Walk the Line For You

Walk the Line Part 4

I'm rudely awakened by the sound of a car horn blaring in my ears, vibrating my eardrums to an almost unbearable pain. I want to sit up but my pounding headache is stopping me. I know I'm not lying in a bed or on a couch because my body is jostling around and every other second a light will flash by, lighting up the inside. I look down and see that I'm wearing different clothes, different shoes, and I can smell a pleasant odour coming from myself. Soap? I try to swallow, but my mouth feels like a desert. I turn my head and squint to the front of the car to see who's driving. "Kens," I hoarsely call out. She doesn't hear me. I roll to my side and clear my throat. "Kensley," I call out with more force.

She quickly glances back at me with distress etched all over her face. She keeps quiet for a moment. I want to ask what happened and where we're going, but my fear mutes me. After a few minutes of silence, she speaks. "Ellie, I'm going to tell you everything, I promise, but right now, I can't stop driving, I have to put distance between us and..." She trails off and clears her throat. "Baby, I will take care of you, I promise, and I know I'm not making any sense right now, but don't worry, Ellie, everything will make sense when I feel it's safe to pull over."

I have a gut feeling of what she's talking about. I think I know what happened with Matty and his friends, but I can't bring myself to think that she did something that horrible. I lay my head back down on the seat and let the vibration of the car lull me back to sleep.

*****

Someone's wrapping their hands under my armpits and pulling me forward. "What?" I ask as I look around and realize I'm being pulled from the car, then lifted and carried. My eyes focus on Kensley as I rest my head on her shoulder. For some odd reason, I don't feel panicked or like I should be concerned about anything. Being in her arms feels right and safe. She effortlessly walks up a flight of stairs then stops in front of a door and gently sets me down to unlock the door. Before I can respond, she's picking me up again and carrying me over the threshold and laying me gently down on a bed. "Kensley?" I softly ask.

She strokes my face, then kisses me. "I'll be right back." She turns and walks out, closing the door behind her. I sit up swinging my legs over the side of the bed and wait. Not sure what I'm waiting for, but my gut is telling me that whatever Kensley has to say to me will drastically change the path of our lives. Forever.

When she returns, she's laden down with luggage, my luggage. I jump up and rush over to take a bag from her. "How?" I simply ask.

She sets the rest of the bags down then takes me in her arms. "Let's just say that I'm a pro at packing fast." She kisses me on the forehead. "I gotta get mine, be right back." She tosses me a wink. When she returns, she only has one duffle bag around her shoulders.

"Why do I have three and you only have one?"

She chuckles as she closes the door while dropping her bag on the floor. "Well, we'll have to filter out what you don't need, but I wanted you to have a choice and pick out your favourites." We look at each other as the air around us suddenly shifts. Not sure what it shifts to, but it isn't light and airy anymore. "We can't have a lot of things with us for when we finally make our permanent move." Her voice drops an octave from the cheery way she was speaking just moments ago.

I gulp. "Will you tell me now?"

Back to reality.

She sighs as she removes her jacket and places it on the back of the dining table chair. She stands still, staring at me for moment. I think she's trying to figure out how close she wants to be to me as she tells me the gory details of everything. Finally, she sits on the bed and pats a spot next to her, inviting me to join her; I oblige. "You know I love you, right?"