Austin can't sleep. He's wide awake, staring at the ceiling. He was given two weeks to kill Ally and now those two weeks were up as of tomorrow, but that needle still sits in that jar because he just can't do it.
The last two weeks were different. Things changed: Ally was nicer to Austin, Ally became more of a human to him than a monster, she didn't argue with him or snap out remarks - she talked to him now, he'd even given her a nickname: "Als."
Austin's heart is pounding when he rolls out of bed. He knows what he needs to do. He grabs his cell phone. "Dez? Hey."
"Austin?" Dez groggily says on the other line.
"I know what happened a couple weeks ago really makes you not wanna come back here, but I need your help," Austin says.
"What is it?" Dez questions, more alert.
"You're gonna be mad," Austin swallowed.
"You're my best friend. I'll understand anything." Dez promised.
"I'm gonna run away with Ally."
"I'm sorry...Could you repeat that?" Dez asked him, wide eyed.
Austin took a deep breath, "Dez...It's not what you think. I tried to hate her, Dez, and I did in the beginning and I don't know how, but things are different. Things changed. We changed and now...I just...Dez, I can't kill her." he paused. "I think I'm in love with her."
"You've got to be joking," Dez said.
"Maybe not in love...but I think I'm getting there..." Austin sighed, "Dez, please, you need to help me," he pleaded. Austin swallowed hard, running his fingers through his blonde hair. "Jimmy's coming tomorrow night and if he comes while Ally's still here, he's going to fire me and get somebody else to do it. That can't happen."
Dez thought long and hard. Austin kept pleading until finally Dez took a deep breath. "I need a moment." he said. Austin gulped. He heard hushed voices and knew Dez was telling Trish. Then he heard, "Trish and I are on our way." The line went dead. Austin took a deep breath and hung up his phone.
He looked around the room and grabbed a bag. He started packing his things. He scrambled around his room until his bag was zipped up. He got dressed and then he walked out of his room and dropped the bag by the door. He raced around the house, collecting anything else he'd need.
He then crouched down to Ally, slipping the key into the lock. He snapped off the hand cuff. Ally felt the movement and slowly opened her eyes. "Austin," she murmured, waking up.
"Als, get up. We're going." he said.
Ally's eyes opened a little bit wider as she sat up, "What?"
"We're leaving." he repeated.
"I don't understand-"
"We're running away, Ally." Austin looked her in the eyes. "I know there's good in you, Ally. I don't care what you say. I'm not killing you and I'm not waiting around for someone else to do it. We're leaving. Dez and Trish are going to help us, okay?"
"Austin, we can't-"
"Ally, I'm not killing you," he said. Ally stared at him.
"They'll catch us," she said.
"Maybe not," Austin replied, "Look, Ally. To keep you away from them, I'm going to do whatever it takes." Ally stared at him before there was a knock on the door. Austin looked at the door before glancing back to Ally and then getting up to answer it.
He allowed Trish and Dez inside. "This is insane, Austin. We could all get in trouble." Dez said. Austin nodded.
"I know," he took a deep breath. Dez knew he was serious. He glanced back at Ally who was sitting on the couch, watching them. He still wasn't sure about Austin running away with her. After all, she'd killed 28 people and probably far more than that in the entirety of two years with her abilities.
"Austin, Can I talk to you?" Dez asked, glancing back at Trish and Ally, "Alone?" Austin nodded and walked into a room with Dez. "Are you crazy? She's taking over the freaking world and you want to run away with her? You want to have a life with that? You think she could give you a life?"
"Yes, Dez! Okay? I understand everything you know about her, everything she's done, but she can change! She wasn't like that before! I'm still trying to get answers out of her but I know that she's not who she says! There's good in her! I know it, Dez. I just know it. She won't hurt me, or anyone else. She won't hurt anybody if I tell her no, because my feelings seem to matter to her." Austin said, "I just need more time. To get answers. To prove that she's not the killer everyone thinks she is." Dez let out a breath, shaking his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Ally is sitting on the couch, thoughts scattered everywhere. Austin was crazy to think they could run. This was ridiculous. But it did mean that she wouldn't be in hand cuffs anymore, right? And nobody would find her again-
"Hey," a soft voice greeted. Ally looked over and saw the Latina girl. "We've met before, but I'll introduce myself again. I'm Trish. Austin's friend." she extended a hand.
Ally stared at the hand before a smile slowly stretched onto her lips. She took the hand and shook it. "I'm Ally," she said, her voice sounding small. Trish smiled back.
Ally tried to sit still but Dez's voice was raising, trying to tell Austin that he was crazy for wanting to run away with Ally. Ally couldn't help but agree. But Austin was adamant that they ran. Finally, the boys come out of the room, having come to an understanding and conclusion.
"Trish and I will cover the trails until you're out of the area, after that, you're on your own and if anyone asks we knew nothing." Dez reasons. Austin nods in agreement. Dez hands Austin a small hand gun. Austin takes it and stuffs it into the back of his pants, covering it with his shirt.
"Good luck, Austin," Trish says, giving him a hug. She smiles at Ally before taking a step back. Despite his anger at Austin, Dez wishes him a good bye and good luck as well. He doesn't smile at Ally.
Ally stands up with Austin. Austin grabbed their things, tossing them into the back seat of the car. Once he and Ally were buckled in the car, he took off, speeding down a back road.
. . . . .
"You're going to be in so much trouble," Ally commented, watching the trees fly by her. Austin sighed, glancing in his rearview mirror to make sure nobody was following him other than Dez or Trish.
"Doesn't matter," he replied.
"Why did you want to run anyway?" Ally asked him, "if it's so hard for you to kill me, why don't find somebody else to do it?"
Austin clenched the steering wheel. "Because I'm not going to let you die."
Ally stared at the side of his face. His brown eyes were narrowed on the road, his jaw set as he kept grinding his teeth. Ally slowly nodded. "Thank you," she said, softly. Austin glanced over at her and nodded.
"Watch the road," he told her, "through your side view mirror."
"There's nothing to see. It's too dark, Austin," she said. He sighed. "Do you know what they'll probably do to you when they find us?"
"They're not going to find us," Austin snapped.
"They will, Austin," Ally said, softly, "You know it. I can run forever, but I can't hide. I have to die."
"You don't have to do anything," his voice rose slightly. Ally sighed, shaking her head.
"Austin, I'm dangerous." she said.
"You can control it, you just choose not to." Austin retorted, "You're only dangerous when you're using your abilities against people. You're just like anybody else when you're not doing that stuff."
"I'll never be like anybody else, Austin. I'll always be different." she said, "and not the good kind of different."
Austin took a deep breath through his nostrils and decided not to answer. He focused on the road, calming himself down by taking out his frustration with his grip on the wheel. He was sure his hands were blistered by the time they were on the highway.
. . . .
"Butter milk pancakes and a chocolate milk, please," Austin smiled at the waitress. Austin looked at Ally who was staring at the menu, ignoring the waitress. Austin lightly touched her foot with his, grabbing her attention.
"Oh, uh, I'll have the same," she said. The waitress nodded and walked away. "She likes you."
Austin was in the middle of scoping out the restaurant with his eyes when he'd heard Ally's comment. He looked at her, arching his eye brows. "Huh?" he breathed impolitely.
"The waitress," she said, "She really fancies you."
"Ally," he growled, "Stop."
Ally laughed slightly, "You can't take me into a restaurant and expect me not to hear people's thoughts," she smirked before it faltered and she let her eyes focus on the table, "It's really loud in here," she whispered. Something was wrong and she knew it. For an odd reason, Ally couldn't shut off her telepathy.
Austin focused on her, narrowing her eyes, "You told me you could turn it off whenever you wanted."
She nodded, "I usually can."
"What are you talking about?" he said, "Why can't you right now?"
Ally sighed, "I don't know, Austin. I'll figure it out. It's probably...stress or from being tired. We were driving all night," she said. Austin nodded in agreement.
The table fell silent as they waited for their meals. Ally had her palm to her cheek and her elbow on the table as she tried to force herself to stay awake. She had stayed up with Austin all night because she needed to make sure nobody was following them and now she was exhausted.
"Here you go," smiled the waitress, handing over the two plates of pancakes.
He's so attractive. What's he doing with her? Ally overheard but the waitress kept smiling at her. Ally ignored it.
"Call me over if you need anything," she said, prancing off.
Austin was watching Ally. He saw the annoyance on her face. The corners of his lips tugged up slightly, "What did you hear?" he asked.
"I thought it was rude to listen in," Ally said sarcastically. Austin rolled his eyes. "She thinks you're attractive and wants to know why you're here with me." Austin had a smirk on his face but when he heard what she'd said, it faltered. He stared at her. "Don't look so surprised; People don't have the nicest thoughts about me. Never have, never will."
Austin stared at her for a few more seconds before he watched her begin to eat her breakfast. He then dug into his as well. He'd only finished one pancake when he noticed Ally fidgeting and shifting uncomfortably in her seat. He slowly glanced over at her. She rubbed her ear with her index finger. She kept cringing every now and then and was starting to look overwhelmed and uncomfortable. Her eyes kept flickering around the restaurant, gazing toward each and every table that had customers seated in them.
He cleared his throat, "Um...How about we take this to go? I want to get on the road again."
Ally looked at him and nodded. Austin waved for the waitress and asked for a check. Ally's heart was starting to pound, her ear drums throbbing.
This guy is such a boring date.
I love her. She's perfect for me.
Oh my Gosh, I forgot to let the dog out last night!
Ugh, I hate this job.
Okay, Mister Interview-Man, where the hell are you?
Ugh, these lyrics suck! I'm quitting songwriting for real now.
Oh, my joints are hurting so badly. I think I should get home and lay down.
I need to break it off with Simon. He's just...ugh.
Ugh, freaking Becky needs to mind her business. I hate her. Why am I here with her again?
Holy Shit, I'm a philosopher. I think I found my calling.
This biology makes no sense. Why should I have to know the difference between the Mitochondria or the Ribosome? Freaking stupid.
I am dying. It's official. This is the worst breakfast-date of my entire life. Screw me. Screw him. Screw life.
That waiter is so-
Ally couldn't take it anymore. She felt her palms getting clammy as she jumped out of the booth, hitting her knee against the table as she did causing the plates and glasses on the table to clatter. People glanced over at her as she hurried out of the restaurant.
"Ally," Austin tried but she was already running out the door. He sighed, glancing at the few customers who were looking at him. He smiled politely and waited for the waitress to come back. He paid as she brought him their pancakes in a Styrofoam box.
Austin hurried out of the restaurant and found Ally leaning against his car, staring at her feet and holding her palms to her ears. She looked tense and stiff standing there like a board. She glanced and saw Austin. "Ally-"
"We need to go," she said quickly, yanking on the car's handle impatiently. Austin watched her for a couple minutes before reaching into his pocket, grabbing his keys and unlocking the car. Ally jumped in shutting the door loudly. He was getting worried; why couldn't she control her telepathy?
He got into the driver's side shutting the door. "Why can't you control it?" he asked her, starting the ignition.
"I don't know," she replied, "Could you be quiet, please? Just for a few minutes?" she asked him. Austin glanced at her and slowly nodded. He pulled out of the parking lot and started off down the road. Ally sighed in relief, now that it was quiet and she couldn't hear anything. She was thankful that she couldn't hear Austin's thoughts.
Hours had passed and they were in the middle of no where. Austin had stopped the car on the side of the road and was flipping through a map. He was frowning down at the map. Suddenly the car doors flew open. "Oh, Geez!" Austin shouted, startled. Austin and Ally reached for their doors and slamming them shut. Then the map was ripped from Austin's hands, giving him a paper cut. He hissed in pain and started sucking on his finger tip. The paper was thrown into the backseat and their bags were being tossed around.
"Austin! What's wrong with me?" Ally shrieked, holding her head. She tried to focus on putting everything down. She was able to hold it back, but her brain was pulsing beneath her skull. Ally couldn't understand why she was losing control of her abilities.
He looked around before focusing on her, "I'm not sure. Try to control it."
Ally nodded. "Okay." But she wasn't sure how long she could control it. Her telepathy was haywire and there was nothing she could do about it. She wondered what would happen when her telekinesis got out of control, people could be killed. Her face paled. What if she lost control over her life manipulation. Things were going to get ugly.
It was hard for Ally to stay in control. It seemed as though her abilities had a mind of their own while their bags, loose papers, and garbage kept throwing itself around the car.
Austin kept reading through the map frantically. There had to be a way for them to get somewhere. Austin swallowed hard. He recalled the day at the restaurant with Dez and Trish; Ally had tossed cars, set them on fire, if she gets too out of control this just might be the day he dies.
He jumped when the glove box dropped open, papers flying and the doors snapped opened again. Ally was holding her head. She had her eye brows furrowed, trying to focus on stopping all of this and controlling it. Something was wrong with her, something was really wrong with her. She hasn't lost control over her abilities for two years. Why was it happening now?
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice sounding just as panicked as Austin felt. Austin didn't reply, he just focused on keeping the map in his grip long enough to find a route to get them on the road again. He figured if they were driving it would most likely distract her.
"Okay, Okay," Austin said, tossing the map in the backseat, "I found a road that'll lead us back to the main highway." Ally nodded once and as she did the doors slammed shut again and everything dropped. Austin looked around and then at her. "Good, good. Keep it under control." he said.
Ally pulled her hands away from her head, sighing in relief now that she gained control. "Austin, what are we going to do?" she questioned him, "I can't control any of this and I can't determine how many abilities are going to go out of my control. I can't tell you that I won't kill people by accident." Austin looked at her.
He shifted his eyes, pondering his thoughts before he rested his gaze on her again, "Then I guess we'll figure it out when the time comes." He then pushed the car into drive and sped off, his speed pushing about 140 mph.
Austin glanced over at his clock. Two hours had passed by and he managed to find the road again, but he was nervous for Ally's abilities to get out of control. There were other cars on the road and he didn't know what could possibly happen.
He glanced over at Ally and saw her fast asleep. Nothing was happening so far. Maybe she was just tired. Maybe she requires sleep to be able to control her abilities. Suddenly, his phone started vibrating. He grabbed it and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?"
"Austin!" Trish said.
"Trish?" Austin replied, his heart picking up in speed from wondering if Jimmy was on to him.
"Don't worry, I'm not calling about Jimmy. We've played him off that we don't know what you did with Ally or where you are. Dez is even falsely tracking you." Trish said. Austin felt relief wash over him. "But something's going really wrong right now."
"What's up?" he asked worriedly.
"Well, all of the people who have abilities have been thrown into quarantine. Something is wrong with them. Their abilities have gone absolutely nuts and they have no control over it and we don't know why." she explained.
Austin let out a breath, "Oh, God," he mumbled, glancing over at Ally's sleeping figure.
"What's wrong?" Trish said.
"Well, that's exactly what's happening to Ally," he gritted his teeth. The line was quiet.
"Are you okay?" she asked after a moment. Austin sighed, nodding his head although she couldn't see him.
"I'm fine, Trish. I've got everything under control." he said.
"Do you?" she challenged. Austin sighed again, focusing on the road intensely. "Austin, she could hurt someone."
"I know that," Austin snapped, "But...We'll worry about that when the time comes. She's fine right now. Her telepathy is a little bit drastic, but she got control of her telekinesis." Austin said.
"What are you going to do when she can't get control over taking people's lives, Austin?" she asked him.
He ignored her, "Do you know what's causing this?"
She sighed, "No. Dez is working on it. It's every person with abilities all over the world or at least it's getting to be every single one of them. Nobody knows why. Dez thinks it's some sort of sickness. They're getting a virus and only the one's with abilities can get infected."
"A virus? Virus's can be treated can't they?" Austin replied.
"I'm sure something will show up and we can fix this. But if it is a virus like we're thinking it is, we need to know what's causing it. Did Ally do anything specific yesterday? When did it show up?" Trish asked.
"I...I don't know! She's been in the cabin the entire time and she never mentioned to me about not being able to control her abilities until this morning." Austin said.
"Dez is 80% sure that it's a virus. Talk to Ally and figure out what she could've done that made this happen. Report back to me when you know. I've got to get back to work. Bye." Trish hung up the phone as did Austin.
"A virus?"
Austin jumped, "Geez," he said, glancing at Ally. "I had no idea you woke up."
"I could hear Trish," Ally said softly. Austin nodded, glancing from her to the road.
"Yes...They think it's a virus. But that's okay, we'll fix it," Austin assured her.
"Well, you better hurry," Ally murmured. He frowned just as rain started to pour. "I'll try not to flood everything," she mumbled.
"Ally, this isn't you...this could just...this could be just the weather!" Austin said.
"There were no clouds a few seconds ago," she deadpanned. Austin took a deep breath and released it.
"Ally, when did this start?" he questioned.
"I didn't notice it until I got out of the car to get breakfast this morning," Ally told him. Austin nodded.
"What did you do yesterday?" he asked.
"You were with me the entire day yesterday," she retorted, "I've been in that cabin and haven't left it until yesterday." Ally stopped, "Wait a second..." Austin looked at her.
"What?" he asked her.
"Maybe it's something in the air...we stopped for gas in the middle of the night and I thought I smelt something like smoke, remember? I asked you about it and you didn't smell anything." Ally said.
"But what is it from?" Austin replied, glancing at Ally.
"An ability," Ally answered immediately, "It had to be an ability."
"I need to tell Trish." Austin said, grabbing his phone to call Trish. He called Trish and told her about Ally's thoughts. Trish then passed along the news to Dez who then replied that every individual infected had smelt the same thing. "Find who is doing this and stop them."
Austin hung up the phone. They both jumped when suddenly lightning struck down not too far from where they are and a fire engulfed the grass. "How long is this going to last?" Ally questioned, "Things are just going to get worse!"
"Don't worry! We have it under control!" Austin told her.
"We lost control a long time ago!" Ally snapped at him. The car doors snapped open again and papers began flying. Ally could hear the powerful rain and the coolness of the air sweep upon her.
"Ally, I know you're scared, but you need to control this. Try to at least." Austin said, reaching over and touching her hand. She took her hand away from him. Austin glanced at her before focusing on the road again.
"Austin, we need to get off this road," Ally said, "I don't know what ability is going to show up next and I don't think you want to witness people die in front of you."
"Ally, you won't hurt them," he said.
"Austin, I don't have a choice! It's out of my control!" she yelled at him, "Just get off this stupid road! You should've killed me when you had the chance! This is your fault!"
"It's not my fault!" he spat, "You deserve to live as much as everyone else does! We'll figure this out, this virus won't last forever and we'll get everything under control again."
Ally didn't argue. Austin turned on his blinker and went down another back road, fleeing from human contact as much as he could. He just needed a place to keep Ally until this was all over. The doors were opening and closing repeatedly and Austin was sure one of their bags had fallen out.
Austin realized Ally had fallen extremely quiet and when he looked over, he saw she had her legs pulled toward her chest and her face was buried into her knees. He sighed, touching her leg gently. "It's okay, Ally. It won't last forever."
"Who knows if this is even a virus," Ally said, "It's somebody's ability. It will last until they make it stop."
Austin nodded. He kept driving but didn't move his hand from her leg. He could hear the tires spitting gravel as they travelled further down the road, his windshield blurry with rain. Austin glanced out both sides of his window. The fire was following them, but they were lucky enough to have the rain wash it away.
Austin kept driving until he saw a barn. It was abandoned and looked to be creepily vacant and burnt up. "We could stay here," he said, spinning the wheel so he was cruising toward the barn.
"I'll try not to kill us with all the loose wood," Ally said. Austin gave her a look before they got out of the car. Austin grabbed their bags, grateful when he realized the one of the bags actually hadn't fallen out.
"Do you hear anything?" Austin asked as they looked upon the burned barn. Ally shook her head. The rain had soaked their hair, causing it to stick to their faces. "Well...Let's see what we can make of it."
Ally followed Austin inside the barn. They scoped out the place and Austin decided they should take upper ground because of the rain. They climbed up the beaten up ladder carefully and stayed in the loft area. The place wasn't too torn up. It was enough to provide them with shelter and a bit of warmth.
Ally asked, "What if I set this on fire while we're in here?"
"You won't," Austin said, sighing. Ally shuffled her feet. Austin watched her for a couple of seconds. "Ally, you still have control," he said. She looked at him. "If something does happen, use your ability to stop it. It might not go away the way you want it to, but...try to...I don't know...move it away? If there's fire, make it do what you want."
Ally slowly nodded, "I suppose that would work." she said. Austin smiled slightly and nodded. Ally laid down on the hard, uncomfortable floor. She stared up at the beaten up ceiling. The rain was plummeting down hard. Austin watched her as she closed her eyes and then suddenly the rain got lighter. She opened her eyes and grinned at him.
"See, You can do it." he said. He got down and laid next to her. "I used to lay like this in my backyard with my Mom when I was a kid."
Ally looked at him, "Yeah?"
He nodded, "We used to stare at the stars and tell each other what we saw. I loved it because we were always staring at the same sky but saw different things." he said. Ally smiled slightly. "She used to tell me that when you feel lonely to talk to the moon because someone somewhere is talking to the moon, too."
Ally blinked, "My mom used to tell me that."
Austin turned his head and looked at her, "Really?" he asked. She nodded. She realized how close their faces were and so did he. He hesitated before he closed the gap, pressing his mouth against hers. Ally's mouth moved with his until she realized what she was doing and pulled away. She looked away from him. Austin stared at the side of her face. "Why'd you pull away?" he asked.
Ally stared at the ceiling, looking at the cracks in it. A water droplet landed on her forehead and she didn't bother to wipe it away. "Because we shouldn't."
"Says who?" he replied, leaning over on his elbow to look at her.
"Me," Ally replied. She looked at him finally. "You deserve so much more."
"You are so much more," Austin said, "And I mean you. Not your abilities. You." Ally stared at him before she caved, wrapping her arms around his neck and feeling his mouth on hers. And for the first time, she felt safe. She felt secure.