Escapism [May 2023 Dainty Prompt]

𝕴𝖙 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖆 𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝖊𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖕𝖊.

Eldryn’s motorcycle revved in the midnight hour, just outside of the apartment building he’d taken up residence in. It was a comfortable living, if a modest one - far less lavish than his previous life had been, before he was forced to leave it in the dust. He carried very little with him; his cellphone, in the breast pocket of his jacket, a pack of smokes and a lighter, and a handful of twenties, just in case. He rarely ever used the money, but tried to keep some on hand in case he ran into trouble, or some poor soul in need.

Good deeds, and all that.

He stared at the helmet in his hands with a glazed look, ears pricked forward. He hadn’t had time to ride lately, nor had he found a want to. It used to be a means to breathe, to escape into the night with only the city lights and the purr of the engine between his thighs to keep him company. But he’d found a new life, had begun to write a new story, and his soul no longer yearned to be free.

Several dazed moments went by like that, the bike gently idling with a patience Eldryn himself had never quite mastered. His nails played over the padding, eyes flicking over the plastic and foam before finally bringing it to his head and sliding it into place. Eldryn pulled out his phone and double-tabbed on the side of his helmet, selecting a playlist with heavy beats that would help to drown out his thoughts before tucking the device away again. At once, the world around him dissolved - all he could see was the view from his visor, and it was enough to goad him to finally start moving, turning to the street with his aim being the nearest bridge.

Bzzzzzzzt. Bzzzzzzzt. Bzzzzzzt.

He’d been about twenty miles into the interstate when his phone started to vibrate against his chest. At first, he didn’t worry about it; it wasn’t uncommon for him to receive messages, whether texts or push notifications from TwinkTok. Normally, he’d set aside time in the morning to go through everything all at once, so he didn’t feel leashed to his phone.

Bzzzzt. Bzzzzzzzzt. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.

Annoyed, Eldryn pulled to the side of the road. The bridge was still a few miles off, but the vibrations kept pulling his mind away from the road, tangling them up in a web of anxiety and annoyance. Easing into the leftmost lane, he switched off the ignition and sat back, leaving his helmet on for the time being as he pulled out the hellion device., Unlocking it in a swift motion and flicking his visor open so he could see the screen unobstructed.

Texts. And not an insignificant amount of them.

The notifications sprawled, all offering the exact same message from a range of different numbers, obviously scraped by robo-dialers;

‘This is a message for all dainties! It has been a long time since we have seen so many of you: in fact, I think many of you have forgotten your roots. Please keep your ears to the sky, we will be reunited soon. We cannot wait to meet, there’s so much to teach all of you! ‘

Eldryn stopped, his thumb hovering over the button that would remove the texts from his sight. Despite the threatening nature of the message overall, it was one word that stood out among the rest, each letter a dagger to his heart;

Dainties.

"My people, the Jalopeura, hail from the Northern regions. You might be more familiar with the term 'Dainty', if anything; many of us consider it a slur, but…"

He flashed back to the conversation he’d had months ago as the name settled in his gut and caused bile to bubble up his throat. He heard it all the time in his everyday goings on in life, so why did it affect him so negatively now? Still his thumb hovered, his focus so entirely on the message that he didn’t notice that they’d stopped coming the moment he’d opened the first one.

Eldryn put his phone down.

He couldn’t do this. It was a hoax, it had to be - but even then, he’d changed his number multiple times, including the use of burner phones when necessary. Who the fuck sent it, and how did they know what he was…?

Ensuring the device wouldn’t fall to the still-warm concrete below, Eldryn leaned to the side and dismounted, pulling his helmet off and leaving it on the seat, music still blaring. He massaged his sore ears, taking several steps away, putting as much physical distance between himself and the phone as he could.

‘We cannot wait to meet, there’s so much to teach all of you! ‘

He shook his head. It wasn’t just him. It was a targeted attack - it had to be. How many more of his people had received the messages?

Eldryn turned slowly, his eyes widening. 

Hooves biting concrete, he closed the distance once more, scooping his phone up and closing out of the messages. He opened his contacts, found the number he sought, and without a second thought to the time of night, pressed ‘call’. It rang only twice before an elderly voice picked up, sounding slightly concerned.

“Eldryn? Is that you? Gods be, how long has it been? Are you alri---.”

“Don’t answer the message. Just delete it. Block the numbers. You haven’t gotten Naiyr  a phone, have you?”

“What? Goddess no, of course not, he’s only a child. Far too young for phones - though all of his friends have one, and he won’t stop pestering me for one! Goodness, I remember when…”

“Mom, please. I know it’s been awhile, but this is serious. If you received any of those---”

“Oh, sweetheart. Don’t you worry! I haven’t lived to my age throwing caution to the wind. We’ll be careful, I promise; the Elder is already looking into it, as well.”

Eldryn breathed a sigh of relief, forcing himself to find calm. He hadn’t realized he was shaking until then, and took several more deep breaths in order to focus.

“Okay. Okay… please just… let me know if the Elder comes up with anything. If I need to come home, I can. Just please, stay safe… and give Naiyr my love.”

“Come give him love yourself, you no-good big brother. He misses you, you know. But I promise, I’ll take care of us, so long as you take care of yourself. Please call me sometime soon, and not when we’re being threatened? It’d be nice to just talk.”

He smiled, feeling himself slowly come to be at ease. He made his promises and hung up, flipping back through to his text messages to take his own advice. He deleted each and every single one, blocking the numbers as he went for all the good it would do- and when he was finished, found himself staring at the screen as though he was certain, any moment now, he’d receive another. 

But the messages never came back.

Eldryn tucked the phone away with a sigh, mounting his bike and leaning forward over the handlebars with a groan. It certainly wasn’t the evening he’d wanted, but it did succeed in one thing.

Jamming his helmet back on, he turned the vehicle around and headed back, where he knew he would be safe. He cast a cursory glance to the posted speed limits and smirked to himself, blasting the music louder and pushing the engine to her fullest. Even if the Elder couldn’t manifest a defense against this terrorist, Eldryn sure as fuck knew he could.