Chapter 13
Ashley-Present
My body is sore, and my head is killing me when I open my eyes. I’m greeted with darkness and it takes me a minute to figure out where I am.
I’m lying down on a cold concrete floor in the corner of an abandoned subway station. Musty air fills my nose as I draw a deep breath. This is as far as I could make it before my adrenaline wore off and I collapsed from exhaustion. I sit up and lean against the cool brick wall looking around. Memories from earlier flood my mind.
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My adrenaline is wearing off and my body is aching from the hits I took. I can feel a sharp sting on the side of my face from where Shaun punched me earlier knocking me out. I need to close my eyes for just a minute. I slide down the dirty wall and sit on the floor. Relief saturates me about getting ahold of Nolan and knowing he’s on his way. I made the right choice to call him and relax against the wall, falling asleep.
A loud boom in the distance startles me awake and I don’t know how much time has passed. I hear another loud boom and it echoes like a shotgun in the silent air. I move my achy body up the wall and carefully look out the window. The sun is just starting to rise casting an eerie glow across the abandoned town. Now that it’s almost daylight out I can make out old rusty lamp posts lining the dirty, cracked sidewalks. Dirt and grime coat my body and I really need a shower.
I spot Shaun’s van in the distance and my heart starts beating hard. The shotgun sound must have been the van backfiring.
I can’t stay here. He'll find me and if he does, only he knows what will happen next. As the van moves through the community slowly, my adrenaline flows through my veins and I need to get moving.
I run down the filthy stairs and out the back door, forcing the pain away. I’m greeted with sunlight peeking out through the trees blinding me for a second. I run through the backyard and climb the five-foot chain linked fence. My muscles are shaking when I reach the top. My feet land on the ground a few seconds later and I continue to run away from Shaun and his thugs.
Sweat is pouring off me as I make my way out of the community and find the beach. I run up the beach towards the houses in the distance ignoring the looks of shock from the people out for a morning jog. Not wanting to draw any more attention to myself, I round a corner next to a brick stucco styled house. I plaster myself against the side struggling to catch my breath.
There's a black car in the driveway and I listen to hear if anyone inside is up. When it appears quiet, I sneak to the driver’s side of the car and try the handle. The door opens with no alarm and I thank God as I quickly draw my knife out of my boot. I pop the underside of the dashboard and hot-wire the car in record time. It starts with a purr and I close the door. I keep my head down as I back out of the driveway and make my way down Vista Del Mar Freeway towards my secret hiding spot that only Rush knows about.
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I shake my head from the memories and recognize where I’m at. If Rush realizes I’m missing he'll know to come here. I look around my secret spot. There's an archway above my head and a set of metal stairs leading to the outside. Dirt and grime coat everything down here. There's a set of broken railroad tracks that lead in and out of the old abandoned underground subway station.
This place has been sealed off since the nineteen fifties when the city built the L.A. Metro Red line next to it. It’s another world down here with old dirty signs dating back to the nineteen twenties. The power is still on for when the city does tours but those are very rare anymore. No one cares about these places and the dark, dank tunnels that used to run from Westlake to downtown L.A. are quiet and abandoned.
I get up off the concrete floor and make my way deeper into the tunnels. Water dripping from the cool wet concrete walls fills the silence. I come to the door I’m looking for and open it. It used to be a maintenance room back in the day. I turn on the light and close the door behind me. I found this room while Rush and I were exploring the tunnels one time and I made this my fail-safe room. I brought clothes, toiletries, bedding and non-perishable foods down here just in case something happens, and I need to go underground.
There's a small cot in the corner and plastic bins next to it. I open one of the plastic bins and my stomach growls when I see the energy bars on top. I grab one and eat it trying to calm the grumble and gain my strength. Once I know I’m going to keep the bar down I close the bin and open another. I grab my toiletries and make my way to the bathroom on the other side.
The city didn’t turn off the water down here either and I strip my dirty, grimy clothes off and turn on the hot water in the small stand up shower. When the steam fills the room, I step inside and let the water beat down on my sore, aching muscles. Dirt and grim swirl around my feet washing away everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours. The side of my face stings where Shaun hit me as the water beats on it. I gently clean that side of my face with the washcloth. I stand in the steam and rest my forehead against the cool plastic. Once my sore muscles are feeling better and I’m clean again I get out and dry myself off. I put on a pair of black yoga pants and a black tank top.
Cleaning off the condensation, I look at myself in the old mirror. I have a bruise forming on the side of my face and my lips are chapped. My hair is a snarled mess and I try to finger brush it out the best I can. I pull my blonde locks up in a ponytail. I make my way out of the bathroom and lay down on the small cot. My mind wanders to the events of the past couple of months and rage fills my veins. I’m going to kill Shaun when I get my hands on him this time. I don’t care if he showed me what I was missing. After last night’s events, he’s going down.
I drift off to sleep as exhaustion fills my body and my eyelids grow heavy. I dream about Nolan again as he worships my body the last time we were together back in Michigan. Just before I fall asleep I send up a prayer that he makes it safely, and that he finds me again.