I hope y'all had a happy Thanksgiving, a nice weekend, and all that good stuff! I did- seafood buffets, dying my hair blonde, Christmas shopping, working in my church's nursery, haircut, using fondant for the first time, accepting I'm turning 20 this Friday... it's been pretty eventful for me! :P
And yeah, most likely the next time I write to you... I won't be a teenager anymore. Like officially. It's freaking me out, man. Anyways! Next chapter! I finally get to write Loki! I'm so excited! Here we go!
CHAPTER THREE
I held my breath, truly terrified to breath- to move, to even think.
Loki lifted his head and looked at me, wincing as he did so. He bit his lip as to not cry out in pain and fresh blood suddenly flowed from his mouth, adding the dried covering his face.
"You can see me, can't you?" Loki hissed at me, an angry whisper clashing against the calm waves behind me, like it was my fault I could. Like it was my fault he was laying there, covered in blood. That his body looked like one big bruise and just moving his head made him want to cry.
But I nodded, my tongue a useless lump in my mouth and my brain a disgusting pile of mush in my head. I just couldn't fathom that Loki, the trickster god of mischief, was so broken on the inside that small movement hurt him so much he accidentally made himself bleed. I just couldn't. Though I knew I needed to.
I took a shaky breath, as images of a plan flashed before my eyes. "You need to get out of here." I stated, rather stupidly.
"How? With you?" Loki snorted cruelly, but immediately gasped in pain, clenching his fingers into fists. He even had to take a moment to breath normally again and that lessened the impact of the insult I'm sure he had wanted.
"I don't see anyone else... but I did see Shield a couple miles back down the beach. And Loki, you don't know me, but I do know you. I would be careful on who you try to piss off." I said with as much hatred he was giving me.
"You're just a stupid girl. Midguardian at that. There's nothing about you that's even worth the idea of this conversation." He spat at me, blood spraying the air, but again, I saw how his whole body screamed in pain and he looked away, a low groan escaping him.
"And you're just a stubborn douche. Wannabe god. There's nothing about you that's worth what I'm offering, but I'm offering anyway." I leaned in and hissed back at him. "I'm not just a girl- not just a stupid girl even. I'm not just 'Midguardian'. I'm not anything you've ever met. I'm a girl but I want to rise. I want to be above my sister. Like you're a prince, but you want to be a king, and you want to rise above your brother. And I can get you there."
He laughed softly then, and I looked away to not see his grimace that was sure to follow. When I turned back, he still had a faint smile on his face. "Well, you're right. You do know me."
Loki held my eyes for a moment, and all was silent, but the waves crashing in the background.
"I can kill you, easy. Whenever I want. It'll most likely happen." Loki finally informed me, and I knew I had him. He took a few shuddering breaths, but as I've done this whole time, I ignored it.
I grinned wide and replied sarcastically, "I'm so sure. But I'll have you know I ain't going down without a fight, and I'm a good fight."
"I'm still not fully convinced me you're not just some stupid girl." I couldn't even focus this time on the pain he was in.
"But I will." I paused, checking the time on my phone, "We need to hit the road. You've got Shield on your butt and I'm gonna have Iron Man on mine."
"You've managed to piss off Iron Man? Maybe this will work out after all."
I snorted, but I made my way closer to Loki, dreading this next part. "So. I think this is going to hurt. Really, really bad." I announced, unhelpfully, prolonging the inevitable.
"You know what, I was thinking the same thing!" Loki widened his eyes in false surprised, and then I winced when he did. This close it was even worse to see him hurt.
I squatted down, with him on my right. "All right. My car- or well, Tony's car- ain't that far away. Just past these brushes. Put your arm around my shoulders and we'll get there." I took a second, then added, "Somehow."
"You make me feel so assured." Loki deadpanned, but flung his arm around my shoulders as I said. I stood up, with practically all his weight on me, took a few steps, and in the soft, uneven sand, went down nearly immediately.
Warm blood dripped down my chest and I shivered. "Sorry." I whispered and got back up again. I took a few more steps, but this was harder than I could ever imagine, and the end result was me half-crawling/half-dragging Loki to the backseat of my car. I reopened up all his dried wounds and I was nearly as covered in blood as he was by the end of it.
Pushing him in the backseat made me feel relief I've never known. Before getting the driver's seat, I took a second and yanked off my flannel shirt. I wiped as much of the blood off my chest and arms and just really all over. I threw the dirty flannel in the passenger and in a blur we were flying down the interstate.
The car was quiet, except the sound of Loki's rattling breaths and my new baby's purring engine.
"So, uhh- so, uh, what happened?" I asked nervously. My puny human mind couldn't come up with anything that could cause him so much pain, and it scared me senseless.
"You don't want to know." Loki's voice was quiet, trying to stay as still as possible.
"... Yeah, I do." No, I really didn't, but I felt like I needed to know.
"No, you don't."
"I do!"
"Well, you're not going to."
"I think I need to know!"
"You really don't."
"Who gives you the right to decide what I need or don't need? You don't even know me! Like at all." I bursted out, suddenly angry. Really, what gave him the freaking right?
"Just... shut up, girl! What a nuisance." I heard him moan from the backseat.
"You still don't know my name."
"Does it really matter?" Loki sighed, loudly.
"I'm Amelia." I stated, thinking he was the nuisance.
"And who's your sister you're so desperately trying to beat?" He asked, resigned.
"Pepper Potts. Iron Man's girlfriend." I answered, softening back up.
"Ah. And this is his car. I'm starting to see how you pissed him off."
"I also broke his glass walls with a baseball bat to get into his garage and forced his smart house to open the garage doors so I wouldn't drive in them and kill myself." I smiled at myself, a hint of pride in my voice.
"Impressive." Loki said sarcastically, but I was sure he believed what he said. "Now I know everything about you."
"What? No."
"Don't I? I'm your ultimate revenge. Work with me and you'll be above your sister. I'm practically her enemy as much as Stark. If she's anything like him, and they must have something in common, she can't do wrong and because of that, conceited, and gets everything in life handed to her. While you work and deserve what she just gets, but you can never achieve her status in their eyes." His voice was so full of bitterness; I knew he knew how I felt.
"You've pretty much nailed it."
"Your story is easy, like a bad written book."
"I do take care to remind you, our stories aren't that different!" I exclaimed indignantly.
"No, they're nothing alike." Loki replied, suddenly sounding old and tired.
I paused to think. "You're right. My life looks like a bad written book, but because I've got pages that have been locked in a coffin and buried in a grave, and I'm taking them to mine. So it looks like, 'Oh why is she doing this? It makes no sense, that doesn't flow', but I didn't let those forbidden pages make the cut, so people think that," I said thoughtfully, and then I shook my head. This was getting too deep for me.
"Anyways!" I started before Loki could say anymore, "I'm sick of comparing my life to a book. Change o' subject."
"How about you stop talking? Every breath is like I'm being shot repeatedly with an arrow in the chest and I'm sure at least one of my lungs have erupted. Not to mention just blinking my eyes causes me such unbearable agony and just the thought of-"
"Shouldn't I be taking you to the hospital then?" I asked, wondering where the closest one was. Then wondering where we were exactly now.
"No. I'll heal in a couple weeks. My... employers have made sure of it." Loki answered with hesitancy. My ears perked up at employers, but he hastily added, "Shut up. No talking."
I pulled over on the side of the road, knowing it's silly to try to do something else while driving, and I was excited to see the rigged up stereo. I quickly found a country station and internally fangirled when Begin Again by Taylor Swift came through the speakers.
"Well then, I'm going to introduce you to the best Midguard music around. This, my dear new friend, is Taylor Swift." I announced and I didn't say a word for another couple hours. I was figuring he liked it too, because he didn't say anything about it either.
It was about 4 in the morning when my vision blurred and my eyelids turned to lead, drooping dangerously, and I decided I wasn't going to kill myself, or anyone else, by falling asleep and running into another car. Or a tree. Loki had long been sleeping, which surprised me, so he wasn't going to be much help. I pulled off at the next exit, seeing a sign for a motel.
I was so happy to stop and park, but then I looked in my rearview mirrow and realized not only would I have to wake Loki up, we'd go through that whole half-crawling/half-dragging thing that happened at the beach. But I'd have to do it.
I turned in my seat, facing Loki. "Hey. Wake up. Loki." His eyes popped and slid towards me. "Heeey, sleeping beauty." I laughed, then added, "I'm about to pass out, and seeing you're in no condition to drive, we're at a motel. Okay?" I didn't know why I made it a question, but thankfully he said fine, and I quickly got out of the car, and walked into the lobby.
The man at the desk started to check me out, but then his eyes widened quick at my chest. I looked down, remembering I was covered in Loki's blood.
"Nosebleed." I hastily explained, "Do you have a room? Two beds."
"My brother use to have bad nosebleeds. He grew out of them. Name?" He asked me.
"Oh, maybe there's hope for me then. Amelia," I fake smiled, I hated small talk, then remembered I was on the run. People would be looking for me, "Amelia..." I looked around frantically, thinking of a last name. My eyes landed on fake tree in the corner of the lobby. "Tree... son. Amelia Treeson." I cringed inwardly at my made up name. Treeson? Really? My whole life not wanting to be a Potts, and I couldn't thought of anything better?
The man told me a price and I handed over what cash I had in pocket, and miraculously it was a little more than enough.
"Here you are, Ms. Treeson." He said, handing me the keycard. "Room 13."
"Thanks." I replied, and walked back to the car, thinking I needed more money. At the bank near my house, they would give me money without any id, but anywhere else... and I finally figured out a piece of the plan. Go to Virginia. Though I didn't know what state I was currently in... Before I left the lobby, I glanced at the pamphlet wall, and saw info packets on the Grand Canyon and a book full of coupons. Arizona. Great.
Getting Loki in the room and on the bed was easier than I expected, though truthfully, I barely remember it. I plopped him down and fell into my bed two feet over. Shoes, bloody shirt, and all. I hadn't even bothered to turn on the lights, but I was out like one.
Thankfully, because I didn't get a chance to think about what the heck I was about to do, and if I'd had, I'd probably never sleep again.