Page 128 of Encounter

In moments, I worried about Chast dissociating as he drove without so much as blinking, but we managed to reach Gregory’s house in one piece. It looked much moreregularthan Chast’s apartment—a nice villa, not entirely on par with the houses in my neighborhood, but luxurious enough compared to his. The grass at the front was neatly cut, and the pretty white fence gave an illusion that some nice, regular family lived there.

Hesitant, I followed Chast as he walked up to the door. I held the box against my chest tightly, making sure not to shake it too much.

He rang the bell, and we waited for a few seconds before Mia opened the door. “Hello boys. What a surprise!” she blurted out, smiling widely. She looked different than the first time I saw her—understandably less put together, with no make-up and wearing a comfortable, baggy lounge set.

In a heartbeat, she detected our aura.

“Wh...” Drawing her brows together, she glanced toward my chest. “What’s in that box?” Each of her words were deliberate, reflecting her growing concern.

Sucking in my bottom lip, I glanced at Chast, who stood there, hand gripping the door’s wooden frame.

Gregory appeared at the back of the long hallway ahead, curiously poking his head out.“What’s going on?” he shouted, but no one responded.

Without a word, Chast pushed past her. He moved like a ghost—felt like it, too. The absence of his usual vigor and spark rattled me, but I tried to be strong and followed inside, giving Mia an apologetic nod.

Gregory stared at Chast as he passed through into the open living room, as shocked by his change in demeanor as Mia.

The dagger clanged as it landed on the glass coffee table in the middle of the room. The red fabric weaved into a delicate Japanese motif on the handle was the same shade as the reminders of the blood dried up on the blade.

I saw the horror appear in Gregory's face—somehow, he knew what it meant. He knew it meant tragedy.

“Wh—” Darting his eyes over us, he was inevitably drawn to the box, and I began to feel like some sort of bringer of death—I walked around with the remnants of the life Chast held so dear, a life that meant so much to him. A gentle, sweet little creature someone reduced to nothing but some flesh and meat within seconds, without ever having the pleasure to feel its light. “Fuck. From the last job?” Gregory became alert as it started clicking for him.

Chast gave a nod, nothing else. He stood there, staring into space, fists curled into tight balls. The skin around his fingers was slowly turning red. “They must’ve... the girl must’ve described my face, or there were street cams or—”

“Goddammit!” Throwing his hands up, Gregory walked in a circle. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

“T-Tell me it isn’t what I think it is in there!” Mia blurted, frustrated by everyone ignoring the topic. Seeing her glazed-over eyes, I began to tear up as well. I felt like I couldn’t hold the box for any longer—it was turning heavy, cold, eroding, and like the blood was somehow going to seep into me, contaminating me.

Gregory tensed up his jaw, walking to Mia to hold her around her shoulders. “You’re both okay, right?” He turned his attention to us.

No, we’re not. Chast isn’t okay, I’m not okay! None of this is!

Sniffling, Mia pushed away and left the room, cursing and mumbling in Spanish in between sobs. Seeing me shuffled around, hands trembling, Gregory finally did what I had been praying for and took the box from my hands, placing it on the table. “Fuck... Shit! Fuck, Chast, I... I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

I glanced in his direction. I worried he was shutting down, turning off his emotions.

“It’s good you came here. Shit... I can’t believe those bastards found your apartment. I... know that whole thing was a mess, but they were just street thugs, they never go this hard on retaliation, I— I’ll make some calls, try John, he’ll help. We gotta deal with this.”

While Gregory plotted, I made a careful step toward Chast and touched his hand. He jerked away, but finally looked at me, eyes tired and nostrils flaring. “Y-You should go home,” he murmured, so low I barely heard him. Before I could protest, he continued, “It’ll be safer. I know you don’t wanna see your father, but—”

“No, I’ll stay with you!” I stood my ground, giving him a stern look as I squeezed his arm. There was no way I was going to leave him alone in this state. It had nothing to do with me being angry at Dad—this was when Chast truly needed me.

He seemed too exhausted to argue. I almost wished he would. All he did was lower his gaze, studying our joined hand.

“I should’ve never accepted a contract from that fucking lying bastard.” Even Gregory’s voice started cracking under the emotional turmoil. He stood over the box, darting his eyes between that and the dagger.

“It was me who went in, even after knowin’ it was Yakuza,” Chast said tiredly, rubbing his eyes. “And when I saw the girl outside with one of ‘em, I just... couldn’t help it and had to interfere like a fucking idiot.”

“I should’ve stopped you! I should’ve double-checked the info he gave me. I— Goddammit, this is all my fuckin’ fault.”

“It ain’t,” Chast whispered, meeting Gregory’s eyes. “You know it ain’t.”

“I— I’ll— Fine.” Taking a deep breath, he ran his hand through his longish hair and straightened his back. “I’ll go and fix this, swear to fuckin’ god. You hear me?” Guilt radiated out of Gregory’s determined stare as he stepped in front of Chast. He didn’t give him much of a reaction. “You... go into the spare bedroom and...”

“I’ll be with him,” I said confidently, getting a thankful nod in return.

Without a word, Chast led me through the smaller hallway and entered one of the rooms, furnished in the same boho style like the rest of the house.

---