Wake Up ||ONC 2021|| GxG

18. Well Now You're Dead

The blade went in surprisingly easy. When it was too slippery to hold onto, Esme let go of the handle and backed away to the opposite wall. A trail of red followed her across the room. It was over quicker than she would have expected it to be. The fear stayed long after Lars went still.

Her rapid breaths filled the quiet room. In the back of her mind, she knew she needed to get up, to run, to catch up with Easton and Nevaeh, but her legs wouldn't move. The wall was the only thing holding her up even if it was slowly sapping the warmth out of her at the same time. Her fingertips had gone icy cold where they rested on the ground. She looked down to assure herself they were still there and gasped at the red smears across her hands.

Esme stumbled to her feet, tripping over herself in her haste to reach the door. It slammed open and she started running. It was only a few feet before she reached another door and beyond that the outside world again. She hesitated just outside, looking around for signs of life. She was alone. The ringing in her ears quieted, not much, but enough for her to make out the sounds of distant cars.

"Car, need a car, grand theft auto round two," she murmured to herself. Tire marks tracked across the sandy dirt all around the small shack. She knew they'd had plenty of cars when they grabbed her and Nevaeh last night, but they appeared to have all left. Esme circled the building and sighed. There was one dingy silver sedan parked on the far side.

The door was, of course, locked when she pulled on it, but the window broke with a little help from a cinder block. Esme reached in and undid the lock. It clicked, and so did the gun behind her. She sighed, resting her head on the hood. "I really don't have the energy to deal with this right now."

"Then back away from my car," Paula ordered.

"You have got to be kidding me," Esme groaned. She turned and sure enough, there was Paula, gun raised, and feet planted firmly in a wide stance.

"Move away from the car, hands up where I can see them." Paula gestured back towards the shack. "Let's go."

Esme didn't protest, taking careful steps across the makeshift parking lot. She was overly aware of the cold under her bare feet and the growing light from the coming dawn. Maybe Paula hadn't seen Lars yet, she could use the shock to get the gun away. It was just them. Paula would have to leave to get backup eventually and Esme would be able to slide out the window when she did. But then, would Paula take the car with her?

There had to be a simpler solution. Esme bit her lip to suppress a grin and looked over Paula's right shoulder. She tried to be quick, but Paula noticed her glance and turned to look back. As she did, Esme darted forward and snatched the gun in a smooth motion, tossing it aside as she grabbed Paula's arm and shoved her to the ground. "Made you look," Esme whispered as she delivered a hard blow to Paula's head.

"How's that for a one liner Paula?" Esme shouted. She stared at the unmoving women sprawled across the floor. Paula was so still, even her breathing had slowed to be barely visible. There was blood smeared across her arm where Esme had grabbed her.

Black spots grew in the corners of Esme's vision and she blinked them back quickly. "Car, get to the car," she told herself. She stopped at the driver's side and groaned. "This is stupid." For a few minutes she just leaned against the open door, staring at the sky as it faded from pinks and purples to a pale blue. Time was ticking away but it seemed to be going at a crawl.

Finally, Esme turned back and grabbed Paula under both arms and dragged her to the trunk she'd popped open from the front. There wasn't much inside, but the strap of a gym bag worked well enough for a rope to keep Paula's restrained. Esme shoved her inside and gently closed the trunk. "Auto theft and kidnapping, great."

Esme slid into the driver's seat after clearing it of glass and stared expectantly at the ignition slot. "Dammit," she muttered. She wouldn't be going anywhere at this rate. Esme started pulling at the compartments and visors, hoping for a spare key to somehow appear. Instead, she found Paula's name on registration papers inside the glovebox. "Oh, right."

A few minutes later, after a trip to the trunk, Esme was on the move, the radio loud enough to drown out a herd of cats. She aimed for where she thought she'd heard cars earlier. Cars meant people, people meant safety. At least for a little while. At some point she'd have to figure out where to go.

Where was she going?

Esme slowed to a stop, hands gripping the steering wheel. Where was she meant to go? Easton had been the one with directions, and he was gone. The police were out of the question. They wouldn't look too fondly on her having a woman in the trunk of her stolen car. The blood soaked into her shirt was a whole new level of concern.

"I have a woman in the trunk," Esme chuckled. She leaned back against the seat, covering her mouth with her forearm. Once she started laughing, she couldn't stop. Tears streamed down her face and her breathing caught in her chest. Even when it started to hurt she couldn't stop. "There's a woman in the trunk, and I killed my father," she managed between giggles.

Bit by bit the laughter calmed, but the tears kept coming. Her hands suddenly ached, and she clenched them tightly, curling her fingers in to try and hide the blood smears. Lars hadn't been her real father. He had been her tormentor for the few months they'd held her. She remembered him in fragments, standing just out of her reach. She'd wanted to hurt him then.

She could remember the way he circled her and attached the wires to her skin. He'd smiled when the heat sizzled her skin. There had been one golden moment when she'd managed to free her hands and grab him. The was one of the last things she could remember about that place. It felt like only a day later when she was waking up in a hospital bed with her doting parents standing nearby.

As a father, even a fake father, he'd been kind and supportive. It wasn't surprising to her that she'd never suspected him. She had loved him. Esme crumpled against the steering wheel. Her chest tightened so much she thought her spine would pierce her heart. She could hear a thundering in her ears like water rushing down a stream. If she was screaming, she'd never know, but she hoped she was. She hoped someone would hear her and stop whatever was happening.

A steady pounding grew louder and louder. Esme could feel it shaking the car. She snapped her head up and threw herself out of the car. The shaking stopped as soon as she hit the ground, but the pounding continued. The trunk, it was coming from the trunk. Esme sighed and lay back sprawled across the road. With luck a truck would come barreling down the road and she'd be shocked enough to wake up back in bed. When nothing happened after five minutes she clapped her hands and sat up.

"Okay, Esmerelda, or Ester, whoever you are, let's get going," she prompted herself. It took some effort, but Esme got to her feet and slid back into the car. "We're just gonna go for a little drive."

Word Count Up To This Point: 21,154