Highway Part 36

Highway Chapter 20(continued)

I stood up slowly, leaning on the wall. I rubbed my wrists, now bloody and bruised from my fussing. They had dug into my skin when I used the worn down serrated edge to cut off parts of my undershirt.

The rain pattered softly on the roof, creating white noise in the background. I wondered if the storm was ending. Sighing, I set off to look at the outfits. They were all entirely too revealing, which made sense. Still, I wasn’t going to put any of them on.

After a few minutes of searching, I spotted a formal dress at the end. It was a dark blue, with thin straps. Contrasting light blue flowers ran across the side, outlined in glittering rhinestones. It was a ball gown, flaring out at the hips. It was way too girly for me, but it was the most decent thing in the room. Sighing, I unzipped the dress and stepped into it.

The fabric rustled from underneath as I zipped and hooked it. I wondered why they had such a formal gown in here, but decided not to think about it too much. There was a full length mirror leaned on the wall, and I saw myself reflected in it.

My hair was a dripping mess, sticking out and tangled. My face was still swollen where I had been hit, a black and blue bruise forming. Still, I could have looked worse. The blue dress complemented my pale skin, and looked good with my hair. It was a beautiful dress, which made it seem even more wrong to be in a place like this. I didn’t appreciate my hair hanging in front of my face, and I looked around for something to put it up.

There were makeup cases littered about, but I would never give them the pleasure of seeing me with it on. I wasn’t one of their girls, and I refused to even act like it. I spotted a basket full of hair accessories across from me. Why did they have all of these things? Did they like to dress up the girls? I wouldn’t be surprised. If they were sick enough to kidnap girls, they were sick enough to dress them up.

I shuffled through it, finding a large hair clip shaped like a Plumeria. It had blue jewels encrusted along the edges, with a white substance like porcelain used for the flower. I wondered if I could break it to make shards for a weapon, but it seemed too synthetic. I twisted my hair into a bun and used the clip on it.

I hated my hair when it was put up, but it was better than it hanging in my face, dripping on everything. After tucking in the strands and making sure it was going to stay, I looked around.

There were no windows except one at the very top of the wall, as I had first seen when I came in. I wondered if I could stand on one of the racks and try to reach the window, but I was doubtful. Still, I was going to try what I could.

I shoved the racks, and the wheels on the bottom shifted. After I positioned it below the window, I climbed on top of it. The dress hindered my movement, but I managed to reach the top. I was too short to reach the window, but it was within jumping distance. My still wet shoes were slippery, and slid on the metal bar. I leaned against the wall unsteadily, and took them off. I also peeled of my socks, for I would need relatively dry feet to do this.

Could I pull myself up if I could get a hold on the edge? Just as I was about to try, I heard a knock.

“I’m coming in,” The man from before said.

“Just a minute,” I called, “I’m not ready yet.”

I lunged for the window, but my hand slipped on the ledge. I sliced my hand against a nail, but didn’t cry out.

“The boss wants to see you, hurry up,” He said.

I had bought a little bit of time, but I heard a key turning in the lock. I leaped down from the edge, almost falling forward. If he saw me trying to escape, he would handcuff me again. If I wanted to have any chance of getting out of here, I needed to remain unrestrained.

He appeared just as I had reached the mirror, and I pretended to fix my hair. He looked at my figure slowly, his eyes traveling up and down. He didn’t hide his look of appreciation.

“Hey,” I barked at him, “Keep your eyes to yourself, pal.”

He looked away, but I already felt disgusted. He had said that I was going to see my father, so I looked frantically for anything last minute I could use as a weapon. I couldn't get the man with it and try to escape, but I had an element of surprise with my father.

“Come on,” he said, nodding to the door, “He’s waiting. You don’t want to make him wait.”

I didn’t have anything I could use. Suddenly, I spotted a metal hair comb in the basket, the edges sharp and strong. It wasn’t much, but I could get my father in the other eye if I timed it just right. But how was I going to get it with the man still there? He would see me if I just picked it up, and I couldn’t pretend to put it in my hair because of the clip already occupying it. Realizing I didn’t have any shoes, I hoped to distract him that way.

“Do you expect me to go without shoes? You didn’t have any, and now I’ve just been sitting here without shoes. The floor has so many things on it. I don’t think my father would appreciate if I got an infection because somebody told me hurry up and I got cut.”

He looked at me incredulously, saying “They’re right over there!”

He pointed to a box. It wouldn’t have hurt to walk over there, but I did see several pieces of sharp things.

“I can’t go over there! I’ll get cut by those pieces. Bring them over here!”

He seemed like he was going to say no, but changed his mind. Apparently fear was a big factor here, and it was a good thing too. He turned, grumbling and went to get the box. As he was facing the other way, I swiftly grabbed the comb.

Where would I put it? I don’t have any pockets. I had seen a girl put a gun under her dress in movies before, so I tucked it between my leg and the folds of material. It wasn’t an ideal place, but it would be unseen and I could reach it if I was in a bad situation.

“Hey,” he said, sounding confused.

My heart froze, for I thought he had seen me. But he wasn’t looking at me still, and I wondered if he knew I had moved the rack. Don’t notice, don’t notice, don’t notice, I chanted in my head. I hadn’t had time to move it back before he came in, and it the mistake could’ve just cost me my freedom. The man turned towards me, and I forced myself to keep a straight face. If he hadn’t noticed, I couldn’t give it away.

“You don’t look like the boss very much,” he continued, “Do you look like your mom?”

My heart gave away to relief, and I sighed to myself with relief. I gave him another glare, not inviting conversation. He set down the box, and I looked at them. I was too clumsy for the heels, which was unfortunate due to the number of them in the box. I spotted a pair of small strappy ones, the heel only a few inches off the ground. Thinking it was the best I could do, I reach for them.

The man was watching me now, and I panicked when I almost dropped the shoe. I had carelessly forgotten about my hand, which was bleeding now. It wasn’t serious, but it had made my hand slick. I wouldn’t be able to hide it from him if he was watching, and he would demand to know what happened.

Hoping to distract him, I answered his question.

“I don’t know,” I said as he looked to my face, “I don’t remember her. But my brother says I did, and I believe him.”

Although these people didn’t deserve to hear about my brother, talking about him kept my thoughts clear. I strapped on the shoes as I continued to talk, slipping twice. I stood a little unsteadily, and gestured for him to lead the way. Now was the time to be on my best behavior, for I needed them to let their guard down.

“Walk in front of me. I don’t want any funny business, all right?”

I scoffed, but nodded anyway. He pressed a hand against my back, and I resisted the urge to slap him. I closed my hand, putting pressure on the cut to stop the bleeding.

He led me across the warehouse, taking several turns into aisles. I tried to memorize the path, in case I needed to bolt. I wondered why they didn’t blind fold me. Was it just because this didn’t seem like a permanent hideout? Did they think they would never see me again? Or was it something more sinister?

We came across another office like the one I was just in, and the man told me to stop.

“He’s just inside.” He commented.

I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t have much of a choice. But before I saw my father again, I needed to ensure I wouldn’t freeze. I thought of my brother and Matt, all of the good memories. Then, I thought of how my brother stood up to my father, of him stabbing his eye. He had bled back then, and so he could now. He was not invincible.

I thought of Matt, how strong he had seemed when he stood up to the boy who had tripped me. He was coming; I would just have to wait. Then I thought of all the bad things my father had done to me, the memories flooding back.

My brother had shielded me from most of the abuse, but the rest of my family wasn’t given the same protection. I thought of my mother’s ankles, so pale, covered in bruises. Her milky white skin always had some color in it. My brother would joke that he got dirty when I would ask why his face was dark in places, but it would never wash away. I knew then at least a little, but it was clear to me now.

Even when he was sober, my father was still violent if you made him mad. Thinking of these things made me angry, and I used that anger to clear my head. If I stayed mad enough, I would be able to drive away the fear. I steeled myself, resolving to piss him off but stay away from the breaking point. Even though I wasn’t as small anymore, he was a bigger guy.

If I could drag out the time it took to talk to him, Matt might be able to get here before anything could occur. I didn’t know what was going to happen afterwards, but I couldn’t let that distract me now. The only way to survive this was to focus on the moment.

I gripped the doorknob, slowing turning it.