Corrupt

8. Broken Doors and Broken Dreams

8. Broken Doors and Broken Dreams

        "I'm Noah by the way." The adolescent boy introduced himself, as I climbed into the passenger seat of his truck.

        "Savannah," I replied shortly, casting anxious glances through the glass of the windows. I wrapped my arms around myself, throwing Noah a grateful smile. "Thanks for doing this. I got lost in the woods and this happened." I explain, gesturing to the cuts and bruises littering my body.

        Noah nodded, seemingly not noticing the nervous quake in my voice, which had to do with the fact that there was a load more to do with that story. "Where are you headed?"

        At his question, I bit my lip. I didn't want him to get dragged into this whole mess that had become my life, but I knew I desperately needed to escape. I pursed my lips, my fingers tightening their grip on my arms. "The nearest town. I can have someone pick me up there."

        Pressing his foot down on the gas, his lips curled into a smirk. "You were headed the wrong direction then. The nearest town the way you were going is 45 minutes away. By car."

        My face twisted up in disgust. If Noah hadn't offered a ride I most likely would have been picked up by somebody much worse , Jace or even Ricardo, or have perished with the increasingly cold weather. I shivered with revulsion at the terrifying thought. "How far is the nearest town then?" I questioned, pressing a hand to my aching forehead. "And do you have a napkin?"

        "In the dash." He pointed, before pulling out a napkin and handing it to me eagerly. "That doesn't look good. And it's about five minutes away."

        "Doesn't feel good either." I murmured, pressing the napkin lightly against the cut. I bit my lip to hide my smile. Only five minutes till I gained my total freedom. I shifted in my seat, feeling the excitement affect my ability to sit still.

        "You okay there?" Noah glanced a horrified look in my direction. "Because if you have to pee, please tell me now. I just bought this car with my hard-earned money."

       I narrowed my eyes at him in a menacing glare, or what I perceived to be as one. "No."

        "Wait." He spoke calculatingly, the emotion on his face growing somewhat confused. "Who decides to get lost in the woods at midnight?"

        "Who decides to pick up strange ladies off the side of the road at midnight?" I shot back, turning away from Noah to face the window. His questions only made my anxiousness rise. If he realized that something wasn't exactly right, he could drop me off at the police station instead.

        "You just called yourself strange." He chuckled, his eyebrows cocking as he shot me a quick glance. "Is that what you consider yourself to be?"        

        "Sure." To say I still felt alienated over the whole situation was a bit of an understatement. The dense trees were passing at a speedy rate and I bit back the hopefulness that this would all work out. Hope was the demise of many things. With hope caused distraction and distractions brought failure. I was not going to be disillusioned as to what I could eventually face.  

        Noah seemed to sense my inner turmoil and if he had groan suspicious, he didn't show it. "Family around here?" He questioned carefully, his gaze unseeingly on the road in front of him.

        I hesitated, my hands picking at a thread on my t-shirt. "Uh, no. I moved here alone. I'm nineteen." I informed him. "Do you?"

        He bobbed his head, flicking up the temperature. "My parents are divorced. My mom lives in a condo in Seattle and my dad lives up in the mountains. I live with my mom because I go to a private school in Seattle. Holidays with my dad though." He offered me a tiny smile though I could see the bitterness radiating from it. "Why did you move here?" He suddenly questioned, his jaw clench tightly.