Run Away

Chapter 36

Evie leaned her forehead helplessly against the door.

"Owen, I want you to go," Evie ordered through the motel room door.

"I'm not leaving you here," Owen replied.

"Ryan could return at any moment. I won't risk your life or anyone else's for mine," Evie argued.

She turned on the spot, leaning her back against the door and sliding down to the floor. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs, hiding her face in her lap and cried. She should never have involved the Taylors. She should never have sent the pizza.

"Evie, everything is going to be okay, I promise," Owen tried to reassure her from the other side of the door, hearing her crying harder now.

"You can't promise that. You don't know what he's like, what he's capable of," Evie cried.

"No," Owen agreed evenly, "But I know you. I know you're a fighter and I know you won't just give in."

A fresh wave of tears washed over Evie as she broke down once more. Scared for her life, but also scared for Owen's, and the others outside trying to save her. Her parents and her brother tried to save her they all died trying. Ryan took everything from her that night. She refused to let him do that to her again.

Evie wiped the tears from her face with her hands and took deep breaths to try control her crying. She closed her eyes for a brief moment to compose herself.

"Police are two minutes away," she heard Brian announce from the other side of the door.

"Did you hear that, Evie?" Owen asked, "The police are almost here. It won't be long now."

"There were no room keys. He must have ditched them in one of the bins, maybe," Zane explained as he approached Owen. "Is she okay?"

Owen shook his head in response, his hands leaning on either side of the door.

"Evie," Owen called to her gently.

He waited, studying the door. Silence.

"Evie, I'm staying right here with you, okay?"

Silence still from inside the room, before an interruption on the outside.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Owen looked over his shoulder to the driveway of the motel as police cars swarmed the area, two of them driving into the car park. Police officers scrambled from their vehicles and ran to them at Evie's door.

"Step back please," one officer ordered as they approached.

Owen stepped back slightly, to the side to make way for the officers.

One reached for the door handle and attempted to open it, with no luck.

"Did you think we didn't try that already?" Zane asked bewildered with their actions.

The officer just eyed Zane, before motioning to the other officers over by the cars. One moved to the rear of their vehicle, opened the back and pulled out a large metal battering ram.

"Miss," the first officer called through the door, "If you can hear me, I need you to move away from the door. We're going to break the door in. You need to find a safe place to protect yourself."

Two officers carried the battering ram over to the door. Then with four of them holding it, they swung it once, twice before pushing it into the door with force.

The door burst open towards the inside of the room, splinters shattered across the floor and bed.

The officers holding the batting ram moved back away from the door. The first officer moved to enter the room, but Owen pushed past him and into the room.