"Everyone, get on the ground!"
Bang!
Bang!
Two warning shots rang through the air. I flinched at both of them. Standing two feet away from him trying to gather my thoughts. "Accept you sweetheart," He said roughly. I didn't even notice when he managed to slip on his mask. Handing me a bag he gripped my forearm with the hand not occupied with the gun. He dragged me hard. Pulling me through the mess of frightened bodies that laid on the ground. He continued to pull me behind the counter and in front of the register. "Open it," He demanded standing behind me. I trembled in fear reaching for the key on the underside of the counter. "Good now take the money out and fill the bag," He whispered. He pressed himself firmly on my back holding my waist. I could feel the cold metal barrel of the gun pressed up against my upper thigh. I did as he asked and filled the bag. The gun trailed higher and I shrieked. Nothing but my yellow uniform that resembled a maids was standing between me and him.
"Please don't hurt me," I said. "Shut up and do what I say," He croaked out. Handing me another bag he let me go.
"All your jewelry, wallets, anything of value goes in the bag. You make one wrong move and I start firing shots,"
He announced loud enough for everyone to begin shuffling. Sobs and cries filled the air as they all feared for there lives. I walked around collecting everyone's personal belongings. Wallets, necklaces, even rings. Carrie, a coworker cried out as she handed me her engagement ring. The one she had only received the night before. We had spent the morning gushing about it and now it would disappear in the bottom of the bag. I walked passed her and approached Mr. Givens. A regular who ate every meal here ever since his wife had died. He was wearing two rings one for him and one for his wife. He looked up at me in anguish and shook his head.
"No," He said. This was the moment that would seal my fate. Mr. Givens trying to protect whatever was left of his wife was the reason my reality changed. "What the fuck did you say?" The robber asked cocking his gun. Stocking over in his heavy boots he watched as the old man began to stand up. Mr. Givens reached behind him and in a split moment the atmosphere had changed. The robber grabbed a hold of me now pressing the gun to my cheek. Givens had his own weapon, a tiny silver revolver. It was nothing compared to the black handgun the robber carried but it could do the same amount of damage. "Think about what your doing old man, do you wanna be responsible for her death?" He asked. His voice was brooding. Taunting even, as if he knew what Givens would do.
And he was right Givens lowered his gun and so did the robber. Then the unthinkable happened. Givens fired a single shot. It missed us both but it was enough to spark chaos. The robber began blindly shooting while still holding on to my shoulders and backing out of the door. The deafening sounds of bullets rang through my ears as I processed.
He dragged me outside with him almost lifting me off my feet. "Please!" I sobbed. He didn't listen, he only shoved my head down to fit into his car.
-
I was trembling in fear staring at the gun on his lap. We had been driving for hours and I still couldn't grasp my new reality. A fucking hostage in a diner heist. Was this the end? Was I going to die at the hands of a criminal?
"Fuck, it's hot." He groaned. "Is it always this hot here?" He asked turning to look at me. I didn't say anything I only stared. He reached over his back and took off his shirt leaving him in a low hanging pair of jeans. I gasped, muscles carved out of marble decorated his body. Colorful tattoos danced along his biceps, a few but enough to cover his upper arm. He caught me staring.
He smirked. Duct tape held my hands together and secured my mouth. I know I looked a mess with mascara running down my face and my hair tied up into a messy bun. Curls flying everywhere and a very wrinkled dirty yellow uniform. "Your pretty," He said huskily. "That's why I took you," He said. The air in the car had stiffened. The way he talked brought fear into my bones as if his words carried promises. I was pretty according to him, thats the reason he stole me from my life. That could end up being the reason for worse if I was not careful. "Pretty things like you keep my world spinning. Tell me Maria, are you gonna be my pretty little thing?" He asked reading my name tag. It wasn't a question, he knew that. My mouth was tapped shut so I couldn't answer he just wanted me to know I had no power. His tongue darted out as he stared at me. Fuck, he was so terrifyingly gorgeous. It scared me how I could fear someone while simultaneously being attracted to them.
He sped through the highway with ease as if he had not just committed armed robbery. The sound of helicopters evaded the car as they passed over us going in the direction we came.
-
My eyes opened at the feeling of being jostled around. He was lifting me up. We had been driving for so long that eventually my eyes drifted closed and I fell asleep. But now he was lifting my out of the parked car in a bridal style. I panicked remembering my situation and started screaming, the noise had been muffled by the tape on my mouth.
"If you don't shut the fuck up, Ill leave you in the car to freeze to death," He said. "There's nobody around princess, no body is coming to help you," He said gesturing to the empty parking lot. As he carried me to the motel room I looked over to see the neon sign, The Lagoon it said. Crappy little motel in the middle of what looked like a desert.
Pushing the ajar door further open he plopped me on the bed. It was a bleak room. A small little TV on top of the dresser, the walls were dark brown and the only source of light was a lamp in the corner. I noticed he was covered up, he must have put back on his shirt. I watched him walk over and drag the only chair in the room and face it towards me at the end of a bed. Sitting down he reached into his pocket for brown little cigarette and a lighter. I had never seen a cigarette in brown rolling paper, but looking closer at the green bud that stuck out at the end as he put it to his lips I realized that it wasn't a cigarette. I watched him take a puff.
"So princess, how old are you?" He asked. I stayed quiet. "Shit, sorry," He said reaching to take the tape off my mouth. I screamed, he quickly covered my mouth with his hand. "I thought I told you not to scream," He said. I screamed harder wiggling around to get him away from me.
Then he tugged my hair back and held my head up, cocking his gun he put it under my chin. "I was being nice when I said I'd leave you outside if you screamed cause I felt bad about how freaked out you were earlier, but I guess that won't work. Now lets try this again, if you scream I'll blow your fucking brains out. If you try anything I'll blow your fucking brains out. If you so much as breathe the wrong way I'll blow your fucking brains out. Do you understand?" He said. I nodded.
"Good," He said letting go and sitting back down. "How old are you?" He said. "Twenty-one," I said. He licked his lips. "Do you have a phone?" He asked. "No, I-I left it at the diner," I said choking back tears. It was silent for a moment, just the sounds of me struggling not to cry. "I meant what I said earlier Maria, your very pretty. Even when you cry, your very pretty," He said. I cried harder.
"But listen, I may be robber and murderer, but I'm not a rapist or anything like that," He explained. "Im not gonna do anything of that nature, in fact you can sleep on the floor so we don't have to share a bed," He said. I stayed silent with tears streaming down my face. "Fine, you can have the bed," He said.
Knock Knock
"Shit," He said