Cole

 

When I was a kid, it could feel like time stood still when I was in the middle of something I didn’t wanna do. Chores, mostly. I was always getting the shit chores. Cleaning the bathrooms. Washing the floors. Washing the dishes. Other kids were sweeping the porch and weeding the garden, while I scrubbed a toilet. Time seemed to stop when I was doing that.

 

And sitting in our stupid chat groups at the home, in a circle, talking about our feelings. That was a pain in the ass, too.

 

But sometimes it wasn’t bad. Some of the stories the other kids told blew my mind. Compared to them, what I went through was nothing. I noticed after enough of these chat sessions that time always crawled when it was my turn to share my feelings, but it would fly whenever somebody got into a really good story that I wanted to hear.

 

I wasn’t morbid or anything like that. I didn’t take pleasure in hearing about other people’s pain. Sometimes the stories were interesting. Some of the kids had faced a lot of really bad shit but survived it, and I liked hearing about what they’d done to get through. Others would talk about how angry they got, and I could relate to that because I was pissed off pretty much all the time, so what they were talking about was interesting. And that was when time would pass without my noticing. Sometimes the session would be over before the story was, and that was always frustrating.

 

Time usually flew by when I was on my bike. Riding was one of the only things I ever loved to do, besides screwing. Time flew when I was doing that, too.

 

So why, when I wanted nothing more in the world than for time to stop while I rode the rest of the way to the hotel, was it moving so fast? I felt like I was standing still, when every second that passed was another chance for Alena to die.

 

A million years after I talked with Skull, I finally got to the hotel. I had been right when I estimated how much longer I had to ride. The odometer told me I’d covered another thirty miles. It couldn’t have actually been more than thirty minutes at the rate I’d been riding.

 

By the time I got there and rode slowly through the broken parking lot, I was no closer to knowing what I was going to do to help Alena than I was when Skull hung up on me. How could I get to her? Was she being guarded? Who would be doing it? I couldn’t imagine anyone in the club going behind my back. Still, Skull was VP. He had power. Someone might have agreed to help him, maybe one of the newer members looking to gain a little respect.

 

The hotel was even worse up close than it looked from the highway. I hated thinking of Alena trapped in a place like this. She must have been desperate to be with her sister again if she dared come here alone.

 

But of course she was desperate. That wasn’t a secret. And I had left her alone.

 

It wasn’t my fault, I told myself. No, it wasn’t. She didn’t want me around her. What could I do? Stalk her? Refuse to leave? And if she had called the police, I would be in a jail cell rather than there trying to help her.

 

There had to be a few dozen rooms to the place. Where was she? I had no idea what Teresa’s car looked like, so that didn’t help. There were maybe a handful of cars parked here and there, all over the lot. Where could I start?

 

I could go to the front desk, say a friend of mine had checked in. I was sure Skull would have worn his kutte when he got there. When they saw mine, the clerk would believe we were supposed to meet there.

 

I decided against that. What if he had asked the clerk to call the room if someone asked about him? I wanted the element of surprise.

 

If Alena’s car were in front of one of the rooms, that would have helped, but I didn’t see it anywhere. Smart move. Skull had parked it somewhere else, maybe off the road somewhere.

 

I parked behind the building, hoping Skull hadn’t seen me come in. I pulled my gun and checked the clip, keeping it low so random witnesses didn’t see it. I wondered if they would even care if they did. I was sure all sorts of bad shit went down around here. People did better to pretend they didn’t see anything at a place like this.

 

I looked around. There wasn’t anyone watching. I didn’t see any bikes nearby—he had to be alone, right? I hoped I was right to assume that.

 

Wait. I knew one of the cars. It was Alan’s. I remembered seeing it in front of Alena’s the night before, when he and Casey picked up her car.

 

What was he doing here? I had a sick feeling in my stomach. This went further than Skull. Was Casey with them, too? What were the three of them doing together?

 

What were they doing to Alena?

 

Just when my thoughts were spiraling out of control, I felt a light hand touch my shoulder. I whirled around, aiming the gun at the person who had approached. When I saw who it was, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The gun almost slipped from my hand, I was so shocked.

 

She looked just like Alena. Same blonde hair—well, almost the same. Not as golden. Almost the same eyes. Same build. Same fair skin. The biggest difference was how thin she looked, how unhappy. She reminded me of a rag doll.

 

But there was no mistake about it. I remembered seeing her in that picture Alena showed me, at her graduation.

 

“Sara?” It seemed too good to be true.

 

She nodded, and there were tears in her eyes. I shook my head, wondering for one insane moment if it was all a dream.

 

“It’s really you? How is this possible?” I couldn’t believe it. Part of me was unable to believe it. I’d been so sure Skull had killed her. Hell, even he was sure he’d done it.

 

“I’ve been hiding here for weeks,” she said. Her voice was small, like a little bird’s. She sounded so afraid.

 

“Why? Why didn’t you go home? Your sister was worried sick about you this whole time. She’s been looking for you, every day.”

 

“I know.” The tears spilled onto her cheeks, and I felt sorry for making her cry. I wasn’t trying to blame her—it seemed like she had her reasons. Who would choose to stay in this nasty place if they didn’t have to? But I had to know why.

 

“So what was it?”

 

“I was afraid to go home. I was afraid…he would find me.” I should have known it had something to do with Skull.

 

“So you’ve been here the whole time?”

 

She nodded, wrapping her thin arms around her thin body. “It was all I could think to do. I knew Skull sometimes came here, but it was cheap. I needed a cheap place. I only have so much cash to live on, you know? I had to take a chance and hope he didn’t find me here.”

 

“You were afraid of him. Why?”

 

She shook her head. “It’s a long story.”

 

My head was spinning. I wanted to talk it out with her, but it would have to wait.

 

It turned out she knew it would have to wait, too. “You have to go now. They have her.”

 

“Who?”

 

“Skull and his friends. I saw them go inside a little while ago. And I saw…her.”

 

“And you let her go in?”

 

She was shaking. “I didn’t know what to do! I was so afraid! I’m still afraid! I was all alone!”

 

I was frustrated with her and sorry for her all at once. “I know, I know. Which room?”

 

“Room twenty-seven.” She pointed straight ahead, down the long row of doors. “Hurry!”

 

“Okay. Hide somewhere.” She nodded and was just turning around when I had an idea. It was risky, but it was all I had. My only other option was kicking the door in, and three-against-one weren’t great odds for me. Any one of them could kill Alena at any time, too, while I was fighting the others.

 

“Scratch that,” I said. I took her arm. “You’re coming with me.”

 

“What?” Her eyes went round, and her chin started to quiver. “No, no, I can’t do that! I can’t see him! I can’t!”

 

“Jesus, what did he do to you? Forget it—I don’t wanna know right now.” I leaned down until we were eye-to-eye. “Sara. Listen to me. I know you’re a strong girl. Your sister told me so. I know you can do this. Trust me, I’ll keep you safe the whole time. You won’t even have to go near him. I won’t let him touch you.”

 

“I don’t know…”

 

“Sara.” I didn’t know how else to get through whatever trauma she was suffering over. “Your sister needs you. I know how much she sacrificed for you. All the years she took care of you, to make sure you had a good life. She could have deserted you, but she didn’t. She was brave for you. You have a chance to be brave for her now. If you don’t…Sara, you know he’s going to kill her. Don’t you?”

 

She sobbed, covering her mouth with her hand. She nodded.

 

“Then you see why I need you. You’re the only person who can change Skull’s mind right now. He thinks he killed you. If he sees you, he’ll know he didn’t. That might be enough to shake him up, and it’ll give me a chance to save Alena. All right? Do you see? You don’t have to do anything but let him get a look at you and see you’re still alive.” Then I thought twice. “And pretend I’m threatening you. But I know you can. I know you have it in you.”

 

Her eyes were wild, searching my face. She was my only chance.

 

The scared look left them, and what I saw in its place reminded me so much of Alena I could have cried. Sara clenched her jaw. “Let’s go.”