Karma's Bitch

Chapter 4- wicked

After a long and silent drive, we arrived. It was pitch black dark when we pulled up to our first hotel in the torn down city of Las Vegas. He jumped out of the car and began to walk up to the small joint, leaving me to stumble behind him. While I know I could run, I had the feeling this wasn't the city to make my escape in. It was incredibly hot and filled with too many shady people.

He stepped into the door, bending down in order to fit through the doorway. He slunk up to the small man sitting behind the desk. He was asleep with his head forward, lolling onto the desk. His head full of very little hair was all that was visible. Karma gave a low growl and pounded on the front desk, jolting the man awake. He jolted up straight in his seat, obviously disoriented and blinked up at him.

"Is there a Steven Cooper here?" Karma cut straight to the chase, not waiting for any kind of formality.

The man squinted in confusion. "Why?"

Karma kicked into action. "Well, you see, he's my dear fiancée's father and we are in town to visit him but her phone that had the name of the hotel died so we are asking around." He wrapped one long, muscular arm around me and sighed sadly. I found myself almost believing the lie until I realized it was about me. Stupid.

The man gave him a sympathetic look, "Let me check for you two." He paged through his books for a bit until he got to the end. "No Steven Cooper, I am so sorry."

Karma put on a side smile, "I guess we'll just have to keep looking then."

When the man nodded, Karma began to lead me to the door, "Thank you so much for all the help."

The man smiled back and wished us good luck and then we were on our way, back in the truck for another long ride that I dreaded. I only saw this as another time I failed to escape from his clutches.

A couple of hours later, he pulled up outside of the edge of Nevada at a peeling building. I hesitantly jumped out after him but he turned around to me with a large scowl. "Get back in the car. Now."

I frowned at him, waiting for an explanation. When I didn't instantly get right back in, he stepped forward with a large step towards me and I jumped back. "Now."

I obediently jumped back into the car and sighed. I surveyed the building for a second.

It was a whorehouse.

Before he went inside, he turned back to me and called, "Get in the back."

I jumped out of the car and strode over to him in a moment of bravery. "And why should I? So your cheap whore can ride shotgun?"

He took a threatening step forward and began to laugh. "You dare to threaten me? I could snap you neck in two in just a second. If you don't get back in that fucking car and sit your little ass in that backseat, I will paralyze you."

That shut me up as I quickly walked back to the truck and slid into the backseat, trembling too hard to see straight. About fifteen minutes later when he came back with the beautiful dark-haired girl, I had calmed down enough to look normal.

With a loud giggle, the prostitute slid into the front seat, not noticing me. As soon as Karma slid into his seat he flipped around and shot me a smile. "Hey, sis." His entire demeanor had changed.

The girl let out a little gasp and flipped around. "Awww, is this your little sister?"

"Yep," he smiled proudly, reaching back a hand to ruffle my hair. I forced a tight smile but the girl seemed to buy it. "She'll get her own room." Oh thank god.

With our similar dark brown hair, we looked as if we could be siblings. Only if you ignored everything else about us. I supposed he must be older if he would call me his little sister, but how old? I wasn't quite sure. The car ride home was filled with chatter between Karma and the prostitute where every once in awhile, she would ask me a dumb question which I would seemingly happily answer.

When he arrived at the motel I was shuffled into an adjacent room to theirs and the door was locked and shut after me. It wasn't long before the sounds began and I tried my best to tune them out. Without earbuds or anything, I had nothing to distract myself to instead I got to thinking.

I thought about Rose and how scared she must be right now. I thought about dad and if he was safe. I thought about myself and wondered if I would make it out alive and lastly, I thought about Karma. I thought about the way he could easily lie and manipulate others into his own ways and how violent he was towards me. Wouldn't I be safer out on the streets? It wasn't long before I came to the conclusion that my brain was right, I was in more danger with Karma than without him.

In the pitch black on night on a chilly night in Nevada, I made my escape, hoping that it would be successful.

And oh boy, was it not.