Chapter 11
His True Face
Today was the perfect weather to celebrate Dean's and Renee's newfound freedom. It almost felt like they had entered a whole new world by leaving the rainy, depressing Rey City for the warm sun that made the guests at Motel Sunset View go outside and visit the motel's small pool.
It had been such a long time since Dean and Renee had a good night of sleep; after they returned from eating a hamburger (thankfully for Renee, they did have hamburgers with bacon and cheese) at the nearby fast food restaurant, they stayed up for a little while watching TV before going to bed. Of course they had checked the news before shutting off the TV; luckily there weren't any reports of James' murder, both Dean and Renee hoped it would stay that way. Dean wished for James' corpse to rot away in that damn apartment without anyone batting an eye.
But despite a peaceful night without waking up a single time due to a nightmare or the urgent need to go to the bathroom, they were rudely woken up early the next morning by a heated argument that unfolded in the motel room next to them. When the partners in crime listened at the shouting from the couple on the other side of the wall, it became clear that the dear hubby had drank a beer or two too much and flirted with another woman in his drunken stupor, and his wife clearly wasn't amused by this. The fight ended with the sound of something shattering to pieces onto the floor (a vase, a mirror, or their marriage) and the hysterical sobbing of a woman. Dean looked at Renee and widened his blue eyes as much as possible, faking an expression of pure shock. Renee couldn't help but snort and giggle in amusement; who knew that this guy also had a funny side.
Dean had to admit one little thing, though; it was a little bit awkward to sleep with Renee in the same bed. Perhaps the lady behind the reception desk assumed that they were a couple, which was probably why they were given a room with a queen bed. Dean hoped Renee didn't feel too uncomfortable about this. He wondered if she had plenty of sleep last night despite everything that had happened, but she didn't make a tired impression or anything when she woke up. It must've felt amazing for her to not wake up with the suffocating anxiety of being forced to have sex with strange men and possibly receiving a beating from your pimp at the end of the day if she didn't make enough money. But those days were over now, Renee had all the right to start a new life after all the shit she had been through.
The two decided to stay at the motel for today to get some proper rest. In the afternoon, they thought it was time to get out of their dull motel room and get a bit of fresh air.
'I have seen a pool outside, do you think we can go there?' Renee asked while sitting on the edge of the bed. 'It has been a while since I went swimming, it would be nice to do that again...'
Dean thought about it. Sure, it was a nice weather outside to go out and take a dive, plus sitting in their hotel room all day long would be a waste of their time. But then again, hanging out near the pool would be a risky move as well; who knows, maybe someone would recognize him as Dean Ambrose, that bastard who was suspected of killing his wife and another man and escaped while he was on his way to his trial. However, he hadn't seen anything about him on the news last night... Fine. He decided to give it a shot.
'Alright then.' Dean said. 'You got a bikini or anything?'
'I actually do!' Renee replied. Dean could swear he saw a little happy twinkle in her hazel eyes. 'Hold on a minute, I'm gonna get changed.' The young woman opened the closet and took a light yellow bikini, a pair of brown slippers and a slightly transparent white dress. With those pieces of clothing she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. A few moments later she came back, donning the white dress with the bikini underneath it. Dean blinked his eyes in surprise; she almost looked like a goddess.
'Okay, I'm done.' Renee said. 'Let's go, shall we?'
Dean had decided to leave his leather jacket in the motel room, because there was no way in hell he was ever going to sit there in the heat while sweating like a pig due to wearing that thing. Too bad he didn't have a pair swimming trunks, or else he would've gone for a dive as well. When they arrived at the pear-shaped pool of the motel, Dean and Renee immediately noticed that other people came up with the same idea Renee had. Some of the motel's guests had already taken a dive into the water that seemed to sparkle in the bright sunlight while others lazily lounged on the white plastic seats in the sun or in the shadow. As Dean and Renee walked past the edge of the pool, they heard a young couple who were supporting themselves in the water by folding their arms over the edge speaking in a foreign language they didn't understand a single word of. Tourists, Dean figured out. Have fun spending your vacation in a complete fucking wasteland, he guessed.
'Oh look, there's a spot right over there!' Renee exclaimed, pointing at two empty seats. 'Do you want to sit there?'
'Fine with me.' Dean mumbled. They walked towards the seats and put their towels on it (Renee had quickly grabbed two towels from the bathroom's cabinet before they left their room).
'I think we can't stay in the sun for too long.' Renee said. 'Too bad I didn't bring any sunscreen, I love to get a tan when the sun's out! Seriously, I feel kind of stupid for forgetting it...'
Look at her pale arms, Dean thought that she indeed needed a good tan. Her skin was so pale, as if the abuse she had suffered at the hands of that asshole James had drained whatever amount of tan she got during the summer right out of her. There was no way of hiding those ugly bruises that decorated the skin on her arms, they were out in the open for everyone to see. Dean hoped that James would burn in Hell for everything he had done to her.
'I don't think you're stupid, Renee.' he said. Time to boost her self-confidence. 'Never thought you were.'
'Really?' Renee smiled from ear to ear. 'You really think that? It has been a long time since anyone had ever told me that...'
The smile was warm and sincere, Dean could clearly see it. And if he had to be honest... he thought it made her look even more prettier. It reminded him of a line from 'Hotel California'. 'Such a lovely face...'
Renee thought it was time to get a better access to getting a proper tan. She took off her dress and tossed it next to her seat, revealing her light yellow bikini. Dean was mildly shocked to see even more bruises on her body, making him wish James would burn in Hell even harder. This young woman right here could've been shining on millions of television screens as a popular interviewer on some news channel. And even if she wouldn't make it to that, she could've always been a model or hell, even an actress. James had taken that all away from her by forcing her to become a prostitute; Dean was so glad that he was now rotting on the floor in that damn apartment. But despite the rage that he felt for a little moment, he also felt a bit of admiration; Renee had the guts to show her bruises, like a survivor would proudly show his battle scars. And Renee was without a doubt a survivor, she wasn't afraid to show the people at the pool what she had been through. Dean had to admit that he respected her for that.
They lounged on their seats for a while and so far, Dean hadn't seen anything that could suggest that someone had recognized him as the escaped murderer. Good, he preferred to let it be like this. The longer he would remain a free man, the better.
She hadn't felt this much tranquility in ages. The warm light of the sun and the sparkling, babbling water of the pool was more than enough to bring back one of the few pleasant childhood memories Renee had. It was two years after her parents had met their untimely demise. Her grandmother owned a small cabin near a lake in the woods that she visited every summer and Renee was glad to come along with her. There weren't any other children from her age in the area, but that didn't mean she had a great time. The lake was huge and it was safe to swim in. The weather was always bright and warm, Renee loved to go outside each day to play in the woods and swim in the cool water of the lake. Those summers were the best summers of her life, it helped to ease the pain of the loss of her parents. But one day in autumn, it all abruptly came to an end when a bunch of delinquent teen boys thought it would be fun to set the cabin ablaze at night. Just like her grandmother, Renee was devastated when she heard the news; those boys had unwittingly taken a big part of her childhood away from her.
Come to think of it... Renee was actually in the mood for a good swim.
'Alright, here I go!' she said with a playful grin. Before Dean could even react, she stood up from her seat, ran towards the water like an excited child and jumped in with a loud splash, sending water flying everywhere, soaking the other guests and the tiling. Seconds later, Renee emerged at the surface, sliding her hand over her wet hair while sighing in satisfaction.
'Oh my God, Dean!' she exclaimed in excitement. 'You should get in here too, it's so good! You don't know what you're missing!'
Dean smiled and shook his head. 'No thanks, I'm fine. Besides, I don't have a pair of swimming trunks...'
Renee softly chuckled. 'Oops, that's right, I forgot about that! Sorry!'
'Don't worry about it.' No, Dean preferred to sit here and watch her swim. For some reason, she reminded him of a mermaid... perhaps it was due to the fact that she looked so pretty in the water.
So damn pretty.
Lying on the bed while zapping from channel to channel, Renee felt as fit as a fiddle.
A little while ago she had washed her hair in the bathroom, if there was one thing she couldn't stand it was the smell of chlorine. The entire bathroom smelled like that stuff after she had washed herself, she hoped Dean wouldn't mind it too much. He was in there by himself now, when he was done they would go out to have dinner, possibly in the same small town nearby where they had lunch this afternoon. Renee actually didn't mind having a hamburger again, but she hoped that they wouldn't eat hamburgers every single night, she was convinced she was going to be sick if that would happen. Her hair was almost dry, so it wouldn't be a problem to go outside.
Renee found it so hard to believe that she was safe now. Only now she started to realize that threat of James 'friends' stalking her until they would kill her was possible an empty threat, to keep her under his control. Hell, back then she believed every threat James made. But now her tormentor was dead... and she was the cause of it. She slaughtered him on the floor in their apartment, whenever Renee closed her eyes she could still picture how she launched the blade of the butcher knife into his stomach. Yes, at first she couldn't believe what she had done... but now here, lying on the queen bed in this motel room, she had never felt so free.
It was all because of Dean.
If he had never approached her back there at the park, she would still be trapped in the prostitution. Her knight in shining armor had arrived that day without her even realizing it, he had finally come for her to save her. Renee thought she would never meet a man again who would treat her well, unlike James and the customers. So far he had been nothing more but caring and protective towards her, and God, it felt so good. Renee felt safe with Dean, it was something she hadn't felt for ages. He had given her the chance to start a new life, she couldn't thank him enough for this.
Renee looked forward to live the rest of her life in freedom.
Just then, a well-known intro song of a news channel was heard from the TV. A camera zoomed on an anchorman standing behind a large desk. Renee could feel her heartbeat slightly rising; she hoped from the bottom of her heart nobody had found James' body yet.
'Good evening, this is the news from five o'clock, presented to you by Byron Saxton.' the anchorman announced. 'The manhunt for Dean Ambrose may have not had any results a few days ago, but things are finally looking up as a witness claims he had seen him in Rey City, a place not too far away from the location where the accident had happened, that gave him the chance to escape.'
A mug shot of Dean, where he was seen staring straight into the camera with a emotionless look on his face, was then shown on the screen for millions of people who were watching the news at the same time to see. It was the face of the man who had given Renee back her freedom.
Renee could feel her heart sinking to her feet as she widened her eyes in pure horror.
'What...?!' she whispered in disbelief.
'Ambrose is the main suspect of the gruesome murders of his wife Tina Ambrose and his colleague Frank Grey. During the ride towards his trial, the police car Ambrose collided and rolled down a hill. Ambrose survived the crash and escaped, even managing to get rid of his handcuffs. There hadn't been a trace of him since, until now. A witness who wishes to remain anonymous claims to have seen Ambrose exiting an apartment complex in Rey City along with a female companion whose identity is unknown so far. Security footage of the apartment complex has cemented this claim. In that same apartment complex the dead body of a man had been found by police after neighbors called 911 after hearing loud noises coming from the apartment on the same day Ambrose was seen at the location, but whether the death of the man is linked to Ambrose and the woman who was with him, has yet to be confirmed.'
Frozen in shock, Renee couldn't keep her eyes off the screen as the camera footage was broadcasted, showing her and Dean exiting the apartment complex.
Oh dear fucking God... she was traveling with a wanted criminal!
Renee thought she couldn't breathe, it felt like her throat had been squeezed shut. Dean, the man she thought she could feel safe with, the man who had saved her from a life of forced prostitution, was in fact a murderer on the run... Did that mean he was going to kill her too?! What was he doing there in the bathroom anyway, was he sitting there planning on how to kill her without leaving any further traces? Hundreds of thoughts raced through Renee's mind, dear God, she couldn't think clear anymore.
'Run!' a voice inside her head screamed. 'Run goddamn it, get out of here!'
The sense of safety was gone.
In a fit of panic-fueled adrenaline, Renee immediately jumped up from the bed, put on her boots, grabbed the car keys from the nightstand and rushed out of the motel room, slamming the door behind her. Her heart raised back up and was now pounding inside her head as she ran as fast as she could over the corridor. Renee forced herself not to look around her, afraid that Dean was right behind her and grab her to finish her off in the motel room. She didn't care where she would end up, as long as she could get out of this place, get away from Dean!
Renee ran down the stairs and nearly tripped over her own feet as a result of her panic, but managed to grab onto the guardrail before she could fall. She quickly pulled herself together and continued to run until she reached the bottom of the stairs.
The cold wind of the approaching night didn't do anything to calm her down. In the distance she saw the car at the parking lot, just a little bit more and she-
'Where do you think you're going, missy?'
A rough hand touched her shoulder, stopping Renee dead in her tracks and emit a loud gasp. Oh God, he had followed her! Now he was going to drag her back to the motel room and kill her for trying to escape! Turning around, Renee didn't look into the face of Dean, but the face of a man in his late fifties wearing a baseball cap and worn-down overalls. Jesus Christ, where did he come from?! A wide grin spread across the man's face. Renee smelled a scent she was all too familiar with; alcohol.
'What's the big hurry?' the man asked, the grin refusing to leave his face. 'A fine-looking girl like you shouldn't hurry for anything. Why don't you stay with me and make a poor man like me some company?'
Renee shook the hand of her shoulder. 'Please, I don't have time for this!' she panted. 'I have to get out of here, or-'
'You aren't going anywhere!' the man replied, grabbing Renee's arm. 'You and I are going to my truck to have a good time, you will forget all your worries when you're with me, baby.'
'Don't call me baby!' Renee exclaimed, trying to break free from the man's grip. 'Now let me go, please!'
'Oh, are we going to play hard to get? Fine with me! I don't mind roughing up a bitch like you before having a little bit of fun...' The man burst into a fit of laughter, which somehow made the smell of alcohol even worse.
'No, let go of me! Stop it! Please, somebody help!' Renee screamed.
'Will you just shut up?! Or do I have to-'
Suddenly the man was roughly tackled to the ground, causing him to let go of Renee's arm and exclaim a scream of surprise. The terrified woman's legs trembled as she watched the sight happening in front of her eyes.
Dean had managed to overpower her attacker, grab him by the head and slam it onto the concrete ground multiple times as hard as he could. Renee could swear that she heard the man's skull cracking, it almost made her sick to her stomach. Dean only stopped bashing the man's head he had unleashed all of his rage upon him. He let go of him, letting his head rest in a small pool of his own blood; the man emitted a soft groan of pain before falling silent.
Softly panting, Dean glanced at Renee, who was still standing there, her eyes wide with shock and her legs trembling like crazy.
'Are you alright? Did he hurt you?' Dean asked, his voice hoarse with anger.
Renee was unable to speak a single word, but managed to shake her head.
Looking down to the man, Dean spat on him, making it perfectly clear how much contempt he had for scum like him.
'Come on, Renee... Let's get back.'
