This will be deleted soon - The Wrong Hope *Complete and Free*

14. On The Road

Guy

Year: 1983, Summer

She looked pretty good in the light blue jeans and dark tee I'd given her from the supply room. The hour had gone quickly but everything was sorted, the car was fuelled and packed. I had almost forgotten to sort her some footwear but remembered when I was heading out to pull the car round to the barn. Save messing around I grabbed a pair of my dearly departed Dad’s patent leather shoes and some thick socks.

I pulled the car into the barn, it wasn’t that I thought she was going to run but it was better limit her options, wasn’t like I wanted to be f*****g trekking across from the house either. I took the shoes and socks with me and unlocked both metal doors, she was right in front of the second door, made me jump a little to find her right in my bloody face. I supposed she was keeping as far away from the disastrous mess in the rest of the room as she could. There was still blood smeared and splattered across the floor, cigarette butts, beer bottles, her ruined dress and clumps of her shaved hair littering the floor. Clean up was going to be a b***h. Briefly I considered making her do it but I didn’t want to delay this trip a moment longer than I had too. Might be easy or it might be hard keeping the blood sucking b***h strung along for two days but I didn’t want to put my mission in jeopardy for the sake of getting my hands dirty.

The jeans hugged all the right places and I could see the curve of her t**s through the t-shirt, not to mention her n*****s stiff against the fabric. She definitely had allure. The shaved head was a turn off but the soft lines of her face, those big green eyes and voluptuous lips certainly gave her some curb appeal. Everything was symmetrical and in proportion, begrudgingly I'd say she was beautiful. Certainly if she knew how to use her Vampire abilities and wasn’t so starved she would be irresistible. I tossed her the shoes and indicated for her to put them on.

As she bent over I imagined what it would be like to f**k her. I was pretty sure I could see the edge of some panties next to her discarded dress and I hadn’t given her any new ones. Damn I was practically drooling at the thought of her tight little ... – Christ I needed to stop. I had to get through the next two days (well nights actually) playing nice and keeping her sweet. That meant keeping my d**k to myself, at least ‘til after I got the vault.

“Let’s hit the road.” I announced once the shoes were on.

Without checking she was following I walked straight to the front passenger door and opened it for her – confidence and chivalry. A moment later Sally-Anne was slipping into the front seat whispering thanks. I drove out the barn having to get back out the car to lock up before heading to the main road. Before long we were on the I-40 eastbound, traffic was sparse and the driving easy. Sally-Anne was silent, staring out of the open window, hands twisting in her lap the only movement. The silence suited me, so for now I left her to her thoughts.

After almost 5 hours on the road I needed a break, f**k I needed a piss and a cigarette if nothing else. I took the next slip road just outside of Knoxville and pulled into a 24hr diner. There were no cars out front and I couldn’t see any customers inside. Turning off the engine I got out of the car. Sally-Anne still hadn’t moved. I didn’t say anything, opting to simply lean against the car and have a quick smoke while I decided what to do. I could handcuff her to the car while I was inside but that wasn’t exactly ‘friendly’ and I was trying to stay on good terms plus if someone happened to see her handcuffed in the car then things could get dicey but at almost 2am it was unlikely. The other option is I could take her in with me. So far she had been well behaved, sure I had all the windows open to keep my scent minimal but she was a Vamp and it would be a complete cluster f**k if she tore up the waitress. In the end I decided it was worth the risk. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer as they say.

I finished my smoke and crushed the butt on the floor before walking to the passenger side and opening the door. She didn’t seem to have noticed.

“Sally-girl, wakey wakey.” I said jokingly. Her face changed in an instant from passive and glazed to a contortion of rage and pain.

“Don’t call me that.” She hissed viciously. Whoops, stepped on a f*****g nerve there. I was about to give an apology, albeit an empty one, just to keep things civil but she spoke first.

“Sorry Guy.” She said earnestly, her features had softened, bottom lip trembling she took a shaky breath which turned into a sob.

“Hey, hey Sally-Anne there’s no need to get upset, it’s okay, it’s all okay.” I soothed, trying to sound sincere even though I wanted to lamp her one, Christ this girl cries too much – and I hated Vamp crying; it was f*****g creepy.

“It’s just,” She sobbed, her tearless eyes shining in the glow of the parking lot lights. “only my pa called me that.”

Fuck. No wonder she was upset. Note to self – stick to Sally-Anne till I had the vault. I put one hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” I said careful that the words came out sounding sincere and kind. She nodded in acknowledgement but continued to sob softly. I waited for her to calm down and the sobs to dissipate, the whole time fighting my growing impatience. In all likelihood it hadn’t been much longer than a minute or two but I was starting to feel hungry and still in need of a piss so the time dragged.

“How about you come in the diner with me? Stretch your legs, get a change of scenery.” I asked her cheerfully, trying to get it to sound like I was doing her a favour by letting her come in with me.

“But there are people in there!” She protested. Christ almighty did she have to be a pain over everything?

“It will be fine Sally-Anne.” I stated flatly but she didn’t look convinced. She gave me a cautious look, one eyebrow slightly raised in concern. “Come on now, don’t be like that.” I said keeping my voice light and a little playful. “You just spent 5 hours sitting next to me in a car and I’m still in one piece!”

“5 hours, really? I thought it had only been a few minutes.” She queried. Jesus f*****g Christ those handcuffs were looking mighty tempting about now. Pushing down my mounting annoyance I decided on another approach.

“Tell you what, come in the diner with me and when we’re back on the road I’ll answer some more questions for you. How about that?” I could see in her face I was winning now. She was a curious one, which was weird considering how eager she was to have me end her life. If you could call it a life. I stepped back from the door to give her space to get out.

“Everything will be ok, I promise you’re not going to hurt anyone.” I spoke with confidence but there was no way I could guarantee that s**t, although I could easily take her if she started acting up. I watched her get out of the car. She moved slowly at human speed, too starved for anything else which was good in away as she would look relatively natural to prying eyes and I wasn’t going to have to f**k about with any instruction on how to ‘look human’. However on the flip side I was forcing her down a knife edge, an incredible balancing act of keeping her fed enough that she didn’t start to mummify but still starved to the point where her senses were muted and she didn’t feel it.

The diner was outdated and scruffy. The black and white chequered floor was worn and dull, couple of the red topped bar stools were ripped or thread bare with the padding visible. Other than looking tired the place seemed clean. There was no bell on the door to announce our presence so I tapped the counter top with an open hand and called out.

“Service please!” I said loudly but with a friendly tone. I glanced back at Sally-Anne who had stopped a few feet behind and shot her a reassuring smile. Christ maybe I should have had a ‘how to look human’ talk with her. She was standing way too still, not breathing and just looked plain weird standing in the middle of the diner with her shaved head and oversized shoes. I motioned for her to come over the counter but Sally-Anne gave the tiniest shake of her head ‘no’. Bloody hell, stubborn b***h was f*****g infuriating.

“Mornin’ y’all, hope I haven’t kept you folks waiting too long.” An over the top friendly female voice greeted. I turned back just in time to see a look of concern and alarm pass over the server's face as she caught sight of Sally-Anne. Great, just great, f*****g busybody; I was going to have to play this cool or instead of prepping my order she’d be calling the police.

“What can I getcha?” She looked me dead in the eyes with a fake smile plastered across her face.

“Hamburger and fries to-go, thanks Jo.” I said reading her name off her tag and giving her a big fake smile right back. She wasn’t bad looking, early twenties I’d say, a little short perhaps, decent figure but there was a look about her that was off putting, trashy; too much make-up, big false lashes and fake nails, hoop earrings that brushed against her shoulders and hair scraped back into a high pony.

“Hun?” She called across the diner looking at Sally-Anne. “Anything for you, Hun?” when Sally-Anne didn’t respond Jo gave me a nervous look. I simply smiled and waited.

“Miss? You ok? Want me to fix ya something?” Jo tried again, an edge of nervousness showing in her voice. The stupid blood sucker just stood there, fucksake she wasn’t even blinking now.

“Sally-Anne.” I called a little sharply. I had to deal with this now as I could see nosy Jo wasn’t going to let it go. Sally-Anne gave me a slightly dazed look.

“Want something?” I asked indicated the menu above the counter. Once again Sally-Anne shook her head in a quiet no. Christ I just wanted to get my order in and go take a piss but between Sally-Anne doing her best hostage impression and Jo looking for a good Samaritan of the year award I was getting nowhere.

“She doesn’t want anything.” I told Jo with a shrug.

“Sorry Mister but I was asking Sally-Anne.” Jo replied a little snarky. “You sure....?” She said kindly, looking at Sally-Anne.

The situation had very quickly gone to s**t, if I didn’t pull it back very soon there were going to be some hard choices to be made.

“Sally-Anne, you should really get something. It's been a long night.” I said, trying my best to sound like a road weary traveller. “What smells good to you?” I said giving her a hint and hoping she took it in relation to the food and not me or Jo. Relief coursed through me when she closed her eyes for a split second and took a small breath.

“Coffee.” She said in a small voice, looking at me for reassurance.

“And two black coffees to-go please Jo.” I fished some notes out of my pocket to pay before asking for the restroom. I was going to have to leave Sally-Anne here or Jo was definitely calling the cops so I played it cool. Jo pointed me in the direction of the men’s and slid the key across the counter.

“’ppreciate it.” I smiled, scooping the key up and walking to the restroom as though I didn’t have a care in the world. I was going to have to trust that Miss Brice wasn’t going to f**k this up.