The Road Goes Ever On Novels & Stories

The endless blaring of car horns from rush hour rang in my ears. My father, Michael Stern, was already unconscious, laying in the lap of my mother, Edith Christian. We were stuck at an intersection. Outside the car window, my husband's colleague, Francis Light, in a police uniform, was looking at me icily. He said, "Everyone is stuck here. If I were to clear a path just for you, others would call it a misuse of power. Daphne, are you just trying to get me in trouble?"

Chapter 61 • • • • • • • • • • • The road stretched ahead, an unbroken ribbon of asphalt that seemed to disappear into the unknown. Evelyn's voice cut through the silence, a note of assurance that mingled with the steady hum of the car's engine. "It's just up ahead," she announced, her words carrying a sense of both anticipation and apprehension. The tension in the air was palpable, each heartbeat a reminder that their destination was drawing closer.

He put his helmet and on and off he goes. Ten pm and the road is still alive. It might be a wonder if people do sleep. Roads are loud untill dawn—city that never sleeps. From above view, city lights are breath taking. Raven roads like an eagle—fast as if he is in a racing track. Light was like only a flash of lightning, cars where like shadows as he pass by, glitching as he goes. People turn their heads to him like he was a flash.

he commanded on the driver. Sitting properly and looked at the outside, this is not the way where my house is supposed to be. It was far. Very far from the road I usually take. All I can see is an endless road. Traffic. City lights. Crowded people. Until such time, the road was heading us in an empty and silent place. Only tall hills of pine trees were standing. Sure there's a post light but... it's creeping me out.

I growl. She giggles. “Eyes on the road, Calloway.” “Eyes are on you, baby. Always fuckin’ you.” The sun’s settin’ low, bleeding gold across the two-lane blacktop as we rumble down the dirt path toward the house. Dust kicks up in our wake, soft music hummin’ low from the radio. It’s too damn perfect. We pull up to the ranch, headlights washing over the porch, and I get that twinge—barely there, a whisper in the back of my head.

When the show ended, heavy rain poured down, washing away all the filth and ugliness. A rainbow stretched across the horizon. I understood then that whatever didn’t kill me would only make me stronger. Now that I had a new life, there was no need to be chained to the past. I was no longer someone who stayed still. I would keep moving forward because only then could I find more beautiful scenery. My future was full of endless possibilities.

Ronan tapped the steering wheel in rhythm with whatever was playing which was some old rock song I didn’t know. “This is what you do on random mornings?” I asked over the wind. “Spontaneity is good for the soul,” he said. “You never know what’ll happen.” “Yeah, like getting sunburned or kidnapped by your ex’s PR team.” He laughed. “That’s the spirit.” We passed cliffs, palm trees, stretches of ocean that looked like painted glass. It felt like a movie, one I didn’t realize I wanted to be in until right then. About an hour later, he pulled off onto a dirt road.

He held the door of the truck open, waited for me to climb up, and then made his way to the driver’s side. The drive home was excruciating. He said nothing. Nada, zip, nuttin’ honey. Just focused on the road. I originally thought I might have hit a nerve on the boat, but now I was spiraling into all manner of offenses… only stopping with the possibly I’d killed his pet in a past life. See? Crazy.

“We take the truth back. And we burn their whole perfect system to the ground.” The car sped up, moving faster down the empty road, heading deep into the unknown. Behind us, the city faded into the distance. Ahead of us lay only wilderness, danger, and the long road to revenge.

A golden eye appeared. Larger than before. Watching. Waiting. Hungry. The city trembled beneath its gaze. Then the old woman stepped back. The echoes around her did the same. Thousands moving together. Like a tide retreating from shore. The path to the Heart Tower slowly opened. A single road stretching through the dying city. The old woman smiled one final time. "Go." Thomas looked at the road. Then at the echoes. Then at the impossible sky above. And for the first time in a long while—