𝓐𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝓡𝓾𝓼𝓱

Chapter Five: One Hell Of A Ride

My eyes slowly opened as the sound of an engine rumbling filled my ears. I sat up slightly only to see an empty road and the forest lining surrounding all angles of my vision. A grunt left my chapped lips as I looked towards the passenger seat, all I saw was his long black hair and the tip of his white nose. A rumble left my stomach which caused him to turn his head towards me. His eyes went back towards the road, "Hungry?" He said in a surprisingly calm tone. I stayed silent and rolled my body to face the window. Silence filled the air as we continued to drive for about ten more minutes. We pulled up into a gas station and he parked the truck. "Stay put" He got out of the truck and locked it before making his way inside. My eyes scanned my surroundings and took in the chipped up yellow gas station, it didn't seem to really be still in order and it doesn't seem like anyone really ran the place either. I looked down at my body to see my clothing had been changed into a pair of black baggy sweatpants and a light green old construction shirt, my feet had a pair of blue grippy socks on still from the hospital. My hair was a bit disheveled and my dark red nail polish on my nails started to chip away. My wrists had showed some of my weight loss do to the bone popping out more prominently. My head turned as I heard the passenger door open. "Here, eat this" Jeff tossed me a pack of unsalted pretzels, I stayed silent as I took them. I ate the pack quietly before putting the wrapper into a cup holder, "Claire please talk to me" I looked at his blue pupils "No" His lips curved up slightly "Please?" He spoke with a false plead. "Go die" His grin widened, "Oh so loving of you" I closed my eyes again to hopefully be confronted with the loving image of sleep but Jeff had other plans. "How about we play a game?" His voice rung through my ears, "What part of go die do you not understand?" I snapped out in anger as my eyes opened. "Oh but Claire that wouldn't help with our situation now would it?" His eyes flickered around my face as his grin grew ear to ear. "What situation?" Our eyes locked, "The one where I figure out where to put you Doll" Sarcasm laced his voice as I sat up, "Back with Mark and you out of my life, preferably in a ditch." "Oh but Doll that wouldn't be loving now would it, and watch that tone of yours, didn't you learn your lesson of speaking things that only hurt you?" His hand reached and twirled a strand of my hair. His eyes were filled with so many mixed emotions that led me to feel on edge. "Now maybe start speaking more kindly and I won't have a beautiful metal cage with your name on it" I stayed silent as I watched him start up the truck and pull out of the gas station parking lot and onto the road. I hate this more than ever, I just want to be home, plan my fathers funeral, and be left ALONE. "Where are we going?" My voice was softer than I liked it to be but it is probably best with the current scenario that is being played out. "Home." His voice was low, it didn't hold any emotion besides a hint of smile on his lips. "To my home?" It was stupid, it really was. "Oh well of course, I can't have you looking like I kidnapped you" It was laced full of sarcasm and hints of what I assumed to be his version of a playful tone. I didn't know what I did for this to happen, shouldn't I be dead? I rather be dead then deal with this. He smelled way to much like men's vanilla cologne, like he sprayed gallons of it onto himself to cover up what is still left of the metallic blood smell. I just wanted to be out of this truck and left alone. Out of this truck. My eyes looked at the door, it was an older pickup truck, that was shown by the interior alone not even to mention the rust I can seeing building up on the outer paint. The lock on the door was one of those pull up and push down ones, the lock was currently up. He didn't press lock on the door this whole time. He either had hella trust in me or he was dumb as fuck. My eyes looked out to see the side of the road was full of grass, lots of sticks but still grass. It would hurt, I glanced at the speed he was going. We weren't going fast, only around 20-25 MPH, my eyes focused back towards the side of the road. This is going to suck, I quickly snatched open the car door and with a tuck of my knees I rolled right on out. "CLAIRE!" I heard his voice shout. My arms were the first to hit the ground, sticks scratched up my arms and my back landed right into a pile of them. My body rolled down the slight slope into a small stream of forest water that had who knows what in it. My body was on fire and the air wasn't coming in as quickly as it was leaving my body. "FuCk" I wheezed out as I stood up in agony from the unnecessary amount of sticks. I looked up to the road and saw the truck coming to a stop about 100 feet away. With as much agony as possible I turned my body away from the road and broke out into a sprint. Based on the sun I was assuming I was going North into the forest, at some point civilization will appear, I just need to continue my lovely nature jog through this hell of a forest. I could tell he was looking for me, I could sense it, he wasn't that far behind me and the sound of twigs snapping didn't help. I ran, I ran for 10 minutes straight, I still could sense him somewhere around me. 10 minutes turned to 20 and 20 turned to 30. I couldn't hear him, I couldn't see him, but I could sense him. It was driving me crazy, I came to a stop, out of breath, scared, covered in dirt and blood. I wanted to just wake up and this all be over, I can feel eyes on me, surrounding all of the trees. I feel the breath of the leaves on my skin, I feel the sprinkle of rain fall upon my pale skin. I felt the forest alive around me, I looked around one last time before spotting a piece of pink fabric caught on a bush. Bloody and torn, away from what it was before. I looked at it longer before noticing a little pale hand reach out and grab ahold of it, I followed her arm and looked up and saw bright green eyes staring at me, blood leaking down from the sparkling orbs. "Hello?" I called out quietly trying not to scare her. A soft smile appeared on her face. "What's wrong?" She called out, it was only above a whisper but left goosebumps down my arms, she was so far away from me but her voice registered at a normal volume. "There is a man after me" A tear trickled down my cheek. "What's wrong with you?" I stepped closer making sure not to scare her. She didn't move, I took it as a sign that I can move closer. I walked up to her and crouched down to her level. "Are you okay?" She smiled at me and nodded her head, "Do you need help?" She asked sweetly, I nodded my head and she grabbed my hand. It felt weird getting help from a child covered in blood in the forest but she seemed to not actually be here. Her hand was freezing, her voice was everywhere but no where at the same time and she seemed alive but her body looked dead. "Who are you running from?" Her voice only registered in my ears. "A man in a white hoodie" Her eyes looked into mine as a frown grew upon her face, "He is near by, we should get moving" She sounded so calm for such a scenario to be in, it didn't help that she seemed to know him. I followed after her as we held hands. After about 10 minutes we came to a stop, there wasn't nothing in sight but trees. She pointed quietly towards a tree next to us. It had wooden steps going up it's bark. I pointed upwards and she nodded. She climbed up first and I followed right after her, "He is close by" She was quiet as she closed the door behind us to what seems to be a tiny treehouse. She closed the curtains to the two windows that were placed next the door. The room was tiny and had a little pink carpet in the middle of it, the curtains were also pink. There was a wooden crate that had a few pillows and blankets in it and next to the crate was another crate with the words "Food, Water, and First Aid" scribbled on it in child like writing. I looked back at her as she sat down onto the carpet, I followed her actions and sat with her. There was a hand held lamp in the corner that was currently turned off to keep the light at a minimum. I looked at the young girl to see a small bear in her hands, a smile appeared on my face. Not a happy smile but a sorrowful smile, because out of all of the things I didn't expect to see such a young girl in these woods but there was at least a hope that she had this stuffed animal with her as a form of comfort. A comfort that I hoped helped her through what was going on before all of this and now in this moment.

Word Count: 1733
Unedited