Trepidation || j. g ||

| m o n s t e r |

THE NEON LIGHT cast an ominous glow onto the hood of Jake Abbey's dented car. Athena sat next to him in the passenger's seat of the vehicle, her eyes glassy and distant. Jake couldn't stop fidgeting; he was on his fourth cigarette in the past two hours. The duo stopped at a gas station in the outskirts of Vegas, approximately two hours from the small town of Ike. Athena silently raped at her arms as the blood has stained and has turned flaky in some areas. Jake had noticed this but hadn't made a move to get either of them clean. He was jittery, his limbs moving a mile a minute as did his mind. He was afraid that someone would see them and become suspicious, leading them to call the authorities. They were doing so well-

"Jake?" Athena called hoarsely, her voice I like her own.

The man's jitters subsided slightly at the sound of his name slipping off of Athena's ashen lips; her voice soothing the most anxious parts of him.

"Where are we? I need to...shower." She explains lowly, her hands rubbing her forearms slightly as she snuck a peek at the man seated in front of the steering wheel.

Jake immediately revved the car to life, driving the car around the back of the gas station to its bathroom. He parks the car and exits, slams the door shut, and continues his way towards Athena's door. As he was doing this, Athena thought of running. She figured that Jake would probably let her go, but then again he'd probably chase after her. Would he hurt her? She asked herself this question as she met his cobalt-hued eyes-the darkest she's ever seen them.

"Let's go get cleaned up."

-

Jake sat in the car as he waiting patiently for Athena to finish doing business. He tried to helped her clean up, but she had become irate about doing it herself. So, with confliction, the man had given in and allowed himself to wait outside for her. He watched intently as a black truck pulled into the lot, an older looking man hopping out and making his way towards the back where the restroom was. Jake's hand tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white as the man neared the door. He tried opening it, but it was locked. He pulled again.

Jake had already opened the car door, watching the man before he stood up. If he did, it was over. Jake flicked his forefinger over the end of the sharp switchblade in his clutch, his eyes zoning in on the seemingly impatient trucker as the man had begun to bang on the door.

"What the fuck is the holdup? I got to take a leak!"

Jake had slammed the door closed, causing the older man to squint out into the darkness. He hadn't seen Jake approaching, so he turned back and began hitting the door continuously. Inside of the bathroom stood a shaking Athena as she messily threw water and soap over her limbs in attempts to clean up quicker. She rested her forearms on the dirty sink to help balance her body, she felt as if her legs were going to give out under her. Her breathing was ragged, small whimpers escaping her chapped lips as she tried to scrub her ivory skin of the rusted tint. Athena had jumped suddenly as a large thud resounded on the other side of the door. The water still running, Athena watched the door intently as a few more thuds hit the door. She heard muffled voices until it stopped completely. Then, in contrast to before, a soft voice emerged from the other side of the metal with two soft knocks.