Something Peculiar

The King's order

Roseanne leaned back in the seat, her head against the headrest. It was too damn early for this kind of thing, but the only way she'd convinced Chanyeol and Jeongyeon to let her wait in the SUV was because she'd sold herself as a getaway driver. If they came back, hauling that girl along as a prisoner, and Roseanne wasn't alert enough to speed off, she'd be in serious trouble. Not with Chanyeol or Jeongyeon, since she outclassed them, but Chanyeol wouldn't hesitate to tell the King about any of Roseanne's shortcomings.

So she waited in the car, listening to the Nirvana album on her iPod. She'd been lucky she thought to bring it along. The SUV they'd stolen only had christian songs in it, and Roseanne had tossed the entire CD collection out the window as soon as she'd gotten it. A few miles from the Vittra place, the car the King had given her had died. That was just a par for the course lately. Roseanne had been forced to steal the SUV to keep them on track, because the King wouldn't allow for a missed deadline. He wanted the girl, and he wanted her now.

Roseanne had busted out the passenger's side window. and Jeongyeon had tacked up her black jacket to keep the wind out. It didn't do much to keep the sound in, though, so Roseanne kept the music low enough so as not to wake the neighborhood. The clock on the dashboard said it was after five in the morning, and Roseanne glanced over her shoulder, back toward the girl's house. She'd parked almost a block away and across the street, so she was actually at a horrible angle to observe her. But that was just as well. since she didn't want to watch her. She wanted no part of this stakeout.

The sky was beginning to lighten, looking more blue than black now. Roseanne couldn't see where Chanyeol and Jeongyeon were hiding. She didn't know how they did it. She wouldn't have been able to stand still sitting out there all night, crouched down in the cold grass, waiting to kidnap some stupid girl.

Chanyeol lived for that sort of thing. It was the thrill of the hunt that got him going. But Roseanne had never been into it. The one thing in her life she'd always been grateful for was that she'd never been a tracker. It seemed solitary and tedious, but more than that, she hated the idea of tricking people into coming back to the Vittra palace, to being forced to live a life like her. They would be so much better off in the human world, away from the King's iron fist and the totalitarian troll society.

Roseanne had fought as hard as she could to get out of participating in this abduction. The King was always looking for a reason to kill her. and if Roseanne refused an order like this, that would be reason enough. Sitting in the SUV, it occurred to Roseanne that she could escape. She'd thought of escape almost incessantly since the day she was born. But it had never felt so possible. She was alone in the car. She could just drive off, leaving Chanyeol and Jeongyeon behind to deal with the mess. But the same problems always stopped her. Where would she go? What would she do?

The King might track her down and kill her, just because he could. And even if he didn't, Roseanne didn't have anybody on the outside. She'd always believed in fighting for the things she loved, but she'd never found anything she loved enough to escape for. For now, she didn't really see any other options. She'd have to wait and do what the King said.

From outside the car came a noise that sounded like shouting, but she didn't think Chanyeol and Jeongyeon would be stupid enough to draw attention to themselves. They knew how important the girl was to the King - to the Vittra as a whole - and they wouldn't mess it up. She leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes and humming along with " Come As You Are."

"Go!" Jeongyeon shouted as she yanked open the passenger door.

"What?" Roseanne sat up and turned to the backseat to see Chanyeol hopping in. Alone. "Where's the girl?"

"Just go!" Chanyeol snarled.

"Seriously?" Roseanne rolled her eyes but did as she was told.

She started the car, and when she didn't speed up fast enough, Jeongyeon pushed her hand on her leg, forcing her foot to press harder on the gas.