Innocent | Eddie Munson x OC

Chapter 9

I didn't know how much time I had before the door gave out, so I booked it out the front. I managed to snag up my backpack before launching open the front door. It quickly came to my attention that my car keys were still, in fact, in the house, my mother having taken them as part of my punishment. That being the case, I wasn't sure what the hell to do. Neighbor's house? Run? Then, I remembered Eddie, who may not have been that far away. We were probably safer together, I decided, him already not being in an enclosed space. And I needed wheels.

"Eddie!" I shrieked, sprinting down the stairs and in the direction I knew he'd be riding.

There were a few seconds of silence, and I was about to scream again when I heard him call back, far off in the distance, an unsure, "Milo?"

I almost cried in relief. "Eddie! Quick!"

Behind me, the front door slammed open. My mother, sweaty, dripping and covered in mulch and gasoline, was calmly stalking towards me like this was all normal. My breath hitched. I saw Eddie's head crest over the hill, but he was still farther than I'd hoped. I was already going top speed, but I tried to pump my legs a little harder. I was so close.

That's when it grabbed my leg. I lurched forward, my head hitting the pavement. I had no time to worry about it, the vine burrowing tighter and beginning to pull.

"Eddie!" I garbled desperately, latching onto a mailbox and fighting against the deadly force of the vine.

He was only a few feet away now. I practically dug my nails into the wood of the mailbox, using all my strength to fight the pull. It wasn't enough though, and my hands gave free. I was sure it would drag me away completely, but Eddie's hand caught my own just in time. He planted his feet into a squat, fighting to pull me with both hands.

"Come on, Milo!" He encouraged desperately, verbally straining.

I held his sweaty hands desperately, my leg flapping violently behind me as whatever the hell this thing was tried desperately to end this. His rings shifted, beginning to slip off, and with them, his grip. Still, he tried to hold tight. I was weak, tired, and I'm pretty sure my leg was now broken, but I put every effort I could into kicking the vine. The heel of my boot slowly worked at it. I let out a sob.

"Don't let me go," I begged, weeping, continuing to kick at the vine. It loosened for just a second, then tightened back up. I was close.

"Just keep fighting," Eddie snarled, hooking one of his feet around the same mailbox I'd grabbed.

One of his hands came loose suddenly. He gripped me tighter than ever with the other one, wiping the one that came free onto his pants to dry the sweat. Soon they were both gripping me again, but I could feel my own hand squeezing free, sweat completely drenching my entire body. It was now or never. I put all of my strength into kicking the vines, twisting my broken leg to slam into the gravel. I let out a pained screech. I did it once, twice- over and over. On the last kick it finally, miraculously pried free, and Eddie tumbled backwards with the release. I crawled forward desperately, knowing I had very little time to act. I scrambled to grab at his jacket, both of us trying to pull up the other. He practically lifted me off the ground, adrenaline high. He sprinted top speed to the toppled over bike, me hobbling miserably beside him, till he fully scooped me up the rest of the way. He flipped the bike over with ease and dropped me down, pushing to get a running start. I hopped onto the back as he began pedaling, hissing in pain at having to put weight on my damaged leg.

My lungs pumping and chest slamming, I turned around to see no more vines, but my mother- head tilted- watching me go. Her eyes seemed dead, a smile upturning her mulch stained lips. But the farther away we got, the more I realized we'd gotten free- for now.