Nicolas remained quiet and watched the road, around a bend a police cruiser came flying and Bella instantly ducked under the floor well, he heard her grunt of the pain thanks to her sprained ankle.
The cruiser passed with its sirens making that awkward rapid wee-wee-wee then it went quiet inside the cabin again.
She came up and peeked over the seat, then dropped on her bottom.
"Listen" he said and she looked at him wiping her nose "I'll help you get out here, the best thing you can do now is leave the country as fast as you can"
She only looked ahead "Yeah, soon I'll have nowhere to run, soon I'll have nowhere to hide, they'll be able to track me"
"You know as a man traveling to stay ahead of the authorities I've always followed your story over the radio, where last you've been seen, what's the latest update on your movements, and I've wondered"
She looked at him.
"Why do they double the reward amount when you're captured alive?"
Her frown fell "You getting ideas now?"
"No, but why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do they want you alive? Once they have you in some sort of jail sell what do they intend to do with you?"
"Probably stuff me in a zoo and treat me like some exhibit!"
He shrugged "No doubt"
"A million dollars is a lot of money..." She said "I can see you over thinking it"
"Relax, I got more than three million stashed in my bag, I don't need that extra, besides, I'm a wanted man, once I turn you over I'll be caught, nah, not my style"
"How did you get your hands on that money anyway?"
He smiled "I robbed a bank"
"I knew it!"
"Biggest heist of my life, earned me my freedom"
"You did it alone?"
"No..."
She was looking at the bag but when he didn't elaborate she tilted her head to him "Oh, so you and your buddies split hey?"
"No..." He said again and smiled.
"Then...? They were caught?"
"No as well, let's just say, I made sure I didn't have to worry about a three way split..."
She licked at her lips but still tasted a drop of blood that rolled out of her nose so she rubbed it, somehow the way he wasn't truthful had her know the answer.
"You killed them..."
"Yes"
Bella sighed and sat back "Well, at least you're honest" she said and looked at him rolling only her head in the rest "What's your name?"
"Nicolas"
"You probably know mine don't you?"
"The werewolf"
She laughed "Its Belladonna"
"Wow, that's a heavy name right?"
"You can call me Bella"
"Bella then, so you can call me Nic, now as I said I'll help you to leave England, but then we split again"
She gave a nod "Thanks"
"No problem"
She sat forward and slipped her backpack off her shoulders, placing it on the floor she opened it and took out the freshly bought bottles of Vodka "Wanna drink?"
"Oh! I help you with money and the first thing you buy is alcohol?"
"Technically I played your dream girl and fucked you for that money"
"Fair enough, I can drink"
She handed him one bottle then proceeded to drown herself in the other, but as the content of the bottle went in her tears rolled out.
"Hey..." He said seeing this.
She coughed spraying some of the vodka out then leaned forward crying uncontrollably.
"Hey, I'm sorry lass, I..." What could he say.
"I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm hurt, the world is on my tail and I can't even find a good place to sleep these days, maybe I should just give up, let them throw me into a sell, kwell this fucking chase just so I can rest my tired eyes"
"Bella no!" He said and she looked up from her bent position, he sighed dragging his hand through his hair "Look, I'll help you, as I said, I think the word will spread you're here, arms will be up and security will be tightened instantly, so..."
"So?" She asked.
"I'll find us a place to sleep tonight, you can get some rest, eat a good meal, then tomorrow we'll sneak out together, okay?"
"Why do you want to help me? Is it you feel sorry for the tears in my eyes? Or is it because you really to have a sinister plan to cash in on my fur coat?"
"No, its because I see a young woman bleeding from her nose, the blue bags under your eyes, lost and wet, from the moment I saw you draw in next to me on that ship I wasn't at all convinced you're a werewolf"
"What gave it away?"
"You... Have..." He shrugged looking at her with a smirk "A slash mark over your right butt cheek, now if I'm not mistaken usually its the women who scratch, and even so the cuts won't be that deep... So? Your wolf boyfriend having a nice grab at that ass hey?"
She giggled but the red hue on her face paged her wide open.
"Oh~ so it really does get wild in bed with werewolves hey?" He kept teasing.
"Okay enough! Yes, it was him, he blabbered shit about marking me" she said wiping at her nose again.
"He marked you?" Nicolas asked digging in his pocket and handed her a handkerchief, she threw some vodka on it and started wiping her face.
"Its as you assumed, a wolf thing" she said.
He drank from his bottle looking forward again, Nicolas knew asking about him would bring more sorrow, if she's the last presumed one then her boyfriend is probably already a victim of man kind's brutal hunt, so he decided to try cheer her up instead...
"So, if he marked you? Did you mark him?"
She gave a shy giggle "Uhm~ yes..."
"You left me pretty unshaved at least"
"Well, my dear human companion, the claws only come out when things get really heated..." She said and looked at him with a sheepish smile.
"Oh I see, so between me and you, that wasn't the best you had right?"
"Nope, sorry, don't mean to spoil your ego"
He burst out with laughter "Oh well, guess I'll have to try harder next time"
"You were on your back and I did the work, how good could you have been anyway?"
"Good point, then again would you allow me to be on top?"
"No, I doubt there will even be a next time" she said "It was a one time fling, we made a deal nothing comes afterwards remember?"
He lifted his head and nodded hard "Yes, we had a deal"
The two remained quiet for a wile watching he road ahead as it passed, then she silently cleared the last bit of sadness out her throat.
"Thanks though" she said.
"For?"
"Cheering me up"
He smiled "I'm glad it worked"
She fidgeted with her fingers, shoulders moving up and down individually "Hey...?"
Nicolas looked at her "Yeah?"
"Do... Do you think I'm evil?"
He was amazed she'd even ask that question, it was now such a simple mindset to her, he realized it, she thought deep down all humans hated her, and that broke him.
"No Bella, I know evil when I see it, I've seen evil... I've even done some evil things in my life, but you..." He took a breath before drinking from his vodka, Bella sat patiently waiting for his answer, looking at his face for any indication that he might be lying to her.
"You are not evil Bella, you're only misunderstood" he said and looked at her again, her face now cleaned properly she produced a sweet smile and that made him blush.
They drew into a motel next to the road but Nicolas held a hand to her first "Stay here, I'll get the room keys"
Bella ducked down when he left, it wasn't long when he came back took his two bags and twitched his head to her.
She followed him quickly into a room and when the door was shut she opened her protest "This is right against the road! Its too obvious!"
"Lass, believe me when I say they won't look here"
"Why?"
"Hidden in plain sight, after me and my men robbed the bank we hid inside the roof of the bank for two days before we left, they combed Los Angeles for us in all the wrong places, its an art"
She leaned and took a peek through the curtains "Well, I'll trust you for now, I mean..." She looked at him "Did you set your arm alight on purpose?"
He chuckled plopping down on one of the two beds "Yeah, you owe me a jacket"
"Why!? You could have been hurt!?"
He lifted his arm and brushed the redness of his skin "A worthy sacrifice for the best sex I ever had"
Bella giggled "You men are crazy sometimes"
"We are!" Nicolas said with a smile as he switched on the television.
"I need a hot shower" she said walking across the room.
"Oh look, its your fan club"
She stopped at the bathroom.
"Fan club?"
Nicolas turned the television louder and on it was the news, a group of people were protesting in the streets with board signs, some read 'Leave her alone' others said 'protect the wolf'
Belladonna only snorted "Its a show, that's obviously to draw me out into the open" she said and entered the bathroom.
Nicolas frowned at her and listened to the woman being interviewed by the news reporter, she was clearly the head of the group.
"Who is the real monster here!? We killed them all out of fear! We should be ashamed of ourselves!"
"But she's a werewolf, ten times stronger and faster than any human, wouldn't you agree she should hand herself over calmly if she means us no harm?" The news reporter asked.
"And then what!? Man kind will slam her in a cage? That just proves we are the real monsters, she should be allowed to live among us in peace!"
Nicolas glanced at the bathroom door and saw it was slightly open, Bella's one eye was peeking at the television through it, just before the door closed he saw her blink at a tear.