Highway Part 32

*Things are getting intense*

Highway Chapter 18(continued)

I felt bad, because he had seemed so frantic. But I didn’t want to go back now. I didn’t want to hear those heart breaking words come out of his mouth again. What little was left of my heart thumped painfully against my chest, and my lungs ached with every breath I drew. Didn’t he love me? I could have sworn he did after last night. He had cried for me the morning of the nightmare. Shouldn’t that mean he cared? I was so confused. Why did life send me such an amazing, blissful experience, only to tear it down viscously?

I didn’t want him to leave. But he never said he would, I thought. Another thought sounded, opposite of the first. He said that it wasn’t normal to be together. That he had never seen any pairs before. The first one again. But he said it’s not like I couldn’t go. He wanted to apologize, he's looking for me. The battle raged inside my head, thoughts switching back and forth between positive and negative. I could hear him calling my name faintly, looking far off.

I didn’t know what to do. He had always been able to fix every problem I had, taken on every challenge. It seemed so uncharacteristic for him to leave me if I wanted him. He had seemed so concerned at the hotel, and now he was chasing after me in the rain.

The storm was getting worse by the minute, the rain coming down more heavily now. The lightning scared me, and I just wanted to lie in our hotel room and watch stupid movies. I wanted to tell stupid jokes to Matt, to sing, to dance, to laugh. I wanted nothing more than to be in his arms again, hearing him comfort me. Even if it was a lie, it was what I wanted. Still, I didn’t believe he would lie to me now.

Julian couldn’t have been wrong. We didn’t have to be normal. We were never normal, right from the start. We could challenge the status quo. We hadn’t had problems doing it before. I got up, peeking around the alley for Matt.

“Hey there,” I heard a voice call from behind me.

I whirled around, seeking the voice’s owner. It was hard to see in the gloom, but it appeared there were about 4 guys standing there. Oh, no, I thought to myself. These men couldn’t have been good guys. Nobody normal wandered around in the rain at night, especially not in groups. Where had Matt gone? I couldn’t hear him now, and I feared the worst.

A flash illuminated the alley, allowing me to survey the situation. There were four, and they were big. Not so much the same kind of strong as Matt, but more the strong that’s all power but no staying strength. Still, there was no way I could take on all four of them if they decided to make a move.

“Hi,” I said cautiously.

Maybe I could back away slowly. I didn’t want to make them mad yet, for it would only make my situation dire. Every moment I spent here could be a moment Matt came back. At the same time, every moment could be drawing him away. This situation had the possibility to escalate to violence, and extremely quickly.

“Your hair is beautiful. Did anyone ever tell you that?”

Crap. These guys were definitely out to get only one thing. That was not a simple complement. I needed to get out of here, and fast. I took a step back out into the street, wondering if I should just bolt.

“Come on, where are you going sweetheart? We’re not gonna hurt you. We just want to talk.”

Yeah right. You wouldn’t talk if I gave you truth serum.

“Look, I really need to be somewhere. I have a friend waiting for me who wouldn’t be too happy if I was late.”

The one in front, ring leader it looked like, smiled again, taking another step towards me.

“You have a friend? Is that why you were curled up against a wall in the middle of a gigantic storm? If I didn’t know any better, I would say you’re just trying to get away from us. Right boys?”

They all jeered behind him. I was walking backwards steadily now, ready to sprint. Matt had to be around here somewhere right? Or perhaps I could find shelter in a building? They wouldn’t do anything with other people around.

But the alley I had chosen was awfully secluded, and the darkest place in the city. I cursed myself quietly. Of course, I had picked the most dangerous area possible for my hiding place. I wanted to scan for Matt, but I didn’t want to take my eyes away from the figures in front of me.

The  ringleader was getting too close now, and I turned to get away. I was a fast runner, especially now that I was stronger from walking on the path. But I had waited too long, and he snatched out, grabbing my wrist.

“Not so fast, little bird. Don’t fly away.”

I gasped as he crushed my wrist in his hand, leaving bruises. But I was quick on my feet from so many years of torment at my school. Nobody had ever tried something like this, but there had been attempted pranks.

Whipping around as fast as the lightning around us, I threw out a foot, catching him in the groin. He dropped to the ground like a stone, and I took the chance to flee. I sprang away with excessive force, running like a wild boar. The others were chasing me now, and they were unexpectedly fast. They were taller, and so they took bounds where I took steps. Still, I managed to keep them off my tail.

I was searching frantically for any sign of Matt. Where was he? This town wasn’t that large. It wasn’t until it was too late that I realized they were herding me. I had thought myself clever and quick, evading them. But now as I saw the first man in sight again, I realized I had made a fatal error. As I slowed, one of them crashed into me, pinning me to the ground.

“Gotcha!” he whispered into my ear, his breath making my skin shiver with revulsion.

“Get off of me, you filthy pig!” I shouted.

I was done with this situation. If I didn’t get to Matt in the next minute or so, I didn’t even want to know what was going to happen.

“Matt!” I screamed, as loud as I could.

My voice was drowned out by the roaring wind and the clashes of thunder. I elbowed the man, catching him in the stomach. With my lungs free from weight, I tried again.

“MATT! Matt, where are you?”

I screeched over the howling of the storm, my voice carrying this time.

“Veronica?” I heard faintly.

“Matt! Help! I’m over here! There’s a bunch of guys!”

The man I had elbowed covered my mouth with his hand, pressing me against his body. I bit him savagely, and tasted metallic blood.

“Matt!” I yelled again, and then I saw him come into view.

Quite a ways away, he stood against the storm. It was difficult to see, but I could tell from his height it was him. Suddenly, I was hoisted up on the guys shoulder. I tried to wriggle free, slamming my fists into his back. He was running to a truck across the alley, cursing at me. I was thrown into it violently. I felt my head ram into the metal back. The truck was some sort of moving vehicle, for people’s furniture.

Despite being wobbly, I crawled my way to the entrance. Matt was close now, but was faced with two opponents. He looked to me frantically, and I tried to crawl out.

“Francis, Louie, take care of this punk. We got the girl. I’ll meet you back at base.”

And then, the door closed.

I was left with the two men, both glaring down at me. The one I had bitten walked up to me, and before I could say anything, slapped me across my right cheek. It stung, the pain of the lash not expected. I didn’t cry despite the pain. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

“Bet you’re not so tough now, are you?”

I lashed out at him with my foot, hoping to catch him off guard. The ringleader restrained me, slapping something cold onto my wrists. Metal handcuffs. The second guy tried to come near me, but was too scared to get into range. After seeing what I had done to the ringleader, he wasn’t eager to share the same fate.

The first man bent down over me, away from my feet. Carefully lifting my face, he examined the welt that was forming. He frowned, looking at the other man.

“You know the boss doesn’t like it when you hit their face. It ruins the appearance. It looks like she won’t have any major damage, but it will be swollen for a while. He won’t be happy.”

The man shrugged, giving me a glare that I returned. The ringleader turned my face to him.

“You’re a spunky one. That’s fun. But still, you’re a bit too wild. Don’t worry, we’ll fix that. In no time you’ll be just like everyone else.”

He expected some fear, maybe tears. I spit in his face. He jumped back, and I smirked. He drew a hand back, but paused. He pinched his nose.

“I can’t ruin your pretty face just yet. But fair warning, you better learn to knock it off. There are much worse people out there than me.”

I snarled at him, wild and aggressive. I wouldn’t show them I was scared, no matter how terrified I became. They stopped once more, after about 30 minutes of driving. The men got out, and didn’t return for about ten minutes. I used this time to try and find anything to escape with.

But all of the windows were boarded up, the metal solid, and nothing to attempt to pick the lock on the handcuffs with. Maybe I could leave a trail for Matt? The only things I had in my pockets were change. He would never see it in the dark. Looking at my undershirt, I realized it was neon green. Using a part of the handcuffs that had worn away and become sharp, I desperately tried to rip off a piece. Finally freeing it, I slid over to the opening of the truck.

I was terrified they were going to find me there, and take away my only means of a trail. I slipped it to the corner of the truck, leaning on my side. This way the cloth would fall out when they opened the door, and hopefully they wouldn’t spot it. As I hastened to get back to my spot, I barely made it. They came back just as I had leaned back against the wall.

They lifted another girl onto the truck. She was small, birdlike, and had black hair with startlingly blue eyes. I glanced over to where the piece of my shirt was, and was relieved to see it on the ground behind them. I would do this whenever I could. They shut the door again, moving to the front with the driver. I attempted to speak to the shaking girl, but she couldn’t understand me. It seemed she only spoke Chinese. I tried to speak with gestures, but it was too hard with my hands handcuffed behind my back.

We stopped two more times. Once for a bathroom break which I refused, and once because the girl had been pounding against the door until they handcuffed her like they did me. Each time I tore off a piece, and barely made it in time to lay back. If they caught on, they would take a different route. When we stopped a third time, they hauled us out.

There appeared to be a small camp of only a few guys, probably totaling 10 if you counted the two they left behind. We had arrived at a small building, an abandoned storage structure. Screaming and kicking, I was the difficult one to carry. The ringleader had thought it best to take me so I wasn’t hit again. He held my legs in an iron grip, and he pressed my face against his shoulder to muffle my shouts. He smelled of sweat and fish. The camp had gone relatively quiet now, and they were gathering around to see the new “guests.” This was sick.

They brought us to the front, dropping us to the ground none to gently. I immediately noticed the tall figure in front of us, as all eyes were on him.

“What did you bring to me today, boys?” he asked, and I felt the chills go down my spine.

I knew that voice, but I couldn’t figure out why. He turned, and my world suddenly froze.

“Well, well, well,” he said ominously, “If it isn’t Veronica. So nice to see you drop by.”

I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t hear, and my heart didn’t beat. For he was standing in front of me, alive and well.

There, smiling at me, disfigurement still running down his face, was my father.

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