Page 32 of Only Human in Strangeville

Once we were out of the clearing and heading back toward the road, the reality of what had just happened hit and I started to shake.

“Fuck.” I hugged myself.

Oliver put his arm around me, and I leaned into his touch.

“We’ve got you, Hannah.”

I turned and buried my face against his chest. Oliver put his other arm around me and held me while I shook. “I thought I’d be safe here.”

Nimbus came back to my side and leaned against my leg.

Oliver stroked my hair. “I feel there’s more to that statement than the current circumstances.”

“I can’t talk about it,” I muttered into his chest. That helpless feeling brought more tears to my eyes. I wanted to talk about it. I wanted to be safe. I wanted to be held and loved and not to have had to walk away from my old life.

For his part, Oliver simply held me. He didn’t protest my silence, try to get me to talk, just kept me close while I soaked his shirt with tears.

“We will figure something out, Hannah.”

I leaned back and tilted my head up so I could look at Oliver. He brushed his fingers along my cheek.

I licked my lips when I met his gaze and considered that maybe I didn’t care if he was my landlord anymore.

His grip tightened before he took a breath and broke eye contact.

I remembered to breathe and took a step back. He turned and I followed quietly, though I did take his hand. I needed some reassurance and his hand in mine helped a lot.

Nimbus trotted along beside us.

“Did you drive?” I finally broke the silence between us.

“Yes. I’m parked near where your last screenshot showed you. The wolves ran. Davin will take care of retrieving your car from the bookstore, if that’s okay. He’ll make sure it’s clean.”

“Thanks.” I took a breath and started thinking of all the things I’d learned about avoiding trafficking. My car was certainly something I needed to be aware of. I had to have it, but it wasn’t difficult to drug me with a contact drug, or disable it, or any number of things I’d been trained to look for. Training I’d hoped to leave behind.

The grass was springy and lush under my feet as we cleared the woods and cut through someone’s yard.

Nimbus dropped his shoulder and flopped over onto his back, wiggling around and grunting a little in enjoyment.

His simple delight pushed back some of the darkness threatening to overwhelm me.

Oliver chuckled. “If only your fluffy dog staining his white patches green were all we had to worry about.”

“Yeah.”

Once Nimbus finished his roll, we continued to the street. A sedan crawled past. I recognized the driver immediately. Drake glowered at Oliver and me. His passenger looked vaguely familiar in a way that sent chills down my spine. I knew I hadn’t seen that person since moving to Beechworth. Did they just look like someone I’d known once, or were they actually someone I’d encountered in my past life? The man peered at me, and I stared back, knees trembling. Things had just gone from bad to worse.

“Hannah,” Oliver said. “He won’t hurt you while I’m around. Let’s go.”

I let my landlord lead me down the road and got into his car in a daze. Nimbus hopped into the back seat.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Oliver asked after he got into the car.

I wanted to tell him everything. Almost did. But I held back.

“I just want to get back,” I finally replied.

“Of course.”

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