Protected

California Bound

                   I marched through the airport, searching for somewhere to get a bite to eat. Our plane leaves in 2 hours, and we had just met up with the Trayco's. I glanced at Carson, who walked with me. Our parents were sitting in the terminal, talking about whatever parents talk about.
       "Lexi there's a McDonald's. Let's just grab something there."
    I nodded and we head over. After ordering a wrap, we seated ourselves by a window so we could observe the runway. We let a moment pass in silence before Carson looked at me, his blue eyes searching my green ones.
"Think you're up for this week?" Carson asked, his gaze steadily holding mine. I sigh, "I don't have much choice. But when faced with the inevitable, you got to toughen up and play the music."
He looked at me, admiration in his expression that morphed into compassion. "I know that everything was so hard on you Lexi. I know."
I take a shaky breath. "How can you know? How can you possibly know?" He stares at me.
"Because I was there too." I feel color flush to my cheeks. I hadn't forgotten he was there, but with all my trials the last few weeks, I had completely forgotten what he could be going through. I lean forward and stare at him.
"Carson, how have you been? All this talk about me, I-I never even asked about you."
He sighed. "I'm struggling. I want to stay strong for you, but boy, it's hard." I nod sympathetically.
"You don't have to be strong for me anymore Carson. You've done plenty of that. Talk to me, I'm here for you. I can listen, you know."
He nods. "Well, I wake up in the morning... Not scared, mind you, but nervous. Freaked out, kind of." I smile to myself.
"Carson for Petes sake I've been with you through everything. You can admit you're scared!"
He smiles and leans forward toward me. "Fine then. I wake up scared. The first image in my mind is you, crumpling to the floor of the trailer, cradling your arm. Or you hunched over, puking when you saw what it looked like. Or in the attic, when Boss almost beat you to death. The relief I feel when I actually lay eyes on you in school is... Freeing."
I didn't know that his biggest fears during our imprisonment were for me. I'm touched by that. We continue discussing everything until I get a text from my mom, telling me to report to the terminal. I glance at the time and realize over an hour and a half has passed. We throw our trash away and I turn to leave, but Carson grabs my arm.
"Thanks for listening to me, Lexi." He says. I nod, "Anytime bro. It's the least I could do, seeing's how all I did was talk this past few weeks." We walk off in silent companionship, to board the flight that will take me to where my nightmares are re-awakened. I will lay my eyes on the villain of my sleep, and he will be alive and breathing.

He's coming. Panic rises up in my chest as I cower behind a dresser. I could hear footsteps coming closer, closer. I shrink down lower, trying to hide. A silhouette steps into the doorway, outlined by light. He holds a long stick in his hand, and starts poking around. Looking, searching. For what? Me. He thumps the bed, the desk, every tap closer to where I hide. And suddenly it's there, poking the dresser. A hand reaches around and grabs me by the collar, wrenching me up. I'm brought face-to-face with scars, a cruel mouth, and two different colored eyes. I look back and forth, trying to decide if the light blue or the dark brown was harsher. The evil lips twist, and he opens his mouth to say something...

I jerk upright in bed, gasping, sweat trickling down my back. Today is the day. Today I meet Boss again face to face. I'm terrified. I look at the clock. 6:30. No way I'm falling asleep again, especially after that nightmare. I get up and go to the bathroom. I take a shower, plait my hair, and put on my makeup. I grab my room key and slip out, careful not to wake my parents.

             Striding along the hallway, I enter the lobby and sit on one of the couches. It's a grand hotel, with fireplaces and TV's. I tuck my feet up under me and stare at the screen, allowing warmth from the fire to seep through me. A lady is on the TV, interviewing some Canadian superstar. I don't really care about that, so I take out my phone and start messing around with it. Checking my social media, I'm surprised to see Sandra posted a picture and tagged me in it. Intrigued, I tap the notification to see the picture. My cheeks grow hot and I feel tears spring to my eyes. It's a picture of me on last years softball team, but she cropped me away from the team. She edited me sitting on a horse, headless, holding my head in my arm. It's captioned, "This girl is mysterious. She's disappeared again! She must go to the underworld, because she won't tell anyone where she goes! Be careful, or she may take you with her and sacrifice your limbs, just like she sacrificed her right arm." I stare, my tears clouding the screen.
"Um... Are you all right?" A voice asks. I dash the tears from my eyes and twist around. A boy, maybe a year older than me, is standing behind the couch. He crazy tall, maybe 6ft 1. As I glance over his features, I feel glad that I wore makeup. My face gets hot, embarrassed of my thoughts and the fact a cute boy just caught me crying. He comes around the couch and eases himself down next to me. "It's not often you see a teenager up and downstairs at 7am." He says, a smirk toying at his lips. I stare at him. "I could say the same about you." He runs a hand through his thick, dark hair. "I was restless." His eyes are a rich chocolate brown, shadowed by an expression. He's hiding his emotions. "Me too." I say. There's a pause as we both contemplate what to say next, but then he gets it going by starting out, with his name.