Run Away

Ch-8. The House

Ch-8 The House

My eyelids fluttered open. I sat up and looked around. Suzie and Sam were still asleep. Jake had curled up next to where the fire had been. His clothes were still wet. Suddenly, I realized that my clothes were wet too.
I got up and opened my bag which was kept near Jake. I took my extra tee shirt and skirt and went behind the abandoned hut to change.

When I came out again, Jake, Suzie and Sam were awake and getting ready to go.
Jake's eyes turned towards me. "A skirt?" He asked, looking me up and down. I quickly dumped my clothes in my bag and turned to look at him. "So what?" I asked rudely, my hands on my hips. Jake just shrugged and muttered, "nothing."

As we walked out of the village, Jake said. "Okay, first we'll find some food to eat. Then we'll drop our dear princess where we..."
"No! I don't want to back home!" I shouted.
"It's up to you if you want to go back home or not. We're leaving you where we found you." Jake said sternly.
"You don't tell me what to do!"
"Well then, we'll leave you here," Suzie said in a mocking manner.
I folded my arms and was going to say something when Jake spoke, "Look princess. We already have a bad past behind us. Those two dangerous men are trying to find us again. And we can't drag you into our problem." He sounded calm but a little irritated.
"When did you start caring for me?" I asked narrowing my eyes.
He shrugged. ' I never 'cared' for you. But I'm courteous, polite and selfless unlike you. And I don't want you to get stuck in our problem. " his words were flat and he stared at me, expressionless.
His words cut through me like knives. But I quickly shook my head and said plainly, "fine. Leave me here. I'll go where I want to."
Suzie nodded her head, sighed with relief, then smiled at Jake, waiting for his response. Jake was a little hesitant, but I said, almost yelling, "GO!"

Jake looked at Suzie for a second, then shrugged. They started walking. I followed them, keeping a gap of a few inches. Suzie realized that I was behind them and tugged at her brother's sleeve. Jake turned around and frowned at me.
"Why're you following us?" He asked.
"I'm not following you. I'm just going wherever I wish to," I replied with a grin that I knew irritated Jake. So he kept quiet and walked. I again followed. Jake stopped again and turned around with a scowl. His jaw muscles moving as he tightened it with anger. I shrugged and gave my grin again. Jake bit the inside of his cheek and continued walking. I walked after them, dragging my feet to irritate them.

Jake sighed. "You know, you could just walk with us." He offered without turning around again.
"Aw. You would do that? For me? I'd be honoured," I said sarcastically. Then I quickly joined them. Jake just shook his head.

After some time, we reached a road lined up with shops, clubs and houses. There were fewer cars and more people on the road. On the side of the road, three men played instruments. People were gathering around them, listening to them play and throwing coins at them.

"Sam. Food," Jake told Sam. Sam quickly ran off, waging his tail vigorously.

Jake then looked around. "This place feels so familiar to me," He said.
"You might be roaming around in these streets too, in the last two years," I said.
"No, we always stayed next to the market," Jake replied, glowering at me.

Suddenly, there was an applause. We turned towards the crowd. The three men had just finished playing. They kept down their flute, violin and drum. The people threw more coins at them. "We'll take a five-minute break." One of them announced.

Suddenly, Sam came back, his tail down. He had nothing in his mouth this time. "Sam. No food?" Suzie asked as she hugged him. Sam moaned softly.

While Jake and Suzie hugged and stroked Sam, I looked around, my stomach rumbling. Suddenly, my eyes fell on a man, quite far from me. The man was talking on the phone. Then he saw me and a smirk spread across his face. That was the same smirk he had given me when he saw me from his white car. He put his phone in his pocket and started walking towards me. Steadily.