Chapter 3:
Charlie's POV:
I wake up abruptly to a phone ringing, and for a moment I forget where I am. The phone stops, I hear Brax's voice, and it all becomes clear to me.
After a few minutes of talking, it goes silent, and Brax re enters the room.
"Hey you" Brax says to me with a smile on his face "Sorry if the phone woke you".
"No" I lie, sitting up in the bed, "it didn't wake me up". I smile back at him, but he looks away, almost shyly. "Who was on the phone?" I ask, but the atmosphere from the previous night has already changed, and Brax has gone quiet.
"Nobody important", he says, picking up a shirt and pulling it on. "But, listen, I have... some things I have to take care of..."
"Oh, okay, well I'll go then, I was going to meet up with Ruby for coffee anyway" I say as I reach for my shorts.
As I do, Brax comes over to me, and kisses me on the forehead. "I'm sorry," he says. "I'll catch up with you later." Quicker than I thought he would, he heads out the door, winking at me as he goes.
I take my time getting ready to leave because I'm extremely early for my coffee date with Ruby... I thought I would have more time to spend with Brax... eventually, I think I am ready to go. I scan the room one last time to make sure I haven't left anything behind, and I leave.
I walk down the footpath towards the diner, because I didn't bring a car with me. The walk from Brax's motel to the diner is quite a long one, so I pace myself, walking slowly, just taking in the fresh air, but then I get a weird feeling that I'm being followed. I stop, look around for a minute, see no one, and continue onwards. Weird... I think to myself. I try to shake the feeling but I can't, and it lingers, forcing me to walk faster than I'd originally planned. A car drives' by, slowly, and disappears around a corner. The road seems to stretch on forever, but eventually I reach the end and turn the corner, only to see the car that drove past me previously, parked halfway up the street. As I near it, I cross to the other side, and my pace becomes synced with the quickness of my breathing. I pass the car and see no one inside it, but sill I can't shake the uneasy feeling.
Before I know it, I am grabbed from behind and dragged along the footpath. I kick and struggle against the arms locked around me, but they are just too strong. I yell for help, but in vain, for soon I am forced into the trunk of the parked car. All I can hear is my breathing, rapid and frantic, even as I bang on the roof of the trunk, hoping for someone to hear. But then I feel the vibration of the engine roaring to life, and the car driving off down the road. All I can think of at this point are three things: 1. Ruby waiting for me at the diner, 2. Brax, 3. how whoever is driving the car is definitely going over the speed limit.