TITLE:FAYETTEVILLE
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Kathrine's Converse slapped the road as she
ran down Park City hill. She was hoping that
someone would stop to help her. She wasn't
yelling; she didn't think anyone would be
there to hear her. The breeze picked up, but
she didn't notice. Her hair wrapping around
her face, she still kept running. Her ankles
were starting to hurt from the lack of
support in her shoes, but she still kept
running. She kept running and running down
the hill and towards the strip of town. Just
the streetlights on... store signs were off, the
usual "nightlife" had gone to sleep. She just
hoped she wasn't alone.
The sound of an engine was starting to
rumble behind her. She turned her head,
letting the breeze flip the hair away from her
face. There was only one set of headlights
coming down the street. She was still turning
on the inside. She didn't know who was
driving. What if it was the same person after
her? She didn't really have a choice. She had
to trust someone, so she hustled from the
turning lane to stand on the right side of the
road. The street lights were reflecting off the
jet-black car as it started to slow down. The
tires rolled to a halt in the middle of the
vacant road. Finally, there was a standstill.
She threw caution to the wind and ran to the
driver-side door. Bang. Bang. Bang.
The teenaged girl cracked the window just
enough to hear Kathrine's begging.
"Please help me! My friend back there, I don't
know what's happening. I was scared, and I
ran. I'm new here and I don't..." It was too
much for Kathrine to handle. She was
flustered and couldn't gather the words she
wanted to say.
"Chill, girl. What's going on?" the girl asked
from behind the cracked glass.
Kathrine made eye contact with the driver as
she tried to catch her breath so she could
say what she needed to. Her heavy breathing
was starting to slow, "I need a ride to the
police station," she uttered between the
breaths.
"Is it really that serious?"
"Please!" Kathrine yelled as she hit the
window. It made the driver flinch like a jump
scare in a horror film.
The driver tapped the steering wheel with her
nails as she contemplated what to do. "Don't
you have a phone?" the driver asked. She was
actually getting angry that she was hitting her
car like that.
"Yes. It's dead. I'm scared... please," Kathrine
said one last time.
The driver reached across the passenger seat
and pulled the locking lever up. Click. "Get
in," she said as she rolled up her window.
Kathrine raced around the car and jumped in
the passenger seat. She thought it was
strange that no other cars were coming down
the street. Yeah, it was midnight, but she was
used to busy streets in Florida. In fact, going
out late at night alone was something she had
never really done. And she doesn't think she
would ever do it again.
"What's your name?" the driver asked.
"Kathrine Woods. Thank you for doing this."
Kathrine couldn't keep her eyes off the road
in front of her. She couldn't turn to the girl.
She was thankful, but you couldn't hear it in
her voice. She was still trying to catch her
breath.
"And don't you want to go back and check on
your friend?"
"The cops will be able to do more than I can.
I don't know what I'm doing!" Kathrine
finished her sentence by yelling. Her
breathing was starting to pick up again, and
the driver was getting anxious now. She
didn't know how to help, so she tried to
connect with her as she drove into town and
towards the police station.
"My name's Evelyn," she said, still keeping her
eyes on the road. "Evelyn Harper."
Kathrine didn't say anything. She continued to
stare out the window, bouncing her knee to
try to relieve her anxiety that wasn't going
away. Evelyn's car smelt like Taco Bell. An
empty bottle of Diet Mountain Dew rolled in
the back seat. Her bookbag still in the floor
from the last day of school before Christmas
break.
Evelyn pulled into the police station parking
lot, and Kathrine pulled the locking lever up,
and within a second she was out of the car.
She bolted up the cold concrete steps to the
glass door.
"Hello?!" she yelled, searching around the
door for a way inside. She alternated between
yanking at the locked door and banging on it
with her fist.
"There she goes again with that banging,"
Evelyn said to herself. She shut her door and
leaned back with her arms crossed. She still
wasn't sure what happened, but she thought
Kathrine was overreacting.
"Yes?" a voice said from a speaker to the left
of the glass door.
"I need help! Someone was after me and my
friend in a parking lot, and I ran. I don't know
what happened but..."
A deputy opened the glass door from inside,
keeping one hand close to his gun. "Ma'am,
you need to calm down. Take a deep breath,
and we will go inside." Kathrine nodded and
followed his lead. The deputy caught a
glance of Evelyn leaning against her car.
"Can I help you?"
"I'm the ride. I don't know what's going on...
I'm fine," Evelyn answered.
The deputy nodded and shut the door behind
them.
