||Vincent Sinclair x Reader|| House of Wax

Part 5 |Lester|

"I'm going with you," Carly finally said. "Yea me too," I chimed in, "whatever gets me away from here faster."

Carly, Wade and I got in the truck with strange man. I climbed in the back, while Carly and Wade had to sit in the front due to the lack of seat space; tools and bones clattering back here as the man drove you down the bumpy dirt roads.

The man was pretty creepy, but I didn't mind too much, I could hold my own and Wade could help if anything were to happen. But the man was nice enough, he didn't seem like the type to really try anything weird.

"Can you roll the window down, please?" Carly asked Wade, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah," Wade said and attempted to roll the window down, but to no avail.

"Sorry 'bout that," the man spoke, "trucks seen better days," he chuckled.

"Uh, do you mind rolling your window down, then?" Wade asked with an awkward smile

"Not at all," the male replied, rolling his window down most of the way. "Sorry," he apologized, "I kinda get used to the smell."

"Really?" Carly's voice was nazely due to the fact she was plugging it, "I don't think I could ever get used to it."

"No, honestly, I kinda get what he's saying," I said, finally not being as bothered by the smell. Granted it was still disgusting, just less so.

"Yea, you can get used to anything, if you're around it long enough." I don't know why, but something about those specific words really creeped me out, more than the possible human hand in the roadkill pit.

The man explained some stuff about the roadkill, about how if you get them before the sun bakes them they don't smell as bad, and how if they're really fresh he takes them home. "Why waste the meat?" He said, which was honestly a fair point.

"Are we almost there yet," Carly asked, her nose still plugged.

"It's just up the road," the man stated, "yep, Ambrose used to be a pretty nice town, before the interstate came in."

I was listening to the man speak about the town when I caught sight of Carly looking down at something. I followed her line of sight. The man had a knife strapped to his belt. I didn't think anything of it, this man picks up road kill and occasionally takes it home, it would be weirder if he didn't have a knife on him. But Carly thought otherwise, she got Wades attention, pointing out the knife to him, but this just alerted the man.

"You like knives!" The man said happily.

"Not really," Carly answered, swallowing hard.

I on the other hand cheerfully said "yes," right after her.

"Tools of the trade. You wanna see it?" The man asked, unbuttoning the strap around it and pulling it out, "it's a-"

"A bowie!" I smiled ear to ear, feeling smart for knowing the knife type.

"Exactly!" The man beamed, "it's a good knife. That'll cut through anything." He added, stabbing it into his disheveled dashboard, making Carly jump.

Hastily the man floored the brakes and his truck skid to a quick stop.

"Oh shit" Wade quietly hissed at the abrupt stop, "hey what's going on man?" Wade was also panicking now, so was I, just a bit. "You said there was a town up here," Wade continued.

"Well, yeah, there is," the man said as if he were stating the obvious, "it's just 'round the bend. I just gotta flip my hubs into four-wheel," he spoke, pointing at the deep mucky puddle in front of the truck. "You mind giving me a hand?"

"Uh, when was the last time you were here?" Wade asked.

The man chuckled, "well, you don't believe me?" He answered with a question. "I forgot this way in's all washed out, that's all," the man smiled.

"Wade if you're not gonna help then I gladly will," I glared at him.

Wade seemed to blatantly ignore me, "we'll walk the rest of the way, then," he said to then man, "thank you. You've done enough."

"Now why would you wanna do that?" The man asked innocently.

"Look, we want to walk, okay? Just let us out now," Carly said harshly, causing the man's smile to evaporate.

He stayed quiet for a beat. "Sure," he said begrudgingly, grabbing his knife from the dashboard and walking over to the passenger side.

I smacked Carly on the shoulder, "what the hell?" I scolded her for her rudeness, but she was more preoccupied with the man and his bowie knife. Both Wade and Carly were getting ready for the man to open the door and just start stabbing, "guys really?" I you scoffed at them, "he picks up roadkill, he's gonna have knives," I stated what I thought was an obvious fact.

The man swung the door open, Wade and Carly stilled at the sight of the knife that was sheathed and not in the man's hand.

"Well, get out then!" The man said in a harsh tone similar to Carly's, "try and do something nice for someone," he seemed upset, I felt a little bad for my friend's rude tone - quite a common occurrence.

"Look man it's not like that, all right" Wade said as the pair hopped out, followed by me squeezing out of the back. "We appreciate it."

"Yeah, I can tell," the man spat sarcastically as Wade closed the door.

Wade and Carly began to make their way over to the supposed 'town around the bend,' but I stayed behind for a beat.

"Hey, I'm really sorry," I apologized to the man for my friend's behaviour.

"No, it's all good, not your fault your friends are rude pieces of shit," he glared up at them.

"Yea, I guess you're right," I snickered.

"Sorry, that was a bit much," he shit me a nervous expression before chuckling along with me.

"No, no, that was the perfect amount," I replied still laughing a little. "Oh, I wanted to ask your name, if that's alright, since we skipped pleasantries beforehand."

The man smiled an honest, genuine smile, "Lester," he stretched out his hand.

"Y/N," I shook his hand, "seriously, thank you for the ride! It really was very generous of you," I smiled sweetly at him.

"Not a problem at all," he smiled back.

"Y/N, come on!" I heard Carly call. With that I began to walk away, waving to the man I now knew as Lester.

"Wait, Y/N, hold on," Lester said, "this yours?" He asked, producing a satchel out of the backseat.

I wasn't too far from him yet, so I just walked back over, not really bothering to make hast. "Oh my god! Yes, thank you," I breathed.

"Seemed important," he said handing it over, "but certainly not mine."

"It is to me," I laughed, "it's got my sketch book and other art supplies in it." I scuffled around inside it, making sure nothing fell out. "Thanks again!" I said before quickly walking over to my friends this time, so as to not loose them in the behind the bushes ahead.

Word count: 1100+
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