Not Cliché

3) Xcaping and Hitch Hiking

I woke up with a crick in my neck. My face felt weird and my stomach was throbbing. Also my calf had a sharp pain, it felt like when you hear nails scraping a chalkboard. My analogies are weird, I commented to myself.

I remembered about my kidnapping and my punishment. My stomach was already grumbling, how could I survive a whole day without food?

I was in a daze the whole day. Minutes sometimes passed like seconds or hours. I had no way of knowing what time it was or what day. I just slept when I wanted and wandered around the room the rest of the time. The only way I knew a day had passed was because they gave me food.

A certain amount of time passed, I didn't know how long. Whether it was a week or a month, but it felt like eternity.

I was remembering how to say "Today it is cold" in Hindi and Gaelic and Galician, when I heard a commotion outside my cell.

I knocked on my door. The guard outside stuck his head in.

"Whaddya want?" He demanded.

"Way to be chivalrous. What's going on outside?" I asked.

"Nothing, just shut up," he said looking like he wanted in on the action.

"You know I can't escape right?" I asked, "I would be outnumbered. So I'd be captured in under 5 minutes and killed."

He nodded blankly. Then after a few seconds realized what I was saying and ran through the hall and up the steps. He hadn't waited to see if the door closed all the way though. I had put my foot out keeping it ajar.

I slipped out trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. It wasn't very easy, being the only girl that wasn't dressed like a slut and having ratty hair. But I managed.

On the main floor of the warehouse, some people were engaging the Devils. I don't know who but they were in my debt forever. I scurried away, glad for the distraction. When I stepped toward the door a figure blocked it.

"Are you serious? I've been through shit and y'all randomly kidnap me in the middle of the fucking night, interrupting my sleep, and then you fucking beat me and I take it all and now, you won't let me escape when you clearly have bigger problems?" I ranted.

The figure let light show on his cinnamon skin and black curly hair. It was the leader of the Pits.

"Oops wrong person sorry!" I mumbled embarrassed.

"Anytime chica, now I never got your name?" He said his voice raising at the end like a question.

"Zeya, what's yours oh powerful one?" I asked sarcastically.

"That's no way to treat the person who just saved your butt," he replied. I raised my eyebrows asking him if he was gonna answer the question.

"Oh, Alessandro Costa Rodríguez. But I go by Alesso for short," he responded catching on. His eyes flitted behind me and back to my eyes. Knowing what was coming I ducked and scurried out of the way. Alesso engaged the guy who was going to pummel me while I ran out the door.

Then I was at a loss of what to do. I didn't know where I was and I was way far away from the city. I was also weak from hunger and my injuries. My heart was pounding so hard, blood was rushing to my ears making it hard to hear. So I hid behind some bushes, and waited there. Hopefully I could climb onto or into a car of Alesso's gang because they were in the same city as I was.

It was a few more hours before anyone came out. My legs were starting to cramp and I was getting agitated.

Alesso came out first, his hair tousled and his lip sporting a cut and his jaw a shade of purple otherwise he wasn't injured. I followed him to his truck jumping onto the bed. Thankfully no one rode with him so he just drove without interruption and I wasn't caught. I finally realized we were approaching my street. Did he live in the same street as me? I looked around then caught his eyes in the rearview mirror. They looked amused.