10 Chapter 10

Audrey feels like she's about to throw up while Elvis is too focused on the road and which turn he's taking.

Her head hits the window violently just as Elvis swerves swiftly around the corner.

"Shit, are you okay?" asks Elvis, not daring to take his eyes off the road,

Audrey quietly replies, "Yeah. I just feel really nauseous,"

As much as Audrey wants to scream 'I told you' at Elvis, she knows better than to scream at him while he's driving like a maniac.

Deep down, Audrey never felt good about the idea of running away. Even as much as she tried to convince herself she'd get through it with Elvis, a small part of her always nudged her. It's not that she doesn't trust Elvis. He's, in fact, the only person she trusts at the moment, but knowing the kind of irresponsible guy he is, there's a small fear deep within her.

Noticing the worry on her face, Elvis assures her, "They won't get to us, trust me. We'll escape,"

'Trust me'

As much as she wants to, those two words coming out of Elvis don't sound convincing enough.

She replies nevertheless, "Okay,"

Just as she's starting to calm down, she hears Elvis mumble, "Oh no,"

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" She panics

"Okay, listen to me carefully. We're running out of gas. If we stop, they're gonna get to us easily. You're going to have to hold on to your seat firmly, I'm going to drive as fast as I can. We're going to find a parking lot, preferably an underground parking lot. Then you're quickly going to get out and carry the luggage with you while I open another car. Then we're getting out of there as fast as we can. You got all that?"

Audrey doesn't know how he comes up with these plans so quickly and as impressed as she is, she needs to focus on what's in front of her.

"Yeah," She replies,

"But how are you opening the car?" She adds,

"I'm going to break the back window open,"

'Impressive' Audrey thinks.

Five minutes of driving like a lunatic later, he veers into the parking lot. He stops the car in the middle of the parking lot, running out of it after telling Audrey to grab the luggage. He forcefully breaks the back window of a random car and puts his hand through the broken window, unlocking the back door. He opens the door for Audrey to put the luggage in and unlocks the front doors and gets inside. Just as they're inside, the police cars pull up into the parking lot.

"Shit, hide hide," Elvis tells Audrey.

They slide down in their seats, hoping the police won't walk by that car or notice the broken window.

Elvis watches as the police officers investigate their car. He watches as one of them speaks into the radio, most probably informing them about how they've lost them. Elvis is a bit sure they wouldn't go through all the cars in the lot looking for them as there are over hundreds of cars.

The police officers leave a while later, leaving the car standing where it was.

"How are you going to start the car?" Audrey wonders. Without an answer, she watches as Elvis works something under the steering wheel. All she knows is that he smashed something and connected some electric wires. Audrey isn't sure if it's better to ask what he just did or just let him do what he does.

She lets it slide, not wanting to interfere with what he's doing.

Elvis checks left and right before slowly sliding out of the spot the car was parked on.

Before they start their second journey, Audrey asks, "Where are we headed to?"

"I don't know. I thought this was the perfect place. I didn't think they would find us this quickly. Let's check the GPS," Elvis pulls his phone out and opens maps.

Audrey sighs and looks out the window as Elvis looks through the map to see where they're headed to next.

"Roselake!" Elvis speaks suddenly, frightening Audrey,

"What?" She asks,

"We're going to Roselake. It's small and hidden. We'll be good there,"

Audrey complains, "How are you so sure? You said Falcon Havens was also a safe place, but we didn't even stay for a day before the police found us,"

Elvis replies, irritated, "At least we have a place to stay in for the night. Even if it's for one night. If you have a better idea, please present it. I'm trying to do what's best here, Audrey. Why don't you just trust me for once-"

She cuts him off yelling, "Trust you for once?! That's all I've been doing, Elvis. We're here because I 'trusted you', but I didn't benefit from trusting you. It's already the second day and all we've been doing is run, hide, run, hide! We didn't even have breakfast. I didn't even have dinner, for shit's sake!"

"Look, I haven't had breakfast either and I'm sorry we're always running and I'm also so sorry that I'm trying to give you the life you wanted. I'm sorry for helping you get out of that toxic house with that toxic mother-"

"She's not toxic, Elvis! Don't you dare call my mom names. You don't know what happened between our families. She might even be trying to protect me, for all I know,"

"Whatever, but what I know is that all you've been doing was crying since that day. I could tell even if you were trying to hide it from me. I know you wanted to start a new life with me just as bad as I did. When I said 'I promise you a life you won't regret', I didn't mean I promised you paradise. I'm not capable of that, Audrey. I'm trying to provide you with all the best things. Yes, I promised you a good life, but did you think there wouldn't be obstacles in our way? Of course there is, but we are going to have to get through them together. I'm doing everything I can, Audrey. You just have to be patient with me, alright?" he pleads.

Audrey stays quiet the rest of the ride. She wants to scream, cry, sleep, eat, but all that isn't possible at the moment so she contains herself and looks out the window silently.

They get to the end of their journey, a long quiet ride later. Elvis carries the luggage out with Audrey following behind silently. They head to the lobby to book a room to stay for as long as they're able to. This time, they don't make the mistake of giving their real names so it won't be easier for the police to find them again. Instead, they book a room using fake names with the ambition of finally finding freedom from their sickening families.