Four

   

He didn’t even flinch or move at the mention of Cops. He probably anticipated her going down this path. She looked around for her cell phone but it was nowhere to be seen. She was pretty sure he had it. The landline that was normally left on the bedside wasn’t there too and she realized there was no other option. The sly smile on his face made her know he was aware of her situation. Annoying bastard, she thought.

“You know, I have people who will be looking for me….my friends”. It was a desperate last attempt to rattle him. He raised an eyebrow at what she had just said, maybe she was getting through to him. Finally .

“Yeah….i have a friend who’s probably gone to the police by now, a boss waiting for me to clock in for today’s shift and shit…I stood up my date.” Hailey had totally forgotten about Brandon. She had been unable to come to the date and now it’d seem like she was intentionally ignoring his calls and messages. She was pretty sure he’d have called and texted a million times. Anyways, he’d understand when she explained the situation to him and that was if escaped and survived whatever the hell this was.

Trey decided to reassure her by giving her a bit of information not necessarily the whole story. At least that would calm her down and prevent her from doing something that’d would put the both of them in danger. There she was staring at him with deep mistrust painted on her face but Trey knew a part of her wanted to trust him or at least believe him. He just had to give her something that would ease her mind. He cleared his throat. “Listen, Hailey---”.  Just then, his ears picked up something. 

“How do you know my name?”, Hailey asked with a shocked gasp. She was pretty sure she hadn’t told him and they had stopped wearing name tags in the cafe  a few years back. She was about to launch into series of questions when Trey shushed her. He put his left index finger across his mouth, indicating that she should be silent. He dashed across the room to the window. He  only looked out of it for a minute before he turned and told her they needed to leave. His voice was curt now, commanding, brooking no refusal. He strode back into the room and took out a satchel from under the bed she had slept on. He then closed all the windows and placed a chair underneath the entrance door knob. Hailey just sat on the bed, following his movement, too shocked for words. When he was done, he practically dragged her out of the bed and towards a side door. Two quick kicks and the door gave way, leading them into a room identical to theirs. The woman lying on the bed in the room shrieked on seeing them. A man hurried out from the bathroom on hearing her shriek. When he saw them, all he could say “What the fuck?”. But Trey didn’t even acknowledge them and Hailey was just too dazed to even say a word. She just tagged behind Trey or rather he dragged her along. The room’s door opened to a flight of stairs which they ascended quickly. It was then that she found her tongue.

‘Who are we running from?”

Characteristically, Trey didn’t reply but when she repeated the question a few more times, he stopped abruptly and faced her.

“Let’s make a deal Princess, we run first then deal with your questions later”. Immediately, they heard pounding and then the cracking and breaking of wood. “Shit,” Trey muttered and then he was off again.

As she ran, Hailey wondered if maybe all this was staged. Maybe someone had orchestrated all the weird stuff that was happening. The whole experience felt surreal to her and she couldn’t help but think that it was just acting. It seemed like something Peggy would do just to get a raise out of her. Peggy always complained that there was no excitement in her life and that she would give an arm to see her do something that wasn’t part of a daily schedule. But wasn’t this a bit too extreme? If indeed it was Peggy that planned this, then she was going to give her a tongue lashing that would draw blood. She was lost in her thoughts, she didn’t even notice they had stopped. It was the tugging at her arm that roused her. Apparently he said something that required an answer.

“What?’

“I said you should hop on my back”

“Excuse me? Why would i do that?’

“Well, we’re about to jump down from here or you’d rather do that alone?”. Hailey laughed at first because she thought maybe he was joking or being sarcastic. The look on his face however told her otherwise.

“What ?!! Are you like crazy or something? If you’ve got a death wish don’t rope me into it”. She turned to stomp off in righteous indignation when he grabbed her. He tossed her over his shoulder despite her shrieks and cries of protests. She hit against his exposed back but it didn’t even feel like she was doing anything. Trey holding her tightly, stepped back a few steps to gather momentum and then he ran towards the balcony. He jumped off it with such speed that Hailey didn’t even have time to scream. She shut her eyes tightly and prayed for a miracle. The air blew loudly in her eyes and she wondered if that was to be the last thing she’d ever hear. Hailey didn’t know how they made it to the ground, the only that mattered to her was that she was still breathing. Trey let her down gently and she examined her body as if to check whether every part of it was intact. Trey allowed himself to smile at the sight she made.

“How did you do that?” she queried.

He shrugged and simply said “C’mon let’s get outta here”.

She didn’t even have the strength to pursue it anymore. They drove off in a car that Trey hotwired right in front of her. It was as the car turned onto the Asphalt that Hailey decided she had to get as far away as possible from Trey Kristov. She just had to find the right words and time. She started making plans.

They drove in silence for a while. Trey wondered if the gravity of the situation had finally settled in or maybe he’d overdone with the jump back at the motel. He shouldn’t have forced her to jump like that and he felt sorry for doing it but there was no other way they would have left the motel in one piece. He wished that somehow he could explain this to her but he didn’t. He turned to look at her. She was looking out the window pretending to take an interest in the trees lining the road. Trey’s stomach went sour with regret and remorse. And that was why he obliged her when she asked for a favour. She said she needed to pick up an antique of great value to her before they could continue on whatever this was. Against his better judgement, he agreed. Going back to her house was a total rookie move but he wanted to placate her. His own way for apologizing for everything that was going on. 

As the car rolled to a stop in front of her house, Hailey wondered why Trey was allowing her go back without questions. She didn’t really care though, because it had set her plans in motion. She pushed open the Picket fence and dashed and dashed up the small set of stairs. It felt good to be home even if it was just temporarily. Trey followed, a step behind, his eyes scanning for possible threats and whatnot. Inside the house, Hailey made a great deal of searching for something that wasn’t there. The antique she had in mind was the locket her Nana had given to her before she passed and she knew exactly where it was but she needed to buy time. She rummaged through boxes and drawers, tossing stuff aside and muttering to herself. Occasionally, she would throw furtive glances at Trey. He just stood there, hands in his pocket with an expressionless face. Hailey wondered if he purposely made himself inscrutable and unreadable or it was one of nature’s gifts to him. A rapt knock at the door made Hailey’s heart skip a beat. Then it started pounding furiously against her rib cage. What if those people from the Motel had followed them here? Trey walked noiselessly towards her. He held her hand and said in a gentle whisper “Take a deep breath, it’ll calm you down”. He looked at her squarely, expecting her to do it and so she did. Three deep breaths and her heart wasn’t pounding as fast as before. The knock was repeated, this time a bit more impatient. They both stared at the door and then Trey motioned to her to speak up. She gave him a quizzical look but he just nodded.

“Who’s there”, she asked hoping her voice seemed steady enough.

“It’s me, Brandon”.

A wave of relief washed through Hailey and it felt so good.

“One sec”, she called out.

“A friend,” She whispered in answer to a question that Trey didn’t ask and then she went and opened the door.

“Hey, how you doing?’, She said to Brandon in the most casual voice she could find like her world hadn’t rolled off its axis since the last time they talked. He was wearing his custom Baseball hat and college sweater looking rather boyish compared to the man still inside her room.

“I’m good. What about you?”, Brandon asked.

“Fine. Totally okay.” She quipped rather too quickly, hoping the betraying the lie she was trying to carry.

“Great. I just wondered to drop by and see if you are okay. You know since you didn’t show up yesterday and you haven’t been answering my calls or text.” Hailey didn’t want to tell him anything as she wasn’t sure what Trey could hear or not hear. 

“I’m sorry Brandon but something came up”. His face fell and she knew he had been expecting a different answer, an answer that he could understand. One that wouldn’t hurt him but Hailey didn’t have any. She didn’t want him getting caught up and she would explain to him when she got rid of Trey Kristov. 

“Uh….. yeah, sure”. The way he said it made Hailey consider telling him for a moment and to ask for his help in calling the Police. Then something stopped her. She remembered what Trey had done in the motel room, how he had heard all those people coming to look for them. She was pretty sure he was doing the same thing at the moment.

“Maybe another time, okay?”, She said to Brandon. He mumbled through the word “Yeah” and “Okay”. Hailey felt like the devil as she turned and closed the door behind her. Sure enough, Trey was leaning against a wall, he had been listening.

“He’s gone”, Hailey said more to herself than to him. She was approaching one of the boxes when another knock caught her mid-stride. She was still turning when another one followed. This was accompanied by a “Hey! Hailey is your boyfriend in there?!! In Brandon’s voice and more erratic knocking. Shit!!, he wasn’t taking it well. She made for the door but Trey held back and said he would handle it. He gestured towards the open boxes and gave her a look that said she should be fast with going through with them.

Just like he had, she leaned against the wall trying to hear what they said. The only thing she heard though was just snatches of the conversation. The main thing was lost to her.

“…….. I think you should leave…..”

“I won’t…….. tell me why she……”

The whole thing was awkward and bizarre. It was while leaning against the wall that it occurred to her that this was the moment she had been waiting for. Brandon had provided enough distraction for her. She tip toed as quietly as possible into her childhood bedroom. There was a little window there through which she used to slip outside as a kid. The window was just a few inches above ground so it wasn’t that hard jumping although she got stuck a little. The whole thing took about a few minutes. She tiptoed to the edge of the the fence and then let herself into Mrs. Winters’ yard. It was Thursday and thankfully she would be at the Clinic. Mrs. Winters usually sat near a window observing all comings and goings, to do this when she was around would have spelt disaster. When Hailey felt she was a safe distance away from her house and Trey, she started running. She wanted to put enough distance between her and Trey Kristov. She just couldn’t do it, trust him, a total stranger even if every single thing in her wanted to. Somehow she found herself running towards to the cafe. Towards Peggy. Someone she could really trust.