"Wake up little one. If you sleep any longer, you will miss the breakfast cart."
With a groan, I rolled onto my side and ignored Keith. The last two days had been filled with him hovering over me like a mother hen. Plus he kept questioning me about my parents at every turn.
The latter I was able to avoid but with the former, I had been less successful. Just as I was sinking back into unconsciousness, I felt a hard poke to my side that had me sitting up immediately, in protest. I was still sore from my beating days ago and that poke hurt.
"Damn it, Keith! I thought we discussed this. No poking! It's too painful! I'm probably going to be sore all day, now."
Popping an eye open, I glared at the mischievous grin he was sending my way. For a moment, a murderous rage enveloped me. In my
mind, I saw myself putting my fist through his chest.
A giddy feeling spread through me at the prospect of his blood spilling coupled with an urge to drink it.
Horrified at the thoughts and urges running through me, I shook my head and stood up quickly I caught the satisfied smile that flashed across Keith's face. It was gone in the next instance; replaced by concern at the perplexed look on my face. "Are you okay, little one?" I nodded my head and walked to the corner we had designated as our changing area. With a rustle and soft murmur, of "see you at breakfast" Keith left me to myself.
It wasn't long before I joined Keith and shortly after the conductor announced that we would be arriving in Chicago soon.
A bout of anxiety flooded my system as I thought about my next move. It was weird, but after the first night with Keith, I felt as though he had been coaching me on how to live off the grid.
He had talked about when he was younger and fleeing from his responsibilities. He had gotten fake IDs and papers so that his parents couldn't find him. He even told me the name of the guy he used and how much a fair price would be.
When he first spoke about it, I had been terrified. I thought he had caught on to what I was doing. After a few minutes, I was thankful to see that he was just reminiscing. "Getting to know each other" he had called it. After the initial fear had worn off, I had become annoyed at his constant yammering but I listened to every word.
By the time I was done packing my knapsack, the train had come to a stop. I had already decided that I couldn't stay in Chicago. It really was not that far from Boston and because I had used my ID to purchase my ticket, I would be easily tracked.
The moment I got off the train, my instincts kicked in. Something whispered that I should hide behind Keith.
Without hesitation, I stepped behind him as we exited and narrowly missed the gaze of my parents who I spotted just as I got to the last step.
Fear ran through me as I realized how right Keith had been. My parents had tracked me here! If I hadn't moved quickly, I would have been caught and dragged back to hell. Instinctively, I grabbed Keith's coat and tugged.
He turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow. He must have seen the terror in my wide eyes because he immediately shrugged out of his jacket.
"Put this on."
He whispered and draped his coat over my head. He pulled me under his arm, blocking me from sight. We walked a few feet before I heard Keith murmur something to someone. Before I could react, I was picked up and tossed inside a car.
The door clicked closed as I dragged the coat off. I glanced around and was astounded to see that I was sitting in a limousine. Across from me sat a woman and a man who looked just as startled to see me.
A few awkward beats of silence passed before Keith cleared his throat, "Now, Ms. Nicolette Winspere, would you like to explain to me why you are running away from your parents?"
I froze at the sound of my full name then dove for the door handle trying to jump out. I barely moved before I was roughly tugged back down into my seat. It happened so quickly that for a second, I doubted that I even tried to escape.
Tears began streaming down my face. I looked at Keith, hesitantly. He looked annoyed and slightly hurt by my actions.
"I have known who you are since the first night, Nicolette. If I wanted to do you harm or turn you over to your parents I would have by now!"
I became more anxious as I realized just how deep a shit hole I was in. My mind spun at a million miles a minute. He was probably the one that called them.
I had to get the hell out of here, and quickly, before he brought me back to those people. I was so busy trying to figure out ways to get out of the car that I hadn't heard a word Keith had said.