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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 21, 2019 17:44:26 GMT
Jesse wasn’t perturbed that his lie wasn’t completely convincing, at least not visibly. It simply proved that these men were serious about finding Amelia. That proved the situation was a dangerous one.
He took the offered paper, looking it over before nodding. “Will do,” he replied, sounding earnest. “Good luck finding her,” he added before closing the door, locking the door again. Daphne had finally stopped growling, letting out a whine instead at her owner. He reached down to pat her head, praising her for her protective actions even as his mind spun.
Medications? Amelia, dangerous? That seemed so unlikely… but there had been guns before, and she had been shot. That was why he took her to the hospital. What was the truth? Could he rely on Amelia telling him the truth? Even when he was on the run, facts sometimes merged with fearful fiction, and even when they were distinct telling the truth could be hard. On the run, trust was very difficult to come by.
Jesse finally went back into the living room, tossing the paper on the coffee table before sitting back on the sofa, letting out a sigh that sounded old and weary. “Damn, been a while…” he muttered, referring to his lying. It was surprisingly harder, being a few years out of practice. He finally looked up at Amelia, her wide eyes and how still she stood, waiting for a verdict. He wanted to do what was right by her, but he didn’t know what that was. Going with those men? Keeping away?
“Do you know who those two were?” he finally asked, his tone making it clear he wanted to trust Amelia’s story. As much as he questioned if he wasn’t just making things worse, he wanted to believe her.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 5, 2019 0:34:13 GMT
“I… I didn’t see them.” She admitted, lamely. She had steered clear from even the window purposely, still feeling unsafe even with the curtains drawn. “But even so, I’m certain who it was. They want to take me away.” They will have come up with some lie to get him to give her up, and she was certain by the look on his face, that although he hadn’t let the men in, he was conflicted as to whether to believe them. Her eyes flickered to the paper Jesse had dropped onto the table, the hand-written number seeming to stare damningly at her. She moved her gaze back to Jesses’, the look pleading. “I don’t know what I can say to make you believe me, but whatever they said, they are liars.” Her words seemed unconvincing even to her own ears, so in the end she just fell silent. How could she expect him to do that without telling him why they really wanted her? That, she couldn’t do, not at any cost.
When she next spoke, she sounded defeated, as if she had been in this situation before, and she knew what his answer would be.
“I understand if you don’t want to help me. But if that’s the case, please just let me go. Don’t call them to take me away, let me just leave, I can do this on my own.”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 6, 2019 3:14:39 GMT
Jesse watched Amelia as she spoke, seeing every furtive glance, every pleading look. But her last line, pleading to at least let her go, made his gaze drop, looking back at the paper staring at him from the table, a silent accusation screaming at him.
“No,” he said suddenly, his eyes still focused on the paper. For a horrible minute, it seemed he was agreeing to turn her in. But then he closed his eyes tight, half curling into himself. “No… I’m not… I’m not letting you go alone.”
He stood suddenly, Cyrus barking with excitement. Rather than hesitate, he rushed back into the kitchen, digging through drawers and tossing various items on the counter. Some stowed away packs of money, dog treats, his keys, an old looking packet that rattled like it had tools in it… “What else, what else?” he mused to himself, clearly running through a mental check list he hadn’t used for ages. For all the world, he seemed ready to go on the run.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 6, 2019 12:18:20 GMT
Amelia watched with wide eyes as Jesse rushed about. It steadily became clear to her what he was doing, even if she could hardly believe it.
He wasn’t going to turn her in, and he wasn’t going to leave her, either. He was going to help her. It seemed too good to be true, so it took her a moment to react. She approached him wearily, following him to the kitchen. She stood in the doorway for a moment, watching him rush about, gathering all manner of things that might be useful. Then, unable to stop herself, overcome with emotion as she was, she did something completely uncharacteristic. She stepped forwards and suddenly embraced him, arms circling around him and feeling the sudden warmth of his body against hers. It was both comforting and terrifying to her, even if she was the one who initiated it, but she knew no other way to thank him at the moment, words simply failing her.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 7, 2019 17:36:06 GMT
Jesse was so focused on collecting things needed to run with that Amelia’s approach was missed, freezing as she embraced him. Once the surprise faded a moment later, he slowly wrapped his arms around her as well, answering her silent thanks. It was the grip of someone who, while he might not understand in full, knew well enough what it meant to feel abandoned and alone. He didn’t want her to feel that way.
---
A few hours later, and they were out on the road after dropping the dogs off at a friend’s for an “impromptu vacation,” as Jesse had referred to it on the phone when asking. If he was going to be on the run, he knew the dogs were distinctive enough to identify them, and he didn’t want to risk them. Especially Daphne, he knew, would be more than likely to get defensive of her master in a dangerous situation.
Without the dogs happily panting in the back seat, the truck felt quiet and empty in spite of the two humans. Jesse hadn’t said a word about where they were going, and honestly was surprised that Amelia was trusting him so much. Of course, if he was to describe the man they were going to… she’d probably think Jesse was nuts for trusting him. Jimmy the Fence was not the type to inspire trust, but he had been instrumental in getting Jesse out of the gang. He didn’t know who else to go to at this point.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 7, 2019 23:36:30 GMT
Despite her initial wariness of the dogs, Amelia found she was sorry to see them go. She too was feeling strange without their presence, especially Cyrus, whom had unknowingly comforted her more than once with his dopey attitude and constant willingness to play. In the truck, they had been silent for a while, Jesse not offering where they were going and Amelia not asking. She had put her faith in him, so she trusted he knew what he was doing. Or at least, she did for now, if she knew he was intending to add another person to mix she might start to think differently…
But for now, she was just glad to be moving. They had clearly known her location, why else come to Jesse’s door? Hopefully, leaving through the backdoor to get to the truck had thrown them momentarily off their scent, although Amelia kept her eyes fixed on the wing-mirror at the cars behind, more than once turning in her seat to scrutinize any that might seem like they were tailing them. Unfortunately, to her, everyone was a suspect, so by now she was white as a sheet, her hands constantly twisting the front of her jacket anxiously. At one point, the empty side of the cuff slipped from her sleeve, and she hurriedly pushed it back out of sight. She was still convinced that if Jesse saw it, he might bolt. She had thought he’d seen it when she’d been in the shower, but evidently not, as he’d made no comment on it so far.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 7, 2019 23:52:06 GMT
Jesse’s checking of the rear view mirrors was just as paranoid as Amelia’s, especially after the events in the hospital, but he seemed better at hiding it. After all, he was driving - he had to know what was around him.
As alert as he was to the tension in the truck, he couldn’t help but notice the flash from Amelia’s wrist, all too easily recognizing it. “Wait, you - how long were you cuffed?” he asked, sounding concerned as he reached over instinctively, withdrawing a moment later as he thought over his next step. She must have been wearing it at his house, but why didn’t she mention it?
“Lemme pull over, then we’ll get them off,” he added, checking traffic as he pulled towards the shoulder of the road, slowing to a stop before putting the parking break on but leaving the engine running. Instead of holding onto her, however, he went for the bag he had packed back at the house, fishing out the old, ratty bag that still rattled strangely. Upon opening it, it was clear it was full of tools, albeit not all of which were easily recognizable. Pulling out one, he grabbed her hand, focused on getting the lock picked and not paying attention to Amelia’s expression.
With speed that belied his expertise in unlocking handcuffs, with a few simple moves he was rewarded with the click of the handcuffs opening, flicking the bar up and sliding Amelia’s hand out. “How’s your wrist? Those things can rub…” he began, again too distracted to really see her expression as he went for the first aid kit under his seat, pawing through the individual packets of alcohol wipes and bandaids.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 8, 2019 1:19:47 GMT
She felt her stomach tighten violently at his words, realising that she had not been as discreet as she had thought. As he reached for her, she withdrew her hands quickly, clearly flinching, a motion missed by Jesse due to his eyes being on the road. But instead of sounding accusative he had seemed concerned, and this alone gave her pause from panic, his next words also working to ease her somewhat. She watched with growing curiosity as he dug in the bag he had brought with him, and when he reached for her hand, she forced herself not to flinch away this time, knowing that he only meant to help. She even watched with interest as he quickly unlocked the mechanism with clearly practiced hands, her gaze flickering up to his face as he worked to free her.
She pulled her hand away as soon as she was released, about to utter a thanks when he asked how her wrist was. She hesitated, thinking back. At the hospital she had drawn blood in her attempts to get free, when fleeing she had hardly thought about it, and upon taking the shower she hadn’t noticed anything amiss. She could feel a dull ache, but she was used to such sensations, her pain threshold high after what she had been forced to endure. “It’s fine,” she finally answered, as he searched under his seat for something. In an attempt to put him at ease, she pulled up her sleeve to prove her words… and paused upon seeing the skin of her wrist blushing an angry red, rubbed raw with the tightness of the cuff and the constant chaffing, even dotting blood in a few places. Genuinely surprised, she quickly explained, “Well, it doesn’t hurt, I think it looks worse than it is...”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 8, 2019 2:18:18 GMT
Jesse’s response to her wrist was far stronger than her own. “Damnit,” he cursed softly, glancing up at her as she tried to explain it away. “Well it looks pretty bad,” he replied as he pulled out a gauze pad, trying to wrap it over as many of the dots of blood as he could before wrapping her wrist, testing every few layers to make sure it wasn’t too tight.
“How’s that feel?” Jesse asked as he finally took more than a second to look Amelia in the eye since deciding to help her escape. There was a weariness to his eyes, borne less out of the current situation and more from old memories. But there was no less determination to help her.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 8, 2019 16:59:29 GMT
He was gentle as he bound her wrist, his actions careful, as if afraid to cause her more pain. Again, she watched his face as he worked, thinking on how fortunate she had been that she’d chosen to try his house out as a place to shelter from the storm,- that event that seemed an age ago now. As his eyes suddenly met hers, she looked away quickly, embarrassed at being caught in her intense study of him. Instead of commenting on it, she looked her wrist over, rolling it and stretching her fingers. “It feels better.” She answered, with a smile. “Thank you.”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 9, 2019 4:55:39 GMT
As Amelia’s eyes darted away, he watched her with some confusion for a few moments, before a flush raced across his cheeks and he let go of her hand, clearing his throat quickly. “You’re welcome,” he replied, smiling at her with a slightly awkward hesitation, welcoming the distraction of returning to driving.
The drive proved to be a long one, Jesse having to pull over twice to double check the map, having to backtrack once. As they drove into the mountains, the landscape grew more and more rugged, trees and valleys taking over the scenery as they passed fewer and fewer cars and houses. Pulling into a skinny dirt road that hadn’t looked wide enough for a car at a glance, and a few bumpy minutes later, they stopped in a small clearing, notable only in that there was another vehicle there, a beaten up old machine that was clearly cannibalized for its tires, seats, hood, steering wheel…
Jesse hopped out of the truck as he looked about, his expression revealing his confusion. “Oh come on… don’t tell me he’s changed his entry again…?” he muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 12, 2019 22:58:37 GMT
Amelia's nerves had begun to settle the farther they got from civilisation, and she was relieved to find that Jesse was taking this seriously. When they pulled to a stop, she looked about herself curiously, but stilled her tongue. As Jesse left the car, she joined him, watching his movements expectantly as she waited patiently for him to explain why they had stopped.
At his words, however, her eyes widened. "What do you mean? Who...?" She asked, perplexed and suddenly wary. He hadn't mentioned anyone else... why would they be going to see someone else?
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 13, 2019 0:18:12 GMT
Jesse glanced at Amelia as her voice became concerned, eyes widening as he quickly went to reassure her. “It’s ok, Jimmy… we can’t trust anyone ‘official,’” he began, having to stop himself from approaching her too fast and so scaring her off again. “Jimmy is anything but legal, but he’s the reason I got out of that gang… I owe him my life. If anyone would know about what’s going on and how to avoid it, he would.” The sincerity in his voice was surprising, especially as he recalled owing the man so much.
In spite of the fact that the man must be some sort of a neurotic recluse, given the fact that Jesse was now concerned that he had “changed entries.”
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 21, 2019 23:26:43 GMT
Jesse’s words and his conviction settled Amelia somewhat, especially as he mentioned not being able to trust anyone official. She was glad he had come to that conclusion herself, as explaining how deep this whole thing went sounded ludicrous even to her own ears. However, if Jesse trusted this man, then Amelia would too. “Okay… Well, what did the entry look like before?” She pressed, looking about herself, too, even if she wasn’t really sure what exactly she was looking for.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 22, 2019 2:38:33 GMT
Jesse was visibly relieved when Amelia settled about meeting someone else, it finally occurring to him that he might be the only one she trusted right then. But Jimmy was trustworthy… provided you weren’t at all legal yourself. Jesse had the advantage on that.
“It was a hatch… it’s to an old underground bunker,” he replied, looking about. “I’m just… it’s been a while since I last came here, and… if he’s moved on to another bunker, he’d have hidden the old instead of just leaving it open.” The two hunted for a while, Jesse even getting to the point of brushing at the leaves and dirt on the ground. It finally answered his question, and raised his tension, when they came across the hatch… buried in dirt.
“Damnit,” Jesse muttered under his breath, shaking his head. Disguising the old entrance was exactly Jimmy’s M.O., but it meant there were probably a dozen other places to look. But would it be safer to keep looking, or to try and track down another member of the gang to see if they had any idea? Somehow, risking the open road and simply following Jimmy’s trail seemed safer than risking another meeting with his old gang… Jesse couldn’t help a pang of guilt at dragging Amelia out there now, since it wasn’t a straight shot to Jimmy, and the closer he lingered to his old life, the more likely it was to catch up with him.
“Let’s get back in the truck, we’ll try another place,” Jesse said, the apology clear in his voice at not being able to provide the quick protection he had hoped for. “I know a few of his places offhand, and if not we can just hide in one until we can find him.”
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