𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 » chris evans [✓]

𝐱𝐱𝐢.

Faith's phone had died what seemed like ages ago, and she was determined to make sure that she wasn't next.

Were it not for the gun currently being jammed into her right side, it would've been easy for her to talk Derek down—God only knows how many times she had to do it in their relationship, usually during an angry outburst. But this was distinctly different; this was a matter of survival. How could you reason with someone hellbent on ending your life?

"Where are you taking me?" She asked him as the winding gravel pathway in front of the house finally came to an end. In front of them was Derek's car, lights on and motor running. She could only assume that Carly was either in the passenger's seat or behind the wheel.

Ignoring the question, Derek roughly shoved her forward. "Shut the hell up and keep moving."

It'd been a long time since Faith had prayed—ironic, given her name and her mother's penchant for going to church—but tonight, in the span of space and time where she didn't know if her next breath would be her last, she asked for God to do the impossible.

Right now, as Derek forced her into the vehicle and they sped off into the night, divine intervention was her only hope.

• • • •

The green digital clock on the car radio read 1am. They'd been driving for what felt like hours, but it had only been thirty minutes. Still, for Faith, that was thirty minutes too long. The worst of it was that she had no way to gauge where in Milwaukee they were, or if they were still inside the city at all. It stood to reason that Derek wasn't familiar with the area, although at this point, she wasn't going to count out him having done some sort of planning beforehand.

Carly was driving, while she and Derek were in the backseat. He no longer had the gun pointed at her, but she knew he wouldn't hesitate to brandish it again if she tried anything foolish.

For the second time, Carly's phone began ringing from where it sat in the cupholder. "It's my husband again, Derek. I can't keep ignoring him, he's probably wondering why I haven't picked up the phone yet."

"Then I guess you shoulda thought of that beforehand, huh?" Came Derek's reply, cold and uncaring; in other words, par for the course.

Faith swallows the words that rise up in the back of her throat, keeping her gaze fixated on the fuel gauge. If her math was correct, based off the position of the needle, they would need to stop for gas within the next five to ten minutes. There wouldn't be much time, if the plan that was churning in her brain was going to work, but she had to try.

Sure enough, ten more minutes of driving and the gas can icon on the fuel gauge began to flash, followed by a steady, rhythmic beep. As they rolled to a stoplight at a busy intersection, Carly looked in the rearview mirror. "I'm assuming your genius plan doesn't include us running out of gas, does it?"

He muttered something under his breath. "Where's the nearest station?"

"I see a sign for Exxon to the left."

"Okay, go. And make it quick."

Faith dug her nails into her palm. Time was now crawling at a snail's pace, and she tried her best to keep herself calm despite the waves of fear rolling through her nervous system.

One thing she'd always recalled from her days of dating Derek was that whenever they, or anyone else for that matter, drove his car, he was the one to pump the gas. It was a stupid ritual, Faith had always thought so, but in that moment, she prayed for predictability.

They pulled into the gas station, which only had two other cars in it. Carly pulled up to the closest pump and unbuckled her seatbelt, moving a hand towards the door handle. When Derek didn't say anything, Faith's heart sank.

But Carly didn't get out. Instead, she rummaged around the middle console, clearly searching for something. "I forgot my wallet..."

"I'll pump. Take this." Derek retrieved the gun from his opposite side and discreetly moved it in Carly's direction up front.

The woman's eyes went wide. "What? No! I've never handled a gun before, and–"

"You think I can take this inside? Or what, you want me to give it to her?" He gestured his head toward Faith for emphasis, shoving the weapon forward once more. "Take it and make sure she don't try anything stupid. I'll be right back."

With the utmost reluctance, Carly took the gun. Derek took a glance at their surroundings before opening the door and going to the pump. The tiniest measures of relief filled Faith's chest, even though she wasn't out of the woods just yet.

Now a little paler, Carly angled her body towards Faith as she held the gun. Though it wasn't so much aiming it as much as it was gripping the handle unconvincingly. It was becoming clearer to Faith that none of this was what she'd been planning to get involved in, but now things were at the point of no return.

Not that Faith felt sorry for her—but it did make the chances of her appealing to Carly's emotional side a far easier task than appealing to Derek's.

As silence filled the car once more, Faith swallowed hard. This was her chance. 

"Carly, there isn't much time until he comes back, so please listen to me. I don't know what I did to make you want to help Derek, but I promise you it isn't worth it. I don't care if you hate me, if you think I'm not good enough for your brother, or whatever the hell else. But if you go down for this? You're never gonna see your family again." She could feel a lump forming in her throat and tears pricking her eyes as the weight of the situation fully seemed to settle in that split second. "...and if you let him kill me? I'm never seeing Chris or anyone else that I love. This is the first time in my life I've been genuinely happy since I left him and now he gets to have the last word?"

In the glint of the moonlight that spilled into the front window, Faith could see that Carly's resolve was weakening. There were unshed tears in her eyes, too. Again, she felt zero sympathy—but she was coming down from the ledge. "Faith, I am so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen..."

"I don't need an apology. I need you to get your phone right now and tell Chris where we're headed." She glanced out of the window and saw Derek heading back to the car with a couple plastic bags in his hand from the mini mart. "Hurry up, Carly! Do it now!"

Carly set the gun down on the console beside her and grabbed her phone, awakening it to life and scrambling to find Chris's contact. "Okay, okay. There, I told him." She turned the screen toward Faith for proof.

Just as Derek put the pump back and opened the back door, Faith grabbed the gun and held it the exact way her father had taught she and Hope many years ago.

Carly gasped, barely registering the action. And by the time Derek had gotten back inside and closed the door, Faith already had the barrel of the gun pointed at his hip. "Nigga, if you even sneeze, I will send you straight to the depths of Hell."

• • • •

atp i'm not even gonna apologize for another cliffhanger since it's been over a month since i last posted sdjkdskjsd anyways gtg!!

we love a woman who can rescue herself!