Run (d.l)

0.7

Rose - On the Road, near Indianapolis

The mans hands were extremely grabby, he left his right hand over my mouth with a firm grasp whilst his left roamed my body. My body had fell limp from the malnutrition and exhastion that it was suffering, which seemed fair enough with its condition. I had given up on trying to scream or yell for attention as it only made me feel more light-headed. I slammed my eyes shut, the angry and psychotic gaze of my attacker too much for me to handle. I cringed at the thought of the inevitable events bount to take place. I silently thanked God or whoever is above that I was wearing jeans, although they were slightly large which didn't help me. The man had hit me over the head and slammed me into the window, causing me to hit my head. I felt myself slipping into an unconscious state as my arms wore out from trying to push him away.

"That's right baby, don't fight it." The man whispered in my ear. I shudder at his words as I slip into an uncomfortable daze.

I woke to the bright white light shining in my eyes which felt like hydrogen peroxide being sprayed into my eyes and a throbbing headache. I had dreamt of a small bar in a busy city. The walls were covered with a tacky moss-green wallpaper that had a faded gold colour dancing on it. The faces around me were a blur and as time passed, eventually everything blurred into eachother. The chairs merging into the tables and the tables merging into eachother so that eventually everything was unrecognisable and unsalvagable. Everything except a petit framed girl, whose dark hair cascaded down her back perfectly, touched ever-so-slighly by snow, her body covered by a cream cardi. Demi. I tried to call out to her, screaming and carrying on like baby whose candy has been taken from them. My legs failed me as I tried to run to her. Ever-so-slowly, I made my way to the girl, still screaming in both delight and fear. When I finaly reached her, I tugged on her sholder, hoping she would turn and look at me, only to find her face was like everyone elses, blurred so ther was no recognition. It was as if her face was missing.

I immediately slam my eyes shut in agony from the bright light's beaming rays. I tried to sit up from my horizontal position on a park bench.

"Marie! Don't sit up, I'm calling a doctor." Michael's singsong voice announced. I sprung from my makeshift bed and began my protest.

"You can't! I have to get to New York. Oh shit, the bus!" I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the ache in my head and stomach.

"Marie!" Michael chastised me, but I ignored him. I stood wide-eyed glancing at our surroundings, looking for the bus and some sort of indication as to where we were. "It hasn't left yet. But you need to see a doctor."

"No I don't. I appreciate your concern, Michael, I really do. But I do not need a doctor. I'm fine." I assured him. I did not need a doctor compromising my plan. "Can we just go back to the bus?"

"Marie, you should really see a doctor." He tried with his eyebrows furrowed, making a little v shape. I sighed and rolled my eyes which he repled with the same, only his sigh was one of defeat. "We still have an hour before we can get back on the bus. We're in Indianopolis." he added, a wave of concern still lingering in his voice.

"Fuck, how long was I out for?" I groaned, we weren't too far away from the terminal when the man approached me, which mean I was out for almost 3 hours.

"A while. I've got some questions about before, but I guess they can wait. We're in an old locker room in the terminal." He sighed.

-

"M'am, Sir, I'm sorry to inform you that there has been an issue with the drivers. The driver who was to continue the route has had a family emergeny, resulting in no one to take his position. You have two options if you wish to continue to New York: there's a bus departing in about 25 minutes, the only catch is that it will detour to Nashville. Or you can wait 8 hours until your previous driver is off fatigue and continue your previous route." A man in a somewhat silly hat explained. I groaned and looked to Michael, who didn't look too bothered. "I'll give you some time to think about this, but let me know within the next ten if you are planning on catching the Nashville route."

"Well?" Michael grinned. I rolled my eyes at him. I knew the Nashville route would take longer, but the wait for the somewhat-direct route could jeopardise my whole plan.

"I.. I don't know. I need to get to New York as soon as I can." I muttered.

"Then we should wait." He smiles softly.

"You know you don't have to wait with me, right?" I murmur.

"Yeah, I know."

-

Michael and I retreated to a small 24 hour diner that sat two blocks from the bus terminal, he had ordered some monsterous burger while I sipped on ice water.

"Aren't you gonna order any food?" he speaks quietly, looking at me questioningly from the other side of the retro booth.

"No, I already ate." I didn't look at him in the eyes, rather a quick glance at his shoulder then retreated back to my water, using the straw to push the floating ice cubes down.

"What are you talking about? You ate a few starbursts on the bus, but thats it." he questioned.

"Drop it, Michael." I growled. His mood seemed to change, from curious to pissed off.

"You've got to eat, Marie." His voice was much louder than what it was before and several other customers redirected their gazes at us. I quickly threw up my hoodie and lowered my head, my eyes falling on my hands. Adrenelin pulsed through my body, ready for Miss Ashley to walk in unannounced and take me back to Timberline Knolls. Fear saturated me at the thought, which Michael noticed. "Oh shit, I'm sorry."

Michael quickly slipped out of his side of the booth and into mine, wrapping his arm around me. I leaned into his chest in defeat. "Fuck, Marie. You've got to tell me whats going on."

➳

oh man im so sorry i have been so fkin lazy and unmotivated

but its vacation now so i can update more frequently (yay)

votes and comments make me v happy so if you wanna leave 658358694938 comments telling me how good/bad/boring this is pls bc i love feedback

isnt michael a smart lil cookie for catching on to rose's shit?

i'm gonna try update by wednesday but otherwise thursday bc friends are crashing at my place and they expect me to be social and shit

i love you guys so much and if you need anything i'm here ok ily