I sit on the porch of an abandoned house on sale, my head resting against the wall. I lightly brush my fingers across my neck, which proves to be sensitive from Clay's aggressiveness. I hold my knees against my chest, bracing for a cold nights wind, I've got nothing, and my whole life is the contents of my backpack. A change of clothes, two pairs of underwear, wallet with $4 left and an old train ticket stub. I don't know where I'm going from here, I've spend all my money to get halfway across the country out of the hope that at least 'Daddy' would take me back with open arms. Not that I want that, but it's a useful emotional leverage to get by for while, at least until I figure out my next move; I'll have to stick around Charming to earn a little moolah, enough to relocate to a bigger location. Preferably one where I can get lost in a big crowd; but for now I'm going to have to rough it for a while, not that I'm not used to doing that. My head lulls back against the wall and I slowly drift out.
...
I awake to the sound of low rumbling of a motor, I rub my eyes; its almost nightfall, the blue day sky slowly dimming to darkness. I poke my head over the railing of the porch to see two bright lights, as they pass I can see that they are two motorcycles; with the same vests that Clay had. After how Clay assaulted me this afternoon, I don't think that maybe there here to have a friendly chat. I crouch down below the porch to keep out of sight; the best way to hide is to keep moving. I pull my bag onto my back and once they're at a fair distance, I walk off the property and start walking in the opposite direction; great another scenery of drama tailing me. I pull my hoodie over my head and keep it down, keeping my senses open for the slightest hint of a motorcycle. My stomach protest against its emptiness, I should get something to eat before I start getting stitches in my side. I walk begin walking to town, keeping away from the main road and sticking to the shadows. A while later I make it into town, my walking pace trying to be fast without being suspicious. I purchase a pie at a convenience store and walk down a dead end alley to keep out of sight while I eat; the hot pie warms my belly and sedates my hunger. I hear a single rumble of a bike, slowly driving down the street, he doesn't notice me in the shadows but I don't want to walk down the main street in case I get spotted again. I brace myself against one side of the alley and run towards the other side and run up the wall and grab the roof; one thing I was always good at was running. I crouch and leap from one rooftop to the other, until I reach a one-way street; no street lights, perfect. I gently lower myself to ground level and walk across the street and head down the one-way street. I can hear the rumble of a bike drawing closer; a bright light appears at the end of the street, shit! My feet slowly walk backwards, the bike comes at me full speed, I turn and run in the opposite direction; what am I thinking? I can't outrun a bike! I break from the road and run into the woods, hopefully get lost in the dark trees. I can hear the bike turn off and I can hear another set of footsteps, other than my own advancing towards me, I can hear him getting close; fuck this guys on mission! I can barely only see the silhouettes of the trees due to the moonlight shining through the treetops, I grab for a branch and lift my torso up, but then I can feel a grip on my skinny jeans and a swift pull to the ground. I tumble backwards and stand but the figure chasing me, braces me against a tree, his large palms having my wrist in a grip, his torso holding me between him and the tree, I still struggle against his hold. "Hey, hey! Calm down alright!" he barks at me, his voice husky and warning, yet rather warm in a gentle kind of way. "I'm not going to hurt you?"
"What do you want?" I whimper,
"Clay just wants to talk to you"
"HA! Talk? That's a relief!" I lace with sarcasm
"Well think of it this way, you come back to the clubhouse with me peacefully or kicking and screaming; either way don't matter to me".
I stop struggling against him and he lets go of my wrist. I might, just might still have Clay's emotion for leverage. I slightly nod and we start walking back to his bike in awkward silence; this could go bad or the way I want, he had a lot of his guys out looking for me which probably means he's desperate but what has he got to gain from killing me? Probability balances in either that he wants to hide me from something or someone or he might be trying to open up. We reach the bike, "I'm Scarlett by the way" I introduce myself,
"Opie" he replies, I say nothing else as I straddle the bike and Opie's back rumbles to life and we ride off, the sound of the bike filling my ears; the powerful and boisterously loud growl of the bike just about causing my eardrums to ache.
...
Short while later, we pull into the lot of Teller Morrow mechanic shop, which is now empty but it is night; Opie lines his bike with the other row of bikes and turns of the engine. My ears continue to ring out, as there is nothing but silence; I swing my leg over and off the bike, I take a look at Opie as he takes his helmet off, very tall, rather burly looking guy, with a well kept beard and wearing a blue bandana, which he covered with a black beanie; he is kind of attractive. He leads me into the clubhouse and I notice he has the same vest as everyone. I walk through the door to notice only two people at the bar, Clay and a young man with neck length blonde hair, talking to each other; their conversation stops once I walked into the room. "You wanted to see me Dad?" I use his parental title to hopefully appeal to his better nature, if there even is one. He beckons me over, I occupy the seat next him, "How's your Mum?" he asks, strange to be asking about'money grubbing bitch',
"She's good, living in Texas with her new husband" I lie,
"That's good" he's convinced, "so why'd you come down to Charming?"
"I wanted to meet my father" I shrug
"And what does your mother say about this?"
"She's cool with it,'you're a grown woman Scarlett, you can make your own decisions', she just doesn't want to have any contact with you" I lie,
"Okay, well I'm not exactly sure about how to go about this. I'm sorry but you're going to have to give me some time on this", he gestures with his hand, well I'm at the tipping scale of my leverage.
"That's fine, I understand" I nod, "well I'll just clear out then" I stand from the stool,
"Where abouts are you staying?"
"Ummm, kinda homeless at the moment" I say with a light chuckle,
"You didn't really think this through"
"Not really"
"Okay well you can stay at the clubhouse for now"
"Thank you" I smile,
"Jax will show you to your room" he gestures to the blonde one, Jax stands straight from leaning on the bar and gives me a warm smile,
"Follow me" he nods to follow him, I trail behind him,
"I'm Scarlett by the way"
"I'm Jax" he replies as he opens a door to a small room with a double bed a slanted room, a dresser and an ensuite bathroom,
"So what's your connection to my Dad"
"I'm the VP of the club and Clay's married to my Mom"
"Oh cool, kind of makes us brother and sister" I babble, that sounds weird, "Sorry, that's awkward"
"Nah it's fine" he reassures with a smile, "well I'll let you get some sleep" he says and gently closes the door, leaving me alone in the room. Well this is different, never slept in a bed before, couches, floor, campers but not an actual bed; I strip down to my jumper and sit on the bed, contemplating my surroundings. If I'm able to succeed in winning over Clay, no one will get to me, those assholes can't touch me even if they have luck finding me. You'd have to be pretty brave to go up a bikie gang; or pretty stupid.