Steve felt his gun waver. The woman smiled at him.
"You ruined my suit," she said. The smile faded from her face. "And my day." She shot. One shot. It echoed madly in the tiny cell, ricocheting from the walls. The noise stirred Hopper.
Steve opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. The gun that had been in his hand fell to the floor. He looked down and noticed the blood dripping from his fingers. He closed his eyes, awash with pain and heard Dustin cry out. He felt hands upon him. Robin's hands.
"You shot him," she said with fear.
"Relax! Only in the shoulder." She cocked the gun again. "A reminder of who's in charge." She smiled. "You want be next?"
Steve opened his eyes. He wasn't dying. He noticed Dustin looking at him with new-found respect and was suddenly glad he hadn't fainted. He would have never let him live it down.
"You okay, bud?" he asked.
Steve nodded and held onto his useless arm. "I'm okay."
The woman turned to the thin man. "Untie him," she said. "This place will be crawling with police in a few hours and we don't want to leave any evidence behind." The man picked up the fallen gun and walked over to Hopper as told. The woman was enjoying herself. "You children can come with us," she said. "I have a special treat for you." She grinned.
"We're okay, thanks," said Dustin.
She sneered at him. "You will be first," she said. "I don't like your attitude."
Robin put an arm around Dustin's shoulders. "He's just a boy," she said. The woman stared at her with white-hot hatred, but Robin held her gaze. Then she smiled. "She was your sister, wasn't she?"
The woman frowned. "What?"
Robin's smile grew. "The woman in the bookshop. She was your sister. I can see the likeness. I thought you were twins at first, but you're older, aren't you? I can see you have to dye your hair…"
The woman lowered her gun and narrowed her eyes. Robin stepped towards her. She felt Dustin clutch at her t-shirt, trying to pull her back, but she shrugged him off.
"I was thinking, when we ploughed into you just then, how funny it would be, if I was responsible for killing two sisters just minutes apart…"
The woman's nostrils were dilating in her fury.
"What is she doing?" Dustin looked at Steve who was ashen. His arm was soaked in blood now. He shrugged, unable to answer. Dustin swallowed nervously, waiting for the woman to strike Robin.
From behind them another gun was cocked.
"Put it down." The thin man, hidden by Robin stepped out and kept his gun pointed at the woman. "I said put it down." He walked towards her and smiled. "Or I'll wipe that sickening smile from your face," he said.
The woman curled her lip. "Coward," she said and spat at him.
The man flinched and then wiped his face with his hand. He aimed the gun higher, pointing it at the woman's forehead. "I would take great pleasure in killing you," he said.
The woman shrugged, as if she had lost a minor argument. She handed the gun over.
"Now what?" she said.
"I won't kill you in front of these kids," he said. "But I will kill you, when I decide the time is right." He glanced at Robin. "Leave," he said. "Go out and around the corner, there is a black Mercedes. Meet me there."
"We can't let them have El," Mike said.
Will shook his head. He knew that, but he didn't know what they could do to stop them from taking her. They were just kids. El groaned.
"What's wrong with her?" Mike looked at her and knew she was somewhere far away. Somewhere dark. Somewhere she might never come back from. He felt a surge of resentment towards Hopper. Why had she risked everything for him? The resentment vanished, replaced by guilt.
"Mike…?" Will was at the window. He turned and looked at Mike. "They're just sitting out there…"
"Maybe calling for backup. They think El's dangerous..." He glanced at her again. She was so pale, and her lips were tinged blue.
"Stupid of me to leave the car in plain sight…" Will mumbled to himself. He turned back to the window. The passenger side door was opening.
She could still see Hopper, but he was so far away and getting smaller and smaller and then he disappeared altogether. She tried to move, but something heavy was upon her. The sky had fallen she thought to herself. But it wasn't the sky. It was something else. And wasn't just on her, it was inside her. She felt it inside her head, churning up her brain. She struggled against it. Somehow, she knew she was fighting for her life. This thing, whatever it was, had found her inside her own mind and now she was stuck.
You can't have me!
She tried to scream, but the grey stuff stifled her. Blind panic arose. She couldn't be stuck there. She had to get out. Mike would save her… She felt tears burning against her face and knew it was hopeless. And even when she heard him calling her, begging her to wake up, she knew he couldn't save her. She tried to relax and stay calm. She needed all her strength to fight her own mind.
The man used a key to let them into the motel room where they lay Hopper down on the small double bed. He groaned, but he was alive.
It was like being inside a cardboard box. Brown walls, brown carpet, brown curtains. Dustin glanced at the man derisively.
The man noticed and gave him a flicker of a smile.
"They know what hotel we were staying at. They'll be after me and if they find me, they find you. No room service here of course, but safer." He discarded his torn jacket and rolled up his sleeves. "Do you have money?" he said.
"Why?" Dustin asked.
The man frowned. "I have very little chance of getting you out of here alive," he said. "But if I come across a problem…" he paused. "I would rather pay them, than kill them."
Steve, ashen faced, studied the man.
"Why did you do this?" he asked.
The man grimaced. "Single man revolution," he said, and Steve couldn't work out if he was joking or not.
Robin took the wad of Russian money out of her bag.
"Is this any good?" she asked.
The man grinned. "Couldn't be better," he said. He walked out of the motel room and drove away.
"And that's the last we'll see of him," said Dustin.
"No way," said Robin. "He wouldn't have gone to so much trouble to save us if was going to ditch us…" She trailed off. She was uneasy. She glanced at Steve who had eased himself, gingerly onto the bed next to Hopper. She could tell he was trying to be brave. She loved him for it and for the first time, wondered what it would feel like to kiss him. She blushed at the thought. Wrong sex, she reminded herself.
She sat down on a small wooden chair and took in the scene; the blood, the wounds on Hopper's body. His torn and filthy clothes.
How were they ever going to get out of Alaska?
Dustin turned on a really old and really large television. He turned around grinning.
"Cool," he said. "The A-team!"
Mike was dragging El. It looked like he was dragging a rag doll. Will watched in horror.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Help me," Mike said. "Grab her legs."
Will turned away from the window. The passenger door was still open, but no one had got out. Everyone was just waiting. He went to Mike and picked up El's legs. She was surprisingly heavy. Dead weight, he inadvertently thought to himself.
"We need to wake her up," Mike said. They carried her to the bathroom. "Let's get her in the shower," he said. He was red faced and wet with sweat. Will didn't argue. He knew what Mike wanted to do. It was worth a shot.
An odd calm had settled upon El. It reminded her of the years spent in captivity. In isolation. There was nothing to do but wait. Bad stuff was happening around her, but she kept her head and kept calm.
And then something was happening. She had no control over it, but it wasn't the monster in her mind, it was something else. She felt as if thousands of needles were jabbing her flesh. Torturing her. She was deluged by the cold and then she heard Mike's voice again. He was calling her.
The cold got inside her head and numbed her and then, quite suddenly, she felt free.
She gasped as if taking her first breath and opened her eyes.
She saw Mike's smiling face. "You're back," he said with a smile.
Outside, a car door slammed.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: so sorry this has taken so long to update. Been focusing on my latest novel. I hope it was worth the wait... let me know :-)