My Life Underground ~8~ Hero in a Mercedes
Ainslee awakens in a gunfight, who saved her life? or is her life saved? keep reading, keep commenting, and keep enjoying!
PART EIGHT:
I am trying desperately to regain consciousness. I am swimming in a sea of darkness. I am aware that I am bleeding and hurt. But I can't quite feel the full shock of the pain I am in. I hear shouting, feet on gravel. I float through the haze of semi-consciousness. Then as suddenly as I went into the haze, I come out. There is a loud sharp crack. Gunfire. Some instinct in me kicks in and I open my eyes, as best as I can anyway, my fuckin eyes are nearly swollen shut. I roll over onto my stomach and shuffle my way along the gravel into the best cover I can find.
I quickly survey the scene. There is a gleaming Mercedes crashed into the rear end of Joe's black car. It would have been a nice car if it wasn't for the now smashed in hood. There is more shouting. I can make out Joe and Luther hiding behind the front end of Joe's car. A hand reaches around and fires, probably Luther. The bullet zings over my head and smashes into a junked car just three feet or so behind me. I am frozen in panic. My ears are ringing and my face is swollen. I feel like I am back in that sea of semi-conscious blackness. I don't know what to do.
I hear gravel crunching behind me and then a hand grabs me. I get pulled to my feet and hastily drug behind the Mercedes. As I am being drug, Luther's hand reappears and fires off a shot in my direction. It misses me by inches. I collapse into a heap in the cover of the car, and look around for my savior. Keenan is sitting to my left. He is crouched down, gun in hand, his dark messy hair spilling into his face. The look on his face is purely savage. He pulls a knife out of his pocket and for one sick moment I think he is going to cut me, but instead he cuts the tie wrap binding my hands, he turns back to his position.
I try to ask him what he is doing but it comes out in an unintelligible mess of sound. He turns to look at me. The savage looks leaves his face. He looks sad.
"Ainslee, we need to hope this car starts up, it's our only shot unless we kill these guys. I know they won't hesitate in killing us. C'mon."
His voice is steady and even though I know I may die, and I might never see him again, his voice is still a comfort. He grabs my hand and we slowly inch our way around the side of the car. He quickly opens up the drivers side door, just as someone fires a shot at us. It buries itself in the door of the car. Keenan ushers me into the car. I crawl exhaustively over the drivers seat and into the passenger seat. I keep my head low, I am curled up as small as I can be. I hear Keenan slide in next to me. He slides the key into the ignition. He turns it once and it hacks and sputters.
"Fuck." he mutters from the drivers seat.
He turns the key again and the engine coughs and then springs to life, although it sounds as though it won't run for very long. Keenan slams it into gear and backs away, spitting gravel from under the tires. As we pull away I can still hear Luther and Joe screaming at each other and firing off rounds. The cops will be there any minute, I can almost guarantee it.
We drive in silence until Keenan finds an alley to leave the smashed up Mercedes in. Smoke is pouring from under the hood. He shuts off the engine and turns to look at me. I am still curled up on the seat. Bleeding and swollen. He looks at me like he might cry. I slowly and painfully sit up.
"We need to get away from this car." I say.
Keenan nods and gets out. He walks around to my side and opens up the door. He pulls me out gently.
"Can you walk?"
"He broke my face, not my legs." I say back, a small giggle escaping.
He smiles painfully at me. He looks awkward for a second and then puts his arms around me in a small hug, careful to avoid smushing my face into him. I relax against him, trying to forget about the pier. Trying to forget about my face and Luther and Greg and Teagan.
"We need to move, hun. They will be looking for us. I doubt that the cops got them."
"Where are we going to go? What are we going to do? That was Greg's car wasn't it?"
He shrugs, "Yah it was Greg's car. And as for the rest I have no idea. First we need to get you cleaned up though. I have money, we can get a hotel room."
"Lets grab a cab. I've got money." I open my purse which is surprisingly still slung carefully over my shoulder.
We shuffle down the alley together and quickly flag down a cab. We both crawl into the back seat together. Not daring to be apart. I don't even know for sure if I am dead or maybe just dreaming this. I quietly pinch myself. But Keenan notices anyway. He grins a little to himself.
"I am here, Ainslee. You're not dreaming, or dead." He adds that last bit with a frown.
"It's just the way you looked outside Greg's. You looked so defeated." I bite my lip.
"I dunno Ainslee, I guess I just realized I didn't really want to go on living knowing you were dead, even if that meant I might die." He pauses, picking his words carefully, " we still aren't safe, you do know that right. Even if Luther and Joe got picked up by the cops, which I highly doubt, we now have Greg on our asses too."
I sit in silence. Leaning up against Keenan, thoughts stirring around in my head. After a while the cab pulls up in front of the Best Western and we hop out. I hand him a handful of cash. I am sure I tipped him well and I know I really don't care right now. We walk up through the big front doors of the hotel. As we walk across the lobby, people throw dirty stares my way. I must look like a bum, and Keenan looks like a junkie. I almost want to laugh.
Keenan pays for a room for us for the next two nights. He grabs my hand as we make our way up to the hotel room.
Once inside I collapse onto the bed. I feel Keenan's gentle weight next to me. I feel the warmth of his hand on my stomach. I wearily sit up. Keenan gets up and goes into the bathroom. He comes back out with a steaming hot hotel face cloth. Without a word he sits beside me and starts to wipe the blood off my face. I am trying not to wince or cry out, but when he gets to my nose I can't even hold back. The tears are involuntarily running down my face now. Keenan looks at me gravely.
"This is gunna hurt babe."
"What's gunna-" He cuts me off by grabbing my nose and sharply snapping it back into place. "-FUCK!"
A sharp intense pain shoots through my entire face and I am crying now, harder, in extraordinary pain. Keenan lights a smoke and hands it to me. I don't remember them saying it was a smoking room, but I don't really care right now. I breathe. I smoke. I sit in silence trying to control the urge to cry, to breakdown. When I am done my smoke I stand up and walk to the bathroom. I drop my smoke into the toilet and stand in front of the mirror. Both of my eyes are swollen and quickly darkening. My nose, although back in place again, is horrifically swollen. I am a mess.
Keenan comes up behind me in the mirror. He gently pulls my hair back off my shoulders. He leans down and kisses my shoulder. I want to stop him. I can't. He spins me around to face him and kisses me again. I wince in pain as he hits my nose. But I can't stop this time. I kiss him back.
I am trying desperately to regain consciousness. I am swimming in a sea of darkness. I am aware that I am bleeding and hurt. But I can't quite feel the full shock of the pain I am in. I hear shouting, feet on gravel. I float through the haze of semi-consciousness. Then as suddenly as I went into the haze, I come out. There is a loud sharp crack. Gunfire. Some instinct in me kicks in and I open my eyes, as best as I can anyway, my fuckin eyes are nearly swollen shut. I roll over onto my stomach and shuffle my way along the gravel into the best cover I can find.
I quickly survey the scene. There is a gleaming Mercedes crashed into the rear end of Joe's black car. It would have been a nice car if it wasn't for the now smashed in hood. There is more shouting. I can make out Joe and Luther hiding behind the front end of Joe's car. A hand reaches around and fires, probably Luther. The bullet zings over my head and smashes into a junked car just three feet or so behind me. I am frozen in panic. My ears are ringing and my face is swollen. I feel like I am back in that sea of semi-conscious blackness. I don't know what to do.
I hear gravel crunching behind me and then a hand grabs me. I get pulled to my feet and hastily drug behind the Mercedes. As I am being drug, Luther's hand reappears and fires off a shot in my direction. It misses me by inches. I collapse into a heap in the cover of the car, and look around for my savior. Keenan is sitting to my left. He is crouched down, gun in hand, his dark messy hair spilling into his face. The look on his face is purely savage. He pulls a knife out of his pocket and for one sick moment I think he is going to cut me, but instead he cuts the tie wrap binding my hands, he turns back to his position.
I try to ask him what he is doing but it comes out in an unintelligible mess of sound. He turns to look at me. The savage looks leaves his face. He looks sad.
"Ainslee, we need to hope this car starts up, it's our only shot unless we kill these guys. I know they won't hesitate in killing us. C'mon."
His voice is steady and even though I know I may die, and I might never see him again, his voice is still a comfort. He grabs my hand and we slowly inch our way around the side of the car. He quickly opens up the drivers side door, just as someone fires a shot at us. It buries itself in the door of the car. Keenan ushers me into the car. I crawl exhaustively over the drivers seat and into the passenger seat. I keep my head low, I am curled up as small as I can be. I hear Keenan slide in next to me. He slides the key into the ignition. He turns it once and it hacks and sputters.
"Fuck." he mutters from the drivers seat.
He turns the key again and the engine coughs and then springs to life, although it sounds as though it won't run for very long. Keenan slams it into gear and backs away, spitting gravel from under the tires. As we pull away I can still hear Luther and Joe screaming at each other and firing off rounds. The cops will be there any minute, I can almost guarantee it.
We drive in silence until Keenan finds an alley to leave the smashed up Mercedes in. Smoke is pouring from under the hood. He shuts off the engine and turns to look at me. I am still curled up on the seat. Bleeding and swollen. He looks at me like he might cry. I slowly and painfully sit up.
"We need to get away from this car." I say.
Keenan nods and gets out. He walks around to my side and opens up the door. He pulls me out gently.
"Can you walk?"
"He broke my face, not my legs." I say back, a small giggle escaping.
He smiles painfully at me. He looks awkward for a second and then puts his arms around me in a small hug, careful to avoid smushing my face into him. I relax against him, trying to forget about the pier. Trying to forget about my face and Luther and Greg and Teagan.
"We need to move, hun. They will be looking for us. I doubt that the cops got them."
"Where are we going to go? What are we going to do? That was Greg's car wasn't it?"
He shrugs, "Yah it was Greg's car. And as for the rest I have no idea. First we need to get you cleaned up though. I have money, we can get a hotel room."
"Lets grab a cab. I've got money." I open my purse which is surprisingly still slung carefully over my shoulder.
We shuffle down the alley together and quickly flag down a cab. We both crawl into the back seat together. Not daring to be apart. I don't even know for sure if I am dead or maybe just dreaming this. I quietly pinch myself. But Keenan notices anyway. He grins a little to himself.
"I am here, Ainslee. You're not dreaming, or dead." He adds that last bit with a frown.
"It's just the way you looked outside Greg's. You looked so defeated." I bite my lip.
"I dunno Ainslee, I guess I just realized I didn't really want to go on living knowing you were dead, even if that meant I might die." He pauses, picking his words carefully, " we still aren't safe, you do know that right. Even if Luther and Joe got picked up by the cops, which I highly doubt, we now have Greg on our asses too."
I sit in silence. Leaning up against Keenan, thoughts stirring around in my head. After a while the cab pulls up in front of the Best Western and we hop out. I hand him a handful of cash. I am sure I tipped him well and I know I really don't care right now. We walk up through the big front doors of the hotel. As we walk across the lobby, people throw dirty stares my way. I must look like a bum, and Keenan looks like a junkie. I almost want to laugh.
Keenan pays for a room for us for the next two nights. He grabs my hand as we make our way up to the hotel room.
Once inside I collapse onto the bed. I feel Keenan's gentle weight next to me. I feel the warmth of his hand on my stomach. I wearily sit up. Keenan gets up and goes into the bathroom. He comes back out with a steaming hot hotel face cloth. Without a word he sits beside me and starts to wipe the blood off my face. I am trying not to wince or cry out, but when he gets to my nose I can't even hold back. The tears are involuntarily running down my face now. Keenan looks at me gravely.
"This is gunna hurt babe."
"What's gunna-" He cuts me off by grabbing my nose and sharply snapping it back into place. "-FUCK!"
A sharp intense pain shoots through my entire face and I am crying now, harder, in extraordinary pain. Keenan lights a smoke and hands it to me. I don't remember them saying it was a smoking room, but I don't really care right now. I breathe. I smoke. I sit in silence trying to control the urge to cry, to breakdown. When I am done my smoke I stand up and walk to the bathroom. I drop my smoke into the toilet and stand in front of the mirror. Both of my eyes are swollen and quickly darkening. My nose, although back in place again, is horrifically swollen. I am a mess.
Keenan comes up behind me in the mirror. He gently pulls my hair back off my shoulders. He leans down and kisses my shoulder. I want to stop him. I can't. He spins me around to face him and kisses me again. I wince in pain as he hits my nose. But I can't stop this time. I kiss him back.
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