its whitish color. Being in the back of Luke, Sean placed his right hand on his shoulder.

  (Sean) Thank you, Luke.

  (Miles) You can’t be serious Luke.

  Luke continued to have his eyes downcasted, both of his hands enclosed into balled fists. Not letting anyone see through his darkened face, Miles only stood by and watched as he soon collapsed onto the van’s seat.

  Staring into the abyss, his pupils didn’t lay onto a single eye or person, as not even a trace of breath escaped from his pursed lips.

  (Miles) Why do you trust him that much…?

  No response came from the silent Luke. Like a mannequin, Luke continued to ball his fists and watch the sweat-stained metallic floor.

  (Miles) You said it yourself that we’re biting off more than we could chew. So why?

  Slowly, Luke tilted his head upward, as his hair covered his forehead down to his lower eyelids. Not seeing his red eyes, Miles only felt the loss of blood flow from his feet and legs.

  (Luke) I just … want to find out who's behind all of this. I don’t care for the treasure … I just want the truth.

  (Miles) And that truth would get us killed.

  (Luke) … Miles…

  The dark-complected man tilted his head upward, his eyes beginning to lock onto Luke’s barely visible right red eye. Being drawn in, everyone else tried to grasp the young man’s eyes.

  His knees buckled, his hands soon free. The strands of his hair that were blocking his eyes began to unfold.

  (Luke) You said that you wanted to be like an older brother to us. Do you still want to?

  Miles slowly looked at both of his hardened hands, noticing a bit of old scars and cuts laced around his knuckles and fingers. Looking to the left of his shoulder to saw a big hole in his shirt and jacket, it was also a sign of his new life.

  A life that he was drawn into; or a life that he was forced into.

  With his left hand, he plugged the hole while hunching his back. Still unable to look at Luke, his left hand’s fingers started to dig into his skin, creating small low-level bleeding that stuck to his nails.

  (Miles) I’m already tired. Everything … everything up till now has just been a fabricated messed up fiction for me…

  (Luke) Me too…

  (Miles) But … you guys are the closest I have to family … I just don’t want to lose it again.

  Without knowing, Luke was already right in front of him. Towering over him, the young man only watched as Miles widened his eyes. Glancing down, one of Luke’s hands slowly extended itself onto…

  Miles’s shoulder.

  (Luke) You won’t … I promise that I won’t let anyone die.

  (Miles) But how will you achieve that? What sole purpose does it make when you lead your troops to their deaths…

  (Luke) But you guys aren’t my soldiers…

  Putting his other hand on Miles’s shoulder, he managed to slowly pull the tall man back up to his feet. Pulling away his hands, he enclosed just his right hand alone while letting it motionless to his thigh.

  Glancing from behind, Hope already had a slight tear on the verge of falling out of her right eye. With that one single glance, both ends of Luke’s lips formed a cheerful smile.

  (Luke) We’re comrades. No matter where; we’ll all be side by side in the end.

  Miles put both of his feet together, clamping them shut while straightening his back. The top of his head barely grazing the ceiling of the van, he hovered his right hand over the left side of his chest.

  Thumping it twitch with a fist, he then gilded it straight across the right, displaying the Dark Angel salute. In return, Luke did it back, with Luna, Hope, Sean, and Jack who watched from where the van’s doors were all joining in on the salute.

  (Christian) You’re pretty good at being a leader.

  (Luke) Me?

  (Christian) You don’t seem arrogant or commanding like the others. Reminds me of The Boss.

  (Luke) Well … I’m not that confident, so I have to put my eggs in another basket.

  Finally, Luke turned his head toward the elf, whose face was already scrunched up with tears on the verge of coming out.

  Looking down at the paper, Sean’s fingertips that held the slip started to wrinkle. Slowly, he passed the paper onto Luke, as a small sniffle came out from his button nose.

  (Sean) Just take it …

  Luke carefully took the paper note, using his right hand as a small paper cut flicked on the bottom of his palm. Ignoring the little cut, he trailed every bit of word and letter through each line, soaking in the info like a dry napkin.

  Hunching his head down, his nose went from several inches from the paper to barely a few, as he slowly skimmed the last line on the bottom of the paper.

  Looking up, the crevice of the right corner of his lip twitched once, leading Sean to pucker up his lips. Covering up a small dry cough inside of his mouth, Sean avoided Luke’s flat stare that caused him to scratch his right cheek.

  (Sean) So … long drive huh …

  (Luke) Ridgemente? We’re going to go there?

  (Jack) Wait, the train is going to be in Ridgemente? That’s a ten-hour drive!

  (Sean) Yeah hehe … it’s going to be a long night.

  (Jack) More like a long morning.

  Pushing back his hair with both of his hands, Jack closed his eyes shut as he tilted his head upward toward the night sky. Rubbing his eyes back and forth like screwing a nail, small imaginary waves began to whistle inside of the darkness that he only saw.

  Letting out a long exhale of air, he let both of his hands down, as some of his knuckles began to crust from the dryness of the wind alone. Opening his eyes, he locked eye contact with both Luke and Sean.

  (Jack) If we’re going to drive to Ridgement, then we’re going to need to lie low. It’s the capital of Haxouburg so we’re probably just going to have to find some abandoned building.