The boy narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as his brown eyes gazed at me. He was about 5.8, brunette and seemed to radiate warmth. He looked lost, confused but overall, he looked surprised to see another person.
Like me
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and moved back and forwards on my feet for a second, watching as the boy took a sharp intake of breath and started walking towards me.
He smiled slightly, before holding out his hand.
"Hi, I'm Lucas."
I shook off that familiar feeling of dread from my shoulders before clearing my throat.
"I'm Elodie."
My voice was raspy, having not spoken for weeks it was painful trying to force the words to crawl out of my throat.
"What are you doing here?" Lucas inquired, a curious tone on his voice. Shifting his weight to his left as he spoke as if nervous. His gaze still tore into mine, not losing the eye contact until I looked down myself.
I didn't reply. Anxiously playing with my fingers.
He took another step closer. "Elodie, you can trust me. I promise."
It was the first time I'd heard someone use my real name in a long time, and not some horrible pet name used to scold me. When he said my name, it didn't sound taunting or objectifying, his voice was laced with care.
"The system. I couldn't do it anymore. There are people after me." I whispered, breathing deeply.
For a second I thought I saw a flash of pain behind his eyes, regret maybe. And then he'd immediately composed himself and hope seemed to fill them instead.
"I ran from home. My father tried to force me to work on some ranch, he told me that I knew what would happen if I didn't follow the system. I snook out that same night and haven't looked back since."
I scanned his face for any sign of indecency, any sign of him being untrustworthy. But it didn't sound like he was just narrating some story, he sounded too sincere and I could hear the pain in his voice.
I took another step forward; and then did something I hadn't in a couple years.
I smiled.
"Do you want to, go somewhere? Get some food?"
Lucas's gaze left mine, staring at the floor for a second before returning to my eyes.
"I'd like that."
•••
It took us around an hour to finally find some sort of diner. It was on the outskirts of the town, where the endless roads became less limitless and we started to see some signs of civilisation. It was weirdly comforting with Lucas by my side, part of me felt like I wasn't so alone anymore.
I jumped a little, feeling his wrist wrap around mine to drag me into a booth. He seemed to notice this and loosen his grip, his eyes fixated on me tentatively.
"What happened to you?" He whispered, raising a hand to brush away a stray hair from his eyes.
I didn't reply.
•••
"So, you're telling me there are others?"
Lucas nodded as we walked and kicked a stray stone.
"Like, other people, that aren't trying to kill me?"
He smiled this time, turning to look at me. "Yes, Elodie. Is that so hard to believe?"
This time it was my turn to laugh. "It is actually, in case you haven't noticed I'm not exactly lounging in some luxury bar in Bordeaux."
He chucked slightly before turning to face me. We were stood in front of a building at this point, a grimace on his face.
"Behind us is refuge, but you have to trust me enough to follow me."
He held out his hand, his eyes pleading with me.
It took me ten seconds. Two to look around me, three to take another deep breath and then five to make my decision.
I took his hand, and we went.