Page 50 of Demons and Debts
‘Yeah,’ I say, rubbing the back of my neck.
I get my key out of my pocket and unlock the three deadbolts, opening the door and going in as I hear movement down the hall at 21A.
Not now.
When I look back, Paris is standing at the threshold, taking it all in. 21A is suddenly blissfully silent. I leave him to his judgements as I move around the room, picking up my favorite blanket, a hairband, a pair of shoes I like.
‘Didn’t you ever want anything better for yourself?’ he asks, like it’s all so simple.
‘Yeah,’ I say simply, rolling my eyes at Judgy McJudgerson.
Is this guy for real?
He closes the door and I almost laugh at how out of place he looks. I glance at the pre-furnished, moth-eaten sofa that looks like Mary Poppins’ carpetbag threw up on it.
‘Make yourself at home,’ I say, knowing that he won’t. Even I can see he hates it here.
He stares down at the couch like it's going to give him VD, making no move to get any closer to it, and I shrug, going into my bedroom and starting to pack.
I don't bother with the sheets off my bed, nor the touch lamp on my bedside table. I'm only taking the things that I came here with that fit into the two small duffel bags I found at army surplus. All the stuff I've bought since I've been here can stay. I only care about my clothes and the couple things I have to remember my past by anyway.
I grab the bags from under my bed and pull out the few outfits I have hanging in the closet, throwing them in. I go into the bathroom, snatching my toothbrush, and some of the other necessary toiletries I’ll need on the road from the shelf by the mirror. I hesitate, but then open my bedside drawer and grab my dildo too, stuffing it in my backpack underneath a couple changes of clothes, and some basic toiletries. (What? A girl has needs even on the run.)
I throw everything in, taking stuff out of my drawers and my hamper until everything in this room that I brought with me is in the bags.
I hear Paris rustling around in the living room and glance out as I go into the bathroom again to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything. He's looking at some books on the small coffee table that were also here when I moved in. I have never actually even looked at them myself, so I have no idea what they're about.
I'm confident that he's suitably engrossed though, so I tiptoe across my bedroom to the window. I spray it with WD-40 frequently, so I know it'll be silent as I pull it open. I also know it's big enough for me to fit through. I dump the bags first, letting them fall to the ground behind the bushes and hoping one of the dogs that mills around the area hasn’t shit down there recently.
I tiptoe back across the room.
‘I'm just gonna go to the bathroom,’ I call and close the bathroom door as I watch him. He doesn’t even look up.
What are those books about?
I climb out after my stuff. I made sure that I could do this as well – as soon as I moved in. I always have an escape plan.
Holding onto the windowsill, I lower myself down, dropping the last few feet onto my bags that cushion my landing a little behind the bushes. I’m on my feet immediately, grabbing them and hauling ass around the corner of the duplex. Once I know I’m out of sight of my apartment, I slow to a walk. Don’t want to attract attention. Two streets down, there’s an old line of garages. The last one has a broken window, but the old door is locked, or at least rusted shut. I’ve had my eye on it for weeks. No one ever comes here. I’ve even been inside, and everything was dusty and covered in dirty cobwebs.
I give a furtive glance behind me. No one’s following and I can’t be seen from the road now. I pull myself inside, trying not to disturb the layers of dust as I push my bags out of sight into the flatbed of an old, rusted 1950’s truck that looks like it was abandoned to time years ago.
Making sure no one sees me, I leave the same way I came in, taking only the backpack that contains all necessities for the road in case I can’t come back for a while.
I walk down the back alleys quickly, trying to stay out of sight of the main road. Paris will know I’m gone by now. He’ll be looking for me.
I head towards the parts of town where there are more people, feeling better amongst others for once. Supes can get away with a lot, but even they can’t just kidnap a human in broad daylight with other humans looking on in horror.
It takes ten minutes to get to the coffee shop I’m making for. It’s not too far from the bus station and has WIFI so I can figure out my next move in my own time.
For a moment or two, I toy with the idea of going to the diner just to make sure Shar is ok, but I know that would be a mistake. I say a silent goodbye. At least I was able to help her out with the money a little. I’ll text her once from the road later.
I walk into the cafe with my earbuds in, so no one tries to talk to me. I guess I have one of those faces because people do.
All. The. Freaking. Time.
Grabbing a latte, I sink into a corner at the back. I plug in my dead phone and wait for it to turn back on as it charges. I know I need to get rid of it, but I also need internet to figure out where I’m going next. I’m too broke for Hawaii, but maybe I can start making my way south slowly …
It loads up and I see multiple texts from Shar. I grimace. She’ll be so worried. I send her a quick one back just to say that I had to skip town and that I'm sorry for not saying goodbye, half-hoping that whoever’s on my trail will somehow see it too and leave her alone.
