PERVERSE - Apply Fic

29

Clare wishes they were much taller than Kaia. When they open the door of the cab, the wind is whipping through them violently. It's a waste of money, a cab in Chelster, but Kaia had tips from her shift and Clare was worried Kaia would have tears frozen to her face by the time they returned to the bed they share.

Clare hurries around to the other side of the cab and opens the door for Kaia. The ghost-girl wipes the edge of her eyes one last time before unbuckling and pulling herself out of the cab. Behind her, the wheels of the car grind against the small pebbles in the parking lot. The sign buzzes above them. The motel is louder than usual, especially with all the crows that have begun to gather on the wire.

When Kaia looks at Clare, who has soft eyes and an even softer heart, Kaia leaps into their arms. A fist balled around the stack of papers, Kaia leans in as best as she can. She can feel Clare's fluttering heart, hear the fluttering wings of a dozen crows, and can feel her own heart leaping in her chest. Slowly, Clare's arms raise to wrap around Kaia's.

This isn't a good time. It's never a fucking good time. The last time Kaia kissed a girl in a parking lot, she was murdered. If things go poorly, there isn't another continent that Kaia can run to escape. She can't even leave this fucking town.

Behind Clare is a cop car.

Kaia rips herself out of Clare's car, grabbing Clare's arm and pulling her toward the edge of the parking lot. Clare feels the wind rip through her, holding tight to Kaia's hand. Together, they squat behind a different car, peering over the hood.

"What's-"

A shush interrupts Clare. She wasn't even speaking louder than a whisper. Her eyes follow Kaia's gaze, and she sees the back of a cop standing outside of their motel room, writing something in a notepad. It's her fucking partner.

Someone shushes in her ear, the right while Kaia is on her left. Clare crouches to the ground. Her hand goes to her stomach, pressing tightly against her skin as it hums beneath her. The loud metallic sound of a gunshot. Maybe it's a car backfiring blocks away. Maybe he didn't kill her. Certainly he knows who did. And when Clare thinks of her death, she has no memories of the boy who is in jail for the crime of killing a cop. She only thinks of the man waiting for her outside her room.

As Clare quivers, Kaia stares up at the man, a scowl on her face. She lets go of Clare's hand, to wrap her shoulder over Clare's and pull the crouching, quivering ghost in close. Fuck him. There are no good cops who remain. Only cops who are forced out, through simple ostracization or the means by which Clare was torn from life. Kaia is Jane Doe number 13 from Chelster. The twelve before her were not entirely at the hands of the pastor. And it's his fucking fault.

And Kaia sits with Clare rather than take vengeance into her own hands. For Clare's sake. Not her own.

They listen for the sounds of the cop's car rolling out onto the road. Neither of them move for another two minutes after he is gone. The cold doesn't seem so bad anymore.

~~~

When they get back to the motel, Ajay in the middle of a story about a high school dare on the wrong side of town, he stops talking. There, he can see Kaia and Clare crouched behind a car together. Only when he stops walking does Lydia stop too. It takes her a beat longer to catch sight of them, huddled in the cold.

"Shit," she whispers. She looks up at the motel, and back at them.

"I'll check on them," Ajay tells her. He passes her the bags. "Don't go inside until you know it's safe.