At 5:30 Dean woke Rory up and they checked out. She was wearing her own jeans but one of Dean's big sweatshirts. She tried to get Dean to let her sit in the back seat, but he shook his head. She hadn't slept very well that night. Her mind was twisting with escape plans, trying to find a safe one. He still had a gun, although she didn't think he would use it on her. At least, she hoped not. She still had to factor it in to the situation. She knew that since he had used his mother's credit card to rent the car they would have the license plate numbers. Dean however knew this too. They switched cars that same morning. It would hold them off for at least a little while. Rory was sure somebody was going to find her, but escaping seemed necessary. She didn't know if she could stand another silent hour in the car, his evil glare on her, and certainly not another night in a hotel, where her safety was riding on Dean's emotions. She didn't know what to do.
Dean kept his eye on her at all times. As though he was analyzing her, and it scared her. She didn't know how to get away. He could run faster then her, and was certainly stronger. Even if she did get away she'd be all alone in a strange place until somebody could come and get her. She closed her eyes and imagined that she was home with her mom right now.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lorelei's hands were shaking. They'd been on the road all night, and Christopher was as scared and worried as she was. He offered to help drive, and she had agreed. She couldn't sleep, only cry. "When I get my hands on that bastard, I swear I'll kill him. It will be so fucking painful," said Lorelei, her hands gripped in fists. "How could he do this? She's Rory she wouldn't ever hurt anybody! God, how did this happen?" said Christopher, trying to calm Lorelei's rage, although he was wondering where he could get a gun. The police had told them about the rental car, and they were going to make it at least that far. They would find their daughter, and her kidnapper.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jess was sitting in the upstairs of the diner, his face emotionless. Inside however, emotions were warring and he didn't know what to do. He tried to think that it wasn't his fault, but if she hadn't kissed him this would never have happened. That being said, there was no way he could regret the kiss. He just regretted not making Rory break up with Dean. Or at least making sure it was a secret that nobody could ever know. He wished he could save her, but he felt like it was him who put her in the position to need saving. He wanted to kill Dean, and he knew the feeling was mutual. Luke had tried to comfort Jess, but was also preoccupied in his own feelings. First of all he was like a father to Rory, and secondly, he really liked Lorelei, and she was with Christopher. Luke didn't know how he could feel jealous now, especially of parents that were trying to find their daughter, but Luke wished that he was the one comforting Lorelei. He wished he was Rory's father.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rory was sitting on the far edge of the car's seat. She wanted to be as far away from him as possible. She picked up the book again.
A practice of hatred and ignoring each other was set up for the schoolteacher and her true love. But this they could not carry on for forever, because even through the hate, a passion burned. And somehow, their paths crossed again, and they could not keep it away. They made love, escaping from a party she was attending with her husband. He didn't notice her absence. The schoolteacher didn't regret what she had done, but felt bad at the same time, and tried to forget about it. She couldn't tell the merchant, for fear of hurting him, so she stayed in his arms, and bed, and tried to forget about her true love. The schoolteacher went away to her mother's for a few months. The merchant attributed it to her mother's sickness, but really the schoolteacher needed to sort her mind out. Throughout that time, the other man had many women, but still he loved the schoolteacher. The merchant, was happily unaware of what was happening with is wife.
That was enough, Rory decided. She was almost scared to learn what else happened in the book. Her heart prayed for a twist in it's pages, that didn't seem so familiar, but somehow she doubted it. Was her life story, really such like a book? Especially a book that Dean had read? Did he know how it ended? Did Rory want to?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After breaking several speeding laws, Christopher pulled into the hotel that he knew that Rory had stayed in. The credit card had left a nice trace. He interrogated the man at the front desk, who could only tell them that they had left very early in the morning, and that they had stayed on the 6th floor. The police had already been there, and instructed him not to give out any information, what had been given out was simply pressured. The police called Lorelei's cell phone, and told her that he had picked up a new car, which was now being searched for. They had searched the other car for evidence, and had found near nothing. Christopher yelled at them for awhile. That's when they got the other call. A policeman had seen the car speeding down main street of a small town called Chestnut.
Lorelei and Christopher ran to the jeep and sped to the town. They hoped today would be the day the found their daughter. Also, the day they killed somebody's son.