Without hesitation, Miles removed his hands from his pockets to show he remained unarmed.
"I don't want any trouble," the drunkard looked behind his shoulder to ensure the aforementioned knight was not there. "Not from any cops, not from any knights...I already told you, I only want to reach the portal!"
While Miles argued his innocence, Ghent resumed his pacing. Their newest companion no longer concerned him, Mrs. Saxon did. If she had managed to identify him, the entire city would know before nightfall, including his parents. When Elayra stopped near him, he stopped too.
“R-right. Sure.” Ghent hoped he didn’t sound as uncertain as he felt.
After an awkward pause, he gripped the straps of his backpack and stepped in closer. “Like this? Or… no? Yes?”
Elayra was already moving, but Ghent couldn’t tell if he was too close, or not close enough. Cringing at his own awkwardness, he settled on keeping two steps between them.
Amazingly, their walk was undisturbed. Miles trailed alongside the teenagers, eyes forward. The man was unblinking, his posture stiff. If not for him mumbling about the knights needing to mind their own business, Ghent would have thought him to be in a trance.
Out on the road, Ghent kept his head down. The shopkeepers didn't pay them any attention, and the only person who passed them was in a hurry to reach their vehicle. For the first time that morning, Ghent was thankful for the rain. It offered a welcomed distraction.
"She's close." Miles' pace quickened as a car sped past the group. He barely breathed as they came to the alleyway, a wild look of desperation in his eyes. "Feel that?"
It took Ghent a few seconds to realize that by 'she', Miles was referring to the portal. As much as he would have liked to, he couldn't deny he felt something. It was a bizarre sensation, as if the air around them had a heartbeat. Curious to find the source of the pulse, Ghent peered over Elayra's shoulder to obtain a better look at crack in the wall.
"Oh, wow..." Ghent couldn't tell if the portal was supposed to look this way, or if something was wrong with it. He'd hoped that the sight of the magic would help jog his memory, but his memories of escaping Wonderland were no clearer than before.
Frowning, Ghent continued to look the portal over with a critical eye. After the portal widened, he could see the strange red lightning sparking within its core. This was more than enough evidence for him to deem it unsafe.
"I hope that's not our portal," Ghent scoffed his disapproval, secretly deciding that Miles would go through first. "Is there something wrong with it? Because it doesn't look safe."
Miles could have cared less whether or not Ghent accompanied them, but after Elayra brought up the White Knight, he didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. "Of course it's safe," he snarled, agitated by the skepticism coming from the teen. "We have to hurry!"
Unable to figure out the reasoning for their sudden haste, Ghent had no choice but to follow Elayra after his wrist was grabbed. He was beginning to see a pattern: if Elayra wasn't dragging him along on a run, she was pushing him. "What's wrong?!"
"It's dying!" Miles halted as the shadow revealed itself, and he cursed their misfortune with language so colorful it rivaled the graffiti covered walls.
Keeping true to the pattern, Ghent felt himself being pushed by Elayra again. Gasping, he staggered forward and turned his head to demand an explanation. Before he got the chance, the ominous shadow caught his attention, filling him with dread.
"What about you?!" Ghent couldn't tell if she intended to follow. Elayra hadn't said she wasn't coming, but she hadn't said that she was, either.
"You heard her! MOVE!" Miles urged them forward, fumbling for the holster at his side. "No blasted witch is going to ruin my chances," he started to rant to himself, taking aim at the darkness looming above them.
Using what speed he had left, Ghent heeded the order and made it to the portal. Despite the orders, he didn't go through. He was frozen in place, at a loss with what to do.
Miles circled around, finger on the trigger. "What is the matter with you?!" He was looking at the shadow when he said it, but the words were aimed at Ghent. "Get going!"
For what felt the hundredth time, Ghent was roughly shoved. As he tumbled backwards, he made a frantic grab for Miles' coat to stop the fall, grabbing onto nothing but air. "NO!"
Rather than hit the wall, Ghent fell into the portal, vanishing from the world he'd called home for fourteen years.
) he fled via the nearest portal and has been stuck on earth ever since.