𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘦

Chapter Twenty Four: Just Another Day

"C'mon! We gotta get on the road!" Ben shouted from the car below my feet, as I was still on the motel balcony.

"Did we really have to leave at five in the morning?" I yawned.

"Cops are going to be swarming the city once they find the body, we gotta get out of here before they catch on,"

I grabbed my duffle bag and carried down the stairs, trying to be quiet to wake no one else up. I looked absolutely disgusting, I had no time to do my hair, and I was basically wearing the same thing from last night. I hoped Ben didn't mind that I looked like absolute shit.

"So, where are we going anyway?"

"Somewhere far, I'm thinking we pass through North Carolina, and maybe end up in Georgia for the night,"

"Jeez, that's far," I replied.

"Well, you better have brought a charger, probably going to be a eight hour drive with pit stops along the way,"

I shoved my duffle bag in the backseats of the car, and shut the back door. I started walking to the other side of the car and got seated into the passenger side of the car. He got seated next to me, and put the car in the ignition.

"So, we got enough gas to last us about three hours on the freeway, then we'll stop for gas somewhere out there," Ben said.

"Sounds good to me," I said, nervously.

Ben must have noticed I was nervous again, "Why don't we go stop for coffee before we get on the road,"

"Y-yeah, that would be great,"

Ben started backing out the car, and turned out of the parking lot onto the road.
The road and the trees looked so much different in the daylight than at night, the trees were starting to develop an orange and red tone to them. There was also a sidewalk next to the road.

Would have been good to know that last night.

I didn't even notice there was a red barn on the left side of the road last night either. It looked exactly like a farm you would see in an animated movie, or a children's book.

Julia always wanted to live in a big red barn, she wanted to wake up early and take care of the chickens and pigs. Sometimes, in the early morning, she would crawl into my room and jump on me until I woke up, and as soon as she woke me up she would shout, "Let's play barn! Let's play barn!". Of course, I would wake up and play barn with her until I had to get ready for school. She always thought she could talk to animals, and it was her dream to live in a barn one day.

I hope she is living in a big red barn up there.

"You okay?" Ben broke the silence.

"Yeah, sorry, just zoning out a bit," I replied.

"You tend to do that a lot, got anything on your mind?"

"Julia,"

"Oh, I'm sorry,"

"It's okay, It's hard to get over loss,"

"I know, and - if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you. Only, if you are comfortable though,"

"Thank you," I say, trying to just leave it at that. I could tell Ben knew something was up, but he didn't want to push me. I will eventually tell him about the visions I have been having, and why I zone out so much.

But for now, I am craving a good cup of coffee.

We reached the start of the city, and we quickly passed the older buildings, when we had to take a stop at the intersection where the 7-11 was last night.