ultraviolence // kai anderson

elephant in the room

    It's a long and silent drive, and we go the speed limit the entire time. We can't take even the smallest risk of being pulled over and discovered. Apart from being wanted locally, Kai has an unrealistic amount of illegally obtained cash in a suitcase stuffed in the trunk, and numerous unmarked pill bottles filled with various medications-- none of which I'm guessing were prescribed to him. All of our surroundings are a white, snow-covered blur as we pass them, I still have no idea where we're going and can't gather the courage to ask. Kai looks about as fatigued and drained as I feel by the time he takes an exit that promises nearby lodging.

    The tender and gentle side of him that was out in full force earlier has now taken the back seat to a more cold and calculating demeanor. When he turns the key to kill the ignition, he finally speaks to me while handing me something from his wallet. "When we get in there, don't say anything. I'll do all the talking. Don't tell anyone your name, and avoid all eye contact possible. This is your fake ID, as of today and for the foreseeable future, you're Allison Richards."

    I take the plastic card and look it over. The professional photo from my passport looks back at me. "When did you make this?"

    "Soon after you joined us. We all have one."

    I nod and pocket it, wondering how many other backup plans or objects he's made for outlandish circumstances such as this. He's even smarter than I initially thought, and I've always thought highly of him. I'm glad it's not me that has to be in charge of making sure everything stays in order. In fact, the one time I even accidentally suggest a victim for us, it's led to this. Guilt twists my gut as I follow him from the car. He only lets me carry the smallest of our bags, and takes more than necessary on himself.

    Inside at the motel's front desk, I let him do all the talking as he's requested. The clerk looks like he couldn't care less who we are, but we present our fake IDs and pay in cash anyway. For two nights we have a room here, Kai says that by then we'll have reassessed and come up with something more practical.

    Once all our bags are dropped onto the floor of our room, he takes the chair that sits in front of a desk to jam it under the doorknob before flopping into bed next to me. I assume the position of little spoon without a word, and once his arm is tightly around me and his face is buried in my neck, we drift into much needed and long-awaited slumber together.

//

    When we wake, there's no longer sunlight coming through the windows, but pale blue streams of moonlight instead. The heat is cranked high and sweat has formed where mine and Kai's skin makes contact. Reluctantly, I pull free of his grip, unintentionally waking him in the process. He grunts a little and reaches for his burner phone, which brightly displays the time: quarter of ten.

    "Shit," he says in a quiet, raspy voice. Neither of us intended to sleep that long.

    I yawn and rub my eyes as I sit up to let my feet touch the floor. When I turn my head to look at him, I'm pleasantly comforted to smell his natural scent in my hair. He's just sitting up as well when I announce, "I'm starved."

    "Yeah. Me too." He agrees, and stands to flip the lights on. It takes us both a few hard blinks to get used to the sudden and drastically bright difference, but Kai comes back to look through his phone again once we're both used to it. "Nothing from Sterling," he tells me while lazily scratching a spot beneath his shirt. How he's so effortlessly attractive doing a thing as small and ordinary as that is beyond me. After a minute or two he curses again then says, "The only place around here still open is a ratty diner that only delivers through an app."