Chapter 10

A New Life

'How are you holding up?'

Dean's voice made Renee snap out of her thoughts. Up until now, she had watched the world behind the car's window passing her by as they drove further away from the bloodbath that had occurred a few moments ago in the apartment. The outside world had no idea that Dean crime had battered James' face before Renee, the tormented prostitute whose miserable situation didn't do anything to cast away the wicked lust of men, stabbed him until there wasn't a single drop of blood in his body, until the murder would be reported on the news. Renee wondered if the police had already arrived at the apartment, but now that she thought about it, she doubted whether the neighbors had called them. Hell, she was pretty damn sure they had heard her cry out in pain whenever James let his fury rain upon her during these past months, and yet no police officer showed up at their doorstep to arrest the bastard and take her to safety. Either the neighbors were too scared to call the police or they just simply didn't care about the abuse. Renee was convinced it was the latter.

'I... I'm fine, I guess...' Renee replied. 'It's just that... God, I can't believe what happened, it's so... so...'

'Fucked up?' Dean suggested before stopping in front of a red traffic light. For a moment the neon red light reminded Renee of the blood that had been spilled in the apartment, but she quickly pulled herself together.

'Yeah, you could say that again.' she said. Yes, fucked up was what came the closest to what she was feeling right now. 'Jesus Christ, Dean... I killed him... I couldn't stop stabbing him, I can't-'

'Don't tell me you are feeling regret about this.' The traffic light switched from red to green and Dean speeded up. 'That son of a bitch deserved everything that was coming to him, scum like him doesn't deserve to live. Trust me Renee, you practically did the whole world a huge fucking favor by killing him.'

Renee let out a sigh and stared through the window. 'I know he had ruined my life...' she spoke with a soft voice. 'But killing somebody just isn't right...'

'Said who? Seriously Renee, some people are just better off when they vanish off the Earth. Think about this... if you hadn't killed him, he would've probably moved on to another girl to make her life a living hell. Would you want that?'

'No, of course not!'

'Then there's nothing to feel like shit about. He won't hurt you anymore nor anyone else, simple as that.'

For a short period of time, it was quiet inside the car, if the monotone roaring of the engine didn't count. They drove around aimlessly in Rey City for a while, since Renee didn't give any instructions about how to leave the city.

'So, do you have any specific place you want to go?' Dean suddenly asked.

That was a damn good question. For a moment Renee wanted to tell that they could go to her late grandmother's house, but then she quickly realized that the house was already sold; the new residents probably wouldn't be too fond of giving shelter to them.

'I don't care where we're going.' Renee replied. 'As long as we can get as far away from this damn city as possible.'

'Sounds good to me. Do you at least know how we can get out of here?'

'Y-yeah, I think I do.' In the distance, Renee saw the entrance of the park, the place where she used to wait for potential customers. She wanted to leave that sickening memory behind her as soon as possible. 'There's the park. You have to turn left here, then turn left again at the second turn.'

'Right.' When they got close to the park, Dean turned left and a few meters later, they turned left once again. Glancing at the outside mirror, Renee saw the distance between the car and her 'work place' increased more and more. It felt like there was a rope tied to her and the park; the more the distance grew, the more the 'rope' would tense up... until it would eventually snap. When they turned left at the second turn, Renee could feel the 'rope' snapping in two, freeing her. It was so strange, but it felt good in some way. However, she couldn't help but look in the outside mirror to check if someone was following them; even if James was dead now, the threat of his friends following and hurting her was still embedded in her mind.

'Chill out, there's no-one behind us.' Dean said while still focusing on the road in front of them. 'If someone had been following us, I would've noticed it already.'

'I really hope you're right about that, Dean...' Renee sighed.

'Do I have to turn somewhere?'

'No, you don't. Just keep going straight.'

The closer they were at leaving Rey City behind them, the more Renee could taste the freedom she had longed for such a long time on the tip of her tongue. Finally, after months of suffering so much physical and sexual abuse all because of that monster James, she was about to be freed from her chains that kept her here. A new life was awaiting her, she felt like Dean had given her a second chance; she owed her freedom to him.

And just like that, the last 'chain' that bound her to Rey City broke when they passed the sign saying 'You have just left Rey City. Have a safe trip and see you next time!'.

Renee hoped this hell-hole would burn down to the ground one day, along with all the men who had taken advantage of her situation.

Damn it... they had been driving for almost fifteen minutes now and there still wasn't a single goddamn sign of life.

They had finally left that shithole of a city behind them, but now that their main mission had been completed, Dean had absolutely no clue of what to do next. James was dead, Renee's days of working as a prostitute were over, so what were they going to do now? Dean could feel a stinging pain in his knuckles, but he couldn't care less about his damaged knuckles; that piece of shit James deserved to have his face beaten into a complete fucking mess. From now on he would never be able to hurt Renee again, and Dean was sure no other men would do that to her as well. He would punch them until his knuckles exposed the bones underneath the burst skin if he had to.

Holy hell... who ever knew it would come to this? Agreeing with a prostitute to kill her abusive pimp so she could escape from him? Dean was sure that it wasn't because of love, yes, he was absolutely sure of that. Sure, Renee was a very pretty woman, he had to admit that, but love...? No, he didn't feel that for her, but he did sort of care about her. It was most likely that he did this because he thought she deserved a second chance. Plus, he felt like there was some sort of strange connection between them. They were both fucked over by life, which is possibly why he chose to care about her. Besides, perhaps a little bit of company while he tried his best to stay out of reach from the police wouldn't be that bad.

Renee hadn't said anything during the last fifteen minutes; as if she was in some sort of trance, she stared through the window at the sun that slowly went down, it would only last a few more hours before the day would end. If you could name up one of the things Dean didn't like, it would be silent car rides. He pushed on the button of the car's radio and almost immediately 'Hotel California' from the Eagles broke through the silence.

'Welcome to the Hotel California... Such a lovely place, such a lovely place, such a lovely face...'

Despite the pain in his knuckles and knowing the fact that he was partially responsible for the death of a pimp, Dean curled the corners of his mouth into a smile. Thank God there was still room on the modern-day radio for some good music, instead of that stupid, talentless shit they aired nowadays. Suddenly, Dean could swear he heard Renee humming along with the song. His eyes darted to his right and indeed, she was humming with a soft voice while she continued to stare through the window. 'Good to know that she has a good taste in music.' Dean thought to himself.

Then, when the song was heading towards its end, the escaped criminal finally spotted two signs of life; an advertisement board that informed them that there was a fast food restaurant one kilometer away, quickly followed by a neon sign that read 'Motel Sunset View' in bright red. Less than a hundred meters away, they saw a motel including a big parking lot on the side of the road.

'About freaking time.' Dean mumbled. Looked like that motel was going to be their hideout for now.

They turned right, parking on the motel's parking lot. From the outside, Motel Sunset View looked pretty much like every other standard motel you'd see in the United States. It was shaped like a shoebox, had three floors and Dean was pretty sure some of the rooms were inhabited by junkies. But it was a place they could stay at nonetheless.

'How about we're going to crash here for a couple of days?' Dean asked while he shut off the car's engine. 'Hotel California' was abruptly cut off before it could even completely finish. 'I guess you'd probably prefer more of that fancy shit, but-'

'No no, it's fine with me.' Renee replied. 'It doesn't bother me a bit, as long as it's cozy inside.'

'Let's find out about that, then.'

And if some junkie dared to harm her, Dean was more than willing to shove a heroin needle or two down his damn throat.

Much to Dean's surprise, the interior of their motel room looked actually cleaner than he'd expected.

It looked like it had been cleaned just a few hours ago, God knows what a mess it must've been before they arrived. The motel room looked pretty dull if you would ask him; the walls were covered with a brown wallpaper with a pattern of small blue and yellow trees on it, the sheets of the queen bed had been neatly ironed (despite that, Dean really hoped they wouldn't find an urine stain before going to sleep), there was a wooden closet for them to stuff their belongings into, a TV in front of the bed was going to give them entertainment if they wanted to and a digital alarm clock was put on top of the nightstand on the left side of the bed. Overall, it didn't look that bad.

Staying at this place for three days and three nights would cost thirty-five dollars for each day, the chubby lady with her hair full of hairspray and wearing a pair of glasses that would've been fashionable in the fifties informed them when they stood at the reception desk to check in. Renee had checked her wallet and found out they had enough money to pay for the stay.

'So, what do you think, Renee?' Dean asked. He took of his jacket and tossed it onto a chair in the corner of the room. 'Does it look cozy enough for you?'

Then he heard the sound of a suitcase dropping to the floor, then followed by a faint thud. Looking up, he saw that Renee had let herself fall on top of the queen bed, spreading her arms and legs and staring at the ceiling. She smiled from ear to ear and started to laugh. It was the first time that Dean had ever heard Renee laugh... and it sounded like she was genuinely happy. Renee covered her mouth with her hands, muffling her laughter. A tear rolled over the corner of her eye and trickled down her temple.

'Oh my God...' Renee chuckled. 'I can't believe it, Dean... I'm free, I'm finally free! It's over, I can finally move on with my life! Goddamn it, it feels like I'm dreaming!'

Dean smiled. 'Glad to hear you're enjoying your freedom.'

He decided to join her on the bed. As soon as his back touched the sheets, his entire body relaxed. 'Aaah, it has been such a long time since I've been lying on something comfortable.' Dean exclaimed. 'This is definitely so much better than a bench in the park.'

Renee slightly sat up and looked at Dean in surprise. 'Wait, you have been sleeping in the park all these days?' she asked. 'Your back must be freaking sore then!'

'Nah, it isn't that bad. I have been sleeping on worse places. Alleys, floors of abandoned buildings... that bench had to be the most comfortable of them all.'

'Wow, really? You have been sleeping in abandoned buildings?'

'Let's just say that I would often rather sleep there than stay at my folks' place for a second longer.'

'Damn... was your relationship with your parents that bad?'

'You could say that again. They weren't actually the number one parents in the world, you know. They were more busy with getting drunk and arguing than actually looking after their own damn kid. Honestly... To this day, I wonder why the fuck someone would have children if they are not able to take care of one.'

'I guess you are right about that... Did you fight a lot with your parents?'

Dean chuckled. 'You bet I did. Hell, I fought with almost everybody. Friends, family, teachers at school, scumbags that hung around in the neighborhood, you name it, I have fought them all. I guess I just didn't give a damn about anything back then.'

'I'm sorry to hear about that...'

'Hey, don't worry about it. Fighting and not giving a shit is a big part of me.'

'But you also have a good side, I have seen it.' Renee rolled onto her side, staring at Dean while supporting her head with her hand. 'You were the only person to care about me when I thought I would be stuck there forever. You treated me like a human being instead of a lust object, you stood up for me in that diner, I'm forever grateful for that, really. You gave me a second chance, you helped me to escape... You are a good person, Dean.'

Holy hell, did he just hear that right? Nobody had ever called him a good person before... For the first time in ages, Dean had no idea of what he was going to say. He wasn't used to receive a compliment like that. You could call him the worst names, it wouldn't move him one bit, but now that Renee called him a good person... Dean looked for words to say, but couldn't find any. Would Renee still think he had a heart of gold if she would know that he had killed his wife and her lover in a fit of rage? He highly doubted it. But for now, he planned to keep his past as a secret.

For a little while, they both didn't say anything as they were enjoying this peaceful moment.

Suddenly, Renee's stomach loudly growled, making her giggle in embarrassment.

'Looks like somebody's hungry.' Dean said with a hint of amusement in his voice. 'I have seen that there's a fast food joint nearby, care to have a bite there?'

'That sounds great!' Renee sat up and smiled at Dean. 'I'm craving for something with lots of bacon and cheese.'

Dean chuckled and nodded; she sure as hell deserved that after everything she went through.