The Punk Rocker

Cover of Darkness

Evie sat, knees curled to her chest, in the cellar. The place was cold as ever, and she still had no clothing. She vaguely pondered how long she had been down here, but she had lost count. There was a sudden shuffling from behind the door at the top of the stairs, the bolt scraped as the door to the cellar was unlocked.
Evie paid it no heed. No doubt it was just her father coming down the stairs to punish her further. That's why she was suprised when she glanced up to see the tall figure with a halo of fluffy blonde hair that was Michael. Evie's heart was in her throat as, without shame for her lack of clothing or any hesitation, Evie bounced to her feet and ran to him, throwing herself into his arms.
He embraced her tightly, warm body against her chilled skin. The familiar scent of his cologne seemed to envelope her the way his arms did, and smiling, she gazed up at him. There was only a dim light to see by, but she could just make out his large grin in the darkness.
"Hey." His joyous voice was quiet. She had missed that sound.
"I missed you!" Evie said, also quietly.
"I missed you too, Princess-a!" He grinned. She smiled broadly back. Janie's voice then called urgently in hushed tones,
"C'mon! You can reunite in the car!"
"Alright..." Micheal's expression sobered and he took her hand, leading her up to the door, which stood ajar. Janie smiled gently, standing at the top of the stairs. She handed Evie a pair of tracksuit trousers and a shirt, then turned to quietly shut the cellar door. The bolt was then slid across with a scrape.
Evie quickly pulled on the clothing, and they began towards the front door. The three of them proceeded onto the lawn, and Janie shut the door silently. Here, she paused. The moonlight shone off her hair softly, her expression was unsure. The trio stood tentatively, still not quite out of danger. Meanwhile, the rest of the neighborhood was silent and devoid of wind, almost as though the whole street waited with held breath. Cars sat in driveways and on the sides of the street, abandoned metal corpses. The trees were still without the wind, a cat sat idly on the fence around their yard. The neighbour's dog was staring silently at them from behind the mesh fence to their right, and slivers of glass glimmered in the moonlight, the last remanants of a discarded beer bottle. Evie and Micheal stood holding hands, both looking to Janie.
"I should stay here." Janie looked slightly afraid of the notion as she spoke.
"No! No way!" Evie exclaimed under her breath,
"You can't." Micheal shook his head, agreeing with Evie. Janie furrowed her brow, glancing at each of them in turn.
"I can distract him; send him the wrong way."
"You mustn't stay here with him- with that!" Evie frowned deeply,
"it'll buy you time-"
"No." Evie interrupted, "you are coming with us." Janie blinked at her, hard. She turned on her heel and briskly went to the ftont door, opening it before Evie had time to react.
"Janie!" Evie hissed, starting towards her, but Michael grabbed her arm. She glared at him, and he pointed towards the window of her father's room. The light was glowing from the window. He was awake. There was no time to get Janie. Evie stood, feet planted.
"We- can't just leave her." She knew they had to, but she held onto the meager hope that maybe, somehow, impossibly, they could still bring Janie with them. Michael tugged on her arm. She looked up at him. He held a saddened expression.
"Let's go."
They fled to the footpath, and Michael led the way up the street to a little silver sportscar. He opened the passenger side door and she climbed in, then he shut it for her before making his way to the driver's side and climbing in himself. Without a word, he started up the engine and put the car in gear. His hand reached for the handbreak, pushing it down.
"I'm sorry baby." Michael muttered, beginning to pull away from the curb.
"It's not your fault." She said, voice tight due to the lump in her throat. He glanced at her in a concerned way before fixing his eyes back on the road, then reached for his seatbelt without looking. She copied his actions, buckling herself in.
"How late is it?" Evie asked,
"Four in the morning."
"Oh- okay..." she figured doing it this late made it safer. Her father would most likelt be asleep then.
"It's been a week." Michael sounded sort of choked up.
"A- week..." she said slowly in a suprised tone, letting the thought settle in.
"I'm sorry. We had a plan days ago, but your dad was always awake, or I wasn't able to sneak out-" his voice trembled, almost like he was going to cry. Evie was suprised. Michael was never the sort to cry. "I- I feel like an asshole- leaving you there!" He frowned at the road ahead of them.
"Don't feel that way, hon. It's not your fault!" She said reassuringly, yet firmly.
"Sorry..." he shook his head slightly, and focused on the road again. Soon enough, they left the town and were out on the open road. The trip went on mostly in silence, and they drove for about an hour before Michael spoke,
"You okay?" He questioned, reaching for his cigarettes with one hand and lighting one up.
"I just feel bad for Janie." She said, and he nodded in understanding.
"I get that." He consoled. Now with some fair distance between them and her father, this plan was really starting to look like it was going to work.

Apologies for a very late update, more coming soon. :)