The day came. Carrie had set up a fake appointment at a nearby hospital, an excuse to take Eli out of the prison for a few hours. She signed the papers, escorted him out of the facility, just like she had done a hundred times before. But this time, they didn't come back.
They drove for hours, switching cars, avoiding cameras, moving from one motel to the next. The first few days felt like a fever dream, thrilling, terrifying, unreal. Carrie couldn't believe what she had done, but in the quiet moments, when it was just her and Eli, she told herself it was worth it.
But as the adrenaline wore off, reality set in.
Carrie had thrown away everything for Eli...her career, her reputation, her freedom. And now, as they dodged police roadblocks and kept on the move, she started to see cracks in the man she had believed in. Eli wasn't the same man who had whispered promises of love and escape to her. He was colder now, more distant, more demanding.
Carrie felt the guilt clawing at her. She had betrayed everyone, her colleagues, her friends, her own sense of right and wrong. She had become someone she didn't recognize, all for a man who seemed less and less like the person she had fallen for. She wasn't his savior. She was his pawn.
It was late afternoon when the police finally caught up to them. Carrie heard the sirens before Eli did. Panic flooded her chest, her heart racing as they pulled over on a deserted highway. The flashing lights closed in from every direction surrounding them.
Eli's face twisted into a look of fury as he realized there was no way out. He turned on Carrie, his voice sharp and filled with venom. "This is your fault," he snarled. "You let them catch us!"
Carrie stared at him, the weight of her choices crashing down on her. She had destroyed her life for this, for a man who cared nothing for her, who had used her from the beginning. She had believed in a fantasy, blinded by her own loneliness and desperation.
As the police approached, guns drawn, Carrie knew it was over. She looked at Eli, the man she had risked everything for, and felt nothing but a deep, hollow emptiness.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, reaching for the gun Eli had insisted they carry.
The gunshot echoed across the highway, marking the end of a story that had begun with hope but ended in despair.
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The Suggestion King
Short Story"The Suggestion King" is a loosely based fictional retelling inspired by the real-life story of corrections officer Vicky White. It follows Carrie Vaughn, a respected corrections officer who, after 20 years of dedicated service, becomes emotionally...
