Escape Artists

Chapter 7 • Firesparks between Raindrops

Lennon looked at the clock. It said 4:52. He had been waiting for so long. Now there was no escape.

There was a loud sound outside, the sound of thunder hitting a tree. Lennon looked outside. He saw a tree burning in the distance. He looked back to Evelyn. She moved, as if she was about to wake up. "Fuck, not again" Lennon thought to himself and backed away, into a dark corner of the room.

Evelyn sat up. She looked around the room, but Lennon was hidden in the darkness. She stood up from her bed and went to the window. When she saw the burning tree in the distance she took a step back from the window in fear. The tree that had caught on fire stood in the middle of Azalea forest. Lennon tried his best to breathe quietly. He was trained, so he did it well. Evelyn stepped closer to the window again. She looked concentrated, her face came closer and closer to the window. She wanted to know if the fire would spread or if the rain was enough to extinguish it.

That was his chance. Lennon rushed out of the shadows and pressed Evelyn against the window, his pocket knife against the other side of her throat now. Evelyn gasped in fear and shock while her body got pressed against the cold window. "Thought you could escape me, hm?" Lennon whispered behind her head. He chuckled before he continued; "Any last words, Duster?" He pressed the blade harder against her neck.

Evelyn looked up to the tree. The fire had spread. It had spread a lot. "Yes...", she whispered in fear. "If you kill me, you'll die too..."

Lennon laughed a little "And how is that supposed to happen?" Lennon asked mockingly.

"The forest is surrounding Azalea. I'll fight back as much as I can!" her voice was confident but there was still fear in it. "You won't make it out in time..." Evelyn finished off.

Lennon looked out of the window too. She was right. The village was indeed completely surrounded by a forest. And if Evelyn would fight back, it was guaranteed that Lennon would be burned alive when trying to leave the village. "Fuck", he said, but didn't let go. "Guess I'll have to make it quick then."

The moment Evelyn heard that, she kicked Lennon's leg as hard as possible. Lennon fell down onto the ground, but he grabbed Evelyn and pulled her with him. She fell right ontop of him, her back on his chest. Lennon pushed her off him and pinned her onto the floor down by her upper arm, his other hand, still holding the pocket knife, against her throat.

He turned his head to look out the the forest. "Ugh, fuck this" Lennon got up from Evelyn and rushed to the door. He would leave the village, screw the girl.

"Wait!" Evelyn called after him. Her voice was filled with fear.

Lennon stopped and turned his head to look at Evelyn. "What the fuck do you want?" He asked with a cold and impatient tone in his voice.

Evelyn sat up on the floor. "Don't leave me here..." she said while looking down onto the ground. She didn't want to look into his eyes or generally at him. He groaned, clearly annoyed and impatient. For one last time he checked the window. The fire was about to reach the way out of the village.

"Ugh, fuck!" Lennon cursed while walking into the room again and grabbing Evelyn's wrist. He waited until she stood, then pulled her out of the room, not caring about her tripping. "Why the fuck am I doing this?" he thought to himself. He kicked open the door of Evelyn's house and pulled her outside. Smoke was all over the sky. If they didn't hurry, the smoke would spread lower, onto the ground, where Evelyn and Lennon were, and it wouldn't be good to breathe it in.

After not long, they finally reached the muddy path through the forest that led out of Azalea. They rushed along it, Lennon pulling Evelyn with him without looking back. They ran for 20 minutes, while the smoke began to sink. Finally, they made it out of the forest. Lennon continued running from the burning forest, to get away from the smoke, continuing to pull Evelyn with him.

Another 5 minutes passed, when Lennon slowed down before fully stopping to run. He turned his head around to look at Evelyn coldly. Evelyn felt a shiver run down her spine. She had never seen his face that clearly before.