The city line drew closer as Alex limped uncertainly towards it. With each step he took, he was reconsidering the risk and whether he should turn back around, 'Damn! I need to get help as soon as possible.'
He came across a large, tarred road that led to the city border and began following it at a slow pace.
Cars, trucks, and lorries zoomed past him, ignoring his pitiful state. He raised his hand at the next coming vehicle and a black car slowed down, stopping beside him.
The window rolled down slowly and a rather fit man came into view. His eyes were a dull silvery blue, and his black hair was a near-buzz cut.
"What is someone as young as you doing all by yourself?" Alex didn't reply, scanning the man's exposed skin for the tattoo he had already familiarized himself with.
"Not the eloquent type, eh? No matter. Want a lift? What am I saying, you did hail me down? Get in." He reached for the door and opened it.
Alex kept silent and entered the car, 'At least if he tries anything, the sudden use of my beast art will give an advantage and I'll escape.'
The man continued driving as soon as Alex settled himself in and closed the door, "I'm well on my way to the state capital. I got a brand new job and I can't wait." He started to rant but Alex wasn't paying him any attention.
"The name's Leo, how about you?" He asked after a moment of silence,
"James," Alex replied slowly.
Leo chuckled a bit, "So you can speak. I almost thought you were mute."
The two passed the city border and continued driving, "Look at that, we are already in Dirnwood City." The city was vastly different from Great Eulon City with shorter, more modest buildings and no skyscrapers whatsoever.
If anything, there were even some run-down buildings and the air reeked lightly of a stomach-churning mix of smoke, alcohol, and sweat.
"Where would you like me to drop you off?"
Alex muttered a quiet, "The police station," and Leo nodded, navigating the city and dropping him off in front of a light brown single-storey complex with the words 'Police' written in a bold, white color.
"Here we are." Leo smiled, and Alex opened the door. "Thanks." He shut the door and limped into the station as Leo drove off.
As soon as he pushed open the double doors that led into the station, all eyes fell on him.
Seeing a kid entering a police station was odd in itself, especially if the kid in question was partly covered in ash, his clothes were torn, and he was limping, his eyes carrying untold exhaustion.
Three officers surrounded him and led him through a hallway attached to the general entrance and into a private room.
"Hello? What's your name and what can you tell us?" One of the officers, a woman, asked before handing him a bottle of water.
Alex grabbed the bottle and started chugging it, 'Shit! I didn't expect them to act this quickly in my state, but it should still benefit me either way.'
He threw the empty bottle aside and they gave him another one. Alex drank this one though not as quickly as the first. The burning thirst had partly subsided.
"I am James Dean and I was one of the two students chosen for a programme in Great Eulon City by Eulon City Academy for the Gifted." The officers furrowed their eyebrows, he was too far from Eulon City.
"We were going to begin the first part of our exercise yesterday when our driver started behaving oddly. One of us realized he was going the wrong way and–" Alex choked up, tears building up in his eyes and his hands shaking.
He looked at their eyes, which held pity, panic, and a bit of weariness, "... He challenged the driver only for the driver's head to fall off, the body still driving the car!"
Tears streamed down his face, "It all happened so fast. One second, mushrooms were sprouting from the driver's exposed neck, and the next, we got hit by another vehicle."
The officers were drenched in cold sweat, 'They know something.' Alex looked at their faces but continued like he didn't notice.
"When I came to, I was lying beside a dead body, not one of my classmates but a stranger." The woman who had given him the bottle leaned closer.
Her mouth opened and closed. She looked to the top corner where the camera was and shifted slightly to obstruct him from view, "Any particularly discernible features on this stranger?"
Alex hesitated for a moment, pretending to think, 'I know what they want. That tattoo must be important…'
"No, nothing that I can remember. I ran as quickly as I could with my broken leg. Adrenaline only managed to carry me this far."
The officers nodded and left Alex to himself, in their words, to make a report.
He looked at the camera in the top corner of the room before letting out a shallow breath and resting his head on the table. 'Did I make a mistake by lying about my name? No, I hope not.'
About twenty minutes passed before the door leading to the room opened and a new officer entered with a few documents in hand.
"James Dean, I've been instructed to take you to a safe house as we have reason to believe that you might be in danger." He spoke, and Alex visibly shook.
The officer smiled to reassure him, "Don't worry, you are safe. Nothing will happen to you." Alex let out a fake smile, pretending not to notice the tattoo on the man's neck — a wolf devouring a moon.