Page 10 of Fear the Reapers
If the man had any brain cells left at all, he would’ve questioned why I, the girl that showed no emotion, would hug his repulsive ass. But his brain cells were long gone, and I used his ignorance to my advantage.
Swiping the card from his pocket with ease, I quickly slipped it into my own without him noticing. All of that practice pick-pocketing to survive in my teens had come in handy.
“Sure, whatever.” He replied, pushing me off of him. “I’ll be outside. We leave in ten. Don’t try nothing stupid. If she doesn’t show, they’ll kill us all.”
He was right. They’d stop at nothing until they found us. Everyone knew The Reapers always collected on their debts. I just never imagined that my baby sister would become one of them.
I knew what I needed to do. It was stupid and reckless, but it was our only chance. Even if what I was planning on doing meant I lost everything, Alex’s safety was worth it.
???
“Tell me you have a plan and aren’t actually going to send me to those assholes.” Alex glared at me with her hands firmly planted on her hips.
“I do; well, sort of. Right now we need to pack as much as possible and get the hell out of here.” I replied, tossing her a duffle bag before grabbing for my own.
Without another word, we got to work. We gathered the little belongings we had in complete silence and crept towards our bedroom window. I grabbed the emergency rope ladder we had bought years ago and tossed it over the window’s edge. Thank god living with an erratic addict had taught us it was always smart to have alternate escape routes.
My heart slammed in my chest as we descended the flimsy ladder. Escaping on the side of the house left us exposed for anyone to see. Malcolm could catch us running at any moment.
He was desperate and in trouble, and for the first time, I truly didn’t know what he was capable of. He had never threatened us with a gun before, but he also had never been beaten so savagely. The Reapers were dangerous, and Malcolm’s fear of their wrath outweighed any logic he may have had.
Landing on the grass with a soft thud, we snuck towards the driveway. My white Ford Focus stood less than thirty feet away from us, shining in the soft moonlight like a beacon of hope. We just needed to get there before Malcolm spotted us.
“Hey!” Malcolm screamed into the night air, “get the fuck back here!”
The sound of his hoarse voice echoing across the lawn cut terrified me. Dread inched its way up my throat.He caught us.He fucking caught us.I glanced up at my sister, who was already a few steps ahead of me.
“Alex… run.”
That was all she needed to hear before bolting for the driver’s side. I did the same, letting my legs carry my body as fast as they could go. Malcolm was still upstairs. If we could just get to the car, we’d be in the clear.
A loud pop sounded in the distance, but I ignored it, focusing all my attention on that passenger door. My arms pumped as my feet pounded against the dirt road. We were so close to freedom, I could almost taste it.
Another pop went off, and a powerful force propelled the right side of my body forward. I ignored the sharp pain in my arm, and kept moving as adrenaline poured into me.
It was clear Malcolm was trying to kill me, and I knew that if he caught us, he wouldn’t hesitate to finish what he started. I picked up speed I didn’t know I had, bolted for the car. My fingers grasped the door handle as I threw myself into the passenger seat and screamed at Alex to floor it.
Alex threw the car into drive and slammed on the gas. The violent movement combined with the sudden sprint caused a wave of nausea to hit me. My body tried to empty my stomach’s contents, but I forced it back down, and tried to breath through it.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked, her hands trembling as we barrelled down the road.
“Yeah. I’m fine.” I replied. And I was, for now.
Luckily, the bullet barely grazed my skin. My nerve endings were on fire and I could already feel the warm blood pooling. But I was familiar with injuries and knew it wasn’t life threatening. I needed to get it cleaned up, but that could wait.
“What are we going to do now?” She asked, glancing over at me.
“Head north on I-5. I have a plan.”
Chapter 6
Stevie
We checked into a desolate motel on the outskirts of town. We were on a time crunch, so I washed up, dressed my wound as best as I could, and filled Alex in on the plan I haphazardly slapped together.
“You’re seriously out of your mind!” Alex screamed, pacing outside of our motel room’s bathroom. “We don’t even know how long they’ll keep you.”
She was probably right, maybe I was out of my mind, but living in fear for the rest of our lives wasn’t an option. If we tried to escape, all we would do is run. The Reapers were powerful men and would stop at nothing until they found us. We needed freedom and if it meant working off this debt to be free, then so be it. I could handle working for The Reapers for however long it took to get us out of their grasp for good.
