Shattered

Two days had passed. I hadn’t eaten anything. All I had with me was my shirt, jacket, jeans, and beanie. It was starting to lightly rain outside. It was enough to dampen the landscape, but not enough to make it muddy and impassable.

Today was Sunday. It was six thirty. I had thirty minutes left in this house before I would be sold off, once again a slave.

Alan had been worried about me, ever since I received the news. The ginger tried to leave me crackers, but threw them in the trash as soon as I wasn’t looking. I made sure crumbs fell on my shirt to make sure it looked like I ate some.

I think he saw right through it, but he never said anything. All he did was pat me on the shoulder and walk away. I flinched each time, thinking it was the day he was about to break. Fresh bandages had been applied and pain killer had been given so I had at least a fairly misery free journey.

“Mitch, I don’t want to go.” I whispered to the empty air in my bed room. My feet dangled off the edge of the covers as I stared at the floor. I hadn’t gotten any sleep for the past two nights. Austin might be mad that I wasn’t he most presentable. At least I had managed to raise my arms above my head to brush my hair into a neat ponytail.

A soft knock at the door alerted me to the presence of someone. I felt a sickness tighten up in the back of my throat. It wasn’t from the wounds that had refused to heal.

“Hey, Kynder.” Austin walked into my room. I looked up at the clock. Ten minutes to go. Had I really been daydreaming this long?

“Hello, sir.” I responded, not bothering to look up. He took a seat next to me on the bed. I bit my lip so hard, I felt a tiny drop of blood well up. Please, not again. Please, not now.

“Ronnie is a good man. I talked with him over the phone for a while. We’d met before and he seems pretty kind. He only lives about an hour into Nevada.” He explained softly. Neither of us wanted to be too loud and crack that uneasy between us.

My legs twitched to run away and find shelter. I could do it. I was feeling good enough for a short sprint.

“I’m sure he is, sir.” I choked out, my voice breaking. I saw his hand move and flinched away. I don’t want another bruise.

“He is.” Austin repeated the words, as if lost in thought. His hand dropped back into his lap. We sat in silence for long and uncomfortable minutes.

“Kynder, look I just wanted to say-“ Austin started, looking down at me.

“KYNDER!” Alan called from downstairs. The doorbell had rung. Aus and I went up to answer it. I was relieved that it broke the tense conversation, but disappointed that I knew I was seeing this house for possibly the last time.

We walked downstairs slowly. Alan, Tino, Phil, and Aaron stood around, talking to a man with black hair swept over and tucked under a hat. Tattoos covered every inch of his arms and part of his hairline. I went and stood close next to Alan.

I was purely terrified of this man who stared down at me, inspecting straight into my soul.

“Kynder, this is Ronnie Radke.” Alan pushed me forward to be introduced. We shook hands before I quickly stepped back to Alan’s side. I moved my body to partially hide behind him. I felt like a child once more as I resisted being taken. I tugged on my beanie, pulling it closer on my head.

“Shall we go outside and talk more?” Ronnie offered. Our small group moved outside to stand by the nice Acura that he owned. I shuddered through the cold winds. As much as the bad memories were locked in this house, there were the good memories as well. There were the checker games between Phil and I, the times in the garden with Valentino, the movie nights with Austin. Cuddling with Austin while falling asleep in his arms. Feeling safe with Aus by my side.

I guess those last few were erased out of history.

The wind howled at my leaving. I nearly burst into tears. I would miss the scenic landscape with the rolling hills and the train tracks.

The train tracks.

The train.

The train.

I knew what I had to do. It was an impulse. It might work, or it might not. I had only one shot. It was Sunday, but I could easily hide out.

“So how much did you want for her?” Ronnie asked. Austin stepped forward, now the one to address him. Alan, Aaron, Tino, and Phil started to walk inside. I had a feeling this transaction would take a while.

“A fair price. Say, a thousand?” Austin inquired. Ronnie looked pleasantly surprised.

“For her? I would expect more from you, my old friend!” Ronnie laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. Austin barely managed a smile. I inched out of the way a little bit.

“Yes, but she is injured. I wouldn’t cheap you out of something like that.” He murmured, glancing down at me. I inched away from their nervous glances.

I could do this, I could do this. I had to use all of my alley runner training to do this. I was the fastest sprinter out of my side of Denver. I outran the cops before, and I could outrun them if I needed to.

“I still owe you from our last deal. How about twelve hundred?” Ronnie offered. Austin thought for a moment and accepted. They didn’t trade cash yet, but had agreed on the offer.

“So she’s trained?” Ronnie asked. I was still staring at the pavement, hands shoved in my pockets. I slowly walked towards the edge of the house, pretending to admire some petals of irises. Secretly, I listened to their conversation.

“Yes. Please be careful with her. She’s been through a lot.” Austin’s voice cracked on the last note. Steeling my courage, I kept a straight face plastered over my sadness.

“If she’s trained, why the collar, Aus?” Ronnie whispered. As if I couldn’t hear! Austin had no comment to that.

“Well, I’ll go get the others.” Austin offered. Ronnie nodded. I turned around to face them, a good five feet away from the duo. As soon as Austin had reached the door, Ronnie took a few steps towards me. I tensed and did what nobody expected.

I sprinted hard and fast down the road and away from the house.

Ronnie and Austin yelled after me, but I was already running away. The trucks were revved up, but my mind was focused on one destination about five miles down the road.

Notes